People gather in the National Mall in Washington D.C. to March for Life and listen to President Donald Trump speak on his pro-life position. This is the 47th annual pro-life rally and the first in American history where a president has attended. Photo by Brooklyn Wayland.

WASHINGTON — Thousands gathered on the National Mall to participate in the March for Life, which for the first time in history was attended by a U.S. President. 

President Trump kicked off the march with a pro-life support speech. 

The crowds were filled with people of all ages and backgrounds, gathering to support a united cause. Even among the thousands, Oklahoma was still represented. 

Isabella Bullard, a senior at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, on a semester-long internship in her home state of Oklahoma, is so passionate about the cause, she used social media to raise enough money to fly herself from Oklahoma to Washington D.C. just so she could be here for the march. 

“Oklahoma doesn’t have a March for Life for the state,” Bullard said. Instead, she took to Instagram in an effort to be in a place she feels like she belongs. 

“Just seeing so many people come out and stand up for something they believe in and are truly passionate about is just so encouraging,” Bullard said, “It makes me just want to be with the people that also support it and just be encouraged to keep fighting the good fight!”  

According to the Guttmacher Institute For Population Research Innovation and Dissemination, the abortion rate from 2014-17 declined by 11%, but there is still an alarming rate of abortions being preformed. “In 2017, 4,780 abortions were provided in Oklahoma… representing 0.6% of all abortions in the United States,” according to the Guttmacher Center data.

“Not all women are pro-choice,” Bullard said. “To be a woman and [have] every entity to be able to have life grow inside of us, inside of the womb is beautiful.”

Pam Pollard, vice president of Women for a Great America and former chair of the state Republican Party, said ,“I think it’s [the March for Life] absolutely pro-women. It’s pro-women that women value the sanctity of the most precious thing ever given to this planet and that is life.” 

Women’s rights have been a large part of Pollards life and stem from what she believes in. 

“By a woman being the only one able to produce life and bare the child, I think it [March for Life] does promote women, and it shows the importance that women play in understanding the basic functions of us as humans.” 

Senate Bill 13 was proposed Feburary 4 2019 and has the potential to make abortion illegal in Oklahoma, should it be passed.

“Senate Bill 13 does not challenge Roe v Wade,” Pollard said. “It make it [abortion] illegial in the state of Oklahoma… I think it’s impossible for a state to outlaw something that has already been adjudicated by the federal system. If you don’t like it, let’s change the federal system.” 

Pollard believes Roe v. Wade may be revisited in the near future.  

“I think this [abortion] is an incredably important topic in this next election because… I am hearing people say they feel like the U.S. Supreme Court is more ocnservative than it has been in the past,” Pollard said. “A lot of people think the ruling of Roe v. Wade was an error and want to have the opportunity to have the ruling reviewed under a more conservative court.” 

Though Pollard believes in a pro-life stance, she does believe there are some circumstances in which abortion may be necessary.

“I do support that there are times when women, for medical reasons, need to end the life that is in them,” Pollard said. “But that’s for the doctor to know that the fetus, the human, has the potential to kill the mother. I leave that in the doctors hands.” 

Pollard understands there are some life and death circumstances that can affect a pregnant mother. 

“Me personally, I’m not 100% no abortion for no reason,” she said. “Some people want to define abortion as the ending of a life in all situations and… abortion is also a medical term and a lot of people have made it a political term, so for medical reasons I am not against abortion.” 

Pollard respects the decision of people who, for medical reasons must abort their child, but when the term ‘abortion’ is used in a political setting the circumstances may change. 

“For political reasons and for someone saying ‘I don’t want this baby’, to me that is not abortion. Abortion would be a necessary medical one [reason],” Pollard said. “Abortion is a medically necessary procedure, murder is anything other than that.” 

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication