House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) urged thousands of pro-life demonstrators at the March for Life on Friday in Washington, D.C., to help cultivate a culture of life and continue to support women who may be considering abortions.
As snow fell down, Johnson told the crowd that they were all there to “celebrate life and what it means to be an American,” pointing to America’s founding and the right to life found in the Declaration of Independence. The march, the second since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, was expected to attract tens of thousands of pro-life demonstrators.
“Every single person has inestimable dignity and value. Your value is not related in any way to the color of your skin or what zip code you live in, how good you are in sports, where you went to high school, it’s irrelevant. Your value is inherent because it is given to you by your creator,” Johnson said.
The House speaker added that he was the product of an unplanned pregnancy and was grateful that his parents chose life.
”We have to build a culture that encourages and assists more and more people to make that same decision. This is a critical time to help all moms who are facing unplanned pregnancies, to work with foster children, and to help families who are adopting, to volunteer and assist our vital pregnancy resource centers and our maternity homes, and to reach a renewed hand of compassion and to speak the truth in love,” he said.
Other speakers at the march included Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, former NFL football player Benjamin Watson, and other pro-life and Christian leaders.
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Footage posted on X showed massive crowds gathered to hear the speeches before the start of the march.
Despite the second DC snowfall in a week, the 51st annual @March_for_Life is as far as the eye can see. #ProLife #MarchForLife pic.twitter.com/GuKWDSQ2HH
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 19, 2024
The march comes after several pro-life defeats at the state level as voters in some states have enshrined abortion into their constitutions. These efforts have been largely funded by Left-wing activists and have heavily outspent pro-life campaigns.
Johnson has been facing pressure from some Republicans in Congress to put forward more pro-life legislation in the coming year. House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (R-VA) said that many Republicans would be “disappointed and upset” if more pro-life measures were not approved in 2024.
“You’re not going to get everything that you want when you have divided government,” Good told POLITICO. “But the House majority ought to count for something. We should get at least half of what we want, shouldn’t we?”
On Friday, 10 congressional Republicans sent a letter to Johnson demanding that the Department of Defense’s appropriations bill prohibit taxpayer dollars from being spent on travel for service members to obtain abortions.