Week of
January 24, 2001
Inside the Register
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Pro-life rally offers hope for future
By Roxanne King
More than a thousand pro-lifers braved chilly weather and a handful of hecklers at a rally and march at the State Capitol Jan. 20 to protest the 28th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision, which legalized abortion on demand.
Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., was the featured speaker at the event sponsored by Colorado Right to Life.
"Public citizenship and personal moral beliefs cannot be separated," Archbishop Chaput said. He urged the audience to carry "religious faith and moral principles into the public debate — not just at election time, but week in and week out in dialogue with the people who represent us."
Just three weeks into the year, more than 73,548 abortions have been performed — 40 million since 1973, when the Roe decision was made, the speakers said.
Putting those numbers into perspective, Rev. Gary Goodpastor, pastor of Tri-Town Baptist Church in Frederick, Colo., said, "Right is always right, even if no one does it, wrong is always wrong, even if everyone does it."
A "Friend of Life" award was presented to state Rep. Mark Paschall, R-Arvada, for his support of pro-life measures.
"We are now about three or four legislators away in each house from getting to where we can have a majority of pro-life legislators in the state," Steve Curtis, Colorado Right to Life development officer, said to applause.
Many at the rally had attended the Respect Life Mass at the Cathedral, which preceded it. Seminarians, religious sisters, and couples with youth and children in tow, prayed the rosary and carried signs and banners as they marched.
St. John Vianney seminarian Thomas Smith, 30, said he wanted to speak out for Generation X'ers.
"It's our generation that's being killed," Smith said, adding that he also wanted to make his religious conviction public.
"It's a great ecumenical event as well," he said.