Pence addresses massive crowd at March for Life, calls for ‘generosity, not judgment’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – For the first time in the 44-year history of the annual March for Life, a sitting vice president spoke at the nation’s largest anti-abortion rally.
Mike Pence, who was sworn into office earlier this month, praised the reported hundreds of thousands gathered on the National Mall for their efforts to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in January 1973.
“Life is winning in America because of all of you, so I urge you to press on,” Pence, the former governor of Indiana, said. “I believe we will continue to win the hearts and minds of the rising generations. … For young mothers and unborn children, if each of us does all we can to meet them where they are, with generosity, not judgment.”
He told participants to “let this moment be known for love, not anger. Let this moment be known for compassion, not confrontation.”
Many attendees expressed optimism that President Donald Trump’s new administration will be an advocate for their beliefs.
“I think we’re very optimistic,” Johnstown, Pennsylvania resident Heidi Bence said. “This is the most optimistic I’ve felt in all the marches I’ve gone to, because I think we have a pro-life president. And I think he’s addressing this – and aware.”
She predicted a Trump-Pence administration will “do a lot for the pro-life movement.”
“It unifies us,” Bence said. “And I think it’s kind of like a shot in the arm for all of us, because you walk and you do this so often, and you think that you’re by yourself, there’s not a lot of people because everything is against life. We live in a culture of death. But I think that when we come together like this it’s very supportive and encouraging.”
Supreme Court
Trump plans to soon announce his first Supreme Court nominee to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016.
It is likely the judge will be pro-life, according to indications given by the president.
“One justice won’t tip the scale, but it’s likely that with this administration – even if it lasts for only four years – that there will be more than one justice,” Brian Scarnecchia, an associate professor at Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida, said. “Of course, many believe that it’s not the business of the United States Supreme Court to be legislating from the bench, but that’s what goes down.”
Scarnecchia would like to see the court simply reverse Roe v. Wade.
“They had no trouble reversing themselves on same-sex marriage,” Scarnecchia said. “They shouldn’t blink an eye at reversing an opinion that everyone understands was wrongly decided then and is still wrong now.”
Faith and values
The issue of abortion, for many at the march, transcends politics and enters the worlds of religion and morality.
“I believe that every human life is precious and that a person is a person from the moment of conception, as science has proven over the past few years or so,” said Greg McFadden, a Silver Spring, Maryland, resident. “And I believe that if you take away the rights of some people in your society, the rights of all other people in society are in jeopardy – so that’s why I come out here to stand up for life.”
Numerous children and young adults attended the event with older participants saying those individuals will be the generation that helps make abortion illegal in the United States.
“I am a Catholic and I go to a Catholic high school, and so I have been raised to believe that abortion is wrong, and I have been taught all the facts,” said Anna Gasser, a resident of Nokesville, Virginia. “I truly believe that at the moment of conception it is a baby.”
Sutor writes for the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Tribune-Democrat.