012474 cn 25,000 March in Nation's Capitol In Support of a Pro-Life Amendment

By NORA CLARE SHARKEY and AUDREY KELLY

Four hundred buses - 22 of them from the Archdiocese - carrying some 20,000 people went to Washington on Tuesday for a massive pro-life demonstration on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

In what was described as a "people-to people" action held on the first anniversary of the Supreme Court's abortion-on demand decision, people from all over the Eastern seaboard and representatives from states throughout the nation, some 15 deep, circled the Capitol in a March for Life that called for rapid passage of an amendment to the federal constitution designed to protect all human life.

Senator James Buckley (Rep.-Con. N.Y.), sponsor of the Senate Human Life Amendment that is still in committee called Tuesday "a great day for all of American morality." He told the supporters of life that the unborn are entering "a new era of medical ethics" which must be challenged.

In all, some 25,000 individuals assembled at the Capitol steps to be told by Senator Buckley that the sponsors of the Amendment "cannot do it alone. We need your help." Practically, he asked them to write to their congressmen urging them to sign the House Discharge Motion which will release the Amendment that is bottled up in committee to the floor for a vote and avoid hearings. He said that action on the Senate-based amendment would begin within weeks.

The House motion needs 218 signatures to be moved out of committee. Once it reaches the floor for a vote, it can be discussed and debated. Senator Buckley suggested immediate action by amendment supporters so that the amendment can be moved toward passage.

Congressman Lawrence Hogan (Dem.-Md.), who has sponsored the amendment in the House said that Long Island Congressman Andrew D. Roncalo had challenged House Judiciary Chairman Peter W. Rodino to co-sponsor the House action as a way to move the amendment out onto the floor. Rep. Hogan, who told the crowd that it was "the largest ever I have seen on the Capitol lawn," that many of his colleagues, moved by the demonstration, had come to inquire about the discharge petition during the afternoon.

Some 1,100 people from the Archdiocese spent anywhere from five to seven hours on buses that left from Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Ulster counties early on Tuesday morning. They joined 48 other New York State Right to Life buses that came from as far north as Ogdensburg on the trip into Washington.

Reaction of the participants to the activity was "amazing", "incredible" and "beautiful" as the crowd grew to even larger than hoped for proportions. Among those from the Archdiocese who traveled to Washington were Bronx Episcopal Vicar Bishop Patrick V. Ahern and Assistant Director of the Office of Christian and Family Development, Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell.

Prior to the beginning of the 2 p.m. Convocation at which Rev. Warren Shaller delivered the invocation, representatives from various congressional and senatorial districts across the nation lobbied at the offices of their representatives to press for rapid action on the proposed Senate and House Human Life Amendments. Their personal visits were accompanied by the delivery of roses sent by constituents back home as symbols of their support of the March for Life.

Following the Convocation, Circle of Life Marches began around the Capitol building, the Supreme Court and inside the Capitol Rotunda. Participation in the rotunda was limited to representatives of the 50 states as an extension of their concern and support.

The day-long demonstration, at which participants carried red roses, the symbol of the Right to Life Movement, ended with a rally on the west steps of the Capitol that included invocations by religious leaders, statements from pro-life supporters and singing. This was followed by a "light for life" ceremony during which demonstrators carried flashlights and sang the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as Washington church bells tolled.