PRO

CRUCIAL LIFE ISSUES BILLS
of 2001

The following bills of the California State Legislature dealt with crucial life issues of abortion, infanticide or euthanasia. For each bill, a brief statement of the main issue and the pro-life/pro-family voting position are given. Legislators were urged to vote the position that is shown. The final disposition of the bill is noted.

SB 101 (Brulte), Abandonment of Newborns - SUPPORT
This bill would appropriate $1 million to fund a marketing campaign to ultimately avoid the desperate act of mothers disposing of their newborn children as trash. It is a humanitarian bill that California can afford. Passed by the Legislature but Vetoed by Governor Davis.

SB 111 (Alpert), Medical assistants - OPPOSE
This bill would further reduce the quality of medical procedures performed at abortion clinics by waiving physician oversight of medical assistants performing those procedures. In contrast, pro-life crisis pregnancy centers cannot even perform non-invasive pregnancy tests without a physician present, notwithstanding that these test kits may be purchased over the counter at drug stores. This restriction was the result of a lawsuit initiated by abortion proponents in the late 1980's. Now abortion proponents wish to relax physician oversight when it is not conveniently available to them. This bill would further increase the danger of so-called "safe" legal abortions. Passed by the Legislature and Signed by the Governor.

SB 231 (Ortiz), Medi-Cal: local education agency services - OPPOSE
This bill seeks to acquire federal funds, thereby freeing state funds for expansion of Medi-Cal services at school sites. Medi-Cal services must include confidential reproductive services - contraceptives and abortions - even to minors, behind their parents' backs. SB 231 further burdens California's beleaguered public schools with medical service delivery that increases non-academic administrative duties and reduces classroom time for students; it is incompatible with improving public education. Medi-Cal services promote contraceptives and abortions; these have been linked to subsequent ectopic pregnancy, low birth weight, birth defects, venereal disease, infertility, and breast cancer. SB 231 has no safeguard against bad medicine. Passed by the Legislature and Signed by the Governor.

SB 780 (Ortiz), Protection of the exercise of Constitutional rights - OPPOSE
    This bill infers guilt until proven innocent, distorts justice, and intimidates people offering to help women in a crisis pregnancy. SB 780 redefines existing content-neutral crimes in terms of motivation. If you are pro-life, you are a potential suspect for "anti-reproductive rights crimes" that this bill defines and attempts to link to those who commit hate crimes. The bill completely ignores the fact that "abortion rights" supporters have committed acts of violence at abortion clinics and pro-life facilities. This exclusion invites law enforcement to profile pro-lifers in a manner as prejudicial as profiling minorities for certain crimes.
   The bill permits witness anonymity at trials and permits prohibition of photographing abortionists, their clients, and assistants, but not alleged offenders. This fosters fraudulent testimony against defendants. SB 780 includes "interfering with" access to abortion facilities as grounds for tens of thousands of dollars in fines and months to years of jail time. The subjectivity of "interfering with" will intimidate sidewalk prayer and counseling at abortion clinics where sidewalk counselors offer women help and alternatives to abortion.
   To create a need for SB 780, a strongly biased and misleading report was released to legislators by Gregory deGiere of the Senate Office of Research titled "Crimes Against Reproductive Rights in California". His report cites 30 anti-abortion arsons and bombings in California over the past 18 years, averaging less than 2 per year, hardly an anti-abortion rights crime-wave. His report makes no mention of similar attacks that occurred at pro-life facilities or that arrests at abortion clinics have been made on both pro-life and pro-abortion sympathizers. His report admits that California law-enforcement data on "anti-abortion crimes" is non-existent because the police do not categorize crimes by motivation. To develop such data, Mr. deGiere surveyed 172 abortion providers on the extent and nature of "anti-abortion crime in California". Only one third of those surveyed replied. Yet SB 780 contains many severe recommendations of this report. Gregory deGiere of the Senate Office of Research is apparently the de facto author and sponsor of SB 780.
   Rather than an unsubstantiated increase in violence, a more likely reason for proposing SB 780 is that the current legal activities of pro-lifers at abortion clinics are very effective in turning away customers. Abortion providers thus need more laws and law enforcement to intimidate these tenacious pro-life advocates. Passed by the Legislature and Signed by the Governor.

SB 1058 (Escutia), Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Grant Program - OPPOSE
This bill would perpetuate an inherently flawed program that depends on the distribution of condoms and contraceptives to minors behind their parents' backs that does little, if anything, to reduce teenage pregnancies but does facilitate teenage promiscuity. Abstinence, the only 100% sure means of avoiding pregnancy, is often ridiculed and receives little more than lip service. When condoms and contraceptives fail, abortion is the backup. This immoral and ineffective program needs to be sunsetted, that is, terminated. Passed by the Legislature and Signed by the Governor.

