Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, is a regular pro-life champion during the national March for Life, and this year was no different.
Smith, a native of Hamilton, pointed out that over the years, there have been “significant pro-life setbacks – but pro-lifers absolutely refused to quit or go away.” He said that same spirit continues today as the movement faces many obstacles.
“Today, we again face enormous challenges and recommit to persevere through prayer, fasting and good works – and respect, including for those with whom we fundamentally disagree – even when it’s not reciprocated,” he said Jan. 29 for the March for Life in Washington.
Smith stressed that the unborn need the president of the United States “to be their friend and advocate, not another powerful adversary.”
Referring to President Biden’s remarks at his inauguration that “the dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer,” Smith said those words can only have true meaning if the lives of unborn children are included.
“Mr. President, the dream of ‘justice for all’ cannot be achieved if a whole segment of society is legally ignored and discriminated against because of where they live – in their mothers’ wombs – and how small and defenseless they are,” Rep. Smith said.
He continued by citing statistics of a January 2020 Marist poll in which 60 percent of Americans agreed that taxpayers should not be compelled to fund abortion. He also addressed the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal tax dollars from paying for abortions. President Biden has said he wants to see an end to the long-standing legislation.
“Lives,” Rep. Smith said, “have been saved by the Hyde Amendment. More than 20 peer-reviewed studies show that more than two million people are alive today in the United States because of Hyde – with about 60,000 children spared death by abortion every year.
“Over two million people who would have been aborted instead survived because public funds were unavailable to effectuate their violent demise and their mothers instead benefitted from prenatal healthcare and support,” he continued. “The science of human development has not changed – and, thanks to ultrasound, unborn babies are now more visible than ever before.”
“Someday future generations of Americans will look back on us and wonder how and why a society that prided itself on human rights and empathy could have effectuated and enabled the loss of so many defenseless babies.”