By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – Opposite sides of Second Street, opposite views on abortion. That’s how things played out on a grey midday Tuesday in Springfield.
Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois said with the Dobbs decision a year ago, in which the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Row v. Wade and returned abortion jurisdiction to the states, said now is no time to rest.
“We must step up our struggle,” he told perhaps the biggest post-pandemic rally crowd outside the Capitol, “to conquer the evil forces of death.”
Paprocki told reporters afterward the fact that Illinoisans decisively sent pro-choicers such as Gov. JB Pritzker and supermajority Democrats to Springfield shows the people at large, not just those elected, must be persuaded.
Just before the Capitol rally, pro-choice forces counter-rallied on the lawn of the Illinois State Library across the street. “Abortion bans don’t prevent abortion,” said Heather Dykes. “They just make it more painful and more dangerous.”
With liberal abortion laws and large clinics positioned near borders, Illinois has made itself a Midwestern refuge for those seeking to terminate a pregnancy.
A March for Life followed the pro-life rally.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]
