'We will not close our eyes': Anti-abortion march and rally draws likely 1,000 to Capitol

Athena Benjamin said she was at the Arizona for Life March and Rally at the Arizona Capitol on Saturday because she realized the power of her story.

The 39-year-old was told as a teenager she would not be able to have children. She gave birth to a daughter when she was 24 years old and became pregnant again several years later.

Benjamin said she was taking Accutane at the time and was told about pregnancy complications that could happen as a result. At the age of 27, she aborted her son.

It's a decision that Benjamin has come to regret.

"I wish that there were people there to show me that there were other options, to speak life when I needed it, to encourage me to not do it and just have faith that God will work it all out," she said.

Benjamin said she returned to the facility where she had the abortion several months ago for a dermatology appointment and used her experience to dissuade a couple there for an abortion consultation from making the same choice she did.

Benjamin said she is "feeling led" to be a part of the movement against abortion, and supports organizations including Life More Abundantly and Dream City Church's anti-abortion ministry.

Though she said it can be difficult to discuss her abortion, "especially amongst other believers," she hopes in doing so that she will be able to help others in the same position she found herself in more than a decade ago.

"I'm praying I can help someone make a better choice where they don't live with guilt and shame like I have," she said.

Catholic leader compares abortion to Holocaust

A worship band from a local church performed several songs as those marching from Washington Street arrived and joined those gathered at the Arizona Capitol.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety estimated that there were around 650 people in the crowd as of 12:30 p.m., though its size fluctuated throughout the afternoon, at one point appearing well over 1,000.

The Most Rev. Thomas Olmsted, Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix, said from the stage that the "incomparable worth of every human person is built on the boundless love of God."

Olmsted lamented that the gift of life offered by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ "faces severe threats in our society," but added that the march and rally "states loud and clear that we will not close our eyes."

"Some call abortion healthcare, when in fact it's closer to Auschwitz," said Olmsted, the highest-ranking official of the Catholic Church in Phoenix.

In a prayer to close his remarks, Olmsted asked God for the "courage to fight for the right to life of every person from conception to natural death."

After Olmsted's remarks came a prerecorded video message from former President Donald Trump, who was scheduled to speak at a Florence rally on Saturday evening.

"Right to life — nobody's made more progress than we did during that four-year period and I'm very honored to have helped so much," Trump said during the minute-long address that was met with applause and cheers from the crowd.

Podcast host Doug Franz, who until last year co-hosted the long-running "Doug and Wolf Show" on Arizona Sports 98.7, spoke to attendees several times throughout the event. Franz said that when his wife was pregnant with their first daughter, many doctors told them it would not be a viable pregnancy. He described how she was so small at birth, weighing in at one pound and four ounces, that his wedding ring could slide up her entire arm.

"I feel called to say it, as I sat in the back and I was looking out at everyone, I was amazed at how fantastic we are doing at spreading the pro-life message among all of us that are Caucasian," Franz said at one point.

He called for the crowd to "recognize the amazing courage and strength for all of you that are Black that are here, because we need to do more in your community to get more of you here."

"Your power and your strength and courage to be here, to stand up for this cause when it's not popular in your community, I just want to salute you and say thank you to all of you that are here," Franz said.

Evangelist Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., began her keynote speech toward the end of the event by leading attendees in a song ending with the chorus of the popular hymn "How Great Thou Art."

King said she was eager to participate in "marching for life from the womb to the tomb" and said her mother had considered aborting her before Martin Luther King Sr. helped her change her mind.

She added that she has had two abortions herself, decisions that she said she confessed and repented for when she became a born-again Christian in the early 1980s.

King, acknowledging that Saturday marked her late uncle's birthday, applied several of his famous quotes to the anti-abortion movement.

"The Negro cannot win if he is willing to sacrifice the future of his children for immediate personal comfort and safety," she recited. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

As King spoke at the state capitol, several of her family members, including Martin Luther King III, Arndrea Waters King and Yolanda Renee King, participated in a march from Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church to Eastlake Park in support of federal voting rights legislation and an end to the U.S. Senate filibuster.

King said there has to be solutions that protect both mothers and their unborn children, adding that "we have to overcome evil with good" and ending her speech by leading the crowd in singing "This Little Light of Mine."

Mother, daughter involved in anti-abortion movement

Seventeen-year-old Daniella Viner attended the rally with her mother, 54-year-old Denise Viner, who said they have done "a lot of investigation and research" on abortion and lamented its disproportionately high rates among communities of color.

"If we want to talk about racism, if we want to talk about prejudice against Blacks, we should start with abortion," Denise Viner said.

Daniella Viner, a senior in high school, said she recently did a project on abortion in light of what she described as its normalization among her peers.

Though she said she has been "kind of afraid to voice my beliefs" in the past, her presence at the Saturday rally and openness about the topic on social media is "my stand against that fear."

"God, He creates every baby with a purpose," she said. "No baby is made just to exist. He has a purpose for everyone."

Denise Viner said she knows several people who have had abortions and later regretted them. She added that she is the godmother to "the most beautiful" child whose mother had considered abortion.

She told The Republic she is "absolutely proud" that her daughter is internalizing those experiences and taking a stand for what she believes in.

"If we can save at least one baby at a time, I think we've done our job," she said.

More: Does Arizona law act as a ban on abortion? Judge weighs request to block its implementation

Reach the reporter at bfrank@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8529. Follow her on Twitter @brieannafrank.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Anti-abortion Arizona for Life March and Rally draws crowd to Capitol