Washington, DC — An Illinois trial court enjoined the enforcement of a draconian rule intended to force individual pharmacists and pharmacies to fill prescriptions for so-called “emergency contraception” in direct violation of federal law, the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act, and the conscience rights of targeted pharmacists and pharmacies.

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, CEO & President of Americans United for Life, responded, “As our nation debates health care reform, it is critical that we reach the same conclusion as the Illinois court:  real health care reform respects conscience.  Protecting the conscience rights of all health care providers is critical to the continuing viability and safety of our health care system.”

Denise Burke, AUL Vice President of Legal Affairs added, “Protecting conscience helps to ensure that providers enter and remain in the health care professions, helping to meet the rising demand for quality care.  On the other hand, failing to protect conscience will most certainly compromise basic health care for the entire nation.”

The case, Morr-Fitz v. Quinn, involves a constitutional challenge to a 2005 Executive Order signed by then-Governor Rod Blagojevich mandating that all prescriptions for Plan B or so-called “emergency contraception” be filled “without delay” and, consequentially, without regard to the conscience objections of individual pharmacists or pharmacies.  In December 2008, the Illinois Supreme Court reinstated the case, overturning the decisions of two lower courts to dismiss it, and returned the case to the circuit court in Springfield which entered an injunction against the enforcement of the Order on August 21, 2009.

AUL provided legal support to the plaintiff-pharmacists and pharmacies from the initiation of this case, most recently filing an amicus brief before the Illinois Supreme Court on behalf of American Association of Pro Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists, the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, the Catholic Medical Association, and other medical groups. The brief argued that the Plaintiffs’ rights of conscience — specifically their rights to decline to dispense prescriptions in violation of their consciences — are guaranteed under both federal and Illinois law.

AUL’s brief is available at http://www.aul.org/xm_client/client_documents/briefs/Morr-FitzvBlagILontheMerits.pdf

Media Contact
Heather Smith
202-270-9962
heather.smith@aul.org
##

Washington, DC — This week a federal district court in South Dakota affirmed that a woman has a right to know that an abortion “terminates the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being.”

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President & CEO of Americans United for Life, stated, “This is a victory for women and their right to complete and accurate medical information when considering abortion.  Fully informed consent is a bedrock principle of medical care and this principle is especially applicable to abortion.  As the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized, an uninformed decision about abortion can lead to devastating consequences.”

Denise Burke, AUL Vice President of Legal Affairs added, “That Planned Parenthood even challenged this law speaks volumes about their radical and self-serving agenda.  Clearly, they do not want women to have all the information about abortion because they know that the more women know about abortion, the more they choose life.”

The case, Planned Parenthood v. Rounds, involves a challenge to a 2005 South Dakota law that supplemented the state’s long-standing informed consent law.  The court struck down requirements that a woman be informed that abortion increases the likelihood of suicide and that she has an “existing relationship” with the unborn child.  Parties to the suit have indicated that they will appeal.

Media Contact
Heather Smith
202-270-9962
heather.smith@aul.org
##

We’ve got inside information: Yesterday a media-relations executive from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, giving a talk here in Washington on Planned Parenthood’s health care reform strategy, made a comment that revealed the impact we’ve been making in thwarting the abortion industry’s agenda. She lamented that because the “anti-choice” movement — meaning pro-lifers like you and me — had attracted so much attention to her organization’s efforts to mandate abortion funding in health care reform, Planned Parenthood was being forced onto the defensive.

Bad news for abortion advocates is great news for champions of life! But Planned Parenthood has an extremely well-financed public-relations department. Planned Parenthood — enabled by the more than 350 million of your tax dollars each year — and its president, Cecile Richards, don’t stay on the defensive for long.

Perfect example: Planned Parenthood’s spin machine has issued a “Reality Check,” attacking what Richards says are “myths” spread by pro-lifers — and twisting the truth so much it made my head feel like it was in a spin machine. I showed it to our legal team, and they responded with some masterful mythbusting of their own. Here’s their take on the abortion industry’s three biggest myths about health care reform:

• MYTH: Pro-life groups want to strip reproductive health from health care reform.

Reality: Pro-life groups want to protect women’s reproductive health. And we do not want to deny women insurance coverage. However AUL, along with the vast majority of Americans, believes that “Real health care respects life!” No matter what Planned Parenthood says, abortion does not equal reproductive health. And health coverage should not include the destruction of unborn children. Furthermore, no one should be forced to violate their conscience by performing, referring for, paying for, or providing coverage for abortion. And make no mistake, that’s what the bills under consideration would do.

• MYTH: The health care reform bills before Congress will not change the “status quo” regarding insurance coverage of abortion.

Reality: An amendment added to H.R. 3200 permits the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to include abortion in the public health insurance plan, and requires abortion coverage if the Hyde amendment is ever reversed. The current Secretary of HHS, Kathleen Sebelius, is staunchly pro-abortion and would certainly include abortion, allowing for immediate federal funding of elective abortion coverage. The provision also requires that all areas of the country contain one private plan that covers abortion and permits taxpayer funding of private plans that cover elective abortion.

The Senate HELP bill delegates to a “Medical Advisory Committee” the role of deciding what benefits any private or public health care plan must offer. This Committee is expected to include abortion as a required minimum benefit. Further, based on court precedent, private plans would be forced by the government to include coverage of abortion — this is a drastic change from the status quo in which private plans may elect to cover abortion and individuals may choose whether or not to purchase health insurance that offers coverage of abortion. Ironically, “pro-choice” activists are trying to take consumer choice out of health care.

• MYTH: The health care reform bills before Congress do not mandate abortion coverage.

