By Kimberly Gasuras
A little more than 20 people met in front of the Crawford County Courthouse in Bucyrus on Saturday afternoon for a local March for Life rally.
Rita Hay, president of Crawford County Right to Life, said this is the fifth year for the local march.
“A lot of us can’t make it to Washington D.C. for the big march, so we started offering a local march,” Hay said.
Hay said her husband, Bucyrus Mayor Jeff Reser, and several other members of Holy Trinity and St. Joseph’s Churches did head to the nation’s capital to the main March for Life on Friday.
“They will be back on Sunday,” Hay said as she handed out signs to marchers as they arrived.
Hay said since Roe versus Wade happened in 1972, there have been more than 60 million abortions in the United States alone.
“That is just abortions that were done surgically,” Hay said.
When asked what she would tell a young teenage girl that is impregnated through rape or incest, Hay said the group’s focus is on education.
“For every child that is available for adoption, there are over 100 couples waiting to adopt,” Hay said. “We feel that if that person has an abortion, they are being violated a second time and will carry that with them.”
The group supports Voice of Hope that provides education, equipment and other items for expectant mothers and is located at 115 W. Rensselaer in Bucyrus.
“We support Voice of Hope through our main fundraiser which is a flower sale we hold every spring,” Hay said.
Hay said the group also holds a barbeque in October every year in conjunction with the Knights of Columbus.
“We are looking for some land that could be donated to us or sold to us at a reasonable price to construct a billboard on a well-traveled route,” Hay said.
Anyone with land available should call Hay at 419-562-8627. For more information about Voice of Hope, visit www.yourpregnancyoptions.org.