America’s youth are leading the fight for life.

The world’s biggest annual human rights protest is not for Gaza or trans rights.

It’s for the right of unborn babies to live and for their mothers to not be abused by abortion.

Yesterday I had the privilege of joining 100,000 people, overwhelmingly young, marching up Independence Avenue past the US Capitol building in Washington DC demanding politicians act.

To be fair, federal US Republican lawmakers have done a lot.

Australian politicians could learn.

In Donald Trump’s first term he put orthodox justices on the Supreme Court who do not seek to divine from the Constitution rights that never entered the heads of the founders.

The result was the overturning of the 1973 Roe v Wade judgement which undemocratically mandated abortion on all 50 states.

An estimated 65 million babies have been killed since.

I didn’t think I would see Roe fall in my lifetime.

But marchers have marched every year since that abominable decision. Prayer and persistence work.

But the battle is far from over, which is why marchers still turn up in the dead of Washington’s winter.

Roe’s overthrow didn’t ban abortion in the US, it just restored decision making to elected representatives of the people in the US state houses, the equivalent of our state parliaments.

Some like Texas, have actually banned abortion, saving countless lives from death and women from injury.

Most US states still allow abortion in some form, although many now have “heartbeat laws” which protect a baby from the moment a heartbeat can be detected, usually at around six weeks from conception.

No Australian state is even contemplating anything remotely pro-life.

The chemical abortion drug, mifepristone, is rife in the US and was a big focus of yesterday’s protest.

Widely available also in Australia, mifepristone cuts off nutrition from the mother so the baby dies in utero of starvation.

He or she is then flushed down the toilet, to the heartbreak of many mothers who regret this “choice”.

Research released last year from the Ethics and Public Policy Centre (EPPC) reveals severe side effects like sepsis infection, haemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days in a whopping 10pc of mothers who take it.

Medical authorities in the US and Australia ignore this. They can’t refute the research.

These and other facts which chip away at the false narrative believed in the west that abortion is a harmless and empowering choice echoed across the National Mall at a rally ahead of the march.

Sarah Hurm (below) told her story of falling pregnant with her fourth child at 26.

Her then boyfriend told her it was a bad look to have four kids from three different fathers.

After taking the pill, she immediately regretted it and Googled ways to reverse its effect.

She was put in touch with a pregnancy help centre which gave her medication and her son is now thriving.

None of that was reported by the large mainstream media contingent, who continue to be gatekeepers of the abortion narrative.

The copy of the Washington Post I purchased at the airport on the way out didn’t even cover the march.

Thankfully the legacy media’s control is broken because of alterative and social media.

Donald Trump gave a video greeting and urged the marchers to keep up the fight.

Imagine if an Australian PM or Premier supported one of growing marches held each year in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth.

The Pope, who as a college student once stood in our shoes, sent a written statement of support.

Vice-President JD Vance appeared in person, delivering a powerful 20-minute address.

He said:

We remember that in the ancient pagan world, discarding children was routine.

From the skeletons in brothels to the child sacrifice of the Mayans, the mark of barbarism is that we treat babies like inconveniences to be discarded rather than the blessings to cherish that they are.

But the inheritance of our civilization is something else: the fact that, as Scripture tells us, each life is fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator.

The March for Life, my friends, it’s not just about a political issue. As important as all this politics stuff is, it is about whether we will remain a civilisation under God or whether we ultimately return to the paganism that dominated the past.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and long-time pro-life warrior Congressman Chris Smith from New Jersey joined Vance on stage in listing an impressive range of pro-life policy initiatives.

• Planned Parenthood has been defunded;
• The Trump Administration announced ahead of the march on medical research using aborted baby parts;
• Legislation has just been introduced ensuring pregnancy resource centres remain eligible for federal funding under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF);
• Pro-life conditions have been added to the US’s $30 billion in foreign aid so it cannot be used for abortion violence;
• The “Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act,” which will ensure college students are informed of all of their life-affirming options.

Australians, whose politicians protect a legislative regime of abortion-to-birth in every state and territory, can only dream of such wins.

Vance admitted there was more to do. This is a culture war and public support is not yet on the side of life.

Now, I must address an elephant in the room, and I’ve heard the guy over here talking about it, a fear — that some of you have — that not enough progress has been made, that we’re not going fast enough, that our politics have failed to answer the clarion call to life that this march represents and that all of us, I believe, hold in our hearts. And I want you to know that I hear you and that I understand.

There will inevitably be debates within this movement. We love each other, but we’re going to have open conversations about how best to use our political system to advance life, how prudential we must be in the cause of advancing human life. I think these are good, honest and natural debates. And, frankly, they’re not just good for all of you. They help keep people like me honest.

 It was inspiring for this Antipodean to be amongst a new generation of American young people committed to the cause of life.

The movement is in good hands and march CEO Jenny Lichter, a former lawyer and White House staffer, is an impressive leader.

It was incredible to witness first-hand the high-level political support and momentum the pro-life movement in the US enjoys.

Charlie Kirk wasn’t there, but his spirit was in the signs with his image emblazoned along with his words “get married and have kids, you won’t regret it”.