Up and down the corners of Hover Street and Nelson Road on Sunday afternoon, clusters of people lined the corners with signs denouncing the practice of abortion.
For 27 years the Longmont chapter of the Knights of Columbus has organized the annual demonstration with invitations extended to local Catholic churches and other groups. Some people held signs asking for a yes vote for Proposition 115 on the Colorado ballot in November. But while many advocated for the proposed statewide ban on abortions after a fetus has reached a gestational age of 22 weeks, the national debate involving the potential replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the upcoming presidential election were barely evident.
“All manners of people, liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican many of them are on the same page,” said Loretta Lewis of Longmont, who was taking part in the local Life Chain demonstration for the first time. “We’re here to give other options to abortion. Adoption and other methods, and hope that someday abortion will be no more.”
Dozens of similar "peaceful, prayerful" Life Chain demonstrations were held across the country on Sunday, according to the Christian organization.
Longmont demonstrators were mostly greeted with indifference or friendly honks of support, with the occasional passerby yelling something indiscernible.
“It’s usually about five thumbs up for every one middle finger,” said Phil West, one of the event organizers. “We’re here to prayerfully protest the violence of abortion and hopefully persuade a few folks to get on board and support doing away with abortion.”
The protestors were a mix of men and women, with some families holding up signs as well. West didn’t get the impression that the looming ballot measure or the national vote had much of an impact on Sunday’s attendance compared to other years.
“We”ll see what kind of response we’ll get in the ballot box,” he said. “I think certainly, people are more aware of it but I don’t know if it really got anyone else to come out and join us.”
So-called late-term abortions account for less than 2% of all abortions performed annually in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Colorado is one of only seven states that doesn’t place a limit on how late a pregnancy can be terminated by the mother.
“I’m trying to be here as a testimony of conscience to our country. ... Let's acknowledge the human rights,” said Berthoud resident Chris Massarotti. “Roe vs. Wade was decided in precisely the same way as the Dred Scott decision. The personhood of someone was up for deliberation and what they said is ‘we don’t have any precedent in the court of law that says this is a person.’”
After 3 p.m. the crowd had dispersed for the day. But for part of the next hour, Kelcie Dexter could be seen standing by herself on the same corner with a pink sign that said: “My Body, My Choice.”
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Corrections: Loretta Lewis' name and Dred Scott were misspelled in the original posting of this story.
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