Former President George W. Bush is being honored this month with a Family and Democracy Award from an international pro-life organization.
The World Congress of Families announced its choice of the former pro-life president for the award this week. Bush will be honored during the Tenth Jubilee of the World Congress of Families conference in May in the country of Georgia.
World Congress of Families is a world-wide organization of Christian leaders united in defense of family, faith, and freedom by affirming the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and defending the dignity and sanctity of every human life.
Bush, a strong advocate for life during his time in the presidency, previously commended the efforts of the World Congress to “recognize the importance of families in our society. Around the world, families are the source of help, hope, and stability for individuals and nations. As one of the pillars of civilization, families must remain strong and we must defend them during this time of great change. Your work improves many lives and makes the world better.”
Bush left a strong pro-life legacy during his presidency, signing every pro-life bill that reached his desk. During his administration, President Bush saw abortions decline to new lows, and he made history in 2003 by signing the first measure to ever ban a form of abortion: brutal, late-term partial birth abortions.
He put restrictions on life-destroying embryonic stem cell research and cloning, and supported the Born Alive Infants Protection Act to protect babies who survive abortions. Bush also signed into law the Unborn Victims of Violence Act to offer protection and justice to pregnant women like Laci Peterson and their unborn children who are killed or injured in violent attacks.
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The president demonstrated his pro-life commitment on his first day in office when he reinstituted the Mexico City Policy, which stops taxpayer funding of groups that promote or perform abortions in other nations. Later he extended that policy further to prevent pro-abortion funding within all State Department programs. Unfortunately, pro-abortion President Barack Obama reversed the policy during his first week in office.
In a 2010 interview, Bush remembered an experience as a teenager that shaped his pro-life position. He told NBC’s Matt Lauer that his mother miscarried one of his siblings and showed him the baby’s body.
“I never expected to see the remains of the fetus, which she had saved in a jar to bring to the hospital,” Bush said. “There was a human life, a little brother or sister.”
“There’s no question that affected me, a philosophy that we should respect life,” he continued.
Bush has received several other awards that recognize his contributions to protecting life in the U.S. and across the globe. Legatus gave Bush the prestigious Cardinal John J. O’Connor Pro-Life Award in 2010, and in 2009, a Canadian pro-life group gave Bush the first pro-life award he received since leaving office.
