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Congressman
Paul Broun (R-GA) is one of the newest members of Congress and the latest
member to propose legislation declaring that human
life begins at conception thus threatening the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court
decision which legalized abortion on demand. Excerpt from LifeNews:
"From a medical and scientific basis, there is no doubt
that human life begins at fertilization," the lawmaker added. "My
legislation would ensure that, as a matter of law, unborn children are
correctly determined to be ‘persons’ and are provided Constitutional protections
under the 14th Amendment.”
Under his legislation, “the right to life guaranteed by the
Constitution is vested in each human being, and is the paramount and most
fundamental right of a person."
The bill is an attempt to legislatively overturn Roe v.
Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that permits abortion, and would make obtaining
an abortion "illegal or incredibly difficult," Broun's spokesman John
Kennedy said.
At yesterday evening’s Federalist Society meeting President Bush spoke on constitutional interpretation, the proper role of judges, and the over-politicization of confirmation hearings. Excerpt:
“Advocates of a more active role for judges sometimes talk of a ‘living constitution.’ In practice, a living Constitution means whatever these activists want it to mean. They forget that our Constitution lives because we respect it enough to adhere to its words.”
Here, here, Mr. President! To read a transcript of the entire speech click here.
This
article from Human Events explains the latest developments
regarding dangerous hate crimes legislation and its current status.
Excerpt:
The Massachusetts Democrat [Sen. Kennedy] smeared the
military to win votes for his “hate crimes” amendment to the National Defense
Authorization Bill for 2008. The ploy, unfortunately, worked. Sixty
senators supported his “hate crimes” amendment to the Defense Authorization
Bill, which is now in conference committee.
The Hill
newspaper reports. Excerpt:
One hundred ninety-four out of 200 House Republicans are
backing the effort to block the anticipated revival of the Fairness Doctrine,
which they believe is a tool Democrats will use to cut down on the number of
conservative radio talk shows. The Fairness Doctrine was discarded by the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during the Reagan administration in
1985. Not one Democrat has signed the petition, which requires 218 signatures
to trigger a vote.
The six Republicans who have opted not to sign Pence’s
petition are Reps. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Robin Hayes (N.C.), Timothy
Johnson (Ill.), Mike Rogers (Ala.), John McHugh (N.Y.) and Ralph Regula (Ohio).
 AdvanceUSA has learned that ENDA, after having
passing the House of Representatives recently, will likely be put on the Senate
“calendar” within a week. This means that it could be considered at any
time. However, there are about a hundred total bills on the Senate
calendar, so it is not certain that the Senate vote on ENDA is imminent.
It could even be pushed back to next year.
Be
assured AdvanceUSA will keep a watchful eye on this dangerous
legislation. For more information on ENDA click here
or here.
AdvanceUSA
had the privilege of attending a lecture last week by John West (Senior Fellow
at the Discovery Institute) at the Heritage Foundation at which he explained
the effects of scientific materialism on American culture and political
thought. In his lecture West highlighted 5 specific effects of scientific
materialism evident today.
- technocracy elevated above
democracy
- pursuit of utopianism
- dehumanization
- moral relativism
- stifling of free speech and
free debate
To hear
an audio recording of this very insightful lecture click here
or here.
For more information about this and other Heritage Foundation events click here.
 Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr. voices his concerns with a
number of issues he sees as a threat to religious freedom. Doubtless the
ENDA bill and hate crimes legislation are clear and present dangers to free
religious expression, and the movement to
resurrect the discredited “fairness doctrine” is a blatant affront to free
speech. Read Jackson’s
full
column here.
For more
information on religious freedom click here or here.
LifeNews reports. Rep.
Mike Pence (R-IN) is championing similar legislation in the House.
The
Telegraph reports that for the first time scientists
have successfully cloned monkeys. The
ability to clone primate embryos indicates that the unethical cloning of human
embryos for research is a real possibility. Once again, scientists have
shown what is possible. It is now up to mankind as a whole to demand what
is ethical. Do we believe that human lives can be used for scientific
experimentation, or do we believe science should be subservient to ethics?
As
another UK
paper, the Independent, reports:
A technical breakthrough has enabled scientists to create
for the first time dozens of cloned embryos from adult monkeys, raising the
prospect of the same procedure being used to make cloned human embryos.
For more
information on human cloning click here.
 Some couples
unable to have children naturally are choosing to adopt unwanted IVF embryos
(snowflakes). The Columbia Missourian reports on the case of Chad
and Tanya Tatro and others who chose embryo adoption because of their religious
convictions. Their stories belie the oft repeated excuse by embryonic
stem cell proponents that “leftover embryo will only be discarded if we don’t
use them for research.” Note: The graphic to the left is an actual
photograph of the Tatro’s adopted embryos. Excerpt from story:
Embryo adoption is a growing phenomenon, especially among
Christians whose faith has put them in the middle of the debates over abortion
and stem-cell research. For people like the Tatros, this relatively new,
controversial form of adoption is as much a moral issue as it is a personal
decision. Moreover, many conservative Christians are re-focusing their energy
on the culture wars in a way that emphasizes adoption and foster care as part
of a solution. Embryo adoption is an option created by the explosion of in
vitro fertilization, which often results in embryos that are subsequently
destroyed or donated to stem-cell researchers. Stoddart, the executive director
of California-based Nightlight Christian Adoptions, established Snowflakes in
1997 to give leftover frozen embryos a chance at life. A year later, the first
stem cells were extracted from a human embryo, and Stoddart said the new
science and the ethical debate it has generated have helped his business. “If
it weren’t for that, trying to get the word out would be much harder,” he said.
