President George W. Bush Awarded by Canadian Pro-Life Group for Abortion Fight

LIFENEWS

A Canadian pro-life group gave former President George W. Bush an award yesterday honoring his pro-life record and recognizing his fight against abortion. The Saskatchewan Pro-Life Association presented the president with the award while he was in town to give an address.

The group said in a statement that it "had the distinct privilege to present a humble word of thanks to President George W. Bush for his very public determination to protect the unborn while he served two terms as President of the United States."

Bush received the Humanity of the Unborn Child Pro-Life Award and a plaque that states it is "presented with sincere gratitude to President George W. Bush on the occasion of your visit to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada on October 21, 2009."

The award is presented "in recognition of your resolve and initiatives in the protection of human life" and features a quote from Pope Benedict XVI saying, “Openness to life is at the center of true development."

The group posted a laundry list of pro-life accomplishments on its blog and highlighted them in the statement honoring Bush.

The list included signing the Mexico City Policy to stop the use of taxpayer dollars in foreign nations from promoting and performing abortions.

It also noted Bush promoted adoption and parental notification laws, encouraging teen abstinence, signed into law the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, and signed legislation in 2003 to ban the cruel practice of partial birth abortion.

It also thanked Bush for signing the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 and naming pro-life advocates to the Supreme Court.

The Canadian pro-life group also challenged those who say that Bush wasn't entirely pro-life because he sent troops to help Iraq.

"One topic that arises in this conversation of the pro-life record of President Bush is the topic of civilian deaths during wartime, especially during the Iraq War. People are rightly bothered by civilian deaths during wartime, because the victims are clearly innocent human beings," the group wrote.

'We need to be just as bothered by death by abortion, because the victims of abortion likewise are innocent human beings. This isn't a numbers game, but here’s a challenge: let’s bring the number of abortions down to the number of civilian deaths in the Iraq War, then we'll be in a position to compare the two moral dilemmas," it added.

"Until then, using the argument that President George W. Bush was not a pro-life president because of the civilian deaths he caused in Iraq makes political pawns of those victims, using their destruction to deflect people’s attention away from the very real and pressing need to eliminate abortions in this province and country," the pro-life group continued.

The group acknowledged that the award is going to "an international politician" but restated its goal to eliminate abortions in Canada.

Bush has been speaking at sold out venues across Canada. Naturally, most of the coverage has been on the 'protesters' outside (unlike when the prolife groups protest 'invisibly'). Too bad. Apparently, the ticket-holders were not disappointed.

Presidential

In contrast to Barack Obama's 'big deal' of a ceremony, signing up to federally fund embryonic stem cell research without limits, George W. Bush carefully explained his considerations in restricting embryonic research to lines that had already been destroyed and giving federal funding to the research of alternative, non-destructive stem cell research. (This funding for alternative research was rescinded by Obama )

President George W. Bush

Good evening. I appreciate you giving me a few minutes of your time tonight so I can discuss with you a complex and difficult issue, an issue that is one of the most profound of our time.

The issue of research involving stem cells derived from human embryos is increasingly the subject of a national debate and dinner table discussions. The issue is confronted every day in laboratories as scientists ponder the ethical ramifications of their work. It is agonized over by parents and many couples as they try to have children or to save children already born. The issue is debated within the church, with people of different faiths - even many of the same faith - coming to different conclusions.

Many people are finding that the more they know about stem cell research, the less certain they are about the right ethical and moral conclusions.

My administration must decide whether to allow federal funds, your tax dollars, to be used for scientific research on stem cells derived from human embryos.

A large number of these embryos already exist. They are the product of a process called in vitro fertilization which helps so many couples conceive children. When doctors match sperm and egg to create life outside the womb, they usually produce more embryos than are implanted in the mother.

Once a couple successfully has children, or if they are unsuccessful, the additional embryos remain frozen in laboratories. Some will not survive during long storage; others are destroyed. A number have been donated to science and used to create privately funded stem cell lines. And a few have been implanted in an adoptive mother, and born, and are today healthy children.

