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CBS News
has released video
of President Bush’s remarks today as he vetoed a bill which would have
overturned his ethical stem cell guidelines thus requiring our tax dollars to
support embryo-destroying research. The President clearly explains the
fundamental moral issues involved while calling for increased funding of the
many forms of ethical stem cell research that have already begun to yield
tangible results.
NOTE:
AdvanceUSA was present for the President’s remarks at the White House.
Liberal
activists, still excited about their recent victory in depriving the people of
Massachusetts the opportunity to vote on a marriage amendment, are now going
after a 1913 law. The law specifies that Massachusetts
cannot marry people who would not be allowed to marry in their home
state. This 1913 law is all that prevents activists from spreading
gay-marriage across the country by making Massachusetts
the “Las Vegas
of gay marriage.”
“The
Court, no less than the Presidency, will be on the ballot next November, and a
wise electorate will vote accordingly.” So writes Jeffrey Toobin in the
New Yorker, and we could not agree with him more. Although Mr. Toobin
looks at the steady conservative shift on the Supreme Court with dismay, his main
point about the importance of the judges and justices presidents
appoint is correct.
This presidential prerogative should be one of the most important factors as
concerned citizens decide for whom to vote in the upcoming presidential
primaries and general election in 2008.
For more
information on the importance of federal courts check the AdvanceUSA pro-justice page.
HT: Mike
President George W. Bush vetoed
the latest embryonic stem cell funding bill on Wednesday, June 20 as he
had promised in a recent Statement of Administration Policy. The
U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill (S. 5) on June 7 by a vote of 247
to 176, a 35-vote margin which is an improvement over the 39-vote margin in
January on a very similar bill. Our friends in Congress tell us that we are
making progress on this issue so pro-lifers should be encouraged but remain
vigilant. The Senate must now decide whether to override or sustain the
President’s veto. In the Senate a veto override requires a 2/3 majority
of those present to vote.
Pro-lifers are hopeful
that the Senate will sustain the veto, but even if the veto is upheld there are
concerns that members of Congress will try to add these unethical stem cell
funding provisions to other important legislation as
Sen. Harkin has suggested.
Embryonic stem cell
research is both immoral and unnecessary.
Unfortunately many in Congress want to spend your tax dollars on it anyway.
Proponents of the measure frequently exaggerate claims about the necessity and
usefulness of embryonic stem cells, but in addition to its highly questionable
usefulness the fundamental problem is that such research destroys human lives.
For important information on stem cell research and other bioethics issues
visit the stem cell page and adult stem cell page.
To see how your senators and representative voted on this bill check the Vote Watch page.
Now that President Bush has vetoed the legislation it will soon return to the
Senate and will only come back to the House if the Senate manages to override
the veto. Pray that this bill never becomes law and that liberals in Congress
will not try to sneak this type of unethical stem cell language into other
legislation.
In another troublesome development in the fight to preserve traditional marriage, a Vermont judge has awarded visitation rights to the former lesbian partner of a Virginia mother. The biological mother renounced homosexuality and took her child to Virginia, but since she had been part of a “civil union” in Vermont, the judge awarded visitation rights to the former partner. This is compelling evidence of the unacceptability of “civil unions” and other attempts to tamper with the traditional definition of marriage.
For more information on the movement to defend marriage check the AdvanceUSA marriage page.
Here is more
information on the Judge Leslie Southwick saga from Robert Bluey on
TownHall. The left continues to oppose and Senate liberals continue to obstruct
solid judicial nominees to prevent qualified, originalist judges from reaching
the federal bench. America’s
judicial system deserves better.
Despite knowing that the Congress does not have the votes to overturn a Presidential veto of increased federal funding for embryo-destroying research, Senator Tom Harking (D-IA) still is likely to add such a stem cell provision to Senate legislation. It is a shame that when recent scientific discoveries indicate that such unethical research is unnecessary; liberals in Congress are determined to force the issue out of either misguided compassion or partisan politics.
A bill proposed by Rep. Nina Lowey (D-NY) has emerged from the House Appropriations Committee still posing a threat to important pro-life measures. The Mexico City Policy, which prohibits taxpayer dollars from funding overseas organizations which support abortion, would be overturned by the bill as it now stands. This bill should be amended to protect this provision.
Planned Parenthood (the largest abortion provider in the world) released reports that revealed that in fiscal year 2005-2006 it performed almost 265,000 abortions yet did not report even one adoption referral. Planned Parenthood is the biggest profiteer from the abortion industry, and it is outrageous that it received $305 million in tax dollars in the latest fiscal year.
At today’s constitutional convention in Massachusetts, the legislature voted 45-151 to prevent the proposed marriage amendment, which would have protected the traditional definition of marriage, from being voted on by citizens in 2008. So judges in Massachusetts can vote on the definition of marriage, but citizens can’t?
In another encouraging sign that the culture could be shifting in a pro-life direction, an organization that supports pro-abortion women candidates is experiencing fundraising problems.
The High Impact Leadership Coalition (a coalition of black religious leaders) has just released this exceptional advertisement that seeks to awaken people to the very real dangers of hate (thought) crimes legislation. Stopping “hate crimes” sounds like a noble goal but in actuality it would pose serious threats to religious freedom. Furthermore, the whole concept of hate crimes is inherently unjust and unconstitutional because if violates our cherished principle of “equal justice under law.”
