WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) promoted a healthcare system and an American “culture that cherishes and protects life” as ways to advance abortion opponents’ cause during an appearance at the largest anti-abortion gathering in the United States.
The speaker addressed a crowd weathering snow and cold at the 51st annual March for Life on the National Mall, and he spoke of changing hearts and minds, expressing optimism for the future of a political movement looking to end abortion.
“Every single person has inestimable dignity and value,” Johnson said, leading a group of elected leaders onstage. Johnson said that the national creed — written with the “theological lucidity” of the founders, he added, referencing English author G. K. Chesterton — was one that protected the right for every person to be born.
“Our national creed is the essence of who we are in this country,” he said. “We’re all joining to celebrate life and what it means to be an American.”
Johnson went on to explain that he was the product of an unplanned pregnancy, explaining that his “parents, who were just teenagers at the time, chose life.”
The conservative House speaker said the goal of the movement should be to “build a culture that encourages and assists more and more people to make that same decision.”
“This is a critical time to help all moms who are facing an unplanned pregnancy to work with foster children and to help families who are adopting, to volunteer and assist our vital pregnancy resource centers and our maternity homes, and to reach out a renewed hand of compassion, and to speak the truth in love,” Johnson said.
Johnson promoted two bills in Congress that passed the House this week, including the Pregnant Students Rights Act, saying, “Women should not be presented with the false choice of being a mom or being a student.”
The Pregnant Student Rights Act requires colleges to inform students of the rights and accommodations available to women who become pregnant in an effort to prevent colleges from giving women the impression that it is their only option in the event of an unplanned pregnancy.
Johnson also spoke about the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act, which aims to be a bulwark against the Biden administration’s attempt to regulate and restrict funds to pregnancy resource centers. The crowd of mostly high school and college students responded to the mention of the Biden administration’s actions with raucous “boos.”
The centers, also known as crisis pregnancy centers, have come under attack by the Left because they do not offer abortion, instead encouraging alternatives to the procedure and helping women with finances, education, counseling, medical aid, and other resources.
“It takes a lot of work to convince people that every single human child, every unborn child, has a value that is too profound and precious to ignore,” Johnson continued. “We have every reason to be optimistic. … We can change public opinion.”
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), who co-chairs the House Pro-Life Caucus, also addressed the crowd, saying pregnancy resource centers are an “oasis of love, compassion, empathy, respect, and care for both mothers and their precious children.”
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Smith cited polling that suggests 83% of Americans, including 75% of Democrats, support the centers despite left-wing claims that they spread “misinformation.”
“The pro-abortion culture of denial — a modern-day flat earth society — denies, devalues, and disrespects unborn baby girls and boys and trivializes the harm suffered by women,” Smith concluded. “The United States — and the world — must more fully recognize the breathtaking miracle of the newly created life of an unborn child and that women deserve better than abortion.”