Activists at Friday’s March for Life said that they are willing to suspend skepticism about President Trump’s own background and views on abortion policy while he is helping to advance their agenda.
Although the activists interviewed by the Washington Examiner declined to speculate whether Trump authentically shares their anti-abortion convictions, they say that actions speak louder than words and that the administration so far has pursued their preferred policies with respect to religious liberty and anti-abortion initiatives.
“Most people here are already pro-life, so the administration isn’t going to change anyone’s mind,” said Patrick Senour, a student from Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. “We’re more here to raise awareness of the crisis and find an end … This isn’t a religious issue, this is a human rights issue.”
Several attendees at the rally on the National Mall, many of whom travel as part of church groups, said that they are willing to look past Trump’s personal conduct and past support for legalized abortion as long as he keeps his word to advance the movement during his presidency.
“Appoint more pro-life judges, reform the adoption system to making adoption easier, and overturn Roe v. Wade,” said one participant who asked to have her name withheld for privacy reasons, referring to the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal nationwide. “Do that, and you’re OK in my book.”
So far, Trump has followed through on many of his campaign promises. He has reinstated the “Mexico City Policy,” which prohibits dollars for U.S. aid from going toward organizations that provide or promote abortions, and appointed dozens of conservative judges, including two Supreme Court justices who many anti-abortion activists hope will eventually help to overturn or narrow Roe.
And his actions have met with approval from pro-life groups. The Susan B. Anthony List, which seeks to limit and ultimately end abortion in America, has touted Trump’s presidency as the most pro-life in U.S. history.
Several speakers from the stage voiced support for Trump’s advances for the pro-life movement, including Vice President Mike Pence, who said that pro-life individuals have a “champion” in Trump.
Chase Dorsett, a freshman Franciscan University student, said that more than 500 students from the university didn’t travel from Ohio to the March to hear from Trump or Pence but that they were there to make it known that they want to ultimately end the practice of abortion.
“It’s inspiring to have them here, but we aren’t here for them,” Dorsett, a freshman, said of the administration’s presence at the march. Pence spoke at the rally, but he wasn’t listed as a speaker up until the time of the main event. Trump, too, addressed the activists with a prerecorded video.
“The truth is President Donald Trump is the most pro-life president in American history,” Pence said from the March for Life stage.
The March for Life takes place every year within the week of the anniversary of the Roe decision, and the leadership of the march says it will continue until the ruling is overturned. The first March for Life happened on the one-year anniversary of the ruling.