Note: The following message from President George W. Bush was read to the participants in the annual March for Life in Washington D.C.

January 22, 2001

THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Good afternoon, friends and fellow citizens. Two days ago, Americans gathered on the Washington Mall to celebrate our Nation's ideals. Today, you are gathered to remind our country that one of those ideals is the infinite value of every life.

I deeply appreciate your message and your work. You see the weak and the defenseless, and you try to help them. You see the hardship of many young mothers and their unborn children, and you care for them both. In so many ways, you make our society more compassionate and welcoming. We share a great goal: to work toward a day when every child is welcomed in life and protected in law. We know this will not come easily, or all at once. But the goal leads us onward: to build a culture of life, affirming that every person, at every stage and season of life, is created equal in God's image.

The promises of our Declaration of Independence are not just for the strong, the independent, or the healthy. They are for everyone -- including unborn children. We are a society with enough compassion and wealth and love to care for both mothers and their children, to seek the promise and potential in every human life.

I believe that we are making progress toward that goal. I trust in the good hearts of Americans. I trust in the unfolding promise of our country -- an expanding circle of inclusion and protection. And I trust in the civility and good sense of our citizens -- a willingness to engage our differences in a spirit of tolerance and good will.

All of you marching today have never tired in a good cause. Thank you for your conviction, your idealism, and your courage. May God bless you all.

GEORGE W. BUSH

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