Jeff Moore, youth leader at St. Patrick’s Church in Glen Cove, and José Garcia (at right), a youth group member, hold a banner as part of “Stand Up for Life”
TLIC photos/Pete Sheehan

Huntington Station — Almost 20 years ago Marianne Wright, with her infant daughter in tow, attended her first “Life Chain” along Route 110 here, joining hundreds of others who stood with signs denouncing abortion.
“I think I have come every year since,” Wright commented. Last Sunday, Wright was here again, with the respect life committee of St. Anthony of Padua Church in East Northport and 600 other people for what is now known locally as “Stand Up For Life.”
She remains as convinced as she was two decades ago that this is where she should be. “It is important for us to be present to people as they drive by” the one-mile stretch from Jericho Turnpike past the Walt Whitman Mall to Barnes and Noble Booksellers here.
“Going about their daily lives and business they can forget the life-and-death situations going on in abortion clinics every day,” Wright commented. “This is a nice, peaceful way to make a statement, to remind them.”
Some of the witnesses lining Route 110 Oct. 5 were not even born when Wright first participated.
“I want to stand up for the unborn,” said Lizzy Kornobis of St. Christopher’s Church in Baldwin. “Abortion is disgusting, and it’s wrong. I don’t care if you’re Catholic or not.” Lizzy, a freshman at Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead, came with a busload of other students from Sacred Heart and Cham-inade High School in Mineola.
“I think it makes a difference,” noted Lizzy, a member of the school’s chapter of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. “It gets people thinking.”
“Abortion is the same as murder. It doesn’t matter if the government allows it or not,” said James Curtin, parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes in Malverne and a freshman at Chaminade. “People will start to question what abortion is when they see us here.”
Veterans and newcomers gathered despite the threat of rain and maintained a usually silent presence as traffic zoomed or plodded by. Participants held signs with messages like “Abortion Kills Children” and “Love Them Both” (the baby and the mother), along with their Spanish equivalents.
Participants reported that most of the responses from passing cars were positive, such as friendly honks and cheers, but there were some derisive shouts, curses, and gestures. Toward the end, a boisterous trio of young men with makeshift “pro-choice” signs walked up and down and shouted from the opposite side of Route 110.
Though their purpose was serious, participants generally stood smiling. Some prayed the rosary, a few sang hymns, and some chatted pleasantly with others. There were children with their parents, including some babies in strollers. A few people sat in wheelchairs or held canes.
“I thought it went very well,” said Ann Cook, who coordinated the event for the Long Island Coalition for Life. A similar event along County Road 111 in Manorville drew about 100 people.
“The rain held off and we had a variety of people — young and old and a growing number of people from minority groups — such as blacks and Hispanics.
“This isn’t just a Catholic event, and we had more people from different Churches,” Cook continued. “One Church in Farmingdale sent a whole bus.”
Denise Sanchez of Islip was here, too, holding an “I regret my abortion” sign. “I want people to know what abortion is,” she said. “Abortion kills the child and scars the woman.”
“We were also very glad to see Bishop William Murphy,” who shook hands and chatted with participants, Cook said.
“I try to come every year to encourage these very good people in their very important work,” Bishop Murphy said. “What I find is that I end up being energized by their dedication, their commitment, their sincerity, and their love for the unborn and for the mothers.”

Bishop William Murphy greets participants along the road.