OPINION:
Amid frigid temperatures, tens of thousands of pro-life Americans are converging once again upon Washington, D.C., today to march for the most fundamental freedom: the right to life. These marchers’ heartwarming testimony is more important now than ever before. Unborn children are still under immense threat from a political climate far from centered around their protection.
Politicians in Washington and across the nation, who have a sacred duty not to give up the cause for human dignity at every stage, must listen closely to the moving pro-life message of the annual March for Life and commit themselves to defending human life.
I am proud to have served as Vice President of the most pro-life administration in history, which set the stage for sending Roe v. to the ash heap of American history where it belongs. Roe’s demise was made possible by our administration’s commitment to putting three conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court who reversed this deeply flawed precedent. It was also the honor of my lifetime to become the first sitting Vice President to attend the annual March for Life with my wife and daughter, who joined me for remarks in 2017.
But since then, some of our most prominent national leaders have taken steps to reverse the progress made to uphold the dignity of life.
The Biden Department of Justice charged pro-life advocates for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) simply for praying outside the doors of abortion clinics in their communities. I am pleased that President Trump pardoned these pro-life Americans who were unjustly persecuted and prosecuted by the Biden administration.
And under President Biden, the FDA loosened its regulations surrounding chemical abortion. Adverse effects from the abortion drug, mifepristone, outside of death, are no longer reported. This new administration should take steps to reinstate safeguards around this dangerous drug and see that the effects of mifepristone are properly reported. They must also protect the laws in pro-life states and see that these laws are not circumvented by mailing abortion drugs across state lines.
When it comes to the new administration, President Trump should sign the Mexico City Policy immediately, which guards against taxpayer funding of organizations around the world that provide abortions or advocate for expanding access to abortion, as he did back in 2017. With more than $2 million in federal tax dollars a day going to the largest abortion provider in America, the time has come to defund Planned Parenthood. There is much to be done on life for the next four years, and the pro-life movement is eager to see an administration that will guard this most fundamental right.
The pro-life movement has always looked to the Republican party to stand for life and to appoint men and women at Health and Human Services who affirm an unborn child has a fundamental right to life that cannot be infringed. The pro-life battle will be fought through HHS for the next four years, whether it be conscience protection for doctors and nurses, financial guard rails for religious hospitals, or making sure that taxpayer funding does not go to abortion, and continuing a fight to Defund Planned Parenthood. The small battles for life are so often fought through minute decisions at HHS.
But now, RFK Jr. has been nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. His nomination is a departure from the pro-life record of the first administration and should be deeply concerning to millions of pro-life Americans. He has supported abortion-on-demand for all nine months and has stood for codifying Roe v. Wade, reversing 50 years’ work of the pro-life movement. The conservative movement has countless candidates qualified to uphold life-affirming policies at the department.
We urge others in the pro-life community to join us in calling on members of the Senate to reject RFK Jr. and give President Trump a second chance to appoint a pro-life secretary who will defend the cause of life and ensure that HHS continually makes choices that guide our country towards life.
A society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable, and our country must defend those who don’t have a voice. The cause of life is the calling of our time. It may take as long as it took to overturn Roe v Wade to enact protections for the unborn, but we must never relent until we return the sanctity of life to the center of American law.
• Mike Pence is a husband, father, grandfather, Christian, conservative and Republican — in that order. He served as the 48th vice president.
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