Anti-abortion rally includes live ultrasounds at Kansas Statehouse

Anti-abortion leaders are telling hundreds of people at the Kansas Statehouse that history is on the side of abortion opponents as they work to eventually end the procedure nationwide.

The rally Wednesday marked the 41st anniversary of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion across the nation. Since then, abortion opponents have enacted restrictions on abortion in many states, including Kansas.

The rally heard from Gov. Sam Brownback, U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts and Congressman Tim Huelskamp, all anti-abortion Republicans.

According to Wichita Eagle reporter Bryan Lowry, who was tweeting during the rally, the meeting also included live ultrasounds of pregnant women to showcase the science of what happens in the womb.

Senators took turns asking the sonographer questions about the activity of the baby and whether it was too early to tell the gender.

Many rally participants were students, and Brownback called young people the "pro-life" generation. Huelskamp compared Roe v. Wade to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1857 Dred Scott decision protecting slavery before the Civil War.

Planned Parenthood executive Peter Brownlie dismissed Wednesday's events as political theater.

This story was originally published January 22, 2014 at 7:14 AM with the headline "Anti-abortion rally includes live ultrasounds at Kansas Statehouse."