Thousands attend annual pro-life March For Life UK event in London

The march comes amid an ongoing debate over abortion law in England, Scotland and Wales, with pro-life campaigners calling for greater restrictions on abortion.

LONDON — On Saturday, thousands of activists marched from the Emmanuel Centre, Westminster to Parliament Square as part of an annual demonstration organized by the pro-life group March For Life UK.

The march comes amid an ongoing debate over abortion law in England, Scotland and Wales, with pro-life campaigners calling for greater restrictions on abortion and opposing legislation establishing buffer zones around abortion clinics and hospitals.

March For Life organizer Ben Thatcher told EWTN News: “Every single human life is made in the image and likeness of God. Abortion ends that life, and when abortion does end that life, we are looking at a great, great tragedy — something that affects not just that person, but that family and the society and culture we live in.”

Under current law, abortions can generally be carried out up to 24 weeks’ gestation, subject to certain legal conditions. Buffer zones around abortion clinics and hospitals, meanwhile, restrict certain activities intended to influence, obstruct or harass people accessing abortion services.

“I feel thereʼs an absolute travesty that a human life thatʼs made in the image of God can be ended and can be dressed up in this slogan of ‘abortion is healthcare’,” Thatcher said.

The march was attended by 15 Catholic bishops, who also celebrated Mass at Westminster Cathedral in the morning before joining the main group.

Southwark Auxiliary Bishop Paul Hendricks told EWTN News: “I support life in all its stages. We have to stand up for our values. We have our principles and we follow Jesus.”

Southwark Archbishop John Wilson told EWTN News: “Iʼm here because I believe in the beauty and the dignity of human life. … Weʼre united together in a beautiful, peaceful, joyful spirit, to say that human life matters, that every life matters, from conception to natural death.”

“And in a challenging culture, when so many people, in a sense, see life as something more disposable, you just want to stand up and be a voice for the voiceless,” he said.

Attendees sang Christian hymns including “He’s got the whole world in his hands” and the Salve Regina while marching through the sunny streets of London, carrying banners reading: “Abortion hurts the family,” “Abortion Bans Save Lives” and “I’ve joined the fightback.”

“Iʼve come here today to support life from conception to natural death, within a culture where that seems not to be valued now… I think itʼs important to stand up and say that the human dignity of every person is that theyʼre made in the image of God, no matter how small,” Military Bishop Paul Mason told EWTN News.

Father Paul Grogan told EWTN News that abortion is “the most fundamental human rights issue of our time.”

“And I think itʼs an important part of living out our Catholic faith that we should witness to our belief in the beauty of human life, from the moment of conception to the moments of its natural ending,” he said.

Hundreds also attended a pro-choice counter-protest, chanting slogans including “abortion is a human right,” “not the church, not the state, we decide our own fate,” “Christian fascists go away,” and “keep your rosaries off our ovaries.”

Tilly Middlehurst, a pro-choice activist and a Cambridge student who became widely known online after a confrontation with the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, told EWTN News that she had “come to safeguard our rights as women.”

“I want to bring as many people here as possible to demonstrate that [pro-life activists] are a minority, and they donʼt belong here,” she said, referring to the thousands of activists marching in the streets.

Before the march, pro-life activist Ruth Price was met with anger from counter-protesters outside the Emmanuel Centre after trying to hand out pro-life leaflets to the pro-choice advocates.

Price told EWTN News: “I wanted to speak to people who are murdering young children. … I certainly meant no harm to them. I work with adults with very profound learning difficulties and they have lives that are worthwhile. They are precious in the sight of God, and I want people to know that we respect the life of the mother.”

Last year the London March For Life was attended by approximately 10,000 people, according to organizers who on Friday evening were waiting to confirm expected numbers for this year.