WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump vowed to support anti-abortion-rights protesters in his second term as tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in Washington on Friday for the annual March for Life.
鈥淲e will again stand proudly for families and for life,鈥� Trump declared in a prerecorded video address.
Protesters had come to the capital for decades to call for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, which affirmed a constitutional right to an abortion. Now, with the repeal of Roe in 2022, they are now on the inside rather than the outside. With Trump's and Republicans in control of Congress, the activists want to build on their victories.
鈥淥ur country faces the return of the most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetimes," Vice President JD Vance told the crowd in his in-person speech.
Vance hailed Trump鈥檚 previous actions on abortion, saying the president 鈥渄elivered on his promise of ending Roe" and appointed hundreds of anti-abortion judges.
Abortion was largely absent from the stack of dozens of in Trump鈥檚 first days of office. But he has already made quieter moves on abortion, including enforcing the Hyde Amendment, which restricts government funding for most abortions. He also reinstated a policy that requires foreign nongovernmental agencies to certify that they don鈥檛 provide or promote abortion if they receive U.S. federal funds for family planning assistance. Since it was introduced over 40 years ago, every GOP president has put it in effect, and .
Trump also pardoned several right to life activists and used wording related to in an rolling back protections for transgender people.
Despite frigid weather, a festive atmosphere surrounded the event as activists showed up with multicolored hats and signs declaring 鈥淟ife is our revolution鈥� and 鈥淢AGA: Make Abortion Gone Again.鈥�
鈥淭his is a significant moment in history,鈥� said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America group. 鈥淵es, we have a march every year but this one is pretty special...There is a trifecta of pro-life Republicans in the White House and the House and the Senate.鈥�
Kristen Cooper, 21, was among several thousand Students for Life America members attending. She said she was especially excited to be at the march with anti-abortion Republicans in the White House.
She said this march was her fourth but the first with a Republican administration. 鈥淚t鈥檚 surreal, actually.鈥�
Anna Henderson, a teacher at a Catholic high school near Jackson, Michigan, was also attending her fourth march with a busload of her students.
鈥淛ust because we have the backing of the administration doesn鈥檛 mean the fight is over,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e still need to change people鈥檚 hearts.鈥�
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said there is still work to be done, including calling on Trump to defund Planned Parenthood and offer resources such as paid family leave to women with unplanned pregnancies.
鈥淭he march now ends on the backside of the U.S. Capitol to remind our representatives that abortion is not only a state issue, but also a local issue and also a federal issue,鈥� she said.
Angela Vasquez-Giroux, vice president of communications at Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which supports abortion rights, said: 鈥淲e know exactly what is at risk and we know the hate and lies they will spew at the March for Life."
The has been in state courts and at the ballot box where voters in seven states for constitutional amendments on reproductive freedom in November. Legislatures have been fighting back already with proposals that could make such measures more difficult to get passed.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis celebrated the 2024 defeat of an abortion rights amendment on the March for Life stage and boasted about his role in the state-funded campaign against the measure. Voters there supported a state constitutional amendment overturning a six-week abortion ban but Florida requires 60% to pass constitutional amendments in the state. Most states require a simple majority.
鈥淢ost elected officials will say 鈥楲ook, what鈥檚 on the ballot is not their issue 鈥� the people can decide,'" DeSantis told the crowd. 鈥淎nd they wash their hands of it and walk away.鈥�
Supporters of abortion rights spoke up, too.
"No matter what they said on the campaign trail to win an election, this shows their intentions to continue to attack abortion access,鈥� Ryan Stitzlein, vice president of political and government relations for the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All, said of abortion-rights opponents.
鈥淓ach time one of these has taken place since the Dobbs decision, it鈥檚 been a day to reflect on how much damage that鈥檚 been caused by that decision and the crisis we continue to live in.鈥�
Ellie Smeal, president and founder of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said her group would counterprotest.
鈥淲e want to remind people of the popularity of abortion rights and the importance of this issue, that women and men are supportive of people making their own reproductive health decisions,鈥� she said.
Gary Fields, Christine Fernando And Ashraf Khalil, The Associated Press
