Rita Marker and Wesley J. Smith: "Great Defenders of Life"

I am humbled to be in New York City tonight, to receive—along with the indispensable Rita Marker—the Human Life Foundation’s Great Defender of Life Award for 2008, recognizing our work against assisted suicide and euthanasia. Previous recipients have included Nat Hentoff, Congressman Henry Hyde, Congressman Chris Smith, and Hadley Arkes.

My sincere thanks to the Human Life Foundation and my pledge to continue to strive in the years ahead to combat the growing threat of assisted suicide and other agendas that threaten and undermine the importance and intrinsic value of being human.