AUGUSTA — With the departure of former Gov. Paul LePage, who during his eight years in office often joined Hands Around the Capitol anti-abortion marchers, and the convening of a newly Democratic-controlled Legislature, anti-abortion advocates at the annual march Saturday said they see an uphill battle ahead of them in Maine even as abortion rates are on the decline. They urged their fellow activists to speak up for the unborn.

“What are you doing, individually, to get more pro-life candidates elected so we can have a pro-life majority that will protect the pre-born babies?” Sen. Stacey Guerin, R-Glenburn, asked attendees at a rally before marching to the Maine State House. “The pro-abortion people out-worked us and out-spent us in November; that’s the sad truth. And if you are sitting here today, or standing here today, and you didn’t work for a pro-life candidate, didn’t donate to a pro-life candidate, then you are part of the problem.”

The annual Hands Around the Capitol demonstration brought together abortion critics, who face an uphill climb now that Democrats control the Legislature and Blaine House.

Mainers who favor restricting abortion rights walk Saturday from St. Michael School in Augusta to the Capitol building. Staff photos by Joe Phelan

Forty-six red roses rest outside the State House, a symbol of the number of years that have passed since the 1973 Supreme Court ruling lifting abortion bans nationwide.

Hundreds of anti-abortion advocates rallied Saturday morning in the gymnasium of St. Michael School before marching, in single-digit temperatures, to the Capitol to mark – and mourn – the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that lifted bans on abortion nationwide. They joined hands and spread out around the State House as organizers rang a bell 46 times, but they appeared to fall short of having enough participants to completely encircle the State House hand-in-hand.

Dennis Guay of Sanford came to the rally again this year and marched with several other members of the Knights of Columbus, who marched with a banner that said “Respect Life.”

He said he didn’t care about the cold weather because taking a stand against abortion was too important.

He said the Democrats gaining majorities in both chambers of the Legislature “is going to hurt” the anti-abortion cause and also make it more likely that assisted-suicide legislation could be reintroduced and pass.

Teresa McCann-Tumidajski, executive director of Maine Right to Life, urged attendees to speak out against L.D. 20, “An Act To Provide Coverage for Abortion Services for MaineCare Members,” which would require the state Department of Health and Human Services to provide coverage to MaineCare members for legal abortion services.

“We can never allow this to happen,” she said. “Contact your legislators and tell them: No taxpayer-funded abortions, ever.”

Former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, whom McCann-Tumidajski called “the only pro-life congressman in all of New England,” and who received a standing ovation from the crowd, said a tragedy in his life decades ago – the death of his wife and his father-in-law, who both drowned in a riptide – left him alone to raise his son, Sam, and illustrated how precious life is. He said he couldn’t imagine his life without Sam.

He said statistics show that only 25 percent of Catholics vote, and he urged attendees to speak out against abortion and write letters to elected officials who, he said, will hear from their opponents, too.

“It’s critically important to speak up. The good Lord wants warriors,” he said. “You’re a warrior. I’m a warrior. If you don’t participate in this process, we know who will.”

Angel Murchison, who came to the rally from Presque Isle, said she’s hopeful that Democratic control of the Legislature will not mean anti-abortion advocates will go unheard in the State House.

“I don’t care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican; God is God of both,” she said before the rally. “We need to come together to fight issues, not one another.”

McCann-Tumidajski said since Roe v. Wade, “61 million unborn children have been snuffed out by abortion.”

But she said abortion rates in Maine are declining, dropping by 19 percent since 2009, and by 2 percent from 2016 to 2017.

Keith Edwards can be contacted at 621-5647 or at:

kedwards@centralmaine.com

Twitter: kedwardskj

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