WHEREAS President Reagan was a champion of the pro-life movement, who used the office of the White House to defend the sanctity of human life with unflinching courage; and
WHEREAS President Reagan initiated several important pro-life policies, including adoption of the Mexico City Policy to cut off U.S. funds from organizations that promote abortion overseas, halting funding to the United Nations Population Fund, and blocking the use of federal funds for research using the tissue of aborted babies; and
WHEREAS President Reagan rejected a quality of life ethic, helping to adopt "Baby Doe" legislation, and writing in his book Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation that, "Every legislator, every doctor, and every citizen needs to recognize that the real issue is whether to affirm and protect the sanctity of human life, or to embrace a social ethic where some human lives are valued and others are not. As a nation, we must choose between the sanctity of life ethic and the 'quality of life' ethic"; and
WHEREAS President Reagan's dedication to life redefined the abortion debate in terms of the unborn child and helped bring abortion to the forefront of the national conscience;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the memory of President Ronald Reagan's life be an inspiration to the pro-life movement, encouraging and motivating each of us to be a symbol of life and love to the world.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Directors of the National Right to Life Committee, sitting in Arlington, Virginia, on June 30, 2004, expresses our great and sincere sympathy at his death.