Buoyed by victories in the Texas Legislature and hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court may overturn Roe vs. Wade later this year, the North Texas March for Life takes to the streets in downtown Dallas on Saturday to mark the 49th anniversary of the decision that effectively legalized abortion.
The march opposing abortion rights will begin at noon at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and conclude with a rally outside the Earle Cabell Federal Building, where the Roe vs. Wade lawsuit was originally filed 50 years ago.
The group did not march in 2021 due to COVID-19.
“The theme of this year’s march is pro-lifers show up for women because a lot of times, pro-life kind of has that stigma. People like to say, ‘Oh, you just care about the baby.’ We care about the moms,” said Geralyn Kaminsky, executive director of Catholic Pro-Life Community.
The march comes just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court decided to allow new restrictions in Senate Bill 8 to remain in effect while allowing some legal challenges to proceed. The law that went into effect Sept. 1 bans abortions after six weeks or when fetal cardiac activity is detected.
The law which enables private citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” abortions was sent back to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of appeals last week to decide if medical licensing officials can enforce the law.
On Dec. 1, the high court also heard Dobbs vs. Jackson, a Mississippi case which directly challenges Roe vs. Wade. A decision is expected in June.
The organizers of the event are Catholic Pro-Life Community, Texans for Life Coalition, the Catholic Diocese of Dallas and Diocese of Fort Worth. The event will feature anti-abortion speakers, including Dallas Bishop Edward Burns.
Related events begin at 8 a.m. across Dallas at abortion clinics. Groups will gather outside the clinics to pray the rosary.
The march is expected to last until 2 p.m.
“When you are part of a ministry like pro-life it can kind of feel a bit isolated, because of the way things are portrayed in the media when it comes to being pro-life. But when you gather like this at a rally and march, and you start to see all of these people coming together, from different walks of life, from different faith backgrounds, who are all pro-life and coming together because of that to support moms, to support babies. It really is edifying,” said Theresa Schauf, the respect life coordinator for the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese.
Schauf wants to make sure that abortion opponents do not just come to Saturday’s event and be done with the movement for the year.
“I also want to encourage people that this be, you know, kind of like the launching point for other pro-life activities that they might be involved in in the coming year,” she said.
Texans for Life Coalition President Kyleen Wright, an anti-abortion activist for 46 years, says the roots of the family-friendly event date back to the 1980s as members of the anti-abortion community in Dallas wanted to separate themselves from the controversial Operation Rescue organization that paid Norma McCorvey, the woman known as Jane Roe, to say she was “pro-life.”
The Dallas bishop at the time, Charles Victor Grahmann, wanted a more prayerful approach than he felt was provided by Operation Rescue. Grahmann and a committee of others who shared that view started the Catholic Pro-Life Community organization and held a Mass instead of a protest.
The national March for Life is scheduled for Jan. 24 in Washington, D.C.
