From the prominent politicians on hand to the hundreds of “Stop Abortion Now” signs thanking President Bush, Saturday’s Stand Up for Life March to the State House was largely a Republican affair.

U.S. Senate candidate Thomas Ravenel of Charleston huddled with rally organizers on the Capitol steps.

Meanwhile, former Gov. David Beasley, a potential primary rival, mingled with a crowd of nearly 500 abortion foes on the lawn below — not far from the Confederate flag that many experts believe cost Beasley his 1998 re-election bid.

“Ever since the polls came out (touting Beasley’s chances), I’ve gotten a surprising number of positive responses from people that were critical about that issue,” said Beasley, who, as governor, sought the removal of the flag from the Capitol dome and then backed away from the issue.

For Ravenel and Beasley, the rally, organized by South Carolina Citizens for Life and USC Students for Life, was an opportunity to demonstrate conservative bona fides and try to win over voters like Victoria Labian and Katie Holden.

The two women from Union — ages 24 and 22, respectively — said they haven’t decided whom to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. But both said a candidate’s stance on abortion would go a long way toward determining their votes.

“Abortion isn’t the only issue, but I’m a teacher who works with children,” said Holden. “And I would have a hard time voting for someone who says abortion is OK.”

Sheila Massey, one of the few African-Americans at the rally, echoed Holden’s views.

Massey, who declined to identify herself with a political party, said she would “have a hard time voting for someone who wanted to kill more babies.”

Others were more outspoken in linking their vote to the abortion issue.

“If the Republicans drop the ‘no abortion’ plank of the platform they’ve lost my vote,” said Ellie Litts of Hodges.

A lifelong Republican who first voted for the 1956 Dwight Eisenhower-Richard Nixon ticket, the 73-year-old Litts has a dim view of “pro-choice Republicans.”

“I call them pro-abortionists, and I know all about those Northeastern liberals like (Nelson) Rockefeller and that’s not what we need,” she said.

Unlike most of the crowd, Litts expressed reservations about Bush, who recently signed a bill banning “partial-birth” abortions.

“Am I happy about what he’s done?” Litts asked rhetorically. “Yes and no.

“I’ll be a lot happier when he appoints some conservative judges to the bench, and I think he needs to come out stronger against abortion,” she said.

Litts’ reservations about the president were amplified by Steve Lefemine, head of Columbia’s Christians for Life ministry.

Lefemine, 48, paced the Main Street sidewalk, his arms stretched crucifixion-like across a huge sign proclaiming “Bush is not Pro-Life.”

“These people are not supporting the pro-life position and neither are the Republicans,” he said. “They’re dumbing down the debate, going for partial steps when the Sixth Commandment is quite clear: ‘Though shalt not kill.’”

Small steps like the partial-ban birth are not the right approach to ending abortion, Lefemine said.

“They just give Republicans something to hide behind,” he said. “Besides, if Bush is so pro-life, why did it take him three years to pass similar bills that Congress passed twice under Clinton (who vetoed them)?”

Lefemine said he wouldn’t vote for Bush in 2004. He had another candidate in mind.

“I’d vote for Roy Moore,” he said, referring to Alabama’s former chief justice who was ousted for refusing a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Judicial Building’s rotunda. “I’d vote for someone who backed a biblically based understanding of the Constitution.”

Reach Wachter at (803) 771-8404 or pwachter@thestate.com.