Tens of thousands of pro-life advocates gathered in Washington for the annual March for Life, united around the theme “Life is a Gift.”
However, the event also revealed growing political tensions within the movement, including some frustration with the Trump administration coming into the open.
For the many Catholics who participated, the march was a pilgrimage, involving travelling long hours to the nation’s capital while praying together, and feeling invigorated by the sight of large, joyful crowds in their efforts to protect unborn life.
At the closing of the National Prayer Vigil for Life, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, the retired archbishop of Boston, urged marchers to “look for opportunities to be apostles of life building a civilization of love and ethic of care.”
March for Life President Jennie Bradley Lichter highlighted the movement’s enduring hope at the march’s rally and introduced a choir of young people with Down syndrome as a living symbol of the March’s message.
But politically, the rally underscored divisions starting to emerge, with Republican lawmakers touting their accomplishments, while pro-life Democrats, absent from the dais, made their case for a new legislative pro-life vision at the nearby National Press Club.
Vice President JD Vance spoke in person at the rally, while President Donald Trump sent a video message. But Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America afterward criticized “the inaction of the Trump-Vance administration on abortion drugs,” pointing out that abortion is up 30 per cent from 2016.
Before the rally began and the march concluded, Lichter shared with participants a message from Pope Leo XIV, an early March for Life participant, imparting his blessing and assuring them “of my spiritual closeness as you gather for this eloquent public witness.”
