This November election produced many Pro-Life victories. President Bush will continue to lead this country towards a Culture of Life. He will have more help from the Senate and the House of Representatives, both of which increased their Pro-Life majorities. However, some states saw setbacks with California legalizing state funding of embryonic stem cell research. The Pro-Life community still has much work to do, but we are certainly setting an example for the rest of the world, as our citizens come forward in large numbers d overwhelmingly reject the Culture of Death.
Please read this issue of the Pro-Life Update carefully to understand some of the challenges we now face and how you--an educated Pro-Lifer--can help advance the Culture of Life. Please share this information with your family, friends and church congregations. Make copies. Spread the news.
Pro-Life Victories in the November Election
November 2, 2004, marked a great victory for the Pro-Life movement in the United States. President Bush won a second term as our president, defeating pro-choice John Kerry. President Bush has been a strong advocate for the rights of the most vulnerable in our society. For four consecutive years, he has withheld funding to the United Nations Family Planning Association (UNFPA), which funds abortions worldwide; stopped embryos from being destroyed for federally-funded embryonic stem cell research; and supported Pro-Life legislation, such as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. We can expect more of the same from our president during his second term.
The Pro-Life victories have also spread into the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Of the 9 new Senate members, 7 are Pro-Life. The new Pro-Life Senators are Mel Martinez (FL), Johnny Isakson (GA), David Vitter (LA), Richard Burr (NC), Tom Coburn (OK), Jim DeMint (SC), and John Thune (SD). With the defeat of Tom Daschle, the new Senate Minority leader is Harry Reid (D-NV) who has a 55% Pro-Life voting record (according to National Right to Life), unlike Daschle who supported unrestricted abortion and other assaults on innocent human life.
Of the 38 new House members, 20 are Pro-Life; additionally, there are 3 additional representatives who are expected to vote Pro-Life most of the time. Therefore, 57% of the new members will vote Pro-Life. Most notable is the defeat of four pro-abortion members of Congress: Max Sandlin (TX), Nick Lampson (TX), and Martin Frost (TX), and Baron Hill (IN). Texas will now send the Pro-Life delegation of all the states to US Congress with 22 of our 32 members committed to defending the Right to Life.
Pro-Life citizens affected this election quite drastically. Typically, in a national race, Pro-Lifers can deliver at least a 3% to 4% net advantage to the Pro-Life candidate, as evidenced in a Wirthlin Worldwide post-election poll conducted on November 2. Yet this poll found that 42% of the people said that abortion affected their vote. Twenty-five percent said they voted for Pro-Life candidates, while just 13% voted for pro-abortion candidates. This equates to a 12% increase for Pro-Life candidates. All Pro-Life communities across the country should be proud of their contributions to a growing Culture of Life. With continued education and a more Pro-Life government, the Culture of Life will prevail.
Embryonic Stem Cell Research Funding in California
In August 2000, President Bush limited federal funding of embryonic stem cell research to the stem cell lines that had already been created, thereby prohibiting taxpayer funding of future embryo destruction. He and Mrs. Bush have both touted the superiority of adult stem cell research, rejecting the unfounded claims about embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). In California, however, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vocally supported ESCR. He brought Proposition 71, which would legalize state funding of ESCR, to the California ballot this November.
Unfortunately, 59% of California voters decided that their state should fund ESCR with $3 billion of taxpayer money. Aside from supporting this unethical research, they have determined that all California citizens will finance this endeavor. Pro-Life Californians are now faced with a moral dilemma; they will now be cooperating in this evil state-sponsored act. This is a clear example of why Pro-Lifers must seek and win public office. Abortions Worldwide
An estimated 46 million abortions occur annually worldwide; abortion is prevalent throughout the world. The worldwide abortion rate is 35 per 1,000 women aged 15-44. Abortion rates vary greatly between industrialized and non-industrialized countries and between Eastern and Western Europe. Eastern Europe has the highest worldwide abortion rate, with 90 per 1,000 women, and the average for Russian women is eight abortions. Western Europe has the lowest abortion rate, with 11 per 1,000 women.
President Bush has already been instrumental in helping the world reduce abortions by refusing to fund the United Nations Family Planning Association (UNFPA) for four consecutive years, which funds abortion throughout the world. However, as American citizens, we must focus on changing our own state and federal laws and attitudes. Texas has been successful by electing Pro-Life legislators and passing bills such as Parental Notification, The Woman’s Right to Know, and Prenatal Protection. As America moves closer to a Culture of Life, we can set a strong example for the rest of the world; Texas is having a global impact.