Reality: Both H.R. 3200 and the Senate HELP bill mandate abortion in several ways:

1. an amendment to H.R. 3200 permits and may require abortion coverage in the public health insurance plan, and permits taxpayer funding of private plans that cover elective abortion;
2. prior court holdings which state that abortion is included within several of Medicaid’s mandatory categories of care (inpatient services, outpatient services, and preventative care) will certainly apply to any federal statute revising Medicaid and involving health care reform, and;
3. the rejection of several key pro-life amendments in the House and Senate Committees, where the inclusion would have ensured that abortion was not funded in the bills, demonstrates that the bills are intended to mandate abortion.

If you’re trying to sort out the myths from facts on health care reform, the best place to start is AUL Action’s RealHealthCareRespectsLife.com. The site features in-depth analysis from our legal team, showing how the health care reform plans currently under consideration by Congress would mandate abortion coverage, strip providers of their rights of conscience, and threaten the ill and elderly with denial of care. Also, if you’re going to a town hall meeting this month, download our special town-hall flyer and distribute it to show your friends and neighbors to show that Real Health Care Respects Life.

Thank you for joining me in working to protect and defend life!

Yours For Life, Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D. President & CEO

AUL Senior Counsel William Saunders Addresses World Congress of Families This week in Amsterdam, AUL Senior Counsel William Saunders is among the distinguished speakers addressing the World Congress of Families, the preeminent gathering of individuals and organizations from around the world who promote the natural family. Watch the proceedings on the WCF’s Web site.

We’re All A-Twitter at the White House If you follow AUL on Twitter, then you received on-the-spot updates from the East Room of the White House yesterday as AUL Senior Fellow Dawn Eden attended the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony. Sign up for our Twitter feed to get the latest pro-life news as it happens.

Learn How Obama Is Imposing FOCA by Stealth When the outcry of pro-lifers — including the more than 700,000 who signed AUL Action’s “Fight FOCA” petition — made it inexpedient for Obama to fulfill his vow to Planned Parenthood to sign the Freedom of Choice act, his administration changed tactics. Read our new FOCA by Stealth Timeline to see how the White House is systematically working behind the scenes to implement the goals of FOCA, which include removing all regulations on abortion.

It’s nearly Independence Day, and, here in the Yoest household, that means a road trip! Friday afternoon, Jack and I are filling up our black Suburban and taking our ‘Penta-posse’ — our five kids — to Charlottesville, VA, for our 14-year-old son John’s all-star baseball tournament. How wonderful to spend July 4th in a city steeped in American history near the University of Virginia (my alma mater!), which was founded by Thomas Jefferson just a few miles from his Monticello home.

John Yoest, age 14

But although the calendar — and the heat index — says it’s July 4, in my heart it feels like late November.

Independence Day has always been a kind of early Thanksgiving for me. I think about the sacrifices made by the Founding Fathers and their families, and of the blood shed by patriots so that America could be free, and I am so very thankful to be able to raise my children in the greatest country in the world.

The Founders wrote in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

In naming three inalienable rights as endowed by humanity’s Creator, the Declaration’s authors were recognizing something unique and beautiful about being human. Taken together, those rights enable all the goods necessary for human flourishing.

More than that, the order in which the Founders listed the rights carries special meaning; it reveals the way one right flows from another. The right to liberty — the freedom to thrive — flows from the right to life, and from that liberty flows the ability to seek the happiness that will give one’s life meaning and purpose.

I’m so honored to be working with the AUL team to further the understanding that the right to life enshrined in our Declaration extends to all humanity and includes the unborn.

The right to life is the foundation of all the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. This is what we must teach our children on this family holiday, so that they and their children and their children’s children may continue to live in a free country long after you and I have left this world.

Jack, Helena, Hannah, Charmaine, John, James, and Sarah at Hannah’s recent Sweet Sixteen celebration.

My friend and AUL colleague Bob told me today about a wonderful Fourth of July tradition in his family. Every year, he and his wife host a barbecue that is highlighted by having one of the children present, usually his own daughter, read out loud the entire Declaration of Independence.

Jack and I like that idea so much that we are adopting this as a Yoest family tradition. I think we’ll have Helena, our 12-year-old who has a dramatic flair, read the Declaration of Independence before we watch the fireworks after John’s baseball game. If you’d like join us in that tradition, click here for a printable copy of the Declaration.

Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy Fourth,

Charmaine, and the Yoest family

P.S. On Monday, the AUL team will be back at the job of defending the right to life, all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. For the latest news on President Obama’s high-court nominee, visit Sotomayor411.com. It’s a one-stop resource we’ve created to share in-depth background and analysis from our legal team on Judge Sotomayor, including detailed information on why she is worse on life issues than retiring Justice David Souter.

Thanks to your support, this past week saw AUL at the center of two national news stories, including an outstanding victory for life.

• The Associated Press, CBS News, and dozens of other media outlets across the country spotlighted Sotomayor411.com — our one-stop resource for background on Judge Sotomayor’s record on our life issues — and our campaign showing she would be “Worse than Souter.”
• In a case that featured heavy AUL involvement, the Fourth Circuit upheld Virginia’s partial-birth infanticide law. What’s more, the arguments our legal team presented to the court featured prominently in its decision.

These and other AUL success stories testify to the power of our pro-life advocacy to influence minds and hearts.

But we must reach higher.

With the Sotomayor confirmation hearings set to begin on July 13, we need “all hands on deck” to show the Senate and the nation that Judge Sotomayor’s radical record — including her longtime participation in a pro-abortion advocacy group — makes her unfit for the highest court in the land.

AUL is not only America’s oldest national nonprofit working exclusively to promote life. We also have the largest and most experienced team of pro-life attorneys working to defend life in law.

