TEXAS COURT HEARS ABORTION CASE
The battle over whether Texans should help pay for “medically necessary” abortions for poor women went before the state Supreme Court this week. Lawyers representing poor women (and abortion clinics, including Planned Parenthood) argued that all procedures deemed medically necessary by doctors are covered for impoverished men, but women must meet a higher standard—that a pregnancy is immediately life-threatening—before a woman can receive an abortion. Therefore, women are discriminated against. The state is supporting the current policy, saying the rules are discriminatory against abortion and not women. “What this really is about is whether the Texas Constitution requires the Legislature to spend tax dollars on abortions,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Boyd. Pro-life groups warn that the case could open the door for “abortion on demand” at taxpayer’s expense. Under current law, even if a doctor recommends an abortion in “medically necessary” cases, Medicaid won’t pay for it, except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother’s life is in danger. The case is before an all-Republican court, who most likely will not decide the case until 2002, a year when five of the court’s seats are up for election.
Source: The Dallas Morning News, 11/29/01
PANEL OKs MAP FAVORING GOP Republicans would have strong majorities in the state House and Senate under redistricting plans ordered by a three-judge federal court panel. Under a map reshaping the 150 House districts, Republicans could hold as many as 88 seats. The map redrawing the Senate districts could result in Republicans holding as many as 19 seats. Currently, there are 15 Republican senators and 15 Democrats, and one seat vacant. The House, with 78 Democrats and 72 Republicans, is the only state government still controlled by Democrats. With the new numbers, a Republican speaker appears certain. Already three Republicans have announced their candidacy: Tom Craddick of Midland, Brian McCall of Plano and Edmund Kuempel of Sequin. Even if the judges’ plan was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, analysts say it is likely that the judges’ plan would be used at least for the 2002 elections.
Source: The Dallas Morning News, 11/29/01
SCIENTISTS CLONE HUMAN EMBRYOS; CONGRESS MUST ACT.
On Thanksgiving weekend came the news that a Worcester, MA biotech firm, Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT) had "taken the first step toward...regenerative medicine." A report published Nov. 25 by the Journal of Regenerative Medicine, and described online in Scientific American and U. S .News & World Report, said the company has created the world's first cloned human embryos, in its vice president's words, "not to create cloned human beings, but rather to make lifesaving therapies for a wide range of human disease conditions...."
Using eggs donated by 12 women, ACT researchers "coaxed" them to mature in a culture dish, held them still and removed each egg's genetic material with a needle. Then a donor cell, or its nucleus, taken from persons of varying ages, some healthy and some suffering from a disorder such as diabetes or spinal cord injury, was injected into each enucleated egg. The eggs then began dividing. The goal is to "coax the early embryos to divide into hollow spheres of 100 or so cells called blastocysts ... [then] isolate human stem cells from the blastocysts to serve as starter stock for growing replacement nerve, muscle and other tissues..." However, in this experiment the embryos grew for only a few hours, forming balls containing from four to six cells. Nevertheless, the race is on.
Just as opponents of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research warned would happen, "This corporation is creating human embryos for the sole purpose of killing them and harvesting their cells. Unless Congress acts quickly, this corporation and others will be opening human embryo farms," said Doug Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee in a statement responding to the news. President George W. Bush and congressional conservatives immediately called for quick action to ban human cloning in the United States. "The use of embryos to clone is wrong," Bush told reporters November 26. "We should not as a society grow life to destroy it. And that's exactly what's taking place."
A Nov. 28 Eagle Forum alert notes that legislation to ban human cloning for both reproduction and "therapeutic" purposes, the Weldon-Stupak Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001, passed the House of Representatives 265 to 162; but Senate action is needed. Eagles are urged to call their senators and Majority Leader Tom Daschle; the Senate switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. An excellent position paper detailing a variety of arguments for such a ban may be found on the Internet at
www.cbhd.org, the Web Site of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, whose Chairman, Nigel Cameron, spoke at Eagle Council in 2000.
Source: Eagle Forum News & Notes, 12/1/01
PROF. VIRGINIA ARMSTRONG SPEAKS AT TEXAS SYMPOSIUM.
Dr. Virginia Armstrong, National Chairman of Eagle Forum's Court Watch and Senior Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies, at Hardin-Simmons University, recently made presentations to a Continuing Legal Education Symposium accredited by the State Bar of Texas and hosted by South Texas College of Law in Houston. The Symposium's theme was "The Ethics of Judicial Selection." Dr. Armstrong's presentations were entitled "The Inevitability of Inseparability: Religion, Ethics, and Judicial Selection." She is also writing an article for the upcoming issue of the South Texas Law Review.
Source: Eagle Forum News & Notes, 12/1/01
DECEMBER 4 DECLARED NATIONAL DAY OF RECONCILIATION.
On November 14, both houses of the U.S. Congress passed a unique concurrent resolution establishing a National Day of Reconciliation, set for Tuesday, December 4, 2001. It states, "On that day, our nation and elected representatives will pause to seek God's blessings in prayers for unity, forgiveness, reconciliation and charity." The members of Congress will gather in the Rotunda of the Capitol for prayer and to "humbly seek the blessings of Providence for forgiveness, reconciliation, unity, and charity for all people."
Source: Eagle Forum News & Notes, 12/1/01
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