When throngs of abortion protesters convene Friday for the annual March for Life, they will enjoy the warmest show of White House support in the event's four-decade history.
Vice President Mike Pence and top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway will headline the pre-march rally on the National Mall, becoming the highest-ranking members of a presidential administration ever to speak at the annual protest. And President Trump plans to call in to the rally to voice his support, following a pattern set by two of his GOP predecessors.
Pence and Conway's presence is a huge boon to the march, attended by hundreds of thousands of people every year who want to register their opposition to the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion. It further solidifies their confidence that President Trump will live up to his promises to crack down on abortion, as he vowed during his campaign.
Pence is a favorite of conservatives for his actions as Indiana governor and as a member of Congress to limit abortion. While Trump used to support abortion rights, activists view Pence as one of their own, a longtime and trustworthy ally.
"He's not a recent convert to caring about issues of human dignity," said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religions Liberty Commission, the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. "He's been in the trenches for a long time and is deeply admired by all of us."
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04.27.2024