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September 2001
U.S. BriefsPro-abortion concertSenate considers ESCR; may overturn Bush decision Protecting women from abortionists Court upholds bubble zone Same-sex adoption ban upheld in Florida Abortionists sued over misleading RU-486 ad Beauty queen promotes abstinence No Arizona taxpayer funds for abortion Pro-abortion concertWASHINGTON, D.C. - Canadian rock artist Alanis Morissette will headline a Voters for Choice benefit concert in Washington D.C., Sept. 25. Feminist and event host Gloria Steinem said the event will send a clear message to the nation that George W. Bush and "an anti-choice Congress" have gone too far. "This concert is our call to action and kicks off a year of organizing to elect a pro-choice Congress."Senate considers ESCR; may overturn Bush decisionWASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Health, Education and Labour Committee members Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) are leading efforts to overturn President Bush's decision to limit federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research to 64 existing stem cell lines. Specter claimed on NBC's Meet the Press that ESCR is closer to a cure than pro-lifers care to admit and accused Health and Human Services of not providing Bush with correct information on which to base his funding decision. Kennedy said "President Bush has opened the door (for federal funding of ESCR). The question is whether he's opened it far enough." The Family Research Council notes that bickering over the number of available stem cell lines is indicative that we no longer "discuss the morality of killing human beings in order to get their stem cells. Now, we debate how many should be killed."Protecting women from abortionistsWASHINGTON, D.C. - Stephen Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, said, "You don't have to go to China to discover forced abortion, it exists right here in America, and has for many years," as he introduced ABOUT FACE, a national campaign to protect American women from violations at abortuaries and family planning centres in the U.S. Drawing on a precendent-setting U.S. Court of Appeals decision earlier this year that verified the testimony of a woman who had a forced abortion after abortionist William P. Egherman of Florida ignored her demands to stop the abortion, ABOUT FACE. (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act) could prevent - or at least punish - in cases of threats of violence, lack of informed consent and lack of information about the harmful side-effects of abortion.Court upholds bubble zoneBOSTON, Mass. - The federal 1st Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Massachussetts abortuary buffer-zone law that pro-lifers say violates their free-speech rights. The law, passed last year, requires protesters to stay at least 18 feet away (approximately six metres) from sites where abortions are committed. Last November, a U.S. District Court found the law unconstitutional, but that decision was overturned in December. Three pro-life demonstrators challenged the law arguing it violated their First Amendment rights because it was not "content neutral" and because the statute permits abortuary escorts to operate within the buffer zone. The court acknowledged that the law affects anti-abortion protesters more than others, but said what matters for the First Amendment is that the law "serves a legitimate purpose unrelated to expressive content.'' Dwight Duncan, a professor at the Southern New England College of Law, who helped argue the case for the plaintiffs, said he wasn't surprised with the ruling but "had hoped for more vigilance as far as the First Amendment is concerned." He said, "The abortion clinic escorts can swoop down on people and hustle them into the clinics, while the pro-life supporters have to stand back. That is obviously a one-sided, unfair regulation of speech in the public forum."Same-sex adoption ban upheld in FloridaTALLAHASSEE, Fl. - The U.S. Southern District Court of Florida upheld the state's ban on homosexual adoption, one of just three states that have such a law. Judge James Lawrence King said, "Plaintiffs have not asserted that they can demonstrate that homosexual families are equivalently stable, are able to provide proper gender identification or are no more socially stigmatizing than married heterosexual families." Family Research Council president Ken Connor applauded the decision, saying homosexual adoption "trivializes the unique and important role that both mothers and fathers play in raising children."Abortionists sued over misleading RU-486 adCHICAGO, Ill. - Three Chicago residents are suing the National Abortion Federation, saying the organization has used deceptive advertising to promote RU-486, known as the "abortion pill." The ads, which appeared in magazines that target women, such as Cosmopolitan, Fitness, Health, In Style, Jane, Mademoiselle, Glamour, Marie Claire, People, and Vanity Fair, claimed the pill was safe and did not mention side-effects. The lllinois Deceptive Trade Practices Act forbids businesses to represent goods or services to have characteristics it does not have. The ad, which includes the statement, "You have the freedom to choose. And now, you have another safe abortion choice," would appear to be untrue, considering side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and heavy bleeding. Seven years ago during FDA trials of the drug, an Iowa woman nearly bled to death. NAF executive director Vicki Saporta dismissed the lawsuit as the action of "anti-choice activists."Beauty queen promotes abstinenceLAS VEGAS, Nev. - Recently crowned Miss Nevada Ashley Huff is promoting sexual abstinence among teens. In her first month, she has talked to schools, met with Governor Kenny Guinn to promote the federally funded program Abstinence Works and joined the state's Youth Advisory Council. She plans on doing several public service announcements. While Huff says her stance on the issue is rooted in her faith - she is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - she says, "You can see abstinence as a faith choice or a health choice." She will vie for the Miss America prize on Sept. 22.No taxpayer funds for abortionsPHOENIX, Az. - The Arizona Court of Appeals has ruled that there is no state constitutional right to public taxpayer funding for abortion, as it upheld a state law banning the funding except when necessary to save the life of the mother having the abortion. The suit, brought forward by abortion facilities and abortion practitioners, claimed the funding ban, enacted in 1980, violated privacy rights and other protections of the Arizona Constitution. Judge Jon W. Thompson, who wrote the decision, said, "The patient is free to elect to undergo an abortion and is not penalized by the statute for doing so." The funding ban, he said, is "rationally related to a legitimate government purpose, because the state has a legitimate interest in protecting unborn life and in promoting childbirth." |
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