Remarks at a White House
Briefing for Right to Life Activists
Senators,
Congressmen, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to you all. Before I get on with
things here, I think I'd better explain a little bit. This is just a small
billboard that says -- it's a reminder that says, ``Stay out of the Sun.''
[Laughter] Well, there's one Congressman I see in the
front row to whom I have to say a special word: Henry Hyde. Watching your
contributions to the hearings, Henry, I couldn't help thinking -- [laughter] --
forgive me for this -- other politicians can run, but there's only one I know
who knows how to Hyde. [Laughter] It's a great pleasure to welcome all of you
to
One
of the aspects of this gathering that impresses me most is that just a few
years ago many of you, perhaps most, never dreamed of getting involved in
politics. What brought you into politics was a matter of conscience, a matter
of fundamental conviction, and that gives you an integrity that Americans of
all views cannot help but respect. It also happens to make me feel a particular
kinship with you. You see, there was a time in my own life when nobody who knew
me ever expected me to go into politics myself. [Laughter] In fact, back in
1966 when someone told my boss, Jack Warner, that I was running for Governor of
California, he is supposed to have said, ``No, Jimmy Stewart for Governor. Reagan for best friend.'' [Laughter]
But
we come here today on an issue of the most fundamental importance. Many of
you've been attacked for being single-issue activists or single-issue voters.
But I ask: What single issue could be of greater significance? What single
issue could say more about a society's values than the degree of respect shown
for human life at its most vulnerable: human life still unborn?
Many
of the most compelling arguments against abortion are as old as our
civilization. Indeed, I would submit that a reverence for all human life is one
of the distinguishing marks of true civilization. In our own time, medical
science has added to our knowledge of the processes of life that take place
before birth, deepening our understanding of what abortion means to the mother
and the unborn child. We know, in particular, that when an abortion is
performed the unborn child often feels pain.
You
might be interested to learn that when I first mentioned this in a 1983 speech
there was an outcry, enraged criticism and angry denials. But criticism wasn't
the only response. It so happens that I also received a letter signed by 24
medical doctors, including eminent physicians like the former chief of
pediatrics at the St. Louis City Hospital and the president of the New York
State Medical Society. The letter stated that in recent years medical
techniques have ``demonstrated the remarkable responsiveness of the human fetus
to pain, touch, and sound.''
And
the letter concluded: ``Mr. President, in drawing attention to the capability
of the human fetus to feel pain, you stand on firmly established ground.''
Well, in recent years medical science has taught us so much more about the
individuality and responsiveness of the fetus, even at very early stages of
development. My friends, isn't it about time the law of the land recognized the
medical evidence of 1987? [Applause] If there's even a question about when
human life begins, isn't it our duty to err on the side of life?
The
law of the land -- that's a phrase with special resonance for Americans. After
all, ours is not a nation founded upon centuries of shared history, like the
nations of
At
the same time, we must continue to search for practical steps that we can take
now, even before the battle for the human life amendment is won. I've submitted
a bill to Congress that I know interests each of you keenly, and I'd like to
talk about that with you in just a moment. But first, permit me to mention four
other important steps our administration has taken, steps that I believe
represent powerful examples of what can be done now to protect the lives of
unborn children.
First,
our position on international population policies -- as you may be aware, some international organizations have chosen to
support abortion as a means of population control. Well, the United Nations
Fund for Population Activities, or UNFPA, for example, works with Chinese
population programs, which include abortion. Our response to
that? We cut off American funds from UNFPA and from overseas
organizations that support or promote abortion. As I said in my statement to
the 1984 Mexico City International Conference on Population -- incidentally,
one of the best parts about being President is that from time to time you get
to quote yourself -- [laughter] -- but as I said then: ``We believe population
programs can and must be truly voluntary, cognizant of the rights and responsibilities
of individuals and families, and respectful of religious and cultural values.''
Well, that means no coercive measures such as involuntary sterilization and no
use of abortion for population control.
Second,
permit me to mention our recent actions concerning the
I
want, third, to restate our firm opposition to the so-called,
Now,
the fourth point is one that will come to you as especially good news, a set of
initiatives that we will pursue immediately. The first of these is a revision
of the title 10 Family Planning Program guidelines. Current guidelines require
grant recipients to provide abortion counseling and referral. This policy has
effectively barred family planning organizations that will not engage in
abortion activity from participating in the title 10 program.
