Getty Anti-abortion activists attend the 49th annual March for Life rally on the National Mall on January 21, 2022.
The 49th Annual March for Life rally took place in Washington, D.C., on Friday, January 21, 2022. Here’s a look at crowd photos to give you an idea of how many attended and more details about what happened.
A Permit for 50,000 on the National Mall Was Issued & Reports Estimated ‘Tens of Thousands’ Attended
GettyPolice lead pro-life activists as they take part the 49th annual March for Life, on January 21, 2022.
NBC Washington reported that organizers had estimated as many as 50,000 people would attend the event. The permit for the event has a maximum estimated crowd size of 50,000 on the National Mall, with a maximum of 100,000 participating in the march itself, WTOP News reported.
News2Share’s Ford Fischer was at the event. He estimated there were “thousands” in attendance.
Crowd size grows here at March For Life as speakers begin.
Speakers expected for an hour ahead of marching.
Independent reporter Brendan Gutenschwager was at the rally and estimated there were “tens of thousands” there. In another tweet, he noted that it was a “crowd of over 10,000 at the National Mall.”
Tens of thousands making their way to the U.S. Supreme Court at this year’s March for Life in Washington DC
Gabriella Borter of Reuters also estimated the crowd size to number in the “tens of thousands.”
Hello from the National Mall, where it’s 19 degrees out and there are tens of thousands of anti-abortion activists here for the “March for Life,” which they hope will be the last under Roe @Reuters t.co/QqnlgCzKym
Gutenschwager noted that at one point, the crowd chanted “Hell no, we don’t need Roe!”
“Hell no, we don’t need Roe!” chants outside the Supreme Court as the March for Life 2022 continues here in DC
Here’s a video of the crowd:
The March for Life prepares to mobilize here in Washington DC, with the crowd now in the tens of thousands and expanding outside the National Mall
Here’s another video of the crowd, provided by Lauretta Brown of NC Register.
Big crowd @March_for_Life rally #MarchforLife2022
The biggest March for Life event, in 2013, drew an estimated 650,000 people, Fox News reported. This event was not as large, but still had a sizeable attendance at the National Mall.
The National Park Service no longer provides official crowd estimates. They stopped releasing estimates ever since a dispute about how many attended a Million Man March in 1995. The Park Service was threatened with a lawsuit when they estimated 400,000 showed up to the Million Man March, while organizers believed that one million were there. After that, they stopped publicly releasing estimates.
GettyPro-life activists march during the 49th annual March for Life, on January 21, 2022, in Washington, DC.
In 2020, former President Donald Trump attended a March for Life event. President Joe Biden did not attend this year’s event.
The flagship March for Life event is about to step off along their annual route down D.C.’s Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court. This’ll be its 49th iteration, coming with the backdrop of a high-profile case whose outcome could dramatically alter abortion access.
Alejandro Alvarez of WTOP reported that a “Neo-fascist group Patriot Front and their contingent of about 50 people are trying to join the national March for Life.” The group was separated from the rest of the march by bike cops. However, he noted, the March for Life group walked past them without acknowledging them.
When a contingent of Patriot Front in Chicago tried to join a local March for Life event in early January, the demonstrators heckled the group and drove them away, Daily Beast reported.
The Theme Was ‘Equality Begins in the Womb’
GettyPro-life activists take part in the 49th annual March for Life, on January 21, 2022, in Washington, DC.
The theme for this year’s event was “Equality Begins in the Womb,” according to the event’s website. A pre-rally concert was held at 11 a.m. Eastern, followed by a rally from 12-1 p.m. Eastern, and the march itself (which was scheduled to last three hours from 1-4 p.m. Eastern). A Rose Dinner Gala is scheduled for later in the day.
GettyPro-life activists take part in the 49th annual March for Life, on January 21, 2022, in Washington, DC.
A number of state marches are also scheduled across the country, including in California in June 2022, Ohio in October, Connecticut in March, Pennsylvania in September, and Virginia in April.
Speakers at the D.C. event included Kirk Cameron, Mike Schmitz, Lisa Robertson, Toni McFadden, Katie Shaw, Kristen Waggoner, Rachel Young, Jeanne Mancini, Congressman Chris Smith, Congresswoman Julia Letlow, Congressman Dan Lipinski, George Schuberg, Cissie Graham Lynch, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, and MAtthew West.