Facts of Life Email: March 2, 2006

CURRENT LIFE ISSUES:

u Hearings in the lawsuits filed against the CA committee in charge of distributing funds for embryonic stem cell research begin Monday. Pro-life and taxpayer groups have filed lawsuits challenging the legality of the committee and saying it has violated state conflict of interest laws. The lawsuits target the CA Institute of Regenerative Medicine, which was expected to start handing out the first round of grants in what will eventually cost taxpayers $3 billion. The committee has violated a state constitutional mandate requiring state government oversight for any spending of taxpayer funds. The committee was authorized by Proposition 71 to spend money without any government approval. The lawsuits have been successful in holding up the grants because the bonds issued to raise the money could be worthless if the committee loses in court. Learn more about the different sides of the stem cell debate with our documentary, The Human Experiment.

u Assembly members Berg and Levine have introduced AB 651, the "Compassionate Choices Act." This bill would allow doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medication to terminally ill adults. According to the Christian Examiner, "with end-of-life care far more expensive than the cost of life-ending prescriptions and families struggling to care for elderly relatives, physician-assisted suicide could lead to a “duty to die” and subtle pressures on invalids to legally commit suicide." Join us in promoting the value of life at both ends of the spectrum! Click here to order materials you can send to your Senate and Assembly representatives!

u The Supreme Court will soon review a landmark case on partial birth abortion. The hearing, which will most likely begin in October, will examine the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, a bill signed into law by President Bush in November 2003. In 2000, five justices of the Supreme Court ruled that the abortion right created in Roe v. Wade allows an abortionist to perform a partial-birth abortion any time he sees a 'health' benefit, even if the woman and her unborn baby are entirely healthy. The ruling struck down the ban on partial-birth abortion enacted by Nebraska and rendered unenforceable the similar bans that more than half the states had enacted. Three different federal courts of appeals have ruled that Bush's federal law conflicts with the 2000 Supreme Court decision, and they have blocked enforcement of the law. Partial birth abortion is an atrocious procedure wherein the physician pulls the child's legs and torso out, punctures its skull, and vacuums its brains. Learn more about abortion procedures, statistics, and funding facts. 

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WHAT'S HAPPENING AT CPLC:

u Help us give CA students the opportunity to stand up for LIFE! Plans are already underway for the 2006 CPLC Youth Oratory Contest, but we need your help to make sure every pro-life student has the chance to speak! Can you host a contest in your hometown? It's easier than you think! Visit www.californiaprolife.org/speak for all the details!

JOIN THE ADVENTURE!
CPLC has a variety of educational resources for you to share with your community. Learn more about all the current issues and how to get involved!

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"This life in us. . . however low it flickers or fiercely burns, is still a divine flame which no man dare presume to put out, be his motives never so humane and enlightened. To suppose otherwise is to countenance a death-wish. Either life is always and in all circumstances sacred, or intrinsically of no account; it is inconceivable that it should be in some cases the one, and in some the other." 
Malcolm Muggeridge