John Boehner made sure the public knows that his goal this year is to ban abortion in the country. He made comments on Friday in Washington, D.C., during the March for Life protest. Boehner spoke to the crowd at the National Mall via video and said that it is time for those against abortion to “commit ourselves to doing everything we can to protect the sanctity of life.”
Boehner said that the first step is to make the Hyde Amendment permanent. This amendment prevents federal money from paying for abortions except in instances of rape or incest.
“For the new Congress, that means bringing together a bipartisan pro-life majority and getting to work,” Boehner said. “In accordance with the will of the people, we will again work to pass the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, formally codifying the Hyde Amendment.”
He also noted that he is going to make it the country’s priority to “help make abortion a relic of the past. Let that be one of our most fundamental goals this year.”
A handful of lawmakers went to the protest to speak to the crowd. Among them, Rep. Diane Black from Tennessee. Black spoke about a bill she introduced that would get rid of Title X family planning funds from Planned Parenthood. Senator Rand Paul, from Kentucky, delivered a speech that called for ‘spiritual cleansing.’
“Our nation is adrift, adrift in a wilderness where right and wrong have become subservient to a hedonism of the moment,” Paul said. “I believe our country is in need of a spiritual cleansing. We much preach a gospel so full of compassion, a gospel so full of justice that it cannot be resisted. Then and only then will the law again protect the innocent.”
The attendees of the protest varied in age and background, with many holding signs or displaying ones attached to their children’s strollers.