One half-century after Roe v. Wade, the March for Life on Friday, January 20, marked the first national march celebrating a post-Roe America.
An estimated 50,000 gathered in Washington, D.C., for the 50th annual March For Life, with numerous NRB members among them as sponsors, speakers, and marchers.
Franklin Graham, President and CEO of NRB members Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Samaritan’s Purse, delivered remarks at the event and expressed his gratitude for the thousands of march-goers over the past 50 years, withstanding “the rain, the snow, the wind, the cold, to take a stand for life.”
Graham offered a prayer of hope for the many women who suffer in the aftermath of abortion.
“My prayer is that these millions of women, that they will come to know that You love them and care for them, and that You will forgive them of their sins if they would repent and believe on the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ,” Graham prayed.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) celebrated with Friday’s crowd. In his remarks, he expressed the significance of young adults comprising a large majority of the march.
“This has been a battle for decades in the United States, and the Left will have you believe that all young people are just here to support the abortion industry,” said Scalise. “You are showing us and giving us hope that the young people of America support life, defend life, [and] are here to march for life!”
“We ought to continue to march. You know how much is at stake,” Scalise continued. “It is incredibly inspiring for us to see all these young people – tens of thousands of young people. But it’s not just here in Washington. It’s back home in your states and your communities. This fight continues because of what’s at stake.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) issued a statement commending Friday’s march-goers for peacefully giving a voice to the voiceless.
“While others raise their voices in rage and hatred, you march with prayers, goodwill, fellowship, compassion, and devotion in defense of the most defenseless in this country,” said McCarthy.
NRB members who sponsored the event included Focus on the Family, GiveSendGo, Alliance Defending Freedom, ProLove Ministries, Samaritan’s Purse, and The Christian Broadcasting Network. NRB member Salem Media Group provided full-day coverage of the pro-life event through its SRN News and Townhall outlets. More than 500 of NRB member Liberty University’s students led the march, carrying the banner at the front of the procession.
In concluding the March for Life, hundreds of pro-life leaders and advocates from across the nation gathered at the annual Rose Dinner, where Jonathan Roumie of “The Chosen” delivered keynote remarks.
Roumie spoke of the importance of not shying away from communicating the “sanctity of life and sacredness of love” to the next generation.
“The author of Life has burned so very brightly within each and every one of you, irrespective of your specific beliefs, compelling you forward, for one reason or another, to stand together in support, to fight, to allow the unborn the right to enter into the world and defeat those earthly forces that wish to destroy the very evidence of them,” said Roumie in his remarks. “You have all journeyed here to our nation’s capital, not only to mourn the 64 million children lost through abortion over the last 50 years, but to contend for those yet to be born, made in the image of the Creator Himself, to testify to the miraculous sanctity of life Himself as expressed in the divine poetry of Psalm 139.”
“God is love. And true love gives way to life, not death,” said Roumie.
Tony Dungy, NFL analyst and former NFL football coach, urged attendees via video to “commit to speaking the truth in love” and to fulfill its commitments to the unborn, the born, and the young believers by nurturing, guiding, and “helping them develop and grow because they are the future of America.”
Dungy added, “I pray that we’ll commit to speaking the truth in love, that we’ll commit to supporting these young women who need our love and our help, and that we’ll commit to praying for those in our country who don’t have a biblical perspective.”
NRB wholeheartedly affirms the sanctity of life and commends the many pro-life advocates within the NRB family who are fighting to see life respected and protected under the law at every level of government.
