President Trump vowed in a video message to the March for Life on Friday to veto any legislation that “weakens the protection of human life.”
“If they send any legislation to my desk that weakens the protection of human life, I will issue a veto and we have the support to uphold those vetoes,” Trump said in the message displayed to a crowd gathered for the annual anti-abortion march in Washington.
“Every child is a sacred gift from God,” Trump said in the message.
{mosads}Vice President Pence spoke in person at the march, calling Trump a “champion” for abortion opponents.
“President Donald Trump is the most pro-life president in American history,” Pence told the crowd.
He touted the slew of conservative judges that Trump has named to the courts, as well as actions like reinstating the Mexico City policy, which restricts U.S. foreign aid dollars from going to nongovernmental organizations that promote or provide abortions.
Trump has a checkered history on abortion, taking heat during the GOP presidential primary for saying in 1999 that he is “pro-choice in every respect.”
Trump has since changed his position and been embraced by anti-abortion groups during his presidency.
“Let me be clear — I am pro-life,” Trump wrote in 2016. “I did not always hold this position, but I had a significant personal experience that brought the precious gift of life into perspective for me.”
A range of other lawmakers spoke at the march on Friday, including Democratic Rep. Dan Lipinski (Ill.), one of the few Democrats in Congress who opposes abortion and who faced a tough Democratic primary last year.
“We’ve got Republicans, Independents, Democrats, but we’re all here because we agree on one thing: Every life is sacred and needs to be protected,” Lipinski said.