Trump recognizes pregnancy help providers for giving support each and every day, calls moms "heroes"
President Donald Trump praised the pregnancy help movement before a live television audience and hundreds of thousands of pro-life pilgrims at Friday’s March for Life in Washington D.C.
In a historic first for a sitting president, Trump appeared in person to address the March rally, which kicks off what’s being called the largest event human rights demonstration in the world each year.
Drawing on the 47-year-old March’s pro-woman theme, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women’s right to vote, Trump said women across America are using the power of their vote to fight for the right to life.
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Expressing gratitude to the varied components of the pregnancy help movement, the president said those serving pregnant women in need were not only standing for life at the March, but also each and every day.
“You provide housing, education, jobs and medical care to the women that you serve,” Trump said. “You find loving families for children in need of a forever home. You host baby showers for expecting moms. You just make it your life's mission to help spread God's grace.”
Tweet This: "The Americans gathered today not only stand for life ... You stand for life each and every day"
The president went on to term motherhood as heroic and the force that fuels the nation.
“And to all the moms here today,” Trump said, “we celebrate you and we declare that mothers are heroes. Your strength, devotion and drive is what powers our nation.”
Tweet This: “And to all the moms here today, we celebrate you and we declare that mothers are heroes. Your strength, devotion .. powers our nation”
“Because of you,” he added, “our country has been blessed with amazing souls who have changed the course of human history.”
The president had announced he would join the March for Life rally just two days before the March, making headlines and energizing pro-life pilgrims.
Trump had addressed the March rally in 2019 in a prerecorded message and in 2018 via video stream.
Vice president Mike Pence spoke at the March rally in 2017, the first time for a U.S. vice president, and again in 2019.
Pence, joined by wife Karen, addressed the 2020 March crowd from Rome with a prerecorded message, expressing solidarity with the pro-life marchers and telling them that, “Life is winning in America again.”
The Pences also praised the work of pregnancy centers and other pregnancy help organizations.
“Life is winning through the compassion of care givers and volunteers at pregnancy care centers across this country,” Karen Pence said. “And life is winning through the generosity of millions of adoptive families who open their hearts and homes to children in need.”
Just before the 2017 March when he’d recently taken office, Trump had called out the media more than once for its lack of coverage of the March for Life.
Opening his 2020 in-person March appearance, Trump said it was his profound honor to be the first president in history to attend the March for Life, and that there was a very simple reason for being there – “to defend the right of every child, born and unborn, to fulfill their God-given potential.”
“And today as President of the United States, I am truly proud to stand with you,” the president said.
The life movement is led by strong women, amazing faith leaders, and brave students, he said, adding that, “You embrace mothers with care and compassion. You are powered by prayer and motivated by your unselfish love.”
“All of us here understand an eternal truth,” Trump said. “Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. Together, we must protect, cherish and defend the dignity and the sanctity of every human life.”
“When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God's creation,” he continued. “When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family. When we watch a child grow, we see the splendor that radiates from each human soul.”
“One life changes the world,” he said.
Tweet This: “One life changes the world” - President Trump
Trump appeared at this year’s March for Life nine months out from the 2020 election against a backdrop of continued Democrat efforts to advance impeachment, pro-life legislation proposed, passed and challenged in a handful of states, radical abortion expansion signed into law in others, and hopes of overturning Roe at the Supreme Court.
He touted his pro-life actions since taking office, including reinstating and expand the Mexico City Policy, and the HHS rule governing use of Title X taxpayer funding.
“I notified Congress that I would veto any legislation that weakens pro-life policy or that encourages the destruction of human life,” the president said. “At the United Nations, I made clear that global bureaucrats have no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that protect innocent life.”
“Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House, he said. “As the Bible tells us, each person is wonderfully made.”
Trump went on to cite his various actions taken to protect religious liberty, preserve faith-based adoption and his having appointed 187 Constitutionalist federal judges.
“Together, we are the voice for the voiceless,” he said, then cautioning how Democrats in Congress and on the campaign trail “have embraced the most radical and extreme positions taken and seen in this country for years …"
“We cannot know what our citizens yet unborn will achieve,” said Trump. “The dreams they will imagine. The masterpieces they will create. The discoveries they will make.”
“But we know this: every life brings love into this world,” he said. “Every child brings joy to a family. Every person is worth protecting.”
Tweet This: “But we know this: every life brings love into this world. Every child brings joy to a family. Every person is worth protecting”
“And above all,” added Trump, “we know that every human soul is divine and every human life, born and unborn, is made in the holy image of Almighty God.
Trump's address, as well as the message sent from the Pences, met with enthusiasm from the pro-life crowd at the March.
The full text of the president’s address to the march for life is printed below:
It is my profound honor to be the first president in history to attend the March for Life. [applause] We are here for a very simple reason: to defend the right of every child, born and unborn, to fulfill their God-given potential. [applause]
Thank you very much and thank you, Jeanne. It is my profound honor to be the first president in history to attend the March for Life. [applause] We are here for a very simple reason: to defend the right of every child, born and unborn, to fulfill their God-given potential. [applause]
For 47 years, Americans of all backgrounds have traveled from across the country to stand for life.
And today as President of the United States, I am truly proud to stand with you. [applause]
I want to welcome tens of thousands – this is a tremendous turnout – tens of thousands of high school and college students who took long bus rides to be here in our nation's capital. And to make you feel even better, there are tens of thousands of people outside that we passed on the way in. If anybody would like to give up their spot, we can work that out.
