Saturday, March 15, 2014

End of the 2014 Legislative Session in Olympia, WA

The 2014 session ended this past week, and overall the results were pretty positive from the Catholic perspective.  Two key bills were defeated: the Abortion Insurance Mandate, and the "Telemedicine" bill that would have required insurance coverage for chemical abortions.  Other partially good news in this session: the Parental Notification of Abortion bill and the Anti-Human trafficking bill both passed in the Senate Law & Justice committee, although they never made it to a floor vote in the Senate.  From what we've heard, this is the first pro-life legislation to have even made it through a committee in Olympia in decades!  So again, generally good news from the efforts in Olympia this year.

Now the focus for our ministry shifts to the national scene, and the U.S. Congress.  Important bills have been introduced in the U.S. Senate that need our action to encourage our Senators to support:
1) the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,
2) the No Taxpayer Funds for Abortion Act, and
3) the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act. 
Please contact your Senators asking them to support and pass these critical bills.  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

On the home front, we're starting plans for the 2014 Fortnight For Freedom events at St. Stephens coming up the two weeks before the July 4th holiday.  We'll be issuing more details as we approach that time.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

The pro-abortionists are trying to sneak in another bill before the end of the 2014 session, and the final vote for passage could happen as early as Friday morning, March 7th!  This one is called HB1448 Telemedicine, that would require (once gain) EVERYONE to pay for 'web cam abortions' induced with drugs through their insurance policies (these people truly never give up on new ways to harm women and kill babies).

So here's what you should do: send emails first, then follow-up with phone calls.


Dear Sen. _______:

We just received a notice that the state Senate is about to pass a law allowing webcam chemical abortions (HB1448).  PLEASE DO NOT SUPPORT PASSAGE OF THIS BILL, unless it has been amended to clearly remove ‘web cam abortions’!

This change is urgently needed to protect women.  The FDA has reported women dying from this.  This is yet another outrageous attempt by Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry to kill more children, and make more money!

We continue to need your courageous stand, along with your fellow Senators and the Majority Caucus, to stop these attacks on women and their babies.

 Thanks.



jan.angel@leg.wa.gov


linda.parlette@leg.wa.gov



barbara.bailey@leg.wa.gov


randi.becker@leg.wa.gov


bruce.dammeier@leg.wa.gov

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Latest in Olympia...

The state Senate Health Care committee did NOT hold a hearing on the House-passed abortion insurance mandate (HB2148 "Reproductive Parity Act") by Friday's deadline (February 28th).  This SHOULD mean the bill will die again in the 2014 session, which officially ends on March 13th.  However, it is NEVER over....and there are some old rules that COULD enable the Senate to pass this bill anyway; but that appears unlikely.

So thanks to everyone who called and/or wrote to their state Senators, and more specifically to the members of the Senate Health Care committee (the majority of whom are pro-life)!  But remember...it's never over 'til it's over, and that is not until March 13th when this session formally ends.  There is a somewhat obscure rule in the state Senate called the "Ninth Order" of business which allows a committed majority of Senators to suspend all the Senate Rules and make it possible for that same majority to call any bill to the floor for an immediate vote, including HB 2148.  So we'll continue to keep an eye on this situation.

Meanwhile, for the last 2 weeks of this session, we are focused on supporting passage of SB6434 to curb human trafficking and the sex trade in the state of Washington.  Please contact your state Senators encouraging them to promote passing this important legislation.
http://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/

As the 2014 legislative session in Olympia comes to an end in mid-March, our focus legislatively will shift to the federal level with bills going through the U.S. Congress.  A bill entitled the "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" was passed earlier this year in the House (in the Senate it's referred to as bill "S1670") that would protect unborn babies capable of feeling excruciating pain beginning at 20 weeks, or more than halfway through pregnancy.  Please contact your U.S. Senators to support passage of this bill.