Abortion protesters managed to fit in their annual March for Life just before a major snowfall started blanketing D.C. on Friday.
Snow hadn’t yet started to fall as tens of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall for a pre-march rally around noon. Organizers of the annual rally protesting the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision had insisted on continuing with the event, even though federal offices were closed and weather forecasters warned of an historic storm.
“The world may think we’re a little bit crazy to be here on a day like today, but everyone here knows there is no sacrifice too great to fight the human rights abuse of abortion,” said March for Life President Jeanne Mancini.
“Even snowmaddgen can’t stop us from rallying for a cause we know is so important,” said Republican presidential contender Carly Fiorina, who served as keynote speaker.
Snow did begin to fall on attendees as they concluded the rally around 1:15 p.m. and marched down Constitution Avenue towards the Supreme Court, some singing the well-known hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
Official estimates of the crowd size won’t be available for a few days, but due to the weather attendance was expected to be somewhat less than in past years, where several hundred thousand have attended the protest.
As marchers approached the Supreme Court, they were met by about 50 counter-protesters in favor of abortion rights holding orange signs. A woman stood on the front steps of the court building, talking about an abortion she underwent 30 years ago and saying she was scarred by the experience.
While in past years attendees have lingered in front of the Supreme Court building, they immediately dispersed upon reaching it, as the snow had become much heavier by that point. Weather forecasters have predicted as much as two feet of snow for the D.C. area over the weekend.
Politicians lined up on their typical sides of the abortion debate, with House Speaker Paul Ryan saying Friday he is “proud to stand with citizens who cherish and celebrate life at every stage.” Ryan’s office posted a “selfie” of the speaker with members of Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of nuns suing the Obama administration over its birth control mandate who attended the march.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for fellow abortion rights supporters to “renew our vow to stand for women’s rights and women’s decisions” and blasted Republicans for passing new laws regulating abortion clinics and restricting when abortion can be accessed.
“Republicans’ outrageous attacks on women’s health in the states, the courts and the Congress seek to drag America’s women back to a dark and dangerous past,” Pelosi said in a statement.
