In speeches at the march, the nation's largest anti-abortion rally, Donald Trump and his vice president, J.D. Vance, both indicated Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice will no longer prosecute anti-abortion activists.
“Our government will no longer throw older protesters and activists (seniors, grandparents, or anyone else) into prison,” Vance told the crowd gathered on the National Mall in the shadow of Washington's Monument. He spoke to a crowd of thousands strong. “It stopped on Monday, so I have no intention of coming back to this country.”
Vance on Thursday trumpeted the president's decision to pardon several anti-abortion activists convicted of violating the federal Freedom of Access Act, or FACE Act, by shutting down abortion clinics. . That law punishes people who threaten, obstruct, or harm people trying to access reproductive clinics or vandalizing clinics. Anti-abortion activists have been trying to defeat it or convince the federal government to stop enforcing it for years.
“I'm releasing Christians,” Trump said in his own speech. The president prerecorded and broadcast it to the crowd on two giant screens.
But neither Trump nor Vance talked about the sweeping policies that abortion rights activists are currently braving. They are also known as the “global GAG rules” and require that if a foreign non-governmental organization (NGO) refers people for abortion, advises them on the procedure, or advocates for their access, It did not even mention Mexico City's policy of blocking foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from receiving aid.
Every Republican president since 1984 has enforced this rule, and every Democrat has repealed it. The lack of action from Trump on policy has puzzled abortion rights supporters.
In recent years, the March for Life has sometimes doubled as a Trump rally. This year's iteration was no different. Vendors sold red hats of marchers with Trump's “Make America Great Again” slogan and T-shirts with the words “Fight…Fight…Fight!” Above an image of Trump holding his fist in the air (this was taken shortly after his assassination attempt in July).
Trump and Vance's appearance also appears to have gotten the loudest roar from the crowd. That's far more than anti-abortion talk or the appearance of U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson, or Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
