June 2004

New Bill in Congress
Targets Pain of Unborn

Stark Differences Make for Clear Contrast Between Bush and Kerry

By Dave Andrusko

NRLC Federal Legislative Director Douglas Johnson greets Pres. George W. Bush before the president signs the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

In the 2000 presidential election, only 51.2% of the voting-age population in America chose to take a few minutes out of their schedules to vote in an election so close that its final outcome was not determined for 35 days afterwards.

This dismal turnout came in spite of an election that was both a referendum on the eight years of the Clinton Administration and one that offered as clear a contrast as you could ask for.

Until now, that is. In pro-life President George W. Bush and pro-abortion Sen. John Kerry, the American people have before them two men whose differences on issues in general, and those of interest to pro-lifers, in particular, could not be more marked.

The most recent illustration came in May. A divided three-member panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government has no authority to stop the use of federally controlled drugs to facilitate physician-assisted suicide in Oregon.

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Bill Highlighting Unborn Child's Pain Introduced by Pro-Life Leaders in Congress

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Ks.), chief Senate sponsor of Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act.	Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), chief House sponsor of Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act.

WASHINGTON (May 31, 2004) - - Pro-life leaders in Congress, with the strong backing of National Right to Life, have introduced a major new legislative initiative that throws a spotlight on the pain inflicted on unborn children by abortion.

The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act was introduced on May 20 by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Ks.) (S. 2466) and Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) (H.R. 4420), with numerous cosponsors.

NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson, who appeared with Brownback and Smith at a press conference in the U.S. Capitol announcing the new legislation, said, "There are numerous laws to prevent cruelty to domestic and wild animals, but no law to prevent well-developed unborn children from suffering excruciating pain as they are torn limb from limb or crushed during abortions."

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• EDITORIALS:
  "And a Big Smile Could Be Discerned" - Page 2
  Fooling No One - Page 2
  
• NRLC OPPOSES RATIONING, PRICE CONTROLS, FOR LIFESAVING DRUGS - Page 4
  
• Ninth Circuit Panel Rebuffs Ashcroft - Page 6
  
• Two more lawsuits yet to be decided
  Federal Judge Strikes Down Ban on Partial-Birth Abortion - Page 7
  
• PRO-LIFE NEWS IN BRIEF - Page 8
  
• QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON NRLC'S OPPOSITION TO DRUG PRICE CONTROLS - Page 10
  
• The President Understood What John Kerry Did Not - Our Family Lost Two Victims - Page 12
  
• Gov. Bush Appeals Latest Schindler-Schiavo Ruling - Page 13
  
• An Act of Recognition - Page 14
  
• "You Can Fairly Judge the Character of Society by How It Treats the Weak, the Vulnerable, the Most Easily Forgotten" - Page 15
  
• A Dose of Sober Realism in Oregon - Page 16
  
• Illustrator Puts a Face on the Unborn - Page 19
  
• Police to Investigate Abortion of 28-Week-Old Baby - Page 21
  
• A Primer on "Abortion Distortion" - Page 22
  
• U.S. House Says No to Abortion on Military Bases, 221-202 - Page 24
  
• "Spin Sisters: How the Women of the Media Sell Unhappiness - - and Liberalism - - to the Women of America" - Page 26
  
• An Inside View of Catholics for a Free Choice - Page 27
  
• Study from Norway finds difficulties two years later
  Abortion's Lingering Psychological After-Effects Documented - Page 28
  
• Scholarships Go Long Way in Involving Pro-Life Youth in Movement
  Student Scholarships Win Big in Wyoming - Page 29
  
• AN EASY WAY TO HELP YOUR PRO-LIFE FRIENDS AND NRL NEWS
  
  

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Vol. 31, No. 6

From the President

Wanda Franz, Ph.D.

A STARK CONTRAST

Lately, the obligations of Catholic legislators with regard to the right to life have become a topic of lively public discussion.

Catholics in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives comprise about 28% of the membership: 14 Democrats and 10 Republicans in the Senate, and 71 Democrats and 53 Republicans in the House. (For comparison: In 2000, the total U.S. population was 281.4 million. The number of Catholics in 1999 was 62 million. Thus the percentage of Catholics in the U.S. is about 22%.)

Here are the voting statistics for the current 108th Congress. NRLC's scoring is based on key votes on

* the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act;

* the Human Cloning Ban;

* attempts to repeal the ban of abortions in military facilities;

* attempts to weaken the Kemp-Kasten law, which prohibits funding of organizations that support, facilitate, or participate in coercive abortions;

* the Unborn Victims of Violence Act; and

* the Medicare Modernization Act, which, as passed by the House, allows senior citizens to get insurance for unrationed, lifesaving health care and thus avoid involuntary euthanasia through denial of treatment.

Votes for pro-life legislation and against anti-life legislation were rated as "pro-life."

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