March for Life in Washington reflects debates with politicians

- Kate Scanlon, Washington, OSV News

Vice President Vance told the tens of thousands of participants in Friday's 53 March for Life in Washington that President Donald Trump is their “ally.” But pro-life leaders have criticized recent comments by President Trump to House Republicans, and concerns in the pro-life movement about policy priorities just over a year into Trump's second term in the White House.

In his remarks, Vance mentioned the recent announcement by he and his wife, Usha Vance, that they are expecting their fourth child.

“Some of you may recall that, in my remarks last year, I told you that one of my greatest aspirations for America was to have more families and more babies,” Vance said. “So, for the record, you have a vice president who leads by example.”.

The elephant in the room”, “there will be debates”.”

In his remarks to protesters during the march, Vance acknowledged “the elephant in the room,” which he called “a fear” that “not enough progress has been made, that not enough has happened in the policy arena, that we're not moving fast enough, that our policy has not responded to the call for life that this indictment represents and that all of us, I think, carry in our hearts.”

“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 the prudence we should have in the cause of advancing human life. I think these debates are good, honest and natural, and frankly, they're not just good for all of you. They help people like me keep us honest, and that's important.”.

Pro-life leaders

The comments from Vance and Trump, who addressed the rally by video message, came as some pro-life leaders criticized Trump's recent comments to House Republicans telling them to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment, which bans public funding of elective abortions, or in negotiations over health care subsidies, to the disappointment of pro-life groups that have long supported that policy.

Pro-life leaders have also opposed the September decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to approve the generic version of the mifepristone Evita Solutions, a pill commonly, but not exclusively, used for early abortion. 

“Mifepristone”

The drug's approval came despite earlier indications from FDA and HHS officials that mifepristone would undergo a safety review. On its website, Evita Solutions describes mifepristone as “an effective and safe way to terminate early pregnancy.” It was also the second time the Trump administration approved a generic abortion pill, which occurred in 2019.

But Vance told the crowd, “You have an ally in the White House.”.

“That's why he talks about the pro-life cause and that's why we do it in this administration, and that's why three years ago, we can't forget that his Supreme Court justices handed down the most important decision of my lifetime,” Vance said in reference to the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned the court's previous precedent on abortion, including Roe v. Wade.

“Cleaning up bad policies on the life issue.”

Vance said, “Our administration has worked very hard to lead that effort and pick up the pieces, to clean up the debris of five decades of bad policies on the life issue,” citing actions including greater conscience protections for health care workers and “policies that make family life possible,” such as “Trump accounts,” government-backed savings accounts for children under the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”.

During Vance's speech, some attendees chanted, “Ban the abortion pill!” Several national pro-life groups have called on the Trump-Vance administration to roll back the Biden administration's actions on mifepristone to the regulations in place during the previous Trump-Pence administration.

What Vance has advocated

During his bid for the U.S. Senate in 2022, Vance, a Catholic, declared his support for a federal ban on abortion starting at 15 weeks gestation, a measure that could affect nearly 6 % of U.S. abortions. 

However, in the days leading up to his election as the Republican vice presidential nominee, Vance moderated his stance on abortion, aligning himself with Trump's stated position that abortion policy should be left to the states. Vance also confirmed that Trump, as president, would oppose a federal ban on abortion if Congress passed such a law.

“Pragmatic.”

In an interview with NBC News in 2024, Vance called Trump's approach to abortion “pragmatic” and stated that he also supported the accessibility of mifepristone. While mifepristone can be used in early miscarriage care protocols, Vance did not qualify his statement.

Nearly 9 out of 10 abortions take place during the first trimester, and more than six out of 10 abortions are performed using a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol.

But in his pre-recorded remarks from the White House, Trump said that with the Dobbs decision the pro-life movement “won the greatest victory in its history.”.

“I want to thank each of you who are there on this winter day - a beautiful day, but it's winter nonetheless - to stand up for the unborn,” Trump said.

Pro-life victories

Following Trump's video, Jennie Bradley Lichter, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, said at the rally, “Thank you to our president for all the pro-life victories he has achieved in his first five years in office. We look forward to many more in the years to come.”.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said it was a historic moment for the pro-life movement “to have the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives working together to achieve significant and historic pro-life victories.”.

“We measure our success by the number of lives we save and the lives we improve and uplift, by common sense, by life and by policy confirmation,” said Johnson.

More abortions, despite everything 

However, multiple studies show that since the Dobbs decision, the U.S. abortion rate has increased rather than decreased, despite bans in some states. According to Guttmacher, a research firm that monitors abortion industry figures, abortions reached 1.04 million in 2024, up from 874,000 in 2016, the last year of steady decline before the numbers rose again.

The March for Life, which calls itself the world's largest annual human rights demonstration, is being held around the anniversary of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide. This year marks the fourth march since the high court overturned Roe and abortion-related precedent in its 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

Pope Leo: protection of the right to life, the foundation of the right to life

Leo XVI sent a Message to the participants of the March for Life 2026. He expressed his heartfelt thanks to them and assured them of “his spiritual closeness for this eloquent public witness”, which affirms that “the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation of all other human rights” (Speech to the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, January 9, 2026).

Indeed, “a society is healthy and truly progressive only when it safeguards the sanctity of human life and actively works to promote it” (ibid.). In this regard, I encourage you, especially young people, to continue to strive to ensure respect for life at all its stages through appropriate efforts at all levels of society, including dialogue with civil and political leaders. 

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

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

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