National Right to Life opposes Senate version of health care reform because of abortion coverage

National Right to Life Committee has issued a statement noting their opposition to the U.S. Senate's health care reform legislation.

The manager’s amendment is light years removed from the Stupak-Pitts Amendment that was approved by the House of Representatives on November 8 by a bipartisan vote of 240-194. The new abortion language solves none of the fundamental abortion-related problems with the Senate bill, and it actually creates some new abortion-related problems.

NRLC will score the upcoming roll call votes on cloture on the Reid manager’s amendment, and on the underlying bill, as votes in favor of legislation to allow the federal government to subsidize private insurance plans that cover abortion on demand, to oversee multi-state plans that cover elective abortions, and to empower federal officials to mandate that private health plans cover abortions even if they do not accept subsidized enrollees, among other problems.

They have also issued a detailed critique of the abortion language in the Senate's health care reform legislation, clearly explaining why this legislation is unacceptable to prolifers.

Adult stem cells save injured climber’s leg

Doctors in Britain successfully treated a man named Andrew Kent with stem cells from his bone marrow after a boulder fell on him and broke his leg in five places.

Surgeons warned that he was likely to lose his leg unless they tried the new stem cell technique.

"Receiving that news is pretty devastating," Kent said.

Orthopedic surgeon Anan Shetty removed stem cells from the bone marrow in his patient's hip.

These were mixed with a new collagen gel called Cartifill to make a paste or glue, which was smeared into the fractures. They finally fixed his leg in a metal cage to gently squeeze the bones together.

The cage was removed at the beginning of December, six months after the stem cell procedure.

Shetty described how he had put all his weight on Kent's leg, but the bones remained solid.

"He has really surprised us. This is an amazing technique," the surgeon said of Kent. "He won't be able to run for about a year, but after 18 months his bones will have healed completely. I'm sure he'll be able to go back and rock climb again."

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Video exposes how Planned Parenthood lies to patients

Recently, the prolife organization Live Action released a new undercover video which shows how some Planned Parenthood counselors deceive their patients and attempt to talk them into having abortions. On the video, a Planned Parenthood counselor in Wisconsin falsely claims that an unborn child at 10 weeks gestation doesn’t have a heartbeat and the abortionist says, “It's not a baby at this stage or anything like that.”

You can view the video online here.

U.S. Senate continues to debate health care reform

Battle is far from over

President Obama and top congressional Democratic leaders are stepping up their efforts to include abortion in "health care" legislation, before the end of the year.

On December 8, the U.S. Senate rejected the Nelson-Hatch-Casey Amendment to remove abortion subsidies from the sweeping health care restructuring bill proposed by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" (H.R. 3590).

The prolife amendment was defeated by a vote of 54 to 45.

During the days immediately ahead, the Senate may cast votes that will determine the fate of the legislation. The bill cannot emerge from the Senate unless 60 senators vote to end debate ("invoke cloture") on the bill. If a bill does emerge from the Senate, it must also go before the House of Representatives. The House passed a different version of the bill on November 7, but only after first adopting the Stupak-Pitts Amendment to remove subsidies for abortion.

National Right to Life Committee and Right to Life of Michigan are strongly opposed to the Senate bill because of multiple provisions that would promote abortion and the rationing of lifesaving medical care.

Time is short! Please telephone the offices of your two U.S. senators. Urge them to oppose the Reid health care bill (H.R. 3590), and to vote no on "cloture" (ending debate) on the bill. It doesn't matter if you have called your senators before and received a response; please call again. It is not too late!

For detailed information, please visit the Right to Life of Michigan Prolife Action Center.

Action Items:

Listen to the national web cast update

Sign On-Line Petition

Share with Sen. Levin and Sen. Stabenow your desire to keep the government out of the abortion business.

Sample message: "I urge you to vote no on cloture and the health care legislation proposed by Senator Reid unless direct and indirect federal funding of abortion is eliminated. I am strongly opposed to government funding of abortion."


