After 46 years, the annual Washington, D.C., March for Life has been cancelled, with leaders citing COVID-19 concerns and the Jan. 6th U.S. capitol riot, which has resulted in “heightened pressures” for law enforcement officers. Organizers of America’s largest outdoor pro-life demonstration announced Friday that there will be a virtual March for Life on Jan. 29 instead.

Those who were planning to make the D.C. pilgrimage are being asked to stay home and watch the march online. Only a small group of pro-life leaders will attend the event and walk the protest route.

The march takes place every year on the anniversary of the 1973 landmark Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision, which forced states to allow abortion nationwide. It has become a powerful symbol of the right to life movement.

March organizers bring in passionate pro-life advocates to speak, ranging from Live Action founder Lila Rose to saline abortion survivor Melissa Ohden. Recently, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence became the first president and vice president to speak at the march.

Each year, the demonstration inspires tens of thousands of Americans, especially young people, to brave the cold weather and take a stand for the more than 600,000 unborn babies killed every year in America. The lasting tradition couldn’t even stop 10,000 people from marching in a blizzard during the 1987 rally! Yet leftist corporate media has routinely refused to give the mega-march the coverage it deserves, while playing up much smaller leftist rallies.

This year, the March for Life is a sorry loss for pro-lifers, especially since the incoming administration has been named the most anti-life ticket in our nation’s history. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is an extremist who supports late-term abortion. As a senator, Harris had a 0 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee and a 100 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America.

As the attorney general of California, Harris used her power to target the pro-life journalists who investigated Planned Parenthood and exposed its leadership negotiating the harvesting and sale of aborted fetal body parts. Harris has called for a repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which protects taxpayer from being forced to fund abortion.

Harris supports “codifying Roe,” which would prompt Congress to establish an “affirmative and statutory” right to abortion, prohibiting states from passing their own restrictions. She also endorses a plan that would force states and localities to seek prior approval and clearance through the U.S. Department of Justice before placing any restrictions on abortions. Since both Biden and Harris have dodged answering questions on their opinion of court packing, there is a real probability that the U.S. Supreme Court may be cemented as anti-life for decades under the incoming administration.

While the reasons for cancelling an in-person March for Life may be understandable, it couldn’t have come at a more dire time for the pro-life movement.