Aiming at a new culture of life

At the 2025 March for Life, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told the assembled crowd that he was the result of an unplanned teenage pregnancy. He expressed his eternal gratitude that his parents didn’t heed the advice of those who encouraged them to “just take care of that problem.” They would go on to have three more children.

Johnson’s personal testimony fit well with comments newly sworn-in Vice President J.D. Vance would deliver several minutes later regarding courage in the face of life’s challenges. Johnson’s teen parents were brave and ended up raising a national leader.

Vance spoke live after President Donald Trump appeared electronically. The president’s message was straightforward and relatively brief compared to many of his appearances where he freestyles at length. He took credit for returning the abortion issue to the states. In addition, he endorsed the work of pregnancy care centers, expressed support for adoption and foster care, and promised an end to the weaponization of law against pro-life protesters. Given that the well-known Christian author Randy Alcorn’s entire financial life has been negatively affected by such legal attacks, the point is a significant one. President Trump reminded the audience that other non-violent pro-life protesters have benefitted from a pardon he extended shortly after resuming office.

President Trump appeared to leave the heavy lifting to Vice President Vance, who hit some of the same points but ventured to set forth a more expansive vision of pro-life advocacy and policy. Marchers, perhaps realizing that Vance represents the likely future of pro-life advocacy in the executive branch, gave him a huge reception as he took the stage. He responded with the same exuberance and energy he has brought to the new opportunities and events that have come with the vice presidency. Entering the office with a president limited to a single term is bringing a bigger spotlight than many vice presidents enjoy.

Vance talked about how often he’d heard friends in his youth express concerns about the challenges of raising children. They worried about the cost and the effect being a parent would have on their lives. The young vice president argued that our country has failed young people by fostering a culture of abortion on demand and promoting radical individualism.

During the past few years, we have all seen abortion go from being something that was typically viewed with regret to turning, in some circles, into an occasion for celebration and characterized as an engine of empowerment. Instead of giving the young the courage to become parents and helping them see the beauty of raising children, Vance said, we have gone along with those who treat family life as an obstacle.

“I want more babies in the United States of America,” he said. “I want beautiful men and women eager to bring them into the world and to raise them.”

Vance’s direct statements represent a Christian worldview of life and family. The points he made went beyond an analysis of the American psyche and spirit to indicate a direction in public policy. He said he wants to make it easier for young people to afford to bring kids into the world. He wants to see strollers, cribs, and a celebration of life. For Vance, human flourishing is better measured by whether people feel they can raise families in our country than by the gross domestic product or the stock market. One can’t help but notice this less financialized vision of happiness is one often promoted by the left. Vance’s attempt to do the same, but much more closely related to the Christian vision, is a positive development.

While we can’t know at this point exactly what kinds of policies Vance thinks will help bring about a new pronatalism, it is clear his heart and mind are focused there. Given the negative demographic trends that have overtaken the West, new ideas should be welcome.

Toward the end of his remarks, Vance addressed the frustrations many pro-lifers have felt since the reversal of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022. Many had hoped bringing abortion back to voters would lead to substantial rollback. Instead, we have seen a number of state-level victories for the pro-abortion rights side and the beginning of a conviction among the political class that pro-life is bad retail politics. Vance spoke to the emotions that followed in the wake of those developments by encouraging pro-lifers to understand that it is “a blessing to know the truth” and that it is joyful “to know that the picture on the ultrasound is a picture of a baby with hopes and dreams to come.”

One might recall the moral reasoning of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, who insisted that a nation could not go on “half slave and half free.” Vice President J.D. Vance may be subtly making the same point with his reference to an ultrasound. It either portrays a human being or it doesn’t. Both can’t be true.