Status of Federal Legislation that Impacts Life Issues
Make calls to demand that Federal funding of Planned
Parenthood be stopped
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your US Representative (select "By Zip+4" and enter your
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United States House of
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Addresses for U.S. Congress
Mark Kirk (202-224-2854) and Richard Durbin
(202-224-2152) (U.S. Senators for Illinois) can also be reached via the Capitol
switchboard at 1-202-224-3121 or by email using the United States Senate web site. In
Illinois, call Senator Mark Kirk at (312) 886-3506 and Senator Richard Durbin at (312)
353-4952.
Legislative Action Center (For additional information on legislation)
President Obama can be reached via
the White House Comment Line at (202) 456-1111, or by email at comments@whitehouse.gov,
or by fax at 202-456-2461.
Important Federal bills in the 112th Congress for 2011 are listed
below
No Taxpayer
Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 3 and S. 906)
Soon after completing action on the repeal of ObamaCare, The U.S. House
has moved toward consideration of bills
to block any Federal funding of abortion. The “No Taxpayer Funding for
Abortion Act” (H.R. 3) would establish a permanent government-wide ban on federal
funding of abortion. The co-sponsors of H.R. 3 are US Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and
Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), co-chairs of the bipartisan Pro-Life Caucus. On
May 4, 2011 the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3. on a 251-175 vote. Call your
U.S. Senators to request their support S. 906 (Senate version of H.R. 3).
H.R. 3 would replace the need for annual funding prohibitions or
“riders” like the Hyde Amendment, which are always one Congress away from
expiring. The bill also codifies the Hyde-Weldon conscience clause, which prohibits
hospitals and health care workers from being forced to perform abortions, while giving its
enforcement more substance.
Protect Life Act (H.R. 358)
The “Protect Life Act”, sponsored by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Penn.),
would amend the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (ObamaCare) to
include a statutory ban on using government funds for abortion within health care reform.
On 10/13/11 the U.S. House of Representatives passed
H.R. 358 on a vote of 251-172. Call your U.S. Senators to ask for their support for
H.R. 358. Take action.
NOTE: H.R. 3 and H.R. 358 represent two strategies to eliminate abortion
funding from ObamaCare, H.R. 3 with wider scope than H.R. 358. Negotiation with the
Senate will be needed to get something to pass there. Will the President then veto
the bill, revealing the truth that abortion is funded in the version of ObamaCare that
passed in 2010?
Abortion
Non-Discrimination Act (ANDA) (H.R. 361)
In the face of a national campaign to force health care providers to
participate in abortion, it is essential that Congress take action to protect the civil
rights of health care professionals and other health care entities. On January 20,
2011, Reps. John Fleming (R-LA) and Dan Boren (D-OK) introduced the Abortion
Non-Discrimination Act (ANDA) (H.R. 361) to strengthen existing federal conscience
protection laws. The bill affirms the principle that no health care entity should be
forced by government to perform or participate in abortions. Please contact
your U.S. Representative now and ask for a YES vote on H.R. 361. Click
this link to log in
and send your message in support of this bill.
Blocking
abortion funding in 2011 continuing resolution and the 2012 budget
U.S. House voted on 2/18/11
to block Federal funding of Planned Parenthood
A historic
vote has occurred in the U.S. House of Representatives. By a margin of 240-185,
the House accepted the Pence Amendment to block all Federal funding of Planned Parenthood,
within the continuing resolution needed to fund the government through September 30, 2011.
After the Senate voted against H.R. 1, further negotiations to resolve the
impass ultimately left out the provisions to defund Planned Parenthood, but the
H.R. 1 provision to block abortion funding in Washington, D.C. remained in the final bill
and other funding levels were reduced for UNFPA and for international abortion providers.
Now efforts
will continue to reduce abortion funding during work on the budget for fiscal year 2012.
Encourage the House of Representatives to include the Pence Amendment and the many
other Pro-Life provisions in the budget to prepare for tough negotiations on the final
2012 budget bill. If House leaders hold their ground, the Senate will be forced to
accept at least some of these Pro-Life provisions to reach agreement on a 2012 budget.
