Jan. 22 Photo Brief: 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, dancing at the Inaugural Ball, self-defense classes for Indian women, blood ivory
The 40th anniversary of the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade, a sweet moment between Barack and Michelle Obama at the Inaugural Ball, self-defense classes for Indian women on the rise, protests in Kenya highlight increased poaching of rhinos and elephants and more in today’s daily brief.
-
- Sarah Weddington successfully argued the Roe v. Wade case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973. has a bound copy of the decision signed by the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court that is shown at her office in Austin, Texas, on January 14, 2013. (David Woo/Dallas Morning News/MCT)
-
- People protest on January 22, 2013 in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC to mark the 40th anniversary of a landmark US Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing abortion rights under the Constitution. (Fabienne Faur/AFP/Getty Images)
-
- People protest on January 22, 2013 in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC to mark the 40th anniversary of a landmark US Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing abortion rights under the Constitution. (Fabienne Faur/AFP/Getty Images)
-
- U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama dance together during the Comander-in-Chief’s Inaugural Ball at the Walter Washington Convention Center January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. Obama was sworn-in for his second term of office earlier in the day. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
-
- Thai and foreign Buddhist monks light candles while chanting at Buddhamonthon in Nakorn Pathom province on January 22, 2013. 1,128 Buddhist monks from Dhammakaya temple lit candles in homage of Lord Buddha. (Pornchai Kittiwongsaul/AFP/Getty Images)
-
- Aymara indigenous peasants attend celebrations for the third anniversary of the Plurinational State of Bolivia outside Quemado palace in La Paz, on January 22, 2013. (Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty Images)
-
- Soldiers in the Afghan National Army relax by playing volleyball at Forward Operating Base Azizullah in Maiwand District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, January 22, 2013. (Andrew Burton/Reuters)
-
![A man shouts during a protest on January 22, 2012 in Nairobi with the word's 'Blood Ivory' painted across his face. Affiliates of an amorphous activist group called Kenyans United Against Poaching took to the streets to put pressure on the government to declare the ongoing rampant poaching of rhinos and elephants, now at recently unprecendented levels, a national disaster. According to a recent report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, IFAW, last year, 2012 stands out as the annus horriblis [Latin for 'year of horrors'] for the World's largest land mammal with statistics standing at 34 ton of poached ivory having been seized, marking the biggest ever total of confiscated ivory in a single year, in the 24 years since detailed records began, outstripping by almost 40 per cent last year’s record of 24.3 tonnes. (Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images)](https://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/AFP_Getty-516686482-760x515.jpg)
- A man shouts during a protest on January 22, 2012 in Nairobi with the word’s ‘Blood Ivory’ painted across his face. Affiliates of an amorphous activist group called Kenyans United Against Poaching took to the streets to put pressure on the government to declare the ongoing rampant poaching of rhinos and elephants, now at recently unprecendented levels, a national disaster. According to a recent report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, IFAW, last year, 2012 stands out as the annus horriblis [Latin for ‘year of horrors’] for the World’s largest land mammal with statistics standing at 34 ton of poached ivory having been seized, marking the biggest ever total of confiscated ivory in a single year, in the 24 years since detailed records began, outstripping by almost 40 per cent last year’s record of 24.3 tonnes. (Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images)
![A man shouts during a protest on January 22, 2012 in Nairobi with the word's 'Blood Ivory' painted across his face. Affiliates of an amorphous activist group called Kenyans United Against Poaching took to the streets to put pressure on the government to declare the ongoing rampant poaching of rhinos and elephants, now at recently unprecendented levels, a national disaster. According to a recent report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, IFAW, last year, 2012 stands out as the annus horriblis [Latin for 'year of horrors'] for the World's largest land mammal with statistics standing at 34 ton of poached ivory having been seized, marking the biggest ever total of confiscated ivory in a single year, in the 24 years since detailed records began, outstripping by almost 40 per cent last year’s record of 24.3 tonnes. (Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images)](https://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/AFP_Getty-516686482.jpg)
