Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia at the National Prayer Vigil for Life Mass in Washington Jan. 21. (CNS)

Two prominent Congressional Republicans have sent a letter of thanks to Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities.

House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, thanked Cardinal Rigali for his Feb. 5 letter to all members of Congress requesting they defend human life.

Boehner and McCotter said in their letter, “As members of the House Republican leadership, we would like to thank you for the February 5, 2009 letter you sent to each Member of Congress. We stand with you in the defense of all human life and look forward to working with you during the 111th Congress.

“Despite the limitations of being in the minority, we are committed to working with our pro-life colleagues on both sides of the aisle to proactively defeat efforts to enact the so-called Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) or any similar measure. We are similarly committed to working to retain, and not weaken, laws that prohibit using federal funds for the purpose of promoting or funding promotion of abortion, particularly those you cite: the Hyde Amendment, the Dickey/Wicker Amendment, the Hyde/Weldon Conscience Protection Amendment and the Kemp-Kasten Amendment.

“In a recent Los Angeles Times article, it was suggested that the Democratic majority is taking a ‘go-slow’ approach on ‘abortion-rights legislation. We know their desire is to codify Roe v. Wade, and we will not be caught off-guard by attempts to achieve this goal, whether directly or incrementally. We will, as Pope Benedict XVI exhorted during his apostolic visit to the United States last year, ‘proclaim the gift of life, to serve life, and promote a culture of life.’

“Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can ever be of assistance to you.”