Local group heads to Washington for pro-life rally

Thirty-five years ago the United States Supreme Court ruled abortion was a fundamental right under the Constitution. On Sunday about 150 people boarded buses to go to Washington, D.C., and demand the Supreme Court reverse the ruling.

The group will join others from around the country For the March for Life rally on Tuesday. Kathleen Keesee, the president of Voice for Life, helped organize the trip. She said last year the group took four buses, but this year everyone fit on three. A large group of eighth-graders from St. Vincent Elementary School took up some seats.

No one could remember just how long they had been organized and going as a group. Keesee herself has attended the march for 25 years. Her granddaughter was born premature, and she realized she needed to be more active in pro-life issues.

"You see those babies no bigger than your hand fighting to live, and it just got me started," she said.

Mark Loos has been going to Washington for seven years. He runs 4 A * 4 LIFE, a pro-life ministry in Cape Girardeau, and Sunday he was put in charge of one of the buses.

"It'll probably be bigger [this year]," he said standing amid Vera Bradley bags and fleece blankets.

Loos said he expects more politics with this year being an election year.

"It's going to be a lot about finding the right candidate," he said.

Missouri Right to Life used to handle organizing the trip to Washington, but Voice for Life took over about six years ago, Keesee said.

Voice for Life is a pro-life organization that works closely with the Springfield/Cape Girardeau diocese. It hosts essay and poster contests and an annual T-shirt day in April.

"The bus trip is probably our biggest event," Keesee said.

On Jan. 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that laws prohibiting abortion violated a citizen's right to privacy, overturning all state and federal laws prohibiting it.

On Jan. 22, 1974, about 20,000 people marched to the Capitol to show dissent of the Roe decision, according to the March for Life Web site.

The march has grown to about 200,000 supporters. Loos said that in recent years, more young people have taken interest. The youngest person going this year is 8, said Dixie Troyer, a volunteer. Her teenage daughters and two friends are going as well.

"It's awesome that they can see they can have a voice in the government," Troyer said.

Most members of Voice for Life are Catholic, but other denominations are welcome.

"I'm the token Baptist who goes with the Catholics on the bus," Troyer said.

Troyer won't be alone, though. The march is well attended by a variety of pro-life groups.

"When you go up there you see lots of different denominations and people who aren't religious at all," Loos said. "And they're all there for the same cause: trying to end abortion."

The group that left from the St. Vincent parking lot will drive the 20 hours to Washington, sleep on a gym floor, attend the premarch rally, walk the walk and then board the buses to come back home by Wednesday.

charris@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246