Thousands gather in D.C. for second March for Life since fall of Roe

With an overturned Roe v. Wade drifting further into the past, antiabortion advocates tromping along snowy Washington streets Friday for the March for Life described finding new unity in two things: the need to do more for pregnant people and the need to again support Donald Trump for president.

Thousands gathered on the National Mall for the annual event, as they have for five decades, a mix of families, students from Christian high schools and universities, clerics, advocates and lawmakers. But during this year’s gathering — the second since the fall of Roe, which in 1973 had legalized abortion nationwide — abortion opponents were trying to find their path toward making more gains.

Some march participants said they had thought that the ruling would result in a change of heart in the country around abortion and that they were disappointed. Others are hoping for a federal abortion ban. Still others want the focus to be on limiting abortion pills, which are used for more than half of all terminated pregnancies and have become a key way to maintain abortion access in states with new bans.

What came up repeatedly among March for Life participants is the need for the movement to do much more to support people facing unplanned pregnancies, as well as the need to set aside hesitations about Trump, who has declined to endorse a national abortion ban and called strict state prohibitions “terrible.”

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