Speaker: Abortion ruling will be reversed

 

By Aaron Foley

afoley@citpat.com -- 768-4944

 

The Jackson Citizen Patriot

Jackson, Michigan

 

Thursday, April 20, 2006

 

A national anti-abortion leader predicted Wednesday the Supreme Court in the near future will reverse the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

 

"The glacier is moving, and moving in our direction," said the Rev. Frank Pavone, president of the National Pro-life Religious Council.

 

Pavone spoke to about 250 people at Jackson Right to Life's annual dinner at the Country Club of Jackson, an event where he and local anti-abortion leaders were upbeat.

 

Pavone said more activist groups are sprouting up on college and high school campuses.

 

"Aside from political gains, we see the young people being more and more involved in the movement," he said before the dinner. "They have a strong awareness that they are survivors. They could have been aborted themselves."

 

Members of an anti-abortion group at Lumen Christi High School were among those in attendance.

 

"Every speaker has something different to share," said Mary Berkemeier, a senior at Lumen Christi who has attended the dinner in years past. "It's just a little reminder for all of us."

 

Kathy Potts, vice president of Jackson Right to Life, said in the past year, the organization has seen a decrease in abortions among Jackson women. No doctors in Jackson County perform abortions, but the organization tracks the number of local residents who travel elsewhere to have the procedure done.

 

"Our goals are just to reach more people in the community with the truth of the pro-life message," Potts said. "When women have abortions, the consequences are terrible, and no one ever tells them."

 

Pavone emphasized the importance of political figures taking a stance against abortion, which he described as "the greatest human rights struggle not only of our day, but of all time."

 

Several politicians, including Mayor Martin Griffin, U.S. Senate candidate Keith Butler and Rep. Rick Baxter, listened to him speak.