Vice President JD Vance Addresses the National March for Life Rally

[00:00:06] pro-life victories he's delivered in his [00:00:08] first five years in office so far. We [00:00:11] are looking forward to many more in the [00:00:13] next few years. [00:00:15] We have some folks here with us today [00:00:17] from the president's team in the White [00:00:18] House and I'm asking them to make sure [00:00:20] that the president hears of your [00:00:22] excitement about and gratitude for his [00:00:24] pro-life policies. Can we thank [00:00:25] President Trump once more? [00:00:34] All right. And now [00:00:38] he stood on this stage last year in his [00:00:40] first public appearance after a pretty [00:00:42] important day in his life. And he [00:00:45] promised he'd return. [00:00:48] Well, marchers, today he is keeping that [00:00:50] promise. It is my great honor to welcome [00:00:53] back to the March for Life stage your [00:00:56] vice president of the United States JD [00:00:59] Van [00:01:40] Good morning, MARCHERS. HOW WE DOING? [00:01:45] It's great to be with you again. It was [00:01:47] my very first speech as vice president [00:01:51] of the United States was the March for [00:01:53] Life last year, and I'm proud to be back [00:01:55] with much better weather this time [00:01:57] around. [00:02:01] Now, some of you may remember that in my [00:02:03] remarks last year, I told you all one of [00:02:06] the things I most wanted in the United [00:02:08] States of America was more families and [00:02:11] more babies. [00:02:16] So, let the record show you have a vice [00:02:19] president who practices what he [00:02:21] preaches. [00:02:27] Usha and I announced this week that [00:02:29] we're expecting our fourth [00:02:36] >> and it will be our third baby boys. So, [00:02:39] we'll take whatever prayers you can [00:02:40] give. We certainly need them. [00:02:47] And when I was here last year, I had one [00:02:51] other piece of advice for this group, [00:02:53] and that was very simple. To be joyful [00:02:56] in your advocacy. And looking out at [00:02:58] this crowd today, it seems like you took [00:03:01] that suggestion very well to heart. [00:03:04] Because I see joyful people. I see [00:03:06] grandmas. I see parents. I see beautiful [00:03:09] little kids with incredible green hats. [00:03:14] I I [00:03:17] now did you all dress like that so that [00:03:19] if you lost yourselves you could find [00:03:20] everybody. Okay, that's a good plan. I'm [00:03:23] going to take that I'm going to take [00:03:25] that advice back home. The theme of this [00:03:28] year's March for Life, as most of you [00:03:30] all know, is that life is a gift. And I [00:03:34] know for me personally this year there [00:03:36] is so much to be thankful for. I'm [00:03:40] grateful to my own family, for my [00:03:42] beautiful wife Usha, and that God has [00:03:45] given us the miracle of new life again. [00:03:53] I'm grateful [00:03:56] I'm grateful for this movement, for the [00:03:59] truth that is on our side. And frankly, [00:04:03] I'm thankful for the technological [00:04:05] breakthroughs that have allowed us to [00:04:07] affirm and protect life. Things like 3D [00:04:10] ultrasounds that didn't exist just a few [00:04:13] short decades ago. Things like the new [00:04:15] medical technologies that have saved the [00:04:17] lives of countless premature babies. But [00:04:21] let me say that I am especially grateful [00:04:24] for all of you, even the ones with [00:04:27] Michigan hats. And there are a couple of [00:04:28] you out there. [00:04:34] for the thousands of men and women and [00:04:36] children, for the church groups, the [00:04:39] school groups, the grandparents and the [00:04:41] toddlers and everyone in between who [00:04:44] braved this chilly Washington afternoon. [00:04:48] All of us, all of us in the Trump [00:04:50] administration, from the president on [00:04:52] down, we thank you for your prayers. We [00:04:54] thank you for your perseverance. And we [00:04:56] thank you that for today, we are all [00:04:58] marching for life. [00:05:06] Now, [00:05:06] >> I know a lot of us heard from the [00:05:07] president just before this, so you know [00:05:09] that he loves and cares deeply about [00:05:12] this movement. And it's why he has [00:05:14] fought for