HARRISBURG – Bus after bus rolled into Harrisburg on Sept. 21, 2026, bringing young adults, families and pro-life advocates to the State Capitol to take part in the sixth annual Pennsylvania March for Life.
Media members estimated about 6,000 people participated in this year’s event, making it the largest crowd yet. The Pennsylvania Family Institute said approximately 70 buses were scheduled to bring participants from every corner of the commonwealth, which was also a record.
Mike Kilmer was on one of two buses that came from Bradford County. He has attended all the previous Pennsylvania marches and said the growth has been unmistakable.
“It has been growing,” Kilmer said. “We feel that abortion is the greatest abomination that has ever happened in our country … it is a felony if you destroy an eagle’s egg, but you can kill a human being in the womb at any time, in eleven states, up until birth. That’s not even logical.”
Kilmer said the shift of the pro-life movement’s focus toward state capitols following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has made gatherings such as the Pennsylvania March increasingly significant.
Numerous buses from the eleven counties of the Diocese of Scranton were among those counted in attendance figures.
A Diocesan-sponsored bus made stops in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, while additional buses carried participants from the Northern Tier, the Poconos and Hazleton. Others made the trip on their own, making for a strong local presence in Harrisburg.
For many, the most striking part of the day was not simply the size of the crowd, but the number of young people participating.
“This is my first time and I’m really glad I came. I thought it was really beautiful,” Katelyn Torres, a young parishioner of Saint Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Scranton, said. “I never realized how big ‘pro-life’ really was until I came here.”
As she left the March for Life, Torres said she has hope for her generation.
“I’m going to invite my friends and tell my friends about what I saw today,” she added. “I think a lot of people (my age) should get to experience this.”
Lexi Villarreal, who lives in Scranton and also attends Saint Teresa of Calcutta Parish, said she was surprised by the number of participants.
“I expected a lot less,” she said.
Instead, she found herself surrounded by a crowd so large that participants were “bumping into each other” as the march got underway.
“That really amazed me, how many people there was,” Villarreal said.
Colleen Eisley, a Jersey Shore native and senior theology and marketing major at Saint Francis University, attended a previous March for Life and returned to Harrisburg this year with fellow students.
“It’s just a beautiful way to be involved in our state and local community and stand for life,” Eisley said. “We’re standing for life on campus and in our community. I think that it’s our responsibility to stand up for life, to stand up for the babies and their moms.”
Other young participants came to Harrisburg looking to learn as well as provide witness.
For Kimberly Munoz-Jimenez, a senior from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, the experience was an opportunity to become more informed.
“I wanted to experience it to see what it was like,” she said. “Also, to bring awareness and get myself informed, so I can help others as well.”
Katelyn Moses, a King’s College sophomore, said she was excited when her school decided to participate.
“It is something that is difficult to be bold in, and I’ve decided with change in my life, I changed to a theology major, so I really want to make that boldness a big part of my life. So, I want to stand up and stand with life,” Moses said.
The call to “be bold” and carry the experience of the March for Life beyond Harrisburg was a central theme of a morning rally before the march itself.
Michael Geer, President of the Pennsylvania Family Institute, reminded participants that witnessing for life requires more than showing up for one day.
“It requires ongoing persistent action: praying, voting, engaging,” Geer explained.
Pro-life leader Jeannie Lichter similarly told the crowd, “It matters so much what you do when you leave here!”
She challenged participants to speak about the dignity of human life, advocate for pro-life laws and policies and – perhaps most importantly – “walk with moms” by supporting women and families facing difficult pregnancies.
Pennsylvania law currently permits abortion through the 23rd week of pregnancy, with additional restrictions after 24 weeks except when two physicians certify that the pregnant woman’s life or health is seriously endangered.
Dr. Monique Ruberu, an OB/GYN and Board Member of 40 Days for Life, insisted there is never any medically necessary abortion.
“There are amazing physicians who are trained specifically to take care of moms with medical complications, maternal fetal medicine specialists, who walk with these moms. Their job is to take care of the mom and the baby. Because there are two patients in every pregnancy,” Dr. Ruberu said. “Don’t stand for the nonsense when people say it’s a ‘medically necessary procedure.’ It is not!”