SB1564 the Health Care Right of Conscience Act Update - Roll Call

This bill amends the Health Care Right of Conscience Act:  provides that notwithstanding any other law, a health care facility, or any physician or health care personnel working in the facility, may refuse to permit, perform, assist in, counsel about, suggest, recommend, refer for, or participate in health care services because of a conscience-based objection.

This bill now undermines Healthcare Right of Conscience by requiring pro-life facilities to refer pro-abort services to other facilities thus violating their morals or beliefs.

Update on SB1564: Today (July 15th) 5 representatives who support SB1564 were absent so it is unlikely that the sponsor will call the bill because she will not have her votes.

However, we will not relent.  This is the roll call of the vote taken in the House on July 9, 2015 on the amendment to SB1564.

56 YEAS 52 NAYS 0 PRESENT
Y - Denotes Yea
N - Denotes Nay
NV - Denotes No Vote
E - Denotes Excused Absence

Y Acevedo N Davis,M N Kay NV Rita
Y Ammons Y Davis,W Y Kifowit N Sandack
N Andersson NV DeLuca Y Lang N Scherer
Y Andrade N Demmer NV Leitch Y Sente
N Anthony Y Drury Y Lilly Y Sims
Y Arroyo Y Dunkin Y Manley Y Smiddy
N Batinick N Durkin Y Martwick N Sommer
N Beiser Y Evans N Mautino N Sosnowski
N Bellock Y Feigenholtz NV Mayfield Y Soto
N Bennett Y Fine Y McAsey N Stewart
N Bourne Y Flowers N McAuliffe N Sullivan
N Bradley Y Ford N McDermed Y Tabares
N Brady N Fortner N McSweeney NV Thapedi
N Breen NV Franks E Meier N Tryon
N Brown N Frese N Mitchell,B Y Turner
N Bryant Y Gabel Y Mitchell,C N Unes
Y Burke,Daniel Y Golar Y Moeller N Verschoore
Y Burke,Kelly Y Gordon-Booth N Moffitt Y Wallace
N Butler Y Guzzardi E Morrison Y Walsh
N Cabello N Hammond Y Moylan N Wehrli
Y Cassidy N Harris,David Y Mussman Y Welch
N Cavaletto Y Harris,Greg Y Nekritz N Wheeler,Barbara
Y Chapa LaVia N Hays N Phelps N Wheeler,Keith
N Cloonen Y Hernandez E Phillips Y Williams
Y Conroy N Hoffman E Poe Y Willis
N Costello Y Hurley N Pritchard N Winger
Y Crespo N Ives Y Reaves-Harris Y Yingling
Y Currie Y Jackson N Reis Y Zalewski
Y D'Amico N Jesiel Y Riley Y Mr. Speaker
N Davidsmeyer

The purpose of the amendment was to change the effective date to June of 2016 so that the bill would require 60 votes instead of 71.  The sponsor needed at least one more yea than the nays to pass the amendment.  You can see that she did have enough yeas to pass the amendment but did not receive 60 votes for the amendment.  This suggests that she may not have 60 votes to pass the bill.  However we must continue to contact representatives.  If your representative voted "no" (N) or "no vote" (NV) please contact them and thank them for their vote.  We need to let them know that we are grateful for their vote against the amendment and also, ask them to also vote no on SB1564.

Follow this link for more information on this and other legislation:
http://ifrl-blog.blogspot.com/p/legislation.html

Alveda King: Advancing Reproductive Lies - Women Do Regret Abortion

Alveda King: Advancing Reproductive Lies - Women Do Regret Abortion (And Don't Know That Their Babies' Body Parts are Being Sold by Planned Parenthood)

In a recent report, Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health just disrespected hundreds of thousands of women, including Black women like me by saying that our testimonies of our regret over our abortions are likely unfounded. In their report, they say that over 95 percent of women who have had an abortion think they made the right decision according to their new study. Released by the University of California, San Francisco think tank Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, and using 667 women who participated in the group's Turnaway survey, the report found that while a quarter of the women expressed some negativity about their abortions, "Results from this study suggest that claims that many women experience abortion decision regret are likely unfounded."

