Tag Archives: Bill

House Passes Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

The House of Representatives has passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act that would ban most abortions after the 20th week of gestation.

The bill, H.R. 36, passed 242-184.  The bill’s vote came on the second anniversary of the conviction of Philadelphia late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell.

The bill bans abortions after 5 months of pregnancy with exceptions for rape and incest if the woman seeks counseling 48 hours prior to having the abortion.  The counseling portion of the bill was added after Republican women in the House objected to the bill’s previous requirement the woman report rape or incest to police.

The bill initially was going to be voted on January 22nd, the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade.  Many pro-life groups were upset that the House postponed the vote because of issues with some Republican women.

Several representatives cited Gosnell’s clinic in their statements supporting the bill.

“It seems that some members of this body want to regulate things like light bulbs and rainwater and farm dust, but leave women helpless before the doctor Gosnells of the world,” said Rep. Joseph Pitts, R-Pa.

“Late term abortionists are driven by profit undeterred by the painful death of countless innocent lives. We must protect these women and children by passing the bill.”

Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill., said that a November 2014 poll found that 60 percent of Americans support banning abortion after 20 weeks.

Evolution Supporters Oppose Bill That Encourages Review Of Scientific Theories

Evolutionists are up in arms over a bill in the Alabama legislature that would allow students to learn the “strengths and weaknesses” of scientific theories.

The evolutionists claim it’s an attempt by creationists to undermine “the integrity of science education.”

The bill in question, House Bill 592, amends the state’s education policy to include objective review and discussion of existing scientific theories.

“This bill would require the State Board of Education, local boards of education, and staff of K-12 public schools to create an environment that encourages students to explore scientific questions, learn about scientific evidence, develop critical thinking skills, and respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about scientific subjects,” the bill’s synopsis states. “This bill would also allow public school teachers to help students understand, analyze, critique, and review the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of all existing scientific theories covered in a science course.”

While the bill specifically prohibits promotion of “any religious doctrine”, groups are claiming it’s all about religion.

“This is a thinly-veiled attempt to open the door to religious fanatics who don’t believe in evolution, climate change or other scientifically-based teaching in our schools,” ACLU of Alabama executive director Susan Watson told AL.com.

The bill’s lead sponsor, Representative Mack Butler, denied the attacks against the bill in a posting on social media.

“To clarify HB 592 only encourages debate on scientific theories! Nothing is mandated,” Butler posted on Facebook last week. “I don’t understand all the profanity laced emails from a few liberals I’m receiving about this bill. There is nothing to fear in a little healthy debate as debate helps develop critical thinking skills for our students.”

Senate Passes Resolution Calling For Release of Iranian Prisoners

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill Monday calling for Iran to immediately release three Americans wrongfully imprisoned and for Iran to help in locating a missing fourth American.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell singed out Abedini who has been imprisoned for two and a half years because of his Christian faith.

“One of those Americans, Saeed Abedini, has reportedly been held prisoner for what would appear to be the supposed ‘crime’ of attempting to build and operate an orphanage. Beaten, denied access to medical care, and locked away in solitary confinement — that’s apparently how the Iranian regime deals with those who dare to show love and compassion to others,” he said.

The bill passed 90-0 with ten Senators missing.  Several were on the campaign trail but their spokesman said they supported the bill.

“No American should find this acceptable. Just as no American should find it acceptable to unjustly imprison a reporter, or a grandson coming to see his grandmother. I think we can all agree that, at the very least, the American government should not be rewarding Iran for its disgraceful human-rights abuses — that we should not be granting Iran access to the funding it desires to further its nuclear weapons program and terrorist proxies while this exploitation continues,” said McConnell.

“They shouldn’t have sat down at the table before these four people were released, or accounted for,” Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) told The Hill.

Committee Votes To Overturn Abortion “Non-Discrimination” Act

A bill to overturn a law that bans religious groups from being able to enforce their beliefs in their organization regarding abortion has advanced in a Congressional committee.

The D.C. City Council passed a bill in 2014 called the “Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act” that amended a 1977 law to prohibit pro-life organizations from discriminating against any employee who has an abortion.

The bill means that faith-based groups that believe abortion is murder would not be able to fire an employee for violating the faith of the group in regards to abortion, sex outside of marriage or adultery even if the employee signed a document they agree to live by Biblical standards.

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) swiftly condemned the measure.

“The Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014 prevents religious institutions, other faith-based employers, and pro-life advocacy organizations from making employment decisions consistent with their sincerely held religious beliefs or their moral and ethical views about the sanctity of human life,” an ADF letter stated.

Senators Ted Cruz and James Langford introduced measures in the Senate to void the D.C. law and Rep. Diane Black presented one in the House.  The House measure passed the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee 20-16.

President Obama would have to sign the measure for it to void the D.C. law.

Republicans Compromise On Language In Human Trafficking Bill

Republicans in the Senate changed language in a human trafficking bill that caused Democrats to not pass the bill.

The Justice for Victims of Human Trafficking Act had been proposed last month by Senator John Cornyn of Texas and sought to significantly increase penalties for those convicted of exploiting children, engaging in human smuggling or holding women as sex slaves and forcing them into prostitution.

The bill also included a statement that money collected from fines could not be used for abortions.  Democrats said that part of the bill was expanding federal prohibitions beyond the Hyde Amendment and thus blocked the bill.

