Last Saturday’s marches — Women’s March and March for Life — highlight differing opinions on abortion and history

Two days in January, just one day apart, mark historic national events which echo across America — both have made their way to Moscow.

The Women’s March was born on Jan. 21, 2017, the day after President Trump’s inauguration. While it has been four years since the original march, protesters continue to gather once a year on the nearest Saturday.

The other march, which initially took place on Jan. 22, 1974 — March for Life— protests the ratification of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which grants a pregnant woman the right to abort.

Here in Moscow, these marches have crossed paths on the third Saturday in January every year since the Women’s March first began.

Women’s March on the Palouse began in 2017 with a turnout of over 2,500 community members, according to previous reporting on Jan. 22, 2017. Increased governmental funding of women’s healthcare, voting accessibility and abortion rights were among the topics of discussion at this year’s Women’s March. Protesters toted signs with messages including “Keep Abortion Legal” and “End Period Poverty.”

“It’s easy to say, I don’t want to talk politics, I just don’t want to engage in it, it’s too much — but that’s really a sign of privilege to be able to say if I’m not interested or it’s just not important to me,” Dulce Kersting-Lark, one of the two Women’s March organizers, said. “There are lots of people who have to engage with the political process and they’d rather not either, but they’re forced to engage with it. So, we want to make sure that all of us are speaking and elevating the voices of those who might otherwise be marginalized.”

Linda Geidl, the former organizer of Right-to-Life, said Moscow’s March for Life began in line with 1974’s national march.

Geidl has been involved in Right-to- Life, the current organizers for March for Life, since 1977 after moving back to Idaho from Alaska. She said she was involved with anti-abortion work in Alaska as well.

“We have attended the March every year since 1977,” Geidl said.

While March for Life has no official religious affiliation, most of the attendees are members of various churches throughout Moscow, Geidl said.

Geidl was not religious when she first started supporting March for Life and while she is now, she said she puts logic and science in the forefront.

“Scientifically and biological that from the moment of conception we are dealing with a human life,” Geidl said. “Anyone who has taken basic biology could tell you that.”

Ty Knight, a march participant and member of Christ Church, spoke on his opposition to Roe v. Wade. Knight said while this year is important for Roe v. Wade because of national conversations to reverse the law, every year is important because, “life is always an important issue.”

“That’s the hope; that’s the goodness. That there’s forgiveness for those who’ve had abortions, for those who’ve advocated and allowed abortions, for those who are angry at abortionists,” Knight said.

Amy Wright, an LCSU nursing student and pro-abortion rights believer, came across Saturday’s March for Life after leaving the Women’s March. Wright said she doesn’t agree that March for Life doesn’t impede on separation of church and state.

“It’s the assumption that everybody here is Christian, and anything that is Christian is right,” Wright said.

For the participants in March for Life who aren’t Christian or otherwise religious, Knight said he believes the biology of women’s bodies’ ability to conceive children is beautiful.

“And (a women’s pregnancy is) a gift to be protected, to be shepherded, to be loved and quite simply not be killed,” Knight said.

Other March for Life supporters like Bobbi Finken, a supporter for
the last eight years, said she values children and wants more women to be open to the idea of life.

“We value the sanctity of life, from the womb to the tomb,” Finken said. “So even the elderly, everyone has value.”

On the other hand, according to Wright, March for Life’s mission is not respectful of women’s rights. She said she doesn’t believe being pro- abortion rights makes her “anti-life.”

“I don’t think anybody goes to get abortion (thinking), ‘Oh, this is great birth control,’ Wright said.

Wright, a Washington resident, said she’s never feared her right to abortion being taken away but is concerned for people who have less access to birth control, contraceptives and abortions.

While not directly addressed on Saturday’s March for Life, signs supporting the defunding of Planned Parenthood, which read “#defundPP” were held high by March for Life protesters.

Pullman’s Planned Parenthood, which is nearest in proximity, does offer services such as abortion, according to their website. Planned Parenthood in Pullman also offers birth control services, general health care for women and men, STI testing and more.

At Saturday’s Women’s March many were in favor of upholding and increasing U.S. government funding for Planned Parenthood.

Other key topics of discussion were the cost of healthcare in the U.S. and extra expenses women have to account for, such as feminine hygiene products. And in Idaho the sales tax is 6% which applies to feminine hygiene products.

“One thing some of the signs that I saw today brought up was how people have to pay to be a woman. That is a serious struggle,” Katya Bobenhouse, a Women’s March participant, said. “I don’t make a lot of money; I work in Idaho. I’m at minimum wage right now, and it is a struggle having to pay for women’s products. Definitely puts a damper on the paycheck.”

March for Life participant Finken, along with Sabrina Johnson and Meghan Blankenship, two Washington State University students, do not support any form of abortion.

The three of them said they were supporters of an ectopic pregnancy, a medical situation where the mother’s life is threatened.

An ectopic pregnancy is when a fertilized egg attaches to the fallopian tube or elsewhere outside of the uterus. If untreated, this can cause severe harm or even death to the mother, and the only way to treat it
is to remove the egg — ending the pregnancy.

Despite the contrasting opinions of the two marches, Finken said they always offer the supporters of the Women’s March hot chocolate — but she has never had anyone accept.

“They just share a different opinion and we honor their presence,” Finken said. “We’re not angry with you, we want to have dialogue, we want to be willing to talk.”

Alex Brizee and Ellen Dennis can be reached at [email protected]