Senator Carl Levin (D)
Washington, D.C., Phone: (202) 224-6221

District Offices:
Detroit (313) 226-6020
Escanaba (906) 789-0052
Grand Rapids (616) 456-2531
Lansing (517) 377-1508
Traverse City (231) 947-9569
Warren (586) 573-9145

On-line Contact Form

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D)
Washington, D.C., Phone: (202) 224-4822

District Offices:
Detroit (313) 961-4330
East Lansing (517) 203-1760
Flint (810) 720-4172
Grand Rapids (616) 975-0052
Marquette (906) 228-8756
Traverse City (231) 929-1031

On-Line Contact Form

U.S. Senators Kill Prolife Amendment

Battle is far from over

By a vote of 54 to 45, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, December 8, tabled (a.k.a. killed) an amendment to remove elective abortion from a sweeping health care restructuring bill proposed by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" (H.R. 3590). Both Senator Carl Levin and Senator Debbie Stabenow voted to table the amendment which would have kept federal funds from paying for elective abortions in the Senate health care reform bill.

A majority of senators voted to keep abortion covered in the proposed federal government health care program; however, now the vote on cloture on the bill itself will become the key vote on whether to put the federal government into the abortion business. Right to Life of Michigan opposes cloture on the bill, which would require 60 affirmative votes, if federal funding of abortion is included.

The prolife amendment, which was rejected, was sponsored by Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Robert Casey (D-PA). It contained the same substance as the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which was adopted by the House of Representatives on November 7, 240-194. Both amendments would prevent the federal government insurance program (the "public option") from paying for abortion (except to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest). In addition, both amendments would prevent federal subsidies from being used to purchase private health plans that cover elective abortion but would not restrict the sale or purchase of such policies with private funds.

Talk from Washington, D.C., is that the U.S. Senate has dropped the "public option" from its bill. The result of this change and the impact of federal funding of abortion is yet unknown. Right to Life of Michigan is following the debate closely.

While the vote yesterday killed an amendment to remove elective abortion from the pending Senate health care reform legislation bill, the battle is far from over.

While this is a setback, it is only step one. The key vote focuses on cloture -- whether to cut off debate. Again, Right to Life of Michigan opposes cloture on the bill if federal funding of abortion is included.

Thankfully, a number of prolife Democrats in the U.S. House who supported passage of health care legislation on November 7 will not vote for the Senate bill in its current form.

For detailed information, please visit the Right to Life of Michigan Prolife Action Center.

Prolife and church leaders sign Manhattan Declaration

Numerous church and prolife leaders have signed the Manhattan Declaration, a document which in part affirms and defends the sanctity of human life. Here’s a portion of the Declaration:

We will be united and untiring in our efforts to roll back the license to kill that began with the abandonment of the unborn to abortion. We will work, as we have always worked, to bring assistance, comfort, and care to pregnant women in need and to those who have been victimized by abortion, even as we stand resolutely against the corrupt and degrading notion that it can somehow be in the best interests of women to submit to the deliberate killing of their unborn children. Our message is, and ever shall be, that the just, humane, and truly Christian answer to problem pregnancies is for all of us to love and care for mother and child alike.

Visit the web site of the Manhattan Declaration to read the full document.

MI Senate Committee to vote on Embryo Package on Dec. 9 - Call your state senator!

The passage of Proposal 2 by a narrow margin in 2008 left many unanswered questions regarding human embryonic stem cell research. A package of bills titled the Embryo Research & Fertility Clinic Transparency Act was introduced in the Michigan House and Senate to address these questions.

The Michigan Senate Health Policy Committee will take up the Embryo Research Transparency Package on Wednesday, December 9, where a vote to report the bills to the full Senate is expected.

Please take 5 minutes to contact your state senator and urge them to support this legislation.

ALL SENATORS IN LANSING should receive calls/emails/faxes either asking for, or thanking co-sponsors for, their support on the Embryo Research package. There are 18 Senators who have co-sponsored the bills and Majority Leader Mike Bishop has put his full support behind it. The list of lead sponsors and co-sponsors to thank and urge their YES vote include:

Mike Bishop, Tom George, Roger Kahn, Jim Barcia, Dennis Olshove, Jud Gilbert, Mark Jansen, Ray Basham, Patty Birkholz, Nancy Cassis, Alan Cropsey, John Gleason, Bill Hardiman, Wayne Kuipers, Michelle McManus, Alan Sanborn, Tony Stamas, Randy Richardville, Jerry VanWoerkom

The message for those senators not listed should be:
“PLEASE VOTE YES ON THE EMBRYO RESEARCH TRANSPARENCY PACKAGE. THE VOTERS EXPECT PROPOSAL 2 TO BE IMPLEMENTED AND ENFORCED.”

