[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 17 (Friday, January 25, 2019)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 363-364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-00221]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 84 , No. 17 / Friday, January 25, 2019 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 363]]


                Proclamation 9838 of January 18, 2019

                
National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2019

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Today marks the 46th year since the United States 
                Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade. On this day, 
                National Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, we mourn the 
                lives cut short, and the tremendous promise lost, as a 
                result of abortion. As a Nation, we must resolve to 
                protect innocent human life at every stage.

                As President, I am committed to defending the Right to 
                Life. During my first week in office, I reinstated the 
                Mexico City Policy, which prevents foreign aid from 
                being used to fund or support the global abortion 
                industry. We are also working to end the abhorrent 
                practice of elective late-term abortion, a practice 
                allowed in only seven countries around the world.

                At home, we have issued a proposed regulation to 
                implement the Title X prohibition on funding programs 
                that include abortion as a method of family planning. I 
                am supporting the effort in the United States Senate to 
                make permanent the Hyde Amendment, which has been added 
                year after year to spending bills and prevents taxpayer 
                funding for abortion. And I have explicitly informed 
                the Congress that I will veto any legislation that 
                weakens existing Federal protections for human life.

                My Administration has repeatedly demonstrated its 
                respect for human life and conscience at all stages. We 
                have finalized conscience exemptions from the 
                contraceptive mandate to protect employers like Little 
                Sisters of the Poor from being forced to choose between 
                violating their religious beliefs and shutting their 
                doors. We also increased the child tax credit, making 
                it financially easier for mothers to care for their 
                children after birth, while supporting the loving 
                choices of adoption and foster care.

                As the opioid crisis severely affects our country, 
                especially women and babies, we are redoubling our 
                efforts to help children born with Neonatal Abstinence 
                Syndrome. And we must do everything within our power to 
                protect the sanctity of life for the most vulnerable 
                and defenseless among us, including people with 
                disabilities. Americans with disabilities like Down 
                syndrome are an inspiration, and their example of joy 
                and perseverance enriches our lives.

                Our Constitution and our laws contain many protections 
                for innocent life, and I have worked hard for the 
                confirmation and appointment of judges--including two 
                outstanding Supreme Court justices--committed to the 
                rule of law.

                We commend the pro-life movement for the tremendous 
                efforts it has made to prevent the deaths of innocent 
                unborn children, including through the annual March for 
                Life. For more than 46 years, courageous and faithful 
                citizens, many from college campuses and high schools 
                across our country, have extended big hearts and hands 
                of compassion to young women experiencing unexpected 
                pregnancies. For decades, they have prayed passionately 
                and stood tirelessly for the sanctity of life, speaking 
                up for those who cannot speak for themselves. We honor, 
                too, the many men and women who share the precious 
                gifts of life and family by adopting babies and 
                children, welcoming them into their homes and hearts.

[[Page 364]]

                Today, we recommit ourselves to protecting innocent 
                life every day and at every stage. We must continue to 
                be a country that shows respect for the dignity and 
                worth of every person at every stage of life.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim January 20, 2019, as 
                National Sanctity of Human Life Day. Today I call on 
                the Congress to join me in protecting and defending the 
                dignity of every human life, including those not yet 
                born. I call on the American people to continue to care 
                for women in unexpected pregnancies and to support 
                adoption and foster care in a more meaningful way, so 
                every child can have a loving home. And finally, I ask 
                every citizen of this great Nation to listen to the 
                sound of silence caused by a generation lost to us, and 
                then to raise their voices for all those affected by 
                abortion, both seen and unseen.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                eighteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand nineteen, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                third.
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                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2019-00221
Filed 1-24-19; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F9-P