QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — This was not Jane Haas’s first rodeo.
Haas helps coordinate the Right to Life of Adams County movement and has been an active member since late 1980.
“It’s been a long time,” she said on Jan. 24, shortly before a Sunday afternoon memorial drive around Quincy to accent the pro-life cause.
Traditionally, members of the Adams County chapter of the movement — one of 102 statewide — take part in a walk to bring attention to their message.
This year, a caravan of about 50 vehicles and 100 participants started from the parking lot of St. Peter Catholic Church at 2600 Maine. The vehicles worked their way west on Maine before turning north on Fourth Street, then east on Broadway before going south on 48th Street. The 15-minute excursion was capped by turning west off 48th at Maine and returning to St. Peter.
“This was the first year we’ve had a drive instead of walk,” said Haas, citing the various protocols tied to the ongoing COVID-19 panademic.
Most of the participating vehicles carried some sort of flag and/or signage connected with anti-abortion sentiments.
“We’re trying to educate people by embracing the culture of life,” Haas said. “We’re standing for life.”
The Adams County chapter of Right to Life has about 300 members, according to Haas, and is affiliated with the Illinois Federation of Right to Life.
Haas is a 1980 charter member of the local Right to Life group and took part in its first event in January 1981.
“We try and emphasize the sanctity of life,” she said.
Carolyn Breiddle is another longtime member of the Right to Life movement and believes strongly in its directive.
“It’s important because we need to stop abortion,” she said. “It’s got to stop.”
Ralph Fairchild, also a member of Adams County Right to Life, said he has been been involved in the cause for about 40 years, beginning when he was in his mid-20s.
“We’re trying to keep the abortion issue in the forefront and educate people on the issue,” Fairchild said. “We’re trying to change their hearts and minds.”
The U.S. Supreme Court recognized the constitutional right to abortion in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and has reaffirmed that right in subsequent decisions. Since 1973, more than 61 million abortions have been performed in the United States, but since 2010 states enacted 483 new abortion restrictions.
About 42,500 abortions a year are performed in Illinois, according to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, a research organization in New York City that tracks state abortion laws. That represents about 4.9% of all abortions in the United States.
Source: The Quincy Herald-Whig, https://bit.ly/3psOyO8
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