But instead of a triumphant new era, the anti-abortion movement finds itself at something of a crossroads as members try to find the right path forward to advance their cause.
Politicians in Washington are trying to thread the needle amid a series of high-profile political defeats and increasing public support for abortion rights.
Abortion rights have proven to be a mobilizing force for Democrats, independents and even some Republicans. This year is the first presidential election since the 2022 Dobbs decision that ended Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that established federal abortion rights. The Biden campaign is seeking to ride that sentiment to victory.
Much of the messaging from the Biden campaign has been focused on the threat it says a Republican administration would pose to reproductive rights and personal freedoms more broadly.
Among those who addressed the March for Life crowd Friday was Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who shared that his parents were teenagers when his mother became unexpectedly pregnant with him.
“In January of 1972, exactly one year before Roe v. Wade, my parents who were just teenagers at the time chose life. And I am very profoundly grateful that they did,” Johnson said.
House Republican leaders are rallying around two anti-abortion bills, though neither seek to limit abortion on a national scale and instead focus on unwanted pregnancies in college students and funding for crisis pregnancy centers.
The bills, which passed the House Thursday, underscore the desire of GOP leaders to avoid votes on controversial messaging legislation that would impose strict abortion limits.
Instead it telegraphs a different approach, focusing on expanding options for women with unplanned pregnancies rather than limiting abortions. Johnson characterized the bills as pro-family, rather than anti-abortion.
“We’re passing these bills and we’re marching today because it takes a lot of work to convince people that every single human child, every unborn child, has a value that is too profound and precious to ignore,” Johnson said Friday. “And we have every reason to be optimistic, my friends, that we can change public opinion.”
Democrats indicated they won’t let vulnerable Republicans off the hook, calling out both bills as examples of a GOP anti-abortion agenda.
“Unfortunately, we’re once again wasting time this week on extreme MAGA culture wars,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the House Rules Committee, calling both bills “part of Republicans’ ongoing push to ban abortion nationwide.”
