Pro-life activists in the United States have been encouraged lately at the growing percentage of American young people who oppose abortion. But what’s going on in the rest of the world?

Last week, several thousand people gathered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada for the annual March for Life to show their support for the right to life. While estimates of attendees vary from 10,000 to 19,500, pictures of the event show an unmistakably youthful crowd. As of now, there does not appear to be polling data specifically on Canadian youths’ views on abortion, but abortion rights activists are noticing the surge in youth-based pro-life campaigns in the country. Canada, however, is not the only place where this is happening.

In March, tens of thousands of Filipinos, including many young people, participated in the annual Walk for Life in Manila. While abortion remains illegal in the Philippines, a bill currently being debated threatens to bring the country closer to legalized abortion by weakening conscience rights and funding contraceptive services using taxpayer money. Young pro-lifers voiced their opposition to the bill recently by attending a congressional session and by declaring a youth manifesto calling on the government to reassess its methods of alleviating national problems.

A March for Life has also been organized for three years now in Brussels, the capital of the European Union. Though much smaller than its foreign counterparts, attendance has doubled from 1,700 participants in 2010 to 3,400 this past March. Notably, while all ages are represented, the March for Life in Brussels is actually student-organized and features youth delegations from several European countries.

While a majority of people in the U.S., Canada, and Europe still support legalized abortion, pro-lifers should have hope that the millennial generation and its progeny will make strides in protecting life from conception until natural death.

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