Anti-abortion groups rally at March for Life in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON — Thousands of anti-abortion activists gathered on the National Mall on Friday for the movement’s biggest annual rally, marching this year for the first time to the Capitol rather than the Supreme Court — a signal that their fight against legalized abortion has moved to the legislature, rather than the nation’s high court.
Friday morning, a sea of people began gathering for the March for Life — adults, high school students and families with young children carrying signs and banners bearing messages like “Value Them Both” and “Let Life Happen” as well as props and memorabilia like baby dolls and religious items.
The march has traditionally culminated in a walk to the Supreme Court to urge the high court to overturn the 1973 court decision that created the right to an abortion.
But this year is different. Following the high court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision last June, anti-abortion activists have turned their eyes toward Congress and state legislatures, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., telling the crowd that the Dobbs decision was “only the end of the first phase of this battle.”
Days after formally taking the House majority, House Republicans passed two measures supported by abortion opponents — one that they say would increase protections for an infant born after an attempted abortion and the other condemning recent attacks on anti-abortion advocates and religious facilities.
Rep. Christopher H. Smith, R-N.J., credited Speaker Kevin McCarthy as the “only reason” the House was able to vote on and pass two anti-abortion measures last week.
He said the House would vote on his bill to permanently ban federal funding for abortion “in the coming weeks.” The Hyde amendment currently bans funding for most abortions as an annual rider to federal spending bills.
Smith, a co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, said he first attended the March in 1974 while in college and later, in 1981, for the first time as a member of Congress.
“Countless times we chanted the slogan, ‘Hey hey, ho ho, Roe v. Wade has got to go,’ and today we celebrate — Roe is gone,” he said.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, meanwhile, focused her remarks on policies that would support families in the aftermath of Roe, focusing on affordable child care, improving workplace flexibilities and updating foster and adoption care policies.
“This year is different,” said Fitch, whose office defended the state’s 15-week ban in the Dobbs case. “So it is our charge today, in a new Dobbs era, to channel that same determination, hope and prayer that has led you to march these streets for 50 years.”
Fitch, speaking to reporters after her remarks, said Mississippi is ready to be a leader in policies that help families.
“We’re hoping that that will be effective and helpful for other states, because we know those are central issues: adoption, foster care, child support. All those are applicable to all of our states,” she said.