SB 1169 (Alpert), Pharmacy - OPPOSE
This is a companion bill to AB 826; both bills make provisions for pharmacists to initiate "morning after" emergency contraceptive drug therapy with clients. The "contraceptive" mechanism of these drugs aborts an individual human embryo; it is an abortifacient. Long term side-effects posed by these drugs to women, especially adolescents, are unknown. This bill could lead to discrimination against pharmacists who refuse to be complicit in abortion or illicit sexual behavior. Passed by the Legislature and Signed by the Governor.

SJR 3 (Karnette), Reproductive rights, Roe v. Wade - OPPOSE
This Planned Parenthood resolution would petition the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, Attorney General, and the California Congressional Delegation to preserve the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade Decision. This irresponsible resolution is disconnected from reality. Roe v. Wade has never been reconciled with our nation's Declaration Principles of an inalienable right to life. Roe v. Wade has caused the deliberate killing of over 40 million innocent unborn children in America. Numerous women have died and many more have suffered permanent physical and emotional trauma from legal abortions; Roe v. Wade made abortion legal, but it did not make abortion safe. Passed by the Legislature and Signed by the Governor.

SJR 23 (Speier), Medi-Cal and Family Planning Services - OPPOSE
This Planned Parenthood resolution would ask the President and Congress to further expand abortion-on-demand in California, where already taxpayers are forced to underwrite $40 million in elective abortions that kill 120,000 unborn children annually. Hispanic and African American babies make up a disproportionate share of these abortions and constitute the largest number of Medi-Cal claims by abortionists. Abortionists concentrate their abortion centers in inner city minority communities as can be seen in phone book yellow pages. Some call it genocide. Held in Committee.

AB 32 (Richman), Health Care Coverage: Cal-Health program - OPPOSE
AB 32 would draw into Medi-Cal or Healthy Families programs an increased number of families and individuals having incomes up to 250% federal poverty level. These programs are required to offer confidential reproductive services. Children in these families would have access to contraceptives and abortions without parental knowledge or consent. AB 32 would expand state-funded contraceptive and elective abortion coverage at taxpayer expense and, for many taxpayers, against their conscience. It would place the state between parent and child in the rights and duties of parents in raising their children. Held in Committee.

AB 59 (Cedillo), Health Programs: eligibility - OPPOSE
This bill would expand government medical coverage to children and families having incomes up to 250% federal poverty level when already enrolled in other government programs such as free lunch and food stamps. Judges have ordered Medi-Cal to fund confidential elective abortion service to adults and minors at taxpayer expense and against taxpayer conscience; such funding makes taxpayers financially complicit in the killing of unborn children. Passed by the Legislature and Signed by the Governor.

AB 826 (Cohn), Pharmaceutical practice: prescriptions - OPPOSE
This bill is linked to SB 1169; both bills make provisions for pharmacists to initiate "morning after" emergency contraceptive drug therapy with clients. The "contraceptive" mechanism of these drugs aborts an individual human embryo; it is an abortifacient. Long term side-effects posed by these drugs to women, especially adolescents, are unknown. This bill could lead to discrimination against pharmacists who refuse to be complicit in abortion or illicit sexual behavior. Passed by the Legislature and Signed by the Governor.

AB 892 (Keeley), Healthy Start support services - OPPOSE
This bill proposes to financially bridge the gap between government funding and self-sufficiency for a Healthy Start program. Healthy Start is often just one of several existing social service programs available to a school district. AB 892 proposes to integrate Healthy Start activities with those of a dozen other service groups listed in the bill, including Medi-Cal. Medi-Cal must provide confidential full reproductive services to its clients, including minors without parental notification. Held in Committee.

AB 951 (Florez), Clinics: temporary license - OPPOSE
This bill would issue temporary licenses to community clinics, including abortion clinics, for up to 4 years before mandatory investigation of facts and of clinic compliance to statutory requirements is completed. The proviso for the temporary license is that the clinic parent group has another qualified clinic elsewhere. That is not a sufficient guarantee of compliance for the new clinic. Infection, bodily harm, and death are not uncommon at abortion clinics. When a healthy woman walks into a clinic and leaves permanently debilitated with serious complications from what is touted as a simple medical procedure, something is drastically wrong. This bill would further increase the danger of so-called "safe" legal abortions. Passed by the Legislature and Signed by the Governor.

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California Right to Life, Inc.                         Christian Coalition of California               Crusade For Life
American Family Defense Coalition             Eagle Forum of California                         Hispanics For Life
California Pro-Life Medical Association      Pro-Life PAC of Orange County               National Life Chain
Sanctity of Human Life Network                  Capitol Resource Institute                         Operation Rescue - West