Good morning. On behalf of the Knights of Columbus and its more than 230,000 members throughout Canada, I want to thank you for standing up in defense of the sanctity of human life at today’s National March for Life. I am very happy to be here to join you in this great cause.

We gather here today to remind Parliament of the moral imperative to protect those who cannot protect themselves, the most vulnerable among us – unborn children. In the absence of an abortion law in Canada, some 100,000 innocent, unborn children are killed every year in the name of “freedom of choice.” What a staggering number to consider.

Those of us, assembled here from coast to coast, represent millions of Canadians who demand that our society do better for its women and children than abortion. As we stand against abortion, we must also stand behind families and women—especially those who are facing crisis pregnancies—and be ready to help provide them with the material needs that will enable them to choose life.

Today, we face new challenges to the dignity of human life – reproductive technologies, cloning, embryonic stem cell research and more. While these masquerade as medical and technological advances, they are in fact the latest fruits of the culture of death. Noble ends do not justify immoral means, and we must stand up against these affronts to humanity.

Our concern also extends to the sick, the elderly—indeed all those whose lives are threatened or considered somehow “less valuable.” The tragic killing of Terri Schiavo in the United States is a somber warning to us of what can happen when government loses sight of its duty to protect its citizens.

Here in Canada, even the sacred union of one man and one woman, from which life springs, has come under attack. The Knights of Columbus stands firmly in support of the traditional family, and marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman.

Together at events like these, but even more in our daily lives, we must witness to the beauty and dignity of every human life, made in the image and likeness of God. I am grateful for your courageous defense of human life and am privileged to join you today.

God bless you and may God bless Canada.