Washington DC again hosted the 45th annual March for Life on Friday, but this year pro-life marchers witnessed an important first.

This year President Trump directly addressed the crowd, and he was the first sitting president to do so.

To be sure, both Presidents Reagan and George W. Bush also spoke to the pro-life faithful, although they spoke either by phone or pre-recorded message. However, Trump is the first to address the March for Life from the Rose Garden — the symbolism not lost on those who support life. The red rose, you see, is the symbol of the March for Life.

He told the crowd:

“The March for Life is a movement born out of love. You love your families, you love your neighbors, you love our nation and you love every child — born and unborn — because you believe every life is sacred, that every child is a precious gift from God.”

Here are the president’s remarks:

Many will cynically point out that Trump was merely throwing a sop to his evangelical supporters. Now I don’t personally know him, of course, so I don’t know why he decided to use the Rose Garden to speak to the March for Life crowd. And the media, despite the fact that this president lives rent-free in their heads 24/7, don’t know either. But I can list some of the ways his actions over his first year in office have strongly supported life.

• He reinstated the Mexico City Policy. Democrat President Obama rescinded it, and President Trump put it right back into law. The policy, which started under President Reagan in 1984, states that “that foreign non-governmental organizations may not receive federal funding if they perform or promote abortions as a method of family planning.” And now it’s back.
• He defunded the United Nations Population Fund. This amounts to a cut of over $32 million to a UN group which partnered with China. China, as you know, notoriously supports coerced abortions. Instead, the money will be directed to U.S. Agency for International Development, which provides medical need worldwide.
• He overturned a rule which required states to pass federal funds to abortion providers. This rule required Title X funding be provided to places like Planned Parenthood. Now states have the option to withhold those funds. PP is not too happy.
• His Department of Health and Human Services officially declared that life begins at conception. It may sound like mere words, but when a federal agency has officially placed this scientific fact on its books, it’s a major step. It represents a mindset that will affect its healthcare missions.
• He nominated Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. There is little more to add here. Justice Gorsuch is a stalwart defender of religious liberty, and his nomination represents a seismic shift in the Court towards respect for life.

So how has the president done for the cause of life this past year? Not too shabby. Not shabby at all. And his address was just the icing on the cake as he closes his initial year as the first pro-life president in eight long years.