March for Life attendees praise Trump's pro-life policies, but want more action to end abortion

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, January 24, 2026

WASHINGTON — March for Life attendees were largely supportive of the Trump administration’s efforts on behalf of the pro-life movement, but said they would like to see more progress as the administration faces criticism from prominent pro-life activists.

Vice President JD Vance was among several politicians and pro-life leaders who addressed the massive crowd of pro-life activists gathered at the 53rd annual March for Life on Friday. 

Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director-turned-outspoken pro-life activist, weighed in on Vance’s attendance in a video posted n posted on X Monday, where she said it was "insane" that Vance was invited.

Johnson pushed back on the claim that Vance has been the most “pro-life vice president we’ve ever had” following the Trump administration’s decision to greenlight a generic abortion drug and restore federal funding to Planned Parenthood clinics in response to a lawsuit from the ACLU. 

Attendees at the March for Life weighed in on the state of the pro-life movement and their thoughts about the first year of the second Trump administration. 

Stella Mae and Noelle, two students at a Catholic high school in Fort Worth, Texas, traveled to the nation's capital to attend the March for Life for the first time this year.

Noelle addressed Vance’s presence at the rally and reacted to Johnson’s criticism, telling The Christian Post that while "we don’t vote" and believes "no political side is perfect," she looks at which political party is most in line with her Catholic beliefs on life and other issues.

Stella Mae defended Vance’s appearance at the event: “I think it’s … hard to judge people by how they came here, but it’s important that they’re here now and that they’re making an effort to … change and … being an example to others. And so he may have … different political views or ways of going about it, but he is here, and he is trying to make a change for the better.”

Nathan, a high school student who attends Fayetteville Christian School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, also attended the March for Life for the first time this year. “I think they’re trying their best,” he said in a comment about the Trump administration’s record. “I know it’s definitely not easy for them to … close these clinics.”

Nathan pointed to the existence of “a big population that would like to keep these clinics open” and “think that killing a child is a good thing” as a major challenge facing the pro-life movement. “I think the Trump administration is trying to please both parties.”

“God has all called us here to save His children,” Nathan proclaimed. “All life is made in the image of Him. Every cell in your body was specifically designed by Him. Killing that off is dishonoring God’s creation, His imagination. We need to honor that as … His creation.”

While most attendees who spoke with The Christian Post approved of the Trump administration’s record on the abortion issue so far, they acknowledged that they would like to see additional progress.

Marla Mercer, the mother of Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins, traveled from Wellsburg, West Virginia, to attend the March for Life as she has more than a dozen times in the past. 

“It’s going in the right direction,” she insisted as she reflected on the Trump administration. She highlighted the need to “press further” when it comes to “defunding Planned Parenthood completely” and “keep the Hyde Amendment,” which prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions. 

“The administration is not perfect, but we can keep working towards those goals, and we need to keep pressing and going forward,” she said. “We need to talk to Vice President Vance. We need to encourage him. We need to give him the information that he needs.”

Indicating that she disagreed with Johnson’s “stance,” Mercer maintained that Vance “needs to be invited here.” According to Mercer, “We need to have pro-life administrators in the White House. Is it perfect? No, it’s not perfect yet, but we need to keep educating. We need to keep moving forward.” 

Pete and Kathleen Block from Hopatcong, New Jersey, have also attended the March for Life over a dozen times.

Kathleen Block praised the Trump administration’s record on abortion, saying, “I think they’ve done a great job. I think it’s wonderful that Trump has [spoken] out against abortion and that he supports pro-life.”

Block also defended Vance’s invitation to speak at the event: “I think he’s against murdering babies. I mean, he’s for saving babies, and that’s what’s important.”

Frank Cassidy, a pro-life activist associated with the Men’s March Movement who lives in San Antonio, Texas, attended the March for Life for the third time this year. He shared Johnson’s view that the Trump administration hasn't done enough to advance the cause of the pro-life movement and contended that nothing short of using the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to protect unborn children will suffice.  

“The previous Trump administration and the current Supreme Court are failing the United States of America by not upholding the 14th Amendment,” he declared. “The 14th Amendment clearly states ‘no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, nor shall any state have any law without ... due process.’ We all know every single person here on this mall was that small. A fetus, embryo, is just a Greek word for a small person.”

Cassidy also took issue with Vance’s presence at the rally: “Vice President Vance, [who] is a self-proclaimed practicing Catholic, is not only against the 14th Amendment but increasing ... abortion through [in-vitro fertilization] and through the abortion pill and through ... Title X. We need to end this madness and end abortion.”

As Cassidy explained, “The Men’s March is the voice of the men. The men need to come off the sidelines. Behind every single abortion is a man, and we suppress the men. The men are complacent ... So we stand up for the rights of the women and the unborn.” 

Bill O’Brien from Connecticut, who has attended nearly every March for Life for half a century, is affiliated with the organization Unborn Babies Count. His group seeks to ensure that unborn babies are counted as people in the U.S. Census. 

“His first administration was pretty good, overturning Roe v. Wade, but not completely,” he remarked. “We want Trump to issue an executive order to include the unborn as persons in the 2030 U.S. Census coming up in four years. So if they do that, that would be great.” 

In response to Vance's attendance, O’Brien told CP, “I’m glad that he’s going to be here today. I’d like to see more coming from the administration.” In addition to including unborn babies in the census, he called on the Trump administration to “keep defunding Planned Parenthood, not just this year but every year.” 

Sydney Richetto, a medical student originally from Wisconsin who is attending medical school in Virginia and was a first-time March for Life attendee, praised the Trump administration’s record on abortion while calling for further action: “I think that there are great things that they’ve done. I think that we need to keep pushing our administration to keep moving forward with protecting the right to be unborn.”

Richetto cited the availability of the abortion pill as a top concern, urging the Trump administration to “continue to listen to the voices of the pro-life generation” that wishes to see “the tragedy of the abortion pill reversed.”