The Amazing Story of How President George H.W. Bush Became Pro-Life
Much of the world is watching as the state funeral of former President George H.W. Bush unfolds. America does a good job of honoring our nation’s highest leaders when God calls them home.
Both as Vice President and President, George H.W. Bush was strongly pro-life. But in the early days of the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan that was far from the case.
George H.W. Bush supported abortion as a candidate for president, one of the reasons Reagan prevailed. When Ronald Reagan named Bush to run on the ticket with him during the Republican Convention, there was considerable disappointment from rank and file pro-lifers.
Dr. Jack Willke, my former colleague and founder of Life Issues Institute, was then president of the National Right to Life Committee. Upon hearing the news of a Reagan/Bush ticket, he went to the hotel that served as the Republican headquarters and asked to see Mr. Bush. Instead he was introduced to Bill Casey, Reagan’s campaign manager who went on to be Director of the CIA. Jack explained the need to see Mr. Bush and Casey agreed. He was ushered into a room where it was just the two of them.
Jack stressed to Bush the need to elect Ronald Reagan, he conveyed the complication of having a running mate who supported abortion and suggested to the candidate that he brief him on the abortion issue. Mr. Bush began to share his opinion on the issue, but Jack interrupted him saying that he’d rather hear Mr. Bush’s position on abortion after the briefing.
Then Jack added, “I need four hours to thoroughly brief you.” Bush reacted with mild shock, but he pressed on. “We represent a lot of pro-life Americans. If we can tell them that you thought this issue was so important, you dedicated a substantial amount of time to be briefed, it will make a favorable impression on our people.” Bush responded, “You make a valid point. Let’s do it.”
Jack pressed even further, asking to bring in a few pro-life leaders after lunch to discuss the campaign. Bush agreed.
A few weeks later Jack was seated on the couch in Bush’s Kennebunkport, Maine home with a slide projector between them.
Using effective imagery, Jack introduced the vice-presidential candidate to the beauty of life in the womb, as well as the shocking reality of what abortion does to babies and their mothers. They also discussed key arguments for and against abortion.
At the end of their time together Jack then asked Mr. Bush where he was on abortion. Mr. Bush smiled, realizing the strategy of their time together. “I wasn’t here before, but I am now. I will support an amendment to the Constitution to forbid abortion and overturn Roe v. Wade, as a state’s rights amendment.”
Mission accomplished!
That meeting changed the course of history and many babies are alive today because of the pro-life policies of President George H.W. Bush’s administration. You can watch Dr. Willke recount this story in a brief interview here.
President Bush was good to his word.
As President, he directed his attorney general to ask the Supreme Court to overrule its pro-abortion decisions in Roe v. Wade and a later case that reaffirmed Roe’s holdings, Webster v. Reproductive Health Services.
President Bush worked to limit Title X funds from going to organizations that promote abortion and maintained the Mexico City policy, which stops U.S. taxpayer funding of the abortion industry overseas.
President Bush also used his veto pen to protect unborn babies. He vetoed an entire spending bill when congressional Democrats sought to loosen the Hyde Amendment. Overall, he lodged 10 vetoes of bills that lacked protections for the unborn.
And he issued sanctity of life proclamations annually. President Bush’s 1991 proclamation told Americans his administration “championed compassionate alternatives to abortion, such as helping women in crisis through maternity group homes, encouraging adoption, promoting abstinence education, and passing laws requiring parental notification and waiting periods for minors.”
We join the nation in mourning this good and decent man. His pro-life conversion is a lasting testimony to the power of education, the foundation on which pro-life political and legislative victories are built.
Please keep the family of President George H.W. Bush in your prayers.
Both as Vice President and President, George H.W. Bush was strongly pro-life. But in the early days of the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan that was far from the case.
George H.W. Bush supported abortion as a candidate for president, one of the reasons Reagan prevailed. When Ronald Reagan named Bush to run on the ticket with him during the Republican Convention, there was considerable disappointment from rank and file pro-lifers.
Dr. Jack Willke, my former colleague and founder of Life Issues Institute, was then president of the National Right to Life Committee. Upon hearing the news of a Reagan/Bush ticket, he went to the hotel that served as the Republican headquarters and asked to see Mr. Bush. Instead he was introduced to Bill Casey, Reagan’s campaign manager who went on to be Director of the CIA. Jack explained the need to see Mr. Bush and Casey agreed. He was ushered into a room where it was just the two of them.
Jack stressed to Bush the need to elect Ronald Reagan, he conveyed the complication of having a running mate who supported abortion and suggested to the candidate that he brief him on the abortion issue. Mr. Bush began to share his opinion on the issue, but Jack interrupted him saying that he’d rather hear Mr. Bush’s position on abortion after the briefing.
Then Jack added, “I need four hours to thoroughly brief you.” Bush reacted with mild shock, but he pressed on. “We represent a lot of pro-life Americans. If we can tell them that you thought this issue was so important, you dedicated a substantial amount of time to be briefed, it will make a favorable impression on our people.” Bush responded, “You make a valid point. Let’s do it.”
