Washington DC – Two leading pro-life activists spoke with Fox News Digital about their thoughts on the future of the pro-life movement and why they will continue to fight for their lives in a post-Dobss world.
March for Life President Jeanne Mancini has led the organization since fall 2012.
Speaking to Fox News Digital on the National Mall in the nation's capital on Friday, January 19, just before the 51st March for Life began, Mancini spoke of her commitment to staying with women during their pregnancy and changing the culture surrounding pregnancy. emphasized its importance.
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The 2024 March for Life theme is “With every woman, for every child,” which Mancini said is a nod to “getting back to our pro-life roots.”
“The pro-life movement was created for this. So this is why the marches started,” she said.
Jeanne Mancini (pictured in 2016) told Fox News Digital that her goal is to make abortion “unthinkable.” (Albin Lohr-Jones/Pacific Press/LightRocket, Getty Images)
After the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health in June 2022, states were once again given the power to enact their own abortion laws.
Mancini told FOX News Digital that the March for Our Lives is also moving to states.
The first state March for Life was the 2018 Virginia March for Life, she said.
“This year it will be held in 16 states,” she said. “We plan to be in all 50 states within the next six to seven years.”
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She said the national March for Life is a way to “unite, equip and mobilize pro-life Americans in the public square.”
While there was a moral victory with Dobbs for the pro-life movement, she said there was still work to be done on the ground, so to speak.
“I wish we could finish marching, but we haven't yet built a culture of living in America.”
“Roe's reversal didn't make abortion illegal at all; it just allowed states to enact pro-life protections 20 weeks earlier,” Mancini said. “And more importantly, it wasn't unthinkable.”
Mancini's goal is to make abortion “unthinkable.”
“Those who think our work is done, that we are done building a living culture right now, are mistaken,” she said. “So we're not done yet. So it would be nice if we could finish marching, but we haven't built a culture of living in America yet.”
On January 19, 2024, a snowy day in Washington, DC, a large crowd gathered for the 2024 March for Life. This year's march was the second since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Mancini highlighted the work March for Life is doing this year to raise funds and promote the work of pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes that support women in need during pregnancy. .
These organizations do not promote abortion.
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Mancini said a recent study found that nearly 1 million people received services at a pregnancy resource center or birth center last year.
“And that doesn't include the fetus,” she said. “So this year she committed $358 million and nearly 2 million people participated in the movement.”
One of the goals of this year's March for Life was to promote the work of pregnancy resource centers and maternity facilities, Jeanne Mancini told Fox News Digital. (Aubrey Spady/Fox News Digital)
In addition to providing “simple things” like diapers and milk, some organizations also help mothers with housing, medical care, counseling and school credits, she said.
“The pro-life movement is about the full flourishing of mothers and babies,” Mancini said.
“The war remains unwinnable.”
Lila Rose, founder of the pro-life organization Live Action, began participating in pro-life activities as a teenager.
Currently, she is married and a mother, and is pregnant with a child due to be born this spring.
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In a phone interview with Fox News Digital from California ahead of his speech at the West Coast Walk for Life on Saturday, Jan. 20, Rose said the pro-life movement still has a lot of work to do. .
With the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs, “we have won an important battle, but the war remains to be won,” Rose said.
Lyla Rose, who founded the pro-life organization Live Action at age 15, sees a bright future for the pro-life movement despite last year's legal setbacks. (live action)
“That's why we're marching and walking. Because we're at war. And the war hasn't been won yet.”
In addition to cultural changes in society, Rose emphasized the need for laws to continue to change to protect unborn children.
“The new north star of this movement is equal protection, as promised in the 14th Amendment,” Rose told Fox News Digital. “So it’s work that happens at both the federal level and the state level.”
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These changes won't happen quickly, Rose says.
“As humans, we often think of change in terms of days, weeks, or even years,” she says. “But the reality is that the most profound changes, generational changes, occur over the lifetime.”
“The new north star of this movement is equal protection, as promised in the 14th Amendment.”
In the meantime, it's up to the pro-life movement to continue its work, she said.
Rose's home state of California, where she is currently based, legalized abortion prior to Roe v. Wade.
In November 2022, just months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Californians voted to enshrine the right to abortion into the state constitution.
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Rose called California's political situation “very dire,” but expressed hope and determination regarding the future of the pro-life movement.
“The ideologies that are currently in political power in California have no future and cannot have a future because they are anti-human, they are anti-family, they are anti-children,” she said. said.
The pro-life movement needs to “take back one system at a time,” Lyla Rose told Fox News Digital.Above is a scene from the 51st March for Life in Washington, DC. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
California's long-term strategy is to “take back one system at a time” and guide the culture of life, she said.
Ms. Rose believes that the current pro-abortion movement as a whole cannot sustain itself.
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“The pro-abortion crowd is very anti-natalist,” she says. “They're very pro-population control. They're not pro-marriage. They're not pro-children.”
“And that's what's so encouraging about our movement: people who believe in faith, family and freedom, they're the ones who are actually building the families and institutions of the future,” Rose said. he added.
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