Photo by AnyaLogic

As they do every year, tens of thousands of pro-lifers will gather on the National Mall today for the March for Life, where they will again demand further restrictions on abortions throughout the country.

Speaker of the House John Boehner is scheduled to speak at the rally, and a number of street closings will occur throughout the day as the marchers move from the mall to the Verizon Center and end the day at the Supreme Court, where they will demand that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision be overturned.

With this large a protest in town, Congress won’t be losing the opportunity to try and screw the District again when it comes to abortion rights. The Post reported last week that Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) is planning on introducing legislation that would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks. According to a letter sent to legislators last week, the restriction is based on research saying that fetuses can feel pain at that age.

This marks yet another attempt against District legislative autonomy on the issue of abortion. Last year, for one, a federal shutdown was averted when President Obama agreed to reimpose a ban on the use of local funds in the District on abortions for low-income women. In mid-November, a Republican congressman went so far as to propose that the District be given more control over its local funds — on everything but abortion funding, of course.

For Douglas Johnson, NRLC’s legislative director, whether or not the issue of abortion should be left to District residents is an afterthought, as he wrote in his letter to Congress:

The nation’s capital belongs to the American people as a whole, and with respect to vital matters of public policy, the U.S. Constitution makes it crystal clear that the buck stops with Congress. The “District Clause” of Article I, Section 8 is unequivocal, stating that Congress shall “exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District . . .”

In a statement, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton blasted Franks for his “anti-federalist” bill, while DC Vote called on him to focus instead on his Arizona constituents.