Pro-lifers debate moving DC anti-abortion march to June

Pro-lifers want to keep marching against abortion annually in Washington, D.C., but some are pushing to move national events from January to June to celebrate the end of Roe v. Wade.

Thousands of activists attended last month’s 50th annual March for Life. That event marks the anniversary of the Jan. 22, 1973, Supreme Court ruling in Roe that legalized abortion nationwide.

But leaders of 40 Days for Life, Students for Life of America and Healing the Culture say it’s time to redirect national efforts to the June 24 anniversary of last year’s high court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson. That decision overturned Roe and returned jurisdiction over abortion to the states.

“I’ve no interest in seeing the Roe v. Wade anniversary being kept on life support and serving as an annual reminder and motivation for the left that our nation had this barbaric law for 49 years,” Shawn Carney, co-founder of 40 Days for Life, told The Washington Times.

“Thousands of pro-lifers nationwide” are requesting the change because “students are out of school and families are more available to travel in the summer,” added Mr. Carney, who said he skipped last month’s march in Washington.

Officials at Students for Life of America are planning a national rally in Washington for June 24.

“June 24 is going to be a special day moving forward and Students for Life of America has plans for a huge celebration in Washington, D.C. on that day,” spokesperson Kristi Hamrick said.

“Pro-life people should claim this day as a reminder of the great things that can be accomplished when good people are courageous and undeterred by evil’s perverted scare tactics,” added Camille Pauley, co-founder of South Dakota-based Healing the Culture.

The D.C.-based March for Life, which organizes the January protest, has no plans to move it to June.

“The annual March for Life will remain in January, as announced in October, with our growing state marches occurring throughout the year when state legislatures are in session,” Jeanne Mancini, March for Life president, told The Times. “This Board decision was made after conferring with many stakeholders.”

For the first time, organizers rerouted last month’s annual March for Life from the National Mall to end at Congress. Most marchers passed the U.S. Capitol and ended at their usual endpoint on the steps of the Supreme Court anyway.

That fixation on federal courts suggests that pro-life activists realize they lack popular support for further abortion restrictions in the federal and state legislatures after Dobbs, said Mary Ziegler, a leading historian of the U.S. abortion debate.

“It seems hard to imagine a national abortion ban coming from anywhere outside of the courts at this point,” said Ms. Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis.

Pro-lifers lost ballot initiatives to ban abortion in friendly states like Kentucky, Kansas and Montana last year — and many political insiders say the end of Roe galvanized Democratic voters to limit Republican gains in November’s midterm elections.

According to Ms. Ziegler, these results confirm pro-life and pro-choice activists have reversed their roles from 1973. At that time, it was pro-choice liberals who relied on the Roe decision to override the consensus of voters supporting many state pro-life ballot measures and laws.

“I think most folks are still in the middle on abortion and it’s a fragile victory if you don’t have the popular support for a ruling,” Ms. Ziegler said. “Social change happens by changing hearts and minds, not by courts decreeing consensus.”

While pro-life groups wait to see whether January or June will emerge as the more compelling national event date, grassroots activists have seen an uptick in protests at state legislatures.

Since Dobbs, red states have moved to restrict abortion, and blue states have loosened restrictions, leading to a patchwork of differing state regulations.

Upcoming statehouse protests against abortion include actions in Arizona on Thursday, California on March 6 and Connecticut on March 22.

On Tuesday, hundreds of pro-lifers gathered at the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis to protest a bill that seeks to establish a state constitutional right to abortion.

“In Maryland we will be spreading the celebration of life to local towns statewide each June 24 in commemoration of the Dobbs decision,” attorney Laura Bogley, executive director of Maryland Right to Life, said in an email. “This is the best way to spread the good news that life is winning and to grow our base.”

According to some national pro-life activists, it will be hard to completely let go of a January march, even if more participants begin gathering in June. 

Pro-life leader Frank Pavone, head of Priests for Life, said he plans on returning to Washington to participate in a June 24 “anniversary event” after walking in the January event. He wants pro-lifers to focus more on Congress and state legislatures than the courts at this point.

“Given this past and present emphasis on affecting legislation, one of the benefits of keeping the March in January is that it likewise sends a pro-life message to the new Congress or new session of the Congress as well as to the states as they begin their sessions,” said Mr. Pavone, a former priest. “The Dobbs events this year will certainly be smaller than the annual Roe commemoration, primarily and simply because of what people are in the habit of doing.”

Some activists say the January and June protests could complement each other if enough people attend both events.

 “As the March in January is a time of committing ourselves to continued action and remembrance, the June anniversary date of the overturn of Roe is a time for its own celebratory remembrance and recommitment to the fight for equality for the preborn,” said Melissa Ohden, founder and CEO of Abortion Survivors Network.

Activists from Democrats for Life of America will be “outside the U.S. Capitol on June 24” but plan to attend both events moving forward, said Jess Meeth, the group’s national communications director.