This Week, We March for Life

Shared by Laura Strietmann, Executive Director, Cincinnati Right to Life

It’s one of the busiest—and most significant—weeks for defending human life in America, as our nation commemorates the tragedy unleashed by the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973. That ruling legalized abortion nationwide, throughout all nine months of pregnancy, and set in motion decades of cultural and legal erosion of the sanctity of human life—impacting not only the United States, but influencing the world.

For decades, overturning Roe served as the legal and cultural north star of the pro-life movement, after this horrific decision elevated the death of babies in the womb to a protected status that silenced countless mothers and families, erased the humanity of the preborn, and reshaped the conscience of our nation. While we remain grateful that Roe was ultimately overturned, that victory did not end the fight. It simply returned the battle to the states—and in many ways, increased the urgency of our work.

Now that Roe has fallen, abortion continues to be promoted as “healthcare,” pregnancy is framed as a problem to be solved, and human life is too often measured by convenience rather than dignity. Now, state borders determine if a beautiful preborn baby deserves love and protection or should be able to be dismembered or poisoned in the name of “healthcare.” The slaughter did not disappear. It intensified. The need for courageous, faithful, and compassionate witnesses has never been greater.

Here in Ohio, that reality is becoming heartbreakingly clear.

Our state has shifted toward policies that expand abortion and attempt to silence pro-life voices. The consequences are not theoretical. They affect real mothers, real fathers, real families, and real unborn babies whose lives hang in the balance. Ohio families deserve better than a culture that offers abortion as the first answer—and abandons mothers when they need help the most.

That is why so many will travel to Washington, D.C. for the March for Life, while others will stand and march here at home. Yet in the middle of this moment, many pro-life Ohioans are also confronting a growing frustration: too many elected officials who claim to be pro-life are responding to this crisis with indifference, delay, and political caution.

At the federal level, the expansion of chemical abortion continues to raise serious concern. Policies that increase access to abortion drugs, restore Title X grant funding to Planned Parenthood, and signal a willingness to compromise on long-standing protections such as the Hyde Amendment send a clear message: abortion remains deeply entrenched in America’s leadership and institutions. The pro-life movement cannot afford hesitation when lives are at stake.

Cincinnati Right to Life has never been a pro-life organization of convenience, compromise, or exception. We believe every human life matters—from the first spark to the last breath—and that protecting life is not negotiable. Our principles do not shift with political trends or election cycles. God’s original plan for marriage and human life are at the heart of our organization. We defend these truths without compromise.

And while the situation in Washington may appear uncertain, the state of life in Ohio is just as troubling.

Governor Mike DeWine has long described himself as pro-life, yet he continues to hold significant power through the authority of his office—and has not used it to defund Planned Parenthood in Ohio. Other states have taken decisive action by cutting off Medicaid reimbursements to the nation’s largest abortion provider through executive orders. Ohio could do the same. Instead, Planned Parenthood continues operating and slaughtering thousands of preborn children each month in Ohio.

In Southwest Ohio alone, Planned Parenthood kills more than 40 unborn babies every day. The bloodbath is real.

Even more alarming, Ohio is increasingly becoming an abortion destination. Local sidewalk advocates regularly witness out-of-state license plates pouring into abortion facilities, including the center on Auburn Avenue, where mothers are brought into an environment that offers abortion as the solution—often with little accountability and minimal safeguards.

At the same time, common-sense protections that once existed to better inform and protect mothers—waiting periods, ultrasound requirements, and other basic standards—are being stripped away or threatened. These policies were never intended to punish women. They exist because mothers deserve full information, time, and support, especially in moments of fear, pressure, or coercion. Removing these guardrails only increases risk and leaves women more vulnerable.

This week is a reminder that the pro-life mission is far from finished. We do not gather simply out of tradition, or for symbolism, or because it is easy. We gather because the truth still matters, because human dignity is still under attack, and because the preborn still need defenders.

We march to stand for mothers who deserve better than abandonment.
We march to stand for babies who deserve the right to live.
We march to insist that Ohio—and the nation—must choose life with clarity, courage, and conviction.

And we will not be silent.