U.S. pro-life leaders: “Our culture remains hostile to life”.”

- Kate Scanlon, Washington, OSV News

Jennie Bradley Lichter, president of the Education and Advocacy Fund for the March for Life (USA), has stated in a reflection following the Annual March on January 23 that the political environment is “complex” and presents “both challenges and opportunities” for the pro-life movement.

“We shouldn't delude ourselves into thinking everything is rosy or pat ourselves on the back so quickly,” he said in a keynote address at the Conference Annual Cardinal O'Connor on Life. “In fact, abortion rates have increased with the rise of the chemical abortion pill and its easy access. Our culture remains deeply hostile to life.”. 

The conference, organized by Georgetown University students, met under the theme “The Pro-Life Mission After Childbirth: A Lifelong Devotion”. This Cardinal O'Connor conference was first held in 2000 and was subsequently named in honor of the late John J. Cardinal O'Connor, Archbishop of New York, a Georgetown University alumnus and founder of the Sisters for Life. 

Messages and pro-life stance 

In his speech, which came the day after his first National March for Life at the helm of the organization, Lichter told the conference that the pro-life movement needs to gain supporters for its cause. 

“We can never compromise our position, which is based on the truth about human life,” he said. “But how do we adjust our approach and our message so that our fellow Americans can hear it, understand it and receive it?”

This year's conference, and the March for Life itself, took place amid growing frustration from some in the pro-life movement over what they see as inaction by the Trump administration on key policy priorities such as tighter restrictions on the mifepristone, The Hyde Amendment, a pill commonly but not exclusively used for early abortion, and the protection of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits public funding of elective abortions.

Lichter: “Politically complex dynamics” in the U.S.

Lichter said at the conference, “Right now, our particular American moment, is full of opportunities and it is full of challenges for those of us who care about the rights of the unborn and about making sure mothers have the support they need to choose life.”.

While there is a “very politically complex dynamic” surrounding the current president and the 2024 election, Lichter argued, he said, “a really important finding for our purposes is that (former Vice President) Kamala Harris, of course, built her campaign around abortion rights.”.

She, her campaign managers and Democrats bet heavily that the American people's desire for free, on-demand abortion during the nine months of pregnancy would propel her into office after the Dobbs decision. And they were wrong," she said. That's not what the American people wanted.

However, he argued, “the cultural and political landscape for the pro-life movement is challenging, to be sure, but these challenges are not a sign of retreat.” “They are an invitation to sharpen our message and to be keen scholars of our times.”.

Trump administration has “work to do”

Leaders of several pro-life organizations who spoke with OSV News said that the Trump administration still has work to do as far as its cause is concerned. 

In its speech at the March for Life demonstration, the vice-president JD Vance spoke to the pro-life movement about his remaining policy priorities a little more than a year into the second term of the President Donald Trump at the White House.

“I want you to know that I hear you and understand that there will inevitably be debates within this movement,” Vance continued. “We love each other and we're going to have open conversations about how best to use our political system to promote life, about how prudent we should be in the cause of advancing human life. I think these are good, honest, natural debates, and frankly, they're not just good for all of you” (...) “We've made tremendous progress over the last year and will continue to do so for years to come,” he said. 

The harsh reality of the increase in abortions

But key pro-life leaders, including Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, noted protection of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding of abortion, and the reinstatement of tighter restrictions on mifepristone, a pill commonly, but not exclusively, used for early abortion, as key areas where the Trump administration still needs to act. 

In a statement issued after Vance's speech, Dannenfelser said, “The clearest measure of whether the pro-life movement is winning or losing is the number of abortions that occur each year,” he said. “According to the latest statistics, there are at least 1.1 million abortions a year in the United States since Roe. This amounts to an increase of 30 % with respect to the 874,000 abortions recorded in 2016.”.

40 days for Life: “constructive tension”.”

David Bereit, executive director of the Life Leadership Conference and founder of 40 Days for Life, told OSV News, “Yes, there has been a tension, but I think it can be a constructive tension if it calls us to greater action, to be more vocal and to be more proactive in this.”.

I think President Trump, obviously, “you have to give him credit, he gave us three Supreme Court justices that led to the overturning of Roe. I think at the time, he thought, ‘I can move on to other issues,’ not realizing what we're all realizing: that there's still a lot of work to be done,” he said. So it wasn't a priority going into the second administration. And I think the pro-life movement has recognized that we need to make sure that people understand that there's a lot to be done at the federal, state and regulatory level, and push to make sure that we don't forget about this.".

Pro-life gynecologists: disappointment over another form of mifepristone

For her part, Dr. Christina Francis, executive director of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told OSV News, «We were disappointed that another form of mifepristone has been approved and potentially expanding access to that drug.».

The Trump administration, he said, has “a unique opportunity right now” to reverse the Biden administration's loosened restrictions on the drug to what was in place during Trump's first term. 

Francis expressed confidence that a safety review of mifepristone was underway, but said, «We are certainly very discouraged by the amount of time this is taking.» “Our hope is that this means they are conducting a thorough investigation, which we are confident will show that these drugs are actively harming a large number of women.”.

“Rowing in the same direction.”

In a Jan. 23 press release, the White House called Trump «the most pro-life president in history.” When asked Jennie Bradley Lichter, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, told OSV News, «We're rowing fundamentally in the same direction as the administration, and I think it's important to remember, progress in any social movement happens one step at a time.».

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Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. You can follow her at @kgscanlon.

This information was originally published in OSV News, and can be found at here.

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