BELLINGHAM — Thirty-five years after the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision, society still has a long way to go to ensure women can get abortions and aren’t made to feel ashamed, an abortion-rights group leader said Sunday.

Meanwhile, outside, about 40 people held signs and quietly prayed in opposition to what they called the practice of killing babies.

Three and a half decades after the court legalized abortion, battles remain to be won for abortion-rights activists, said Suzanne Poppema of Edmonds, chairwoman of the national group Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health. She performed more than 13,000 abortions as a physician, she said.

“It’s not over. We haven’t won,” Poppema told about 30 people at the Mount Baker Planned Parenthood clinic, at Ellis and York streets. “We think it’s really important that physicians practice medicine, not politicians practice medicine.”

New data show that, nationwide, the number of abortions annually decreased from 1.31 million to 1.21 million from 2000 to 2005, according to Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health.

Making abortion illegal won’t stop the practice; it’ll just kill women, Poppema said.

She told a story of a calm and collected 16-year-old who entered her clinic for an abortion, even after hearing from an anti-abortion group that the procedure involved inserting a silver ball covered with knives into her uterus, a story that drew expression of shock from the audience.

“Once you’ve made that decision (to have an abortion), you will walk over hot coals to get it,” Poppema said.

Many women’s access to abortion isn’t any better in the post-Roe v. Wade world, she said, because only 16 states help pay for the procedure.

It looked in 1973 like the shame was going to disappear, she said. Since then, anti-abortion activists “have succeeded brilliantly (in) making women feel ashamed,” she said.

Outside on Sunday, about 40 anti-abortion demonstrators held signs reading “Smile your mom chose life” and “Children are a Gift, thank God,” among others.

The group has demonstrated there regularly since March 2004, but Sunday’s group was probably the largest so far, said Bellingham-resident Kathy St Hilaire, who started the demonstrations.

“We are just praying,” said Bellingham resident Maria Vigh, demonstrating for her third time there. “Praying for the innocent babies who are going to be killed if you’re not praying for them.”

.