WASHINGTON – Thousands of pro-life Americans, including many Southern Baptists, gathered near the U.S. Capitol Friday (Jan. 23) for the 53rd annual March for Life.
This year’s March for Life rally, which is understood to be the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration, marks the fourth time the event has been held since the historic overturning of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which returned regulation of abortion primarily back to the states.
It was the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe decision, handed down in January 1973, which inspired the first March for Life event in 1974.
The theme for the 2026 rally was “Life is a Gift,” and the event fell just days after Sanctity of Life Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention, which was Jan. 18 on the SBC Calendar.
Among the Southern Baptists gathered at this year’s event were staff members of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). Additionally, the ERLC gathered a group of Southern Baptist pastors, ministry leaders and students to attend.
ERLC Interim President Gary Hollingsworth spoke about the importance of the National March for Life and why the pro-life cause is so important to Southern Baptists.
“Every year, tens of thousands of people from across the world take to the streets of our nation’s capital, standing shoulder to shoulder to send a powerful message: life is a gift,” Hollingsworth said. “As Scripture tells us, from the moment of conception, every person is a gift from above, made in the image of God, and worthy of protection.”
Each year’s event begins with an opening rally featuring numerous speakers before the physical march to the east side of the Capitol building.
March for Life President Jennie Bradley Lichter welcomed the crowd of thousands to the rally.
“Marchers, you are going to show the world today what the pro-life movement is made of,” Lichter said.
Lichter joined Hollingsworth on the ERLC podcast in early January where she spoke about the March, the importance of Southern Baptist involvement in the pro-life movement and her personal story.
Lichter began attending the national March as a college student in 2001 and has wide-ranging legal and policy experience in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, including at the highest levels of the federal government.
During the first Trump administration, she served as deputy assistant to the president and deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. Through this role, she led policy initiatives across the federal government to defend the dignity of life.
Lichter became president of the March for Life in February 2025 upon the retirement of previous president Jeanne Mancini, who oversaw more than 10 national March for Life rallies.
Lichter pointed to 2026, the 250th anniversary of America, as a key moment in the history of the pro-life movement.
“This year, we celebrate 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence,” Lichter said.
“We are so blessed to live in a country where our voices matter. Where we have the freedom to peacefully gather right here on federal government property in the middle of the most powerful city in the world and speak out about the most important human rights issue of our time.
“Throughout this year, as we celebrate the founding of our beloved country, never forget that the U.S. was built on the foundation of the right to life.”
In addition to numerous Southern Baptist participants, another notable Southern Baptist, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, was one of the event’s guest speakers.
Johnson, a Southern Baptist and former ERLC trustee, was the product of an unplanned pregnancy, but his teenage mother chose life. He reminded the crowd that the right to life ultimately comes from God.
“We welcome this opportunity to recommit ourselves to the cause of life and to remember why it is we gather and march,” he said. “We celebrate the foundational truth that all people are made by God and that is the one thing that gives us our unalienable rights.”
This was the third straight year Johnson has spoken at the March for Life.
A video message from President Trump was played, in which he thanked the crowd for their participation, marked important steps his administration has made to protect life and vowed to work to help rebuild “a culture that supports life,” in America.
Other speakers at the rally included Cissie Graham Lynch (granddaughter of Billy Graham), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (via video), New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith and Vice President J.D. Vance.
“From all of us in the Trump administration, we thank you for your prayers, your perseverance and for marching for life,” Vance told the crowd. “Over the last year, our administration has worked very hard to lead an effort to pick up the pieces and clean up the wreckage of five decades of bad policy on the question of life. We want life to thrive in the United States of America.
“I want you to know that under this administration, you have an ally in the White House.”
Vance and his wife Usha announced this week that they are expecting their fourth child, a baby boy.
A pivotal pro-life moment
The appearance of Vance and Johnson at the rally comes at a pivotal moment for the pro-life cause.
In a post-Roe society where states, in large part, determine abortion legislation, this changing pro-life policy landscape has once again challenged federal lawmakers toward action.
Life is one of the ERLC’s four main focus areas, and the entity has long-advocated for pro-life legislation, as evidenced by its recent campaign for Congress to defund Planned Parenthood.
Although this long-desired outcome was met when President Trump signed Congress’s budget reconciliation bill (which federally defunded Planned Parenthood for a year) last July, questions about the bill’s enforcement and a host of other pro-life policy priorities still remain.
One of the main issues involved in these questions is the availability and legality of the chemical abortion pill mifepristone. Chemical abortions are reportedly used for more than 60 percent of all abortions in the United States. Fourteen states currently have near-total bans on mifepristone while even more have laws limiting the use of the drug.
The ERLC has been advocating for the ban of these dangerous and deadly medications, or, at a bare minimum, a reinstatement of safety requirements.
The ERLC joined in an amicus brief in a 2024 Supreme Court case in which the court rejected an effort to ban mifepristone. The entity recently spoke about the underreported dangers of chemical abortions and voiced its displeasure when the FDA approved a new generic version of mifepristone.
Additionally, the ERLC spoke out on a recent Louisiana lawsuit which calls on the Trump administration to block the interstate transfer of abortion pills.
It remains legal to send chemical abortions pills via mail, and it has become common practice for people in abortion-friendly states to send such medications in the mail to recipients in states where the drug is illegal.
Such is the case with the Louisiana lawsuit, in which Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill indicted California physician Remy Coeytaux for allegedly prescribing a chemical abortion cocktail to a Louisiana woman.
Louisiana is one of six states currently suing the FDA to reverse its approval of mifepristone, and is even more aggressively asking for a preliminary order that would immediately end the provision of abortion pills by mail while the lawsuit plays out.
The Trump administration is facing a Monday, Jan. 26, deadline to file a brief opposing Louisiana’s emergency request, and the judge will hold a hearing on the matter in late February.
ERLC’s Hollingsworth spoke about the importance of opposing this dangerous pill and called for the federal government to ban these drugs.
“For decades, the pro-life movement marched every year to put an end to Roe v. Wade, a dream now realized through hard work, determination, prayer and an almighty God,” he said.
“While we celebrate the Dobbs decision, we cannot ignore the new realities of the abortion landscape in our nation. Some states now rightly protect innocent preborn life, while others have enshrined abortion-on-demand into their state constitutions. Access to dangerous chemical abortion is rapidly expanding, taking more and more preborn lives every year. Now, more than ever, we need substantive federal action to protect children from the horrors of abortion.”
Katy Roberts, ERLC senior policy manager, spoke to the urgency of this moment for the administration in a recent piece for WORLD Magazine.
“The pro-life movement finds itself at a crossroads,” Roberts wrote in a joint opinion piece with David Closson of the Family Research Council.
“We are grateful for recent steps taken at the state and federal levels to protect innocent human life – but as those who also desire to establish a true culture of life in our nation, we know much work remains.
“A stronger national pro-life ethic is needed. Christians should work to cultivate this ethic, not keeping our convictions to ourselves. We must remember that God’s law is perfect and His Word is profitable for all mankind – not just those who worship Christ.”
Hollingsworth said this March for Life marks a moment to celebrate what has been accomplished and continue to fight to protect life.
“As we march, we celebrate the victories that protect life and we lament the loss of preborn children not yet protected,” Hollingsworth said.
“We pray for the women facing unexpected pregnancy and we renew our efforts to enact meaningful, life-saving policy and create a culture that values life.”
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