The March for Life: Our Year in Review

At the end of every year, we reflect on the abundance of blessings the March for Life has experienced in the last 365 days. When we kicked off 2021 with an intimate and solemn March for Life due to the pandemic, we did not expect we would be ending 2021 planning our biggest March yet in anticipation of Roe finally being overturned!

To say it has been a whirlwind of a year would be an understatement. Yet, we are overjoyed at the possibilities 2022 holds for the protection of the most vulnerable, the child in the womb.

Every year since the United States Supreme Court wrongly decided Roe v. Wade in 1973, making abortion legal in all 50 states, the March for Life has united supporters from around the world to march in Washington, D.C. from the National Mall, past the Capitol Building, and ultimately to the Supreme Court’s steps.

Approaching our 49th annual march, each previous March has been a joyful, courageous witness celebrating life. This year has been especially uplifting, as the Supreme Court considers a major abortion case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, presenting a long-overdue opportunity for the justices to correct our nation’s disturbing abortion jurisprudence. You may have joined us as we spent December 1st on the steps of the Supreme Court along with thousands of other pro-life Americans.

In light of this pivotal moment in history, we have been working overtime to educate Americans on the truth about Dobbs. Through media with statements from the March for Life, we were featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, ABC News, National Review, the Daily Caller, Politico, Catholic News Service, Roll Call, and many others.

I was honored to be included in numerous television interviews on Fox News, ETWN, and more.

While large in-person gatherings were impossible in 2020, in 2021, we resumed marching in person and growing our State March Program. We kicked off the fall of 2021 with two new State Marches in California and Pennsylvania, as well as the 3rd annual Virginia March for Life. Each of these State Marches were an incredible success thanks to our devoted supporters and state partners. As we look ahead to 2022, we are thrilled to add additional State Marches to our growing list.

In a similar vein, we mobilized our March for Life Action Advocacy Network throughout the year to put pro-life citizens in direct communication with their legislators. Each one of the emails and tweets our advocates sent to their lawmakers made a difference—this year almost 300,000 in total! Through the Advocacy Network, pro-life citizens marched for life all year-round.

For example, at our inaugural California March for Life in August, we asked the marchers in attendance to text in and take action on a local piece of legislation that would have forced health insurance providers to cover the cost of abortion in its entirety. Marchers sent hundreds of messages to California lawmakers and the very next day, the bill was pulled and removed from consideration!

As you can see, this year has been a year of pro-life victories across the board. We could not have accomplished any of these victories without your help! With the 49th annual March for Life just a few weeks away, we are confident our 50th year will be the most historic yet. Stay tuned!

Happy New Year from all of us at the March for Life!

I’m blessed to be the president of the organization that coordinates the largest annual peaceful human rights demonstration every year, the March for Life.

Nearly 49 years ago – on January 22nd, 1973 – our country was forever changed when seven men on the United States Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision, forever changing American history by imposing a radical expansion of abortion on all 50 states.

Since that time, we’ve tragically lost more than 62 million American children to abortion, and many mothers and fathers regret having been involved in abortion.  When one life is taken through abortion, another is wounded. Many brave women and men have stood here to share their stories of regretting abortion every year at the March for Life.

In response to this injustice, the March for Life began one year after Roe, in Jan 1974. Since that time we have continued to march for life every year in DC and now in the states. Collectively millions of pro-life Americans have marched for life over the years to stand up for the voiceless, the poorest of the poor, the most vulnerable, the unborn.

Much to the dismay of abortion activists pro-life Americans have not become desensitized to abortion, in fact, just the opposite has occurred. The March grows every year and I can’t think of a more tangible or hopeful sign that Roe and Casey are not settled law.

We are all united here today by our common understanding that every life from the moment of conception is precious and deserves legal protection. When it comes to the inherent dignity of every human person, skin color doesn’t matter, disability status doesn’t matter, socioeconomic background doesn’t matter; what matters is the fact that every life is precious and should be protected from the moment of conception/fertilization. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Being pro-life is being pro-woman. Choosing life isn’t always easy but it does empower women. At the March for Life we want to empower women with a message that they don’t have to choose between the life of their baby and their own future.

Today I speak on behalf of the millions of Marchers calling for the Supreme Court to protect the inherent dignity of the human person and to empower women to choose life. This is why we march.

RIGHTING THE WRONGS OF THE SUPREME COURT’S ABORTION RULINGS

For decades, the Supreme Court has restricted states’ abilities to enact laws that protect unborn children and their mothers.

+It is far past time to restore this right to the people and to allow states to update their laws to reflect modern science.

+Thanks to new technology, the humanity of a 15-week-old child in the womb is undeniable. It is time our policies reflect that fact.

In Roe and Casey, the Supreme Court robbed the American people of their say in the laws that govern abortion and prevented elected representatives from acting on the will of the people.

+ With the Dobbs case, the Supreme Court should return the task of determining abortion policy to the people and their elected representatives.

