‘The Calling of Our Time’: Pence Urges Republicans Not to Shy away from Pro-Life Cause on Anniversary of Dobbs

Washington, D.C. — Americans must elect leaders who stand without apology for the sanctity of human life, former Vice President Mike Pence said on Saturday, the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Addressing the crowd gathered for the Celebration for Life rally at the Lincoln Memorial, Pence urged pro-lifers to look ahead at what can be done to save the unborn now that Roe no longer stands in the way.

“The cause of life is the calling of our time,” the presidential candidate said. “We can never bring back those 62 million American lives whose voices were never heard in this world, but are heard in the next; those we lost these last 50 years. But with your renewed compassion, with your renewed devotion, we could someday and someday soon give all the American people born and unborn a new beginning for life.”

The rally was organized by pro-life groups to mark the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which established that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.

Pence, who said the “destiny of our nation is inexorably tied to restoring the sanctity of life,” is one of the only Republican presidential candidates to issue such explicit language on abortion laws and even challenged Republican opponents to support a 15-week national abortion ban on Friday. Although Florida governor Ron DeSantis enacted a six-week abortion ban in Florida and former president Donald Trump supports federal regulation on abortion, both have yet to specify plans for a national abortion ban.

Trump blamed the GOP’s poor midterm performance on “the ‘abortion issue.’” Pence refuted that argument when he endorsed a statement released by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America in January: “The approach to winning on abortion in federal races, proven for a decade is this: state clearly the ambitious consensus pro-life position and contrast that with the extreme view of Democrat opponents. We look forward to hearing that position fully articulated by Mr. Trump and all presidential candidates,” the statement said.

On Saturday, Pence called abortion a “winning issue” for Republicans.

Pence also commended the almost two dozen states that have passed laws limiting abortion, emphasizing the importance of protecting women in crisis pregnancies and advancing the cause of adoption.

“We stand for the baby, in their unalienable right to life, for the rights of every mother and father to experience the inexpressible joy of looking into the eyes of their own,” Pence said. “We stand for the families who long to open their hearts and their families to a forever family through adoption.”

Pence told pro-lifers to never relent in the cause of life, until abortion is illegal in every state.

“As we celebrate the progress that we’ve made, we gather here knowing that we’ve not come to the end of this cause. We’ve come to the end of the beginning,” he said. “The work for life goes on all across America, winning hearts and minds through principle and compassion and devotion.”

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, whose state brought the issue of abortion back to the Supreme Court, also spoke on the pro-life movement’s work ahead.

“We must rise to the occasion and act because until we can give women, especially the most vulnerable women all that they need so that their children can thrive, until we can make the changes in our laws that are just as compassionate as our heart, until we can change the hearts and minds of all of our fellow Americans; until then, our dream of a society that that fully embraces the inherent dignity of human life will not truly be the reality,” she said. “It’s our charge today.”

At least 87 crisis pregnancy resource centers have been vandalized in the last year, after pro-abortion activists declared a “summer of rage” in response to the Court’s decision. Still, pregnancy resource centers now outnumber abortion clinics five to one, the President and CEO of 40 Days for Life, Shawn Carney said.

“We’ve helped 251 abortion workers who have had a change of heart and left their job, because nobody grows up wanting to work in the abortion industry. As these abortion facilities close we are seeing post-Dobbs, post-Roe, we are seeing abortion free cities,” Carney said. “And when we have abortion free cities now we have abortion free states. And if we can have abortion free states, we can have abortion free regions. And if we can have abortion free regions, we can have an abortion free country.”