There’s a line that separates civilization from savagery—thinner than most of us care to admit. Every generation faces the question of which side it will choose. For decades, that question has centered on how we treat the most vulnerable among us: the unborn.

Last Friday, tens of thousands gathered on the National Mall for the annual March for Life, braving January’s bitter cold for a cause that polite society would rather they abandon. This wasn’t just another rally. It was the movement’s second march since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision returned the abortion question to the states—a victory unthinkable just a few years ago. The energy was electric, the conviction palpable.

And then Vice President JD Vance stepped to the podium.

What he said next may be the most unflinching pro-life statement ever delivered by a sitting official in the White House.

A line in the sand

Vance didn’t mince words. He didn’t hedge with polling-tested language or soften his message for suburban moderates. Instead, he drew a line straight back through human history—and dared the nation to see where it stands.

From Vice President JD Vance’s March for Life address:
From the skeletons in brothels to the child sacrifice of Mayans, the mark of barbarism is that we treat babies like inconveniences to be discarded rather than the blessings to be cherished that they are. But the inheritance of our civilization is something else: the fact that the Scripture tells us that each life is fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator.

I’ll say it plainly: he’s right. All the sanitized talk of “reproductive healthcare”? It’s lipstick on barbarism. Vance named it for what it is—not a policy debate, but a civilizational choice between the God who knit us together in the womb and the ancient darkness that devoured its young.

President Trump reinforced the message in a video address, declaring his administration is “bringing back faith in America” and “bringing back God.”

The choice before us

Here’s what gets me. Vance delivered those remarks behind bulletproof glass. Think about that for a second. In America, in 2026, saying “babies should live” requires protection from would-be assassins. That’s where we are as a country.

Yet there he stood, unbowed. When a prominent commentator attacked the administration for even showing up to the march, Vance fired back publicly, calling the criticism “disgraceful.” He’s not interested in retreating from this fight for political convenience—and thank God for that.

Vance acknowledged the impatience some feel, urging the crowd to remember how far we’ve come while promising that the work continues. “You have an ally in the White House,” he assured them.

I don’t know about you, but I find it remarkable that we finally have leaders willing to speak with this kind of moral clarity. Vance put it simply: this is “about whether we remain a civilization under God, or whether we ultimately return to the paganism that dominated the past.”

That’s the choice before us. Every generation faces it. For the first time in a long time, we have leaders willing to name it out loud—and that gives me hope for the road ahead.

Key Takeaways

• Vice President Vance compared abortion to ancient child sacrifice, calling it the “mark of barbarism”
• Vance framed the pro-life fight as a choice between Christian civilization and pagan regression
• The Vice President delivered his remarks behind bulletproof glass—a sobering symbol of our times
• The Trump administration reaffirmed its commitment to “bringing back God” and defending life

Sources: Not the Bee, Mail Online, CNN