The revision of the bill has two separate funds where the fines will go to non-medical issues related to helping the victims of trafficking including legal representatives and increased law enforcement.  The second fund comes from appropriations already set aside for community health centers which falls under the Hyde Amendment.

“I’m thrilled we were finally able to come together to break the impasse over this vital legislation, and I look forward to swift passage in the Senate so we can ensure victims of human trafficking receive the resources they need to restore their lives,” Senator Cornyn said.

A spokesman of the Family Research Council stated in 2013 there is a strong connection between human trafficking and the abortion industry.

“Abortion and human trafficking are evils every thoughtful Christian should oppose. Virtually all evangelicals would agree with that statement. What is not always considered, however, is the troubling relationship between these things and how they build upon one another in a growing cascade of moral horror,” Rob Schwarzwalder wrote.

Democrats Block Human Trafficking Bill Over Abortion

Members of the Senate are blocking a bill to help victims of human trafficking because of language related to abortion funding.

The Justice for Trafficking Victims Act, introduced by Senator John Cornyn of Texas, would increase penalties on people involved in human trafficking.

“The bill imposes an additional penalty of $5,000 on any non-indigent person or entity convicted of a crime involving: (1) peonage, slavery, or trafficking in persons; (2) sexual abuse; (3) sexual exploitation and other abuse of children; (4) transportation for illegal sexual activity; or (5) human smuggling in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” read S. 178’s summary.

“The bill expands the definition of ‘child abuse’ under the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 to include human trafficking and the production of child pornography and expands criminal sanctions to include persons who patronize or solicit children for commercial sex acts (buyers).”

Some Democratic members of the Senate are holding up the bill because of language that would prohibit funding going to pay for abortions by those rescued from human trafficking.

Senator Dick Durban of Illinois has filed an amendment to allow abortion funding to be part of the package.

Republicans Back Off Abortion Bill

In a nod to the pro-abortion lobby, Republicans have backed off a plan to vote on a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks.

Several female Republican representatives quietly worked to kill the vote for the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protect Act Resources bill.  North Carolina Representative Renee Ellmers and Indiana Representative Jackie Walorski reportedly provided the greatest opposition to the bill, removing their names as co-sponsors, although they claimed on Facebook they would still vote for the bill.

Supporters of the bill say that the women who objected claimed Republicans couldn’t get votes from women if they passed the measure.

Politico broke the news of the action Wednesday night.

“Republican leadership late Wednesday evening had to completely drop its plans to pass a bill that bans abortions after 20 weeks, and is reverting to old legislation that prohibits taxpayer funding of abortions,” Politico’s Jake Sherman wrote, adding later in his piece, “the new legislation doesn’t stand a chance to become law.”

The vote was scheduled to be held Thursday on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and the annual March for Life.

Obama Administration Opposes Abortion Bill

The Obama administration has stated they oppose a bill in Congress that would ban abortions after five months.

The administration says that the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is an “assault on a woman’s right to choose.”

“The administration strongly opposes H.R. 36, which would unacceptably restrict women’s health and reproductive rights and is an assault on a woman’s right to choose,” the White House Office of Management and Budget wrote in a memo on Tuesday. “Women should be able to make their own choices about their bodies and their health care, and government should not inject itself into decisions best made between a woman and her doctor.”

The bill is scheduled for a vote in the House Thursday, the 42nd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision to legalize abortion.

“[T]here is substantial medical evidence that an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain at least by 20 weeks after fertilization, if not earlier,” the bill reads. “It is the purpose of the Congress to assert a compelling governmental interest in protecting the lives of unborn children from the stage at which substantial medical evidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain.”

New Bill In Congress Would Ban Abortions After 20 Weeks

A bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives that would ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Ted Franks (R-AZ) and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).  The bill is the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.  The bill is similar to one that passed the House last year but wasn’t allowed to be voted on in the Democrat controlled Senate.

“More than 18,000 ‘very late term’ abortions are performed every year on perfectly healthy unborn babies in America,” Franks asserted in a statement to Life News. “These are innocent and defenseless children who can not only feel pain, but who can survive outside the womb in most cases, and who are torturously killed without even basic anesthesia.”

“Many of them cry and scream as they die, but because it is amniotic fluid going over their vocal cords instead of air, we don’t hear them,” Franks said. “Later term abortion in America has its defenders, but no true or principled defense. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act seeks to afford basic protection to mothers and their unborn babies entering the sixth month of gestation.”

A survey by the Polling Company says that 64 percent of Americans would support a law banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy unless the mother’s life was in danger.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) plans to introduce a similar measure in the Senate before the end of the month.

Suit Filed Against Louisiana Abortion Law

Abortionists have filed a lawsuit against the state of Louisiana over a law that the claim will force them to close.

HB 388 passed the Louisiana House of Representatives 88-5 and the Senate 34-3.  The bill would require abortionists to obtain admitting privileges if a woman is injured during an abortion and require further medical care.

“On the date the abortion is performed or induced, a physician performing or inducing an abortion shall have active admitting privileges at a hospital that is located not further than thirty miles from the location at which the abortion is performed or induced and that provides obstetrical or gynecological health care services,” the bill reads.

The lawsuit claims that there is not a sufficient amount of time from the passage of the law until it goes into effect for the clinics to obtain the approvals necessary to stay open after September 1st.

Laws similar to the Louisiana law have been upheld in most other states including Texas, where at the end of 2014 it’s predicted only 6 of 41 abortion clinics will remain open.