Pro-life leaders say there still is ‘a lot that needs to be done’

By Kate Scanlon, OSV News

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Leaders of several pro-life organizations who spoke with OSV News at the 53rd annual March for Life in Washington Jan. 23 said the Trump administration still has work to do when it comes to their cause.

In his speech to the March for Life rally, acknowledging what he called “the elephant in the room,” Vice President JD Vance spoke about concerns from some in the pro-life movement about their remaining policy priorities just over a year into President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House.

“I want you to know that I hear you, and that I understand there will inevitably be debates within this movement,” Vance continued. “We love each other, and we’re going to have open conversations about how best we use our political system to advance life, how prudential we must be in the cause of advancing human life. I think these are good, honest and natural debates, and frankly, they’re not just good for all of you. They help keep people like me honest, and that’s an important thing.”

Elsewhere in the speech, Vance said, “My friends, I ask you to look where the fight for life stood just one decade ago.”

“We have made tremendous strides over the last year and we’ll continue to make strides over the next few years to come,” he said.

But key pro-life leaders, including Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, pointed to safeguarding the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer funding for abortion, and the reinstatement of stronger restrictions on mifepristone, a pill commonly, but not exclusively, used for early abortion, as key areas where the Trump administration still needs to act.

In a statement issued after Vance’s speech, Dannenfelser said his comparison to 10 years ago “reveals a harsh reality.”

“The clearest measure of whether the pro-life movement is winning or losing is the number of abortions occurring each year,” she said. “According to the latest statistics, there are at least 1.1 million abortions occurring in America annually post-Roe. This compares to 874,000 abortions in 2016 — a 30% increase.”

At the March, David Bereit, executive director of the Life Leadership Conference and founder of 40 Days for Life, told OSV News, “Yes, there’s been a tension, but I think it can be a constructive tension if it calls us to greater action, to greater being more vocal and to being more forward on this.”

“I think that President Trump, obviously, to his credit, gave us three Supreme Court justices that led to the overturn of Roe. I think at that point, he felt like ‘I can move on to other issues,’ without realizing what we’re all realizing: There’s a lot of work left to be done,” he said. “So it was not as much a priority coming into administration two. And I think the pro-life movement has recognized we need to make sure people understand there is a lot that needs to be done federally, at the states, regulatory, and really putting the heat on to say we can’t forget about this.”

Vance’s in-person address to the rally, and President Donald Trump’s prerecorded video message to it, came as some pro-life leaders criticized Trump’s recent comments to House Republicans telling them to be “flexible” on the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits public funding of elective abortions, in negotiations on health care subsidies — to the disappointment of pro-life groups that have long supported that policy.

Pro-life leaders have also objected to a September decision by the Food and Drug Administration, which operates under the Department of Health and Human Services, to approve Evita Solutions’ generic version of mifepristone. The drug’s approval came despite previous indications from FDA and HHS officials that mifepristone would undergo a safety review. On its website, Evita Solutions calls mifepristone “an effective, safe way to terminate early pregnancy.” It was also the second time a Trump administration approved a generic pill for abortion, which it did in 2019.

More than six of 10 abortions in the U.S. are performed through a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, according to recent estimates. Pro-life groups have called on the Trump administration to reverse some of the abortion-related policies implemented by the Biden administration, notably its eased restrictions on mifepristone.

Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told OSV News, “We were disappointed that another form of mifepristone is approved and potentially expanding access to that drug.”

The Trump administration, she said, has “a very unique opportunity right now” to roll back the Biden administration’s eased restrictions on the drug to what was in place during Trump’s first term.

Francis expressed confidence that a safety review of mifepristone was underway, but said, “We certainly have been very discouraged by the amount of time that this is taking.”

“We feel that it should have been done by now, but certainly we have made ourselves available to them if they want input,” she said. “And you know, our hope is that maybe in the fact that they’re taking so much time means that they are doing a really deep dive and a thorough review, which we’re confident will show that women are actively being harmed in large numbers by these drugs.”

In a Jan. 23 press release, the White House called Trump “the Most Pro-Life President in History,” and pointed to recent announcements including a review of allegations Planned Parenthood illegally received $88 million in COVID-19 pandemic-related loans, National Institutes of Health cuts to funding for research using aborted fetal tissue, and an expansion of the Mexico City policy — which prohibits taxpayer funding for groups that perform elective abortions overseas — to include U.S.-based NGOs operating abroad.

Asked about lingering concerns within the pro-life movement about Hyde and mifepristone regulations, Jennie Bradley Lichter, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, told OSV News, “We’re fundamentally rowing in the same direction as the administration, and I think that’s important to remember, progress for any social movement comes step-by-step.”

“And of course, because we’re working on an issue of life and death, it’s right to be impatient, right, and to call for swift action at every opportunity,” she said. “But I do think it’s important also to acknowledge and celebrate the great victories along the way.”

In his own comments to the March for Life rally, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who is among the lawmakers who has pushed the Trump administration on Hyde and mifepristone regulations, celebrated the expansion of the Mexico City policy.

Smith told OSV News that friends “don’t let friends make mistakes.”

“The president prides himself on being a pro-life leader, and we won and asked for, respectfully, consistency,” Smith said.

But Smith expressed optimism and called Vance’s speech “great.”

“Everybody’s rejuvenated,” he said. “There’s a strong sense that we’re in this and we’re going to win for the sake of the precious ones.”

Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.