Operation Save America -

Anti-abortion groups are gearing up for speeches, protests and marches today, the 31st anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion.

Connecticut Catholics are taking a bus trip to Washington, where more than 100,000 anti-abortion supporters will converge at the Washington Monument. There, they will listen to speakers and mourn the 45 million fetuses they say have been aborted since the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision. Then they will march to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, people from across the state, led by 15 religious leaders, will assemble outside the federal courthouse in Bridgeport at 11:30 a.m. today to hold the judges responsible for permitting abortions, allowing homosexuality and banning prayer from public schools.

The Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas, assistant director of Operation Rescue/Operation Save America will lead the ministers and what is expected to be about 100 followers in an "ecclesiastical court," which will find the federal courts guilty of violating God's teachings.

"Enough is enough already," said Thomas. "For the last 40 years or so, we have witnessed a long train of abuses by our federal courts as American citizens have cast off every moral restraint. It is high time for the constitutional chains to be placed back on these rogue courts that legislate from the bench.

"We hope people will come to observe rather than disturb," said Thomas. "We are peace-loving, God-fearing people who have to resist this tyranny before it brings devastation on America."

A half-hour later, area Catholics, led by Stanley Scott, a 78-year-old Fairfield resident, will convene at the courthouse to say the rosary and protest Roe vs. Wade.

Susan Yolen, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Connecticut, said "not all religious leaders are anti-abortion."

Today at 11 a.m. on the steps of the State Capitol, pro-choice groups like Yolen's will announce the creation of the Connecticut Chapter of the Religious Coalition of Reproductive Choice.

"We have the support of United Methodist and Presbyterian ministers, as well as rabbis from Reform Judaism," said Yolen.

She also said pro-choice groups are putting their efforts into their own march on Washington in April.

On Saturday at 8 a.m., Thomas will lead Christian ministers and followers in a memorial service outside the Summit Women's Medical Center, 3787 Main St., Bridgeport, where abortions are performed.

The service will begin with bagpipes, marking the arrival of a hearse carrying a baby's casket.

During the hour-and-a-half service, couples who adopted children, as well as children whose parents turned away from abortion, will speak.

"We saved five babies out there on Saturday," Scott said of a recent demonstration outside the center. "That was amazing."

But, he also noted another 20 women went in and presumably underwent abortions.

Marilyn Carroll of Milford and Carmen Vazquez of West Haven, who counsel expectant mothers on alternatives outside Summit, also will speak.

"Events like this are meant to intimidate, frighten and dissuade women who have already made a choice," Yolen said.

During today's ecclesiastical court, the ministers will cite rulings they believe violate God's teachings, including disallowing prayer in public schools, removing the Ten Commandments from the walls of public schools and decriminalizing homosexuality.

At the end of the 90-minute court, Thomas said, demonstrators will pronounce a sentence that "those decisions are no longer binding on us, our children or our nation."

He said similar courts have been conducted by the Church of Jesus Christ at the U.S. Supreme Court and 40 federal courthouses.

"It is time for the church and all concerned citizens to repent of our sins and idolatry, rise up and roll back this tyranny before it is too late," Thomas said.

Michael P. Mayko, who covers legal issues, can be reached at 330-6286.

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