We have a tremendous group of people outside. Thousands and thousands wanted to get in. This is some great success. [applause]
Young people are the heart of the March for Life. And it’s your generation that is making America the pro-family, pro-life nation. [applause]
The life movement is led by strong women, amazing faith leaders and brave students who carry on the legacy of pioneers before us who fought to raise the conscience of our nation and uphold the rights of our citizens. You embrace mothers with care and compassion. You are powered by prayer and motivated by pure unselfish love. You are grateful and we are so grateful ¬¬– these are incredible people – to be joined by Secretary Alex Azar and Kellyanne Conway. [applause]
And thanks also to Senators Mike Lee and James Lankford who are here. Thank you, fellas. And Representatives Steve Scalise, Chris Smith, Ralph Abraham, Warren Davidson, Bob Latta, John Joyce, Lloyd Smucker, Brian Fitzpatrick and Brad Wenstrup. Thank you all. And I have to say – and I look at it, I see it exactly – we have many, many more politicians in the audience. But if you don't mind, I won’t introduce them all.
All of us here understand an eternal truth: Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. [applause] Together, we must protect, cherish and defend the dignity and the sanctity of every human life. [applause]
When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God's creation. [applause] When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family. When we watch a child grow, we see the splendor that radiates from each human soul. One life changes the world – from my family, and I can tell you, I send love, and I send great, great love – and from the first day in office, I have taken historic action to support America’s families and to protect the unborn. [applause]
And during my first week in office, I reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy and we issued a landmark pro-life rule to govern the use of Title X taxpayer funding. [applause] I notified Congress that I would veto any legislation that weakens pro-life policies or that encourages the destruction of human life. [applause]
At the United Nations, I made clear that global bureaucrats have no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that protect innocent life. [applause] Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House. [applause]
And as the Bible tells us, each person is wonderfully made. [applause]
We have taken decisive action to protect the religious liberty – so important – religious liberty has been under attack all over the world and frankly, very strongly attacked in our nation. You see it better than anyone. But we are stopping it. And we’re taking care of doctors, nurses, teachers and groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor. [applause]
We are preserving faith-based adoption and to uphold our founding documents, we have confirmed 187 federal judges, who apply the Constitution as written, [applause] including two phenomenal supreme court justices – Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. [applause]
We are protecting pro-life students’ right to free speech on college campuses. And if universities want federal taxpayer dollars, then they must uphold your First Amendment right to speak your mind. And if they don't, they pay a very big financial penalty, which they will not be willing to pay. [applause]
Sadly, the far left is actively working to erase our God-given rights, shut down faith-based charities, ban religious believers from the public square, and silence Americans who believe in the sanctity of life. They are coming after me because I am fighting for you and we are fighting for those who have no voice. And we will win because we know how to win. [applause] We all know how to win. We all know how to win. You’ve been winning for a long time. You’ve been winning for a long time.
Together, we are the voice for the voiceless. When it comes to abortion, Democrats – and you know this, you’ve seen what’s happened – Democrats have embraced the most radical and extreme positions taken and seen in this country for years and decades, and you can even say, for centuries.
Nearly every top Democrat in congress now supports taxpayer-funded abortion all the way up until the moment of birth. Last year, lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's womb right up until delivery.
Then, we had the case of the Democrat governor in the state of Virginia, the commonwealth of Virginia. And we love the commonwealth of Virginia, but what is going on in Virginia? What is going on? The governor stated that he would execute a baby after birth. You remember that.
Senate Democrats even blocked legislation that would give medical care to babies who survive attempted abortions. And that’s why I’ve called on Congress – two of our great senators here, so many of our congressmen here – I called upon them to defend the dignity of life and to pass legislation prohibiting late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in their mother's womb. [applause]
This year, the March for Life is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which forever enshrined women's rights to vote in the United States and given by the United States Constitution. Such a big event. Today, millions of extraordinary women across America are using the power of their votes to fight for the right and all of their rights as given in the Declaration of Independence – it’s the right to life. [applause]
To all the women here today, your devotion and your leadership uplifts our entire nation and we thank you for that. The tens of thousands of Americans gathered today not only stand for life – it’s really here that they stand for it so proudly together. And I want to thank everybody for that. You stand for life each and every day. You provide housing, education, jobs, and medical care to the women that you serve. You find loving families for children in need of a forever home. You host baby showers for expecting moms. You make – you just make it your life's mission to help spread God's grace.
And to all of the moms here today, we celebrate you and we declare that mothers are heroes. [applause] Your strength, devotion and drive is what powers our nation. And because of you, our country has been blessed with amazing souls who have changed the course of human history.
We cannot know what our citizens yet unborn will achieve. The dreams they will imagine. The masterpieces they will create. The discoveries they will make. But we know this: every life brings love into this world. Every child brings joy to a family. Every person is worth protecting.
And above all, we know that every human soul is divine and every human life, born and unborn, is made in the holy image of Almighty God. [applause]
Together, we will defend this truth all across our magnificent land. We will set free the dreams of our people. And with determined hope, we look forward to all of the blessings that will come from the beauty, talent, purpose, nobility and grace of every American child.
I want to thank you. This is a very special moment. It’s so great to represent you. I love you all. [applause] And I say with true passion, thank you, God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all. Thank you. [applause].
