[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 4 (Monday, January 28, 2002)]
[Pages 101-102]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Telephone Remarks to the March for Life

January 22, 2002

    Nellie, thank you very much. I want to thank you very much, and I 
want to wish everybody a good afternoon. I'm calling from the State of 
West Virginia.
    I want to begin, Nellie, by praising you and your dedication to the 
cause of human life. For almost 30 years, Americans from every State in 
the Union have gathered on the Washington Mall in order to march for 
life. This march is an example of an inspiring commitment and of deep 
human compassion.
    Everyone there believes, as I do, that every life is valuable, that 
our society has a responsibility to defend the vulnerable and weak, the 
imperfect, and even the unwanted, and that our Nation should set a great 
goal that unborn children should be welcomed in life and protected in 
law.
    Abortion is an issue that deeply divides our country, and we need to 
treat those with whom we disagree with respect and civility. We must 
overcome bitterness and rancor where we find it and seek common ground 
where we can. But we will continue to speak out on behalf of the most 
vulnerable members of our society.
    We do so because we believe the promises of the Declaration of 
Independence are the common code of American life. They should apply to 
everyone, not just the healthy or the strong or the powerful. A generous 
society values all human life. A merciful society seeks to expand legal 
protection to every life, including early life, and a compassionate 
society will defend a simple, moral proposition: Life should never be 
used as a tool or a means to an end.
    These are bedrock principles, and that is why my administration 
opposes partial-birth abortion and public funding for abortion, why we 
support teen abstinence and crisis pregnancy programs, adoption and 
parental notification laws, and why we are against all forms of human 
cloning.
    And that is why I urge the United States Senate to support a 
comprehensive and effective ban on human cloning, a ban that was passed 
by an overwhelming and bipartisan vote of the House of Representatives 
last July.
    We are a society with enough compassion and wealth and love to care 
for both mothers and their children and to seek the promise and 
potential of every single life. You're working and marching on behalf of 
a noble cause and affirming a culture of life. Thank you for your 
persistence, for defending human dignity, and for caring for every 
member of the human family.
    May God continue to bless America. Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 12:08 p.m. from Charleston, WV, to march 
participants on the National Mall in Washington, DC. In his remarks, he 
referred to Nellie J. Gray, president, March for Life Education and 
Defense Fund.

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