While I am writing this blog, there is a news flash from Priests for Life working with Mark Crutcher at Life Dynamics, Operation Rescue, and others with startling evidence that Planned Parenthood is involved in a massive cover up over selling body parts and remains of aborted babies. It's all lining up. The dots are actually being connected. Remember my Three Headed Monster report? There is so much that is hidden. It's time to tell the truth.

Click here for the full press release on Christian Newswire.

30-month undercover investigation exposes Planned Parenthood’s trafficking of baby parts

The pro-life undercover group Center for Medical Progress today began revealing findings of a deep undercover investigation:

The Human Capital project is a 30-month-long investigative journalism study… documenting how Planned Parenthood sells the body parts of aborted babies. Citizen journalists at CMP spent two-and-a-half years logging thousands of research hours to painstakingly gather hundreds of hours of undercover footage, dozens of eye-witness testimonies, and nearly two hundred pages of primary source documents.

The investigation included attending five top abortion industry conventions – with undercover video cameras.

CMP investigators found Planned Parenthood is involved in buying and selling aborted baby body parts, which is a federal felony – and while attempting to retrieve those body parts intact sometimes commits partial birth abortions, which is also a federal felony offense and illegal in several states as well.



Click here for the origniating article from Jill Stanek.

Obama administration makes another proposal for mandated contraceptive coverage by religious employers

The Obama administration has released a new proposal to resolve a conflict with religious institutions that object in principle to the mandated coverage of contraceptives in the "Obamacare" health-insurance program.

The new policy would allow qualified religious institutions to opt out of the contraceptive coverage. Female employees at these organizations would then receive contraceptive coverage directly from insurers, without any direct payment by the employer. However, the new proposal still requires the religious institutions to notify the Department of Health and Human Services that they are opting out, thus triggering the coverage for their employees. To date, religious institutions have objected to that provision, saying that it requires them, in effect, to take an action that provides the objectionable coverage.

Following up on a Supreme Court ruling that privately owned corporations must be allowed to uphold the religious principles of their owners, the Obama administration has also offered an opt-out provision for corporations. The proposed rules would apply only to corporations held by no more than five owners, and not traded on public exchanges.

Click here for the originating article from CatholicCulture.org

Pro-abortion NGOs: Right to Abortion Above Girls’ Right to Life

Asia-based NGOs hosted a meeting in New Delhi to discuss the impact of efforts to reduce sex selective abortion on access to abortion. The discussion led by Asia Safe Abortion Partnership (ASAP) and Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA) centered not on saving the lives of girls who are identified in the womb and targeted for abortion but rather on “the serious barriers this is creating for women’s right to safe abortion.”

One of the major complaints was the drop in availability of abortion-inducing drugs, despite the fact that a large quality of the drugs is manufactured in India and China.

The sex selection vs. access to abortion discussion included remarks by Suchitra Dalvies, which focused on women who seek sex selection abortion “..when it comes to this issue of sex selection we routinely hold meetings and discussions without bringing in the perspective of the women who are seeking or obtaining sex determination and selection.”

Click here for the originating article from National Right to Life.

Post-abortion woman tells her story of regret

She was 18 when she became pregnant by her 22-year-old boyfriend. She remembers:  ...the stress, the grief, and the fear I felt when I looked down at that little plus sign.

She explains how she was afraid to tell her parents about her pregnancy: I felt trapped. We were both raised in Catholic upper middle class families.… A secret abortion was the only option we could imagine. We felt it was a better option than facing our parents’ disappointed faces….

Too many teenagers are afraid to face their parents when they become pregnant. This is common in religious families, where the pressure on the pregnant minor to guard her secret can be extreme. Parents need to talk to their children about pregnancy and let them know that they can come to them if it happens. Christian family should not assume that their children will never make mistakes.