Based on preliminary work that has been privately funded, scientists believe further research using stem cells offers great promise that could help improve the lives of those who suffer from many terrible diseases, from juvenile diabetes to Alzheimer's, from Parkinson's to spinal cord injuries. And while scientists admit they are not yet certain, they believe stem cells derived from embryos have unique potential.

You should also know that stem cells can be derived from sources other than embryos: from adult cells, from umbilical cords that are discarded after babies are born, from human placentas. And many scientists feel research on these types of stem cells is also promising. Many patients suffering from a range of diseases are already being helped with treatments developed from adult stem cells.

However, most scientists, at least today, believe that research on embryonic stem cells offers the most promise because these cells have the potential to develop in all of the tissues in the body.

Scientists further believe that rapid progress in this research will come only with federal funds. Federal dollars help attract the best and brightest scientists. They ensure new discoveries are widely shared at the largest number of research facilities, and that the research is directed toward the greatest public good.

The United States has a long and proud record of leading the world toward advances in science and medicine that improve human life, and the United States has a long and proud record of upholding the highest standards of ethics as we expand the limits of science and knowledge.

Research on embryonic stem cells raises profound ethical questions, because extracting the stem cell destroys the embryo and thus destroys its potential for life.

Like a snowflake, each of these embryos is unique, with the unique genetic potential of an individual human being.

As I thought through this issue I kept returning to two fundamental questions. First, are these frozen embryos human life and therefore something precious to be protected? And second, if they're going to be destroyed anyway, shouldn't they be used for a greater good, for research that has the potential to save and improve other lives?

I've asked those questions and others of scientists, scholars, bioethicists, religious leaders, doctors, researchers, members of Congress, my Cabinet and my friends. I have read heartfelt letters from many Americans. I have given this issue a great deal of thought, prayer, and considerable reflection, and I have found widespread disagreement.

On the first issue, are these embryos human life? Well, one researcher told me he believes this five-day-old cluster of cells is not an embryo, not yet an individual, but a pre-embryo. He argued that it has the potential for life, but it is not a life because it cannot develop on its own.

An ethicist dismissed that as a callous attempt at rationalization. ``Make no mistake,'' he told me, ``that cluster of cells is the same way you and I, and all the rest of us, started our lives. One goes with a heavy heart if we use these,'' he said, ``because we are dealing with the seeds of the next generation.''

And to the other crucial question - If these are going to be destroyed anyway, why not use them for good purpose? - I also found different answers.

Many of these embryos are byproducts of a process that helps create life, and we should allow couples to donate them to science so they can be used for good purpose instead of wasting their potential.

Others will argue there is no such thing as excess life, and the fact that a living being is going to die does not justify experimenting on it or exploiting it as a natural resource.

At its core, this issue forces us to confront fundamental questions about the beginnings of life and the ends of science. It lives at a difficult moral intersection, juxtaposing the need to protect life in all its phases with the prospect of saving and improving life in all its stages.

As the discoveries of modern science create tremendous hope, they also lay vast ethical mine fields.

As the genius of science extends the horizons of what we can do, we increasingly confront complex questions about what we should do. We have arrived at that ``Brave New World'' that seemed so distant in 1932 when Aldous Huxley wrote about human beings created in test tubes in what he called a hatchery.

In recent weeks, we learned that scientists have created human embryos in test tubes solely to experiment on them. This is deeply troubling and a warning sign that should prompt all of us to think through these issues very carefully.

Embryonic stem cell research is at the leading edge of a series of moral hazards. The initial stem cell researcher was at first reluctant to begin his research, fearing it might be used for human cloning. Scientists have already cloned a sheep. Researchers are telling us the next step could be to clone human beings to create individual designer stem cells, essentially to grow another you, to be available in case you need another heart or lung or liver.

I strongly oppose human cloning, as do most Americans. We recoil at the idea of growing human beings for spare body parts or creating life for our convenience.

