[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 4 (Monday, January 27, 2003)]
[Pages 95-96]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Telephone Remarks to the March for Life

January 22, 2003

    The President. Well, thank you very much, Nellie. I want to thank 
you very much for including me in the celebration of life. I want to 
thank the good folks there on the Mall today. I'm calling you from St. 
Louis, Missouri. I know there are some from Missouri there, and like 
many others, you've made great sacrifices to come to Washington today. A 
lot of you have ridden buses all night long, and I know you're braving 
the cold. And I admire your perseverance, and I admire your devotion to 
the cause of life.
    You all are gathered today on the National Mall, which is not far 
from the monument to Thomas Jefferson who, as you all know, is the 
author of our Declaration of Independence. And the March for Life 
upholds the self-evident truth of that Declaration, that all are created 
equal, given the unalienable rights of life and liberty and the pursuit 
of happiness. And that principle of America needs defenders in every 
place and every generation.
    In our time, respect for the right to life calls us to defend the 
sick and the dying, persons with disabilities and birth defects, and all 
who are weak and vulnerable. And this self-evident truth calls us to 
value and to protect the lives of innocent children waiting to be born.
    You and I share a commitment to building a culture of life in 
America, and we're making progress. As the President, I have signed the 
Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, opposed the destruction of embryos 
for stem cell research, and refused to spend taxpayer money on 
international programs that promote abortion overseas.
    Ms. Gray. Thank you.
    The President. My administration is challenging the Oregon law that 
permits physician-assisted suicide.
    Ms. Gray. Thank you.
    The President. We support abstinence education and crisis pregnancy 
programs and parental notification laws. We offer compassionate 
alternatives to abortion by promoting adoption and extending State 
health care coverage for unborn children.
    My hope is that the United States Congress will pass a bill this 
year banning partial-birth abortion, which I will sign. Partial-birth 
abortion is an abhorrent procedure that offends human dignity. I also 
urge the Congress to ban all human cloning. We must not create life to 
destroy life. Human beings are not research material to be used in a 
cruel and reckless experiment.
    For 30 years, the March for Life has been sustained by constant 
prayer and abiding hope that one day, every child will be born into a 
family that loves that child and a nation that protects that child. And 
when that day

[[Page 96]]

arrives, you will have the gratitude of millions, especially those who 
know the gift of life because you cared and you kept faith. May God 
bless you all, and may God continue to bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 11:05 a.m. from the JS Logistics company in 
St. Louis, MO, 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. The Office of the Press Secretary also 
released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.