First post-Roe March for Life attracts thousands of pro-life activists in Pennsylvania

In the first March for Life rally in the United States since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, thousands of pro-life advocates gathered around the steps of Pennsylvania's state Capitol on Monday to celebrate the return of abortion legislative power to the states, and to call on stricter laws to protect fetal life.  

Three months after the Supreme Court decided on ​​Dobbs v. Jackson, which gave back to the states the authority to make their own laws on abortion, participants in Harrisburg's March for Life rallied for state lawmakers to ban the practice.



Among the political figures in attendance was Republican gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who told the Daily Signal that “Pennsylvania is pro-life,” and that he believes Democratic abortion extremism will play in GOP’s favor this coming midterm election.

According to PA state Rep. David Maloney, abortion advocates like US Senate candidate and Lt. Governor John Fetterman and Attorney General Josh Shapiro are "out of touch," given the massive turnout at the march. The state Department of General Services estimated the crowd size to be somewhere between, 5,000 and 5,500, according to Penn Live. 
 

Keely Burke, a 27-year-old mom who recently had her first baby, said she would love to see PA join the ranks of states that have already passed abortion bans.

“That will be a great day that day babies are fully protected just like we are,” Burke said to Penn Live.

“This is definitely a single issue thing for me. I will only look at people who are prolife and that’s who I will vote for and if they don’t, they will not be getting my vote.”

Holding up a sign that read Equality Begins in the Womb, Chelsea Wenhold advocated that unwanted babies be put up for adoption.

“There’s lots of families who want babies who can’t have their own kids,” she said, also a pro-life single-issue voter.

“I vote prolife,” she said. “I would forgo other things to vote prolife. I was raised prolife. I believe that’s what God wants.”

Amongst the attendees were pro-life families who were proud of adopting.
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Addressing the crowd, State House Speaker Bryan Cutler thanked everyone for their advocacy and prayers in helping to defeat Roe.

“I told you last year I felt changes were coming in our commonwealth,” he said. “I don’t know that any of us anticipated how big a change that was.”

“We cannot take our momentum for granted,” he continued. “This is not a time to let up. In the next several months the men and women in this stage and those in Washington will likely find ourselves in some of the most important pro-life debates and votes that we will ever likely have the opportunity to make. We cannot make these votes without your support, your voices, your prayers. Your energy is crucial to keeping that momentum on our side.”

Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, 22 state legislatures have moved to restrict abortions. The Republican-led General Assembly of Pennsylvania in July passed a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to ensure there is no guarantee to abortion rights nor the public funding of abortions in Pennsylvania. That proposal must pass the General Assembly in the next legislative session that begins in January before going to the voters for ratification.