Pro-Life Groups Say President Bush’s Record Strong, Deserves Re-Election
by Maria Gallagher
LifeNews.com Staff Writer
January 29, 2004
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — While the Democratic presidential candidates compete to gain the title of "most pro-abortion," pro-life groups say President Bush has built a solid record on life issues and deserves to be re-elected to another four years.
A number of pro-life leaders believe that voters are largely unaware of the Presidential record on life issues. In fact, some argue that, in terms of his accomplishments, George W. Bush may be the most pro-life president of the post-Roe era.
"President Bush has stood firm in his commitment to America’s families — including mothers and their unborn children," said Mary Beliveau, director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation political action committee. Pennsylvania is considered to be a key battleground state in this year’s Presidential election.
"He has advanced the culture of life more than any other president in this century. It is critical that he is re-elected so that thousands of mothers and their unborn children will have a hope and a future," Beliveau told LifeNews.com.
Pro-life leaders around the nation note that the stakes are quite high for the 2004 Presidential election. The Democratic frontrunner, Senator John Kerry, is unabashedly pro-abortion — as are all the other Democrats running for President.
The President alone has the power to nominate justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. Democratic Presidential candidates have said that they would not appoint justices who did not agree with Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion in 1973.
Therefore, President Bush is the only candidate who would nominate justices
who would be open to overturning Roe. Bush already has a record of appointing several strongly pro-life nominees to federal appeals courts, though abortion advocates in the Senate have used filibusters to block those nominations.
According to Michael Schwartz of Concerned Women for America, good judicial
nominations are one reason for re-electing Bush.
And there are other reasons, according to Schwartz. Schwartz says that Bush
has provided "outstanding pro-life leadership at the United Nations."
The Bush Administration’s representatives to the United Nations and UN meetings have consistently fought efforts to establish an international "right" to abortion.
Schwartz also credits the President for providing "great support for abstinence education" and says the President is "holding the line on cloning and (to a lesser extent) embryo-destructive experimentation."
Organizations such as National Right to Life also tout President Bush’s pro-life legislative accomplishments, including signing the ban on partial-birth abortion and the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which protects infants who survive botched abortions.
The President also helped to win U.S. House approval of pro-life measures including the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, the Child Custody Protection Act, and the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act.
In addition to backing a U.S. ban on human cloning, President Bush blocked the use of federal tax dollars for research that required the destruction of human embryos for scientific experimentation.
During his first days in office, Bush reinstated the Mexico City policy, which blocked federal tax funds from going to organizations that perform and promote abortion overseas.
Voters may also not know that the Bush Administration has proposed rule changes to allow states to make mothers and their unborn children eligible for prenatal coverage under the federal-state health insurance program for the poor.
The Bush Administration also ruled that federally controlled substances cannot be used to assist suicides. And when the decision was overturned in federal district court, his administration appealed the case.
The President also showed his support for the pro-life cause by proclaiming January 19 as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. In his proclamation, the President said, "Every child is a priority and a blessing, and I believe that all should be welcomed in life and protected by law."
Schwartz says that the President has "some key pro-life personnel in his Administration," but adds, "this area needs improvement."
Of course, no President is immune to criticism–even among those who support
his re-election.
Schwartz, for instance, notes that the National Cancer Institute has denied an established link between abortion and breast cancer. Also, the Food and Drug Administration has not yet revoked the approval of RU-486 and is considering a plan to put the so-called "morning after" pill on supermarket shelves.
Overall, however, pro-life advocates strongly support Bush’s re-election and say any of his potential Democratic opponents would take the nation back to the pro-abortion days of Bill Clinton.
"[G]iven the lock the abortion lobby has on the Democratic Party, any Democratic President would be aggressively pro-abortion," Schwartz says. "The main reason to re-elect President Bush is to keep his opponent (whoever that is) out of the Presidency."
Meanwhile, Focus on the Family has been praising President Bush for his words of support during the recent March for Life in Washington, D.C.
In an address delivered by phone, the President said he appreciated the marchers’ "devotion to such a noble cause."
He added, "Every person, however frail or vulnerable, is a blessing. Each of us has a special dignity, a place and purpose in this world. And in the Declaration of Independence, our founders stated this self-evident truth: The right to life does not come from government. It comes from the Creator of life."
David Stevens, MD, director of the Christian Medical Association, concludes, "We should thank God that we have a President who is willing to protect human life at all of its stages and to stand up in the face of intense criticism from the media and major abortion providers."
