One day after pardoning 23 pro-life activists, President Donald Trump was among the speakers to address thousands of people at the annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., Friday.
Despite frigid weather, a festive atmosphere surrounded the event as activists showed up with multicolored hats and signs declaring "Life is our revolution" and "MAGA: Make Abortion Gone Again."
The president spoke via a prerecorded video, and Vice President J.D. Vance made his first public appearance since Monday's inauguration festivities.
"In my second term, we will again stand proudly for families and for life," Trump said from the Oval Office. "We will protect the historic gains we have made and stop the radical Democrat push for a federal right to a limited abortion on demand up to the moment of birth and even after birth."
Vance received enthusiastic cheers and applause after being introduced.
"I want to be clear that this administration stands by you. We stand with you. And most importantly, we stand with the most vulnerable and the basic principle that people exercising the right to protest on behalf of the most vulnerable should never have the government go after them ever again," Vance told the crowd.
Other speakers included Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and keynote speaker Bethany Hamilton, professional surfer, mother, and pro-life advocate.
DeSantis celebrated the 2024 defeat of an abortion rights amendment on the March for Life stage and boasted about his role in the state-funded campaign against the measure. Voters there supported a state constitutional amendment overturning the ban but Florida requires 60% to pass constitutional amendments in the state. Most states require a simple majority.
"Most elected officials will say 'Look, what’s on the ballot is not their issue — the people can decide,'" DeSantis told the crowd. "And they wash their hands of it and walk away." He added: "We were not just going to sit around in Florida and do nothing."
Preceded by a concert, the rally on the National Mall was followed the March for Life, which started at the mall and ended in the space separating the Capitol building from the Supreme Court.
The March for Life has been held annually the past 52 years on Capitol Hill on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states.
Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, organizers and activists have been focused on the multiple state-level battles over abortion rights.
"Even with the wonderful blessing of Roe v. Wade being overturned, which allows more freedom at the state level to enact pro-life laws, the necessary work to build a culture of life in the United States of America is not finished," the March for Life's official website says.
The 23 pro-life activists pardoned by Trump on Thursday were involved in the invasion and blockade of clinics in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
"Twenty-three people were prosecuted," Trump said in a signing ceremony that aired lived on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 online streaming platform. "They should not have been prosecuted. Many of them are elderly people. They should not have been prosecuted. This is a great honor to sign this."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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