http://blog.aul.org Changing Law to Protect Human Life, State by State Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:45:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en At 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night, the Senate is expected to vote on cloture on the Motion to Proceed to debate on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s pro-abortion health care bill.  Sixty Senators’ votes are needed for the bill to move forward.  While this vote has been touted by pro-abortion lawmakers ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/20/crucial-vote-on-health-care-tomorrow/ Washington, DC – Today, in a vote of 59-39, the U.S. Senate confirmed pro-abortion federal judge David Hamilton as an appellate court judge. Americans United for Life President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest said, “Americans United for Life believes that judges should uphold Constitutional restrictions on abortion. As a ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/19/u-s-senate%e2%80%99s-confirmation-of-judge-hamilton-to-the-seventh-circuit-court-of-appeals-promotes-an-avowed-judicial-activist/ The confirmation of Judge David Hamilton to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals would be another step away from common ground by the President and the Democratic Senate.  As a District Court Judge, his decisions are subject to review by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and they reversed him often. The ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/19/senate-set-to-vote-on-activist-judge-david-hamilton-today/ Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last night unveiled a health care bill which provides for an unprecedented expansion of federally-funded abortion.  The bill includes pro-abortion language and mirrors the false compromise Capps Amendment from the House debate -- it allows the public option to include abortion coverage and provides federal ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/19/reid-releases-pro-abortion-health-care-bill/ As President Obama made his first official visit to China, new information on China’s “one-child policy” surfaced in the media. In an article published last week, The Washington Post revealed that “monetary incentives and penalties are attached to population targets,” creating what amounts to “bounties on the unborn,” according to a ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/18/1052/ On Monday night, the Baltimore City Council, by a vote of 12 to 3, approved an ordinance requiring pregnancy care centers (PCCs) to posts signs indicating that they do not do abortions or provide contraception.  Failure to comply with the ordinance will incur a $150 per day fine.  A proposed ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/18/city-of-baltimore-enacts-ordinance-targeting-pregnancy-care-centers/ There have been many recent questions in the press and on Capitol Hill about the scope of the Stupak Amendment added to the House health care reform bill, H.R. 3962, and how it will impact private insurance plans.  The Stupak Amendment applies the same abortion funding restrictions to programs created by ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/18/the-purpose-of-the-stupak-amendment-is-to-maintain-existing-law/ http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/12/msnbc-debate-with-dr-yoest-and-narals-nancy-keenan-on-dr-nancy-show/ Earlier today, the U.S. Army preferred 13 charges and specifications of premeditated murder against Major Nidal Hasan.  This preliminary step does not and should not preclude the preferral of additional charges including a charge and specification for the killing of the unborn child of one of the victims of the ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/12/preferral-of-charges-against-hasan-need-not-and-should-not-preclude-charge-for-killing-baby-velez/ Watch CBS News Videos Online http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/12/cbs-evening-news-interview-with-dr-yoest-on-the-stupak-amendment/ http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/12/fox-newss-special-report-inteview-with-dr-charmaine-yoest-about-abortion-in-health-care/ http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/12/cnns-dana-bash-interviews-dr-charmaine-yoest-about-abortion-in-health-care/ There are, of course, many unnamed victims of the attack at Fort Hood.  Spouses, parents, children, siblings, friends.  Each left to suffer and question why, on American soil, their loved one’s life was violently ended. But there was another victim that has been frequently overlooked: the unborn child of soldier Francheska ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/12/1013/ Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Martha Coakley— a current Democrat candidate for the late Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat—strongly criticized the House health care bill for prohibiting federal funding of abortions.  The Boston Globe reported her saying that “fighting for a women’s access to abortion was more important than passing the ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/12/ma-attorney-general-reveals-willingness-to-protect-abortion-at-any-price/ Introduction While pro-abortion groups claim that the Stupak Amendment, added to H.R. 3962 by a vote of 240-194, with 64 Democrats voting in favor of the amendment, is broader than existing federal law, they are incorrect.  In reality, the Stupak Amendment, which ensures that funds authorized and appropriated through the bill will ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/11/the-stupak-amendment-to-h-r-3962-maintaining-existing-law/ On Nov. 7, 2009, the House passed H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act by a vote of 220-215.  One Republican, Joseph Cao (R-LA), voted in favor of the bill.  