-
- A man stands behind a voting booth with a dog as he picks his ballot for the parliamentary election in a polling station in Tel Aviv January 22, 2013. Israelis voted on Tuesday in an election that is expected to hand hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a third term, opening the way for a showdown with Iran and bolstering opponents of Palestinian statehood. (Nir Elias/Reuters)
-
- Fans watch the tennis action at Rod Laver Arena during the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 22, 2013. (Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)
-
- A Free Syrian Army fighter member of Sadik unit of Tahrir al Sham brigade fires his Draganov sniper rifle from inside a house during heavy fighting in Mleha suburb of Damascus January 22, 2013. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
-
- A woman climbs during the opening of the rope park at the Shimbulak Ski Resort in the Tien Shan mountains outside Almaty January 22, 2013. The newly opened park is world’s highest rope park mounted on artificial supports, said its designers. (Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)
-
- Baishali Chetia, 30, a freelance visual artist, takes part in a Krav Maga class, an Israeli self defence technique, in New Delhi January 7, 2013. “Men can never understand the lack of freedom as we do. For a woman, to learn how to fight and defend herself from any kind of physical assault, to thrive to succeed in the field of martial arts, which is traditionally considered a male domain, is the best way to break away from the shackles of gender stereotypes which say that women can’t protect themselves and therefore they shouldn’t step out of their house late in the evening without being escorted by a male member of the family or a male friend,” said Baishali, who has been taking Krav Maga classes for the last year. Since a medical student died after being gang raped on a bus in New Delhi, the issue of women’s security in India has been under the spotlight. (Mansi Thapliyal/Reuters)
-
- French President Francois Hollande addresses a joint meeting of the German lower house of parliament, Bundestag and French National Assembly at the Reichstag in Berlin January 22, 2013, during a day of celebrations marking the 50th Anniversary of the Elysee Treaty that sealed a reconciliation between the former adversaries. (Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)
-
- A leader of a powerful street gang with a tattoo on his head stands in front of a mural of El Salvador’s coat of arms painted on the wall of a jail, which houses inmates between the ages of 13 and 25, in Tonacatepeque January 21, 2013. Leaders of the Mara street gangs, who are themselves imprisoned at another location, were granted permission to visit the jail to talk to its inmates about the truce, signed on March 2012 by representatives of the country’s two most powerful gangs Mara Salvatrucha and the 18th Street gang (Mara 18), according to local media. The tattoo design features part of El Salvador’s coat of arms and the word “dragons.” (Ulises Rodriguez/Reuters)
-
- Traditional dolls are displayed at shop, ahead of Moulid al-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Mohamed, in old Cairo January 22, 2013. For the first time this year, some of the bridal dolls traditionally sold to be given away during Moulid al-Nabi are veiled, reflecting conservative religious sentiment in Egypt under the Muslim Brotherhood. (Amr Dalsh/Reuters)
-
- A Pakistani scavenger searches for recyclable materials at a landfill site in Lahore on January 22, 2013. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)
-
- An Indian sadhu – holy man – performs evening prayers on the bank of the Sangam, the confluence of the Rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on January 22, 2013. The Kumbh Mela in the Indian town of Allahabad will see up to 100 million worshippers gather over the next 55 days to take a ritual bath in the holy waters, believed to cleanse sins and bestow blessings. (Sanjay Kandjia/AFP/Getty Images)
-
- A plane flies over a residential area to land at Heathrow airport in west London on January 21, 2013 after the airport announced further flight cancellations due to adverse weather. London’s Heathrow Airport warned of further flight cancellations on January 21 which would leave thousands more passengers stranded on the fourth day of delays after heavy snow swept across Britain. (Andrew Cowie/AFP/Getty Images)
-
- Kashmiri muslim’s watch from a window as Yasin Malik chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) delivers a speech to activists during a protest in Srinagar on January 21, 2013. The JKLF organised a protest rally to mark the 23nd martyrdom anniversary of Gaw Kadal massacre where more than 52 people were killed and 250 sustained bullet injuries when Indian troops opened fire on January 21,1990. Kashmir has been hit by an insurgency since 1989 that has left more than 47,000 people dead by official count. (Rouf Bhat/AFP/Getty Images)
