March for Life: Trump Promises to Investigate ‘Radical Left Attacks’ on Churches, Pregnancy Centers

President Donald Trump addressed pro-life advocates in a video speech at the 52nd annual March for Life on Friday, praising them for their “extraordinary love and compassion for the unborn” while promising to “end the weaponization of law enforcement against Americans of faith.”

Trump pledged in the video — which played to a crowd of thousands gathered in Washington, DC, in frigid weather — that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will investigate the hundreds of pro-abortion attacks on churches and pregnancy centers. He also talked about his pardoning of nearly two dozen pro-life activists targeted, and some imprisoned, by the Biden administration. 

“Under my leadership, a reformed Department of Justice will finally investigate the radical left attacks on churches and crisis pregnancy centers, and we will bring perpetrators to justice,” the 45th and 47th president said. “We will get them to justice one way or the other. I will also end the weaponization of law enforcement against Americans of faith, and I’m releasing the Christians and pro-life activists who were persecuted by the Biden regime for praying and living out their faith.” 

“One such American was Paulette Harlow. At 75 years old, Paulette was sentenced to two years in prison after praying outside of a clinic. That’s why she was sentenced to two years. That’s what happened under the Biden regime,” he continued. “In her sentencing, the judge mocked her Christian faith while her husband pleaded to be thrown in jail with his wife. Fearing she would die alone behind bars. This week, it was my honor to grant a full and complete pardon to Paulette and many others who were the victims of this horrific weaponization. Never again will religious persecution be allowed to happen in America.”

Trump additionally spoke about how he is “proud to be a participant” in the ending of Roe v. Wade by nominating several Supreme Court justices who issued the Dobbs decision returning abortion to the states. He went on to say he will prioritize standing “proudly for families and for life” in his second term. 

“We will protect the historic gains we have made and stop the radical Democrat-push for a federal right to unlimited abortion on demand up to the moment of birth and even after birth. Think of that — after birth, and some people want that. Can you believe it?” he said. “We will work to offer a loving hand to new mothers and young families, and we will support adoption and foster care. We will protect women and vulnerable children.” 

Trump ended by thanking “all of the very special people marching today in this bitter cold.” 

“I know your hearts are warm and your spirits are strong because your mission is just very, very pure: to forge a society that welcomes and protects every child as a beautiful gift from the hand of our creator,” he said. “Thank you for never losing hope and never giving up. Thank you for your tremendous support. God bless you and God bless America.” 

During the pro-abortion Biden administration, the DOJ used the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act to aggressively prosecute pro-life activists, even though the law was designed to protect pregnancy centers and churches, in addition to abortion clinics. The law prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.”

Biden’s DOJ often added a KKK-era conspiracy against rights charge to bolster potential sentencing time, and for a few cases, the FBI allegedly conducted early morning raids against pro-life advocates, even allegedly holding them at gunpoint in front of their families. Some of the activists targeted by the Biden DOJ include an 89-year-old communist concentration camp survivor, several grandmothers, and a Christian father of eleven.

RELATED: GOP Rep. Chip Roy Reintroduces Bill to Repeal Law Used to Throw Pro-Lifers in Prison

Data obtained by Rep. Chip Roy’s (R-TX) office found that in less than four years, Biden’s DOJ accounted for more than a quarter of all 211 FACE prosecutions since the law’s inception. At least 55 FACE Act cases were prosecuted during the Biden administration, only a handful of which were against pro-abortion attacks on pregnancy centers, despite the increase in attacks against pro-life pregnancy centers and churches following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.

According to trackers kept by CatholicVote, 316 churches and 96 pregnancy centers and pro-life groups have been attacked since the Dobbs decision was leaked in May of 2022.

The first March for Life occurred in 1974, a year after the Supreme Court issued its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which invented the constitutional “right” to abortion. In June of 2022, the Supreme Court overturned that decision in the Dobbs case and returned the issue of abortion to individual states. This year’s March for Life is the third march since the Dobbs decision was issued.

March for Life says it is “the largest annual human rights demonstration in the world,” and estimated it would draw around 150,000 marchers. This year’s theme is “Life: Why We March,” and is designed to “encourage pro-life advocates to draw renewed energy for this challenging moment in the movement by reflecting on the basic truth that inspires the pro-life cause: every human life – including the unborn and their mothers – is beautiful, has unique dignity, and worthy of protection,” according to the organization’s website.

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.