The March for Life is proof that life is a gift and truth still moves us

If you watched the Super Bowl last year, you probably remember the Rocket Mortgage commercial that cut through the noise and went straight to the heart. Instead of flash or controversy, it told a quiet story: a family, a home, children growing, ordinary moments that turn out to be anything but. 

For a moment, it almost felt like a pro-life message. 

Of course, it wasn’t. It was an advertisement. But it worked because it tapped into something deep and universal, something every human heart recognizes instinctively. Life, family, love and belonging matter. Life is not a problem to be solved. Life is a gift. 

That simple truth is our theme for this year’s 53rd National March for Life: Life Is a Gift.

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For more than 50 years, Americans have gathered in Washington, D.C., for the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration to affirm a foundational belief: every human life, born and unborn, has inherent dignity and immeasurable worth, and deserves protection and support in our laws, our communities and our families.  

The abortion debate has always been waged on two levels. One is intellectual: facts, science, public policy and law. That level matters. Truth must be defended clearly and honestly. 

And the facts are compelling. Science shows that human life begins at conception. From that first moment, a new human being exists with genetically unique DNA. By six weeks, a heartbeat can be detected. It is unmistakably the child’s, not the mother’s. By 12 weeks, organs have formed, fingerprints are emerging, and babies often suck their thumbs, sometimes favoring one hand over the other. By 15 weeks, science indicates unborn children can feel pain.

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The facts also reveal ugly truths about the abortion industry. Planned Parenthood’s abortion numbers continue to rise even as other health services decline. Today, 97% of pregnant women who enter a Planned Parenthood facility leave no longer pregnant. Chemical abortions now account for more than half of all abortions in the United States, despite mounting evidence that abortion drugs pose serious risks to women’s health. 

A major study found that nearly 11% of women who take mifepristone experience serious or life-threatening complications – a number that’s far higher than what women are often told and that would surely not be tolerated for almost any other type of drug. 

These facts should be shouted from the rooftops. But facts alone do not change a culture. 

Especially in our current moment, when a great deal of debate happens online, asynchronously and impersonally, human beings are often not moved by a set of bullet points. We are moved by encounters with what philosophers call the transcendentals: truth, beauty and goodness. Our minds change and our hearts soften when we see something worth loving and holding onto.

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That is why the March for Life continues to endure after so many years. Movements fueled primarily by anger tend to burn out. Anger is not sustainable. But joy is. 

Anyone who has attended the March knows this. The face of the March for Life is not rage or resentment, but joy: the singing, the energy, the love for both mother and child. Countless thousands of people, many of them young, standing together in the cold to bear peaceful witness to life.

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That youthful presence is particularly striking at a time when Gen Z pro-life self-identification is rising, and Gen Z’s willingness to accept abortion on demand throughout pregnancy is plummeting, according to Gallup polling from last summer. Across campuses, social media and local communities, a rising generation is engaging this issue with clarity and compassion, unafraid to tell the truth boldly and determined to shape a culture that sees life not as a burden, but as a blessing. 

What ultimately gives the pro-life movement its staying power is that it is not defined by what it rejects, but by what it embraces. At its best, our movement points toward a complete vision of human flourishing: one rooted in love, responsibility and the belief that no life is disposable. A full three quarters of voters – including strong majorities of Democrats, independents and women – support pregnancy centers that offer support before and after birth instead of abortion. That positive witness is what continues to move hearts, long after arguments fade.

The world will continue to change. Politics will shift. Cultural winds will blow. But the mission of the March for Life remains steadfast: to affirm the priceless value of every human life, to advocate for more protections for the littlest humans, to support women and families, and to bear joyful witness to a truth that never loses its power. 

No matter the circumstances, life is a gift. That truth speaks to the heart of every human person. And it is why we keep on marching for life.