BIDDEFORD — On Thursday, about 20-30 people gathered at St. Joseph’s Church parking lot on Elm Street, braving the frigid temperatures as they waited to get on a bus and head to the nation’s capital. The group was to join many others from Maine and around the country in today’s March for Life, held annually to protest the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, which was decided 40 years ago.
Normally held on the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, which effectively struck down laws restricting abortion in many states, the march was postponed because this year’s anniversary, Jan. 22, was the date President Barack Obama was inaugurated for his second term as the country’s leader.
Preceding the march, a rally at noon will be held on the National Mall, and the group will then follow Constitution Avenue before ending at the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill.
About 500,000 people from around the country are expected to attend, said Portland diocese spokesman Dave Guthro.
Young and old were gathered in the Biddeford parking lot at 8:30 a.m. The buses, which started out in Bangor at 5 a.m., made three other stops, in Augusta, Lewiston and Portland, before arriving in Biddeford and then making a final stop in Washington today.
One hundred and eight people from Maine traveled by bus to the march, said Guthro.
The trip was sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.
Hillary Cusack of Sanford, a junior at the University of New England in Biddeford, said she was attending the march because she views the Supreme Court decision as a “travesty.”
“It’s been 40 years where babies have been murdered,” she said.
Cusack said she and her friends ”“ Rachel Normandeau, also a Sanford resident and UNE junior, and Molly Allison, a freshman at UNE ”“ were attending the event because it’s important for women to show their support for the pro-life movement, since they are most affected.
Joshua Malone, 15, a sophomore at Old Orchard Beach High School, said he was attending the March for Life “to make my stand against abortion.”
Logan Melnick, a freshman at OOB, said, “My sister recently had a baby. I’m very against abortion.”
“It’s important for youth to be there,” said Mike Drahos of Biddeford, who is the assistant director of the faith formation for youth with Good Shepherd Parish, which serves Biddeford, Saco, Old Orchard Beach and Lyman.
“Their generation is most affected by abortion,” he said.
But not all those making the journey were young.
Several members of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal community service organization, also attended.
Frank Pease, a member from Sanford, said the organization is pro-life, and he was there to help represent the 8,600 members of the Knights and their families in Maine.
About 500,000 people, representing all religious denominations, will be attending today’s march, he said.
Phil Lizotte, who is secretary for the state K of C organization, said he was going to Washington to “give our support for the pro-life movement and show support for the sanctity of life.”
In addition to area residents, Trish Hafford came from her home in Norwich, Vt. to catch the bus in Biddeford.
She said she was attending the march for the second time, because “it’s my mission to help change what is a society norm, abortion on demand.
“Everybody is created in God’s image,” said Hafford, who added, “abortion breaks my heart.”
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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