“The cruel injustice of abortion need not be forever”: Rep. Smith addresses crowds at 2026 New Jersey March for Life

This press release from Representative Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) was published on 2026-10-08 and titled "“The cruel injustice of abortion need not be forever”: Rep. Smith addresses crowds at 2026 New Jersey March for Life".

“The cruel injustice of abortion need not be forever”: Rep. Smith addresses crowds at 2026 New Jersey March for Life

The following are excerpts of remarks delivered by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, at the 2026 New Jersey March for Life in Trenton, NJ: I met my dear wife, Marie, more than fifty years ago in the pro-life movement. We spent many days lobbying here at our state capital. Today, like you, we remain hope-filled. Special thanks to Marie Tasy for her extraordinary leadership, courage, wisdom and tenacity in the defense of the weakest and most vulnerable. Thank you to each and every one of you for being here. Today’s March for Life is an engraved invitation to all of us to seriously recommit and rededicate ourselves, with love and compassion, to tangibly assist women—especially through the extraordinary work of pregnancy care centers—in order to protect their precious babies and their own lives from the violence and cruelty of abortion. We stand in absolute solidarity with First Choice Women’s Resource Center and remain encouraged by the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous 9-0 decision last April. As you know, pregnancy care centers are on the front lines of providing compassionate care to mothers and their precious children—offering free support and resources, which can range from pregnancy tests and ultrasounds to parental education programs and lactation consultations, and much more. 30 Members of the House and Senate and I had asked the Supreme Court to send a clear message to New Jersey and other states that this kind of bullying and infringement of constitutionally protected freedoms be given no sanction. Regrettably, New Jersey has not respected the Supreme Court decision. Tragically, pregnancy care centers are under siege, especially here in NJ, while abortion clinics flourish— since 1970, Planned Parenthood has killed more than 10.6 million babies by abortion nationwide—almost 1,200 every single day. That’s more than the entire population of New Jersey, exterminated by just one organization. NJ’s discrimination against pregnancy centers because they refrain from promoting or participating in the killing of unborn children by abortion is an unconscionable abuse of power. It is utterly shameful that New Jersey would go to these lengths to strip women of life-affirming options and support. It motivated the Let Pregnancy Centers Serve Act of 2025 ( HR 2226 ), federal legislation I introduced to prohibit federal, state and local governments from discriminating against the nearly 2,700 pregnancy care centers across the United States. Each and every one of these centers is an oasis of love, compassion, empathy, and respect, offering quality care for both mothers and their precious children. Yet state governments, like New Jersey, and some lawmakers seek to discriminate against pregnancy care centers by violating fundamental conscience rights to compel complicity in abortion. Fifty years ago, last week—on September 30th, 1976—Congress first enacted an amendment offered by the late, great Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois to prohibit federal Medicaid funds from being used to subsidize the killing of unborn children by abortion. During debate in the House, Henry said : “An innocent, defenseless human life, in a caring and humane society, deserves better than to be flushed down a toilet or burned in an incinerator. The promise of America is that life is not just for the privileged, the planned, or the perfect.” The Hyde amendment continues to ensure that this promise is still true today. According to Dr. Michael J. New of the Charlotte Lozier Institute , approximately 2.7 million people are alive today—and each year, another 60,000 evade abortion and survive—because of Henry Hyde’s amendment. That’s 2.7 million people—who would have otherwise been aborted if taxpayers paid for their demise—who have experienced the joys and challenges and given the opportunities to thrive. It’s truly sad that far too many politicians—who know or should know better—have abandoned unborn children and their mothers to the violence of abortion. With respect and a deep sense of urgency, I—we—ask them, including Governor Sherrill, to rethink and reconsider. Listen to others who once shared your view, but upon seeing the humanity of the child in the womb, changed. Listen to NARAL founder and abortionist turned pro-lifer Dr. Bernard Nathanson, who wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine: “ I am deeply troubled by my own increasing certainty that I had in fact presided over 60,000 deaths.” Listen to former Planned Parenthood abortion clinic director Abby Johnson , who wrote : “I was asked to participate in an ultrasound-guided abortion procedure… And I watched in horror as a 13-week-old baby fought and struggled for his life against the abortion instrument. I knew that there was humanity in the womb, and that what I had seen was the taking of an innocent human life. I realized I was on the wrong side of this debate, and so I ended up leaving.” Listen to Dr. Anthony Levatino : “I don’t remember exactly