Rome March for Life draws thousands: 'Protecting life is... beautiful'

Thousands of pro-life Italians took the streets of Rome on June 13 for Italy’s annual “Scegliamo della Vita” (“Letʼs Choose Life”) March. The pro-lifers marched both for the preborn, who can be aborted up to 12 weeks under current Italian law, and for the elderly and disabled, who are threatened by the possibility of the broad legalization of assisted suicide in the country.

Key Takeaways:

• Thousands of people participated in the 2026 annual March for Life in Rome, Italy.

• Organizers wanted to show the beauty and joy in choosing life.

• Abortion is currently legal in Italy through 12 weeks gestation.

The Details:

Manifestazione Nazionale per la Vita 2026

The March began at the Piazza della Repubblica and included thousands of participants from all across Italy.

Maria Rachele Ruiu, a prominent Italian pro-life advocate who participated in the March, told EWTN News that the marchers aimed to demonstrate not just the right to life, but also the beauty and joy of the pro-life cause.

“We want to show that choosing and protecting life is not only right, important, and necessary but also beautiful,” Ruiu said.

 Ruiu pointed out how the Italian press often mischaracterizes those who stand for the right to life for the preborn and the vulnerable; the March is an opportunity for the pro-lifers to share their joy.

“We want to parade through Rome to show our true face: happy people,” Ruiu said. 

Zoom In:

Massimo Gandolfini, who served as spokesperson for the march, referenced in his speech Italy’s current abortion law and a potential expansion of legal assisted suicide.

“We see that this right [to life] today is deeply wounded and heavily attacked with abortion law, and with this rumored law on assisted suicide, to which we are totally opposed,” Gandolfini said. 

Italy legalized abortion in 1978, and under current law, women are allowed to abort their babies up to 12 weeks for any reason; women are able to obtain abortions in the second trimester and beyond if medical professionals label their situation as urgent. The abortion pill is legal through nine weeks of pregnancy in Italy.

Italian law permits assisted suicide for patients determined to be suffering irreversible pathology with intolerable physical and psychological pain, in accordance with a 2019 Italian Constitutional Court ruling. Pro-life advocates are concerned by rumors of the law’s expansion.

“We want to demonstrate to keep attention high on a fundamental issue, which is the right to life. The right to life is the right that underpins every other right of a civil society and a democratic society,” Gandolfini said.

The Bottom Line:

Famed singer Andrea Bocelli sent a message to marchers, which was played at the rally. Bocelli’s mother was pressured by doctors to abort her son, but she chose life.

"Life, when welcomed and not feared, multiplies, and the civilizations that have prospered are those that have invested in new generations,” Bocelli said.