We have already been meeting on Capitol Hill with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to brief them on Judge Sotomayor’s agenda and urge them to ask her the tough questions.

But to do that takes long hours of legal research and lots of legwork on Capitol Hill.

That’s why I’m asking you to stand with us. Our fiscal year ends on June 30, and we must close strong. Over the last few months we’ve been able to hire new attorneys – Bill Saunders, a Harvard-trained expert in life issues, and Mary Harned, former Chief Counsel on the Judiciary Committee to Senator Tom Coburn – and we plan to bring in even more expertise to keep the focus on life in these challenging times.

We only have 48 hours left before we close out our books for the year. We need your support now to make sure Congress hears your opinions about Judge Sotomayor! Join our support team today. By acting before midnight, Tuesday, June 30, you further enable us for the confirmation battle which begins just two weeks from today.

When U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, a pro-life Republican from South Carolina, asked Judge Sotomayor if she believed the unborn had any rights whatsoever, she told him she had “never thought about it.” We need to get the Senate Judiciary Committee to think about the consequences of confirming a Supreme Court justice whose radical record shows she would vote to overturn all legal protections for the unborn.

Will you join us? Make your donation today and be part of this historic effort to protect and defend the hard-won victories of the pro-life movement.

Thank you for supporting our work and and standing with us For Life!

Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D.
President & CEO
Americans United for Life

P.S.  If Judge Sotomayor makes it to the U.S. Supreme Court, she will have the power to read a fundamental right to abortion into the Constitution. Send your donation by midnight tomorrow, June 30, and help us make sure the Senate Judiciary Committee calls her to account for her radical record.

Americans United for Life (AUL), a national public interest law and policy organization defending human life through vigorous legislative, judicial, and educational efforts, seeks highly-qualified and motivated law student to serve as research assistant to AUL’s Senior Counsel.  The position is unpaid and may be undertaken for credit (as approved by the law school involved) or to fulfill other graduation requirements.
 
Qualifications
• Excellent legal research and writing skills.
• Demonstrated initiative and attention to detail.
• Ability to work with minimal direct supervision. Candidates are not required to be in the Chicago area, but must be available by telephone and email.

Duties & Responsibilities
• Provide research and other assistance to AUL’s Senior Counsel in the development of book projects on the impact of legalized abortion.
• Research, draft, and edit articles for law reviews, national magazines, and websites on life issues.

To Apply
• Send a resume, writing sample, and list of three references to Resumes@AUL.org with “2009 Summer Research Assistant” in subject line
• For more information, email Resumes@AUL.org or call 312-568-4700.
• Deadline:  Until the position is filled.

In today’s Human Events

Despite his talk of economic hardship, President Obama has been on an ideological spending spree — expanding government, increasing taxes, and doubling the national debt. New money pits are dug daily. Consider Obama’s commitment to government controlled health care and the possible nationalization of banks. But little discussed has been the financial ramifications of taxpayer-funded human embryonic stem cell research.

The morality of such life-destroying science aside, it is a prime example of pork barrel spending as it funds the kind of stem cell research that has the least chance of leading to real therapies for real patients. While it’s “only” a billion dollars so far — chump change, perhaps, out of a $3 trillion budget — at a time of fiscal crisis, it’s an “investment” in failure.

Continue Reading at Human Events

Americans United for Life proudly announces its 2009 Fellows:
 
            *  Richard Lender is a second year law student at the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University.  Richard holds degrees in political science, history and theology.  He has studied abroad in both New Zealand and Poland and has completed legal internships with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the National Association of Broadcasters.
 
            *  Patrick Nagorski is a second year law student at Ave Maria School of Law and a commissioned reserve officer in the U.S. Army.  He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame.  He is currently interning with the Honorable Annette Berry, a Circuit Court judge in Michigan.
 
The AUL Fellowship Program provides a prestigious summer fellowship for first and second-year law students, training and educating the next generation of pro-life leaders.  Each year, the program identifies future leaders through a competitive application process, deepening their commitment to life and equipping them with legal and policy experience to prepare them for future leadership roles in the pro-life movement.

Today the biotech company Geron will make an unprecedented announcement: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to allow the company to conduct human trials utilizing human embryonic stem cells.

Ironically (or perhaps not), the FDA’s decision came right after President Obama’s inauguration.  It is just one of the many steps planned by the new administration to tear down the walls protecting human life.

Geron plans to conduct its trial on 8 to 10 people with spinal cord injuries.  The embryonic stem cells will be injected into the spinal cord at the injury site.  Geron has emphasized that the focus of this first trial will be safety (rather than efficacy), but it’s difficult to see how Geron can “safely” protect patients from the disastrous effects embryonic stem cells have had in mice, as well as the devastating results we have seen in the use of more advanced fetal stem cells in human trials.

For example, in animal testing, embryonic stem cells cause a significant number of recipients to develop tumors.  Using more developed fetal stem cells, a 52-year-old man died when the cells implanted in his brain became hair, cartilage, and connective tissue.  In another case, a group of patients with neural degenerative diseases with violent, uncontrollable shaking received fetal cell transplants into their brains.  Rather than improving, 15-25 percent developed severe dyskinesia (worse shaking than they had before).  This failure of more specialized fetal cells is an indicator of how much more difficult it likely will be to get less specialized embryonic stem cells to work.

Furthermore, as we report in Defending Life:

One of the inherent problems in using embryonic stem cells in therapies is the problem of transplantation.  If a transplanted cell’s DNA is even minorly different from the person’s being treated, the body usually sees those cells as an invader and kills them off-much like what happens when whole-organ transplants are rejected due to an immune system response.  Without the use of drugs to depress the patient’s immune system, transplanted tissue generally doesn’t survive but a few hours or days.

