‘Every single life matters to God’: Tim Tebow declares at virtual 48th annual March for Life
Notable pro-life figures, including state lawmakers from both major political parties and former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, gave remarks at the first-ever virtual March for Life event on Friday.
For the first time in its 48-year history, the March for Life was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, the annual March for Life occurred weeks before the first nationwide shutdowns began in late March.
Tebow gave a speech before the online audience, speaking about his mother’s decision not to abort him while he was in the womb despite major pregnancy complications.
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“I’m so grateful my mom gave me a chance at life, because many times she could have made the choice to do something different,” said Tebow. “But because of her pro-life story, I get to share my story.”
“I do believe that every single life matters to God,” Tebow declared, noting that Jesus Christ “had a mission" and "that mission was a rescue mission for us.”
“That mission was to come down to this Earth and go to the cross, and defeat death, and overcome the world," Tebow said.
“When Jesus was going to the cross, what was the joy set before Him? It was you. It was me. It was us being made right with His death. It was us having life and life abundantly.”
Democratic lawmaker Angie Hatton, who serves as the Kentucky House Minority Whip, also spoke at the virtual event, explaining that she votes in the legislature “to protect unborn life.”
“I’m proud that my state is a national leader in legislation that protects the unborn,” said Hatton. “I believe we need a bipartisan effort to end abortion, but not just by outlawing it, but also by eliminating the reasons women seek abortions in the first place.
“When we make access to healthcare so difficult that only the wealthy get to be healthy, when we don’t pay working mothers a living wage, and when we don’t support families struggling with affordable childcare and preschool, when we don’t adequately fund foster care and adoption services and social services, we drive up the number of women who feel that they have no choice but to seek an abortion.”
Other notable figures who gave remarks virtually included former New England Patriot and author Benjamin Watson and his wife, who also attended the march in Washington; Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.; Hawaii state Sen. Mike Gabbard, who's also the father of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard; and Pastor J.D. Greear, who is reportedly the first Southern Baptist Convention president to speak at a March for Life event.
Contemporary Christian singer Matthew West sang the national anthem at the start of the program and then performed some of his own music throughout the event.
Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, gave introductory remarks, explaining that this year's theme was “together strong, life unites.”
“Our theme is meant not only to highlight the unity of our cause, but to also highlight the destructive and divisive reality of abortion,” said Mancini.
Mancini cited examples of this destruction, such as abortion “divides a mother from her child,” “divides a man from his fatherhood,” and “abortion divides the world from love.”
“Every tiny child brings love into the world. Every life lost to abortion is a loss of love in this world,” she continued. “Abortion divides us from our world and reality.”
Following a closing prayer by Cissie Graham Lynch, the livestream cut to Washington, D.C., where a small number of selected pro-life leaders performed the traditional march.
The march comes days after the inauguration of President Joe Biden, who has already taken to advancing pro-abortion initiatives and reversing former President Donald Trump's pro-life actions.
For example, Biden released a memorandum on Thursday reversing the Mexico City Policy, which barred international groups that promote or provide abortions overseas from getting U.S. tax dollars.
“It is the policy of my administration to support women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights in the United States, as well as globally,” stated Biden in the memo.
“These excessive conditions on foreign and development assistance undermine the United States’ efforts to advance gender equality globally by restricting our ability to support women’s health and programs that prevent and respond to gender-based violence,” Biden added.
