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Editor:
This is a rather slanted article, but it does quote Elizabeth Volz,
President of NOW-NJ. See this
site's coverage of this event.
Pro-life debate hits home
PETE DALY , Staff Writer,
The Trentonian, 04/26/2004
Local groups on both sides of the abortion issue sounded off after a women’s march for abortion rights drew hundreds of thousands of people -- including thousands from New Jersey -- to Washington, D.C. yesterday.
Abortion opponents rejected claims by some locals that as many 800,000 participated in the march. They also discounted claims that the majority of Americans are pro-choice and that women’s rights have deteriorated under the administration of President Bush.
"This is an outdated movement," said Marie Tasy, the public and legislative affairs director for New Jersey Right to Life. "Mother and child are inextricably intertwined. Most young people, especially women, are pro-life and reject the pro-abortion stance that women cannot achieve social and economic equality without having an abortion if they become pregnant."
Tasy added that the women’s march held yesterday, which was hailed by abortion proponents as a historic gathering because of its size and subsequent message to politicians, should not be viewed as a measure that the pro-abortion side is gaining influence because it is not an annual march.
But others from the region flocked to Washington to lend their voices to the women’s rights movement. Elizabeth Volz, the president of NOW New Jersey, said at least 15 bus-loads of supporters left early yesterday morning from the Garden State, and even more drove or traveled bytrain, all concerned that women were losing control over their reproductive rights.
"We had to send a clear message that says the majority of Americans are still pro-choice, and that the core issue is women’s legal right to abortion," Volz said. "The New Jersey delegation was as broad a spectrum as you could possibly imagine having. They were all there to insist our politicians reinforce our right to choose, and if they don’t, then we’ll think about changing them."
Volz’s Trenton-based chapter of NOW faced fierce rebuttals from anti-abortion activists upon its return home, however, including those from local clergy and supporters of Pennsylvania Congressman Pat Toomey.
"Our social principles state that we oppose abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or detriment to the health of the mother, and I support that position personally," said Rev. Frederick Boyle, pastor at Titusville United Methodist Church in Hopewell. "This is a country of free choice but we do not favor abortion."
The abortion debate could become a significant factor in tomorrow’s heated race for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.
Incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican, is facing a serious challenge from Pat Toomey, an anti-abortion advocate.
Toomey’s Web site states that he believes that the "most fundamental responsibility of government is to defend and protect innocent human life."
Toomey has enjoyed growing support from abortion opponents like Bill Miller, 69, of Bensalem, who volunteered to run Toomey’s campaign efforts in Lower Bucks County.
"We believe, as Pat Toomey does, that [the abortion rights marchers] are not helping women -- they are setting women up for a lifetime of agony, distress and heartbreak," Miller said. "It is a sad thing that women are marching, asking for millions of dollars to go overseas to coerce countries into changing their anti-abortion laws."
"We think hopefully Roe v. Wade will be overturned with Pat Toomey supporting President Bush if he gets re-elected," Miller said. "We’re not going back into the Draconian ages. Until 1973 this country did very well without legalized abortion."
Masy said pro-lifers have been energized by recent developments in technology, such as three-dimensional ultrasound equipment which anti-abortionists say shows a fetus has a beating heart after only four weeks in the womb.
With this technology available, she described those who continue to support abortion like those who marched Sunday as "radical."
Volz, meanwhile, said the success of the march was a result of diligence and passion by like-minded activists.
"Certainly, our organization has been concerned from Day One about the effort to erode a woman’s right to choose from day [Bush] was sworn in," Volz said. "[Yesterday] we were very encouraged. We were thrilled."
©The Trentonian 2004
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