Submitted by philip on
By Mark H. Hunter, Regional Reporter
BATON ROUGE – When one of the State Capitol police officers was asked to estimate the crowd attending the 4th annual Louisiana Life March on Saturday, Jan. 18, he said, between 2,500 and 3,500.
“We had a contingency plan for up to 8,000,” the officer said, looking out on the diverse gathering of young and old, African-American and Anglo, Protestant and Catholic, that filled the parking lot and spilled onto the Capitol Park lawn.
“Wouldn’t that be something if there were 8,000 here!” quipped a man standing nearby. “Yes it would,” the trooper replied.
“Maybe next year,” the man said. The trooper nodded in agreement.
The annual march commemorated the 41st Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in all 50 states. Several speakers reported that since then, more than 50 million American children have been aborted.
While some previous marches were held in cold, dreary conditions, this day was clear and warm. Because the start/finish line for the Louisiana Marathon was set up in front of the State Museum, the Life March was detoured from the Old State Capitol, west on North Boulevard then north up River Road to State Capitol Drive to the new Capitol for a rally on the steps.
This year’s march theme was, “Adoption: The Power of Possibility.”
A large display of 75 photographs of children awaiting adoption was set up on the Capitol steps, and in his brief speech, Dr. Bill Cassidy, U.S. Congress, La. Dist. 6, pointed to it and declared, “The mothers of those children are heroes because they chose to put their children up for adoption instead of having an abortion. There will be many more generations because those mothers chose life.”
Event emcee Ben Clapper, executive director for Louisiana Right to Life, told the cheering crowd, “Louisiana is first in the nation for pro-life.”
It is still important to continue protesting abortion because, Clapper said, “every day in our state, 22 unborn babies are denied the joys of life.”
“The message of adoption is part and parcel of the pro-life cause,” Clapper said. “For every child placed for adoption, statistics show there are 36 couples waiting for a child.”
While most printed signs posted messages like, “Marching for an abortion-free Louisiana,” or “Stop Abortion,” many marchers displayed hand-written messages such as “Keep your lack of religion off your baby’s body.” Many teens and younger children carried colorful signs declaring “we are the pro-life generation.”
U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R., La., told the group, “you young people are going to make the difference and be the ones who are going to end abortion in America. It is up to you to change hearts and minds. We are counting on you all.”
Bobbie Jones, a founding member of the Catholic women’s group, “Silent No More,” told her compelling story of having an abortion decades ago and described the years of emotional and spiritual turmoil it caused. “Then I found the Lord and everything changed,” she said.
Barbara Thomas, who along with her husband operate a non-denominational, free Crisis Pregnancy Center in north Baton Rouge, encouraged the crowd to support some of the estimated 2,500 ministries like their’s because, “We are making a difference – we are saving lives.”
“We do not consent to the shedding of innocent blood,” said Rev. Gene Mills, director of Louisiana Family Forum. He prayed, “Heavenly Father wash our hands and our land of the blood-guilt-ness and release your Spirit upon your people to communicate the message of life, liberty and love.”
Afterward, Nicholas James, a member of First Baptist of La Place, said it is important to stop abortion in Louisiana and nationwide.
“My message (to Message readers) is to get active in politics and make a difference – one voice can make a difference,” James said. “It’s hard to undo a bad law once it is in place. There are far too many children being killed by abortion every year. Those children need a chance to live.”
Paul Dietzel, II, a member of Jefferson Baptist Church of Baton Rouge and an aspiring pro-life politician who is running for Dr. Cassidy’s Congressional House seat, did not speak from the podium but was happy to share his thoughts with Message readers.
“It is important for everybody – not just Baptists – to get involved,” Dietzel said. “I speak from the next generation – I think it is really encouraging to see so many people from my generation standing up for life today. It’s going to take young people spreading the message of love and showing there are options for women making difficult decisions that they have the opportunity to give their child up for adoption.”
A large tent filled with many pro-life organizations was crowded with people making contributions, filling out contact forms and picking up brochures. Three motor homes of pro-life groups, including the Louisiana Baptist’s Mobile Pregnancy Care Center, were popular as well.
This event was sponsored by Louisiana Right to Life, Louisiana Family Forum, Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Life and Justice Committee, the Louisiana Baptist Convention, the Knights of Columbus, Baton Rouge Right to Life, the Hippocratic Resource, and the Concerned Women for America.
During previous marches a small handful of counter-protesters supporting abortion rights displayed their own signs along the route but none were present on Saturday.