Rockland anti-abortion marchers get up early … *yawn*
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- January
- 22
By about 6 a.m. this morning the bus scheduled to leave from St. Joseph’s Church in Spring Valley for Washington, D.C., still hadn’t arrived yet; and the about 55 people heading to the nation’s capital to participate in the 35th annual March for Life rally, instead, attempted to keep warm, idling in their cars.
Today hundreds of people from the Lower Hudson Valley will join thousands others to protest the 35th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, the landmark 1973 case that legalized abortion.
As those departing from St. Joseph’s sipped their coffees and waited patiently in their cars that were parked against the backdrop of a frosty dawn sky, I talked to a few travelers to see what lured them out of their warm beds so early in the morning.
(The Donahues of Stony Point. One of about 55 families heading from St. Joseph’s Church in Spring Valley to the nation’s capital to participate in the March for Life. From left to right: Ryan, 16, Shannon, 4, Thomas, 6, and Chris, 40.)
Erin Stritmater, 16, of Port Jervis, Orange County, came with her aunt, Katherine Breuninger, of Garnerville. This is Stritmater’s first time attending the rally.
“My aunt asked me about it,” the teen said, “and I thought it was for a good cause, so I said. ‘yeah.’
“I don’t think people should have abortions,” she said, “I think it’s wrong.”
Huddled in their car, Stritmater said she prepared for the day’s brisk weather by packing extra socks and wearing heavy pants and a big coat.
Elaine Peneno, 62, of Ridgewood, N.J., was with her friend Betty Selkirk, 56, of Congers. The two got up at 4 a.m. to make it to the rally. Peneno said her family tried to deter her from attending the march, using the day’s weather forecast to persuade her.
“My family said, ‘You know, it’s supposed to rain, why don’t you just not go,’ ” she said, laughing. “And I said, ‘No, no, no, I don’t care what it’s doing  raining, snowing  I’m going because it’s very important.”
Peneno, who will be attending the march for the first time, called the trip her maiden voyage.
“I absolutely am opposed to the Roe versus Wade opinion,” she said, “and I figured it was time for me to stand up and shout to the world that’s what I believe.”
This is Selkirk’s second year participating in the march.
“It was a wonderful experience,” she said of her first time, “and I have to go again and I would like to go every year to let Washington, D.C., know we feel that abortions are murdering innocent babies every day.”
Radcliff Blackwood, 54, of Nyack, and his wife, Ann Marie, 42, also were participating for the second time. The couple said testimonies in a previous march from people who were nearly aborted had moved them to come again.
“We saw kids who were supposed to be aborted,” Radcliff Blackwood said. “They were there just saying, ‘If my mom had made that decision, I would not be here today.’ And they were college students. That was something we thought was pretty good.”
Those opposed to abortion came in all ages, including 6-year-old Thomas Donahue, who asked, “If a mom doesn’t want a baby, why do you want to kill it? Why can’t you just give it away to (an)other mom?”
By about 6:45 a.m., the bus had arrived and march participants were settling in their seats for the four-hour trip. Father Brenden Gormley, of St. Paul’s Church in Congers, led the group in a prayer and the group was on their way.
Check back for updates throughout the day.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 8:03 am by Christina Jeng. 
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