As thousands of demonstrators are set to descend on the nation’s capital Friday for the first
March for Life
following the demise of
Roe v. Wade
last June, the anti-abortion marchers have a new route and expanded mission.
Fifty years and 49 marches after the Supreme Court guaranteed the right to legal abortion in 1973, the nation’s largest anti-abortion protest will have a different rallying cry after the
Supreme Court overruled
Roe in the June
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
‘s decision, returning the question of legalizing abortion to the legislative process.
FETAL PERSONHOOD IS THE NEXT LEGAL FRONT LINE FOR THE ANTI-ABORTION MOVEMENT
“The pro-life movement has just experienced a major victory in the fall of Roe v. Wade, but our work to build a culture of life is far from complete,” March for Life President Jeanne Mancini told the Washington Examiner. “This year’s march will reflect upon the Dobbs decision as a critical — and celebratory — milestone but will also be a time to look forward to the next steps, such as the need to continue marching annually in Washington, D.C., as well as expanding marches in the states, to advance legal protections for the unborn.”
“Those next steps also include supporting the pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes which are the hands and feet of the pro-life movement, providing support and resources to women in need who want to choose life,” she added.
The fall of Roe last summer in the Dobbs decision provided the March for Life with the achievement it had sought for five decades, but in the process created a slew of new battlegrounds for the anti-abortion movement. In recent years, the organization has expended substantial resources in organizing a series of similar marches at the state level.
To commemorate a 50th march in an era in which the Roe decision no longer holds the force of law, the theme of Friday’s event, “Next Steps: Marching into a Post-Roe America,” offers a new vision for the anti-abortion movement now that its long-desired goal at the Supreme Court has been achieved.
The speaker roster for this year’s march includes Sunday Night Football analyst and NFL Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, and actor Jonathan Roumie from the biblical television series The Chosen. This year’s march will also culminate at the U.S. Capitol Building, instead of the Supreme Court as in previous years, signifying the next battlefront is with lawmakers.
In a Wednesday press call with reporters, Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said that the 2023 March for Life will be an event where demonstrators “march with fresh resolve as a brand new pro-life movement.”
“As the years went by and we gained momentum in all the areas that we needed, we marched because of the moral imperative and because we had an expectation that when leaders heard our voice, they would act, and they did,” Dannenfelser said. “We fought for our voices to be heard and not to be blocked by the Supreme Court, and we won, finally turning the wheels of democracy to right the great wrongs of Roe v. Wade.”
Opponents of abortion such as Dannenfelser and Mancini face a national populace that broadly supports some legal access to abortion, especially among younger adults. A
poll
released this week from Marist and the Knights of Columbus found 56% of adults supported legalized abortion through the first three months of pregnancy, with 21% supporting the procedure during the entirety of pregnancy. Among adults age 18-29, that abortion support jumped to 64% in the first three months.
With the Dobbs decision coming down in June, there was some question as to whether the March for Life would continue taking place in January. At an October event at the Heritage Foundation that
unveiled
the march’s 2023 theme, Mancini said that the demonstration would continue taking place in January to commemorate the legacy of Roe. The organization also said that keeping the event in January would continue to allow the host of university groups from across the country to continue attending.
While it remains to be seen if march attendance and enthusiasm will drop following the fall of Roe, some dedicated attendees have vowed to continue the annual trip.
The Rev. Dave Pivonka, the president of the Catholic Franciscan University of Steubenville, told the Washington Examiner that the Ohio-based university would continue to attend the national march, which the school has attended “every year since Roe v. Wade.” He also vowed that the university would be a presence at the state March for Life in Columbus, Ohio.
“The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe is a great victory for all who value the sanctity of life,” Pivonka said. “But our goal has always been much bigger. Our commitment to building a culture of life in America will never waver until the right to life of every human person, from the moment of conception to natural death, is respected and protected.”
Pivonka cited a number of activities with the students, including praying outside of an abortion clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and marching in the Ohio and national marches. He also noted that the university offers a minor in “human life studies.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Franciscan University’s five-hour commute from Ohio to the nation’s capital pales in comparison to the nearly 20-hour journey that students at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, annually make to the march.
“We’ve been doing this for 40-plus years, and we’re excited to go again,” Benedictine College President Stephen Minnis told the Washington Examiner in an interview. “We have over 200 students going this year traveling 24 hours one way by bus, and we’re excited about representing our pro-life views and be a witness for life with our students out there.”
