Yesterday, Oct.2 was Respect Life Sunday. Members from our parish participated in the "Life Chain" demonstration. You can't tell from this photo (taken from the Rome News-Tribune website) but I'd estimate that there were about 75 people there.The newspaper has this:
"Dylan Bryant (from left), Mary Kate Bagwell and Ellen Tomlin hold signs on Broad Street as part of the National Life Chain. The annual event takes place across the country on the first Sunday in October in more than 1,500 cities. Participants stood on the sidewalk silently in prayer holding anti-abortion signs. 'We are celebrating life,' said participant Charles Betz. 'We’re celebrating all aspects of life and praying for those whose lives were lost. We’re hoping the culture of life will overcome the culture of death.'
Several people took part in the event with participants lining the intersection of Turner McCall Boulevard and Broad Street."
We met at the parish hall at 2:30 Sunday, before walking down to the intersection. Those of us participating were advised ahead of time that there might be some harassment and we should not confront anyone who might not appreciate our being so visible.
During the "silent prayer" one woman passerby who was stopped for a traffic light began yelling at me......nothing horrible....she simply rolled down the car window and began yelling "Hey Man" at me several times. I ignored her, yet she continued to yell at me until the light changed.
About 3:30, a young man began walking among the group, trying to draw someone out, but none of us would speak to him. At one point, he stood very close to one of the teen aged girls, trying to intimidate her, I suppose. He didn't succeed, He finally gave up and walked away.
About 15 minutes before our scheduled hour was up, a middle aged woman started doing the same as the young man had done earlier. However, she would really get in peoples' faces. She had information on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies, if any of us were interested. I'm sure it was information on condoms and /or birth control pills. No one had much to say to her either. She followed us back to the church, but stopped to talked to the policeman parked outside.
So, all in all, the harassment was minimal. No one was arrested or beat up. I'm pretty certain that the anti-abortion folks went away happier than the "pro-choice" folks did.
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