A video of the March for Life Rally and transcripts of all the speeches are available here.

By Guest Blogger Peter Patridge

The 44th annual March for Life, commemorating the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, provided a stark contrast to the “Women’s March” the week before.

While the latter was marked by violence and vulgar speeches, the former was a child-safe environment marked by peaceful speeches from religious leaders, political leaders, and providers of services for the most vulnerable, including the voiceless unborn and women who have been damaged by abortion. Many feminist voices were heard from, who had been forbidden to participate in the prior  “Women’s March.” Prolife women were excluded from that event by organizers.

The key speaker at the Rally before the March was Vice President Mike Pence, the first vice president ever to speak at a March for Life. “If you look around, you’ll find that Life is winning,”  he said. Pence brought attention to the executive order signed by President Trump to stop international funding of abortion. He said it was no accident that the Founding Fathers guaranteed us the right to life by mentioning it first in our Declaration of Independence — “that we are ‘endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, including the right to Life . . .’  This is no mistake.”

Presidential Adviser Kellyanne Conway also spoke, telling the marchers that President Trump hears them loud and clear and that he is indeed an ally to the pro-life cause. She referred to proposed legislation that would defund abortion aspects of Planned Parenthood and direct the funding to other women’s support groups.

Jeannie Mancini, March for Life organizer, addressed the crowd, announcing the theme of the march, “The Power of One,” and emphasized how we need to embrace the power of “possible life.”

One of the most exciting speakers was Rep. Mia Love, from Utah, who proudly stated she was the “first black Republican woman to be elected to Congress.”  Love quoted a line from the American poet James Greenleaf Whittier — the saddest phrase in our language is “What might have been. . .”  She told the story of her struggling parents, immigrants from Haiti, who already had three children when her mother became pregnant with her. And she said how grateful she was that her economically-challenged parents did not give in to voices and influences that encourage abortion.

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, an officer and pilot in the Army National Guard who saw combat duty in  Iraq, said it was her wish and prayer that the born and unborn know the love and peace of God. She spoke of how she sponsored a bill in her home state of Iowa redirecting Planned Parenthood funding to other eligible women’s healthcare providers that defend all women, including the unborn.

Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director who now heads the prolife group Then There Were None, spoke of how she regretted her abortion and work for the abortion industry.  She said many who work in Planned Parenthood are seeing the light and defecting, and supporting the pro-life cause after recognizing  that they were abusing women rather than assisting them.  She counted 330 ex-Planned Parenthood employees who have left the abortion industry, including seven doctors.

There were many religious leaders present at the Rally, including the leader of the Archdiocese of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan. The Cardinal prayed for the “hundreds of thousands who believe so ardently in the civil right  of the innocent baby in the womb deserving full protection of the law and the right to life.”

Radio host and author Eric Metaxis challenged the news media.”ABC News, are you getting this story? Women are being hurt!”

He was using this facetious tone because the mainstream media seems to pride itself on under-reporting Right to Life events generally, as well as underestimating the crowd size of marches. Fake news is a specialty of the mainstream media, Metaxis said. They are not telling America the other side of the story. “We have heard of fake news; Roe v. Wade is  fake law.”

Metaxis asked this question: “If a woman’s DNA is different than her baby’s, then how is a woman’s baby part of her body?”  A penetrating, poignant observation! He also prayed for the pop singer Madonna in reference to her remark that she wanted to “burn down the White House.” Metaxis said that he does not want to burn her house down and that he wishes for her all goodness and safety and prays that the pop singer will find happiness and peace despite her present violent vitriol. This is because our “God, Jesus Christ, wants everyone to know peace and be blessed.”

A march organizer concluded with a statement that the “ Pro-Life Generation” would see the final victory, that the efforts of the marchers would be rewarded by God, and that the younger marchers would certainly live to celebrate the victory of the culture of life over the culture of death.