March for Life

Trump vows to oppose ‘abortion on demand’ in virtual March for Life address

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Trump vows to oppose ‘abortion on demand’ in virtual March for Life address

(WASHINGTON EXAMINER) — President Donald Trump addressed the 52nd March for Life on Friday, promising in virtual remarks that he would continue to support the anti-abortion movement despite the softer stance he took on the campaign trail.

“In my second term, we will again stand proudly for families and for life,” Trump said in an address that aired hours ahead of schedule. “We will protect the historic gains we have made and stop the radical Democrat push for a federal right to unlimited abortion on demand.”

Vice President JD Vance, who attended in person, then delivered remarks to the crowd in Washington, his first since Inauguration Day at the start of the week.

While Trump has taken a more nuanced stance toward abortion policy since Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization threw the issue back to the states in 2022, he pledged in his virtual address to continue backing families and the anti-abortion cause more generally.

“Thanks to your tireless work and devotion across five decades, that historic wrong was set right three years ago,” Trump said, referring to Roe v. Wade. “I was so proud to be a participant. Six courageous justices of the Supreme Court of the United States returned the issue to the state legislatures and to the people, where it belongs.”

He added that in a second term, “We will again stand proudly for families and for life,” but stopped short of calling for federal action on that front.

Vance carried the torch for the Trump administration in person this year, as Trump spent Friday touring disaster sites in North Carolina and California. The father of three young children, he spoke not only about government policy but what he described as the need for cultural change.

“We failed a generation, not only by permitting a culture of abortion on demand but also by neglecting to help young parents achieve the ingredients they need to lead a happy and meaningful life,” Vance said. “A culture of radical individualism took root, one where the responsibilities and joys of family life were seen as obstacles to overcome, not as personal fulfillment or personal blessings.”

He also talked about “the obligation that one generation has to another” and said the issue is about more than simply opposing abortion.

“Let me say very simply, I want more babies in the United States of America,” Vance said. “I want more happy children in our country. And I want beautiful, young men and women who are eager to welcome them into the world and eager to raise them.”

The presence of Vance was significant. Prior to the first Trump administration, no vice president had ever attended the March for Life. Trump, for his part, was the first sitting president to appear in person, delivering remarks in Washington in 2020.

Other notable speakers Friday included House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).

The March for Life is held in late January each year to mark the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, which was handed down on Jan. 22, 1973, and has continued even though the case is no longer the law of the land.

Like Trump, Vance has sought to thread a needle on the topic of abortion. He said last year that the Republican Party had lost the trust of voters over abortion policy, even while maintaining that the GOP needs to remain the “pro-family party.” Vance has expressed support for a 15-week federal abortion ban with exceptions, though he also maintains that individual states should be left to craft their own policies.

“I think that we want to be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word,” Vance said at last October’s vice presidential debate. “We want to promote more people choosing life. But I think that there has to be a balance here. A balance between states that are making their own abortion policies.”

On Friday, Vance described Trump as “the most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetimes.”

“You make it possible for us to stand here and say that America is fundamentally a pro-baby, a pro-life, and a pro-family country,” Vance told the crowd.

(Originally published by Washington Examiner)

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Women who regret their abortions speak up at March for Life

(CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY) — A diverse group of speakers including activists, politicians, and individuals sharing personal stories fired up the crowd on the rally stage ahead of the 52nd annual National March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

Several women who regret having an abortion — and men who regret that their unborn child was aborted — spoke in front of the steps of the United States Supreme Court during the 2025 March for Life on Friday, Jan. 24.

One of those women, Laura Brown, told CNA she suffered “deep depression, anger, [and] suicidal thoughts” after having an abortion. She said she obtained an abortion after getting pregnant from a married man and “my sole focus [was] on hiding it.”

“I was intensely ashamed [of] what I had done,” Brown, who is from Wisconsin, said.

Brown, however, found redemption through God.

“Finally God spoke through that pain and he lifted me out of that depression and he told me I wouldn’t be alone if I followed him,” she said.

Brown offered a message for women who are in difficult pregnancies: “Your circumstances right now are just right now — abortion is forever and you deal with that forever; it doesn’t go away.”

She encouraged women in those situations to either “raise your child or find an adoptive family.”

The speeches were organized by the Silent No More Awareness campaign, which encourages women and men to be vocal with their stories if they regret having or encouraging an abortion.

Janet Morana, one of the organizers of the Silent No More Awareness campaign, told CNA that “many babies have been saved” by women telling their stories. She said the stories also “help other women” who regret their abortions to seek redemption.

“The Lord is here to forgive them,” Morana said.

(Originally published by Catholic News Agency)

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DeSantis jokes he’s ready to ‘welcome’ NY Times to pro-life movement after headline recognizing the ‘unborn’

(FOX NEWS) — Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., joked it might be time for the pro-life movement to welcome the New York Times into the fold for a recent headline from the legacy media outlet that acknowledged the “unborn” as children. 

“You know, I kind of feel like we have a lot of momentum, so there’s this issue that the president has introduced, which I’m supportive of, to say the Constitution doesn’t give birthright citizenship to people that are here illegally,” DeSantis said Friday at the 52nd annual March for Life in Washington, D.C.

“But it’s interesting. Not everyone likes that. And so, The New York Times had a hit piece going against this. And here was their headline, ‘Undocumented women ask: Will my unborn child be a citizen?’” he said.

“So The New York Times is admitting it’s not just a clump of cells,” DeSantis said. “Let’s welcome the New York Times to the pro-life movement.”

The New York Times piece, which ran on Tuesday, quoted illegal immigrants voicing their concern that their unborn children might not be recognized as citizens.