the pro-life cause and why we [00:05:16] do it in this administration. And it's [00:05:18] why three years ago, we cannot forget he [00:05:21] delivered and his Supreme Court justices [00:05:23] delivered the most important Supreme [00:05:26] Court decision of my lifetime. [00:05:33] BECAUSE WITH THE DOB'S DECISION, WHAT WE [00:05:35] DID, what the president did, what the [00:05:38] Supreme Court did was put a definitive [00:05:41] end to the tyranny of judicial rule on [00:05:44] the question of human life. [00:05:49] He shattered a 50-year culture of [00:05:52] disposability, [00:05:53] one that treated human life as [00:05:56] expendable the moment that it became [00:05:58] inconvenient. And he empowered our [00:06:00] nation and our movement to build a [00:06:03] culture of life from the grassroots up. [00:06:06] And over the last year, I got to brag a [00:06:09] little bit, our administration has [00:06:10] worked very hard to lead that effort and [00:06:13] to pick up the pieces to clean up the [00:06:15] wreckages of five decades of bad policy [00:06:18] on the question of life. [00:06:25] It's an amazing crowd. [00:06:29] Now, our vision, our vision is simple. [00:06:34] We want life to thrive in the United [00:06:36] States of America. [00:06:38] >> We want we want Americans, every [00:06:42] American from all walk of life to have [00:06:45] happy, healthy children. And we want [00:06:47] them to raise those kids with confidence [00:06:49] that their kids are going to do well and [00:06:51] grow up in safety and prosperity, that [00:06:54] they'll have access to good jobs, great [00:06:56] schools, safe streets, and warm houses [00:07:00] in which to raise their kids. [00:07:02] And we want all of our American families [00:07:05] to be able to do it with the confidence [00:07:07] that their nation will stand with them [00:07:10] just as they have stood with the United [00:07:12] States of America. [00:07:18] Now, you all know this very well that [00:07:21] building a culture of life requires [00:07:23] persuasion. And that's what's so [00:07:25] different about this moment compared to [00:07:27] the moment that was dominated by the [00:07:29] Supreme Court for 50 years. We're not [00:07:31] trying to argue to the Supreme Court [00:07:34] anymore. We are trying to argue to our [00:07:36] fellow citizens that we must build up [00:07:38] that culture of life. And as you know, [00:07:40] that effort is going to take a lot of [00:07:42] time. It's going to take a lot of energy [00:07:44] and it's going to take a little bit of [00:07:46] money. And that's why we're here because [00:07:48] you know that we're marching for life [00:07:50] because we want our wonderful fellow [00:07:53] Americans, even if they don't disagree [00:07:55] with us, to know that life is worthy. It [00:07:58] is worthy of protection. And that is why [00:08:00] we march today. [00:08:07] So let me tell you something very simple [00:08:11] that under this administration again [00:08:13] from the president of the United States, [00:08:15] the vice president, you have an ally in [00:08:18] the White House. Now some [00:08:23] Now some of our work over the last year [00:08:25] has been very straightforward and very [00:08:28] easy. We started by undoing the evils we [00:08:31] saw under the previous administration. [00:08:34] Like for example, throwing priests and [00:08:36] grandmothers in prison for praying [00:08:38] outside a clinic, that's over. We [00:08:40] stopped it. [00:08:46] Where the previous administration [00:08:48] mandated taxpayer funding for abortions, [00:08:50] including travel costs, across the [00:08:53] entire government, this administration [00:08:55] ended it. [00:09:00] And over the past year, we built [00:09:02] steadily upon the victories of the [00:09:04] president's first term. We have secured [00:09:06] religious freedom in the United States [00:09:08] of America. Once again, that was [00:09:10] important. [00:09:15] >> We have ended the censorship of [00:09:17] Christians, Jews, and other Americans of [00:09:19] faith who are punished simply for [00:09:22] following their faith in public life. [00:09:28] We've expanded conscience protections [00:09:30] for health care workers and defended [00:09:32] faith-based foster care and adoption. [00:09:39] We gutted Biden era