I'm directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to publish regulations
in the Federal Register removing this bias against groups that refuse to engage
in abortion activities. In order to give effect to the statutory prohibition on
the use of appropriated funds in programs where abortion is a method of family
planning, I am also directing Secretary Bowen to make sure that the regulations
specifically state that a program which does provide counseling and referral
for abortion services as a method of family planning will not be eligible for
title 10 funds.
Then
there's an initiative that represents an important change in the title 10
regulations so that any organization that provides abortion-related services
will be required to clearly separate these services from title 10 programs that
the Federal Government is paying for. At present, the coexistence of abortion
with federally supported family planning services fosters the view that
abortion is an acceptable and government-sanctioned method of family planning.
In order to ensure that this will no longer occur, I'm directing the Secretary
of Health and Human Services to publish in the Federal Register regulations
that require grant recipients to separate, financially and physically, their
eligible and noneligible programs.
Now,
a third initiative is the development of a thorough and solid body of public
health information on the effects of abortion on women. Growing numbers of
women who've had abortions now say that they have been misled by inaccurate
information. Making accurate data on maternal morbidity available to women
before an abortion is performed is an essential element of informed consent. I
am, therefore, directing the Surgeon General to issue a comprehensive medical
report on the health effects, physical and emotional, of abortion on women.
The
final initiative is a restriction on the use of Federal funds for activities
that advocate abortion. It is inconsistent with title 10 for Federal funds to
be used to provide speakers to debate in opposition to pro-life speakers, to
lobby for proabortion legislation, to provide
transportation to abortion clinics, or make reservations at abortion clinics,
to bring lawsuits in support of abortion as a family planning method, or to
provide or distribute materials that advocate abortion. And I am, therefore,
directing Secretary Bowen to publish regulations in the Federal Register to
ensure that no title 10 funds go to any program that encourages, promotes, or
advocates abortion or which assists a woman in obtaining an abortion.
You'll
be pleased to know that Secretary Bowen is fully supportive of my position on
abortion and of these initiatives. Secretary Bowen has agreed that all
necessary work will be completed in time to publish draft regulations in the
Federal Register within 30 days. And I'm also pleased to say that the
Secretary's newly appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs
is Nabers Cabaniss. Nabers will be among those charged with implementing these
new initiatives at the Department of Health and Human Services.
And
this brings me to the bill I mentioned earlier. To begin
with, a word or two of background. In the past, we've been successful in
restricting the use of Federal funds for abortions on a
department-by-department basis, making use of the Hyde amendment. Yet each year
there have been a few departments and agencies not covered by the Hyde
amendment. The bill that we're submitting to Congress will change that. And
listen, if you will, to the key provision: ``No funds appropriated by Congress
shall be used to perform abortions, except where the life of the mother would
be endangered if the fetus were carried to term.'' In other words, this one
piece of legislation would permanently restrict the use of funds for abortions
throughout the Federal Government, with absolutely no exceptions.
And
introduced in the Senate by Senator Gordon Humphrey, this bill has 12 Senate
cosponsors. And in the House, the bill was introduced by Congressman Henry Hyde
and has garnered cosponsors numbering 124. Yes, opposition is stiff. But the
very fact that this bill has been introduced has drawn attention to the
importance of the debate and demonstrated the growing strength of the prolife movement throughout the country.
Will
the bill pass? The pundits certainly don't think so, but I have to tell you, at
this point in my career, I'm used to a little skepticism. [Laughter] ``The
Impossible Became Inevitable'' -- that's what the Washington Post headline said
when our tax reform was finally enacted. And I just have to believe that, given
the fundamental goodness of the American people, given this great nation's
reverence for life itself, prolife measures like this
legislation will become inevitable, too. So, I intend to push for these prolife measures just as hard as I know how. Can I count on
your support? [Applause] Thank you. I knew that was a foolish question when I
asked it.
Many
who turn to abortion do so in harrowing circumstances, and we must remind those
who disagree with us, and sometimes even ourselves, that we do not seek to
condemn, we do not seek to sit in judgment. Yes, we must take our stand without
apology. Yet at the same time, it is our duty to rise above bitterness and
reproach, to call upon all Americans to come together in a spirit of helping
and understanding. For we know that in this great and good nation, positive
solutions to the tragedy of abortion can be found.
If
I could, I'd like to leave with you a quotation that means a great deal to me.
These are the words of my friend, the late Terence Cardinal Cooke, of
The
weakest of human vessels -- surely there is no human life more frail and
vulnerable than that of an infant still in its mother's womb. And surely it is
our task to appeal to the goodness we know we can find in every American and to
call upon the power of His love.
I
thank you all, and God bless you all for what you're doing.
Note:
The President spoke at