Pro-lifers march on

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 28th of January.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

On Friday, tens of thousands gathered for the annual National March for Life in Washington. They marked 52 years since the U.S. Supreme Court discovered a right to abortion in Roe v. Wade. Three years ago the high court discarded Roe in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, returning abortion regulation power to the states.

REICHARD: The pro-life movement has had its victories, but also devastating losses.

AUDIO: Being on the right side of history isn't always popular or easy …

March for Life organizers acknowledging these difficulties in this year’s promotional video.

AUDIO: When culture is spreading lies about the Dignity of life and it seems like we're in a losing battle we might feel like giving up… but we won't. This is why we march…

WORLD’s Leah Savas now on how everyday pro-lifers are thinking about where the movement goes from here.

SOUND: [MARCH FOR LIFE RALLY]

LEAH SAVAS: The marchers begin gathering on the hill across from the White House before 10am. By 11:30, the crowd has grown to thousands. It's cold, though not as cold as inauguration day. Everyone is wearing bulky coats and warm hats--and most have sunglasses to cut the glare of the sunny January morning.

MEGHAN MILLER: It's nice to know we're not the only ones praying out there.

14-year-old Meghan Miller and her mom Stephanie drove up from Atlanta, Georgia for this, their first March for Life. They carry homemade signs that say “Life is Good” and “God loves you.” The same signs they hold in front of abortion facilities back home.

STEPHANIE MILLER: we actually go to the clinics and pray on the sidewalks and throw baby showers for the moms.

They’ve been doing that since Meghan was in preschool. And last year, the abortion facility they were going to closed.

MILLER: My friend called to see if we could make an appointment for our daughter. And they're like, "Oh, we're closed." And it was so happy, so happy.

But when that one closed, they started praying outside of another facility in the area.

More than 2 years after Dobbs, abortions are still happening in the United States—even in states like Georgia, where the law protects unborn babies after about 6 weeks. Which is why people like Meghan and Stephanie are still praying outside of abortion facilities and pro-lifers are still marching.

But with a new Republican president, many pro-lifers WORLD interviewed are optimistic about the direction the movement is heading, including Franciscan University student Ari Kalpakgian.

ARI KALPAKGIAN: You know now with Trump back in office it's it's it seems like things are starting to head in the right direction. But the journey is not over and you know, we’re just getting started.

As pro-lifers march down Constitution Avenue towards the Capitol, the big question is, what direction should the pro-life movement be heading in?

Kalpakgian believes the best path forward for the pro-life movement is to create a culture that makes it easier for women to keep their babies.

KALPAKGIAN: We're going to provide women with the resources they need so that they can bring you know these children to the full term and whether that means funding pregnancy centers you know rebuilding the adoption system and the child care system whatever we have to do just to avoid that these children are being killed for no reason in the womb.

Many pro-lifers at the rally have a similar message. Here’s Manuel Cardoza from Aurora, Illinois.

MANUEL CARDOZA: And any abortion resources should be diverted more towards helping the working class, which struggle with health care, and especially with health insurance, since they can't afford insurance…even with insurance it would still be pricey.

Others say the pro-abortion culture sends women the message that they can’t have a baby if they want to pursue their dreams. Here’s Lara McCollough from Alexandria, Virginia.

LARA MCCOLLOUGH: And the truth is that the pro -life movement is yes, you can do it. Maybe not all at once, but you can have it all.

But not everyone at the march is optimistic about the movement’s future. Some think pro-lifers have lost their way. Maison DesChamps is a part of the pro-life group known as the White Rose Resistance. He points to pro-abortion wins at the ballot box as evidence that the prolife movement is losing.

MAISON DESCHAMPS: I think we are losing as a movement because we're not treating abortion like murder. The left doesn't believe us. And so until we actually start doing things to save these babies the way that we are called to in Scripture, well then we're going to keep losing, no one will ever believe us.

Many pro-lifers are satisfied with gradual steps toward protecting unborn babies in law, but the White Rose Resistance wants to abolish abortion outright, something Julia Storms is concerned many at the March are not demanding.

JULIA STORMS: I think sometimes even at events like this, it's easy easy be like oh this is a big party that we're all together and yeah it's great that we all can be unified but I think we need to keep in mind what are we actually fighting against really children being torn apart in their mother's womb.

These pro-lifers are calling on the movement to confront the culture and show them how evil abortion actually is. They say that entails treating abortion as murder in the law, which would subject women who obtain abortions to penalties. Here’s White Rose Resistance member Elizabeth Walksman.

ELIZABETH WALKSMAN: Just like there's several degrees of murder. I mean, of course the abortionist is the one killing, but the mother has a degree in that as well, choosing for her child to die.

DESCHAMP: I would say that the mother is almost more at fault than the abortionist. The abortionist didn't drive her to his clinic.

THOMAS: He's just offering a service.

Many marchers WORLD interviewed disagree. Including marcher Patience Saazi. She says many women are pressured into abortions. And those who choose to do so freely often don’t know the truth about what they’re doing.

PATIENCE SAAZI: I think those women need to be counseled. Those women need to be supported and not punished. I think they too are victims of abortions.

Regardless of what laws the movement pursues, most pro-lifers recognize that the battle is for the hearts and minds of Americans. Marcher Bob Urban has been to seven marches and says he’s always encouraged to see younger generations speaking up for unborn babies. He hopes it’s a matter of time before the culture recognizes the barbarity of abortion.

BOB URBAN: A law isn't going to do it. I mean the law is a second step. You know, you got to get the first step, first step is individual heart changes and then the law will follow from that but just to force it, it's too too much, there's much deception out there.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leah Savas.

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