Sadly, in our day there are those for whom a concept of social utility has replaced the notion of inherent human dignity. The losers in this ethical sea change have been the elderly, the poor, the disabled and the unborn. None of these pass the utility test. And what is more they have no voice, unless we provide it. You are helping to provide it here today.

Now it is important for all of us to recognize that the threat to the dignity of human life is not confined to abortion; we also face the related issues of euthanasia and human cloning.

As we tinker with the beginning, the end and even the intimate cell structure of life, we tinker with our own identity as a free nation dedicated to the dignity of the human person.

CS Lewis saw this clearly and noted in his book the Abolition of man, "For the power of Man to make himself what he pleases means, as we have seen, the power of some men to make other men what they please.” In abortion, euthanasia, human cloning and a host of other issues we see Lewis’s prophetic voice ringing true. The power of some men and women over others has trumped the concept of human dignity.

Yet, we can take courage from the fact that at a very basic level, our American Polity was founded on principles at odds with this culture of death, principles that we can reclaim and use as tools in the construction of a culture of life.

At our best Americans believe that universal understandings of human dignity and truth are "written on the human heart." America's founders also believed this to be true. In 1776 John Dickinson, one of my favorite founding fathers, affirmed: "Our liberties do not come from charters for these are only the declaration of pre-existing rights. They do not depend on parchments or seals, but come from the king of kings and the Lord of all the earth."

This notion, that our dignity as persons is not subject to the winds of political change, or to the caprice of personal choice, but is instead rooted in who we are as human beings, created in the image of God, is a great strength of our political tradition. By standing in continuity with this principle we stand in continuity with a culture of life.

And so we must gather as we have done here today, and we must pray, and we must march, and we must struggle, and we must do so no matter the cost. We must do so because there are things in this life that are worth fighting for. We must do so because our very identity as a people committed to the principle of inalienable human rights hangs in the balance.

Thank you and may God bless you and this just cause.