2025 UK March for Life expected to be largest yet

Thousands of pro-life demonstrators will gather in London Sept. 6 for what is predicted to be the United Kingdom's largest ever March for Life event.

The most famous March for Life has taken place annually in Washington, D.C., since 1974. The UK March for Life is much newer. It began in 2013 in Birmingham, the second-largest city in Great Britain. Only a few hundred marchers attended the first year, but the event grew to 10,000 in 2024, according to Christian Today.

The Pro-life Human Rights Summit at the Emmanuel Centre will precede the march. The summit will start at 10 a.m., and the march will begin at 1:30 p.m. The march will conclude with a rally in Parliament Square. Speakers include Carla Lockhart MP, chair of the Pro-Life All-Party Parliamentary Group; Sara Spencer, a student midwife suspended for being vocally pro-life; Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, co-director of March for Life UK, who was arrested three times and is under investigation for silently praying near abortion clinics; and Josiah Presley, an abortion survivor.

Earlier this year, the UK Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of decriminalizing abortion up to and even during birth, as CatholicVote previously reported.

“Abortion is often chosen because of the personal challenges that a woman faces, as well as the lack of proper suitable guidance and support,” Archbishop John Sherrington, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales lead bishop for life issues, said after the law was passed. “The enacting of New Clause 1 will result in women being more alone, vulnerable, and isolated.”

The House of Lords must still approve the measure before King Charles III can give royal assent, making it law. 

 According to the New York Sun, the king s having “a dark night of the soul” over the law;  If he does not provide royal assent, it would be the first time in more than 300 years that a monarch would have withheld consent for  a bill passed by the UK government. 

British pro-life activists hope that the turnout for the March for Life will communicate to the government what intense opposition the new law would face from the public.