General Assembly: Pro-Life Budget Amendments Need Support

From the Family Foundation:

The Family Foundation: Action Alert: Pro-life Budget Amendments Need Your Support!

The regular session of the General Assembly is over but the work is not done. The details of the 2006-2008 biennial budget are still being debated this week among a select group of legislators chosen to be members of the "Conference Committee." A Conference Committee is formed when the House and Senate cannot come to agreement on a proposal. While much of the attention has focused on tax increases and transportation, there are other issues that we need you to contact these "conferees" regarding!

The House of Delegate's proposed budget includes two amendments that are not part of the Senate budget. As a result, the conferees will make the final decision regarding their inclusion in the final budget.

One amendment would bar taxpayer funding of abortions in Virginia. The Commonwealth annually pays for abortions for women of low-income in certain circumstances through Medicaid. This amendment, proposed by Delegate Bob Marshall (R-13, Manassas), eliminates that funding.

A second amendment, offered by Delegate Vince Callahan (R-34, McLean), would bar taxpayer money from being used for scientific research on human embryos. The debate surrounding the use of human embryos for research is full of misinformation and deception. The fact is that there is not a single treatment or even proposed treatment for any condition that has resulted from embryonic stem cell research. Virginia should focus its research on what works - adult stem cells. In fact, The Family Foundation supports legislation this year that creates a statewide source for adult stem cells, the Virginia Cord Blood Bank Initiative

Together, these amendments would protect taxpayers from funding the destruction of human life.

ACTION: Please contact this year's budget conferees and urge them to keep the amendment stripping abortion funding (4-5.04#2h) and the amendment barring funding of embryonic stem cell research (4-0.01#1h) in the final budget.