On May 4, 2024, tens of thousands of Colombians gathered for the 18th National March for Life in their country. Colombia’s March for Life is unique in that it has managed to arrange simultaneous marches all over the country, not just a gathering in the country’s capital, Bogotá. This year the march spread across 114 cities.
Over the past few years, Colombia has passed several rulings to decriminalize abortion, leading it to have one of the most liberal abortion laws in Latin America today. This makes the March for Life very important. The theme this year was, “Colombia, With Life There Is Hope” and the march was organized by the United for Life platform.
In Bogotá, the marchers walked to the center of the capital, where Jesús Magaña, the president of United for Life, addressed the crowd.
He called for the reversal of two specific laws established in 2006 and 2022, which effectively legalized abortion up to 24 weeks. He also reminded the crowd that they were marching for the sacredness of all life, not just preborn babies. Colombia has also seen a rise in assisted dying, and Magaña and United for Life are also fighting against bills that would make this more available.
He said, “As citizens of Colombia who love, respect, and defend life, we have mobilized in 114 cities throughout the country to fill the streets and squares and proclaim firmly, loudly, and clearly that life is sacred, that it must be respected and cared for from the moment of fertilization until natural death.”
Magaña urged the government to pass “laws that protect life,” and help families, rather than those that contribute to a culture of death.
The massive amounts of people that marched for life were a testament to his powerful words: “We are unwilling to remain silent and stand by in the face of the largest massacre in the country.”
Magaña was not exaggerating by calling it a “massacre.” United for Life reported that there were 52,000 elective abortions in Colombia 2023 alone.
