Trump And Vance Celebrate The March For Life
By CHRISTOPHER MANION
Forty-two years ago, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed Jan. 22 as “National Sanctity of Human Life Day.” Last week, President Donald J. Trump celebrated that proclamation with an inspiring note of gratitude honoring the pro-life movement.
As usual, it was ignored by the secular media.
“On July 4, 1776,” the president wrote, “our Declaration of Independence righteously affirmed that every human being is endowed by Almighty God with the unalienable right to life. In the 250 years since, our commitment to this truth has been the source of our strength and the foundation of our greatness — and it has helped America remain the single greatest force for justice and human flourishing in the history of the world.
“This National Sanctity of Human Life Day, we renew our steadfast commitment to fostering a culture that respects, upholds, and cherishes the inherent dignity and infinite worth of every precious human soul.”
President Trump then addressed some key domestic and foreign actions he has taken in defense of life:
“From the moment I returned to office,” he wrote, “I have taken decisive action to protect the unborn and restore a culture that unapologetically defends the sanctity of life. I was proud to enforce the Hyde Amendment and reinstate the Mexico City Policy — ending taxpayer-funded abortion at home and abroad. I also pardoned 23 pro-life activists who were unfairly targeted and prosecuted by a weaponized Department of Justice (DOJ) for practicing their faith and living their conscience. At my direction, the DOJ is now investigating the weaponization of Government against Christians and Americans of faith.”
“We’re strongly defending religious liberty,” he continued, “we’re bringing back faith in America, we’re bringing back God, we’ve stopped forced taxpayer funding of abortion at home and abroad, we’re championing faith-based adoption and foster care. . . . With your help and support, we will continue to fight for the eternal truth that every child is a gift from God,” he said in his video message to the 53rd March For Life the next day.
Politics Isn’t
The Answer, Family Is
Vice President JD Vance appeared at the march, recalling that his very first speech as vice president was delivered at the same event last year. After sharing the news that he and his wife Usha are expecting their fourth child, he went on to offer a heartfelt message of support that included a deep reflection on where the pro-life movement stands today.
“All of us in the Trump administration, from the president on down, we thank you for your prayers. We thank you for your perseverance. And we thank you that, for today, we are all marching for life,” he said.
He then reassured those pro-lifers who fear that President Trump’s support falls short of the mark.
“You know that he loves and cares deeply about this movement,” Vance said. “And it’s why he has fought for the pro-life cause and why we do it in this administration.
“Three years ago — we cannot forget — he delivered, and his Supreme Court justices delivered, the most important Supreme Court decision of my lifetime. Because with the Dobbs decision, what we did, what the president did, what the Supreme Court did, was put a definitive end to the tyranny of judicial rule on the question of human life.”
“He shattered a 50-year culture of disposability, one that treated human life as expendable the moment that it became inconvenient. And he empowered our nation and our movement to build a culture of life from the grassroots up. And over the last year . . . our administration has worked very hard to lead that effort and to pick up the pieces to clean up the wreckages of five decades of bad policy on the question of life.”
Vance then went beyond policy to the culture, speaking from the experience he had gained as a child of poverty, neglect, broken homes, crime, drugs, and utter desperation. When he addresses his hopes for America’s families of the future, he knows too well that the problems we face are beyond politics — indeed, above politics: America’s future depends on a strong culture built on God, country, and family — in freedom. The state’s responsibility is the defense of that freedom, the preservation of the rule of law, and the maintaining of the peace.
“Our vision is simple. We want life to thrive in the United States of America. We want Americans, every American from all walks of life, to have happy, healthy children, and we want them to raise those kids with confidence that they’ll do well and grow up in safety and prosperity, that they’ll have access to good jobs, great schools, safe streets, and warm houses in which to raise their kids. And we want all of our American families to be able to do it with the confidence that their nation will stand with them, just as they have stood with the United States of America.”
And Government
Should Stay Out Of It!
Well, that’s going to take some hard work, and we should welcome it:
“Now, you all know this very well: Building a culture of life requires persuasion. And that’s what’s so different about this moment compared to the moment that was dominated by the Supreme Court for 50 years. We’re not trying to argue to the Supreme Court anymore. We are trying to persuade our fellow citizens that we must build up that culture of life.
“And as you know, that effort is going to take a lot of time, a lot of energy, and a little bit of money. And that’s why we’re here, because you know that we’re marching for life because we want our wonderful fellow Americans, even if they . . . disagree with us, to know that life is worthy. It is worthy of protection. And that is why we march today.”
Vance made clear that the means of achieving those worthy goals is not political — in fact, our efforts will thrive only when politicians stop intruding into the moral and cultural dimensions of our lives that flourish not because of government but because they are free of government.
As Justice Louis Brandeis put it in 1890, the state should protect our “right to be let alone.”
“We’ve ended the censorship of Christians, Jews, and other Americans of faith who were punished simply for following their faith in public life,” Vance continued. “We’ve expanded conscience protections for healthcare workers and defended faith-based foster care and adoption. We gutted Biden-era rules and ensured that no nun, no nurse, no pharmacist, and no physician has to check their faith and their values at the door of their workplace.”
Vance then addressed something the Democrats desperately want us to forget: the Biden years.
“Under President Biden and congressional Democrats, the power of government we know was marshaled against us, against our faith, against our families, and most importantly against the most vulnerable. That stopped with the Trump administration, and it is not coming back.”
Unfortunately, many of America’s prominent religious leaders have criticized the Trump administration simply because they have become happily subsidized subsidiaries of the government welfare state. Trump’s policies have served as an unwelcome reminder that they have abandoned the family to faceless bureaucrats, their children to public school unions, and their fundraising to the tax collector.
“Building a culture of life requires persuasion,” Vance tells us.
Will they hear us?
Well, hope springs eternal.
