The 2022 March for Life was, in the words of organization president Jeanne Mancini, “one of the most energetic marches” they’ve ever had in their 49 years of existence. This year’s march took place Friday, amid freezing temperatures, Washington, D.C.’s draconian vaccine mandates causing problems for many attendees, and a mainstream media doing very little to cover the huge event … as always.

Still, the 2022 March for Life was a stunning and life-changing experience for those of us who made the trip.

150,000 Energized by the Hope of Roe Being Overturned 

Part of this year’s unbounded energy came from the absence of a full march in 2021. COVID forced organizers to change last year’s event to a virtual gathering with only 50 prominent Pro-life leaders marching alone down the street in the face of the new pro-abortion administration.

But much of the collective energy came from the very real hope that the pro-life movement feels in this moment. This hope that Roe v Wade‘s day of reckoning is near caused more and more people to rush to Washington DC to make their voices heard at this crucial moment.  

Based on the number of people who paraded by their camera post, Students for Life of America estimated the crowd at 150,000 strong. You can see their impressive time lapse video here.  

 

Our little group from Christians Engaged out of Texas and Pennsylvania joined the shuffle through the bottlenecked crowd, overwhelmed with emotion as we slowly moved down the route from the National Mall, down Constitution Avenue, and to the Supreme Court. The throngs were so deep and awe-inspiring to all of us — particularly the seas of young people from all over the nation. Truly, a new Pro-life generation is arising, ready for a change in the laws of our land. And the hearts of our citizens.

Cold Day, Dedicated Hearts

It was an extremely cold day.  Just the 20’s. But still, thousands stood for hours bundled up in thick coats, before marching to the Supreme Court to show their support for reversing Roe v. Wade. The participants reaffirmed their commitment to protecting LIFE whether it was on the federal level or state level. Spirits were high as many activists and leaders expect the High Court this summer to return a favorable decision on Dobbs. vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization reversing Roe.

This decision — if it does come down our way — would not outlaw abortion. It will return the matter to the states where it belongs. Right now, states across the union are passing “trigger” laws to save the unborn in anticipation of this monumental moment — should it come.

“We are hoping and praying that this year, 2022, will bring us historic change for life,” March for Life president Jeanne Mancini said from the stage. “Roe is not settled law.”

Speakers From Across the Denominations

The theme this year was Equality Begins in the Womb. Said organizers, “The March for Life is a vitally important moment of unity and action for the pro-life movement. Every marcher brings us one step closer to ending abortion.”

First, those marchers gathered to hear two hours of music and speakers — from Catholic, to Greek Orthodox, to Protestant leaders — all emphasizing importance of protecting the life of the unborn.

Father Mike Schmitz — famous for his “Bible in a Year” podcast — offered a stirring speech on his pro-life heritage that left many of us in tears. He told about the three pro-life pictures that his mother always had on their refrigerator growing up and his grandma Helen who sacrificed her career — quitting her hospital job as a nurse — when the hospital where she worked decided to start preforming abortions. At the Gala Friday evening Father Mike reminded everyone there that “You are the ones who are wasting your lives for the sake of the ones who don’t understand their worth.” More tears.

Emily Shaw also brought down the house. Emily’s a 37-year-old woman with Down Syndrome whose parents chose life after finding out that she had the dreaded extra chromosome 21. As she told her story of being a very productive adult citizen — working a retail job, hanging out with her friends, working in the pro-life movement in Indiana, and even her enjoyment of her book club — the crowd responded with tears, cheers and the chanting of her name.

Kirk Cameron, actor and a producer of the next Kendrick Brother’s movie Life Mark, told his personal connection with the life issue: his wife being adopted and their four adopted children. The former Growing Pains actor emphasized the importance of the church stepping up and taking on the call for adoption to meet the growing needs in our nation.

Lisa Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame told her tear-filled story of the three lies told her by the abortion industry when she ended a pregnancy as a young woman. The lies: that the baby in her belly was just a bunch of cells, that her body would recover quickly, and that she would soon forget the memory of the day she had the abortion. These lies convinced her to take the convenient route and silence the voice of her child in the womb.

40 years later, Lisa still feels the sting of those deceptions. Remembering the sadness and regret from the day she ended her pregnancy, the issues she had in her body afterwards did not go away and caused her to lose two more children to miscarriages. She then shared her realization in the Word of God that those “cells” had been, in fact, a baby in her womb. Her passion for sharing the truth with other women was powerful.

A National Convergence, a Nationwide Effort

As a place of national convergence for the Pro-life movement in America, the March for Life proved stronger than ever. 

Yet, as technology continues to inform us that babies in the womb feel pain and are “viable” way before we ever thought before, as the talking points of the pro-death crowd become more hallow and empty, and as hope arises that the national scourge of abortion on demand might be overturned by SCOTUS, the LIFE movement is growing beyond one march in one city on one January day.

People, young and old, are taking up the Pro-life cause — communicating to their family, friends, churches, and communities — their personal stand for pre-born babies and their commitment to see abortion end in this generation.

The March for Life organization had already been planning an expansion of their organization to state marches around the nation before the possibility arose of Roe being overturned. Already some of those marches have come to pass. They have a rigorous goal of state marches in all 50 states within the next seven years.

Billions of dollars have been spent to market LIFE to pregnant women on the internet, billboards, and to rescue babies at crisis pregnancy centers, and even to care for pregnant mothers as they wait for their babies to be born.

2022 is the pro-life year!

When Roe is overturned in 2022 — as we pray it will be — our work will not be over. It is only just beginning. 

We will need to stir more Christians across denominational lines to consider adoption. We will need to fund our efforts to work on legislation in the states. And we will need to provide more resources to help more women in their hour of need. Fortunately, we will have a great big wind on our backs.  

Let’s continue to pray for the Dobbs. vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case as the Supreme Court deliberates. Let’s continue to pray and believe for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.  Finally, let’s also pray and ask God what our individual part is in this pro-life generation as we face upcoming challenges.

The need for the March for Life in our national future, whether it is in Washington DC or in our individual states, cannot be under emphasized. The pro-life generation will get larger and more powerful in the days ahead and we will need to have a gathering point.

Thank God for this convergence point — for all of us in this fight to remember that we are not alone — that we are many and growing every day.

 

Bunni Pounds is president of Christians Engaged. She is a former congressional candidate, 15-year political consultant and motivational speaker.