Obama throngs replaced by March for Life crowds
Or he may not.
Fox News says he will here. And CNN says he will here. But no one names a source. Terry Mattingly, who keeps an watchful eye on religion coverage at the Get Religion blog, thinks the mainstream media has fallen silent on a major story on the timing of the policy switch the same day as the annual March For Life -- a march by those who oppose the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision to legalize abortion. But he doesn't name a source for the prospect of a switch, either.
Still, anyone can see hundreds of thousands of marchers pulling into town. Many are Catholic and conservative evangelicals, such as the president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. They see the end of the ban -- a policy of Republican presidents since the Reagan administration announced it in Mexico City in 1984 -- as a road to more abortions.
March for Life activists are also concerned that Obama or the Congress will overturn the so-called "Conscience Rule," signed by former President Bush last month.
That rule allows anyone in the health system -- from a surgeon to a pharmacy cashier -- to decline to offer a service or treatment that violates their personal conscience. (More on that here.) When Bush signed it, the Family Research Council called the rule "an early Christmas present to pro-lifers ..."
But pro-choice activists also plan to make public statements this week. When the pro-life marchers arrive, they'll find print ads and radio ads saying the real way to fight abortion is to reduce demand.
The ads are sponsored by RealAbortionSolutions.org, which proposes "legislation that would advance the goal of abortion reduction by addressing the root causes." The ads, packed with baby pictures, call for supporting the health and welfare of pregnant women and new mothers and preventing unintended pregnancies. (However, the means of prevention may be off limits to those who see artificial contraception as another form of abortion.)
Do you think Obama should lift the Mexico City policy or overturn the "Conscience Rule?"
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images: Anti-abortion activists come to Washington yearly for the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Bill Rosanelli of Montague, N.J. held this sign at the 2005 March for Life.
Heavenly Father, on this day we lift up to you each little life cut short by abortion. We lift up the marchers, who are out by the hundreds of thousands on this bitter cold day for those little precious children. We lift up Pres. Obama. Lord, we ask you to soften his heart. Make him aware of the precious gift of life he received... and how it is against Your perfect will to take a life, whether in the middle, beginning, or end of its days. That life is a gift and a blessing by You, not to be squandered nor thrown away.
Abba Father, pour out your Spirit on all the marchers, and all the politicians, and on each and every believer in this nation. Lord, turn our eyes to you. Let this be a time of revival and renewal. Help us to go forth with eyes open, that we may see the horrors of this act of abortion. That our hearts may be made vulnerable to this truth, that we may not just go forth today and every day in numbness.
Inspire us to action and prayer. Inspire us to speak out. Inspire us to love more and to live our lives for your glory.
Lord, help our nation as individuals and as a nation to repent of this evil, to repent of turning from You, and instead to turn fully to you this very day. That we may be one nation under God. That we recognize you once again as the origin of our rights, the Creator in our founding documents, who endowed us with certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Lord, on this day of the March for Life, let us honor the life you give.
Amen.
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