– Daniel McConchie, “Working for Cures, Not Clones,” Defending Life, available at http://www.aul.org/Cures_Not_Clones.

Even other researchers in the industry are skeptical of the safety and effectiveness of Geron’s first trial.  See Andrew Pollack, “F.D.A. Approves a Stem Cell Trial,” New York Times (Jan. 23, 2009), available at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/business/23stem.html.

The lack of success in animal trials, the lack of success in human trials using more advanced fetal cells, and the skepticism of researchers in the field beg the question: Why, in this time of economic trouble, is the FDA allowing clinical research that is dangerous and ineffective?  All the while, more prominent research using adult stem cells-which has already helped human patients with over 70 different conditions and diseases-remains underfunded and underutilized.

Perhaps the answer lies in the timing of the decision — on the inauguration of the most pro-abortion President in U.S. history.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chicago, Illinois — Americans United for Life (AUL) today released its sixth annual ranking of the most and least pro-life states.  Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and South Dakota top the ranking, while California, Hawaii, and Vermont ranked lowest.

“AUL’s annual ranking highlights the significant progress we are making each year toward a more pro-life America,” said Dr. Charmaine Yoest, AUL President & CEO.  “There is every reason for optimism even in the face of new challenges.  Since the election, we have seen a huge outpouring of grassroots support for our work opposing the radically pro-abortion Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) as well as hundreds of inquiries about life-affirming legislation.”

While AUL’s criteria covers states’ treatment of all life issues, final rankings depend largely on each state’s enactment of prudent and well-supported laws.  Such laws fence in the abortion license granted by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade.  Among the laws AUL looks for are informed consent, parental involvement for minors, medically-supported regulation of abortion providers, and limitations on the use of taxpayer dollars for abortion.

“We are making progress — state by state and law by law — to build a culture of life in America,” said Denise Burke, AUL’s Vice President of Legal Affairs.  “In states that have passed common-sense limitations on abortion, abortion rates have declined by nearly 20% over the past 10 years.  These laws also underscore the growing and irrefutable evidence of the negative impact of abortion on women.”

The complete state rankings are available at http://dl.aul.org/your-state and will be featured in the soon-to-be-released Defending Life 2009.

About Defending Life 2009
AUL’s annual publication, Defending Life 2009: Proven Strategies for a Pro-Life America, is the definitive legal guide to abortion, bioethics, healthcare freedom of conscience, and the end of life.  Cutting through the murky cloud of media chatter and controversy, Defending Life provides comprehensive, timely, and thought-provoking information to anyone who wants to understand key pro-life issues and utilize proven strategies to address them.

America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father’s role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts — a child — as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically-dependent sons and daughters. And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being’s entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign.

– Mother Teresa

Americans United for Life Applauds Illinois Supreme Court Decision Supporting Constitutional Rights of Pharmacists

Chicago, Illinois — Americans United for Life (AUL) applauds today’s Illinois Supreme Court ruling in Morr-Fitz v. Blagojevich that individual pharmacists and pharmacy owners do have legal standing to challenge a rule requiring them to dispense Plan B, which abortion activists call “emergency contraception,” regardless of their religious, moral, or conscientious beliefs.

The rule was originally forced upon the pharmacists and pharmacies by a 2005 emergency order of Governor Rod Blagojevich, who stated in no uncertain terms that pharmacists should either dispense the controversial drug or leave the profession. Two lower courts had previously ruled that the plaintiff-pharmacists and pharmacies did not have legal standing to challenge the rule.

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, AUL President and CEO, stated, “This is a huge victory for the freedom of conscience of all healthcare providers. Pharmacists now have proper recourse against a discriminatory law that would force them to check their constitutional rights at the workplace door.”

Mailee Smith, AUL Staff Counsel, noted, “Finally, an Illinois court got it right. If pharmacists and pharmacy owners don’t have standing to challenge a rule that unfairly targets them, who does? People should have legal recourse when the state attempts to circumvent and even eliminate their constitutional rights.”

AUL provided legal support to the Plaintiffs from the initiation of the case, most recently filing an amicus brief before the Illinois Supreme Court on behalf of American Association of Pro Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists, the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, the Catholic Medical Association, and other medical groups. The brief argued that the Plaintiffs’ rights of conscience — specifically their rights to decline to dispense prescriptions in violation of their consciences — are guaranteed under both federal and state law.

AUL’s brief is available at http://tinyurl.com/aulmorrfitz

Americans United for Life Applauds Adoption of HHS Rule Protecting Freedom of Conscience,
Urges Vigilance in Protecting Both Providers and Healthcare Access

Washington, DC — Americans United for Life (AUL) praises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for today adopting new rules protecting the freedom of conscience of American healthcare providers.

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, AUL President and CEO, “These new rules protects healthcare providers, allowing them to practice medicine in accord with their professional and personal ethics, and reaffirms the founding principles of this nation, particularly the right to be free from coercion of action or conscience.”

The new rules require recipients of federal funding through HHS to certify that they are complying with existing federal laws that protect healthcare providers from coercion, discrimination, or negative job consequences for refusing to participate in certain conflict-ridden procedures such as abortion.

Denise Burke, AUL Vice President of Legal Affairs, added, “Comprehensive conscience protections and proper enforcement of existing federal and state laws will help mitigate the current medical crisis in our country, especially the shortage of qualified providers. We urge state lawmakers to follow the example of HHS in ensuring both protection for conscience and access to healthcare services.”

In September 2008, AUL submitted written comments to HHS in support of the new rule. Those comments are available at http://www.aul.org/hhsroc

Yale Law Students for Life are hosting two events featuring AUL’s own Clarke Forsythe: a debate on reproductive technology Thursday (tonight!) at 7pm, and a career/book lunch Friday at noon.

Embryo Economy: Regulating Egg Donation and In Vitro Fertilization
Date: Thursday, Dec. 11
Time: 7:00 PM
Place: SLB 129
Speakers: Clarke Forsythe (AUL) v. John Robertson (Univ. Texas School of Law)
Topic: Regulating Reproductive Technology
Sponsors: Yale Law Students for Life & Yale Law Students for Reproductive Choice
Food: Non-pizza dinner

How To Be a Pro-Life Lawyer
Date: Friday, Dec. 12
Time: 12:00 NOON
Place: SLB 129
Speaker: Clarke Forsythe (AUL)
Topic: What is a pro-life lawyer and what books does he or she write?
Sponsors: Yale Law Students for Life
Food: Pizza

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 11, 2008

Americans United for Life Releases Eight New Model Legislation & Policy Guides: Twenty-Three Model Legislation & Policy Guides Now Available

Chicago, Illinois — Americans United for Life (AUL) today released its 2009 Model Legislation & Policy Guides. With the addition of eight new guides this year, AUL now offers 23 pieces of model legislation on key issues related to abortion, protection of unborn victims of violence, bioethics, healthcare rights of conscience, and the end-of-life.

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, AUL President & CEO said, “AUL is the leading developer of cutting-edge pro-life legislation that saves lives today and lays the groundwork for a nation in which everyone is welcomed in life and protected in law.”

New additions to AUL’s library of model legislation include a state legislative resolution opposing the federal Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), a prohibition on coerced abortions, and The Child Protection Act—comprehensive legislation to ensure abortion providers report child sexual abuse and prevent the transportation of children across state lines for clandestine abortions.

Denise Burke, AUL Vice President of Legal Affairs added, “Each year, AUL legal and policy experts provide extensive consulting and support to legislators across the nation, helping to enact protective laws that advance a culture of life. We look forward to partnering with legislators and pro-life allies in 2009 to build on our past successes.”

All of AUL’s Model Legislation & Policy Guides are available at http://www.aul.org/Legislative_Guides

Americans United for Life (AUL) condemns a Montana trial court’s ruling that persons in the state have a right to die by assisted suicide, and urges the state to appeal the decision to the Montana State Supreme Court.

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, AUL President and CEO, stated, “This ruling begins the descent toward euthanasia and even a duty to die in Montana. We have already seen cases in Oregon where patients are denied state insurance coverage for life-saving treatments and are told instead the state will pay for their suicides. Assisting someone in committing suicide is never a compassionate choice.”

Mailee Smith, AUL Staff Counsel added, “This court’s decision sets the stage for an even more dangerous situation than what exists in other states where physician-assisted suicide is already permitted. The plaintiffs in this case argued assisted suicide should be available to a broader group of patients than can even receive lethal drugs in Oregon or Washington. In Montana, assisted suicide will not be limited to patients with terminal illnesses.”

The case, Baxter v. State, was brought by a group of physicians and ill patients who challenged the state’s homicide statutes arguing the public policy of Montana should be read to support assisted suicide.

Denise Burke, AUL Vice President of Legal Affairs, stated, “In siding with suicide advocates in this case, the trial court has opened the gates for suicide-on-demand in the state of Montana. Anyone who survives on medication will be entitled to assisted suicide, and there are no safeguards ensuring that persons requesting suicide are not suffering from a treatable mental illness.”

Americans United for Life Urges State Legislatures to Oppose Federal Power Grab: Provides Model Resolution Denouncing Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA)

Washington, DC — Americans United for Life (AUL) today announces the release of a model state legislative resolution opposing the federal “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA). AUL urges state legislatures to adopt the resolution immediately when they convene their 2009 sessions.

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, AUL President & CEO said, “The so-called ‘Freedom of Choice Act’ endangers women’s health. It protects and promotes the abortion industry, sacrifices the health of women to a radical political ideology, and silences the voices of everyday Americans who want to engage in a meaningful public discussion on abortion.”

AUL and its legislative arm AUL Action are leading the fight to defeat FOCA. Through the website FightFOCA.com, more than 290,000 Americans have expressed their strong opposition to FOCA, urging Congress to summarily reject it.

Denise Burke, AUL Action Vice President of Legal Affairs, noted, “FOCA will invalidate common-sense, protective laws that the majority of Americans support including parental involvement, bans on partial-birth abortion, and protections for healthcare providers who object to participating in abortions.”

AUL’s model resolution emphasizes that FOCA would nullify more than 550 federal and state laws related to abortion, undermine the right and responsibility of the States and the people to determine abortion policy, and circumvent the States’ general legislative authority as guaranteed by the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The model resolution is available at http://www.FightFOCA.com/AUL_Model_Resolution_FOCA.pdf

For more information about FOCA, visit FightFOCA.com (a project of AUL Action).

Americans United for Life offers two prestigious student programs- a Spring/Fall Externship and a Summer Fellowship. Qualifications for both include a demonstrated commitment to life issues and proven academic excellence.

AUL’s 2009 Fellowship Program is designed to provide a prestigious summer fellowship for first and second year law students and consists of a paid, six to eight week program in our Chicago office.  Each Fellow is given meaningful, cutting-edge assignments including drafting model legislation, working on amicus briefs, and writing educational articles.  Moreover, each Fellow is actively mentored by an AUL attorney who meets regularly with the Fellow to coach him or her on his or her legal work and cultivate a long-term commitment to pro-life work, either on a full time or pro bono basis. The Fellowship Program also provides opportunities for Fellows to meet with notable leaders in the pro-life movement through our Legal Institute training program, as well as other dinners and events. 

