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August 2001
Hillary seeks birth control fundsWASHINGTON, D.C. - The New York Post reports that Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is calling for more federal and state money for so-called contraceptive pills for low-income women. She claims that there is a double standard when it comes to Medicaid funding of prescription drugs because "medically necessary" Viagra for men is fully funded, but not birth control pills. Clinton, the first former first lady to win elected office, used a press conference to joke about the issue amid an adoring press corps: "After all, we wouldn't need so much family planning if ... No, I won't go there," she said as journalists laughed. Currently, Medicaid pays for birth control for women in families earning up to 135 per cent of the poverty level. Clinton threatened to re-examine Medicaid funding for Viagra if Medicaid did not pick up the birth control tab for women earning double the poverty level.Workplace same-sex rightsWASHINGTON D.C.-On July 31, Senator James Jeffords (Independent-Vermont), reintroduced the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would expand the rights of homosexuals in the workplace by enshrining "sexual orientation" as a protected class of employee's. Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women for America's Culture and Family Institute, said the bill "opens a Pandora's Box of vague legal questions, paving the way for a new set of 'rights' that directly threaten the rights of conscience." Knight also warned that corporations might have to drop pro-marriage policies as homosexual activists usually decry such policies as "discriminatory."Poll: support for abortion declinesWASHINGTON, D.C. - An ABC News/Beliefnet poll of 1,022 Americans conducted June 20-24, found support for legal abortion in the United States has fallen to 52 per cent, down from 59 per cent in January. The poll also found that 43 per cent of Americans thought abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, the highest level since ABC began such polls.Partial protection for fetus at viabilityBATON ROUGE, La. - The Louisiana Senate has voted 34-4 to approve a bill that would require ultrasound testing for women planning to have an abortion after 20 weeks' gestation so a doctor can determine whether the child could survive outside the womb.The mother intending to abort would be offered the option of viewing her child via ultrasound. If the child is determined to be viable, the legislation calls for the physician to "utilize the available method or technique of abortion most likely to preserve the life and health of the unborn child." A second doctor would be required to be present in case the child survives the procedure. Any infant born alive after a failed abortion should be given "reasonable and immediate medical care."
Familiar pro-life name returns to politicsHARRISBURG, Pa - Robert Casey Jr., son of former pro-life governor Robert Casey (see obituary in the June 2000 Interim), has narrowed the fundraising gap with his rival for the Democratic nomination for governor, former Philadelphia mayor Edward Rendell, who is pro-abortion. The winner of the Democratic nomination will likely face pro-abortion Republican Governor Tom Ridge. Casey Jr. is pro-life.In an electoral oddity, for the past 15 years, the governor's mansion has been held by either a pro-life Democrat or a pro-abortion Republican. Analysts think Casey will benefit from his family's name recognition among Pennsylvania's swing voters and large Catholic population.
Assisted suicide studyCHICAGO, Ill - The May 9 Journal of the American Medical Association reports on "attitudes about and experiences with end-of-life care" of Oregon physicians since the passing of the Death with Dignity Act in 1994. According to the self-reporting of physicians, 20 of 71 physicians willing to write a lethal prescription "were not confident they could determine when a patient had less than six months to live."City restricts pro-life speechGREAT FALLS, Mont. - City prosecutors claimed that graphic signs used by members of Pro-Life Great Falls, which depicted aborted babies, were a traffic hazard and threatened to confiscate them. Pro-Life Great Falls ended its weekly Friday pro-life witness on August 10. Organizer Jonathan Martin said, "We were told by police that as long as we stayed within the law and did not scream at people, we were all right to be there. Now, all of a sudden, we're lawbreakers.'' City officials and police gave the pro-life witness five minutes' warning to end their demonstration, citing a public nuisance statute. City officials claimed the pro-life demonstrators were "a risk to public safety" because the signs could distract drivers. Pro-Life Great Falls was given the option of demonstrating with signs that did not include pictures, but refused the offer to exercise their freedom of expression under such restrictions.Lawsuit over in-utero injurySPOKANE, Wash. - On July 12, the Washington state Supreme Court ruled that the family of a six-year-old girl injured during a workplace accident can sue for damages.The mother fell at work, injured her placenta and thus deprived her unborn child of oxygen. The baby girl was born with "severe and permanent" mental and physical disabilities. Justice Bobbe Bridge claimed the unanimous decision has no bearing on the abortion debate nor creates new rights for the unborn child. However, a state pro-life group, Human Life, applauded the decision, saying, "It does help our cause in the minds of the culture, that this is a human person and consequently, she has human rights."Democratic oppositin against the ScoutsSACRAMENTO, Calif. - In July, the California legislature considered, but defeated, a resolution celebrating the 85th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America being introduced in that state, acknowledging that, "Scouting makes a direct and positive impact on our communities by teaching the principles of the American social, economic, and governmental systems" and congratulating the Scouts "for training our young people for citizenship, service, and leadership." Democratic assemblymen killed the resolution when 17 of them voted against it, 26 abstained, and just 11 supported it.Last year at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, delegates booed young Scouts as they led the Pledge of Allegiance. At the root of this opposition to the Scouts is the refusal of the organization to accept homosexual Scout leaders and their steadfastness in defending traditional morality. |
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