Four women, seemingly unconscious, lay on the ground Monday afternoon at the northwest corner of Seventh and New Hampshire streets, their long dresses stained red.
"Some people have honked. Some have just glared," said Almas Sayeed, 23, Wichita, one of two demonstrators who stood nearby. She wore a George W. Bush mask to protest the president's anti-abortion stance.
Sally Puleo, 23, St. Charles, Ill., a member of the Kansas University Pro-Choice Coalition, lies on the ground feigning death Monday afternoon at Seventh and New Hampshire streets. She wore a placard describing an actual case of a woman who died as a result of an unregulated abortion.
The six women were members of the Kansas University Pro-Choice Coalition. They were marking today's 29th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The members were protesting political efforts to restrict women's access to abortion services.
The women protested at various locations along Massachusetts and New Hampshire streets. They handed out fliers urging people to "Keep abortion legal ... and accessible."
Each of the half-dozen women taking part in the protest also wore a placard describing cases in which women died from complications after having unregulated abortions.
"We want people to know this is what could happen again," Sayeed said.
KU students opposed to abortion also observed the Roe v. Wade anniversary with protests.
Last week, more than 90 KU students left for Washington, D.C., to join today's anti-abortion rally. It is the third year KU students have attended the rally in the nation's capital.
The Rev. Vince Krische, director of the St. Lawrence Catholic Center, which sponsored the trip to Washington, said if abortion were made illegal, the number of women seeking abortions would be small.
"Those who take the risk it's their choice," Krische said of those who seek abortions. "For the unborn child, there is no choice."
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