Anti-abortion marchers stump for ’08 hopefuls
Posted on Monday, January 21, 2008
As she walked Sunday with thousands of abortion opponents at their annual march in Little Rock, Liz Waddle held a sign with a newspaper clipping listing each of the presidential candidates’ positions on the issue.
Next to the clipping taped to her sign, she had written a warning: “Clinton vetoed the ban on partial birth abortion. Love the unborn, watch your vote.”
As they gathered at the state Capitol to mark the anniversary of the U. S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortions, the protesters at the March for Life emphasized the importance of supporting candidates that oppose abortion.
At the Capitol steps, activists distributed voter guides listing each candidate’s position on stem-cell research, the Roe v. Wade decision and lateterm abortion. The activists also handed out voter registration applications and a petition urging the Republican and Democratic parties to oppose abortion.
“We must elect a pro-life candidate in 2008,” Wayne Mays, president of Arkansas Right to Life, said in his opening remarks on the Capitol steps. He reminded the demonstrators that Arkansas’ presidential primary is Feb. 5, and the general election is Nov. 4.
“Make sure you have those dates on your calendar,” he said.
The march drew its normal turnout of about 5, 000 people, said Rose Mimms, the director of Arkansas Right to Life. Braving a chilly breeze, the demonstrators marched along Capitol Avenue from Louisiana Street to the Capitol steps. As the marchers passed, about 14 counter-protesters stood on the sidewalk with signs, chanting, “Not the church, not the state, women must decide their fate.” The marchers booed and jeered as they passed.
At the capitol steps, the demonstrators listened to speeches and to a group sing “Amazing Grace.”
The keynote speaker, Bishop Robert E. Smith, founder of Total Outreach for Christ Ministries in Little Rock, mostly avoided discussion of political campaigns, instead focusing on biblical reasons to oppose abortion.
“It is impossible to be politically correct if you are theologically incorrect,” Smith said.
Waddle, 76, of Sherwood, said she once supported Clinton. While he was governor, Clinton fed a scoop of ice cream to her teenage son, John, who had muscular dystrophy, at an ice cream shop in McCain Mall. Later Clinton sent her son a necktie and some letters, she said.
But when Clinton vetoed the late-term abortion bans in 1996 and 1997, “I had no use for him,” Waddle said.
Now, Waddle, whose son died 18 years ago, said she’ll probably vote for John McCain. She said she likes former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, too, but “Huckabee doesn’t have the experience that McCain has.”
Jimmy Johnson, 43, who drove in from Uniontown, north of Van Buren, held a sign for Ron Paul, as did his wife and several of the couple’s 12 children.
Paul is the only anti-abortion candidate who also opposes the war in Iraq, Johnson said.
“He doesn’t think we should be the police of the world,” Johnson said.
In addition to Huckabee, McCain, and Paul, Republican candidates Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney oppose abortion. Rudy Giuliani and the major Democratic candidates support abortion rights.
The next president could have an important role in the debate by appointing justices to the U. S. Supreme Court, Mimms said. Abortion opponents are also concerned about a proposal before Congress that would nullify any law that interferes with a woman’s right to an abortion, she said.
“It’s a huge deal for us to elect a pro-life president to ensure that that doesn’t happen,” Mimms said.
An equal rights amendment to the U. S. Constitution, barring discrimination based on sex, could also strengthen legal arguments for abortion rights, Mimms said.
Huckabee, who touts his record supporting restrictions on abortion, had been a fixture at previous marches, but he missed the past two because of scheduling conflicts. He wasn’t invited Sunday because Arkansas Right to Life was told by its national organization, the National Right to Life Committee, that it would have to invite all the candidates, Mimms said.
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