Republican Chris Smith at March for Life: Pro-Abortion Activists a ‘Modern Day Flat-Earth Society’

WASHINGTON, District of Columbia — Thousands of young Americans gathered in the nation’s capital to celebrate life and the overturn of Roe v. Wade, but with the resolve to press forward and finally end abortion.

The 50th annual March for Life took place on the National Mall, where persons of all ages came from around the country to advocate for life. With thousands in attendance, fears that attendance would dwindle in light of the overturn of Roe were abated.

One message that was made clear to Breitbart News is that pro-life Americans feel that the work to end abortion has only just begun in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. On the minds of many is creating a “culture of life” to “make abortion unthinkable.”

Part of building that culture will be through legislation — a key change in this year’s March, as the end destination is no longer the Supreme Court, but rather the Capitol building.

Arguments from many were not only faith-based, but oriented toward scientific evidence that human life begins at conception, prompting Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) to call abortion advocates a “modern day flat-Earth society” during his speech at the rally.

Saying it is the “most critical human rights issue of our time,” Smith added that Justice Samuel Alito gave every American an “engraved invitation to protect life” in his Dobbs opinion.

“Today we celebrate: Roe is gone!” Smith continued. “The injustice of abortion need not be forever, and because of you, it won’t be.”

House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) also addressed the crowd, saying that “we’re in a battle” that is not over, but that Americans should take time to “celebrate victories along the way” such as the overturn of Roe.

The Dobbs decision only marked the “end of the first phase of this battle,” he continued, saying that the next phase is only just beginning.

America is one of just a “handful of countries that allow this barbaric process” and shares that company with countries such as China and North Korea, Scalise said. “We ought to continue to march.”

Breitbart News spoke to many young Americans, all of whom called for the total ban of abortion, including in cases of rape and incest. “They are still innocent lives,” one college student said, continuing that the circumstances of their conception should not mean they are not a human worthy of life.

Since Dobbs was handed down, the decision to regulate abortion was returned to state legislatures. There have therefore been different methods enacted for reducing abortion in many states. Some states have passed 15-week abortion bans, while others have passed heartbeat bills (at about six weeks), and others have banned the practice entirely except in certain circumstances.

Ultimately, attendees told Breitbart News, there will come a time when life itself will require a legal definition that is nationally applicable, as it is untenable to consider life as one thing in one state, and an entirely separate thing in another.

However, progress will need to be made at a state level for now, as pro-life Americans begin to build a culture of life to make national policy politically feasible.

Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.