Hundreds attend annual Life March South in downtown Baton Rouge Saturday

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The annual Life March South was held Saturday, Jan. 25 in downtown Baton Rouge.

Liz Murrill, solicitor general with the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, was the guest speaker at the event. Murrill will represent Louisiana as the Supreme Court takes up a challenge this spring against a 2014 state law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.

READ: Supreme to hear case involving Louisiana’s abortion law, pro-life and pro-choice advocates react

Also in attendance were Dr. David Cranford, president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention and senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Ponchatoula, EBR Councilwoman for District 10 Tara Wicker, Rep. Rick Edmonds, and Bishop Michael Duca. The Bethany Worship Band performed.

“We have a supreme court case coming up in Washington. We have our Love Life Constitutional Amendment on the ballot November 3, so there’s a lot to come for the pro-life movement in this state,” said Ben Clapper, director of Louisiana Right to Life. That amendment would ensure no state money is spent on abortions and removeS the right to abortion from the state constitution.

Having the right to abortion in the state constitution allows arguments to be made for abortion to remain legal in Louisiana even if federal laws protecting abortion are overturned.

Louisiana Right to Life, which organized the march, reports the march is one of five similar events happening across the state spanning three weeks. On Sunday, Jan. 19, thousands reportedly gathered in Shreveport, and on Tuesday, hundreds more gathered in Lake Charles. Also on Saturday, the second Life March Northeast was held in Monroe, and next Saturday (Feb. 1) thousands more are expected to attend the Louisiana Life March Cenla in Pineville-Alexandria.

Participants in the march said they gathered to bring a message against abortion.

On the other side of the debate, representatives from Planned Parenthood say they hope to spend a record 45-million dollars to elect a presidential candidate who supports abortion access.

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