Click here for the originating article from Live Action News.

Millennials not apathetic about abortion

Students for Life of America (SLA) circulated the petition among students asking the Senate to pass a 20-week ban. Kristin Hawkins, president of Students for Life, says during her visit to Capitol Hill last month she delivered the petition with 1,300 signatures from students on 25 campuses.

Hawkins, Kristan (Students for Life)"There is that misconception out there that young people are extremely liberal when it comes to abortion, that they tolerate abortion when in fact they don't," she states. "A National Journal poll this semester showed that 52 percent of millennials are in favor of banning abortions in the second trimester. That's 13 weeks."

"For college students in the midst of exams, club meetings, work, and other obligations, taking the time to check out [our] display and sign their name was a testament to the recognition of the exceptional horror of abortion, especially this late in pregnancy," says the pro-life leader.

Click here for the originating article from OneNewsNow.

Competing abortion bills on Capitol Hill

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are waging a political war on a current law, the Hyde Amendment, that bans use of tax dollars for abortion.

But Mary Harned, staff counsel for Americans United for Life, warns that pro-abortion lawmakers are introducing a bill to prohibit the Hyde Amendment.

"The bill would permit federal Medicaid dollars to be used to pay for abortions for women on public assistance," Harned tells OneNewsNow.

Click here for the originating article from OneNewsNow.

Amazing Computer Animation Shows In Utero Development of Human Face

On its webpage The BBC offers some absolutely amazing examples of science developed with laypeople in mind. But replete with spectacular graphics, its series on “Inside the Human Body” may be the most fascinating of all.

Although it first appeared over four years ago, it wasn’t until later that most of here in the states become aware of a YouTube video of one segment—a time-lapse of the development of the human face in utero.

According to the New Scientist, the animation “is based on human embryo scans captured between 1 and 3 months after conception, the period during which a face develops.” I’ve attached a link here.



Click here for the originating article from National Right to Life.

Health Care Right of Conscience Act - UPDATE

SB1564 = Health Care Right of Conscience Act

Sponsor: Senator Biss.

UPDATE - On the Illinois House Floor today an amendment to SB1564 was called for a vote. The amendment changed the effective date of the bill to June 2016. The purpose of the amendment was to lower the required number of votes to pass the bill from 71 to 60. The amendment passed by a vote of 56 yes, 52 no, and 10 not voting. Usually amendments pass with higher numbers by the sponsor’s peers so this vote sends a troubling message to the sponsor. Although the amendment passed it was immediately announced that several fiscal notes had been requested and therefore SB1564 was placed back on second reading to address the fiscal notes.

This bill amends the Health Care Right of Conscience Act:  provides that notwithstanding any other law, a health care facility, or any physician or health care personnel working in the facility, may refuse to permit, perform, assist in, counsel about, suggest, recommend, refer for, or participate in health care services because of a conscience-based objection.  

This bill now undermines Healthcare Right of Conscience by requiring pro-life facilities to refer pro-abort services to other facilities thus violating their morals or beliefs.

From the bill text:

Amends the Health Care Right of Conscience Act. Makes changes in the Section concerning findings and policy. Defines "access to care and information protocols" and "material information". Provides that notwithstanding any other law, a health care facility, or any physician or health care personnel working in the facility, may refuse to permit, perform, assist in, counsel about, suggest, recommend, refer for, or participate in health care services because of a conscience-based objection only if the refusal occurs in accordance with written access to care and information protocols designed to ensure that (1) the patient receives material information in a timely fashion; and (2) the refusal will not impair the patient's health by causing delay of or inability to access the refused health care service. Provides that nothing in the Act shall be construed to prevent a health care facility from requiring that physicians or health care personnel working in the facility comply with access to care and information protocols.

This amendment requires a written referral to a facility that will complete the refused services including abortion, contraceptives and family planning.

From the bill text:

...a written document that contains the names of and contact information for health care facilities, physicians, or health care personnel that may provide the patient the particular form of health care service refused...