Thought crimes bills are a clear and present danger to constitutional principles and religious freedom. For more information on thought crimes click here or visit AdvanceUSA’s religious freedom page.
Note: The current hate crimes bill (S. 1105) is now in the Senate, but it is unclear when the Senate will actually consider the legislation. AdvanceUSA will be watching carefully for any further developments.
Many conservatives are growing concerned with the large number of vacancies on the federal bench and the apparent slowness of the Senate to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to consider judicial nominations in a timely manner.
A troubling development is coming to light regarding religious freedom in our nation's prisons. It has been reported that religious books (including Christian texts) are being removed in mass from prison libraries across the country. While we acknowledge that convicted criminals are not entitled to the same privileges as ordinary citizens, and we understand the advisability of restricting inflammatory religious material which advocates violence, this sweeping book removal is very disconcerting for the precedent it sets for religious freedom.
Massachusetts has continually been in the forefront of the marriage debate. This Thursday a constitutional convention will be held in Massachusetts to determine if a proposed constitutional amendment to protect the traditional definition of marriage will be placed on the 2008 ballot. If 50 members of the state legislature vote in support of the amendment, the people of Massachusetts will decide what constitutes marriage in their state. Let’s hope Massachusetts will soon start taking a positive leadership role in the marriage debate.
For more information on protecting marriage check the AdvanceUSA marriage page.
The Mexico City Policy keeps taxpayer dollars from supporting overseas organizations that provide or promote abortions. Legislation in the House Appropriations Committee could render this provision worthless and allow our tax dollars to support pro-abortion groups around the world. The Mexico City Policy was originally instituted by President Reagan, discarded by President Clinton, and then reinstituted by President Bush.
For more information on these important pro-life riders check the AdvacneUSA home page.
UPDATE:
The bill proposed by Rep.
Nina Lowey (D-NY) has emerged from the House Appropriations Committee still posing a threat to important
pro-life measures. This bill should be amended to protect the Mexico
City Policy, or it will be strongly opposed by pro-life groups and concerned
citizens.
President Bush’s nominee for Surgeon General, James Holsinger, continues to undergo withering attack from radical gay groups because he once prepared a paper for the Methodist church explaining why homosexual behavior can cause serious health risks and problems. So for professionally and medically stating what is common knowledge to most, James Holsinger risks having his good name dragged through the mud by radical homosexual activists.
Equally as troubling is the homosexual lobby’s opposition to Dr. Holsinger’s religious activities with the Methodist church. As a governing member of the denomination, he upheld the biblical view of human sexuality multiple times, and the church in Kentucky he helped start helps homosexuals who wish to leave the lifestyle. According to the Constitution, there is to be no religious test for any public office.
Information on these stories was featured on the Wall Street Journal’s Best of the Web for two straight days.
Dr. Holsinger’s findings can be read here (Warning: contents are clinical and very explicit).
UPDATE:
The Family Research Council has posted this resource on the health risks of homosexuality which verifies Dr. Holsinger's findings.
South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk has said he intends to continue his unethical research abroad. Hwang had been famous for advocating embryo research and cloning by promising “miracle cures” to desperate patients. Last year Hwang was embroiled in controversy when it became clear his research team had blatantly falsified data showing they had successfully cloned a human embryo. He was subsequently fired in disgrace.
For more information on the history of the Hwang scandal and how it reflects on the overall ethics problems of human cloning research check the stem cell page.
There is encouraging news that conservative members of the Senate are willing to take a courageous stand to ensure that President Bush’s judicial nominees get a fair hearing. Let’s hope they get a fair up-or-down vote as well. With the courts as powerful as they are today, the importance of nominating and confirming qualified, originalist judges can hardly be overstated.
During the recent debate over S. 5 in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to appeal to religious sentiment by calling embryonic stem cells “a gift from God.” Somehow the deliberate destruction of innocent human life does not strike us as something God desires.
Here’s a troubling update on religious liberty in Malaysia, or the lack thereof. With the sounds of Islamic protestors outside shouting “Alah is great,” a Muslim lady was forbidden by a Malaysian court from officially registering her religion as “Christian.” This is another reminder of how we should cherish the religious liberty we still have in the United States.
The House has begun working on yearly appropriations provisions which provide liberals in Congress opportunities to assault existing pro-life federal law. One bill under consideration would overturn current pro-life provisions that require all organizations receiving federal money to promise not to promote abortion.
For more information on the important pro-life “riders” in appropriations legislation click here.
Not surprisingly, Governor Patrick has indicated that he would consider postponing the vote in the Massachusetts constitutional convention on the state’s marriage amendment in order to scrounge up enough votes to kill it. If the bill receives at least 50 votes from Massachusetts’ legislators the people of Massachusetts will be able to vote on the amendment (which would preserve the traditional definition of marriage, one man and one woman) in 2008.
Embryonic stem cell
research should be abandoned for both ethical and practical reasons. But
those determined to proceed with the research must now admit that embryonic-like
stem cells can be produced without creating or destroying
human embryos. Recent research shows that ordinary adult cells can be
coaxed into forming embryonic-like stem cells. This is exciting new
research and yet more evidence that embryo-destroying research is totally
unnecessary.
For more news and information on stem cells click here.
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