On Tuesday night, Vice President Dick Cheney hailed the anti-abortion movement as a “great movement of conscience” at an annual awards dinner for the National Right to Life Committee.

Cheney went on to say “President Bush has often expressed his conviction that in a compassionate society, every child must be welcomed in life and protected in law. America still has some distance to travel before that hope is realized.”

Cheney’s speech came five days before a coalition of women’s groups are staging what is expected to be the largest abortion rights march in Washington in over a decade. Groups are estimating hundreds of thousands of people will take part in the March for Women’s Lives on Sunday. Organizers include NOW and Naral Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood.