President Bush Delivers Powerful Pro-Life Speech at Concordia University

MEQUON, WI, May 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Speaking to graduates at Concordia University Saturday, U.S. President George Bush delivered a powerful pro-life message, saying, “Our greatest failures as a nation have come when we lost sight of our compassionate ideals—in slavery, in segregation, and in every wrong that has denied the value and dignity of life.”  The president pleaded, “America needs your good heart in meeting a basic responsibility: to protect and honor life in all its seasons. A compassionate society shows a special concern for those at the beginning of life, those at the end of life, and those who struggle in life with disabilities.”  To lively applause the President said, “Our worth as human beings does not depend on our health, or productivity, or independence, or any other shifting value the world might apply. Our worth comes from bearing the image of our Maker.”  In obvious references to euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research, the President said, “This commitment to the value of every life also challenges our society. Technologies that have extended life also make treatment decisions harder at the end of life. New methods of research hold promise in treating disease. These innovations show the resourcefulness of humanity, and they must be guided by all the wisdom of humanity. Our standards must be high, and clear, and fixed. Life is not just a tool, or a commodity, or a means to other ends. Nothing good or just can be built on the destruction or suffering of others.”  The President reminded the graduates that “Our Declaration of Independence calls life an endowment of the Creator, and on earth, an unalienable right.” He encouraged them saying, “By your voice, and by your example, all of you can help to build a culture of life in America.”  See the President’s full address:  https://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/05/20040514-4.html