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Congresswoman Virginia Foxx delivered the following remarks in defense of life today on the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in the United States:

Mr. Speaker,

Life is the most fundamental of all rights. It is sacred, and God-given.

But millions of babies have been robbed of that right in this, the freest country in the world.  That is a tragedy beyond words and a betrayal of what we as a nation stand for.

Before liberty, equality, free speech, freedom of conscience, the pursuit of happiness and justice for all, there has to be life.

And yet, for millions of aborted infants – many pain-capable and many discriminated because of gender or disability – life is exactly what they have been denied, often at taxpayer expense. And an affront to life for some is an affront to life for every one of us.  

One day, we hope it will be different.

We hope life will cease to be valued on a sliding scale.

We hope the era of elective abortions, ushered in by an unelected court, will be closed and collectively deemed one of the darkest chapters in American history.

But until that day, it remains a solemn duty to stand up for life.

Regardless of the length of this journey, we will continue to speak for those who cannot. And we will continue to pray to the One who can change the hearts of those in desperation and those in power, who equally hold the lives of the innocent in their hands.

May we, in love, defend the unborn. May we, in humility, confront this national sin. And may we mourn what abortion reveals about the conscience of our nation.