The crowd at the March for Life cheered Trump’s strong pro-life statements — but they screamed when JD Vance took the stage.
At his inauguration, Donald Trump proclaimed a new “golden age” for America. Attendees of today’s March for Life hope this golden age will extend to the pro-life movement. And they have good reason to hope — seeds of a new beginning were visible at the march. This year’s annual event was full of “firsts.”
For the first time in the event’s 52-year history, speeches were given by both the Senate majority leader (John Thune) and the speaker of the House (Mike Johnson). Governor Ron DeSantis proclaimed how, under his watch, Florida became the first state to vote down a pro-abortion constitutional amendment. JD Vance made his first public appearance as vice president in a speech at the march. Even President Trump, who in 2020 became the first sitting president to ever speak at the march, made an appearance through a pre-recorded video that was played on the event’s mega-screens.
Thune kicked off the running order of political speakers. Behind transparent shields, he addressed a bellowing crowd of thousands of Catholic schoolkids, young mothers, evangelical college students, and grizzled veterans of the movement. The crowd’s energy oscillated between that of a massive worship service and a Trump rally: Some of the marchers had arrived in D.C. at the start of the week to attend Trump’s “Victory Rally” on Sunday, with today’s March for Life serving as an enthusiastic close to a week of elation.
Johnson followed Thune. As he was born to a teen mom, Johnson has long been a prominent voice for life; most of his career has been about protecting the right to life in one way or another. While the chilled crowd cheered for the congressional leaders, they were more thrilled by the next three speakers: DeSantis, Trump, and Vance.
Governor DeSantis began his speech by welcoming the New York Times to the pro-life movement. The Times recently published a piece titled, “Undocumented Women Ask: Will My Unborn Child Be a Citizen?” (Emphasis on the “Unborn Child.”) Not just a “clump of cells, huh?” the governor joked.
DeSantis went on to talk about the radical pro-abortion ballot initiatives that “swept the country” in 2022. Leftist organizations and advocacy groups spent hundreds of millions of dollars in states to introduce deceptively worded amendments to state constitutions that would “enshrine” a mother’s “right” to an abortion, oftentimes up to the very moment of birth. Every single ballot initiative was won by the Left — until Florida faced its own pro-abortion ballot initiative in 2024.
According to initial polls, “75 percent of Floridians were in favor” of the pro-abortion amendment. The governor said pro-abortion advocates “poured $120 million into enacting this as part of our constitution.” The initiative, DeSantis continued, “would have been the most radical amendment in the nation. It would have led to 40,000 abortions in Florida every single year.”
Quoting an apocryphal line from Edmund Burke, DeSantis said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” The governor’s office “had a responsibility to lead the charge and do something most people said was impossible: Defeat a pro-abortion ballot measure in a state that — quite frankly — does not have overwhelming pro-life sentiment.” However, “the sanctity of life does not depend on poll results. . . . It is an enduring truth, and it represents the foundation of our society,” DeSantis said. “I’m proud to say,” the governor beamed, “that we defeated this radical abortion amendment — and we were the first state in the United States to ever defeat one.”
The governor described his victory as a lesson to all Republicans shy of the pro-life cause. “We were told since Dobbs by people — political consultants, pundits, many people that were more establishment Republicans — that standing for the right to life was somehow terrible politics, that you wouldn’t get elected. . . . I’m proof that that’s not true.” After Roe was overturned, the governor said, “I ran on a pro-life platform . . . and I won the largest victory that any Republican has ever won in the history of the state of Florida.”
While DeSantis might have run on a pro-life platform, the newly inaugurated president and vice president largely steered away from the issue while running for office.
During their campaigns, Trump and Vance often danced around pro-life questions — or even voiced support of pro-choice policies. Before the election, Trump proclaimed on Truth Social that “my Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights.” Vance told MSNBC that “the Supreme Court made a decision saying that the American people should have access to [chemical abortion]. Donald Trump has supported that opinion. I support that opinion.” Further, First Lady Melania Trump released her memoir last fall, in which she asserted, “It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government.”