And while we must devote enormous energy to conquering disease, it is equally important that we pay attention to the moral concerns raised by the new frontier of human embryo stem cell research. Even the most noble ends do not justify any means.

My position on these issues is shaped by deeply held beliefs. I'm a strong supporter of science and technology, and believe they have the potential for incredible good - to improve lives, to save life, to conquer disease. Research offers hope that millions of our loved ones may be cured of a disease and rid of their suffering. I have friends whose children suffer from juvenile diabetes. Nancy Reagan has written me about President Reagan's struggle with Alzheimer's. My own family has confronted the tragedy of childhood leukemia. And like all Americans, I have great hope for cures.

I also believe human life is a sacred gift from our creator. I worry about a culture that devalues life, and believe as your president I have an important obligation to foster and encourage respect for life in America and throughout the world.

And while we're all hopeful about the potential of this research, no one can be certain that the science will live up to the hope it has generated.

Eight years ago, scientists believed fetal tissue research offered great hope for cures and treatments, yet the progress to date has not lived up to its initial expectations. Embryonic stem cell research offers both great promise and great peril, so I have decided we must proceed with great care.

As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines already exist. They were created from embryos that have already been destroyed, and they have the ability to regenerate themselves indefinitely, creating ongoing opportunities for research.

I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem cell lines, where the life-and-death decision has already been made.

Leading scientists tell me research on these 60 lines has great promise that could lead to breakthrough therapies and cures. This allows us to explore the promise and potential of stem cell research without crossing a fundamental moral line by providing taxpayer funding that would sanction or encourage further destruction of human embryos that have at least the potential for life.

I also believe that great scientific progress can be made through aggressive federal funding of research on umbilical cord, placenta, adult and animal stem cells, which do not involve the same moral dilemma. This year your government will spend $250 million on this important research.

I will also name a president's council to monitor stem cell research, to recommend appropriate guidelines and regulations and to consider all of the medical and ethical ramifications of biomedical innovation.

This council will consist of leading scientists, doctors, ethicists, lawyers, theologians and others and will be chaired by Dr. Leon Kass, a leading biomedical ethicist from the University of Chicago.

This council will keep us apprised of new developments and give our nation a forum to continue to discuss and evaluate these important issues.

As we go forward, I hope we will always be guided by both intellect and heart, by both our capabilities and our conscience.

I have made this decision with great care, and I pray it is the right one.

Thank you for listening. Good night, and God bless America.

PRESIDENTIAL

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Bush's Prolife Record

Baptist Press:

...The debate over partial-birth abortion, (Richard)Land says, has been a turning point in the pro-life movement. Polls agree. In September 1995 -- before Congress and Clinton began debating a partial-birth abortion bill -- 56 percent of Americans called themselves pro-choice, 33 percent pro-life, according to a Gallup Poll at the time. In August 1997 -- after Clinton's veto -- 47 percent called themselves pro-choice, 44 percent pro-life. Since then, the percentage of Americans who call themselves pro-life has not dipped below 40 percent in the Gallup Poll.

"I think the debate over banning partial-birth abortion is the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the pro-life movement," Land said. "Uncle Tom's Cabin humanized the plight of the slave. The debate over partial-birth abortion humanized the abortion issue for a significant segment of the American population. It confronted the American public with the humanity of the fetus in the same way that Uncle Tom's Cabin confronted the general public with the humanity of those in human bondage."

Alito and Roberts, Land says, are the "crown jewels" of Bush's "pro-family, pro-life legacy."

"There's no promise he kept more faithfully than his promise to nominate only strict constructionist, original intent jurists to the court, which means pro-life judges," Land said. "... [Alito and Roberts] are young, they are articulate, they are brilliant, and they are going to be stars of this court for 20 years."...

A Real President For Life

National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2009
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America


All human life is a gift from our Creator that is sacred, unique, and worthy of protection. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world. We also underscore our dedication to heeding this message of conscience by speaking up for the weak and voiceless among us.