The application deadline for our Fellowship Program is January 30th, 2009. To obtain additional information on the Program and to apply, click here.

Our Spring 2009 Externships allow students to continue their studies while interning for us, as they are designed to be completed remotely from the students’ law school location. The externships may be undertaken for credit (as approved by the extern’s law school) or to fulfill other graduation requirements.

The application deadline for the Spring Externship Program is January 15th, 2009. For additional information and to apply, click here.

During the 110th Congress, at least 97 bills and resolutions were considered in the areas of abortion, contraception, stem-cell research and cloning, artificial reproductive technologies, genetic counseling, healthcare rights of conscience, and the end-of-life.

Read the full article at AUL.org/110Review

Americans United for Life (AUL) today released analysis of the results of yesterday’s life-related ballot initiatives. The election saw pro-life ballot initiatives on abortion defeated in California, Colorado, and South Dakota while initiatives legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Washington state and destructive embryonic stem cell research in Michigan were approved.

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President & CEO of AUL said: “We applaud the work of those who strove to protect human life through state ballot initiatives this year. We will continue working at both the state and federal levels in the days ahead to advance the culture of life. These results do not square with an American electorate that is increasingly pro-life. The life movement will reassess and regroup for the next election cycle with new ways to communicate that even the weakest amongst us should be welcomed in life and defended in law.”

California: Defeat of Proposition 4 (Parental Notice)
For the third time in six years, California voters failed to pass Proposition 4, or “Sarah’s Law,” an amendment to the California Constitution that would have protected parental rights and the safety of minors by ensuring that parents are notified of their minor daughter’s abortion at least 48 hours prior to the abortion.

“The defeat of Proposition 4 is a loss for California parents and children who remain vulnerable to sexual abuse, coerced abortions, and inadequate care at abortion facilities” said Denise Burke, AUL Vice President of Legal Affairs. “Proposition 4 would have put California in line with the rest of the nation, as the vast majority of the states have enacted parental involvement laws.”

Washington: Approval of Initiative 1000 (Physician-Assisted Suicide)
In Washington state, I-1000 was approved by voters, making Washington the second state — after Oregon — to legalize physician-assisted suicide. The newly enacted measure creates financial incentives for healthcare insurance companies to deny coverage for life-saving treatment and to pressure vulnerable patients to choose physician-assisted suicide. In addition, the measure does not provide adequate safeguards for those suffering from treatable mental illnesses, and requires physicians participating in patient suicides to falsify death certificates.

“The approval of Washington Initiative 1000 poses dangers for the rest of the nation,” stated J. Margaret Datiles, AUL Staff Counsel. “Now that physician-assisted suicide has been legalized in a state other than Oregon, assisted-suicide advocates will be working relentlessly to legalize the practice across the country.”

Michigan: Approval of Proposal 2 (Embryonic Stem-Cell Research)
Michigan voters approved Proposal 2, the “Stem Cell Initiative.” The amendment legalizes destructive research on human embryos, and will allow government funding for research on human embryos produced in fertility clinics.

“It’s deeply troubling that a state would vote to legalize destructive embryonic stem-cell research at a time when research using adult stem cells is making such progress. It is truly a waste,” added Smith.

South Dakota: Defeat of Initiated Measure 11 (Abortion Ban)
South Dakota failed to pass Initiated Measure 11, a constitutional amendment that would have banned abortions in South Dakota, except for those performed in cases of rape or incest, or when continued pregnancy severely endangers the woman’s life or health. In 2006, South Dakota voters failed to pass a similar ban.

“Although ultimately unsuccessful, Initiated Measure 11 furthered the debate over the impact of abortion on women, the unborn, and our nation,” said AUL Senior Counsel Clarke Forsythe. “Given the mounting evidence of the negative impact of abortion, this is a discussion that we must continue to pursue in the days ahead.”

Colorado: Defeat of Proposition 48 (Human Life Amendment)
Colorado voters failed to pass Proposition 48, the “Colorado Equal Rights Amendment,” which would have amended the Colorado Constitution to define “person” as “any human being from the moment of fertilization,” impacting actions undertaken by the State and its officials.

“As with the South Dakota abortion ban, the Colorado Human Life Amendment sparked needed debate and discussion within the pro-life movement,” said Denise Burke, AUL Vice President of Legal Affairs, “We are confident that the pro-life movement will emerge from this election cycle stronger, wiser, and more determined.”

In response to the election of Senator Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, Dr. Charmaine Yoest, Americans United for Life President & CEO offered congratulations to the President-elect and issued the following statement:

“Over the course of this historic campaign, President-elect Obama and his surrogates argued for a ‘common ground’ on abortion rights. At the same time, he promised Planned Parenthood that his first act as President will be to sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). In contrast to his moderate rhetoric, his support for FOCA — which would eradicate every state and federal law regulating abortion — is extreme. His support for FOCA stands in contradiction to the common ground, common sense abortion regulations that the majority of Americans support and that this radical legislation would eliminate.

“We have long known that the work of advancing a culture of life is not a short-term project. Recall that William Wilberforce fought against the slave trade for 45 years before he ultimately prevailed in his defense of life.

“In 2008, it is clear that despite the challenges still remaining, the pro-life message is steadily gaining ground. Momentum in the states has enabled us to make significant gains in protecting women and unborn children. Young people today self-report as pro life at a higher rate than their parents’ generation.

“We will continue working in the days ahead to educate Americans about the threat to common sense that FOCA poses. And we will make common cause with defenders of life in both the Democrat and Republican parties, fully committed to the ultimate goal of seeing both parties dedicated to the defense of life.