“Embryo adoption is more relevant when juxtaposed to the embryonic stem-cell
debate.”
Embryo
adoption raises a number of legal questions which are discussed in another
article in the Columbia Missourian.
Check out
the Snowflakes website
to find out more about this exciting program. Click here for more
information on stem cell research.
 AdvanceUSA attended a recent lecture on the Hill at
which Greg Koukl, Christian thinker and radio host, spoke about the secular
reasons to oppose same-sex (gay) marriage. Koukl made the point that
Christians must not be content to refute same-sex marriage simply theologically
but also must make substantive public policy arguments to show that protecting
traditional marriage is indeed a “compelling public interest” based on data and
plain reason. His material is well worth reading.
Koukl has
generously made his lecture notes available and our friends at Faith & Law
have kindly posted
them online. To find out about articles, audio files, and video by
Greg Koukl click here.
For more
information from AdvanceUSA on protecting traditional marriage click here or here.
 In an insightful piece entitled “Two
forces combined to blindside stem cell champions” Susan K. Livio explains
how social conservatives and fiscal conservatives united to defeat the recent
New Jersey ballot initiative that would have spent hundreds of millions of tax
dollars on unethical embryonic stem cell research. Here’s hoping the
strong union of so-cons and fiscal-cons will be maintained around the
country. Excerpt from the Star-Ledger:
With polls reporting wide support for stem cell research
and expectations that low voter turnout would help them, proponents of a $450
million bond thought they had reason to be optimistic about Tuesday's
referendum.
But these and other miscalculations helped doom the
measure, political scientists, conservatives and elected officials said
yesterday. Supporters failed to grasp an unintentional alliance of two forces:
public discontent with the state's borrowing, and the work of conservatives and
religious leaders who opposed the ballot question's passage.
Unfortunately,
as LifeNews reports, the proponents of spending tax-payers’ dollars on unethical and unproven research will
continue despite the clear demonstration of
the will of the people of New
Jersey.
A USA
Today story reports on the successes of
using adult stem cell injections to treat damaged or diseased hearts.
The article tries to downplay the progress but cannot deny that adult stem
cells have shown real benefits while unethical embryonic stem cell research
promises only theoretical benefits.
Some
scientists would have you believe that we need to experiment on human embryos
in order to study diseases and how to treat them. But as the BBC reports,
scientists in the UK
are learning about the development of a serious, commonly occurring bone cancer
which often afflicts children by studying stem cell
development in dogs.
For more
information click here.
In a
victory for religious liberty and freedom of conscience, the AP
reports:
A federal judge has suspended Washington state's requirement that
pharmacists sell "morning-after" birth control pills, a victory for
druggists who claim their moral objections to the drug are being bulldozed by
the government.
The
“morning after pill” (Plan B) can act as an abortifacients (abortion-causing
drug) and has serious unaddressed health concerns.
 Originally known as Armistice Day because it
commemorated the peaceful conclusion of “The Great War” (World War I) in 1919,
Veterans Day, as it is now known, is a time to remember those who serve and
have served in our armed services. To honor those who risked their lives
in the service of our nation, AdvanceUSA would like to share the following.
A recent
Wall Street Journal article urges Americans to show respect to our fallen
soldiers regardless of their views on particular wars. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has
posted numerous Veterans Day resources on its
website for citizens to know how and where to celebrate this important
holiday. Click
here to read President Bush’s 2007 Veterans Day Proclamation.
Take time
this weekend to thank the Lord for the men and women who selflessly served our
country and be sure to thank the veterans you know for their courage and
sacrifice. Their dedication preserved our freedom.
Accuracy
in Media warns that upcoming Senate
hearings could be a vehicle for instituting the so-called “fairness doctrine”
which would force broadcasters to give equal time to all political views.
The
Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2007 would prohibit the FCC or any future president
from reinstituting this ill-conceived policy. Upon proposing H.R. 2905, Rep.
Mike Pence (R-IN) said:
The American people love a fair fight, especially where
the issues of the day are debated. In a free market, fairness should be
determined based upon equal opportunity, not equal results. As some voices are
calling for Congress to enforce their idea of ‘fairness’ upon the American
people, it would be good for us to proceed with caution whenever some would
achieve their ‘fairness’ by limiting the freedom of others.
Congressman
Pence has also posted on his blog a helpful resource entitled “Myths
vs. Facts On the Fairness Doctrine.”
Yesterday the House passed ENDA by a vote of 235 - 184. Check the vote box below or on the Congress Vote Watch page to see how your representative voted on this dangerous legislation. An amendment proposed by Rep. George Miller (D-CA) to broaden the religious exemption for churches and other religious institutions passed, but the bill still ignores the threats to the religious freedom of regular employers. Furthermore, the underlying bill sets a dangerous precedent by elevating sexual behavior as a civil rights issue akin to race, religion, or gender. Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) had an excellent article Tuesday in Human Events which explains the serious religious freedom and litigation concerns with ENDA. Fortunately, the President has vowed to veto the legislation.
For more information on this threat to religious freedom which is also an open door to wasteful and malicious litigation, check the AdvanceUSA home page or the ENDA category at AdvanceUSA Blog.
House Vote on H.R. 3685, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (Passed)
November 7, 2007
Full Results | News Story
|
|
|
Yeas |
|
Nays |
|
PRES |
|
NV |
|
Republican |
|
35 |
|
159 |
|
— |
|
6 |
|
Democratic |
|
200 |
|
25 |
|
— |
|
8 |
|
Independent |
|
— |
|
— |
|
— |
|
— |
|
TOTALS |
|
235 |
|
184 |
|
— |
|
14 |
| | |