The 2018 March for Life rally marked 45 years since Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.
This year's theme, "Love Saves Lives," alluded to the heroism of self-sacrifice.
"Choosing life is not always easy," organizers explained, "but it is the loving, empowering and self-sacrificial option."
"Love is universally attractive because it is directed towards others," they added. "Love is what we all strive for because deep-down we are all drawn to give of ourselves in this way. Love saves lives in countless ways."
Friday's march featured a significant first: President Trump addressed participants from the Rose Garden via live stream.
Participants watch President Trump's live stream addressTouting his most significant achievements in defense of life, the president reaffirmed his commitment to the dignity of all Americans, born and unborn.
"Under my administration," he declared, "we will always defend the very first right in the Declaration of Independence and that is the right to life."
Introducing the commander-in-chief, Vice President Mike Pence reflected on the ruling that sparked the modern pro-life crusade and praised pro-life advocates for their diligence in defending the rights of the unborn.
"Forty-five years ago, the Supreme Court turned its back on the inalienable right to life," Pence recalled.
"But in that moment, our movement began. ... Your efforts over the years, over the decades, standing tirelessly for the sanctity of life, has brought this day about, this year about," he added.
The vice president also offered hope that the United States will rediscover its lost reverence for human dignity.
"I truly believe, with all of my heart, this is the pro-life generation in America," he enthused. "And I truly believe, in this generation, we will restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law once again."
Among a litany of other speakers who addressed the teeming crowds, standouts included Catholic Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), Speaker of the House; Pam Tebow, mother of former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, who refused doctors' recommendations to abort her son; and Sr. Bethany Madonna of the Sisters of Life, a religious order founded in 1991 to protect and enhance the sacredness of human life.
Just minutes before the commander-in-chief's Rose Garden address, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act by a vote of 241–183.
This year's event kicked off Thursday evening with a Prayer Vigil Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, presided over the service.
In his homily, Dolan warned that abortion will not be defeated by political means alone. At its root, he said, the phenomenon is a spiritual malady, a "power of darkness" that must be confronted through prayer.
Dolan's denunciations aside, few U.S. bishops lead real resistance to the country's Culture of Death. As a matter of routine, most American prelates ignore the president's pro-life achievements, even as they hammer him on social justice issues like immigration, gun control and climate change. But those on the front lines of battle — those who recognize abortion as an intrinsic evil — laud Trump as the "most pro-life president in modern history."
The 2018 March for Life capped a year of steady pro-life progress under President Trump, with the most recent post-Obama upturn coming Friday.
The University of Notre Dame March for Life contingentJust minutes before the commander-in-chief's Rose Garden address, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act by a vote of 241–183. Every Republican representative approved the bill, while all but six Democrats opposed it.
Introduced by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the act stipulates that if a baby survives a failed abortion attempt, the child must be transported to a hospital and given the same medical care as a newborn delivered naturally.
The act requires healthcare workers to report violations and establishes penalties for intentionally killing abortion survivors — for committing infanticide — including fines and imprisonment.
To be signed into law, the bill must survive a vote in the Senate — currently, a longshot prospect.
Owing to radically pro-abortion Senate Democrats and their RINO (Republicans In Name Only) allies, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act is expected to stall, like the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the initiative to federally defund Planned Parenthood and a host of other, earlier measures.
Whatever the final outcome of the bill, America's armies of pro-life advocates vow to soldier on, to reclaim the United States and its culture from the "power of darkness."
Their sights are set on quashing the country's machinery of death, which has devoured its children — now 60,089,000and counting — for almost half a century.