[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 4 (Monday, January 30, 2006)]
[Page 101]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Telephone Remarks to the March for Life

January 23, 2006

    Nellie, thank you very much. I appreciate the invitation to speak. 
I'm calling from Manhattan, Kansas. [Applause] Sounds like you've got 
some good folks from Kansas there. I want to thank everybody there--if 
you're from Kansas or anywhere else in our country--for your devotion to 
such a noble cause.
    You believe, as I do, that every human life has value, that the 
strong have a duty to protect the weak, and that the self-evident truths 
of the Declaration of Independence apply to everyone, not just to those 
considered healthy or wanted or convenient. These principles call us to 
defend the sick and the dying, persons with disabilities and birth 
defects, all who are weak and vulnerable, especially unborn children.
    We're making good progress in defending these principles, Nellie, 
and you and I are working together, along with others, to build what 
I've called a culture of life. One of my first acts as the President was 
to ban the use of taxpayer money on programs that promote abortion 
overseas. I want to thank you all for getting that ban on partial-birth 
abortion to my desk, a bill I was proud to sign and a law which we are 
going to defend--and are defending vigorously in our courts.
    Because we acted, infants who are born despite an attempted abortion 
are now protected by law. Thanks to ``Laci and Conner's Law,'' 
prosecutors can now charge those who harm or kill a pregnant woman with 
harming or killing her unborn child as well.
    We're vigorously promoting parental notification laws, adoption, 
teen abstinence, crisis pregnancy programs, and the vital work of our 
faith-based groups. We're sending a clear message to any woman facing a 
crisis pregnancy: We love you; we love your child; and we're here to 
help you.
    There's more work to be done. The House has passed a bill to ensure 
that State parental involvement laws are not circumvented by those who 
take minors across State lines to have abortions. And the United States 
Senate needs to pass this bill so I can sign it into law.
    We also must respect human life and dignity when advancing medical 
science, and we're making progress here as well. Last month, I signed a 
pro-life bill supporting ethical treatment and research using stem cells 
from umbilical cord blood. I also renew my call for Congress to ban all 
forms of human cloning. Because human life is a gift from our Creator 
and should never be used as a means to an end, we will not sanction the 
creation of life only to destroy it.
    By changing laws, we can change our culture. And your persistence 
and prayers, Nellie, and the folks there with you, are making a real 
difference. We, of course, seek common ground where possible. We're 
working to persuade more of our fellow Americans of the rightness of our 
cause. And this is a cause that appeals to the conscience of our 
citizens and is rooted in America's deepest principles, and history 
tells us that with such a cause, we will prevail.
    Again, Nellie, thank you for letting me come to speak to you. Tell 
everybody there that I ask for God's blessings on them and their 
families, and, of course, may God continue to bless our grand country.

Note: The President spoke at 11:40 a.m. from Manhattan, KS, 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.