In Western Pa. and beyond, sides settle in for fight over reproductive rights

Jan. 26--Western Pennsylvanians are rallying around women's issues as the Trump administration takes charge -- but they're segregated into camps fueled by opposite agendas.

Pittsburgh officials estimated about 25,000 women and men marched Downtown on Saturday during an event coinciding with the reportedly 500,000-plus-strong March for Women in Washington. An anti-Trump tone permeated the demonstrations billed as feminist, "all-inclusive" and in support of women's rights.

"I'm not ovary-acting," read one protester's sign.

The night before, about 1,000 luminaries flickered against misty rain alongside a smaller, more somber group of men and women gathered at Kennedy Square along Highway 18 in New Castle, Lawrence County. The "Light for Life" prayer vigil mourned for aborted fetuses and ended with a service in the basement of St. Mary Mother of Hope Parish.

"They said the measure of a society is how they treat their most vulnerable," said Madeleine Robbins, 20, a student at Seton Hill University in Greensburg. She plans to join about 90 St. Vincent College students on one of 80 buses expected to bring more than 4,000 people from the region to Friday's March for Life, a national anti-abortion rally entering its 33rd year in Washington. "There's no one more vulnerable in our society than the unborn."

The clashing camps share at least one thing in common: Leaders of each say their movements are getting more energized, organized and intent on effecting change because of President Donald Trump.

Whose voice is louder?

Those who support legal abortion say they feel threatened by Trump's support to defund Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, and his pledge to appoint a conservative Supreme Court justice who might enable more states to restrict abortion access and potentially overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion.

Longtime anti-abortion activists are as enthusiastic as ever for the same reasons.

"I think right now we're in a better position than we've ever been," said Mary Katherine Scanlon, 84, of Aspinwall, who attended the first March for Life on Jan. 22, 1974, and has gone almost every year since. She's a bus captain for about 50 teens who plan to attend the march, departing early Friday from St. Mark's Catholic Church in Vienna. Washington County. "I hope that President Trump will be a positive force for our country."

In 2016, support for legal abortion reached its highest level in the two decades the Pew Research Center has tracked the issue, with 57 percent of American adults saying they support abortion in all or most cases.

"The majority of Americans, including those who supported Trump, they also support access to health care and Planned Parenthood and want abortion to stay legal in the United States," said Jessica Semler, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania.

Within a week of the election, Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Pennsylvania touted more than 200 new volunteers and a spike in individual donations. A "reproductive rights" rally drew a few hundred college students to the Cathedral of Learning in Oakland Sunday night.

"It's definitely a call to action for people not only in Pittsburgh but also across the country to get involved in reproductive rights in some capacity," said Frances Berger, 21, an organizer and spokeswoman for the University of Pittsburgh's American Association of University Women chapter.

But in recent years, anti-abortion supporters have proven to be some of the loudest and most influential voices in U.S. policymaking.

Surge in anti-abortion laws

Anti-abortion activists have netted numerous victories over the past decade.

Between 2011 and 2015, legislators in 32 states enacted a combined 338 abortion restrictions, according to the Washington-based, pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute. The group identifies Pennsylvania, along with Texas, Michigan and Missouri, as having the most stringent abortion laws.

"We haven't seen it wane," said Elizabeth Nash, senior policy analyst with the institute. "They have at the state level organized very well, and their voices are strong in the state capitols."

Columbus, Ohio-based Created Equal led an anti-abortion campaign that flew 70 tow banners and covered 5,200 miles, 18 cities and three battleground states, including Pennsylvania, before November's election.

This month, the GOP-controlled Kentucky Legislature kicked off the first abortion restriction of the year with a law that reduces its abortion ban to 20 weeks and requires women seeking abortions to view ultrasound scans with verbal descriptions of the fetus.

"It's almost like state legislators are looking for a bill that will challenge Roe v. Wade," Nash said.

State Rep. Kathy Rapp, a Warren County Republican who chairs the House Pro-Life Caucus, recently sent a memo seeking cosponsors for a bill she is reintroducing. The legislation -- which among other provisions would reduce the ban on abortions from 24 to 20 weeks -- seems likely to face an uphill battle to clear the desk of Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat and vocal proponent of Planned Parenthood.

"I would hope that the governor would examine this issue and look at just the results of the last election," Rapp said. "I do believe that the pro-life constituency played a major part in Pennsylvania voting for President Donald Trump."

Pre-Trump momentum

Anti-abortion efforts gained traction years before Trump became a presidential candidate -- between 2010 and 2013, 70 U.S. abortion clinics closed, including six in Pennsylvania.

Anti-abortion activists have benefitted from an influx of Republican-controlled legislatures, lobbying by conservative and faith-based groups, and 2016's release of controversial videos purporting to expose nefarious activity by Planned Parenthood.

Franklin County state Rep. Paul Schemel and fellow Republican state Rep. Judy Ward of Blair County said they plan to renew an attempt to divert state funding from Planned Parenthood, despite the organization saying it does not spend public money on abortions.

Similar legislation is making its way through Congress.

Earlier this week, Trump reinstated a 1980s-era order that prohibits sending federal money to global relief organizations that provide medical abortions or information about them.

Among three men cited on Trump's short list for the Supreme Court vacancy is Alabama Judge William H. Pryor Jr., who has dismissed Roe v. Wade as "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history."

"It's no secret" that Trump is a "pro-life president," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday during his first news conference.

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