rules and ensured [00:09:42] that no nun, no nurse, no pharmacist, [00:09:46] and no physician has to check their [00:09:49] faith and their values at the door of [00:09:51] their workplace. [00:09:56] And under the last administration, under [00:09:58] President Biden and congressional [00:10:00] Democrats, the power of government we [00:10:02] know was marshaled against us, against [00:10:05] our faith, against our families, and [00:10:08] most importantly against the most [00:10:10] vulnerable. That stopped with the Trump [00:10:12] administration and it is not coming [00:10:14] back. [00:10:20] Just this week, just this week, we took [00:10:22] action to force Illinois into compliance [00:10:24] with the Weldon amendment and stop [00:10:26] making healthc care providers refer for [00:10:28] abortions. That was a big one. [00:10:34] And as the president knows better than [00:10:36] anybody, if we want to convince more [00:10:37] Americans to choose life, we must also [00:10:40] choose policies that make family life [00:10:42] possible. So, we've done that as well. [00:10:49] with the Trump accounts. We started at [00:10:51] the very beginning of life investing in [00:10:53] every new American child from day one [00:10:56] onward. We've stood with parents by [00:10:59] boosting the child tax credit as well [00:11:01] because no family should be penalized [00:11:03] for choosing to have kids. In fact, we [00:11:06] ought to be rewarding for families for [00:11:07] choosing to have kids. [00:11:13] And when Ush and I were having the [00:11:15] debate about whether we were going to [00:11:16] have a fourth kid, I said, "Honey, we've [00:11:18] got an expanded child tax credit and [00:11:20] we've got the Trump accounts. We got to [00:11:22] take advantage of this stuff. [00:11:26] We're restoring homeownership for real [00:11:29] families." And you may not think this is [00:11:30] connected to the pro-life cause, but [00:11:33] when we ensure that real families, moms [00:11:35] and dads, instead of Wall Street, have [00:11:37] access to American homes, we help create [00:11:40] that important culture of life. [00:11:46] And the thing that I'm perhaps the most [00:11:48] proud of is that we have been [00:11:50] responsible stewards of your tax dollars [00:11:53] on this question of life. And so just [00:11:56] yesterday, this administration launched [00:11:58] fraud investigations into Planned [00:12:01] Parenthood affiliates [00:12:08] for millions of dollars in PPP loans [00:12:11] that were unlawfully received and [00:12:13] unlawfully forgiven by the Biden [00:12:14] administration. You should not be able [00:12:17] to commit fraud and use taxpayer money [00:12:20] for abortion. It's that simple. [00:12:27] At many of our departments, we've [00:12:28] reinstated a ban on the use of fetal [00:12:31] tissue in federal research. That's [00:12:33] another big one. [00:12:38] >> And this is something we're so proud of. [00:12:40] We're returning accountability to our [00:12:42] foreign policy as well. Under Joe Biden, [00:12:46] it was the policy of the United States [00:12:48] to export abortion and radical gender [00:12:51] ideology all around the world. That is [00:12:54] what they did with your tax money. [00:13:00] They would relentlessly bully developing [00:13:02] countries into pariting their far-left [00:13:04] views. But under President Trump's [00:13:07] leadership and with our great Secretary [00:13:09] of State, we believe that every country [00:13:12] in the world has the duty to protect [00:13:14] life. [00:13:19] And that it's not our job as the United [00:13:21] States of America to promote radical [00:13:24] gender ideology. It's our job to promote [00:13:27] families and human flourishing. [00:13:32] Now, that's why we've completely [00:13:34] realigned US foreign aid and turned off [00:13:36] the tap for NOS's whose sole purpose is [00:13:39] to dissuade people from having kids. [00:13:45] It's why we rejoined the Geneva [00:13:47] Consensus Declaration to promote [00:13:49] maternal health and strong families all [00:13:51] over the world. [00:13:55] And it's why we speak up when other [00:13:57] nations throw pro-life and pro- family [00:13:59] advocates in prison for silent prayer, [00:14:01] which we've seen to way too much, but [00:14:04] it's got