"Health care" is defined as any phase of patient care, including but not limited to, testing; diagnosis; prognosis; ancillary research; instructions; family planning, counselling, referrals, or any other advice in connection with the use or procurement of contraceptives and sterilization or abortion procedures; medication; or surgery or other care or treatment rendered by a physician or physicians, nurses, paraprofessionals or health care facility, intended for the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of persons...

Although an amendment has been added to bill, the Federation for Right to Life still opposes this bill.

Click here for more information on this bill.

Click here for the full bill text.

ACTION ALERT SB1564 - Health Care Right of Conscience Act

The House is back in session today.  They will be voting on a budget tomorrow in the House and all of the members will need to be present for that vote.  That means the sponsor may have the votes she needs to pass her bill.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR ACTION

Contact your Representative, urge them to vote NO on SB1564.

This bill amends the Health Care Right of Conscience Act, it bill now undermines Healthcare Right of Conscience by requiring pro-life facilities to refer pro-abort services to other facilities thus violating their morals or beliefs.

From the bill text:

Amends the Health Care Right of Conscience Act. Makes changes in the Section concerning findings and policy. Defines "access to care and information protocols" and "material information". Provides that notwithstanding any other law, a health care facility, or any physician or health care personnel working in the facility, may refuse to permit, perform, assist in, counsel about, suggest, recommend, refer for, or participate in health care services because of a conscience-based objection only if the refusal occurs in accordance with written access to care and information protocols designed to ensure that (1) the patient receives material information in a timely fashion; and (2) the refusal will not impair the patient's health by causing delay of or inability to access the refused health care service. Provides that nothing in the Act shall be construed to prevent a health care facility from requiring that physicians or health care personnel working in the facility comply with access to care and information protocols.

This amendment requires a written referral to a facility that will complete the refused services including abortion, contraceptives and family planning.

From the bill text:

...a written document that contains the names of and contact information for health care facilities, physicians, or health care personnel that may provide the patient the particular form of health care service refused...

"Health care" is defined as any phase of patient care, including but not limited to, testing; diagnosis; prognosis; ancillary research; instructions; family planning, counselling, referrals, or any other advice in connection with the use or procurement of contraceptives and sterilization or abortion procedures; medication; or surgery or other care or treatment rendered by a physician or physicians, nurses, paraprofessionals or health care facility, intended for the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of persons...

AGAIN, THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW!

Contact your Representative, urge them to vote NO on SB1564.

Click here to find your Representative's contact information.

Click here for more information on this bill.

Baby saved from abortion after mother changes her mind, seeks abortion pill reversal

When Becky Buell of Sacramento, California, discovered she was pregnant with her second child at the end of her freshman year of college, she was scared and unsure of what to do. With her marriage falling apart, she feared she’d also lose the support of her parents. Becky chose to abort her baby by taking two drugs that cause a chemical abortion. She visited a Planned Parenthood facility and took the first drug, RU 486, while she was there. She was to take the second drug 24 hours later.

But immediately after taking the first drug, she regretted her decision and called the abortion pill reversal hotline (877-558-0333, abortionpillreversal.com) run by Culture of Life Family Services, the family practice of George Delgado, MD. The reversal treatment was successful and her baby was born healthy at full term.

Becky now advocates for women who change their minds, and she’s speaking out about Dr. Delgado’s work. Many women and doctors are unaware that a chemical abortion can be reversed if treatment is started quickly after the first drug is taken. Dr. Delgado and nurse manager Debbie Bradel are spreading the word and gaining the support and help of doctors across the globe. If hearts and minds can be changed in those first few hours following the chemical abortion, thousands of babies could be saved.

Click here for the originating article from Live Action News.

President Obama: ‘We are people who believe every child is entitled to life’ (but not for the preborn)

On Friday, June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling which legalized same-sex marriage across the nation. President Barack Obama, who has supported same-sex marriage since 2012, issued a statement commending the Court.

