Pro-life demonstrators protest abortion

A 60-year-old Bronxite came because she regretted having an abortion in her native Ecuador decades ago.

Another woman held a sign opposing abortion alongside Broadway on Sunday because she was discouraged by how many pregnancies in the borough are terminated.

And a St. Margaret of Cortona parishioner joined because the 73-year-old is concerned that younger generations have lost respect for life by engaging in sexually reckless behavior without being mature enough to see a pregnancy through.

The trio were among 14 people dispersed along Broadway, between West 254th and West 262nd streets, who marked the Catholic Church’s Respect Life Sunday by holding signs reading “Abortion Kills Children” and “Abortion Hurts Women.”

St. Margaret’s Respect Life Committee and the Bronx Right-to-Life Committee organized the borough’s eighth annual Life Chain demonstration. Barbara Meara, a Riverdalian who leads both committees, said the event usually draws at least 30 people, but many people did not show this weekend because of light rain.

Life Chains peaceful and relatively quiet pro-life protests, have taken place across the continent for the last 26 years. 

The signs received a lukewarm reception. Some cars honked their horns to express support, while another driver blared his horn for blocks and flashed a thumbs-down gesture. Because the signs were facing the street, few pedestrians stopped to study them or remark on their message. 

“I was just saying to someone who questioned me – adoption is better than abortion,” said Joe Sweeney, a retired reporter from Riverdale. “I said, ‘How did you get here? How did I get here?’”

Nora Rivera, 52, said a life was lost to abortion every day in the Bronx, which she believes goes against God’s will. 

According to the state Department of Health’s 2011 vital statistics, for every 1,000 live births in the Bronx, 887.4 pregnancies were aborted, totaling 19,252 terminated pregnancies.