"Thank you for supporting the unborn babies," the card reads, according to Gayle Ruzicka, the conservative organization's president who said this effort began in 1990. "Most all of [the legislators] put the pins on. . . . It's far more effective than anything else we can do."
Anti-abortion efforts in the reddest of states tend to be more subdued. There used to be rallies in the Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 22, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. But since Utah is "so pro-life" and has "some of the best laws you can pass," Ruzicka said offering thanks is her favored approach.
The activism elsewhere looked different this week.
In Washington, on the court decision's 35th anniversary, anti-abortion activists came out in droves, braving the elements to support their cause. They were there for the March for Life, an annual event to coincide with Roe v. Wade, and their message was clear. With a presidential election looming, they want a leader who won't let them down.
"Those who are voiceless in the world need people to stand up for them," said Cory Heiman, 20, a student at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, and a backer of presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, whose supporters were the most visible amid the tens of thousands who came out to demonstrate. "Abortion is killing, whether it's surgical or not."
A recent national study showed abortion rates, and the number of surgical abortions, are on the steady decline. But nonsurgical procedures, incorporating the morning-after pill or RU-486, are growing. That doesn't sit well with abortion foes.
"All life, no matter its size, needs to be treated with dignity and respect," said Veola Burchett, the family and pro-life director at the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City. "We as a society have an obligation to take care of that life until its natural end."
While Ruzicka sends out cards and pins, Utah's Catholics resort to prayer.
On the Sunday afternoon before Jan. 22 each year, a special service is held at the Monument for the Unborn in Salt Lake City's Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Last Sunday, Burchett said about 35 of the Catholic faithful gathered in Mount Calvary to do a rosary for life.
But that figure, she added, doesn't tell the whole story. Homebound church members were encouraged to recite their own prayers, as were others who couldn't make it to the cemetery gathering. Similar services, at other Utah monuments for the unborn, were also set to coincide with Salt Lake's.
"Spiritually,we're a larger group," she said. "The reason it matters is because we firmly believe that all life is sacred."
jravitz@sltrib.com
Religion News Service contributed to this story.
