Why 100,000 Pro-Lifers Still March in DC
January 19, 2024
The first March for Life was organized in 1974 by Catholic activist Nellie Gray just one year after the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
That decision was overturned in June of 2022 in the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling which handed pro-life advocates their biggest victory in nearly 50 years. But instead of resting on their laurels, pro-life activists are still turning out in large numbers.
Jeanne Mancini, the president of March for Life told Christianity Today: “[we] thought that it was possible last year that we’d have a little bit less of a crowd. And much to my delight, that was wrong. We had a really big crowd last year, a very energized crowd, and we anticipate nothing less this year.”
Pro-life organizers expect to see 100,000 or more participants in this year’s March for Life despite frigid weather hitting the nation’s capitol in the days ahead of the event.
The founder of Students for Life of America Kristan Hawkins anticipates even greater interest during this election year, telling Christianity Today: “We’re proud to be there every year en masse, you know, showing the nation that this generation rejects abortion and that we’re moving forward in our mission in this post-Roeworld.”
Hawkins added: “Our goal is to see an end of abortion. To make abortion unthinkable and unavailable in our country. And that’s a two-fold goal that requires cultural change, that requires practical and tangible support, that requires political change. And so you have to have all of those kind of cylinders firing at any given moment.”
The theme for this year’s march is “With Every Woman, For Every Child” which refers to the work that pregnancy resource centers do to assist pregnant women in crisis, particularly in a post-Roe world.
Mancini noted: “We all agree that we’re in a new season, a post-Roe season, and that changing hearts and minds is the end goal here. There’s a necessity not only to change the laws, but to change hearts and minds and to speak truth into a culture of confusion about this issue.”
Photo, top: Credit: Anna Moneymaker/ Getty Images