WASHINGTON — Thousands of pro-life advocates braved cold temperatures and falling snow Jan. 19 vowing to continue their fight against abortion and to show their determination to help women in crisis pregnancies.

The crowd, wearing winter gear and many holding placards with pro-life messages, gathered on the snow-covered National Mall for a rally before walking to the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court, demonstrating their continued resolve to lawmakers and the nation at large.

The annual March for Life, now in its 51st year, always takes place on or near the Jan. 22 date of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Marchers have often gathered in cold weather to protest this decision and pray for it to be overturned.

Now, in the post-Roe environment, after the court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, marchers say they will continue to gather in Washington and in a growing number of state capitals until abortion is eliminated in this country.

“So much good has happened since the overturn of Roe v. Wade nearly a year and a half ago, but we are not done. The work to build a culture of life is far from finished,” said Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, at the start of the rally that lasted about an hour and half.

In her opening remarks, she gave the crowd a “warm welcome” and thanked them for their perseverance. She also emphasized this year’s theme “With Every Woman, For Every Child,” and stressed that there is a “false narrative that the pro-life movement ignores babies after birth.” 

Mancini, and several speakers that followed her, highlighted the work being done across the country to help pregnant women, particularly at pregnancy resource centers.

Two women who had been helped by pregnancy resource centers gave them high praise for not only helping them personally but also helping them care for their babies.

Mancini pressed the crowd to pledge to commit themselves to caring for women who might feel they have no other choice but to have an abortion. She asked if they would support women facing unwanted pregnancies, and they yelled back a resounding “Yes!” 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, thanked participants for braving the cold temperatures, especially those from his home state who weren’t as used to this. He also pleaded with the crowd to press on in their continued fight to “build a culture that encourages more people to choose life.”

He praised the recently passed bills in the House that aim to help pregnant college women and fund crisis pregnancy centers. 

Rep. Chris Smith, R- New Jersey, co-chairman of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, stood on the stage with a handful of members of Congress. Smith, who has been at every March for Life, similarly mentioned the pro-life legislation passed by fellow Republicans but noted, to boos from the crowd, that the Biden administration has threatened to veto these measures.

Smith said he was “greatly encouraged” by the Dobbs decision, and even with setbacks since then, he said: “We are undeterred. We will not give up.”

That same fighting spirit was encouraged by Benjamin Watson, a former NFL football player and by Jim Harbaugh, head football coach of the University of Michigan Wolverines, who introduced Watson on the stage.

Watson, who closed out the rally’s speeches, reminded the Washington marchers that “this is a new fight for life” in the post-Roe era when “abortion is still legal and thriving in too much of America.”

He reminded them that “emotions run high in gatherings like these but the battles are won in the valleys,” urging participants to keep up the work they’ve already been doing.

“Keep pressing on,” he urged. “Keep, keep, keep pressing on!”