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Bush: Mother’s miscarriage shaped pro-life views

In his upcoming memoir, former President George W. Bush recalls that when he was a teen, he drove his mother to the hospital after she miscarried with her holding the fetus in a jar on her lap. Bush tells TODAY's Matt Lauer the incident shaped his pro-life presidency.

President George W. Bush will  join Matt Lauer for a live sit-down interview on TODAY on Wednesday, Nov. 10.

Former President George W. Bush’s pro-life views were shaped by an incident in his teens when he drove his mother to the hospital while she held a jar containing the remains of her miscarried fetus, he writes in a revealing memoir in which he shares personal stories, offers advice on the U.S. economy, and admits mistakes on Iraq and Katrina.

Bush writes about the miscarriage in his book, "Decision Points," publicly disclosing it for the first time after receiving permission from his mother to do so. He sat down with Matt Lauer for his first one-on-one television interview since leaving the White House.

When Barbara Bush miscarried at home, she had young George drive her to the hospital. In her lap, Barbara Bush held a jar containing the remains of the fetus, George Bush said.

“She says to her teenage kid, ‘Here's a fetus,’ ” the former president told Lauer. “No question it — that affected me — my philosophy that we should respect life.”

Recalling what he saw in the jar, Bush wrote, "There was a human life, a little brother or sister."

While the incident influenced his strong pro-life stance, Bush says it also had a big impact on his relationship with his mother.

“The purpose of the story [in the book] really wasn't to try to show the evolution or the beginning of a pro-life point of view; it was really to show how my mom and I developed a relationship.”

When asked by Lauer what he learned from the experience, Bush explained, “She trusted me … and what I learned was she's a straightforward person.”