Local groups join Roe v. Wade protest

Warwick — On Monday, Jan. 23, five buses left Orange County for Washington, D.C., to attend the March for Life rally that marked the 33rd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand. The five buses included adults and teenagers from St. Stephen’s in Warwick, Sacred Heart and St. Anastasia in Monroe and Harriman, Orange County Right to Life in Goshen, St. Thomas of Canterbury in Cornwall and St. Joseph’s in Middletown. Midway through the rally, a telephone message from President George W. Bush was broadcast to the crowd. The president, calling from Manhattan, Kan., told the rally participants that positive steps have occurred in the pro-life movement, but that there was more work to be done. In his four-minute address, the president noted that the House has passed a bill to ensure that state parental involvement laws are not circumvented by those who take minors across state lines to have abortions, and added that the Senate needed to pass the bill so he could sign it into law. The group plans to return to Washington next year, and every year, to protest the practice of abortion. According to the group, since Roe v. Wade was decided, 43 million births have been terminated.