to stop. [00:14:09] And today, our administration is proud [00:14:12] to announce a historic expansion of the [00:14:16] Mexico City policy. [00:14:22] We're going to start blocking every [00:14:24] international GO that performs or [00:14:26] promotes abortion abroad from receiving [00:14:29] a dollar of US money. [00:14:36] Now, we're expanding this policy to [00:14:39] protect life, to combat DEI and the [00:14:43] radical gender ideologies that prey on [00:14:45] our children. And with these additions, [00:14:48] the rule will now cover every [00:14:51] non-military foreign assistance that [00:14:53] America sends. All in all, we have [00:14:55] expanded the Mexico City policy about [00:14:58] three times as big as it was before, and [00:15:01] we're proud of it because we believe in [00:15:03] fighting for life. [00:15:09] And a lot of you may know that under the [00:15:11] Biden administration, they used Medicaid [00:15:13] and other programs to launder your tax [00:15:16] dollars into abortion money all over the [00:15:20] United States of America. [00:15:24] And w and with the help with the help of [00:15:27] our Republican majorities in Congress, [00:15:30] with the working families tax cuts, we [00:15:32] stopped that practice once and for all. [00:15:34] It's illegal now exactly as it should [00:15:36] be. [00:15:41] >> Let me just say my friends that we have [00:15:44] to be clear. We cannot be neutral. Our [00:15:47] country cannot be indifferent about [00:15:49] whether its next generations live or [00:15:51] die. Because think about it, what [00:15:55] ultimately gives meaning and life to the [00:15:58] United States of America? This is not a [00:16:01] a new question. Every civilization has [00:16:04] been forced to answer it. You march [00:16:07] today. We march today because you have [00:16:10] an answer to this question about what [00:16:12] kind of civilization we are and about [00:16:15] what kind of civilization we're going to [00:16:17] become in the future. [00:16:20] I read an article some time ago. It was [00:16:23] about classic archaeology of all things. [00:16:26] And one particular piece of information [00:16:29] has haunted me. that one of the telltale [00:16:32] signs of an ancient brothel in the pagan [00:16:36] world was that you'd always find a large [00:16:38] number of baby skeletons nearby. [00:16:42] A lot of baby skeletons and those bones [00:16:45] predominantly belong to boys because [00:16:49] unlike little girls, those boys would be [00:16:52] of no use to the future adults who were [00:16:55] running those brothel. [00:16:58] Now, this is shocking to us because we [00:17:01] grew up in a Christian culture and were [00:17:03] formed by religious values. Even those [00:17:05] of us who aren't particularly faithful, [00:17:07] it's a shocking thing to hear. But we [00:17:10] have to remember that in the ancient [00:17:12] pagan world, discarding children was [00:17:15] routine. [00:17:17] From the skeletons in brothel to the [00:17:20] child sacrifice of the Mayans, the mark [00:17:23] of barbarism is that we treat babies [00:17:26] like inconveniences to be discarded [00:17:29] rather than the blessings to cherish [00:17:31] that they are. [00:17:36] But the inheritance of our civilization [00:17:39] is something else. The fact that as [00:17:41] scripture tells us, each life is [00:17:44] fearfully and wonderfully made by our [00:17:46] creator. [00:17:54] >> The March for Life, my friends, it's not [00:17:56] just about a political issue. As [00:17:58] important as all this politics stuff is, [00:18:00] it is about whether we will remain a [00:18:03] civilization under God or whether we [00:18:06] ultimately return to the paganism that [00:18:08] dominated the past. [00:18:10] Today, the far left in this country [00:18:13] tells our young people that marriage and [00:18:15] children are obstacles. That it's [00:18:17] irresponsible, even immoral because of [00:18:20] climate change or some other reason to [00:18:22] encourage our young people to raise a [00:18:24] family. They tell us that life itself is [00:18:27] a burden. But we here at this march, we [00:18:30] know that it's a lie. We know that life [00:18:34] is a gift. [00:18:40] We we know that babies are precious [00:18:43] because we know them and we love them [00:18:45] and we see the way that they can [00:18:47] transform our families. [00:18:52] >> We know that family is not just the [00:18:54] source of a great joy, but is part of [00:18:57] God's design for men and women. a design [00:19:00] that extends outward from the family to [00:19:03] our neighborhoods, to our communities, [00:19:05] and to the United States of America [00:19:07] itself. [00:19:12] And we know, we here know that treating [00:19:16] everyone with dignity isn't always easy. [00:19:19] It's not always convenient, but it's the [00:19:21] right thing to do. [00:19:27] We know that the people telling our [00:19:29] young men and women that discarding [00:19:31] family and children is a form of [00:19:32] liberation. We know that those people [00:19:35] are telling a lie. [00:19:38] >> And so to our fellow Americans, we march [00:19:40] in part to serve as a witness. To our [00:19:43] fellow Americans, we say you're never [00:19:46] going to find great meaning in a cubicle [00:19:48] or in front of a computer screen, but [00:19:51] you will find great meaning if you [00:19:52] dedicate yourself to the creation and [00:19:55] sustenance of human life. [00:20:03] Now, I I must address an elephant in the [00:20:06] room, and I've heard the guy over here [00:20:07] talking about it. [00:20:11] A fear, a fear that some of you have [00:20:13] that not enough progress has been made, [00:20:16] that not enough has happened in the [00:20:19] political arena, that we're not going [00:20:20] fast enough, that our politics have [00:20:23] failed to answer the clarion call to [00:20:25] life that this march represents and that [00:20:28] all of us, I believe, hold in our [00:20:30] hearts. And I want you to know that I [00:20:32] hear you and that I understand. There [00:20:35] will inevitably be debates within this [00:20:37] movement. We love each other, but we're [00:20:39] going to have open conversations about [00:20:41] how best to use our political system to [00:20:44] advance life, how credential we must be [00:20:47] and the cause of advancing human life. I [00:20:50] think these are good, honest, and [00:20:52] natural debates. And frankly, they're [00:20:54] not just good for all of you. They help [00:20:56] keep people like me honest. And that's [00:20:59] an important thing. [00:21:04] But I think all of us also have to [00:21:06] remember that we are commanded to not [00:21:09] let not our hearts be troubled. Because [00:21:11] I look at this crowd and I see young [00:21:14] people for whom do is the only world [00:21:18] they've ever known. [00:21:22] And I see people with just a little bit [00:21:24] more gray in their hair [00:21:27] who for 50 years toiled to live in a [00:21:30] country where questions of life would be [00:21:33] answered by we the people rather than [00:21:36] tyrants and rogues. All of us have heard [00:21:39] their stories. They've heard of the [00:21:41] movement betrayed of taking one step [00:21:43] forward and then two steps back and then [00:21:46] three steps forward after that. They [00:21:48] know stories of heartbreak and of [00:21:50] triumph. Some of them I've known very [00:21:53] personally from ballot issues that I [00:21:55] fought very hard for. Some of which have [00:21:57] gone the right way and some of which [00:21:59] have gone the wrong way. And I remember [00:22:01] friends of mine who spent their entire [00:22:03] lives fighting for the unborn without [00:22:06] ever seeing the victories that have [00:22:08] accumulated in recent years. My friends, [00:22:11] I'd ask you to look where the fight for [00:22:14] life stood just one decade ago. And now [00:22:18] look where it stands today. [00:22:27] We have made tremendous strides over the [00:22:30] last year and we're going to continue to [00:22:32] make strides over the next three years [00:22:35] to come. But I'm a realist. I know that [00:22:38] there is still much road ahead to travel [00:22:41] together. [00:22:43] Take heart. Take heart in how far we've [00:22:46] come, but don't lose sight of why we [00:22:49] march. And so long as you are out there [00:22:51] marching for life, I hope you know that [00:22:54] the vice president of the United States [00:22:56] will march with you. God bless you all [00:22:58] and thanks for having me. [00:23:21] Heat. Heat.