Call your U.S. representative to tell them not to fund abortion in the 2012
budget and to ban funding of Planned Parenthood.
Urge senators to oppose CEDAW
The U.S. Senate could vote on whether to ratify a treaty called the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Some international bodies have interpreted this treaty to prohibit any limitations on
abortion. U.S. ratification of CEDAW could have serious impacts on state and federal
laws limiting abortions because the treaty has already been construed to condemn virtually
all limits on abortion by the U.N. committee that is charged with enforcing it, by the
European Parliament, and by pro-abortion litigating groups.
What is CEDAW? CEDAW is a treaty that was adopted
by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979. Since then it has been ratified by 185
nations, but never by the United States. President Jimmy Carter signed the treaty
and sent it to the Senate in 1980, but the Senate has never voted on whether to ratify it
– in part because of serious questions about the impact it could have in many areas
of U.S. law, including laws pertaining to abortion. Although the CEDAW does not
mention the word “abortion,” Article 12 does require signing nations to
“eliminate discrimination against women in the field of health care in order to
ensure, on a basis of equality between men and women, access to health care services,
including those related to family planning.” Since about 1995, Article 12 and
other provisions have been creatively interpreted by official bodies, ranging from the
European Parliament to the UN CEDAW Committee, to condemn limitations on abortion, on
grounds that any restrictions on abortion constitute discrimination against women.
Urge senators to
oppose Convention on the Rights of the Child
The U.S. Senate could vote on whether to ratify a treaty called the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This treaty poses serious threats to
parental authority and has even been used to support abortion rights. Get more details.
Health Care "Reform" Bill -- passed in 2010; needs to be repealed
SUMMARY: Strategy for passage of health care "reform"
ultimately led to a push for the House to pass the Senate bill (H.R. 3590) with no changes
and then use "reconciliation" to make some limited changes afterwards. Tragically,
H.R. 3590 was passed by the House of Representatives on 3/21/10 and has become law.
Also, use the following web sites to oppose health care
legislation: IFI,
NRLC, stoptheabortionmandate.com, freedom2care.org, and/or NCHLA.
Background information: Senator Harry Reid (on 11/18/09) unveiled his Senate
bill (H.R. 3590) that includes massive
abortion subsidies and mandates and health
care rationing. Even though it takes a different approach than the bill passed
by the House of Representatives (H.R. 3962), it does nothing to resolve the many concerns
about the anti-life direction of health care "reform" in Congress. With
Senate passage of H.R. 3590 on 12/24/09, the next step may be an attempt to get H.R. 3590
passed in the House since it appears no conference committee will be used to resolve
differences between the two bills to create a final bill that could be voted on by both
the House and Senate.
With passage of a health care "reform" bill by both the House
(H.R. 3962) and the Senate (H.R. 3590), the differences between these two bills were
expected to be resolved by creating a final bill that would be voted on by both the House
and Senate. Since the Senate bill provides government funding of abortion, which is
supported by the Obama administration and leaders of Congress, it was expected that the
final bill would be closer to the Senate bill than the House bill, which included the
Stupak Amendment to prevent government funding of abortion. However, even with the
Stupak Amendment, at this point any final bill would amount to a Federal Government
takeover of health care.
The current attempt in Congress to reform health care amounts to a
government takeover of the health care system. These bills to "reform"
health care are not an effective solution. They will create many more problems than
they will solve including: higher costs, lower quality, fewer options, rationing of
service, encouraging euthanasia and assisted suicide, funding abortion, etc.
Any reforms must never include government control of the health care
system. The current approach for health care being crafted by Congress is totally
unacceptable. By funding
abortion coverage and restricting care options for the elderly and disabled, there is
blatant disrespect for life of our most vulnerable citizens. Get even more details
here:
Review the "final" House bill (H.R. 3962), named "Affordable Health Care for
America Act". This massive 1990-page health care bill was amended with the
Stupak Amendment to prevent government-funded abortion, but has a potential
physician-assisted suicide loophole. H.R. 3962 still contains many of the issues
revealed in an analysis of the earlier House bill (H.R. 3200) that can be found
here:
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