President tells March for Life of efforts to foster 'culture of life'

Published: 2005-01-24

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- President George W. Bush, speaking via telephone to March for Life participants, said the federal government is " working to promote a culture of life, to promote compassion for women and their unborn babies." The president spoke for about five minutes at the beginning of the Jan. 24 rally. "We know that in a culture that does not protect the most dependent," he said, "the handicapped, the elderly, the unloved or (those who are) simply inconvenient become increasingly vulnerable." Bush pointed to laws passed during his first term in office, including the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2003. Implementation of the law has been held up by three separate federal district courts -- in New York, Nebraska and California -- which have declared it unconstitutional. Under the measure, "infants who are born despite an attempted abortion are now protected by law," he said to applause. "So are nurses and doctors who refused to be any part of an abortion." And, under the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which he signed into law last April, "prosecutors can now charge those who harm or kill a pregnant woman with harming or killing her unborn child," Bush said.

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