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Special Report: Remembering President Reagan, Pro-Lifer
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U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan, whose passing on June 5, 2004 at 93 was mourned by the world, is remembered by Filipinos mainly as the president during the ‘snap elections’ of 1986. However, many of us don’t realize that he was a pro-lifer.
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Reagan wrote the essay “Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation” in 1984 to criticize the Roe versus Wade decision, on its 10th anniversary. "We cannot diminish the value of one category of human life — the unborn — without diminishing the value of all human life," he wrote. He went on to emphasize "the truth of human dignity under God" and "respect for the sacred value of human life." Because modern science has revealed the wonder of human development, and modern medicine treats "the developing human as a patient," he declared, "the real question today is not when human life begins, but, What is the value of human life?"
Reagan believed that one day, America would reaffirm "the transcendent right to life of all human beings, the right without which no other rights have any meaning."
Let’s offer prayers for the eternal repose of the soul of President Reagan, who did all he could to spare the lives of the unborn. Let’s also pray for his widow, Nancy Reagan, who has come out publicly to support fetal stem cell research. She said, mistakenly, that had it been available, her husband could have been helped from Alzheimer’s disease. However, the promise of fetal stem cell research is greatly exaggerated, and using embryos violates the sanctity of life, which Pres. Reagan tried to protect. It is believed that Pres. Reagan himself would not have agreed to promote, in his name, embryonic stem cell research. After all, he consistently opposed federal support for the destruction of innocent human life.
While the suffering of any family member, friend, or esteemed former president with Alzheimer’s is painful, we should continue to do what is ethically proper to help others afflicted with it.
(Paraphrased from former National Security Adviser William P. Clark’s article in The New York Times online at http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/11/opinion/11CLAR.html)
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