Local

Hundreds Gather For Annnual Mass Of The Unborn

January 23rd, 2014

On the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortions, Gov. Nathan Deal yesterday downplayed the need for legislative action on a bill that would in most cases ban abortion coverage through state employee insurance policies.As heard on the radio

Anti-abortion activists have been lobbying state lawmakers to pass S.B. 98, which would prevent abortion coverage through not only state plans, but also those offered on the state insurance exchange run by the federal government through the Affordable Care Act.

Deal said in the case of the former provision, “I think we’ve taken care of that,” referring to a move by the Georgia Department of Community Health last year to prevent such coverage for state employees. He said he hadn’t looked over the latter portion regarding federal law.

As lawmakers and anti-abortion activists gathered at the state capitol to rally for abortion restrictions, others joined local catholic clergy at a mass at Buckhead’s Cathedral of Christ the King for the annual Mass of the Unborn.

Atlanta Archdiocese Archbishop Wilton Gregory presided over the service, which commemorated the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision.

“It’s a day of bitter reflection at the impact that that Supreme Court decision has made over all our land and the more than 56 million lives that we have lost through abortion,” Gregory said.

After the service, churchgoers and hundreds of others lined up along a 2-mile stretch of Peachtree Road, holding signs that read “In memory of Roe v. Wade” and “Stand for life Atlanta.”

Katrina Lucisano and two of her five children drove from Duluth to participate.

“We take care of the endangered animals, but yet human life is no regard, so if we continue going like we are, we’ll just make ourselves extinct one day,” Lucisano said.

No counter protests took place near the church, though people on both sides of the issue were present outside of the State Capitol, where the mass had been held previously until this year.