Trump tells anti-abortion marchers he
will support them
Send a link to a friend
[January 19, 2019]
By Katharine Jackson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President
Donald Trump spoke in a prerecorded video to thousands of anti-abortion
activists in Washington on Friday for the 46th March for Life, vowing to
veto any legislation that "weakens the protection of human life."
The event is the largest annual gathering in the United States of
opponents of the Supreme Court's 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade. That ruling
found that certain state laws outlawing abortion were an
unconstitutional violation of a woman's right to privacy, effectively
legalizing abortion nationwide.
"I will always defend the first right in our Declaration of
Independence, the right to life," Trump said in remarks recorded in the
Oval Office, a right he said extended to "unborn children."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Jan/19/images/ads/current/brickey_lda_061314.png)
Vice President Mike Pence appeared onstage at the rally to introduce the
video, calling Trump, who before entering politics said he supported
abortion access, "the most pro-life president in American history."
During his 2016 campaign, Trump vowed to appoint Supreme Court justices
he believed would overturn Roe. He has since appointed two justices to
the court, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, cementing the court's 6-3
conservative majority.
Since the heated Senate confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh, the court
has steered clear of some cases on volatile social issues, including
abortion.
Marchers trudged through muddy slush on the National Mall holding signs
saying "Pray to End Abortion," "My unexpected pregnancy is now 30!" and
calling for the federal defunding of Planned Parenthood, a national
healthcare provider that offers abortions as well as birth control and
cancer screenings.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/011919pics/news_h11.jpg)
Anti-abortion marchers rally at the Supreme Court during the 46th
annual March for Life in Washington, U.S., January 18, 2019.
REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
![](../images/ads/current/fitzpatrick_lda_SPONSOR_2017.png)
One marcher said she had had an abortion at the age of 17 but had
been opposed to abortion ever since she became religious.
"No matter how you look at it, it's taking a life and it's wrong,"
said Marcy Blunier, a 57-year-old real estate broker from New
Mexico.
A circle of women bowed their heads in prayer as they waited to
start the march down Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court. Two
men navigated the crowd hauling a large wooden cross.
Supporters of abortion access say bans infringe on women's rights
and health, and lead to greater rates of injury and death among
pregnant women.
About half of U.S. adults say abortion should be legal, according to
a Reuters/Ipsos poll last year, with about 68 percent of Democrats
supporting abortion access compared with about 31 percent of
Republicans.
The anti-abortion march comes a day before thousands of women
descend on Washington for their third march opposing Trump's
presidency.
(Additional reporting and writing by Jonathan Allen; editing by
Scott Malone editing by Jonathan Oatis)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Jan/19/images/ads/current/stclara_lda_SPONSOR_112018.png) |