2026 March for Life speakers inspire crowd ahead of march

Thousands of people descended on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Friday for the 53rd annual March for Life. Prior to the march, attendees gathered for a rally led by March for Life President, Jennie Bradley Lichter, and attended by a number of politicians and speakers.

Key Takeaways:

• The 53rd March for Life took place on Friday, January 23 in Washington, D.C.

• Prior to the march, organizers held a rally featuring a number of speakers, including Vice President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Representative Chris Smith, and others.

• Speakers shared hopeful stories of abortion pill reversal and pregnancy resource center support, while embracing the march's theme, "Life is a gift."

Highlights:

Attendees gathered at 11:00 am for a pre-rally concert featuring Sanctus Real. At noon, speakers took the stage to inspire and encourage attendees prior to their march.

Vice President JD Vance

Vice President JD Vance opened with re-sharing his announcement that he and his wife, Usha, are expecting their fourth baby.

"The theme of this year's life is that Life is a Gift. And I know that I'm grateful that God has given us the miracle of new life again," he told the crowd.

Vice President JD Vance's Full Speech at the Rally of the March for Life 2026

More of his remarks can be found here.

Speaker Mike Johnson

House Speaker Mike Johnson reminded the crowd that this year, America celebrates its 250th anniversary.

"We celebrate the self-evident truth that that all people, every single person, is made by God. We are made by our Creator. The Founders understood that we are made in the image of our Creator and that He is the One that gives us our inalienable rights, the rights of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness," Johnson said. "Our rights do not derive from the government. They derive from God Himself. And we need to remind everybody of that.

Speaker Mike Johnson's Full Speech at the Rally of the March for Life 2026

He briefly shared his own personal story about why he is pro-life.

"I was the product of an unplanned teen pregnancy exactly one year before Roe in January of 1972," he told the crowd, continuing:

"A lot of people tried to convince my very young parents that they should just take care of that problem. But I am eternally grateful that they allowed me the chance at life.

I think of the millions of children that did not have that same opportunity. And every single child deserves the opportunity to fulfill their God-given potential.

And it is up to us to defend that freedom and that right, that essential freedom to be born, the inalienable right to life that is imperiled in our generation."

Representative Chris Smith

Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey railed against the abortion pill, emphasizing that it works by starving innocent children in the womb.

"[The abortion pill] mifepristone is baby poison that kills the unborn child by starving the baby girl or the baby boy to death. That's how it works. Starvation — a pill to starve another human being," he said.

He highlighted an Ethics and Public Policy Center report that found that nearly 11% of women who take the abortion pill experience "adverse events," including sepsis and hemorrhaging. "That's got to stop," Smith said.

Elizabeth Oliver

Elizabeth Oliver, president of Georgetown University Right to Life, said that the work of defending the preborn is courageous, but the delivery of the message is also important.

"Courage without kindness doesn't go very far," she said. "Truth spoken harshly usually goes unheard. Truth spoken with charity, however, invites the listener to hear."

Georgetown University Student Elizabeth Oliver On Her Calling to Protect Life | March for Life 2026

She also talked about the work of defending the preborn on a busy college campus.

"I always tell new members of Georgetown Right to Life that the most important thing we do isn't hosting events with famous speakers on a big stage. It's sitting behind a fold-up table in Red Square, the very heart of our Jesuit campus, that takes courage," she explained.

Debbie Biskey

Debbie Biskey, CEO of Options for Her, a pregnancy resource center organization in New Jersey, shared the powerful impact centers like hers can have.

Biskey told that crowd that since 2020, her organization has been involved in saving 3,500 babies through the use of mobile medical units which park outside abortion facilities and offer help to abortion-minded women who have been told that abortion is their best option.

Within the units, pregnant mothers receive truth, education, and ultrasound images. "Most importantly," Biskey said, "they are reminded that God created them with purpose, and they are empowered." She went on:

"When women are empowered with truth, hearts change. When hearts change, perspective changes. And when perspective changes, the world changes, getting us one step closer to living in a nation where abortion is unthinkable."

"The pro-life movement is not just about opposing abortion. It's about standing for life in all its beauty. We stand for babies, we stand for women, we stand for families, we stand for truth and we stand for the God who is the author of life," she said.

Sarah Hurm

Sarah Hurm, a single mother of four, shared her experience of abortion regret after she took the first pill in the abortion pill regimen. Thankfully, she found the 'abortion pill reversal' hotline and was able to successfully halt her abortion without any negative effects on her preborn child.

Sarah Hurm Shares Powerful Testimony at the Rally of the March for Life 2026

"I met a doctor and a team who gave me care, guidance, love and most of all hope, exactly what I was needing, which was far different from the abortion clinic, which had treated me like a transaction," she said. "I was able to reverse the chemical abortion I began. My son was born completely healthy on January 11, 2019, and he continues to thrive." She continued:

Many people falsely claim that abortion pill reversal doesn't work. Some states are advancing laws that make it harder for doctors to administer abortion pill reversal.

Most women now don't even have to go to a medical facility like I did. They are given abortion pills to be taken at home alone, a highly dangerous act that can prove fatal, not only for their unborn babies, but for these women.

I am here to tell you that the abortion pill reversal can work. My life and the life of my son is living proof.

President Trump

Attendees received a video message from President Donald Trump, who discussed a few of the actions taken by the administration that have been favorable to the pro-life cause.

President Trump's Full Message to the March for Life 2026

"This is a battle that must be won not only in the corridors of power, but in the hearts and souls of the people" Trump said. "With your help and support, we will continue to fight with the eternal proof that every child is a gift from God."

Pope Leo XIV

Marchers also received a written message from Pope Leo XIV, who attended the March years ago as a college student.

"I express heartfelt appreciation, and assure you of my spiritual closeness as you gather for this eloquent public witness to affirm that the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation of every other human right," his message stated.

"Indeed a society is healthy and truly progresses only when it safeguards the sanctity of human life and works actively to promote it.”

“In this regard,” he continued, “I would encourage you, especially the young people, to continue striving to ensure that life is respected in all of its stages through appropriate efforts at every level of society, including dialogue with civil and political leaders.”