WASHINGTON -- At least 5,000 people from the Pittsburgh region were among the vast crowd of abortion opponents who marched around the U.S. Capitol yesterday on the 36th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

Although the crowd fell far short of the million-plus that filled the city two days earlier for the inauguration of President Barack Obama, organizers believed that they had exceeded 300,000.

The march on the heels of the inauguration was by one of the groups most opposed to his election. But while most rally speakers expressed great concern about his agenda on the issue, they nearly always spoke of him with respect and summoned him to dialogue with their movement. "Talk to us ... join us," march organizer Nellie Gray pleaded to the absent president.

Helen Cindrich, president of People Concerned for the Unborn Child, the major anti-abortion group in southwestern Pennsylvania, said the region could have sent more people, but it could marshal only 113 buses.

Carnegie-Mellon University economics professor Maria Ferreya, 36, was on one of two buses that left Oakland before dawn, carrying students from five universities and parishioners from St. Paul Cathedral. It was her first trip to the annual march.

"I felt a real urgency to come because of the Obama administration," she said, citing his statement that the question of when a human fetus is entitled to human rights is "above my pay grade."

The arguments against abortion are based on science and logic, not on religious doctrine, she said. President Obama "is a very thoughtful and reflective individual, and it would be wonderful if he would engage the question, and not dismiss it as outside his realm," she said.

CMU graduate student Claudia Coons, 21, said she came because "it's easy to be silenced by popular opinion. I'm taking time to be a voice for those who don't have a voice."

Like most of those in the college group, Point Park University senior Chris Carter, 23, had voted for Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, primarily because of Mr. McCain's opposition to abortion. He wanted to urge Mr. Obama to neglect his promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which was a major focus of the march.

But there is much Mr. Carter respects about Mr. Obama, and he hopes the president's health care reform will prevent abortion. "I know that abortion is a personal decision, but we should focus on services that support pregnant women and families," he said.

University of Pittsburgh senior Angel Zamary, 21, had voted for Mr. Obama because of his stands on Iraq and education. But she marched yesterday because "I'm beginning to realize that this is more than a political issue; it's a moral issue."

Many March for Life rally speakers on the Mall expressed hope that the new president would have a similar epiphany.

The Rev. Luke Robinson, pastor of Quinn AME Chapel in Frederick, Md., told the crowd that he celebrated Mr. Obama's inauguration as a partial fulfillment of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of equality and justice. But he called upon the president to extend that equality and justice to unborn children.

No Pittsburgh-area officials spoke, but the region was represented by Georgette Forney of Sewickley, co-founder of Silent No More, an organization of women who regret their abortions, and high school student Katie Cushma of Peters, who won a best essay award. "Saying we are pro-life is not enough. Our actions have to show we are pro-life," Katie said in a voice hoarse with laryngitis.

Farther back in the sea of marchers was Duquesne University Law School former dean Nicholas Cafardi, a prominent Catholic backer of the Obama campaign. At the end of the march, he participated in a legislative briefing sponsored by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, urging support for a Pregnant Women's Act intended to ensure that financial concerns don't drive women to abortion. It would provide financial and medical support.

About 120 marchers and legislative staffers, including the chief of staff for Pennsylvania's Sen. Bob Casey, attended.

Dr. Cafardi, who served as an Obama campaign adviser, said he believes that the president may be open to the dialogue speakers called for. "I think the president has indicated he wants to seek common ground," he said.