The piece was in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order on Monday saying that the children of illegal immigrants and those born to legal immigrants with temporary visas should not be recognized as citizens.

The executive order, which goes into effect Feb. 19, says that “it is the policy of the United States that no department or agency of the United States government shall issue documents recognizing United States citizenship, or accept documents issued by State, local, or other governments or authorities purporting to recognize United States citizenship, to persons: (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.”

The New York Times article quotes the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment which says that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

The piece goes on to say that the “provision has since been interpreted to apply to virtually all children born here, regardless of their parents’ status. But some immigration restrictionists believe that there is a legal ground for narrowing its scope.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a New York Times spokesperson said of DeSantis’ remarks, “Our newsroom covers abortion and immigration impartially as our recent coverage of President Trump’s immigration executive order demonstrates, from the logistics of enlisting the military, to legal challenges, to tracking the demographics of who would be affected by deportations, as well as interviews with undocumented women who expect to give birth after the order goes into effect.”

On Thursday, a federal judge in Seattle, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.”

(Originally published by Fox News)

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March for Life attendees react to JD Vance speech: ‘It was amazing’

(FOX NEWS) — Vice President JD Vance received a massive welcome from pro-lifer activists at the March for Life this Friday in his first public address since the inauguration.

Vance touted President Donald Trump’s recent pardons of several pro-life activists prosecuted by the Biden Department of Justice. He also spoke strongly about the need for pro-family governmental policies, saying, “I want to see more babies in the United States of America.”

Trump also delivered remarks to the March for Life crowd via a video message.

Marchers told Fox News Digital that Vance’s presence showed that the new Trump administration stands in solidarity with the pro-life movement and gives them optimism for the future.

“It was amazing,” said Amy Lewis, a pro-lifer who came with a group from Dry Fork Christian School in Virginia. “It was amazing that he was here. We were able to see him and to see that our new administration supports life as much as we do. It just really kind of drives it home that we have an administration that’s here to support us and to support our beliefs.”

Sarah Morales Wade, an activist who came with a pro-life youth group from Houston called the Catholic Organization of Life, told Fox News Digital: “It’s so inspiring to see someone so high up in office fighting with us, with the kids and, and that we have people who are supporting us and who will fight for life with us.”

Elizabeth O’Brien, another member of the Houston group, told Fox News Digital that she thought Vance’s speech was “amazing.”

“When the vice president comes out, and he’s telling us how precious life is, that’s an eye-opener,” she said. “It gives us reassurance that the Trump administration is with us.”

Isaac Desrosiers, a student at Franciscan University, a Catholic college in Steubenville, Ohio, Vance’s home state, told Fox News Digital that for him, the vice president’s speech showed that “he’s not just a politician telling tales, trying to get votes.”

“He’s truly Catholic, he holds Catholic values, and he brings that compassion and that sincere Catholic belief and faith to the table,” he said. “He’s genuinely concerned about what is going on in the world, what’s going on in our country. And he generally wants freedom and equality for babies so that they may have the chance to come into this world and to live an amazing life.”

Desrosiers said that though he’s “not sure what to expect” from the Trump administration regarding the abortion issue, he is “optimistic.”

“I’m hoping it means that this country’s going to be more pro-life and he’s going to pass more pro-life laws,” he said.

(Originally published by Fox News)

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March for Life speakers praise God’s gift of life, stand firm for the unborn

(CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY) — A diverse group of speakers including activists, politicians, and individuals sharing personal stories fired up the crowd on the rally stage ahead of the 52nd annual National March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

The theme of this year’s demonstration, “Life: Why We March,” was highlighted as speakers, many of whom are Catholics, explained the reasons for their pro-life convictions.

Outgoing March for Life President Jeanne Mancini, who has led the organization since 2012, introduced the new March for Life president, Jennie Bradley Lichter. Lichter — a Catholic mother of three, a lawyer, and a longtime advocate for the sanctity of life — has been active in the pro-life movement since her childhood.

“You know that the wantedness of a human being doesn’t determine our value. You know that it is right and good to stand up for people who are too small to defend themselves … but lately many of the loudest voices have been shouting the lie that women need access to abortion,” Lichter said.

“I will see you all back here next year and every year until every woman and every baby is loved and protected,” she added.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, led the crowds in prayer, praying that the pro-lifers in attendance go out in strength to build the culture of life and asking the Lord to bless them with “the fire of your Holy Spirit” so that they “never tire of the crusade for life whose origin is in you.”

Following remarks from Sen. John Thune of North Dakota, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson described himself as a “product of an unplanned teen pregnancy,” the first of his parents’ four children, and gave thanks for the fact that his parents chose life.

Johnson went on to highlight Congress’ work defending fundamental freedoms and the new administration’s pro-life actions, including Trump’s pardoning of pro-life activists and his defining life as beginning at conception.

“America is premised on the self-evident truth that every single person is made in the image of our creator God, and thus every single person has inestimable dignity and value,” Johnson said.

Speaking next, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis encouraged all present to “show courage in defense of the unborn” and recounted how his state defeated a pro-abortion ballot measure in November despite misleading information from the opposition and an estimated $120 million spent by the pro-abortion side.

With the ballot measure’s defeat Nov. 5, 2024, Florida became the first state to rebuff a pro-abortion ballot initiative since the overturning of Roe v. Wade along with Nebraska and South Dakota on the same night.

DeSantis argued that standing for the right to life is not bad politics and that he himself is proof of it, pointing to his victory in Florida after overturning Roe v. Wade. DeSantis, who is Catholic, signed legislation in April 2023 to prohibit abortion in Florida once the unborn child’s heartbeat can be detected, which occurs at about six weeks into pregnancy.

(Originally published by Catholic News Agency)