The most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent. My Administration has been committed to building a culture of life by vigorously promoting adoption and parental notification laws, opposing Federal funding for abortions overseas, encouraging teen abstinence, and funding crisis pregnancy programs. In 2002, I was honored to sign into law the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which extends legal protection to children who survive an abortion attempt. I signed legislation in 2003 to ban the cruel practice of partial-birth abortion, and that law represents our commitment to building a culture of life in America. Also, I was proud to sign the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004, which allows authorities to charge a person who causes death or injury to a child in the womb with a separate offense in addition to any charges relating to the mother.

America is a caring Nation, and our values should guide us as we harness the gifts of science. In our zeal for new treatments and cures, we must never abandon our fundamental morals. We can achieve the great breakthroughs we all seek with reverence for the gift of life.

The sanctity of life is written in the hearts of all men and women. On this day and throughout the year, we aspire to build a society in which every child is welcome in life and protected in law. We also encourage more of our fellow Americans to join our just and noble cause. History tells us that with a cause rooted in our deepest principles and appealing to the best instincts of our citizens, we will prevail.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 18, 2009, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH



The United States of America has been priviledged to have a hiatus of human reason in the 'culture of life' advocacy of President George Bush. He stood up for a reality that may not even be recognized by the presidency for years to come.

Human life, from conception to natural death, has intrinsic value. To ignore this reality is to destroy our very civilization - much proof of which already exists.

A Quiet Mission

(WT)

For much of the past seven years, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have waged a clandestine operation inside the White House. It has involved thousands of military personnel, private presidential letters and meetings that were kept off their public calendars or sometimes left the news media in the dark.

Their mission: to comfort the families of soldiers who died fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and to lift the spirits of those wounded in the service of their country...

I can't help it. I like that man.(Bush)

Thanks Where Its Due

(LifeSiteNews)

President George Bush's Final Thanksgiving Day Message November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving is a time for families and friends to gather together and express gratitude for all that we have been given, the freedoms we enjoy, and the loved ones who enrich our lives. We recognize that all of these blessings, and life itself, come not from the hand of man but from Almighty God.

Every Thanksgiving, we remember the story of the Pilgrims who came to America in search of religious freedom and a better life. Having arrived in the New World, these early settlers gave thanks to the Author of Life for granting them safe passage to this abundant land and protecting them through a bitter winter. Our Nation's first President, George Washington, stated in the first Thanksgiving proclamation that "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor." While in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln revived the tradition of proclaiming a day of thanksgiving, asking God to heal our wounds and restore our country.

Today, as we look back on the beginnings of our democracy, Americans recall that we live in a land of many blessings where every person has the right to live, work, and worship in freedom. Our Nation is especially thankful for the brave men and women of our Armed Forces who protect these rights while setting aside their own comfort and safety. Their courage keeps us free, their sacrifice makes us grateful, and their character makes us proud. Especially during the holidays, our whole country keeps them and their families in our thoughts and prayers.

Americans are also mindful of the need to share our gifts with others, and our Nation is moved to compassionate action. We pay tribute to all caring citizens who reach out a helping hand and serve a cause larger than themselves.

On this day, let us all give thanks to God who blessed our Nation's first days and who blesses us today. May He continue to guide and watch over our families and our country always.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 27, 2008, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather together in their homes and places of worship with family, friends, and loved ones to strengthen the ties that bind us and give thanks for the freedoms and many blessings we enjoy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

God Bless George W. Bush

And Now For Something Completely Different...

A fair review of some good things accomplished by President George Bush:

...BLUNTING THE METASTASIS OF ABORTION
Like Dostoyevsky's Raskolnikov, one act of killing requires more acts of killing to legitimize itself. This has been the real agenda behind the enigmatic enthusiasm for stem-cell research and the furious criticism of bans on late-term, or "partial-birth," abortion. It was an act of singular political courage for Mr. Bush to see this agenda for what it was, expose it publicly for what it is, and obstruct it for as long as he has....

(h/t ProWoman ProLife)