Anti-Abortion March Organizers 'Pulling Out All the Stops'

Pence will speak at march, highest-ranking WH official to do so in person
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 27, 2017 7:47 AM CST
Anti-Abortion Protesters Hope Their DC March Draws Turnout
In this Jan. 22, 2016, file photo, participants are shown in the March for Life 2016 rally in Washington.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

The Women's March on Washington Saturday drew about 500,000 people, with millions more demonstrating worldwide. Six days later, another march is taking place in DC, and the New York Times notes this event may be tinged with "a new sense of urgency, anxiety, and maybe a little envy." The 44th anti-abortion March for Life is set for Friday, and one organizer says they're "pulling out all the stops" to boost attendance, which last year was marred by a snowstorm. What organizers hope will draw crowds: speeches by VP Mike Pence and Kellyanne Conway, excitement over a possible new Supreme Court justice who could overturn Roe v. Wade, and "pent-up energy" from those who canceled last year due to the inclement weather.

The march is scheduled to start shortly before noon with a rally close to the Washington Monument before participants head over to the Supreme Court, ABC News reports. Pence, who's lobbied over the years to defund Planned Parenthood, is said to be the highest-ranking White House official to ever speak in person at the event, per USA Today; speeches by Reagan and George W. Bush at previous marches were piped in. In the end, though, March for Life President Jeanne Mancini says there's a number more important than how many show up for Friday's march: 58 million, "the number of Americans [who] have been lost to abortion," she tells the Times. (Trump signed an executive order Monday that keeps federal funds from going toward international groups that provide or give info on abortions.)

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