‘We are not yet done’: March for Life holds first national event after overturning of Roe v. Wade (Photos/Video)
WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Tens of thousands of pro-life advocates descended upon the nation’s capital for the 50th March for Life on Jan. 20 — the first national march since the overturn of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that initially prompted the annual demonstration.
Standing on the event stage at the National Mall, with the U.S. Capitol visible in the background, Jeanne Mancini, March for Life president, told attendees at a rally prior to the march that “the country and world changed” when Roe was reversed in June 2022. But as the last year’s decision basically kicked abortion regulations back to each state to decide on a local level, she said the annual March for Life would continue in Washington until abortion is “unthinkable.”
“While the March began as a response to Roe, we don’t end as a response to Roe being overturned,” Mancini said. “Why? Because we are not yet done.”
Father Paul Houlis, the chaplain at Gate of Heaven Cemetery and Chapel Mausoleum in East Hanover, N.J., said he experienced a much different and more celebratory march this year than the 17 or so he has joined in the past. It was his first year going alone, however, but he quickly made friends.
“People were in a much better mood since this was the first-ever ‘post-Roe’ march. People were there to give thanks to God and the Supreme Court for finally hearing their prayers,” Father Houlis said.
He spent time with American film producer, and human rights activist, Jason Jones who started the Vulnerable People Project, a Catholic apostolate that advocates for the most vulnerable. Another “huge honor” for Father Houlis was meeting and speaking to several women who once worked at abortion clinics. and then quit and walked out. They now work for the pro-life movement. He met Abby Johnson, who once worked at a Planned Parenthood, but now runs an anti-abortion ministry — And Then There Were None. The ministry helps abortion-clinic workers to leave the industry by providing financial assistance and counseling.
The march took place on a sunny and unseasonably warm day in Washington, which added to the positive mood.
The national March for Life first took place in Washington in 1974 in response to the Roe decision legalizing abortion nationwide the previous year. The protest has taken place in Washington each year since, with a smaller-in-scale event during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
The 2023 event was the first national March for Life since the high court’s June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe and returned the matter of regulating or restricting abortion to state legislatures.
At the pre-march rally, the Christian band “We Are Messengers” performed, followed by a number of speakers, including Jonathan Roumie, known for his role as “Jesus” in the television series “The Chosen,” former Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy, Democratic Connecticut State Rep. Trenee McGee, and Gianna Emanuela Molla, the daughter of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla. Canonized in 2004, Saint Gianna gave her life for Giana Emanuela, choosing to move forward with her fourth pregnancy even after doctors discovered a tumor in her uterus.
Molla told the rallygoers that she thanks her “saint mom” for the gift of life. “I would not be here now with all of you if I had not been loved so much,” she said.
Roumie took a picture of the crowd behind him from the stage, telling marchers to tag themselves on social media, and quipping he is the “TV Jesus,” not the real one.
“God is real and he is completely in love with you,” he said, adding that each person is individually loved by God.
“Remember my dear friends, we know how the story ends: God won,” Roumie said.
The rally also featured some lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, a Catholic Republican and co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, said at the rally, “Future generations will someday look back on us and wonder how and why a society that bragged about its commitment to human rights could have legally sanctioned” abortion.
“The injustice of abortion need not be forever, and with your continued work and prayers, it will not be,” Smith said.
Kevin Morrissey, with the Knight of Columbus of Westfield, N.J., has been booking and filling buses to attend the march for decades. He said the atmosphere was more joyous than in years past.
“It’s different now after June 24, [2022],” said Morrissey, who is with Holy Trinity Church in Westfield.
Of the 50 or so who climbed on his bus at 7 a.m. were people who had been going for 40 years, and parents with elementary school-aged children and students from a local public high school.
“The older people were inspired by the number of youths who attended,” said Morrissey.
Kearny N.J. resident Omar with LIFENET.org said that the fight was not over, particularly in New Jersey where his non-profit educational organization reaches out to community groups and schools about the “humanity of the unborn child, abortion and other bio-ethical issues,” according to its website.
