Tens of thousands gather in Washington, D.C., proclaiming ‘Life is a Gift’ while revealing growing tensions over the movement’s political future.
Newsroom (26/01/2026 Gaudium Press ) As dawn broke over Washington, D.C., the streets filled with a sea of banners, chants, and prayer. Tens of thousands of pro-life advocates gathered for the annual March for Life, uniting under this year’s theme — “Life is a Gift.” Yet, beyond the hymns and the unity of shared conviction, this year’s march reflected an undercurrent of introspection and unease about the movement’s political direction in a shifting national landscape.
From the steps of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, pilgrims arrived after long, sleepless journeys that blurred the lines between travel and devotion. Among them was a contingent from St. Jude Parish in Waltham, Massachusetts, led by parochial vicar Fr. Jeremy St. Martin.
For the group of 30 parishioners, the trip was not a sightseeing tour but a sacred act of witness. “It’s a real pilgrimage,” Fr. St. Martin told OSV News. “We don’t stop for breakfast or anything. Everyone knows it’s a pilgrimage.” After nearly a full day on the road, praying the Liturgy of the Hours en route, their bus pulled into Washington at 8 a.m. on Jan. 23 — just in time to join the crowd.
Faith and Endurance
For many Catholics across the country, the journey to the nation’s capital demanded the same spiritual stamina that has defined the movement for decades. Hallie Millerbernd, a senior nursing student from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, described the 60-hour, non-stop pilgrimage as both physically and spiritually demanding.
“It’s a real test of endurance,” she said, describing the moment she stepped into the throngs of marchers waving signs and singing. “Thousands of people of all ages carrying signs with different colored hats, singing songs and chanting — it showed me there was hope for change and that there was a large movement against abortion.”
For Millerbernd and thousands like her, the March for Life represents more than activism. It is a communal act of faith, tied as much to prayer and penance as to politics.
Visions of Hope Amid Division
Despite a sense of triumph after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, the movement confronts new political complexities. The decision effectively returned abortion legislation to the states — a legal milestone, but one that has fractured consensus over how the movement should proceed.
Ruby Galatolo, who traveled from the Diocese of Orlando, Florida, has joined the march nearly every year since 2010. For her, the fall of Roe was once unimaginable. “I never imagined that I would see the day when Roe v. Wade would be overturned,” she said, reflecting on how the march’s atmosphere evolved from protest toward what some now call rebuilding.
That rebuilding — of laws, of culture, and of conviction — is not without tension. This year’s event revealed both joy over legal victories and frustration with political realities, including discontent with the Trump administration’s wavering support and disagreements among advocacy groups over future priorities. Still, marchers expressed a shared determination to continue shaping a “culture of life” through prayer, education, and persistence.
A Movement Redefining Itself
As the crowd dispersed under the cold winter sky, the energy of the march lingered — carried by pilgrims who will drive night and day to bring the experience home to their parishes and campuses. For them, the message “Life is a Gift” remains both a conviction and a calling, urging renewal in faith as much as in public life.
In the face of political shifts and internal debate, the March for Life endures as it has for five decades: part protest, part pilgrimage, wholly defined by its believers’ unwavering promise to protect life in all forms.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from UCA News
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