SAN FRANCISCO – Many thousands of
anti-abortion protesters from across California marched through downtown
San Francisco on Saturday, calling for restrictions on a medical
procedure that was legalized more than 40 years ago.
A massive and diverse crowd of protesters rallied in front of City
Hall before marching down Market Street to Justin Herman Plaza for the
10th annual "Walk for Life West Coast." They chanted "Pro Life" and
carried signs that read "Defend Life" and "Women deserve better than
abortion."
On Wednesday, thousands of abortion protesters participated in the
annual Walk for Life rally in Washington, D.C. to mark the anniversary
of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized the
procedure.
San Francisco police did not immediately provide an official crowd
estimate, but at one point marchers stretched across more than a mile of
Market Street, the liberal city's main thoroughfare.
High school senior Nancy Castellanos came to San Francisco on one of
six buses of worshippers from St. Peter's Catholic Church in Dixon,
about 70 miles away. She believes the laws need to change to make it
harder to get an abortion.
"I am 100 percent, completely against abortion," Castellanos, 17, said. "If you don't want the child, there's always adoption."
John Paine, 52, arrived with people from his church group in Visalia
in California's Central Valley, after making a 3 1/2-hour drive to San
Francisco on Saturday.
"I'm ashamed that my country sanctions the killing of the most
defenseless of its citizens," Paine said. "Human life in all its stages
is sacred and should be protected."
A small group of pro-abortion rights activists protested the march on
Market Street, holding signs that read "Abortion on demand and without
apology."
Anna Wilson, 20, a commercial artist who lives in San Francisco, said
she participated in the Walk for Life march two years ago, but said
she's since changed her stance on abortion.
"I realized I was looking at it in a real childish way," Wilson said.
"I'm not pro-abortion. Nobody's pro-abortion. But I am pro-choice. I
think that women should have every single choice available to them, as
much as men do."
Supervisor David Campos introduced a resolution last week opposing
the dozens of "Abortion Hurts Women" banners that organizers hung from
street lamps on Market Street. The resolution says "the prominent
display of false anti-abortion statements on public property on Market
Street misrepresents the City's support for reproductive health, rights
and justice."
Over the last several decades, anti-abortion groups have focused on
placing relatively small restrictions on abortion, especially in
conservative states with Republican-dominated legislatures. But
lawmakers in those states are under increasing pressure from activists
to take stronger action to limit abortion.
But California, which has a Democratic governor and Legislature,
expanded abortion access last year with a measure that allows nurse
practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physician assistants to
perform a type of early abortion.
