BBC News
Anti-abortion activists who gathered in Washington DC have criticised President Donald Trump for not supporting an end to national abortion access, one day after he issued pardons to 23 activists, including some convicted of blockading a reproductive health clinic and intimidating staff and patients.
Coleman Boyd, who was among those pardoned by Trump on Thursday, said at the annual March for Life rally that Trump should support a national abortion ban, something he has said he would veto if such a law were to be passed by Congress.
“I’m very thankful that he pardoned us. I think he’s done lots of amazing things in the first week. I just think he is bad off on abortion,” Mr Boyd, 53, told BBC News.
“I think he is a horrible president when it comes to abortion.”
Getty ImagesTrump addressed the annual gathering in a pre-recorded video message on Friday, in which he vowed to “stop the radical Democrat push for a federal right to unlimited abortion-on-demand”.
He referred to his role in appointing a conservative-majority Supreme Court which overturned the national right to abortion in 2022.
“That historic wrong was set right three years ago. I was so proud to be a participant,” he said.
The March for Life rally has been held in the US capital every year since 1974, a year after abortion was legalised by the Supreme Court in Roe v Wade.
Mr Boyd, who travelled from Nashville to be in Washington after he was pardoned, said that Trump is “misguided” in his belief that abortion rights should be decided by individual states.
“He is way less pro-life than he was back in 2016. But I think absolutely he is a potential ally,” said Mr Boyd, who believes there all abortion should be banned, including in cases of rape and incest.
Other rally-goers, including a woman named Rosie who spoke to the BBC, praised Trump for his role in overturning Roe v Wade, but said he must do more to make abortion a “non-option”.
“I love that Roe v Wade was overturned but maybe put some legislation into office to incentivise people not to have abortion,” said a man named David who was standing with her in the crowd of thousands.
During his campaign against former Vice-President Kamala Harris, Trump treaded lightly on the issue of abortion, an issue that galvanised female voters during the 2022 midterm elections and one that Democrats highlighted with their message of reproduction access rights.
In October, one month before the election, he posted on social media in all-capital letters: “Everyone knows I would not support a federal abortion ban, under any circumstances, and would, in fact, veto it, because it is up to the states to decide based on the will of the their voters.”
But many at the rally say he should do more to block first-term abortions, and access to abortion medications which can be purchased online and sent via the mail.
Other prominent Republicans also spoke at the rally, including Vice-President JD Vance, who appeared in person to praise Trump’s second term in office as the “return of the most pro-family, most pro-life American president of our lifetime”.
On Thursday, Trump signed pardons for 23 activists, telling reporters: “They should not have been prosecuted. Many of them are elderly people… this is a great honour to sign this. They’ll be very happy.”
Getty ImagesAmong those pardoned is Lauren Handy, leader of the group Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU).
The group was convicted of conspiring in 2020 to storm a Washington reproductive health clinic and block access to intimidate patients and staff. Members forced their way into the Surgi-Clinic, injuring a nurse, and spent several hours inside.
Handy was found guilty in August 2023 and sentenced in May 2024.
The president of Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said the protesters were targeted by Joe Biden’s Department of Justice and she thanked Trump for “immediately delivering on his promise” to pardon them.