Jack pressed even further, asking to bring in a few pro-life leaders after lunch to discuss the campaign. Bush agreed.
A few weeks later Jack was seated on the couch in Bush’s Kennebunkport, Maine home with a slide projector between them.
Using effective imagery, Jack introduced the vice-presidential candidate to the beauty of life in the womb, as well as the shocking reality of what abortion does to babies and their mothers. They also discussed key arguments for and against abortion.
At the end of their time together Jack then asked Mr. Bush where he was on abortion. Mr. Bush smiled, realizing the strategy of their time together. “I wasn’t here before, but I am now. I will support an amendment to the Constitution to forbid abortion and overturn Roe v. Wade, as a state’s rights amendment.”
Mission accomplished!
That meeting changed the course of history and many babies are alive today because of the pro-life policies of President George H.W. Bush’s administration. You can watch Dr. Willke recount this story in a brief interview here.
President Bush was good to his word.
As President, he directed his attorney general to ask the Supreme Court to overrule its pro-abortion decisions in Roe v. Wade and a later case that reaffirmed Roe’s holdings, Webster v. Reproductive Health Services.
President Bush worked to limit Title X funds from going to organizations that promote abortion and maintained the Mexico City policy, which stops U.S. taxpayer funding of the abortion industry overseas.
President Bush also used his veto pen to protect unborn babies. He vetoed an entire spending bill when congressional Democrats sought to loosen the Hyde Amendment. Overall, he lodged 10 vetoes of bills that lacked protections for the unborn.
And he issued sanctity of life proclamations annually. President Bush’s 1991 proclamation told Americans his administration “championed compassionate alternatives to abortion, such as helping women in crisis through maternity group homes, encouraging adoption, promoting abstinence education, and passing laws requiring parental notification and waiting periods for minors.”
We join the nation in mourning this good and decent man. His pro-life conversion is a lasting testimony to the power of education, the foundation on which pro-life political and legislative victories are built.
Please keep the family of President George H.W. Bush in your prayers.
For the fifth year in a row, we at the Charlotte Lozier Institute are joining forces with the team at Family Research Council to examine all 2019 Obamacare health plans for individuals and families to determine which plans do NOT cover elective abortion.
Find out before you buy – and tell your friends and family:
Click on the map to find out what your state's coverage is.
Find out before you buy – and tell your friends and family:
Click on the map to find out what your state's coverage is.
Head to the Video page to check out recently added videos
Universities Block Filming of New Movie Telling the Truth About Roe v. Wade
Another Victory! Second Waste Disposal Company Quits Carhart’s Late-Term Abortion Business
Head to our RECENT NEWS page to read more about these and other important articles.
Click here for a very insightful article regarding defunding Planed Parenthood from a former Planned Parenthood worker
Click here to sign the petition to disallow 60 million of your tax dollars to go to Planned Parenthood
PRAYER FOR PEACE
Immaculate Heart of Mary
help us to conquer the menace of evil
which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today,
and whose immeasurable effects
already weigh down upon our modern world
and seem to block the paths toward the future.
From famine and war,
deliver us.
From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction,
from every kind of war,
deliver us.
From sins against human life from its very beginning,
deliver us.
From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God,
deliver us.
From every kind of injustice in the life of society,
both national and international,
deliver us.
From readiness to trample on the commandments of God,
deliver us.
From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God,
deliver us.
From the loss of awareness of good and evil,
deliver us.
From sins against the Holy Spirit,
deliver us.
Accept, O Mother of Christ,
this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings,
laden with the sufferings of whole societies.
Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer all sin:
individual sin and the "sin of the world",
sin in all of its manifestations.
Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world
the infinite saving power of the redemption:
the power of merciful love.
May it put a stop to evil.
May it transform consciences.
May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope.
Amen.
help us to conquer the menace of evil
which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today,
and whose immeasurable effects
already weigh down upon our modern world
and seem to block the paths toward the future.
From famine and war,
deliver us.
From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction,
from every kind of war,
deliver us.
From sins against human life from its very beginning,
deliver us.
From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God,
deliver us.
From every kind of injustice in the life of society,
both national and international,
deliver us.
From readiness to trample on the commandments of God,
deliver us.
From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God,
deliver us.
From the loss of awareness of good and evil,
deliver us.
From sins against the Holy Spirit,
deliver us.
Accept, O Mother of Christ,
this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings,
laden with the sufferings of whole societies.
Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer all sin:
individual sin and the "sin of the world",
sin in all of its manifestations.
Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world
the infinite saving power of the redemption:
the power of merciful love.
May it put a stop to evil.
May it transform consciences.
May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope.
Amen.
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Liferight of Watertown, Inc.
Watertown, NY 13601
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Liferight of Watertown is a non-profit organization dedicated to the sanctity of all human life, born and unborn.
Our goal is to educate the public concerning the increased erosion of legal protection for vulnerable human life, be it the unborn, the handicapped, or the elderly.
While we are not a service organization, where the need exists, we will refer those in need to agencies where they may obtain help.