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Several pro-life amendments have been proposed to the Labor/Health and Human Services
appropriations bill in the House of Representatives.
- AdvanceUSA
blog reported
on the important
amendment proposed by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), a staunch pro-life
ally, and Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) which brings the funding of the National Cord
Blood Inventory program to the full $15 million originally allocated for the
program. AdvanceUSA is happy to report that this amendment passed in
committee by a voice vote. Under the original bill the program would have
been drastically under-funded so Congressmen Smith and Davis deserve great
credit for supporting this promising and ethical medical program.
- Rep. Mike
Pence (R-IN) has proposed an amendment which would prevent tax dollars under
Title X (family planning provisions in U.S. law) from going to Planned
Parenthood or any of its affiliates. As recently mentioned
on this blog, Planned Parenthood is a major force for the evil of abortion
in our nation, and any effort to prevent tax-payer dollars from supporting it
should be applauded.
- Rep. Phil
Gingrey (R-GA) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) proposed an amendment which forbids
any of the funds relating to the Labor/HHS bill from being used to enforce mandatory
HPV vaccinations, and it was approved by voice vote yesterday. The
concern is that when state governments force parents to vaccinate their
children for a malady that is spread by sexual content it usurps parental
control over their children’s health care and could undermine parental teaching
on sexual activity.
- Rep. Jean
Schmidt (R-OH) proposed an amendment which would have denied funds for
recipients of Title X money if they do not abide by state reporting
requirements in regard to child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape,
or incest. There have been numerous cases of alleged abuse coverup by
Planned Parenthood (also see here
and here*),
and efforts to bring real accountability to this organization are
commendable. Unfortunately, the Schmidt amendment was ruled “non-germane”
and was subsequently withdrawn.
* A story
archived at the Cincinnati Enquirer’s website entitled “Planned Parenthood
looked the other way, Mason rape victim says” by Peter Bronson also chronicles
another outrageous Planned Parenthood alleged coverup in Ohio. This article is not free but can
be purchased at Cincinnati.com.
UPDATE: Unfortunately the Pence
amendment to prevent federal funds from supporting Planned Parenthood failed
last night by a vote of 189-231. To see how your representative voted on this
important pro-life amendment click
here.
Yesterday Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking
member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, took to the Senate floor to defend
the nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick to be an appellate judge on the 5th
Circuit Court. Southwick is an excellent
choice whom radical liberal groups have been seeking to vilify without
cause. In this age of judicial activism
it is crucial that qualified, originalist nominees like Southwick make it to
the federal bench. Below is an excerpt
of Senator Specter’s statements in defense of Southwick, followed by his full
statement.
“This man has an impeccable
record, an outstanding record, with 985 authored opinions. The two
opinions that have been called into question are opinions which he didn't
write, but merely joined, on matters which -- while they might have been
articulated differently, might have been more sensitive -- certainly are not
disqualifiers. This man ought to be confirmed.”
Below is a copy of Senator Specter’s floor
statement:
Mr. President, as stated a moment ago, I have sought
recognition to speak about the nomination of a Mississippi appellate court
judge, Leslie H. Southwick, to be Federal Court for the Fifth Circuit Court of
Appeals. I have asked for this time because Judge Southwick has been
before the Judiciary Committee on several occasions and, because there is not
much known about his record, there have been certain objections raised.
As I have talked to our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, when they hear
about his record, they are surprised that he is not moving through
expeditiously. I thought it would be important to take a few moments to
acquaint Senators with his record and, beyond that, to acquaint the public with
the pending nomination.
While
acknowledging the serious health and pro-life concerns over the drug’s
availability, the Washington Post reports
on the growing use of Plan B (the “morning after pill”) since it was
approved for over-the-counter purchase last year.
For more
information on Plan B check the AdvanceUSA pro-life page.
A mere
$15 million has been budgeted for the National Cord Blood Inventory program,
but the current Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill only
designates $4 million for this crucial stem cell banking system. Rep.
Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) have proposed a bipartisan
amendment to bring the cord blood banking funding to its full level. The House will likely vote on this
important amendment this week.
Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells which have
already been used in treating
a number of ailments and show great promise for future research, and, unlike
embryonic stem cell research (which
requires killing human embryos), cord blood has shown these results without the
ethical controversy.
For more
information on exciting adult stem cell developments click here.
 In a
blatant display of judicial activism, the 2nd Circuit Court of
Appeals recently ruled that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could
not intervene in cases of “fleeting instances” of indecent words or images over
the broadcast airwaves. This ruling, in effect, makes last year’s penalty
increase passed by Congress totally ineffective. Senator Sam Brownback
(R-KS) recently proposed an amendment to the Financial Services and General
Government Appropriations bill to give the FCC authority to enforce indecency
regulations even for “single word[s] or image[s].” The amendment was
defeated in committee, but thankfully Senators Rockefeller (D-WV) and Pryor
(D-AR) have introduced
the same legislation as a separate bill (S. 1780).
It is crucial that this bill be passed before the oral arguments begin in the
notorious “Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction” court case so that the FCC has
solid guidelines with which to defend its intervention in that perfect example
of “fleeting indecency.”
