President Bush Touts Abortion Decline, Calls for Human Cloning Ban 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 31, 2006
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — During his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, President Bush touted the significant decline in abortions that has been taking place and called on members of Congress to pass a comprehensive ban on all forms of human cloning.
"There are fewer abortions in America than at any point in the last three decades," President Bush said.
"These gains are evidence of a quiet transformation — a revolution of conscience, in which a rising generation is finding that a life of personal responsibility is a life of fulfillment," the president explained.
"Wise policies such as … support for abstinence and adoption have made a difference in the character of our country," Bush explained.
In fact the latest figures indicate that in many states, abortions have fallen to their lowest levels since Roe v. Wade.
Last year abortions dropped 7 percent in Tennessee and reached their lowest levels since 1977. Abortions in Georgia dropped 5 percent last year, and Minnesota’s abortion numbers are down to their lowest since 1975.
Abortions on women in Washington state are at their lowest points since the state started collecting data in 1980, and Wisconsin’s abortion totals have never been lower since 1974.
Michigan abortions decreased a whopping 11 percent in 2005 and, since 1987, there has been a 46.5 percent decrease in Michigan abortions.
Meanwhile, President Bush told Congress that advances in medical research should "not cut ethical corners" and "recognize the matchless value of every life."
"Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical
research — human cloning in all its forms," the president said.
He called on Congress to approve legislation that would prohibit "creating or implanting embryos for experiments," "creating human-animal hybrids" and "buying, selling, or patenting human embryos."
"Human life is a gift from our Creator – and that gift should never be discarded, devalued,
or put up for sale," Bush said.
The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved legislation prohibit both human cloning for reproductive as well as research purposes. However, the measure has gotten caught up in the debate over embryonic stem cell research in the Senate.
Backers of the unproven research want to keep human cloning legal for scientific experiments and have opposed allowing a vote on the bill.
