WASHINGTON, D.C., January 19, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – Baltimore Ravens tight end Benjamin Watson will speak at the 44th annual March for Life on January 27.

Throughout his professional football career, Watson hasn't shied away from commenting on Planned Parenthood's racist agenda and the injustice of abortion – or posting on social media about his Christian faith. "If the spirit of God has prompted me to say something, I’m gonna trust in God," he says.

"I do know that blacks kind of represent a large portion of the abortions, and I do know that honestly the whole idea with Planned Parenthood and Sanger in the past was to exterminate blacks," he said in August. "And it’s kind of ironic that it’s working."

Watson says he cares about protecting life "from conception to natural death."

"A lot of times, the folks on the margins are the ones that suffer the most, so the babies that are unborn, and the elderly, are the ones that will be cast aside," he said in an interview with Turning Point Pregnancy Resource Center. "To me being pro-life means that you hold all life very dear and you understand that all life was created by God and that because of that, life has internal, intrinsic value, whether it’s capable of living on its own at that point or whether it is capable of living on its own at the end of its life. All the way through the spectrum, I believe life has value because it’s created in the image of God."

In the same interview, Watson said that "the Planned Parenthood videos" exposing the abortion company for selling aborted baby body parts have come up in locker room discussions with other NFL players. He said his fellow NFL players have varying views on abortion – but that he has been able to encourage a teammate whose girlfriend became unexpectedly pregnant to choose life.

"The last few years I have been considered the old guy in the locker room because I have been married ten years, and I’ve got 5 kids," he said. The girlfriend of a previous teammate "was pregnant and he had that look like, 'I don’t know what to do' and I know that abortion may have very well been a possibility, although we didn’t discuss it specifically. My whole speech to him was encouraging him about what an awesome opportunity it is to raise a child, to give the child a home, to love that child, and that God entrusted him with another life, and what a responsibility and the privilege that is. And then being real and saying, 'Look, it’s not going to be easy. There are going to be some sacrifices that are going to come.'"

"If they come over to my locker, I’m gonna tell them they can’t go home and play video games, they need to go be there for their child, and for the baby’s mother," Watson explained. "I tell them they’re never going to be a perfect dad because no one is. But we have a perfect Father to model ourselves after."

Watson views masculinity and fathers as important ingredients in building a culture of life.

"A lot of the women wouldn’t be having abortions if the men would step up and be a part of what they are already biologically a part of," he said. "Raising children and having children, even though the women birthed the child, is designed for two people to do it. And there is so much undue stress and pressure on the woman if the other one isn’t there."

A father needs "to be there to support her through the physical changes of the pregnancy, and help and provide emotional strength, and do it together," he said.

Watson and his wife run a foundation called One More, which promotes human dignity and seeks to serve "the real needs of real people." One More is a "Christ-centered ministry devoted to spreading the love and hope of Christ to one more soul."

Watson will speak alongside New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan, #1 New York Times bestselling author Eric Metaxas, Mexican telenovela star Karyme Lozano, top Donald Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway, and former Planned Parenthood director turned pro-life advocate Abby Johnson.