The Saturday evening extravaganza, which took place just one day before what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe, capped off a two-day flurry of anti-abortion organizing in the nation’s capital. On Friday, thousands of abortion foes took a literal victory lap during the first post-Roe March for Life, the largest annual anti-abortion gathering in the country. Then, on Saturday, a handful of influential anti-abortion organizations, including the ADF and Students for Life, hosted an all-day training session to prepare young anti-abortion activists for the post-Roe battle. The festivities were half-celebration, half-plea. Although Roe has fallen, the anti-abortion movement needs to convince its foot soldiers that their mission is far from over.The problem is that no one can quite agree on what, exactly, the next mission should be.They applauded when one staffer, wearing a black robe and the nametag “Justice Kavanaugh,” faux-kicked a man dressed in antifa-black, then shoved a woman carrying a sign that read “Ruth Sent Us.”
On Friday, March for Life President Jeanne Mancini highlighted the movement’s pivot towards state-level action, announcing that the organization planned to hold 10 state marches in 2023 and ultimately have marches in all 50 states within the next decade. But marchers struggled to name concrete tactics that they would like to see the anti-abortion movement pursue—other than, of course, banning abortion, and being Christian.Although Roe has fallen, the anti-abortion movement needs to convince its foot soldiers that their mission is far from over.
“Because you are on the side unequivocally of light and goodness, the world is going to hate you,” conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey told the crowd during the opening speeches of the day. “The world is going to hate you for your stance, primarily your stance on the gospel, but also anything that flows from that, including your stance on abortion.”“They love darkness. They rejoice in death. They celebrate depravity. They hate truth, light, life, and goodness,” Stuckey continued. “They hated Jesus, so of course they are going to hate you.”Langhofer likened the decision overturning Roe to the Emancipation Proclamation.
The political playbook has changed post-Roe, but the emotional calculus has not. The pitch remains the same: Save babies. So the National Pro-Life Summit was a show of force, demonstrating that the movement remains staggeringly disciplined and able to present a cohesive front regardless of any dissent in the ranks. When one young attendee asked an ADF representative about the legality of the “sanctuary cities for the unborn” movement, she gracefully pivoted away without fully answering his question or casting doubt on another part of the movement.By contrast, when the Women’s March held a convention six years ago, its talks included numerous critiques of other left-wing factions and of the march itself. The Women’s March, of course, later fell apart, failing to harness the energy that once led thousands of Americans to take to the streets in support of liberal causes.The Women’s Convention may have sought to educate its attendees, but the National Pro-Life Summit wanted to inspire them. It worked, just as it has for generations.The Women’s Convention may have sought to educate its attendees, but the National Pro-Life Summit wanted to inspire them.
During his speech at the Summit on Saturday, Roger Severino, a Heritage Foundation vice president and former HHS Office of Civil Rights director, told the crowd that he had attended the March the day before—but he wanted to experience activists’ enthusiasm one more time. He told one half of the room to shout, “Life!” The other half was supposed to reply with “Wins!”Hundreds of people started to chant, growing louder and louder. “Life! Wins! LIFE! WINS!”“From your lips to God’s ears,” Severino told the crowd. “Thank you. God bless you.”Hundreds of people started to chant, growing louder and louder. “Life! Wins! LIFE! WINS!”