The March for Life

In August 2020, our nation marked the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s ratification, which gave women the right to vote. This was the final victory in a decades-long struggle by these visionary reformers.

The women’s suffrage movement succeeded partly because it appealed to a promise our Founding Fathers made at the birth of our nation, but which remained unfulfilled until the 19th Amendment’s ratification: that all men – and women – are created equal.

Today, a different group of reformers is fighting to fulfill another promise made in the Declaration of Independence: the promise of an unalienable right to life.

Every January for nearly 50 years, pro-life advocates have come together at the March for Life to defend that right. The first march in 1974 saw 20,000 attendees; this year, as many as 100,000 people will gather in Washington to support the right to life for all.

The March for Life will take place on January 21 this year, and those who attend have a lot to march for. To start, President Biden is asking the Senate to confirm an FDA commissioner who has revealed himself to be an instrument of the abortion lobby.

During his tenure as a prior FDA commissioner under President Obama, Dr. Robert Califf consistently opposed the right to life. Under his leadership, the FDA loosened restrictions on chemicals used in abortion drugs, a policy that led directly to the agency’s decision last year to allow access to on-demand, mail-order abortion drugs. I will strongly oppose his nomination to lead the FDA.

The Supreme Court is also currently considering the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which is focused on a Mississippi law that would limit abortion after 15 weeks. The Justices heard oral arguments in the case on December 1 of last year, and I was proud to join more than 200 members of Congress in sending an amicus brief to the Court on behalf of Mississippi’s law.

Like many of my colleagues in Congress, I am proud to be pro-life – and I am also proud to be pro-woman. These two things are not in conflict. Susan B. Anthony, one of the most prominent suffragists and an early advocate for the abolition of slavery, strongly opposed abortion.

After all these decades, in spite of so much opposition from members of the media, politicians, and left-wing activists, the pro-life movement is stronger than ever. This strength is partly thanks to the March for Life. But it is also thanks to amazing advancements in modern medicine.

At the time Roe was decided, ultrasounds and sonograms had just been invented. Today, these technologies allow expectant mothers and fathers to see incredible pictures of their unborn children, even after as few as eight weeks of pregnancy. Babies’ hearts begin to beat after just six weeks. And new innovations have allowed children born long before the traditional point of viability to not only survive outside the womb, but go on to live healthy lives.

Throughout all of this time, the March for Life has been a constant presence, peacefully demonstrating each and every January for the right to life. I am proud to support the participants as they march for the 49th year in a row.

Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.