Presidential Documents

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


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

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 fortythird. 

[FR Doc. 2019–00221 

Filed 1–24–19; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3295–F9–P 


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