Today, the United States is one of just a handful of countries, including China and North Korea, that allows late term elective abortion.

Roe does not permit the significant restrictions on abortion that consistent polling shows a large majority of Americans (76%) want.

U.S. ABORTION LAWS ARE DRASTICALLY OUT OF TOUCH WITH MODERN SCIENCE

Despite advancements in science and medicine drastically improving our understanding of fetal development and pain, the Supreme Court decisions in Roe and Casey have prevented our laws from being updated to meet our basic moral obligations to the unborn.

Modern advances in science and medicine give concrete evidence to the humanity of a 15-week-old child in the womb.

+ Children at that stage have fully formed noses, lips, eyelids and eyebrows, can suck their thumbs, and can even feel pain.

+ The Charlotte Lozier Institute found “a comprehensive review of the scientific literature including neural development, psychology of pain sensation, and moral implications of fetal pain, concludes that unborn babies may experience pain as early as 12 weeks.”

+ With proper care, extremely preterm infants are surviving at earlier ages than ever before. Ages of survival have dropped from 28 weeks to now less than 22 weeks.

As a result of these scientific advancements, Mississippi enacted the Gestational Age Act in 2018, protecting the dignity of the unborn child, the health of mothers, the integrity of the medical profession and society by restricting abortion after 15 weeks.

After multiple lawsuits and appeals, the law in question has reached the Supreme Court. The state asked the Court to address the fundamental, irreconcilable conflict that new scientific evidence has raised with the Court’s previous rulings.

OVERWHELMING PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR PROTECTING LIFE

According to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, a large majority of Americans, 65%, said abortion should be restricted in the second trimester.

+ Gallup similarly found that just 30% of Americans say that abortion should “generally be legal” in the second trimester.

+ Despite the large majority of Americans opposed to abortion in the second trimester, Roe and Casey allow only limited restrictions on abortion during this timeframe.

+ Just 19% of Americans think most or all abortions should be legal in the third trimester.

An overwhelming majority of Americans favor restrictions on abortion according to a Knights of Columbus/Marist poll.

+ A January 2021 Knights of Columbus/Marist poll found that 76% of Americans, including a majority of those who identify as pro-choice, want significant restrictions on abortion.

+ The poll found that 65% of Americans want Roe to be reinterpreted to either send the issue to the states or stop legalized abortion.

In June 2021, Susan B. Anthony List launched a national survey to understand voter’s opinions on abortion, which found strong support for a 15-week limit.

+ When told that by 15 weeks, an unborn child has the capacity to feel pain, 55% of respondents said they were more likely to support the proposed 15-week limit.

+ When told that “by 15 weeks an unborn child has a beating heart, can move around in the womb, can close his or her fingers, can start to make sucking motions and hiccup, and senses stimulation from outside the womb,” 53% of Americans were more likely to support the proposed 15-week limit.

+ When told, “abortion carries signific physical and psychological risks to the mother, and these risks increase with late abortions,” 52% of all Americans said they were more likely to support the 15-week limit.

FAR BEHIND INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

The United States is just one of a handful countries in the world that permit elective abortion after 20 weeks, including China and North Korea.

+ THE WASHINGTON POST ON U.S. LAWS: “This statistic seemed dubious at first, because it seemed extreme for just seven countries out of 198 to allow elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. But upon further digging, the data back up the claim.”

Mississippi’s law limiting elective abortion to 15 weeks is in line with the laws in Europe, where the majority of countries restrict elective abortions to 12 weeks.

+ The Charlotte Lozier Institute found that 47 out of 50 European countries either do not allow elective abortion (8) or limit elective abortion to 15 weeks or earlier (39)

Did you know the month of November is National Adoption Awareness Month?  

At the March for Life, we celebrate the beauty of adoption. Adoption has a critical role in saving lives, creating families, and offering hope to women and parents across the globe. Birth mothers, adoptive parents, and all adopted or waiting-to-be-adopted children are in our prayers in a special way this month.

At our recent 2022 March for Life Theme Debut, a good friend of the March for Life, Ryan Bomberger, reminded us of the depth of sacrificial love inherent in adoption. As one of 10 adopted children in a family of 15, Ryan and the Bomberger family truly embody the spirit of adoption as the loving embrace of life in spite of hardship.

Watch the clip below to hear Ryan’s incredibly touching story.

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Participate in National Adoption Awareness Month by sharing pro-adoption resources and by learning about common myths encouraging mothers to abort their children instead of choosing adoption.

Check out these great adoption resources: 

Common adoption myths busted | The Radiance Foundation

Find adoption answers, support, training, or professional resources | National Council for Adoption

The benefits of adoption | Adoption Network

This month and every month, we want to share a word of encouragement to all adoptive parents, birth mothers, and adoptees that play a pivotal role in creating a culture of life in our nation. You help bring about a world where the dignity of every human life is valued and protected.

If you have an adoption story you would like to share, email us at info@marchforlife.org. We will give shoutouts on our social media throughout National Adoption Awareness Month!