Thousands of abortion opponents lined Greater Cincinnati streets Sunday in hopes of changing the law through the changing of hearts.

        Many of the thousands who attended the Greater Cincinnati Life Chain, sponsored by a coalition of 29 anti-abortion organizations, said the political question of abortion might be complicated, but the answer is not.

Ryan Grossheim (left) flashes his meesage to drivers on the Roebing Suspension Bridge. (Gary Landers photos) | ZOOM |

        “I believe everyone knows that killing is wrong, but situational ethics affects that,” Jerry Eppstein, 61, of Reading said as he stood Sunday on the Roebling Suspension Bridge over the Ohio River with his wife, Mary — part of a chain of people. “God makes the rules, not me.”

        Mr. Eppstein is a member of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church in Reading, one of many Christian churches whose members joined rallies in Northern Kentucky, downtown Cincinnati, Lebanon, Hamilton and Brown County, Ohio.

        The event, planned since May, came on the heels of last week's approval of the abortion pill RU-486 for use in the United States.

Life Chain participants line up near Fountain Square. | ZOOM |

        The downtown Life Chain was to stretch from Madison Avenue in Covington up Vine Street and Reading Road, but on some downtown blocks there were far more empty spots on the chain than occupied ones. Other blocks were packed.

        There did not appear to be any abortion-rights supporters countering the downtown event.

        Life Chain Chairman Burr Robinson said 7,000 attended, based on church sign-ups and the number of placards handed out. The event was billed as “one of the largest pro-life events ever in southwest Ohio.”

        Those who lined the sidewalks, some with their children and grandchildren, expressed dismay at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of RU-486, ending a 12-year battle.

        But they consider it an obstacle to overcome, not a deterrent to being heard.

        “We don't wish to push it down anyone but it's very important for us,” said Tim Wells, 38, of Cheviot, a member of Monfort Heights United Methodist Church.

        “Let's not say abortion, let's say kill,” James Howard, 60, of Fayetteville in Brown County said as he stood on Vine Street downtown with his daughter and four grandchildren. “Because that's what it is.”

        For some, the question of abortion leads to the answer of adoption.

        Ann Pullem, 39, of Morrow came with her two birth children, and her daughter, Sarah, whom the Pullems adopted.

        “We think of the millions of Sarahs who haven't had the chance to be here,” Mrs. Pullem said. “It really hits home for her. Her birth mother made the loving option.”

        Surrounded by her adoptive parents and siblings, Sarah said: “My life mother made the wrong choice to have kids out of wedlock but the right choice to put me up for adoption.”

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