A year after Ohio voters abandoned the unborn and voted to impose a right to abortion in our state constitution, I joined with thousands of pro-lifers to March for Life today in Columbus.

Students from Cedarville University carried the banner and I marched with leadership of the Center for Christian Virtue, which co-sponsored the event with the March for Life. I also had a chance to greet and march with Jennie Bradley Lichter, the incoming president of national March for Life.

As the director of youth outreach and street activism for Priests for Life, I was proud to see that young people made up the bulk of the crowd, as they do every year at the March for Life in D.C.

A handful of pro-aborts attempted to block marchers, and as they screamed their time-worn slogans like “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries,” a group of students knelt in front of them and prayed the rosary. That, for me, was a highlight of the day. It was beautiful to see them on their knees, praying, and it gave me hope for Ohio’s future.

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Thousands of people joined the Ohio March for Life today to protest abortion! pic.twitter.com/GRnB8MNXHW

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Christy Ballor, central Ohio regional coordinator for the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, marched with her sign that proclaims, “I Regret My Abortion.”

My wife, Brigit Kemper, and I left our home in Troy, Ohio, this morning to drive to Columbus, about 70 miles away. At the March, Brigit handed out Priests for Life prayer cards and I spoke to people about the importance of voting in this year’s very consequential elections.

Ohio voters have the chance to help flip the Senate back to Republican control by casting our ballots for Bernie Moreno as he attempts to defeat pro-abortion incumbent Sherrod Brown. The widely respected Cook Political Report considers the race a toss-up.

A pro-life majority Senate would be an asset to former President Donald Trump if he is re-elected, and a deterrent to a Harris administration’s plans to legalize abortion throughout pregnancy and have American taxpayers foot the bill.

The march began and ended at the statehouse, and state Sen. Michele Reynolds spoke at the rally, but Gov. Mike DeWine did not make an appearance. That was disappointing but surprising.

Speakers at the rally included Rev. Arnold Culbreath, director of ministry engagement for the Douglass Leadership Institute and a long-time pro-life advocate. He spoke of the importance of standing up for “the least of these,” the babies in the womb.

My neighbor in Troy, Lauran Bunting, also spoke at the rally. She got pregnant after being raped by her boyfriend as a teenager but chose life for her daughter. Both Lauran and her daughter, 15-year-old Isabella, spoke in support of the unborn. Lauren has never viewed her precious daughter as a product of rape, but sees her instead as a beautiful gift from God

In Ohio, pro-abortion legislators and judges are busy dismantling the laws we had passed to protect the unborn and their mothers. A judge blocked the 24-hour waiting period a month ago, and our Heartbeat law has been blocked since 2022. Meanwhile, with life protected in Indiana and Kentucky, the number of abortions here is skyrocketing, increasing 19 percent in 2023 over the previous year.

As we marched, all of us kept in mind that voters in 10 states have life in their hands this year as they prepare to vote on amendments similar to the one passed in Ohio last year. I know I was not alone in praying that pro-lifers show up in record numbers in those states to vote for life.

LifeNews Note: Bryan Kemper is the youth outreach director for Priests for Life and the founder of its youth outreach Stand True. He is the author of Social Justice Begins in the Womb and Pro-life is the New Punk Rock.