Most striking is his utterance that “we are people who believe every child is entitled to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” President Obama’s stance as the most pro-abortion president appears in direct conflict with the values he espouses. Why does Obama not see preborn children as worthy of basic human rights? How can any child “write [his] own destiny” if he has been aborted?

President Obama talks about love. What about love for the preborn? Shouldn’t we respect people, at least enough to allow them to born? Why should it matter if they are still developing inside their mother’s wombs?

Click here for the originating article from Live Action News.

51 pro-life laws have passed this year, saving babies from abortion

As we begin the second half of 2015, some pro-lifers may be discouraged by recent judicial intervention that allows abortion facilities to remain open, or prevents other pro-life laws from passing. But the truth is, the pro-life side is still winning.

This year alone, 51 new pro-life laws have been enacted. As the Guttmacher Institute reports, there have been 282 abortion restrictions since 2010. Guttmacher notes that pro-life laws passed in the first half of 2015 already exceed all of 2014.

The pro-life laws passed take on a variety of aspects, but a few themes prevail: patient safety laws—known as Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws by abortion advocates, medication abortion laws, waiting periods for abortions, and D&E abortions (usually known as “dismemberment abortions”).

Click here for the originating article from Live Action News.

Euthanasia’s Open Season on the Mentally Ill

Helping the mentally ill commit suicide was unthinkable not long ago. Today, it is a growing practice.

In the Netherlands, for example, psychiatrists legally kill their patients with the approval of colleagues and the culture. Indeed, the Dutch Journal of Psychiatry has encouraged psychiatrists to euthanize patients with severe mental illnesses...

Netherlanders responded positively to their “emancipation”: The number of euthanasia deaths of the mentally ill rose from fourteen in 2012 to forty-two in 2013. Not coincidentally, a just-released study  reports that 34 percent of the country’s general practitioners would consider euthanizing a mentally ill patient.

Belgium is even more enthusiastic than the Netherlands about euthanizing those with psychiatric illnesses. The most well-known case is that of Godelieva De Troyer, who was euthanized by oncologist and palliative medicine professor Wim Distelmans. De Troyer did not have cancer; after a lifelong struggle with depression, she consulted with Distelmans (now a famous euthanasia doctor and advocate) for the sole purpose of being made dead.

Click here for the originating article from Wesley Smith.

Health Care Right of Conscience Act Deadline Extended to July 31st

Health Care Right of Conscience Act - SB1564

Sponsor: Senator Biss.

The bill is on the House floor for debate and vote.  The deadline to call the bill for a vote has been extended again to July 31st giving pro-aborts even more of a chance to get the votes this bill needs to pass.  IT IS IMPORTANT TO TAKE ACTION NOW TO STOP THIS BILL.

Contact your Representative, urge them to vote NO on SB1564.

Click here to find your Representative's contact information.

This bill amends the Health Care Right of Conscience Act:  provides that notwithstanding any other law, a health care facility, or any physician or health care personnel working in the facility, may refuse to permit, perform, assist in, counsel about, suggest, recommend, refer for, or participate in health care services because of a conscience-based objection.  

This bill now undermines Healthcare Right of Conscience by requiring pro-life facilities to refer pro-abort services to other facilities thus violating their morals or beliefs.

From the bill text:

Amends the Health Care Right of Conscience Act. Makes changes in the Section concerning findings and policy. Defines "access to care and information protocols" and "material information". Provides that notwithstanding any other law, a health care facility, or any physician or health care personnel working in the facility, may refuse to permit, perform, assist in, counsel about, suggest, recommend, refer for, or participate in health care services because of a conscience-based objection only if the refusal occurs in accordance with written access to care and information protocols designed to ensure that (1) the patient receives material information in a timely fashion; and (2) the refusal will not impair the patient's health by causing delay of or inability to access the refused health care service. Provides that nothing in the Act shall be construed to prevent a health care facility from requiring that physicians or health care personnel working in the facility comply with access to care and information protocols.

