President Donald Trump today (Jan. 24) became the first sitting president to attend the annual March for Life gathering in Washington.
The president called it his “profound honor” to be present at the 47th annual event, held on the National Mall.
“Every life brings love into this world. Every child brings joy to a family. Every person is worth protecting,” Trump said, prompting loud cheers from the many thousands attending the event. “Every human soul is divine, and every human life – born and unborn – is made in the holy image of Almighty God.”
The theme for this year’s March for Life is “Life Empowers: Pro-Life is Pro-Woman.”
Other speakers at the rally included Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA); Jim Daly, president, Focus on the Family; Marjorie Dannenfelser, president, Susan B. Anthony List; David Platt, pastor, McLean Bible Church; and several other legislators and abortion survivors.
The first march took place on the west steps of the Capitol in January 1974, the year after the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established a woman’s legal right to abortion.
Past presidents who opposed abortion, including Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, did not personally attend the march but instead sent remarks for others to deliver, spoke via telephone hookup or invited organizers to visit the White House.
Last year, sources close to the president said he wanted to go and came close to attending. But the trip never came together because of concerns about security so Trump joined the event via video satellite from the White House Rose Garden instead. (AP, TAB)
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