Churches, local people protest abortion with Life Chain

PATTERSON — Dozens of east St. Mary people took up their signs Sunday to protest abortion once again.
For the ninth straight year, members of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Patterson lined the north side of U.S. 90 near Cardinal Lumber & Supply for an hour and showed their opposition to abortion.
Members of nearby Bethel Pentecostal Fellowship also took part in the annual Life Chain as they have every year since the event started.
“We’re against abortion,” said Bethel member Leslie Fanguy, “and we want to let the world know.”
And, as has also been the case in recent years, the abortion debate has changed since the previous Life Chain.
Last year, the Rev. Herbert Bennerfield III of St. Joseph said, a pro-life Donald Trump administration and three new Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices were reasons for people opposed to abortion to be optimistic.
“We had a pro-life ad-ministration, and they pursued pro-life policies,” Bennerfield said.
This year, Trump has been replaced by the Biden-Harris administration, which is pro-choice. President Joe Biden’s proposed fiscal 2022 budget omits the Hyde amendment, which since 1976 has forbidden the use of federal funds to pay for abortions through programs such as Medicaid.
An attempt by Democrats to overturn the Hyde amendment, using a resolution in favor of the administration’s $3.5 trillion infrastructure proposal, was rejected by Republicans.
The biggest change in the abortion battle this year has been the passage of a new abortion law in Texas and the Supreme Court’s 5-4 refusal to stay the law pending further litigation.
Since last week, Texas has prohibited abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, usually about the sixth week of pregnancy. Because many women don’t learn they’re pregnant until after that point, the law is being called a de facto ban on abortions.
More controversially, the new law allows any private citizen to sue anyone suspected of assisting a woman to receive an abortion and will pay $10,000 to those who win such lawsuits.
The measures that effectively deputizes nongovernmental actors sets the Texas law apart from other so-called heart-beat laws and changes the debate over the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that prevents states from banning abortion completely.
The National Abortion Rights Action League described the $10,000 payment as a “bounty” and the legislation as a “vigilante” law.
“The anti-choice movement is determined to decimate reproductive freedom and intimidate providers, pregnant people, and those who love and care for them. Make no mistake, this law paves the way for anti-choice extremists to turn their dystopian vision into a horrifying reality — not just in Texas — but around the country,” NARAL said in a response to the Texas law.
For Bennerfield, the Texas law is an opportunity for women to consider the consequences of abortion.
“We were thrilled about that,” he said Sunday at the Life Chain. “They don’t know how you affect a baby with a beating heart.
“Years ago, a lot of ladies had abortions because they didn’t realize that.”
By the time the Life Chain began at 2 p.m. Sunday, about 60 people had arrived to participate, and more were coming.
“I think everybody who cares about life ought to be out here taking a stand for life,” said Bethel Pastor Marty Harden.