In a spirited address to anti-abortion advocates, Vice President JD Vance urged activists to recognize the progress made in restricting abortion practices, highlighting achievements from the Trump administration. These accomplishments include the expansion of a ban on U.S. foreign aid to organizations that support abortion services.

Speaking at the annual March for Life demonstration in Washington, Vance encouraged the attendees to remain steadfast, stating, “There is still much road ahead to travel together.” The event, which attracts tens of thousands each year, saw participants gather at the National Mall before marching to the Supreme Court.

A Republican and a long-time proponent of increasing American birth rates, Vance has consistently voiced his concerns about declining fertility in the country. His advocacy for larger families was a pivotal theme as he embarked on his political journey in 2021, successfully securing a seat in the U.S. Senate representing Ohio. Now, as vice president, he continues to champion this cause.

During last year’s March for Life, Vance declared his desire for more children in the nation, stating, “I want more babies in the United States of America.”

This week, Vance, alongside his wife, Usha, joyfully announced via social media that they are expecting their fourth child, a son, due at the end of July.

Reflecting on this personal news at the rally, Vance quipped, “Let the record show, you have a vice president who practices what he preaches,” reinforcing his commitment both personally and politically to the cause he ardently supports.

Vance cited the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, calling it “the most important Supreme Court decision of my lifetime.” He said President Donald Trump’s leadership and appointment of conservative jurists “put a definitive end to the tyranny of judicial rule on the question of human life.”

He also lauded the “historic expansion of the Mexico City policy,” the broadening of a ban on U.S. foreign aid for groups supporting abortion services, to include assistance going to international and domestic organizations and agencies that promote gender identity as well as diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

“We believe that every country in the world has the duty to protect life,” Vance said, to a sea of supporters waving signs reading “Choose Life,” “Make More Babies” and “I am the Pro-Life Generation.”

“It’s not our job as the United States of America to promote radical gender ideology,” he said. “It’s our job to promote families and human flourishing.”

On Thursday, an official said the Trump administration was implementing new rules, halting foreign assistance from going not only to groups that provide abortion as a method of family planning but also to those that advocate “gender ideology” and DEI. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of the rules’ publication in the Federal Register on Friday.

First established under President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, the policy was rescinded by subsequent Democratic administrations and was reinstated in Trump’s first term.

With its origins in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that nationally enshrined federal protection for abortion rights, the March for Life developed an entrenched presence among conservatives arguing against abortion. In 2017, Trump addressed the march by video, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to make live remarks. Three years later, he attended the event in person, further cementing its role in conservative politics.

In a video address to this year’s crowd, Trump recounted his administration’s “unprecedented strides to protect innocent life and support the institution of the family like never before,” enumerating his appointment of “judges and justices who believed in interpreting the Constitution as written” and “reflecting on the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Since the June 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe, the march has become more celebratory, with organizers relishing a state-by-state fight in legislatures around the country and urging a continued fight until abortion is eliminated.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.

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