‘America Is a Pro-Family Country’: JD Vance Reaffirms Trump Administration’s Commitment to Life

By: Haley Strack, originally published January 24, 2025, National Review

President Donald Trump’s administration will uphold the right to life at all stages of development, Vice President JD Vance said at the March for Life on Friday, in his first public event since being sworn in.

“The excitement, the passion, the unwavering conviction that every single person here on the National Mall clearly feels, it is deeply moving to me, and means more to President Trump and I than I could possibly say,” Vance said at the pre-march rally on Friday.

“For over a half century, this March has united tens of thousands of Americans from all walks of life to rally for the cause of life in our nation,” he continued. “It is the single largest gathering in the world to celebrate our movement, the victories we’ve fought so hard for, and yes, the victories yet to come.”

“The task of our movement is to protect innocent life, it’s to defend the unborn. And it’s also to be pro-family and pro-life in the fullest sense of that word possible.”

By permitting a culture of abortion on demand and failing to prioritize pro-family values, Vance added, Americans have failed a generation of people for whom parenthood is presented as undesirable.

“A culture of radical individualism took root, one where the responsibilities and joys of family life were seen as obstacles to overcome, not as personal fulfillment or personal blessing. Our society has failed to recognize the obligation that one generation has to another is a core part of living in a society to begin with,” Vance said. “So let me say very simply: I want more babies in the United States of America. I want more happy children in our country, and I want beautiful young men and women who are eager to welcome them into the world and eager to raise them.”

Vance, a Catholic convert, said that he and his wife Usha discovered “firsthand the indescribable beauty of new life” each time they welcomed a child into the world. The couple have three young children, who attended this week’s inauguration events.

“Watching all three of our kids grow, learn and become who they are today has been the single greatest blessing of our lives. Every parent here knows that feeling that fall at a newborn child, it is our responsibility to cherish and to protect it,” he said.

The Trump administration will protect pro-lifers from being prosecuted for protesting at and praying in front of abortion clinics, Vance added, pointing to Trump’s pardon this week of 23 pro-life individuals convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) act by Joe Biden’s Department of Justice. The administration will also prioritize the child tax credit and will investigate the many cases of vandalism and arson that have occurred at crisis pregnancy centers, crimes that were not investigated by Biden’s DOJ.

“Every single day that you guys do what you do, from supporting young moms and dads, to fighting for the unborn, to working with our legislatures at the state and federal level, you make it possible for us to stand here and say that America is fundamentally a pro-baby, a pro-life, a pro-family country,” Vance said. “We are joyful to march for life. We are we are joyful to know that that picture on an ultrasound that is a picture of a baby with hopes and dreams and potential, to come. It is a joy and a blessing to fight for the unborn, to work for the unborn, and to march for life.”

In a video address to the crowd, Trump said that he was “proud” to be the first president to speak at the march in 2020 and to have a hand in electing Supreme Court judges who overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the question of abortion to state governments.

“I know your hearts are warm and your spirits are strong because your mission is just very, very pure, to forge a society that welcomes and protects every child as a beautiful gift from the hand of our Creator,” Trump said. “Thank you for never losing hope, and never giving up. Thank you for your tremendous support.”

Trump’s relationship with the pro-life movement was tested when he said on the campaign trail that he would not endorse a national abortion ban, and would instead would leave the issue up to the states. Trump will also let states decide whether or not to block access to the abortive pill mifepristone, he said last year.

The president’s stance on abortion has shifted over the past decades, and he has made known his commitment to expanding access to and allowing government to subsidize in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, another unpopular policy proposal of his among some segment of the pro-life movement.

Haley Strack is a William F. Buckley Fellow in Political Journalism and a recent graduate of Hillsdale College.