WASHINGTON, D.C., (LifeSiteNews) – “Equality Begins in the Womb” will be the theme of the 49th annual March for Life.
The event will be held on Friday, January 21, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
March for Life President Jeanne Mancini announced the theme at a press conference on Wednesday at the Heritage Foundation’s headquarters on Capitol Hill.
March for Life released a video to announce the theme which follows the growth of a fetus in the womb.
The video’s narrator provides the voice of a child describing the stages of the pregnancy as he grows in his mother’s womb.
“You hear that mom? My heart is beating so fast,” the narrator says at 6 weeks as a rapid heartbeat can be heard in the background.
“Is your heart beating, too?” he asks at 18 weeks when the baby’s ears start to work.
“I can hear it, just like mine.”
After the baby is born, he rejoices to be able to see his mother for the first time.
“I can finally see you! And you know what? You look just like me,” he says.
The video is meant to illustrate the 2022 March for Life’s theme of equality.
March for Life’s President Jeanne Mancini explained the reasoning behind the theme during Wednesday’s press conference.
“Over the course of the past few years, from the halls of congress to our dining room tables, Americans have been discussing the meaning of equality,” she said.
Mancini explained that the term is often invoked around issues such as racial injustice and even the COVID-19 pandemic, but that it is rarely defined.
“While nearly everyone seems to agree that the topic of equality is important, there’s little agreement on what the definition of equality is, and who it applies to,” she said.
“With that in mind, the March for Life has chosen ‘Equality Begins in the Womb’ as our theme this year.”
Mancini then explained that the idea was to include the unborn in the debate around equality, as they have been excluded from it for the almost 49 years since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in America.
“We want to expand this rigorous debate about equality to include unborn children, who are often overlooked because they cannot speak for themselves,” she said.
Mancini believes that the coming year of 2022 will be pivotal for the pro-life movement, and that the upcoming March for Life will be an event of historical significance.
“This is a historic year, and there is so much ahead of us,” she said.
She cited the upcoming Supreme Court case Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization which will rule on the constitutionality of the Mississippi heartbeat law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The arguments for the case will first be heard on December 1 this year, but the decision will not be announced until late June of 2022.
“I’m very optimistic,” Mancini told EWTN “Pro-life Weekly” host Catherine Hadro in an interview released yesterday.
“I can’t ever remember a time since I’ve been working on this issue that I’ve been so optimistic,” she added.
“We never know for sure how things are going to go, but this is such a good case!”
In a statement she published on the March for Life website explaining the new theme, Mancini argued that the notion of equality originates from the principle of the inherent dignity of every human being, which was recognized by America’s founding fathers and is still recognized everywhere in America today.
“Everywhere, that is, except in the womb,” she wrote.
Mancini hopes that this theme of equality will not only change people’s views on abortion, but that it will also inspire lawmakers to restore equal rights to the unborn.
“The pro-life movement recognizes the immense responsibility this nation bears to restore equal rights to its most defenseless citizens in the womb,” she said.
“Our hope and our prayer is that this year’s theme, ‘Equality Begins in the Womb’ will allow not only for hearts and minds to be changed but that there will also be included in this robust debate the topic of the unborn child…not only debate but laws as well, and that that unborn child will be legally protected in our country,” she added.
In her interview with EWTN, Mancini said she expects the March for Life crowds to be “even bigger” this time and called 2022 a “banner year” for the pro-life cause.
“We anticipate record turn-outs for this March for Life,” she said.
The March for Life will start at noon on January 21. Marchers will first attend a rally on the National Mall and then walk up Constitution Avenue to the steps of the Supreme Court. There pro-life testimonies, including from women who have experienced abortion and want to share their journey towards healing, will be given. A number of famous pro-life speakers will also be featured, including Catholic priest and Ascension podcast host Father Michael Schmidt, as well as award winning musical performer Matthew West.
Mancini noted that, although the March marks a “sombre anniversary” during which the nation reflects on the 62 million babies that have been killed in America since Roe v Wade legalized abortion nationwide, it is also a joyous occasion when pro-lifers celebrate their victories and the momentum that the movement has gained in the past few years.
“There’s a joy to it because we know that we’re fighting the human rights abuse of today… and all of the young people that are there [create] such a positivity” she said.
The President of the March for Life sees the increasingly large crowds that gather every year for the event as a sign that Roe v Wade is not “settled law,” as pro-abortion activists call it.
“When you consider the collectively millions of Americans who march past that Supreme Court every year, it shows them that it’s not settled law,” Mancini said.
“We don’t get smaller. We don’t draw less of a line in the sand. We get bigger every year.”
The upcoming March for Life will be the first official one held since the beginning of the pandemic. The DC-based 2021 March for Life, whose theme was ‘Together Strong: Life Unites,” was cancelled in January. It was reduced to a mostly virtual event with only a “small group of pro-life leaders” invited to demonstrate in person because of the COVID-19 restrictions.