Although the president and vice president offered only shaky support for pro-life cause as candidates, their tone has shifted since ascending to the White House. At the March for Life today, both leaders gave resounding speeches in support of life at all stages.
From his video recorded in the “magnificent Oval Office,” President Trump offered words to the marchers. “Thank you for turning out once again, for showing your extraordinary love and compassion for the unborn. Each year Americans of every age, color, and background travel to our nation’s capital by the tens of thousands to stand up for precious little babies who cannot stand up for themselves.”
He reminded the crowd that he was responsible for the Dobbs decision, which returned the issue “to the people, where it belongs.” Trump promised, “In my second term, we will again stand proudly for families and for life. We will protect the historic gains we have made and stop the radical Democrat push for a federal right to unlimited abortion on demand up to the moment of birth and even after birth.” Trump included one of his signature asides: “Think of that: ‘after birth.’ Some people want that; can you believe it?”
The president continued, “A reformed Department of Justice will finally investigate the radical-Left attacks on churches and crisis pregnancy centers, and we will bring perpetrators to justice. . . . I will also end the weaponization of law enforcement against Americans of faith, and I am releasing the Christians and pro-life activists who were persecuted by the Biden regime for praying and living out their faith.” Trump then referenced the case of Paula Harlow, a 75-year-old who received a two-year prison sentence for demonstrating outside an abortion clinic. Trump pardoned Harlow and dozens of other pro-life activists who were unjustly imprisoned. “Never again will religious persecution be allowed to happen in America,” the president affirmed.
To close his speech, Trump said, “To all of the very special people marching today in this bitter cold, I know your hearts are warm and your spirits are strong, because your mission is just very, very pure: To forge a society that welcomes and protects every child as a beautiful gift from the hand of our Creator. Thank you for never losing hope and never giving up. Thank you for your tremendous support. God bless you, and God bless America.”
The crowd cheered Trump’s strong pro-life statements — but they screamed when JD Vance took the stage next. When the vice president appeared onstage, the crowd sounded more like fans at the Super Bowl than attendees of a political event. To justify their excitement, Vance gave a stirring speech, nearly 15 minutes long.
He homed in on the cultural failures that have aided and abetted the normalization of abortion in this country. “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.”
Taking a page out of Patrick Deneen’s Why Liberalism Failed, 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.”
“Let me say very simply,” the vice president declared, “I want more babies in the United States of America. 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.”
On the theme of affordable living — one of Vance’s signature points — he said, “It is the task of our government to make it easier for young moms and dads to afford to have kids, to bring them into the world, and to welcome them as the blessings we know they are. We need a culture that celebrates life at all stages,” he continued, “one that recognizes and truly believes that the benchmark of national success is not our GDP number or our stock market, but whether people feel they can raise thriving and healthy families in our country.”
Vance ended with praise of Trump as “the most pro-family and most pro-life president of our lifetimes.” He closed by offering one piece of advice: “Go forth, not with frustration, but with joy.” He told the crowd, “We are joyful to march for life. We are joyful to know that that picture on the ultrasound is a baby with hopes and dreams and potential to come.” As Vance left the stage, beaming and waving to the crowd, the cheers were earsplitting.
While the energy was high at the march, there is still a lot of work to do. More abortions have occurred since Roe v. Wade was overturned than before. Trump’s policy of tossing the abortion question back to the states has led to dozens of states enshrining the “right” to abortion within their state constitutions. While abortions in pro-life states have decreased significantly, abortions in pro-choice states have skyrocketed. Chemical abortion (a.k.a., “abortion pills”) remains the leading method of abortion across the U.S., as women in any state can receive the drugs in the mail.
Let us hope that both the White House and Congress are serious about their pro-life commitments, and, as Lila Rose said at the march, actively seek to “make America pro-life again.”