Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Stop Planned Parenthood Tax Funding Petition Signers in Pennsylvania

URGENT ACTION ALERT!! This is an emergency notice and your immediate action is requested!
Planned Parenthood is pushing a bill in Pennsylvania that will require all hospitals and medical personnel to participate in the distribution of abortifacient "emergency contraception" to victims of sexual assault.
You can read House Bill 288 yourself by going to: http://www.state.pa.us
Go to the column on the left and click on Research Legislative Bills. You will get a window, with a box at the top, that says Find Legislation by... Check Bill # and enter HB 288 in the box. You will get a listing of the history of the bill. Choose Current PN and the PDF file and you can see the bill.
That history listing also allows you to access the e-mail for your own House member. You can send him your thoughts in your own words.
Our analysis of this legislation is that there is no "crisis" in dealing with rape victims in health care facilities in Pennsylvania. These suffering victims are currently being handled appropriately throughout the Commonwealth.
There is no demonstrated need for the bill. So the taxpayer-funded cost of the development and distribution of Department of Health materials is unnecessary.
The bill does not require that the health care facility report the crime. Other crimes (e.g., gunshot wounds) must be reported to law enforcement so the perpetrators can be tracked down and prosecuted. Why not this one? Why would we give a "pass" to a rapist?
The bill, as you will read, specifically mentions Plan B. You can access Plan B's own manufacturer information at: http://www.go2planb.com/PDF/PlanBPI.pdf
Go to the third paragraph, Clinical Pharmacology, and you will see where it says Plan B inhibits implantation - which means kills babies in the womb.
HB 288 says that it will only prevent ovulation and fertilization. But since it specifically includes Plan B, the language of the Bill is self-contradictory.
Not only would this bill force religious hospitals to cooperate with the abortion industry, it would force health care workers in any hospital to participate in distributing abortifacients.
The conscience protections of the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act would not apply because the worker would have to be willing to lose their job (or whatever administrative repercussion they might receive), file and fund a law suit against their employer, and then prove to whatever judge they might wind up in front of that Emergency Contraception is abortifacient in nature. Hardly a viable option.
Even if an effort is made to protect religious hospitals, health care facilities not openly religious in nature but having a pro-life philosophy and pro-life health care workers in any facility would be forced to participate in a practice abhorrent to their deeply held religious and ethical beliefs.
Therefore, your elected representatives need to hear what you think about HB 288.
The vote is expected to happen on Tuesday, June 19, so your immediate action is needed.
P.S.- Please forward this message to other concerned citizens in Pennsylvania ASAP!
American Life League P.O. Box 1350 Stafford, VA 22555 US