“We continue to hold as self-evident the truth that all were endowed with the unalienable right to life, and that governments are instituted to secure this first right. We look forward to fully realizing this truth in our day.”

A Constitutional analysis of FOCA is available at www.aul.org/foca.

With today’s election, the pro-life movement is at a critical crossroads. We need every pro-life American to vote today!

But after we’ve voted and the dust settles, what will we do next? Please join me and our AUL experts for a post-election conference call (toll free) on Wednesday, November 5 at 3pm ET (2pm CT, 1pm MT, 12pm PT) for 30 minutes of pro-life election summary and analysis, followed by a time of Q&A.

We will discuss the impact of the new President, the changed makeup of Congress, countless state legislative races, and the five pro-life state ballot measures.

To join the call, you must register. Visit http://tinyurl.com/5gfebx to sign up ASAP.

And please invite your friends to join us.

My op-ed on Washington State’s Initiative 1000 appears on page B5 of yesterday’s (Sunday’s) Washington Times.

The article discusses the dangers of WA I-1000. The measure would legalize physician-assisted suicide and create financial incentives for healthcare insurance companies to deny coverage for life-saving medications and push patients to commit suicide. It would also require physicians to falsify death certificates and endanger those suffering from depression and other common, treatable mental illnesses. Moreover, it would allow those with financial interests in the death of a patient to facilitate and participate in the suicide of the patient. Lastly, I-1000 would also deny family members the chance to speak and see loved ones who have chosen assisted suicide before they died.

To read the full article, click here.

The election is this coming Tuesday, and the pro-life movement is at a critical crossroads. Be sure to vote.

We need every pro-life American to vote on November 4!

But after we’ve voted and the dust settles, what will we do next? Please join me and our AUL experts for a post-election conference call on Wednesday, November 5 at 3pm ET (2pm CT, 1pm MT, 12pm PT) for about 30 minutes of pro-life election summary and analysis followed by a time of Q&A.

We will discuss the impact of the new President, the changed makeup of Congress, countless state legislative races, and the five pending pro-life ballot measures.

To join the call, you must register. Visit http://tinyurl.com/5gfebx to sign up today.

And please invite your friends to join us.

Who:
Clarke Forsythe, AUL Senior Counsel

Topic:
Threatening Women’s Health: How the Federal “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA) would eliminate every health regulation on abortion in the country

When:
12:30 pm, October 21 (TODAY!)

Where:
Barat House
885 Centre Street
Newton Centre, MA

Sponsored by Lex Vitae Pro-Life Society at BC Law School

Chicago, Illinois — Americans United for Life (AUL) today filed an amicus brief on behalf of ten U.S. Representatives supporting Ohio’s regulation of the deadly abortion drug, RU-486.

AUL President Dr. Charmaine Yoest stated, “RU-486 has a proven track record of ruining and even ending women’s lives. We must put a stop to abortionists’ dangerous, off-label use of this drug. Ohio’s statute is a step in the right direction, and as we argue in our brief, it should be upheld.”

Added Denise Burke, AUL Vice President & Legal Director, “Abortionists readily admit to dispensing RU-486 in a manner contrary to the FDA’s approved protocol. This puts women’s health and lives at additional risk, and demonstrates yet again that the abortion industry puts profits above women’s health.”

Abortionists filed suit challenging the law, arguing Ohio’s regulation of RU-486 is unconstitutional because the regulation’s requirements are unclear. The State of Ohio and AUL counter that the Ohio regulation is definitive in its requirement that abortionists can only use the RU-486 drug regimen in the way in which it was tested by the FDA, which is clearly laid out in the drug manufacturer’s instructions that accompany the drug.

“The argument that abortionists don’t know how to correctly dispense RU-486 is nonsensical,” stated AUL Staff Counsel Mailee Smith. “Physicians routinely follow the protocols approved by the FDA and described in manufacturer’s instructions when dispensing other drugs. Ohio’s regulation simply requires that abortionists do this with RU-486.”

AUL’s brief before the Ohio Supreme Court is available at AUL.org (PDF) and was filed on behalf of U.S. Representatives Roscoe Bartlett (MD), John A. Boehner (OH), Dan Burton (IN), Steve Chabot (OH), Trent Franks (AZ), Jim Jordan (OH), Robert E. Latta (OH), Joseph R. Pitts (PA), Jean Schmidt (OH), and Chris Smith (NJ).

In a related case challenging the same Ohio law, AUL filed a brief on behalf of a U.S. Senator and several U.S. Representatives before the Sixth Circuit. That brief is available at AUL.org (PDF).

Chicago, Illinois — Americans United for Life (AUL) Vice President Daniel McConchie is scheduled to testify before the Oklahoma House of Representatives Health Subcommittee on Thursday, October 16 at 2:30 pm. Mr. McConchie will be addressing the moral and ethical issues surrounding stem cell research

AUL President Dr. Charmaine Yoest said, “The only stem cell research that State governments should be promoting is stem cell research that upholds the dignity of every human being. Oklahomans can be proud that their state is taking a lead in pro-life stem cell research.”

Oklahoma this year passed the Advancement in Stem Cell Cures and Therapies Act (HB 3126), which is designed to encourage and foster stem cell research using only adult stem cells. The bill was sponsored by Rep. John T. Enns, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a farming accident in 2004.

Mr. McConchie said, “We are seeing amazing advances from stem cell research every day. What most people don’t realize is that all of these advances are from adult stem cell research, not embryonic. Oklahoma can be a leader in cutting-edge research that doesn’t violate the sanctity of human life, and Representative Enns’ bill leads the way.”

The Health Subcommittee is hearing testimony as part of an interim study on the bill.

Mr. McConchie is available for interviews.

