Every year, the March for Life chooses a theme that conveys a timely message. Because today is marked by such division, unrest, and fear, there is a great need for us to come together and be reminded of our special mission and our strength in truth. Though each of us brings our talents to the life movement, we are far stronger together. And so, our 2021 theme is, “Together Strong: Life Unites.”
Each of us has a critical and irreplaceable role to play in building a culture of life. As Mother Teresa of Calcutta put it, “You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.” From choosing adoption to joyfully accepting the responsibilities of fatherhood and motherhood, from sidewalk counseling to lobbying, from prenatal care to post-abortion support, from praying for the most vulnerable to voting to protect them, everyone is desperately needed. Our gifts and talents, united in the service of one common mission, make us strong.
In 2020, President Trump acknowledged the diverse contributions but unified mission of pro-life people everywhere, saying, “You stand for life each and every day. You provide housing, education, jobs, and medical care to the women you serve. You find loving families for children in need of a forever home. You host baby showers for expectant moms … You just make it your life’s mission to help spread God’s grace.”
While our 2021 theme showcases how life unifies us, it also reveals the divisive and disintegrating reality of abortion. Abortion divides a mother from her child. The abortion industry has deceived many women into believing that pregnancy is a disease, motherhood means giving up one's dreams, and abortion is empowering.
Abortion divides women from the support and love they need. Studies show that most women who choose abortion do so because of a lack of support from a partner or a lack of financial resources, among other similar reasons. Instead of providing women with what they need to thrive as mothers, the abortion industry preys upon their fear and insecurity, even actively spreading misinformation about the pro-life organizations that would love to offer support.
Abortion divides a man from his fatherhood. Some abortion activists attempt to remove men from the discussion by advancing a “my body, my choice” narrative. But being a voice for the voiceless and unborn is everyone’s concern. In other cases, abortion allows men to walk away from their responsibility and duty to protect and care for a mother and her child.
Abortion divides siblings, ensuring some children will never know their sisters or brothers. Abortion divides grandfather from grandson and grandmother from granddaughter. The abortion industry callously turns a blind eye to the devastating loss of generations that it has caused.
The abortion industry even divides us from reality itself when it denies the scientific fact that human life begins at fertilization.
But perhaps the most tragic consequence of abortion is that it divides the world from love. Every child brings love into the world, so every life lost to abortion is a loss of love in the world.
The March for Life is the largest annual gathering of pro-life people in the world. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people fill the streets of our nation’s capital: young people full of life and enthusiasm, mothers, fathers, grandparents, children, little ones bundled in strollers, people of all ethnic backgrounds, Republicans and Democrats, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and atheists. We march together united by the common understanding that every life, from the moment of conception, is precious. And we will not stop marching until every life is valued and protected.
Jeanne Mancini is the president of March for Life.