-
- Young people shout slogans as they hold Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych portraits during a rally supporting the jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko in front of the president’s office in Kiev on January 21, 2013. Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka on Friday accused Ukraine’s jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko of organizing the 1996 murder of a powerful lawmaker and warned that a guilty verdict could put her behind bars for life. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images)
-
- A French soldier wearing a skeleton mask stands next to a tank in a street in Niono, on January 20, 2013. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said today that the goal of France’s military action in Mali was to retake control of the entire country from Islamist militants who have seized the north. “The goal is the total reconquest of Mali. We will not leave any pockets” of resistance, Le Drian said on French television. (Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images)
-
- Tim Coulson huntmaster at the Lauderdale Hunt exercises the hounds in the snow at Scarce Law on January 21, 2012 in Lauder, Scotland. Widespread snowfall is affecting most of the UK with school closures and transport disruption. The Met Office has issued a red weather warning for parts of Wales, advising against all non-essential travel as up to 30cm of snow is expected to fall in some areas today. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Prayers, marches mark anniversary of landmark abortion ruling
Ian Simpson | Reuters
12:30 p.m. EST, January 22, 2013
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Prayers, marches and protests kicked off in Washington on Tuesday to mark the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, even as battles over the issue have largely shifted from the federal courts to statehouses.
Many of the anti-abortion protests are the latest editions of those held each year around the anniversary of the January 22, 1973, ruling that legalized abortion in the first three months of pregnancy.
The protests come in the wake of a Pew Research Center poll which found that most Americans remained opposed to overturning the decision, with opinions little changed over two decades.
The Christian Defense Coalition will place flowers on the sidewalk in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, representing the number of abortions the group says are carried out daily in the United States.
The highlight of anti-abortion events is expected to be a March for Life rally near Capitol Hill on Friday, with former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum among the scheduled speakers.
“The March for Life is an important opportunity for us to send a message to our elected officials that they must support policies that foster a culture of life,” the former Pennsylvania senator said in a statement.
The rally, which has drawn thousands of protesters in past years, will be followed by a march on the Supreme Court building.
Separate prayer services also are scheduled in Washington by the National Pro-Life Religious Council and the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
The bishops have urged U.S. Catholics to take part in “nine days of prayer, penance and pilgrimage” around the Roe v Wade anniversary.
Among other anti-abortion events, the conservative Family Research Council is hosting its yearly ProLifeCon on Friday, which gathers bloggers, activists and lawmakers.
Panel discussions, including one organized by the anti-abortion Americans United For Life, will focus on the future of the Roe decision and reproductive rights.
Abortion rights campaigners have few Washington events scheduled around the anniversary, with NARAL Pro-Choice America promoting “Blog for Choice Day” on Tuesday.
Most events marking the anniversary are in the last half of the week following President Barack Obama’s second inauguration on Monday. The swearing-in attracted hundreds of thousands of onlookers and shut down much of the city.
The Washington events come as the battle over abortion has spread to states.
The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health and rights organization, said this month that 2012 brought the second-highest number of state-level restrictions, trailing only 2011.
“More than half of all U.S. women of reproductive age (15-44) now live in a state that is hostile to abortion rights, whereas fewer than one-third did a decade ago,” the group said in a statement.
Recent Washington fights over reproductive rights have centered on President Barack Obama’s healthcare law. The Senate in March rejected a Republican measure that would have let employers opt out of birth control coverage and other services on moral grounds.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Nick Zieminski)
Baltimore neighborhoods
Baltimore street photographers
Year in review
Freddie Gray: protests, aftermath
24 hours with...
A. Aubrey Bodine
Viewing Baltimore from above
sky
Jan 28, 2013 @ 18:03:38
Abortion will one day be viewed as a holocaust.