Big pro-life rally set for downtown Portland Jan. 18

  PORTLAND — What is expected to be one of the largest pro-life rallies in Oregon history will take place downtown, even though two months ago the state and nation voted for people who seek to uphold abortion rights.
Normally held in Salem each January, the annual Roe vs. Wade Memorial Rally is being moved to Pioneer Courthouse Square Sunday, Jan. 18, to call attention to the estimated 50 million lives lost since 1973 since the U.S. Supreme Court authorized abortion on demand nationwide.
The rally is from 2 to 3 p.m. Gayle Atteberry, executive director of Oregon Right to Life, said the decision to move this month’s rally to Portland was made months ago.
“We see God’s sovereignty in this,” she said. “Our board made the decision that we wanted to make it bigger and take it to the heart of downtown Portland. They need the message of life more than any other city in the state of Oregon. We made this decision early in the year, but in retrospect, with the results from the election, I’m happier than ever that we made it.”
Atteberry said the January rally, normally held outside the State Capitol in Salem, usually draws about 500 people, but that in Portland thousands will be hoped for.
Atteberry acknowledged that the likelihood of those who disagree with pro-life efforts turning out and protesting also increases with the move to Portland.
Among the speakers at the rally will be Pastor Dale Ebel of Rolling Hills Community Church in Tualatin; Archbishop John Vlazny of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland; Esther Riplinger, founder of Oregon Right to Life’s Silent No More campaign; Beth Chase, Western regional coordinator for the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates; George Fox University student Jennifer Salame, and state Rep. Sherrie Sprenger of Stayton.
Atteberry said the rally also will introduced a new program, Life Team Coordinators, which she describes as a way that “people can affect their sphere of influence and save babies” through easy ways to be involved. For more information, go to www.ortl.org.