Jennie Bradley Lichter speaks with the Rover
The national March for Life announced that Jennie Bradley Lichter will replace current president Jeanne Mancini in February 2025. Lichter, a Notre Dame alumna, most recently served as Deputy General Counsel at the Catholic University of America and has a background in pro-life legal and religious work.
A wife and mother of three, Lichter graduated from Notre Dame in 2004 and earned a Master’s degree from the University of Cambridge and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She has served in many legal and policy-making positions, including Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Counsel at the White House during the Trump administration.
Lichter first began participating in the March for Life as a freshman at Notre Dame. She described her experience to the Rover, saying, “To be able to attend, as I did, as a college freshman, I think it really helped to knit me into the pro-life movement.”
Lichter credits Notre Dame with much of her involvement in the pro-life movement, telling the Rover, “There’s a very, very direct connection between my Notre Dame experience and my current work.” Her father, Professor Gerard Bradley, worked in the Notre Dame Law School teaching Legal Ethics and Constitutional Law, and retired earlier this year. In addition, Lichter’s seven younger siblings have all attended the university.
Now, over twenty years later, Lichter is thrilled about the opportunity to lead the national March. She told the Rover, “It will be so much fun and such an honor to get to be part of the team that puts on the March for Life. I think of it as a great gift that this small but mighty organization that I’ll now be leading gives to the movement, and really gives to the country … [to be] convening for the pro-life movement, where we kind of take encouragement and affirmation from one another.”
She continued, “[It’s a] really important witness to our fellow Americans that the pro-life movement is still here, and we’re still committed, and we’re just never going to get tired of getting together and raising our voices on behalf of the unborn.”
Jackie Nguyen, president of Notre Dame Right to Life (RtL), highlighted the importance of the annual March in an interview with the Rover, saying, “The pro-life movement isn’t going anywhere. It really kind of just started. I think there’s a lot of the misconceptions that after Dobbs there’s less of a need, but I think that that’s not the way that we should frame things.”
Nguyen continued, “Right to Life will continue going to the March for two reasons. One, because it’s such a big part of our community. … But also, enforcing that in the pro-life movement now, there’s almost like a heightened importance for us to [show] that we’re here to support women, especially post-Dobbs.”
RtL sends nearly hundreds of students and faculty to the March each year, with over 300 in attendance last year.
Sophomore Sophia Grierson told the Rover, “I really enjoyed attending the March for Life last year. It was an incredible opportunity, and I loved getting to bond with so many Notre Dame students for a great cause. It was definitely a highlight of my freshman year.”
Commenting on the importance of the March even in a post-Dobbs America, freshman Connor Savage told the Rover, “I believe the role of the March is to remember the countless lives lost to abortion, to commemorate the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and to continue to advocate for the right to life.”
During her time at Catholic University, Lichter founded the Guadalupe Project, an initiative designed to provide tangible help for pregnant mothers on campus, including babysitting, maternity leave, and pregnancy resources.
RtL recently launched its own initiative at Notre Dame, the “Be Not Afraid Project,” which is modeled on the Guadalupe Project. According to its website, the initiative seeks to “bring awareness to all students about the plethora of resources available on campus for pregnant and parenting students.”
Lichter told the Rover, “[The Guadalupe Project] was meant to extend a hand of radical welcome to parents who are part of the university community, no matter their circumstances. … I’m really excited to hear that Notre Dame Right to Life is going to look to [the Guadalupe Project] as a model for some things that [they] are going to be doing.”
Lichter will take over for Jeanne Mancini, who served on the March for Life team for 12 years and will remain a member of the Board of Directors in the future.
Mancini spoke to the Rover about her future vision for the March for Life, saying, “Our loftiest goal is making abortion unthinkable. And in a post-Roe world and a Dobbs era, I think serving the mother and the baby are all the more important. … But really, the thing that the March for Life brings to the table … is that we unite, equip, and mobilize people in the public square to testify to the inherent dignity of the unborn person and mothers.”
According to Lichter, this means a call to joyful witness for Notre Dame students. She told the Rover, “Being vocal witnesses to the beauty and dignity of unborn life and caring for vulnerable moms, the way that you all do at Notre Dame Right to Life … is so important just to show [that] we are still here. … I would really encourage young advocates to lean into your joy and to take the long view, and never to give into discouragement.”
Registration for the 2025 March for Life is currently open on the RtL website.
Abby Strelow is a freshman theology major who is usually lost, running late, or forgetting something. If you see her around, remind her to study for her upcoming Italian exam. You can reach her at astrelow@nd.edu.
Photo Credit: March for Life Website
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