Because Proposal 2 was a constitutional amendment no law can reverse it, only another constitutional amendment. This package is designed to close the potential loopholes in the amendment's language. It will make sure the limitations in Proposal 2 are put into statute along with definitions and penalties. It will also clarify that other types of human embryo research were NOT authorized by Proposal 2.

For more information about the bills, please go to the Right to Life of Michigan's legislative center.

U.S. Senate to Address Key Prolife Amendment

Afghanistan, unemployment and the economy are topics which have been making the headlines. But in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Senate is chipping away at health care reform. The U.S. Senate is engaged in consideration of numerous amendments to a sweeping health care restructuring bill proposed by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" (H.R. 3590). Right to Life of Michigan is strongly opposed to the Reid bill because of the federal funding of abortions and potential health rationing provisions.

Soon, perhaps as early as the week of December 6, prolife Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) will offer an amendment that will incorporate the same policy as the Stupak-Pitts Amendment. The Stupak-Pitts Amendment prohibits both direct federal funding of abortion by the "public option" and the use of federal subsidies to purchase private plans that cover elective abortion.

The U.S. House Democratic leadership version of health care legislation (H.R. 3962) originally contained pro-abortion provisions very similar to those now found in the Reid bill. However, on November 7, the House approved the prolife Stupak-Pitts Amendment on a roll call vote of 240-194. The House then passed H.R. 3962, as amended, by a vote of 220-215.

At this time, the Reid bill establishes a big new federal health insurance program, the public option. The bill authorizes (on page 118) the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services to require coverage of any and all abortions throughout the public option program. This would be federal government funding of abortion, no matter how hard they try to disguise it.

For detailed information, please visit the Right to Life of Michigan Prolife Action Center.

Action Item

Sign On-Line Petition

Call and e-mail Senator Carl Levin and Senator Debbie Stabenow and let them know abortion and abortion funding must be "explicitly excluded " from any health care/insurance reform legislation.

Sample message: "I urge you to support the Hatch-Nelson amendment which would prohibit direct federal funding of abortion and prohibit the use of federal subsidies to purchase private plans that cover elective abortions. I am strongly opposed to government funding of abortion."

Senator Carl Levin (D)
Washington, D.C., Phone: (202) 224-6221

District Offices:
Detroit (313) 226-6020
Escanaba (906) 789-0052
Grand Rapids (616) 456-2531
Lansing (517) 377-1508
Traverse City (231) 947-9569
Warren (586) 573-9145

Web Site (you can use the web site to send an electronic message):
www.levin.senate.gov/


Senator Debbie Stabenow (D)
Washington, D.C., Phone: (202) 224-4822

District Offices:
Detroit (313) 961-4330
East Lansing (517) 203-1760
Flint (810) 720-4172
Grand Rapids (616) 975-0052
Marquette (906) 228-8756
Traverse City (231) 929-1031

Web Site (you can use the web site to send an electronic message):
www.stabenow.senate.gov/

NIH reveals new federally-funded embryonic stem cell lines

Today, the National Institutes of Health revealed which new human embryonic stem cell lines have been approved for federally funded research. In March, President Barack Obama overturned President Bush's policy which prevented federal funded research on human embryonic stem cell lines created after August of 2001.

Right to Life of Michigan opposes any research which requires the intentional destruction of human life.

The National Institutes of Health announced it will make 13 new embryonic stem cell lines will be available for federally funded research, and will consider adding 20 more new embryonic stem cell lines to a national registry on Friday.

For eight years, scientists using federal grants had to vie for access to just 21 approved lines, or colonies of stem cells --derived from a human embryo. The Bush administration imposed a moratorium on federally-funded research on new embryonic stem cell lines created after August 9, 2001....

The 13 lines are the fist in what the government promises will be hundreds of new embryonic stem cell lines approved for federally funded research....

All told, the NIH is reviewing 96 pending applications (including the 20 up for review on Friday) from scientists to make their stem cell lines available to researchers through a national registry.

Collins said the government has 21 million dollars in grant money allotted for research on the new lines and the NIH is expecting at least 10 million dollars more next year from Challenge Grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

FULL STORY