Jan 22, 2026 / 17:00 pm
Thousands of pro-lifers will gather in Washington, D.C., for the 53rd annual March for Life on Friday, Jan. 23. Follow here for live updates on the march.
Thousands will gather for the 53rd National March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Jan. 23.
Festivities will kick off with a pre-rally concert at 11 a.m. ET on the National Mall. The rally at begins at noon ET and features a lineup of speakers including Vice President JD Vance.
The crowd will depart from the National Mall at 1 p.m. ET for the march and will make its way to the ending point at the U.S. Supreme Court building.
Pope Leo XIV addressed the 2026 March for Life on Jan. 22, sending participants “warm greetings” and urging them to bring about a society that “safeguards the sanctity of human life.”
The Holy Father’s message was published ahead of the March for Life being held in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 23. This is set to be the 53rd year the annual pro-life observance has drawn hundreds of thousands of people to the nation’s capital.
In her first year leading the March for Life, the organization’s president is reminding the pro-life movement that they “still have a lot of work to do” in the current political climate, three and a half years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“Taking down the Roe regime of abortion-on-demand across the country was incredibly important,” Jennie Bradley Lichter, who became president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund in February 2025, told “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly.”
“But there are still way too many abortions happening in this country,” she said. “So that’s the No. 1 reason why we’re still marching.”
With tens of thousands of pro-life Americans gathering for the 53rd annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Jan. 23, EWTN will provide live coverage of the event.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson are scheduled to speak at the 2026 March for Life Rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 23.
Thousands will gather for the 53rd National March for Life in the nation’s capital on Friday, Jan. 23.
Every January, tens of thousands of people march on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., for “the largest annual human rights demonstration in the world,” according to the March for Life website. The event’s 2026 theme is “Life Is a Gift,” which invites “all people to rediscover the beauty, goodness, and joy of life itself.”
The theme emphasizes “what lies at the heart of the pro-life movement — an unshakeable conviction that life is very good and worthy of protection, no matter the circumstances,” according to the event’s website. “‘Life Is a Gift’ invites everyone to embrace life as something to be cherished and celebrated from the very beginning.”
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