'Life Is Winning Again in America' Says VP Pence in Historic Speech

Heather Sells
01-27-2017

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Vice President Mike Pence told tens of thousands gathered in Washington, D.C. for the 2017 March for Life that "life is winning again in America."  

And indeed, his very presence at the rally demonstrated that political momentum is now behind the pro-life movement.  

A sitting U.S. president or vice president has never addressed the annual event in person until this year. Kellyanne Conway, one of the president's most high-profile advisors, also joined Pence as a headline speaker at the march.

CBN's Abigail Robertson and Paul Strand report from the March for Life.

Evangelical leaders like humanitarian Franklin Graham were quick to take note of Pence's decision to speak.

 

In his address, Pence spoke about the progress of the movement, noting the election of Donald Trump as a president with strong pro-life views and pro-life majorities in Congress.  

Pence also cited the president's reversal on international abortion funding.  On Monday, Trump signed an executive order blocking federal funding for international nongovernmental organizations that offer or even promote abortions.

 

 

Trump is expected to announce his nomination for a new justice on the Supreme Court on Thursday, and he has promised repeatedly to select a judge who holds pro-life views.

Pence talked about his pro-life credentials, noting that he and his wife Karen are not strangers to the March for Life. He also used his speech to expand on his philosophy of life and to caution some of the movement's most fervent supporters.

"I've long believed a society will be judged by how we care for the most vulnerable," said Pence adding that pro-lifers must have "respect and compassion for all Americans."

Pence also cited , saying, "Let your gentleness be evident to all."

"Let this movement be known for love, not anger. Let this movement be known for compassion, not confrontation," he said.

 

 

He told pro-lifers that the way to win the next generation is to show compassion for mothers and their unborn children and meet them "with generosity and not judgment."

 

Kellyanne Conway, one of President Trump's senior advisors, spoke before Pence at the rally declaring "this is a new day, a new dawn for life."  

Conway said it's no coincidence that the "right to life" is the first right mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.

"It's a right," she said, "not a privilege, not a choice," and added "it is unique and it is beautiful."

Conway spoke of how science is helping many Americans rethink "how fragile and triumphant human life is."  

Many pro-life ministries in the U.S. regularly use ultrasound pictures to show pregnant women the viability of their unborn children.

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, pointed out lawmakers are working to pass legislation which would ban taxpayer dollars from being used to directly fund abortions in the U.S., except in the cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother.  

Often known as the Hyde Amendment, the bill won support in the House this week and now moves to the Senate. The White House says President Trump supports the current version of the bill.

 

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About The Author

Heather
Sells

Heather Sells covers wide-ranging stories for CBN News that include religious liberty, ministry trends, immigration, and education. She’s known for telling personal stories that capture the issues of the day, from the border sheriff who rescues migrants in the desert to the parents struggling with a child that identifies as transgender. In the last year, she has reported on immigration at the Texas border, from Washington, D.C., in advance of the Dobbs abortion case, at crisis pregnancy centers in Massachusetts, and on sexual abuse reform at the annual Southern Baptist meeting in Anaheim
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