The weather was just miserable and everywhere I looked I saw smiles. People of all ages stood on the soggy capitol mall listening to speeches for up to two hours. It rained on and off, and when it wasn't raining a cold, biting fog gripped the crowd. Mostly it appeared as if this crowd was oblivious to the inclement weather. Estimates were that tens of thousands to two hundred thousand people milled around on the day after the anniversary of the Supreme Courts' 1973 Roe V. Wade.
I moved along with the thousands as we then marched up Constitution Avenue and around the Capitol building. Along the way some made small talk. Many people chanted slogans ("I like babies, yes I do, I like babies, how 'bout you?" ...and then the appropriate reply). Other people sang songs or prayed aloud. We moved in tight quarters with starts and stops as the crowd seemed to be too much for the street. Young people jumped up and down and occasionally danced to the sound of a chant, or a song or drums being played from one of the many church groups.
Floating above and around the marchers were banners and signs of every kind. There were some fun signs, like "a person's a person not matter how small - Dr. Suess." I, of course, saw signs that blamed President Obama's pro-abortion policy. Many signs calculated the number of deaths since Roe v. Wade. And many signs made simple and profound statements like DEFEND LIFE, Women Do Regret Abortion, STOP Unborn Pain, or Abortion KILLS a Person (with a baby photo).
Once at the Capitol many people went to lobby their Senator and/or Representative. Of course you had to drop your sign and wait in line to go through a metal detector. Some of the legislators anticipated this annual pilgrimage of the PRO-LIFE activists with receptions at their offices.
Several of the speakers during the speech-i-fying time on the mall told the crowd about a new disturbing Obama policy. On Friday the Obama administration announced it would require most religious groups to porvide their employees with "full health care" coverage for contraceptives, including abortifacients like Plan B and Ella. The only exemption is a tightly worded one for groups that have the "inculcation of religious values" as their primary mission and who serve and employ people of that faith. In other words, churches. Well that is swell, but what about groups started by or run by religious organizations such as the Catholic Health Association or other faith-based charities.
Again we find ourselves asking, who is Obama to say what kind of health care a private group must offer? And this belligerent act is an obvious violation of conscience rights. He knows this, but the religion of the pro-abortion faction supersedes any rights of the individual. Obama has frequently abused his power as President and in the cause of the pro-aborts he has done it again. Congress must check him, and now.
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