Chicago, Illinois — In response to the U.S. Supreme Court announcement that it will not grant further review to life-related cases from Arizona, Missouri, and New Jersey, Americans United for Life (AUL) made the following statements.

Arizona Life Coalition v. Stanton requires that Choose Life license plates be offered in Arizona.

Denise Burke, AUL’s Vice President & Legal Director said: “This is huge victory for ‘Choose Life’ license plates. By denying review, the Court has affirmed that Arizona and other states cannot deny Choose Life license plates simply because of their pro-life message.”

AUL filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit on behalf of pregnancy care centers arguing that the Arizona Life Coalition was discriminated against when the state failed to grant its petition for a “Choose Life” license plate. The Ninth Circuit agreed, and the State of Arizona subsequently petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

AUL’s amicus brief before the Ninth Circuit is available at
http://www.aul.org/xm_client/client_documents/briefs/ArizonaLifeCoalitionvStanton.pdf

As cases involving “Choose Life” license plates are still pending in New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma, AUL’s Staff Counsel Mailee Smith remarked, “We are hopeful that the Court’s denial of review will signal to those courts that states cannot discriminate against ‘Choose Life’ license plates.”

In addition, the Court denied review in Roe v. Crawford, a Missouri case where a female prison inmate has successfully argued that she has a right to be transported at state expense for an elective abortion. At issue was a Department of Corrections policy prohibiting such transport.

“By denying review, the Supreme Court is allowing a prisoner to unilaterally demand that she be transported for a controversial elective procedure where the associated costs will ultimately be borne by the taxpayers,” stated AUL Vice President & Legal Director Denise Burke. “The Court is also ignoring the state’s interest in protecting women from the negative consequences of abortion—especially those women who are in custody and under the care of the state.”

AUL filed an amicus brief on behalf of Missouri legislators arguing in favor of the prison policy. The Eighth Circuit sided in part with AUL, agreeing that the denial of elective abortions does not constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment, and even stating that elective abortions do not constitute medical need. However, the court ultimately agreed with the inmate that her Fourteenth Amendment “right” to abortion means that the state must transport her for abortion.

AUL’s amicus brief before the Eighth Circuit is available at
http://www.aul.org/xm_client/client_documents/briefs/RoevCrawford.pdf

Finally, the Court also denied review in Acuna v. Turkish, a New Jersey case where an abortionist failed to adequately counsel and answer a woman’s questions before her abortion.

“This case underscores the dire need for comprehensive informed consent laws. Had the abortionist in this case been held to this type of legal requirement, Ms. Acuna would have received the information she needed in making the abortion decision,” stated AUL Staff Counsel Mailee Smith.

To date, New Jersey, 17 other states, and the District of Columbia do not require that women receive any information pertinent to making the abortion decision.

Americans United for Life (AUL) today released their 2008 State Legislative Session Report.  This year’s Report confirms the trend in state legislatures of continuing, successful efforts to protect women from the increasingly well-documented negative consequences of abortion.

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President and CEO of Americans United for Life, said: “While states continue to pass the kind of protective measures that a majority of Americans support, abortion supporters continue to ignore the tremendous evidence that abortion hurts women.”

Denise Burke, AUL Vice President & Legal Director said: “We are seeing more and more legislation designed to protect women from the negative consequences of abortion.  Examples include comprehensive informed consent requirements, stronger parental involvement provisions, and requirements that women be offered the opportunity to view an ultrasound before abortion.”

In 2008, 45 states considered nearly 450 measures related to abortion, a 12% increase from 2007 activity levels.  Among this year’s pro-life victories were:

• An omnibus measure in Oklahoma, requiring a woman undergo an ultrasound prior to an abortion, regulating the provision of RU-486, prohibiting coerced abortions, and protecting the rights of conscience of healthcare providers who decline to participate in abortions.
• New laws in Ohio, South Carolina, and South Dakota requiring that abortion providers offer a woman the opportunity to view an ultrasound prior to an abortion.
• Legislatures in Colorado, Maryland, and Michigan continuing to limit the use of taxpayer funding for abortions and abortion counseling.
• Idaho lawmakers strengthening the state’s informed consent law and prohibiting coerced abortions.
• Meaningful funding of alternatives to abortion in Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.

The complete AUL 2008 State Legislative Session Report is available at
http://www.aul.org/2008_State_Sessions

Chicago, Illinois — Americans United for Life (AUL) has filed comments with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) affirming the need for a proposed regulation that will protect the freedom of conscience of healthcare providers nationwide.

Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President and CEO of AUL said, “Protecting the rights of healthcare providers is critical to the continuing viability and safety of our healthcare system.”

“Protecting conscience helps to ensure that providers enter and remain in the healthcare professions, helping to meet the rising demand for quality care,” continued Yoest. “Failing to protect freedom of conscience will most certainly compromise basic healthcare for the entire nation.”

Denise Burke, AUL Vice President & Legal Director added, “Laws such as the proposed HHS regulation acknowledge that certain demands of patients, usually for procedures that are life-destructive and not life-saving, must not be blindly accommodated to the detriment of the freedom of healthcare providers.”

The proposed HHS regulation will require recipients of federal funding through HHS to certify compliance with existing federal laws including the Hyde-Weldon Amendment and the Church Amendment, which protect the right of healthcare providers to decline to participate in abortions for reasons of conscience.

In its comments, AUL argues that the proposed regulation is a much-needed and long-overdue enforcement mechanism for existing federal laws protecting healthcare freedom of conscience. In addition, the failure to adequately protect conscience — through both appropriate laws and requisite enforcement mechanisms — will only exacerbate the existing healthcare crisis in this country.

To view AUL’s comments, go to http://www.aul.org/hhsroc