The annual “March for Life” demonstration in Washington will not be held in person this year due to the CCP virus pandemic and security restrictions placed around the city, the event’s organizer said.
“The protection of all of those who participate in the annual March, as well as the many law enforcement personnel and others who work tirelessly each year to ensure a safe and peaceful event, is a top priority of the March for Life,” March for Life President Jeanne Mancini said on Jan. 15 in a statement.
“In light of the fact that we are in the midst of a pandemic which may be peaking, and in view of the heightened pressures that law enforcement officers and others are currently facing in and around the Capitol, this year’s March for Life will look different,” Mancini continued, asking all participants to stay home and join an online event instead.
Mancini said a small group of pro-life leaders representing their supporters from across the nation will be marching in Washington on Jan. 29, and the event will be live-streamed. She added she looks forward to holding the event in-person next year.
The March has been held every year in the nation’s capital since 1974, the year after the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. A National Prayer Vigil for Life is traditionally held the night before the demonstration at Washington’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Last year, President Donald Trump became the first sitting president to speak at the march in person. Presidents Ronald Reagan, in 1987, and George W. Bush, in 2008, addressed the attendees over the phone.
“It is my profound honor to be the first president in history to attend the March for Life!” Trump told a crowd of tens of thousands of pro-life activists on Jan. 24, 2020. “We’re here for a very simple reason—to defend the right of every child, born and unborn, to fulfill their God-given potential.”
Trump highlighted measures his administration has taken against abortion, including the restoration of what’s known as the “Mexico City policy,” which blocks foreign non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortion from receiving U.S. federal aid. The Health Department also reinterpreted the rules for Title X reproductive health services funds so that abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood could no longer draw from those funds.
“We look forward to all of the blessings that will come from the beauty, talent, purpose, nobility, and grace of every American child,” Trump said.
