This week, tens of thousands of pro-life men, women, and children will gather in Washington, D.C. for the 53rd March for Life. This annual event is a powerful demonstration of our passion for the unborn, for expectant mothers, for women, and for families. This year’s speaker lineup shows the vast range of the pro-life movement, from government officials, religious leaders, and everyday American families. Slated to speak are Vice President JD Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Cassie Graham Lynch, Bishop Irinej Dobrijević, and many more. Together, we will be marching with one message: Life is a gift!
As we prepare for this monumental day, our pro-life leaders in Congress are taking this week to call up several bills that further the cause of life. First is the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act (H.R. 6945), which ensures that pregnancy resource centers can have access to federal funds in order to support parents while pregnant and raising their children. States have previously been able to direct money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to these pro-life centers that provide direct assistance to low-income women and families. However, the Biden administration prohibited states from issuing TANF grants to these clinics. Clarifying in law that pregnancy resource centers are allowable recipients of TANF grants will prevent the next pro-abortion administration from once again discriminating against these providers.
Pregnancy resource centers serve women in crisis pregnancies to help them choose life as opposed to Planned Parenthood clinics which peddle abortion. In Charlotte Lozier Institute’s 2025 National Pregnancy Center Report, they identified 2,775 pro-life centers across the nation which provided over $452 million in medical care, goods for parents and babies, educational resources, mental health therapy, and more. In 2024, 29% of pregnancy resource centers offered the Abortion Pill Reversal medication and 77% offered post-abortion counseling. Studies have shown that about 60% of women would not have gone through with an abortion if they felt emotionally and financially supported. This type of support is exactly what pregnancy centers seek to provide. It is a commonsense idea to make permanent the policy that pregnancy resource centers are valid TANF grantees.
The second bill moving in the House this week is the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act (H.R. 6359), which requires colleges and universities to inform students about their rights if pregnant or parenting. Title IX already requires that these higher ed institutions provide accommodations for pregnant students, such as modified schedules and excused absences. Students are less likely to drop out if they are aware of the resources and support available.
While the bill is simple, it seeks to counter a huge push for abortion on college campuses. In 2019, California’s SB 24 was passed into law requiring all public universities and colleges to offer abortion services for students. Plan B vending machines were put on campuses directing students to places like Planned Parenthood if already pregnant. At the University of California, undergraduate students are now required to enroll in their healthcare plan. The $3,000 per year plan includes abortion and birth control coverage as well as transgender surgeries and hormone therapy. These colleges are not creating places for moms to thrive. Instead, they are implying to students that they cannot get a degree if pregnant or a parent. The Pregnant Students’ Rights Act (H.R. 6359) is a common-sense bill that directs colleges and universities to inform all students of their existing rights under Title IX. Even the most ardent abortion supporter should back this bill that makes sure students know about programs and policies available to help pregnant women stay in school.
Unfortunately, pregnant women are finding all too often that instead of a helping hand, they are handed the abortion pill. Last week, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) held a hearing titled “Protecting Women: Exposing the Dangers of Chemical Abortion Drugs.” Sadly, more than 60% of abortions now are conducted by medication (abortion pill), a 53% increase since 2020. During the COVID pandemic, President Biden’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed the in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion pill. Earlier this year, the FDA approved a generic version, making access easier and cheaper. The Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., promised to review all evidence regarding the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone as well as the FDA approval system. We are still awaiting that review.
HELP Committee Chair Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) shared a heartbreaking story of a constituent who explained the horrors of taking the abortion pill. In addition to the extreme pain and blood loss she experienced, she said, “I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever created, and I destroyed it.” She shared this experience with tens of thousands of other women in Louisiana last year. Despite a near-total ban, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill testified that 900 legal abortions occur per month in the state. Louisiana’s law allows exceptions for life-saving care or preventing serious, permanent impairment to a life-sustaining organ. However, mail-order abortion drugs are often accessed without medical examination and fall outside these limited exceptions. These egregious drugs are undermining the pro-life protections passed by the states.
Blue states are also undermining pro-life laws in other states by enacting policies that let abortion drug prescribers delete their required information from the medication packaging. This allows them to ship these drugs illegally across state lines without getting caught. Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL) introduced the LABEL Act (H.R. 5969) to label drugs “misbranded” if the packaging does not have identifying prescriber information and allows the FDA and the Department of Justice to enforce penalties for violating federal labeling requirements. Rep. Moore stated:
Abortion drugs end the life of a child but can also cause injury or death to the women using them. This legislation is about transparency, accountability, and protecting women and children. If a doctor or pharmacy dispenses abortion drugs that cause harm to the patient, her family deserves to know who was responsible. No one in the medical community should be allowed to hide behind anonymous prescriptions.
Even though the Senate is in recess this week, they made sure to secure the Hyde amendment in recent appropriation bills to ensure that there is no taxpayer funding of abortion in federal spending for the upcoming fiscal year. They also plan to move the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act (S. 3627) next week.
Please join the pro-life movement this Friday as we celebrate the gift of life – you can join us in person, at a state or local event, by sharing your pro-life story with others online, and by joining the millions of Americans who will be praying for an end to abortion nationwide. Subscribe to Eagle Forum on all social media platforms to see live updates. The March for Life in Washington, D.C., will also be live-streamed by EWTN here.