The bill will incorporate the Stupak-Pitts amendment, which bans use of federal funding for abortion and prohibits the ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/07/h-r-3962-the-health-care-reform-bill-passes-the-house/ On Nov. 7, 2009, the House defeated the Republican health care reform substitute bill by a vote of 176 to 258. http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/07/republican-substitute-bill-fails/ On Nov. 7, 2009, the House passed the Stupak-Pitts amendment by a vote of 240-194. 64 Democrats voted in favor of the amendment, and one Republican, Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ), voted present. List of Dems voting Yes include: Altmire, Baca, Barrow, Berry, Bishop (GA), Boccieri, Boren, Bright, Cardoza, Carney, Chandler, Childers, Cooper, ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/07/stupak-pitts-amendment-vote/ Statements are paraphrased. Stupak: Capps Amendment is the most direct assault on Hyde since 1997. DeGette: Capps Amendment is a compromise that does not spend $1 federal dollar on abortion. Requirement for supplemental insurance is offensive to women Pitts: The public does not support federal funding of abortion. Current law prevents fed. dollars ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/07/quick-summary-of-stupak-pitts-amendment-debate-on-the-house-floor-o/ Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) stated on the House floor that all three Chairmen of the Committees of jurisdiction, Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee George Miller (D-CA), and Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee Charlie Rangel (D-NY) ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/07/boehner-states-that-three-chairmen-will-not-support-stupak-pitts-amendment-if-passed-in-conference-agreement/ The bill being debated right now in the House, H.R. 3962, contains several problematic anti-life provisions.  Below is AUL’s legal analysis of the abortion provisions in the bill, as well as an analysis of the conscience protection, Comparative Effectiveness Research, and End-of-life provisions in the bill. I. Abortion The House health care bill, ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/07/anti-life-concerns-in-h-r-3962/ At 1:43 pm on Nov. 7, 2009, the House of Representatives voted to approve H.Res. 903, the Rule under which Democratic leadership will bring H.R. 3962, the Affordable Healthcare for America bill, to the House floor. (Roll Call vote No. 882)  The voted was approved by a vote of 242-192. The ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/07/house-votes-to-approve-the-rule/ An editorial in the Washington Post today asserted, "The controversy over abortion funding is similarly phony. Federal law prohibits the use of federal money for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or where the life of the mother is endangered. The House bill would leave that restriction in place. ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/07/fact-check-washington-post-gets-their-facts-wrong-on-abortion-in-health-care/ Americans United for Life's legislative arm Americans United for Life Action endorses a key vote today on the House floor of the Stupak-Ellsworth-Pitts-Kaptur-Dahlkemper-Lipinski-Smith Amendment, an Amendment that blocks any federal money from going to abortion in health care reform Americans United for Life Action’s President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest said, ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/07/endorsement-of-pro-life-amendment-vote-and-new-score-letter/ On Tuesday we reported that the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) would be considering whether to once again delay implementation of the Illinois parental notification law.  For a short while on Wednesday, pro-lifers felt victorious: rather than further delay enforcement, as we expected, the IDFPR allowed the ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/06/once-again-minors-are-left-unprotected-in-illinois/ On Friday the House Rules Committee is expected to report out a rule governing debate on H.R. 3962, the House health care reform bill.  It is likely that this rule will include language called the “Ellsworth Amendment,” after Congressman Brad Ellsworth of Indiana.  This language is being touted as a ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/05/what%e2%80%99s-wrong-with-the-ellsworth-amendment-%e2%80%93-summary-and-analysis/ Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found a Pittsburg ordinance restricting access to public areas around abortion clinics unconstitutional.  More specifically, the court held the ordinance to be “insufficiently tailored” because it “burdens substantially more speech than necessary” to achieve the City’s stated interest—to prevent ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/05/popping-the-%e2%80%9cbubble-zone%e2%80%9d-jurisprudence-before-it-floats-away/ Yesterday, the House Rules Committee announced that the “rule” for considering the sweeping health care legislation will encompass the language put forward by Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind. that the House leadership is falsely describing as pro-life. By allowing the Ellsworth language, House Democratic leaders hope to address the reluctance of ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/05/rep-ellsworth%e2%80%99s-proposal-does-not-prevent-abortion-funding-in-health-care-reform/ In her blog entry on The Daily Beast, Dana Goldstein records pro-abortion leader Judy Waxman’s incredible statement that the new House health care bill, H.R. 3962, “leans toward the pro-life position.”  To support this conclusion Goldstein’s entry relies on statements from several abortion rights advocates.  However, the current version of ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/04/aul-fact-check-on-%e2%80%9cabortion-under-fire%e2%80%9d-by-dana-goldstein-the-daily-beast-11-1-09/ A woman is far more likely to choose life if she sees an ultrasound of her unborn child, which is why AUL has long promoted laws requiring abortion clinics to give clients the opportunity to view their ultrasound. Now, it appears that an ultrasound can change the heart of an ... http://blog.aul.org/2009/11/03/local-planned-parenthood-director-quits-after-watching-ultrasound/