National March for Life: Activists call for federal action on abortion medication access

Thousands gathered in Washington, D.C. for the 53rd annual National March for Life, with many calling on the Trump administration to enforce existing federal laws restricting abortion pills. 

This is Sean Salai, culture reporter with the Washington Times.

We’re talking to marchers to find out what they want from the Trump administration as pro-life policy shifts in the wake of the Dobbs decision from the Supreme Court.

[GARRET] Thanks, Sean. I’m Dane. I’m from Maryland here with the American Solidarity Party. We’ve got people coming from Pennsylvania and North Carolina here as well today. 

[SALAI] What do you want to see from the Trump administration on the abortion issue this year? 

[GARRET] I want to see him enforce the laws we’ve got on the books. We’ve got the sign here to say, “Enforce the Comstock Act.” There is already a federal law on the books that bans the mailing of the abortion pill. 

[PANICALI] I’m Father Michael Panicali from the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, and this is my parishioner, Maria Cardenas, also from the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York. 

[CARDENAS] Laws to be passed to protect the unborn, hopefully, and also for people to start changing their mentality, what they think about life. They think it is a disposable item and is a gift from God, it’s so precious. So it would like for people to change their hearts and to understand what life is all about. 

[HURLEY] Hi, I’m Rachel Hurley. I’m with the Luce Center for Conservative Women and I’m from Sterling, Virginia, just 40 minutes away from here. The reverse of Roe v. Wade was definitely a good start. Now it’s at the state side so just continuing to see this administration stand up for life and to defend the states that are, you know, putting bans on abortion and just to see that support from the national federal side I think is what we’re looking for. So just an increase in policies like that, and hopefully one day abortion will be unthinkable. 

[HEINZ] Hi, my name is Russ. I’m coming from Cleveland, Ohio, and it’s been years that I’ve been trying to get out here. Supported pro-life in Ohio, marched in Columbus just this past year. It was in there the year before, but the National March, this is like, wow, this is amazing. Let me look at it’s like 20 times the amount of people. Maybe now, maybe do something with the abortion pill. That seems to be a big one right now. It’s so easily accessible. They were just saying that 10% of women are affected negatively, like health-wise, from taking it. And with that there, that’s going to make it easier to get rid of that. 

[GEERTGENS] Hi, my name is Elianna. I’m from upstate New York. Honestly, I think that we need a federal ban on abortion. I think we should extend personhood and the right to life to babies in the womb because they are alive. They’re human. So why are they not extended those same rights that I am? 

[SALAI] We’ve met several people among the thousands who have come from around the nation to protest legalized abortion. A big theme this year has been the concern about the increased availability of abortion pills, increasing the number of abortions nationwide, even as states that have restricted the procedure since 2022 have seen a drop in abortions. We are still waiting to see if the Trump administration takes action on that or if a number of lawsuits winding their way through the courts have any effect. 

Some speculate that the Republican Party sees this as a losing issue for the midterms. The administration has not said that it won’t do anything. They are progressing with an FDA review of the side effects of Mifepristone, one of the abortion pills in question, and that has been delayed indefinitely while the administration says it gathers more science and more information on the issue. 

For more of our coverage of the March for Life, please visit washingtontimes.com.