March for Life rallies in Washington, sensing victory within reach
By Anna Douglas, William Douglas and Alex Daugherty
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/poli...129123379.html

WASHINGTON - Thousands of anti-abortion activists massed on the National Mall in Washington on Friday, emboldened by a new Republican-led government and confident that President Donald Trump will fulfill his promise to put a conservative on the Supreme Court.

While the Right to Life March comes to the capital city every year around the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, long-time attendees said this year's event could be the last one that is framed as a protest. By 2018, these conservative activists hope to be celebrating new restrictions on access to abortion nationwide.

"Life is winning in America," Vice President Mike Pence told the rally. "That is evident in the election of pro-life majorities in the Congress of the United States of America."

Pence, the first sitting vice president in history to address this annual rally, said their movement was on the verge of victory with conservatives in control of both the White House and Congress. And soon a conservative will tilt the balance on the Supreme Court as well, he said, reiterating Trump's pledge.

The crowd erupted in cheers, reflecting what many described as a feeling that victory for the anti-abortion movement was in reach for the first time in more than a decade.

"It feels different. For the first time, the administration is on our side," said Brenna Lewis, a 22-year-old from Lexington, Kentucky. The full-time employee with Students for Life of America – a national organization that provides training, resources and support for anti-abortion college and high school student groups – handed out "I Am the Pro-Life Generation" signs.

"This is like the Super Bowl for the pro-life movement," she said

On Friday morning, Trump tweeted that he's in "full support" of the March for Life.

Trump wrote: "The #MarchForLife is so important. To all of you marching --- you have my full support!"



...Much of the crowd on Friday was comprised of Catholics who have a strong religious objection to abortion, a community that has had to come to terms with supporting a president who has been divorced multiple times and said during the 2016 campaign that he generally supports Planned Parenthood.

"I would not call Trump a great example
for Catholics," said 16-year-old Damien Walz of Dallas. "But as long as he will do what he promised, that's what matters."

Doing what he promised includes overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion at the federal level. Pence's remarks on Friday suggest that is a high priority. ...



...Lewis said she expects counter-protesters, too, as anti-Trump demonstrators try to hold on to the momentum they built by amassing half a million people on the mall for the Women's March on Washington the day after the inauguration.

Lewis said she had been confronted at that march last Saturday and was spit on.

"I've never heard 'F-U' directed at me so many times," Lewis said of the experience.

But as the official march began, there was barely any sign of counter-protesters, and the half-dozen who stood near the National Museum of African American History were largely ignored by the marchers....