22 Jan 2002

Two days after declaring the anniversary of Roe v. Wade "National Sanctity of Life Day," President George W. Bush addressed an anti-choice rally at the Washington Monument. The rally protested the 1973 Supreme Court decision that recognized women's constitutional right to choose abortion. Calling in from West Virginia, Bush praised the protesters, saying, "You're working and marching on behalf of a noble cause and affirming a culture of life." In proclaiming the Roe anniversary "Sanctity of Life Day," Bush declared, "President Jefferson's timeless principle obligates us to pursue a civil society that will democratically embrace its essential moral duties, including defending the elderly, strengthening the weak, protecting the defenseless, feeding the hungry, and caring for children -- born and unborn."