This amendment requires a written referral to a facility that will complete the refused services including abortion, contraceptives and family planning.

From the bill text:

...a written document that contains the names of and contact information for health care facilities, physicians, or health care personnel that may provide the patient the particular form of health care service refused...

"Health care" is defined as any phase of patient care, including but not limited to, testing; diagnosis; prognosis; ancillary research; instructions; family planning, counselling, referrals, or any other advice in connection with the use or procurement of contraceptives and sterilization or abortion procedures; medication; or surgery or other care or treatment rendered by a physician or physicians, nurses, paraprofessionals or health care facility, intended for the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of persons...

Although an amendment has been added to bill, the Federation for Right to Life still opposes this bill.

ACTION ALERT

Contact your Representative, urge them to vote NO on SB1564.

Click here to find your Representative's contact information.

Click here for more information on this bill.

Click here for the full bill text.

Lifesaving Adult Stem Cell Research & Cures Focus of Capitol Hill Hearing

A House panel responsible for advancing and monitoring the nation’s health care and research laws Thursday examined new bipartisan legislation supporting treatment and therapies derived from adult stem cell lines.

Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), author of the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2015 ( HR 2820), said he was encouraged that the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health moved quickly to include the legislation in their hearing entitled: “Examining Public Health Legislation: H.R. 2820, H.R. 1344, and H.R. 1462.” Smith and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Ca.) introduced the bill only last week with a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

“This important bipartisan legislation will save more lives,” said Smith who also authored the first law (The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005—P.L. 109-129) creating the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI) program and continuing the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation program. Smith said “The adult stem cells found in bone marrow and cord blood provide hope not only for curing the diseases and conditions currently known, but they also set the stage for even more cures in the future.”

Click here for the originiating article from National Right to Life.

ObamaCare issue still on the table

On Thursday, the high court upheld the nationwide tax subsidies in the Affordable Care Act. But the justices didn't address the subsidy in insurance exchanges for elective abortions.

"The Government Accounting Office [GAO] said that there are more than 1,000 federally subsidized exchange plans that cover elective abortions," explains Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee. "So if a woman decides she wants the abortion, the insurance plan covered by federal subsidies will pay for that abortion."

That would appear to violate the Hyde Amendment, which bars use of federal money for abortions with limited exceptions.

Click here for the originiating article from OneNewsNow.

Supreme Court Decision Underscores Need for No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act

“Federal taxpayer subsidies are helping pay for over 1,000 health plans that cover abortion on demand, and today’s Supreme Court decision underscores that only Congress can put a stop to that,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.

“This decision again demonstrates the need for enactment of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would permanently prevent taxpayer subsidies for abortion-covering health plans, both in Obamacare and in other federal health benefits programs,” Tobias said.

In September 2014, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the nonpartisan investigatory arm of Congress, issued a report [www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-742R] containing information that confirmed predictions by National Right to Life that federally subsidized abortion-covering health plans would become a widespread feature of Obamacare. That report found that more than one thousand federally subsidized exchange plans currently cover elective abortion. Currently, 26 states and the District of Columbia allow coverage of elective abortion in health plans that qualify for the federal subsidies (while 24 states have restricted or prohibited such coverage).

Click here for the originating article from National Right to Life.

The pro-life citizens of Aurora may have their day in court

The pro-life citizens of Aurora, Illinois may have their day in court in an ongoing battle with a Planned Parenthood facility.

Eight years ago, Planned Parenthood began construction of an abortion mega-center in Aurora, moving the permit process under the radar as a business, not the non-profit it actually is.

Peter Breen, special counsel for the Thomas More Society, alleges the facility violated zoning ordinances but City of Aurora officials "side-stepped" the zoning issue.

Breen, Peter (Thomas More Society)When the zoning code declares the area is a commercial district, and the Planned Parenthood operation is a non-profit, "well that clearly doesn't meet the terms of the applicable zoning ordinance," Breen complains.

Click here for the originating article from OneNewsNow.