Home Christian News March for Life 2021 Had ‘Somber’ Tone This Year

March for Life 2021 Had ‘Somber’ Tone This Year

March for Life 2021

March for Life 2021 looked a bit different than it has in years past. Instead of the throngs of supporters marching around Capitol Hill this year, the group’s presence in Washington D.C. was scaled back considerably. In lieu of addressing a big crowd from a stage in the United States Capital, this year’s speakers shared their insights virtually from their own offices and homes throughout the nation.

Another notable difference between this year’s march and last year’s was the absence of representation from the current presidential administration. The Trump administration honored the March for Life by participating in each march over their four years in office. Starting in 2017, Vice President Mike Pence joined the group and then made visits in the years following. President Trump made headlines last year when he showed up in person to encourage the crowd and tout his pro-life record. 

The March for Life has been taking place since 1974, one year after the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade effectively legalized abortion in the United States. Every year since then, the group has gathered with supporters in the nation’s capital to give a physical presence to their main goal: Eliminating abortion in the United States.

The speakers at this year’s March for Life rally included leaders of pro-life organizations, politicians, ministry leaders, and celebrities. Below is a synopsis of what they presented during the virtual portion of the March for Life.

March for Life 2021 Speaker Highlights

Jeanne Mancini

Jeanne Mancini is the president of the March for Life. As she opened the virtual event, Mancini explained the year’s theme: “together strong, life unites.” Alluding to the bitter divisions that our culture is facing over politics and issues of social justice, Mancini said the theme of the year sought to show how abortion is an issue of unity. Mancini spent the majority of her speaking time explaining how abortion contributes to disunity we are facing. Calling the practice “destructive and divisive,” Mancini said it convinces women the babies they carry are burdens and that abortion is the way out. 

Additionally, Mancini argued abortion creates division between men and women because it removes men from the picture and enables them to walk away from their responsibility toward a woman and child. Abortion “divides the world from love,” and our country from reality, Mancini said. Some people refer to babies in the womb “tissue,” Mancini explained, implying that they refuse to acknowledge a reality many others do. She also brought up the findings of a recent poll conducted by Marist and funded by the Knights of Columbus, which states that 77 percent of Americans don’t believe American funds should be used to fund abortions abroad. Mancini made this statement in conjunction with the Biden administration rolling back the Mexico City Policy yesterday, which affects this funding. Our current laws “don’t reflect what the common American stands for,” Mancini emphasized.

Lila Rose

Lila Rose is the president of the anti-abortion organization Live Action. She cited a couple statistics as she encouraged those watching to continue the fight to eliminate abortion. Rose cited an estimate that in the last 50 years, 1.5 billion children have been killed throughout the world by abortion. And since that fateful Supreme Court trial in the United States in 1973, an estimated 62 million have been killed in this country alone. 

Rep. Chris Smith

U.S. House Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey spoke to the challenges the pro-life movement faces under President Biden’s democratic administration. Smith said that today we face challenges like we did when President Clinton and President Obama were in office. He then addressed President Biden directly, appealing to the fact that while he was a senator many years ago he seemed to support the right to life.

Smith also mentioned the 62 million estimated babies aborted in the United States and said this number represents the entire population of Italy. Smith lamented Biden’s reversal of the Mexico City Policy, which essentially forces U.S. taxpayers to fund abortions abroad. Smith also noted that President Biden once supported Hyde amendment, which prevents federal funding from supporting abortion in the United States. Smith claimed that an estimated 2 million people have been born because of the Hyde Amendment. He then called on President Biden to live up to the words he spoke during his inaugural address, when he said the “dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.” Smith argued that if that statement is to be carried out, it must include unborn children. 

Jim Daly

Jim Daly, the president of Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, said each of those 60 million children who have been aborted are known by God. They could also have significantly contributed to society, perhaps one of them could have developed the cure for cancer, Daly posited. Citing the work Focus on the Family has done to minister to women facing unplanned pregnancies, Daly said the work of the pro-life movement is vital. Daly admonished the group that there is work to be done to make life so attractive that the era of Roe will become like the dark ages in our history.