2007 Legislative Agenda
- Apr 10, 2007 - comment
The change in majority control of the House and Senate brings additional challenges to our efforts to continue to advance pro-life, family friendly legislation. Nevertheless, we are committed to this crucial goal. While the majorities have changed, there are still many men and women in Congress who share our concerns for the decline of our culture. We will continue to work with them on a wide range of issues. In addition, we will step up our efforts to educate Congress about the importance of the bills we are supporting, and we will continue to educate and mobilize the American public in order to make sure the grassroots are involved in the great issues of our day.
Below are a number of the bills and issues we are engaging in 2007. A number of these bills already have bipartisan support. We are looking forward to advancing them quickly. Other bills and issues will require much greater effort, but we consider all of them to be of paramount concern and will work tirelessly on them.
Sanctity Of Human Life
Support
- The Pregnant Women Support Act—This bill will provide better education, health care, and support for pregnant women that will make it easier for them to keep their unborn babies. This is different from the Ryan bill, H.R. 1074, which is unacceptable due to its inclusion of harm reduction provisions.
- Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, H.R. 1063—This bill would prohibit transportation of a minor girl across state lines for an abortion to circumvent parental notification or parental consent laws in the girl’s home state. It also would require an abortion provider in a state without a parental notification requirement to notify a parent before performing an abortion on a minor girl from another state.
- Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, S. 356—This bill would require abortion providers to notify a woman who is seeking an abortion 20 weeks after fertilization of the growing medical evidence that the unborn child in her womb can feel severe and extreme pain during an abortion procedure. If the woman continues with the abortion procedure after being given this information, she would be offered anesthesia for the unborn child in order to lessen the pain that would be experienced by the unborn child.
- Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act, H.R. 322—This bill will fund research on alternative sources of pluripotent stem cells that do not involve destruction of embryos.
- RU-486 Suspension and Review Act (Holly’s Law), H.R. 63—This bill would withdraw the abortifacient RU-486 from the market while the U.S. comptroller general reviews the process by which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rushed the drug to the market in 2000.
- Human Cloning ban—Bills that will prohibit the cloning of human beings.
Oppose
- Embryo-destructive stem cell research—Bills that would expand the president’s ban on embryo-destructive research beyond the lines he originally approved.
- Harm reduction—Bills that reverse or confuse the ABC approach to reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies and STD’s.
Religious Freedom
Support
- The Workplace Religious Freedom Act—This bill will restore some of the rights of religious people in the workplace that have been eroded in recent years. It provides guidelines for businesses to help them understand the extent to which they are expected to accommodate the religious practice of employees and conscience protections.
- The Public Expressions of Religion Act, S. 415, HR. 725—This bill will prevent plaintiffs from collecting court fees from defendants in religious expression cases.
- The Pledge Protection Act, H.R. 699—This bill would bar certain courts from ruling on the phrase “under God” in the pledge and invokes Congress’ constitutional right to define the jurisdiction of the lower courts.
- The 108th Congress Version of The Houses of Worship Free Speech Act—This bill will eliminate the gag rule on political engagement by churches. The flawed version introduced in the 109th Congress is not acceptable due to the addition of Section 3.
Homosexuality
Support
The Marriage Protection Amendment—This bill will define marriage as between one man and one woman and prevent marriage benefits for civil unions.
Oppose
Special benefits for homosexuals—Legislation that provides partner benefits, hate crimes status, or other special protections for homosexuals/homosexual couples.
Health
Support
FDA regulation of tobacco—This bill will give the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco in the same way it has oversight of other consumables. It also would provide guidelines on labeling to circumvent tobacco efforts to hide the health warnings they must place on their packaging.
Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act, H.R. 493, S. 358—This bill would prohibit health insurers and employers from discriminating against people on the basis of genetic information, though prenatal children are not covered under the current language of the bill.
Judges
We will continue to encourage the swift nomination and confirmation of strict-constructionist judges at all levels of the federal judiciary.
Immigration
We will continue to promote a balanced immigration policy that secures the borders, addresses illegal hiring practices of employers, and deals realistically with the 10-12 million illegal aliens in the country.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Citizenship, Christian Citizenship, Legislation, National