Pro-Life Agenda
By Paul M. Weyrich
February 21, 2005
The last session of Congress was very successful for the pro-life movement. Two significant pieces of legislation -- the Partial Birth Abortion Ban and the Unborn Victims of Violence Act -- were signed into law by President Bush. It took years -- even decades -- of struggle on the part of pro-life activists to achieve those successes. There are children yet to be born who will owe their lives to those who kept working no matter the difficulties encountered, which in the process forced Americans to rethink their views about abortion. However, the reality is that while we have made great strides, there is still work to be done. Now in a Senate with more Senators considered to be sympathetic to pro-life concerns, what are the most important agenda items likely to be advanced in this session?
Key items on the agenda are the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act and the Human Cloning Ban.
Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) have introduced the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act.
It is an unfortunate comment on our society that cattle have more protection than an unborn child from experiencing pain at death. That's right. According to the National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund, the Humane Slaughter Act holds that acts of slaughter of animals are considered to be humane if "all animals are rendered insensible to pain by a single blow or gunshot or an electrical, chemical, or other means that is rapid and effective, before being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut."
However, there is no precautionary step required to be taken to lessen an unborn child's pain during an abortion. A dilation and evacuation abortion, frequently used in second trimester abortions, is a pretty gruesome procedure, using metal forceps to yank the child from the womb. Maternal anesthesia does not suffice. In order to have an effect on the child the maternal anesthesia would need to avoid being metabolized by the mother's liver, then enter her blood stream, cross the placental membrane, be filtered through the unborn child's membrane system, and then cross his blood/brain barrier.
On April 15, 2004, Dr. K.J.S. "Sunny" Anand, Director of the Pain Neurobiology Laboratory at the Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, testified before the U.S. District Court, Northern District, California:
"The highest density of pain receptors per square inch of skin in human development occurs in utero from 20 to 30 weeks of gestation. During this period, the epidermis is still very thin, leaving nerve fibers closer to the surface of the skin than in older neonates and adults...a fetus of 20-32 weeks of gestation would experience a much more intense pain than older infants or children or adults, when these age groups are subjected to similar types of injury or handling."
Similar sad and revealing testimony, from another case, in the U.S. District Court, Southern District, New York, is set out in the "Notable News Now" issued June 28, 2004, entitled, "Human Pain in Painful Words," and available on the Free Congress Foundation Website.
This awareness of the pain inflicted upon unborn children undergoing an abortion led Senator Brownback and Rep. Smith to introduce the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act in the last session. Rep. Smith, Chairman of the House Pro-Life Caucus, urged his fellow House Members on May 20, 2004 to "Stop the denial and recognize the truth -- abortion is excruciatingly painful to unborn children."
The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act would require abortionists to verbally inform the mother that due to a finding by Congress that an unborn child can feel pain she has the option of having anesthesia administered directly to her child to reduce or eliminate the pain. The abortionists also would be required to provide a brochure that would describe the pain-reducing drugs.
Failure to comply with these simple provisions would either bring a suspension of the medical license, a civil penalty under $100,000, or both. A second offense would either bring about the loss of the medical license, a monetary fine less than $250,000, or both.
Unfortunately, this bill due to its late introduction was not considered in the last session of Congress. However, abortions continue and children continue being yanked from the wombs of their mothers by forceps inflicting painful, crushing blows. The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act at least would provide some of the protection to unborn children against pain that our society extends to cattle and other animals being slaughtered.
There has been a more concerted push over the last few years to pass the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act. (The current Senate version is called the Child Custody Protection Act.) The House had passed the Child Custody Protection Act three times, only to have it die in the Senate. Now the added numbers of pro-lifers in the Senate give this legislation a fighting chance for passage.
If your state has a law on its book requiring parental notification or consent for abortion, you have reason to be thankful. Such a law may not be able to stop teens from receiving an abortion but it at least makes sure the parent of a pregnant teenager knows what is happening. However, if you live next door to a state that does not require parental consent, the child could simply go across the state line and obtain an abortion, no question asked.
CIANA would make it a Federal offense to try evading a state's abortion notification laws by going across state lines to a state without the restrictions of parental consent or notification. In states without parental notification laws under CIANA the abortionist would still be required to notify a parent.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) is the sponsor of CIANA in the House and the bill was introduced with 105 original co-sponsors, a testament to the strength of the movement to ensure parents have a role in a crucial decision facing their child. Rep. Ros-Lehtinen explains the issue this way: "A minor who is forbidden to drink alcohol, to stay out past a certain hour, or to get her ears pierced, is certainly not prepared to make a life-altering, hazardous and potentially fatal decision, such as abortion, without the consultation or consent or at least one parent."
The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003 sponsored by Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) passed the House in 2003 but failed to gain traction in the Senate. Fortunately, the increased numbers of potential pro-life votes increase the likelihood that it can be passed in this session. We are able to recreate thanks to God's intelligent design; allowing humans to become the sole arbiters of when and how life begins will ultimately cheapen the way human life is viewed. Passage of this measure would make clear that our country will not allow human life to become viewed as made-to-order merchandise.
Speaking on the House floor nearly two years ago, Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) made clear that those who want our culture to embrace the "Brave New World" by cloning humans favor terms such as "nuclear transplantation" (in reality, human cloning) to help lessen the shock about what really is happening. Another message sponsored by the pro-cloning lobby is the need to engage in "therapeutic cloning" to deal with diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's and cancer. Renzi warned that we would be traveling down a very slippery slope because cloning human embryos will naturally lead to human cloning. He said, "Human cloning for research involves the creation of a human cloned embryo to be bought, sold and stripped, and exploited for its many parts."
Speaking nearly two decades ago, President Ronald Reagan questioned post-modern culture when he said: "We are told...that there exists a 'right' to end the lives of unborn children; yet no one can explain how such a right can exist in stark contradiction of each person's fundamental right to life." Now, the majority party in each chamber of Congress has pro-life leaders at the helm. President Bush is very sincere in his desire to build a "culture of life." Most importantly, we have pro-life activists in every state of the Union who have kept the faith through some dark times. Now the light of the tunnel is coming closer. We have every reason to be thankful for the last session of Congress; but now is no time to relax; not when there is legislation in Congress to ban human cloning, to make mothers aware of the pain felt by unborn infants during an abortion, to ensure that parents know if their child is in another state considering an abortion...not when innocent human life is at stake.
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Paul M. Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.