Bush calls for 'culture of life' in State of the Union address

Published: 2005-02-03

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In his Feb. 2 State of the Union address focusing on changes in Social Security, peace in the Middle East and securing democracy for Iraq, President George W. Bush also spoke of the need for society to "build a culture of life." He said a society is "measured by how it treats the weak and vulnerable" and that medical research can help societies reach that goal by "developing treatments and cures that save lives and help people overcome disabilities." Speaking to a joint session of Congress gathered in the House chamber for slightly less than an hour, Bush stressed that to build a culture of life "we must also ensure that scientific advances always serve human dignity, not take advantage of some lives for the benefit of others." The president, in the first State of the Union address of his second term in office, said he planned to work with Congress "to ensure that human embryos are not created for experimentation or grown for body parts, and that human life is never bought and sold as a commodity."

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