Abortion opponents brave Washington cold for ‘March for Life’

Laura Wee, left, and Nicole Kelly, center, of Prior Lake, Minn., sing with Lake High School students, during the March for Life 2016 rally, commemorating the anniversary of 1973 “Roe v. Wade” U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in Washington, Friday, Jan. 22, 2016. AP Photo

WASHINGTON, United States—Tens of thousands of people braved the cold in Washington on Friday ahead of a major snow storm to march in protest on the 43rd anniversary of Roe v Wade, the US Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

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The large crowd gathered for the March for Life rally and listened to speakers at the National Mall before marching to the Supreme Court to show their discontent with the landmark 1973 ruling.

“We have 60 million Americans killed by our own people,” said Karl Menvel, a truck driver at the march, referring to abortion.

“We worry about terrorists but really we have to look at ourselves,” he said.

READ: US House passes anti-abortion bills as shutdown looms

Catholic nuns and Dominican friars marched alongside Protestant evangelicals, some waving pro-life banners and placards.

The crowd included students and parents with young children. Some protesters stopped for selfies in front of the city’s iconic landmarks.

Abortion is a hot-button political issue, with Democratic presidential candidates fiercely supporting a woman’s right to choose while Republican candidates oppose the measure, some more vociferously than others.

Several pro-life lawmakers spoke at the rally as did Republican presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina, a vehement opponent of abortion who is lagging in the polls.

For some people, abortion “could be the deciding factor” in how they vote in this year’s presidential election, said Christian Keller, a college student who came from Nebraska for the rally.

“If we can fit in all the other human rights with being pro-life, then I’d say that would be a good candidate,” Keller said.

At the White House, President Barack Obama—who supports legalized abortion—said that the anniversary affirms “a woman’s freedom to make her own choices about her body and her health.”

The 1973 ruling “supports the broader principle that the government should not intrude on private decisions made between a woman and her doctor.

“As we commemorate this day, we also redouble our commitment to protecting these constitutional rights, including protecting a woman’s access to safe, affordable health care and her right to reproductive freedom from efforts to undermine or overturn them.”

Organizers said 200,000 people came to the rally, which they admitted was about a quarter the number seen in years past due to the dire weather forecast for the region.

Police, who no longer give out crowd estimates, said only that the rally was smaller than claimed.

National polls show a majority support in the United States for legal abortion.

According to a 2015 Gallup poll, 50 percent of the public described themselves as pro-choice—supporting the right to legal abortion—and 44 percent say they are pro-life.