In anticipation of the National March for Women's Equality and Women's Lives, almost 100 people in Centre County have reserved seats on buses bound April 9 for the nation's capital.

Two buses to the multi-issue march have been filled and the Undergraduate Student Government Department of Women's Concerns and the Women's Resource Center -- co-sponsors of the trip -- are hoping to sponsor a third bus, said Janyne Althaus, co-director of the Department of Women's Concerns.

An additional 50 to 100 people from Centre County will be driving to the march, estimated Julie Parr, a member of the Department of Women's Concerns.

The National Organization for Women coordinated the march to show support for keeping abortion safe and legal and to push for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, said Althaus, who is also a candidate for USG president.

"The official purpose of the march is to send a message to the new administration that the rights that women have gained cannot be taken back so easily," she said.

Although the march was initially started to put ERA back on the political agenda, the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case of Webster v. Reproductive Health Services created a need to act in favor of pro-choice, said Catherine Bouvia, outreach coordinator for the Centre County Women's Resource Center.

The Webster case, which could overturn Roe v. Wade, several conservative appointments to the Supreme Court and President Bush's pro-life stance, have all caused great concern, said Althaus.

Roe v. Wade established women's right to abortion. Webster v. Reproductive Health Services centers around Missouri statutes which restrict women's rights to abortion.

The decision to sponsor buses was made in response to numerous calls the department received asking what was going to be done, Althaus said.

"I think everybody in the women's organizations realize this is the closest it has come to being overturned since 1973, and that there is an actually real danger of it being overturned," she added.

An organizational meeting will be held March 29 to finalize details of the trip, said Parr, who is involved with organizing the trip. The meeting has a three-fold purpose: finalizing details with the buses, planning for more publicity and setting a place and time to meet with people who are taking other transportation to the march, she said.

National organizations project 400,000 to 500,000 marchers from all over the United States in addition to delegations from Europe, Althaus said.

Comparing those figures to the 67,000 who attended a pro-life march in January, she added, "I think people will see through this march where the majority opinion really stands on these issues."

Frank Arlinghaus, vice president of Penn State Students for Life, expressed doubt over the march's impact on U.S. Supreme Court justices.

"The Supreme Court shouldn't make decisions based on their popularity but on whether they are right or not," he said.