Senators
should be aware that “a vote against S. 1780 is a
vote for airing the f-word and s-word [and indecent images] at any time of day
on broadcast airwaves.” AdvanceUSA applauds the efforts of Senators
Brownback, Rockefeller, and Pryor to protect
the publicly owned airwaves from being used to broadcast indecency
during hours when children are watching.
A court in Pennsylvania has awarded custody of two children to three parents. The mother, her lesbian partner, and the sperm-donor father were all awarded custody rights of “Co. J” and “Ca. J” (only abbreviations of the children’s names were used in the court document to protect their identities) and are required to pay child support.
Concerned citizens should remember that “if marriage (family) means everything, marriage (family) means nothing.”
For more news and information on the battle to preserve traditional marriage click here.
Do you want your tax dollars to fund China’s forced abortion and sterilization policies? The Senate’s “State, Foreign Operations Appropriations” bill, as currently written, would not include the important Kemp-Kasten provision which prohibits U.S. funds from supporting an organization that “supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.” In fact the legislation was intentionally changed in order to allow federal funds to go to groups such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) which is directly involved in helping to enforce China’s brutal one-child policy.
For more information on this and other important pro-life riders click here.
Louisiana has become the first state to ban the gory and medically unnecessary partial-birth abortion procedure. It is encouraging to see a state legislature emboldened after the recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the constitutionality of partial-birth abortion bans. "This places a statute in law that gives Louisiana the right to prosecute and not wait on a federal prosecutor," said the state senator who sponsored the ban. Hopefully more states will follow Louisiana’s example and help cultivate a “culture of life” across the country.
For more information on partial-birth abortion check the information on the AdvanceUSA pro-life page or home page.
Do you think
the federal government should be able to prosecute people for their
beliefs? Do you think some citizens should receive more legal protection than
others? All these things could happen if the Senate passes S. 1105, the
hate (thought) crimes bill. Senators Kennedy (D-MA) and Smith (R-OR) have
proposed adding this
legislation to the Defense Reauthorization bill (H.R. 1585, currently being
debated) as Amendment 2067.
Besides
the important “equal justice” concerns, there is reason to believe that hate
crimes laws such as S. 1105 could infringe on our cherished rights of
religious freedom as similar laws have been used to prosecute Christians for
proclaiming a Biblical perspective on homosexuality.
Call both your
senators today and urge them to vote “No” on Amendment 2067!
For more
information on hate crimes and this particular bill, check the hate crime
material on the AdvanceUSA home
page.
The Creation Museum
(just outside Cincinnati, OH
in Petersburg, KY) seeks to bring the pages of the Bible to
life while highlighting the scientific evidence that supports the biblical
account of creation and the flood. The museum and the Answers in Genesis
resource materials also link the principles and divine directives in Genesis to
certain public policy issues including marriage and the sanctity of life.
Recently, Josh Scheiderer, AdvanceUSA’s policy director, and his family
had the opportunity to visit the museum, meet Ken Ham (President/CEO of Answers
in Genesis) and even be
mentioned in Mr.
Ham’s blog.
For more
information on this fabulous resource and family-friendly facility check the Creation
Museum website.
Theravitae,
a biotechnology company working in adult stem cell research, was recently awarded the title
“Biotechnology Company of the Year” for its innovative work in regenerative
heart medicine. Despite what the mainstream news media would have us
believe, adult stem cell research offers the most promise for successful
regenerative therapies.
At the
award ceremony the President of Therivitae offered these important words:
"We are honored to be a recipient of this prestigious
award and we carry the responsibility to further help the progress of
discoveries within the regenerative medicine field. Our industry is on the
verge of redefining conventional healthcare through the miracles of adult stem
cells and their remarkable ability to facilitate the regeneration of personal
health. Despite the constant questionable claims of those in the embryonic
lobby, it is adult stem cells which will be the first to successfully treat
diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimers - embryonic stem cell therapies lag not by
months, but by years, if not decades!"
For more
information on the exciting developments in ethical adult stem cell research click here.
In this
piece Jonathan Adler examines our current Supreme Court and asks the question,
“How
conservative is this Court?” Adler notes the “minimalist”
conservative approach by the new justices but counters the argument that there
is conservative legal revolution since Justice Kennedy effectively holds sway
as the swing vote in contentious cases.
“Follow
the Money”
Jennifer
Roback Morse, Ph.D. looks at one seldom-mentioned motivation for unethical stem
cell research that destroys human embryos; the money. She explains how some
proponents of embryonic stem cell research and cloning are more
interested in government subsidies rather
than treating illness or saving lives.
Exploiting
Poor Women
This blog
post by Nancy Reyes highlights the potential for the dangerous
exploitation of poor women to obtain the necessary human eggs to conduct
unethical forms of stem cell research. Egg harvesting is already big
business on many college campuses, but unfortunately the serious health risks
involved with the procedure are seldom mentioned. If proponents of
unethical stem cell research succeed in expanding this research, impoverished
women in third-world countries could be likely health victims.
More
Good News from Adult Stem Cells!
Ending on
a happy note, LifeNews reports on two encouraging developments for sufferers of
heart disease and amyloidosis. New research suggests that adult stem cells could be used to
treat these dangerous maladies.
 For more
information on these important issues check the AdvanceUSA stem cell, adult stem cell, or human cloning
pages.
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