President Bush on Tuesday in a message from the White House via satellite to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention called on Congress to approve a "comprehensive" ban on human cloning, the New York Times reports. Bush also said, "Life is a creation of God, not a commodity to be exploited by man." Although Bush did not specifically mention human embryonic stem cell research in his message, his comments were a "clear reiteration" of his policy limiting federal funding for such research, according to the Times (Kirkpatrick, New York Times, 6/16). Bush's policy, which he announced on Aug. 9, 2001, limits federally funded embryonic stem cell research to cell lines created on or before that date. However, former first lady Nancy Reagan, bipartisan groups of House and Senate members and other advocates of the research have called on Bush to ease his restrictions. Proponents of the research say it could lead to treatments or cures for diseases such as cancer, juvenile diabetes and Alzheimer's, while some opponents say it is immoral because it requires the destruction of human embryos (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 6/15). Bush in his message also was "more explicit than in some other recent appearances in his support for conservative causes," such as his opposition to abortion rights, the Times reports. He "devoted much of his speech" to the abortion issue, reiterating his support for antiabortion legislative measures, including the federal ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortion and a federal law that makes harming a fetus during the commission of a federal crime against a pregnant woman a separate crime, the Times reports. Bush also reiterated his support for parental notification abortion laws and abstinence-based sex education programs in public schools, according to the Times (New York Times, 6/16).