As in prior years, this year’s march drew teenage advocates for life as well. Angeline Moro, 14, from Trenton, N.J., attended the event to learn how to raise her voice in defense of the most vulnerable.
“We all need to have a chance to live,” Moro said.
Father Houlis said as joyful as the march was this year, people were very clear that the work is not over. “President Biden is now trying to codify Roe through Congress and make Roe the law of the land,” Houlis said.
Along with fighting for a pro-life stance in New Jersey, Morrissey said that the next steps should also include more services to empower and support all pregnant women.
Next steps
Archdiocese of Newark Respect Life Ministry Director Cheryl A. Riley said fighting against abortion isn’t enough.
“You keep your baby, now what?” said Riley who runs The Mercy Houses, family-oriented resource and referral centers.
Although Riley has marched for over 25 years, this year she had a commitment to the women she serves at The Mercy House locations.
The two centers in Jersey City and Newark focus on assisting pregnant women and mothers in a safe and supportive environment. The Mercy Houses provide basic necessities to families in need such as car seats to parents leaving the hospital, and diapers, clothing, and blankets to parents of newborns. Last year, they distributed 3,000 bags of food. About 50 bags of clothing and various household items are distributed on a weekly basis. Last week, the centers served over 160 in Newark and 120 in Jersey City. They also provide emotional support, said Riley.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who argued the Dobbs case before the Supreme Court, said that “empowering women and promoting life” were the next steps post-Roe.
“Some of the things that we’re talking about in Mississippi and promoting legislation on are workplace flexibility options, particularly for mothers,” she said. “We lose young mothers because they don’t have any options. They don’t have that flexibility. We’ve got to have childcare. It’s got to be affordable, accessible, and quality.”
Fitch said she wants to see the pro-life movement do “some heavy lifts” to push laws enhancing child support enforcement and reforming the adoption or foster care systems.
“(These systems) are failing our children; they’re broken,” Fitch said. “We’ve got to make those (changes) happen and put those children in these loving families.”
Riley said she sees the need firsthand as mothers line up five hours before The Mercy House opens its doors.
For many, especially for those pro-lifers living in the states that allow abortion, the next step is moving the fight to a local level.
Kristan Hawkins, president of the pro-life group Students for Life of America, said the next front of her organization’s activism will focus on fighting the spread of medication abortion.
In early January, the Food and Drug Administration expanded access to abortion through medication by ruling in favor of the sale of mifepristone, a two-drug abortion regimen, through pharmacies who agree to do so.
Hawkins agrees that the pro-life movement should also focus on broadening the social safety net and its remaining goals at the federal level, such as stripping Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest single abortion provider, of taxpayer funds.
“We’re walking and running and chewing gum all at the same time,” she said.
Father Houlis said he thought about not marching this year because he thought he should focus his pro-life work at a state level where in New Jersey abortion is very accessible. But, he said, the crowd and the march itself were more about gratitude this year.
“Sometimes, when we pray for things, we often forget to give thanks when our prayers are answered…we just move on to the next thing,” Father Houlis said. “I’m grateful that God taught me this huge lesson by bringing me to the march and showing me so much joy and gratitude from people all over the nation.”
With the overturn of Roe, organizers had planned for a reworked march route, resulting in a new final destination: the East Front of the U.S. Capitol, symbolizing the movement’s new goals. However, restrictions on the use of sticks for signage put in place by the U.S. Capitol Police after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol resulted in the route instead passing by the West Front. For the 50th time, the national march ended in the same spot: before the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Jaimie Julia Winters is the editor of Jersey Catholic, Archdiocese of Newark. Julie Asher, Gina Christian, Marietha Góngora and Kurt Jensen contributed to this report.
Featured photo: A pro-life demonstrator holds an image of the Christ Child and a placard outside the U.S. Supreme Court during the annual March for Life in Washington Jan. 20, for the first time since the high court overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion decision June 24, 2022. (OSV News photo/Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters)
