Trump and Vance join March for Life celebrating the movement’s gains (AUDIO)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump vowed to support pro-life protesters in his second term as tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in Washington on Friday for the annual March for Life.

“We will again stand proudly for families and for life,” Trump declared in a pre-recorded video address.

Protesters had come to the capital for decades to call for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, which affirmed a constitutional right to an abortion. Now, with the repeal of Roe in 2022, they are now on the inside rather than the outside. With Trump’s return to the White House and Republicans in control of Congress, the activists want to build on their victories.

“Our country faces the return of the most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetimes,” Vice President JD Vance told the crowd in his in-person speech.

Vance hailed Trump’s previous actions on abortion, saying the president “delivered on his promise of ending Roe” and appointed hundreds of pro-life judges.

Abortion was largely absent from the stack of dozens of executive actions in Trump’s first days of office. But he has already made quieter moves on abortion, including pardoning several right to life activists and using wording related to fetal personhood in an executive order rolling back protections for transgender people.

House Speaker Mike Johnson celebrated these moves as evidence “this new White House is already showing its resolve.”

“It is a new golden age for America,” Johnson told the crowd.

Despite frigid weather, a festive atmosphere surrounded the event as activists showed up with multicolored hats and signs declaring “Life is our revolution” and “MAGA: Make Abortion Gone Again.”

“This is a significant moment in history,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America group. “Yes, we have a march every year but this one is pretty special. We have just been through the first presidential election since the Dobbs decision. There is a trifecta of pro-life Republicans in the White House and the House and the Senate.”

Kristen Cooper, 21, was among several thousand Students for Life America members attending. She said she was especially excited to be at the march with “pro-life Republicans” in the White House.

She said this march was her fourth but the first with a Republican administration. “It’s surreal, actually.”

Anna Henderson, a teacher at a Catholic high school near Jackson, Michigan, was also attending her fourth march with a busload of her students.

“Just because we have the backing of the administration doesn’t mean the fight is over,” she said. “We still need to change people’s hearts.”

The march has been held annually since 1974. It comes after the president pardoned several activists convicted of blockading abortion clinic entrances.

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, said there is still work to be done, despite the Supreme Court decision. “There’s no silver bullet to ending abortion,” she said. “The march now ends on the backside of the U.S. Capitol to remind our representatives that abortion is not only a state issue, but also a local issue and also a federal issue.”

Hawkins added that she’d like to see Trump defund Planned Parenthood and more focus on making sure women with unplanned pregnancies have the resources to have the child, such as paid family leave and expanded child tax care credit.

Angela Vasquez-Giroux, vice president of communications at Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which supports abortion rights, said: “We know exactly what is at risk and we know the hate and lies they will spew at the March for Life.”

The battle over abortion since the 2022 decision, has been in state courts and at the ballot box where voters in seven states approved ballot measures for constitutional amendments on reproductive freedom in November and more states could see ballot measures in coming years.

Legislatures have been fighting back already with proposals that could make such measures more difficult to get passed.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis celebrated the 2024 defeat of an abortion rights amendment on the March for Life stage and boasted about his role in the state-funded campaign against the measure. Voters there supported a state constitutional amendment overturning the ban but Florida requires 60% to pass constitutional amendments in the state. Most states require a simple majority.

“Most elected officials will say ‘Look, what’s on the ballot is not their issue — the people can decide,'” DeSantis told the crowd. “And they wash their hands of it and walk away.” He added: “We were not just going to sit around in Florida and do nothing.”

Jennie Bradley Lichter, the March for Life president-elect, said in addition to Friday’s march the group plans to be at 17 state capitals across the country in 2025. She said, in an email answer to questions, that the march continues because it provides energy for the movement and signals that the issue of protecting unborn children is not resolved.