Personhood
Proclamation by President Ronald Wilson Reagan
PERSONHOOD PROCLAMATION
January 14, 1988
By the President of the United
States of America
A Proclamation
America has given a great gift
to the world, a gift that drew upon the accumulated wisdom derived from
centuries of experiments in self-government, a gift that has
irrevocably changed humanity's future. Our gift is twofold: the
declaration, as a cardinal principle of all just law, of the God-given,
unalienable rights possessed by every human being; and the example of
our determination to secure those rights and to defend them against
every challenge through the generations. Our declaration and defense of
our rights have made us and kept us free and have sent a tide of hope
and inspiration around the globe.
One of those unalienable
rights, as the Declaration of Independence affirms so eloquently, is
the right to life. In the 15 years since the Supreme Court's decision
in Roe v. Wade, however, America's unborn have been denied their right
to life. Among the tragic and unspeakable results in the past decade
and a half have been the loss of life of 22 million infants before
birth; the pressure and anguish of countless women and girls who are
driven to abortion; and a cheapening of our respect for the human
person and the sanctity of human life.
We are told that we may not
interfere with abortion. We are told that we may not "impose our
morality'' on those who wish to allow or participate in the taking of
the life of infants before birth; yet no one calls it "imposing
morality" to prohibit the taking of life after people are born. We are
told as well that there exists a "right" to end the lives of unborn
children; yet no one can explain how such a right can exist in stark
contradiction of each person's fundamental right to life.
That right to life belongs
equally to babies in the womb, babies born handicapped, and the elderly
or infirm. That we have killed the unborn for 15 years does not nullify
this right, nor could any number of killings ever do so. The
unalienable right to life is found not only in the Declaration of
Independence but also in the Constitution that every President is sworn
to preserve, protect, and defend. Both the Fifth and Fourteenth
Amendments guarantee that no person shall be deprived of life without
due process of law.
All medical and scientific
evidence increasingly affirms that children before birth share all the
basic attributes of human personality -- that they in fact are persons.
Modern medicine treats unborn children as patients. Yet, as the Supreme
Court itself has noted, the decision in Roe v. Wade rested upon an
earlier state of medical technology. The law of the land in 1988 should
recognize all of the medical evidence.
Our nation cannot continue down
the path of abortion, so radically at odds with our history, our
heritage, and our concepts of justice. This sacred legacy, and the
well-being and the future of our country, demand that protection of the
innocents must be guaranteed and that the personhood of the unborn be
declared and defended throughout our land. In legislation introduced at
my request in the First Session of the 100th Congress, I have asked the
Legislative branch to declare the "humanity of the unborn child and the
compelling interest of the several states to protect the life of each
person before birth." This duty to declare on so fundamental a
matter falls to the Executive as well. By this Proclamation I
hereby do so.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Ronald
Reagan, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim and declare the unalienable personhood of
every American, from the moment of conception until natural death, and
I do proclaim, ordain, and declare that I will take care that the
Constitution and laws of the United States are faithfully executed for
the protection of America's unborn children. Upon this act,
sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the
Constitution, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the
gracious favor of Almighty God. I also proclaim Sunday, January 17,
1988, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon the
citizens of this blessed land to gather on that day in their homes and
places of worship to give thanks for the gift of life they enjoy and to
reaffirm their commitment to the dignity of every human being and the
sanctity of every human life.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have
hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and twelfth.
Recipient of 8 "Excellence in Media" Angel Awards
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