I attended the 47th annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. on Friday, January 24, 2020. It had been a last-minute decision, and one of the biggest reasons I ultimately attended was the announcement that, for the first time in the history of the March, the President of the United States would speak in person. No president had done this before: not even Ronald Reagan, a man with the reputation of being a political hero for the pro-life movement. President Donald Trump made a historic appearance at the March where he delivered an equally historic speech, enshrining his legacy as the champion of the Religious Right and of the pro-life movement - a legacy that does not appeal to America’s religious with empty rhetoric for political points. But rather, he proceeds with true devotion to the cause and action to back his words. His speech, a speech for the ages, confirms exactly this.
Trump’s speech can be divided into two main themes: practical politics and transcendent motivation. The practical component of the speech was Trump’s describing of his political achievements regarding the pro-life movement, and what lies ahead for the movement as he fights to end the butchering of unborn children. Within his first week in office, Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City policy, which bans the funding of abortion oversees, and as he described, “issued a landmark pro-life rule to govern the use of Title X taxpayer funding.” Trump notified Congress that he “would veto any legislation that weakens pro-life policies or that encourages the destruction of human life,” a promise which he has firmly held.
When Trump visited the United Nations last September, he made clear that “global bureaucrats have no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that protect innocent life.” When it comes to religious liberty, Trump has been an avid defender, working to stop the abuse of “doctors, nurses, teachers, and groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor.”. Perhaps most importantly, Trump has confirmed 187 federal justices, including Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, who remain loyal to the original meaning of founding documents instead of trying to manipulate them for their own ends. Perhaps most imminently, the Trump administration has dedicated itself to “protecting pro-life students' right to free speech on college campuses,” with the penalty of withholding federal taxpayer dollars, a financial penalty that most colleges are not willing to pay.
Trump affirmed quite accurately that the “far-left is actively working to erase our God-given rights, shut down faith-based charities, ban religious believers from the public square, and silence Americans who believe in the sanctity of life.” The left-wing news media and the ever-present swamp, as he described in his remarks, are coming after Trump because he is fighting for the right to life “for those who have no voice.” Nearly every Democrat “supports taxpayer-funded abortion, all the way up until the moment of birth.” Senate Democrats, as he stated at the event, have “even blocked legislation that would give medical care to babies who survive attempted abortions.” The President, meanwhile, has won many victories for the pro-life movement, and will continue should he be reelected this November (to that end the crowd, including myself, shouted “Four more years!”).
While the practical politics mentioned above are surely important, the most glorious and inspiring part of Trump’s speech was his declaration of the transcendent motivation of the pro-life cause. Early on in his speech, Trump quoted the Bible in affirming that “each person is ‘wonderfully made.’” He acknowledged that all of the people there “understand an eternal truth: Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God.” He calls on us to “protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and sanctity of every human life.” He continued: “When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God's creation.” Here, Trump spoke of the soul of the baby, which he or she has from the moment of conception, and called out Democrats’ apparent desire to destroy life rather than to protect it. Perhaps this is why many liberals are insistent on blocking that image of the baby in the womb to deciding mothers, as the Planned Parenthood associates try to force her to kill her child so that they can meet their quotas. At times, one can see Trump’s inner dad come out: “When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family.” He continues: “When we watch a child grow, we see the splendor that radiates from each human soul. One life changes the world.” These are the words of a Christian: perhaps a flawed one in many respects, but one who is gradually and genuinely coming closer to the Truth, far closer than the Democrats who oppose him. Trump affirmed that every “life brings love into this world,” that every “child brings joy to the family,” that every “person is worth protecting,” and above all that “every human soul is divine, and every human life –- born and unborn –- is made in the holy image of Almighty God.” This line is a genuine appeal to the Transcendent God that many liberals want banished from the public square. Liberals want men to affirm human rights, but without acknowledging that any rights come solely from man being made in the image and likeness of God. Our founders understood this; every Christian knows this deep in his soul; and Trump fights for this. “Together, we will defend this truth all across our magnificent land,” he continued.
Other parts of the speech acknowledged politicians who have fought for the pro-life cause along with him, and the anniversary of woman’s suffrage and the great things that many women have done for the pro-life movement, but the main focus of the speech remained centered on the practical policies and the transcendent ideals that guide values that have been lost in our current political atmosphere. Regrettably, ideals that have been pushed around and neglected in the name of “tolerance.” In reality, these ideals fight the tolerance of evil and legalized murder, and most importantly, they are ideals that come from God, the Transcendent God from which all human rights proceed.