Message by Newt Gingrich to March for Life Participants

Atlanta, GA -- Newt Gingrich issued the following message to marchers in the 39th annual March for Life:

Thank you for bearing witness today to the incomparable dignity of every human life, born and unborn.

And thank you for your commitment to change hearts and minds and laws in defense of the unborn.

I join you in this commitment.

It is a testament to the American spirit and the vision of our founding fathers that almost forty years after Roe. v.Wade, millions of Americans have grown stronger and not weaker in their conviction that the words of the Declaration of Independence are in fact true, that all are created with unalienable rights, including the unborn.

Our American history represents an ongoing effort to fulfill the vision of the Declaration.

It is important to pause today to consider why the pro-life cause is winning and why we will one day see an end to abortion in America.

Americans know in the core of their souls that the idea that we can say one class of humanity -- whether the sick, the poor, the elderly, or the unborn -- is less valuable than others, is fundamentally opposed to every value that we cherish and that makes us who we are.

The truth that every person is created equal in the eyes of God, with equal value and worth and equal right to life, liberty, and the pursuit his or her own future and destiny, is at the root of our system of law and government. Americans know this, and slowly but surely they are coming to terms with the irreconcilable reality of legalized abortion in our nation.

A prominent commentator recently wrote, "That the pro-life movement is bigger is a given. It's also younger, increasingly entrepreneurial, more strategic in its thinking, better organized, tougher in dealing with allies and enemies alike, almost wildly ambitious, and more relentless than ever."

Your marching today is evidence of that relentlessness.

My commitment to you is twofold: first, to continue supporting your work to defend the rights of the unborn, and second, if elected President, to advance pro-life legislation, appoint judges who will stay true to the meaning of the Constitution, work to bring about an end to judicial tyranny, defend religious freedom, and work with allies in Congress and throughout the country who desire to bring about a day in which America restores legal protection to all unborn human life.

Specifically, on day one of my administration, I will sign an executive order reinstating Ronald Reagan's Mexico City policy that prevents taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortions overseas.

I will also oppose federal funding of any research that destroys a human embryo.

I will work with Congress to repeal Obamacare, and will defund Planned Parenthood so that no taxpayer dollars are being used to fund abortions-- but rather use that money to promote adoption and other pro-family policies.

I will also support Congress enacting pro-life legislation that would grant protections under the 14th Amendment to the unborn, including legislation that would define personhood as beginning at conception.

There was once a similar battle waged in America over whether the rights in our Constitution applied to all Americans, or only those selected or favored by the political class. It was during the battle to overturn the deeply engrained institution of slavery, something considered universally repugnant to us all today, that Abraham Lincoln said the following:

We will make converts day by day...  We will grow strong by the violence and injustice of our adversaries.  And unless truth be a mockery and justice a hollow lie, we will be in the majority after a while.  This battle ... [will] be fought out on principle.

Together, let us continue to work for the day when there will be no abortions for any reason, and that every unborn child will be welcomed into life and protected by law -- from conception until natural death. May God bless each of you in your efforts to bring about this day.

Thank You.