House GOP Leaders Plan Upcoming Votes on Human Cloning, Abortion Pain 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 28, 2006
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — House Republicans have unveiled a new legislative plan to tackle social issues. The "American Values Agenda," a list of ten bills House leaders will seek votes on before the end of this year, includes two pro-life pieces of legislation that could receive votes as early as later this summer.
One would ban all forms of human cloning and another would tell women considering an abortion of the pain her baby will feel during the procedure.
"We commend the House Republican leadership for planning votes on a bill to ensure that women seeking abortions after the fourth month of pregnancy are informed about the unborn child’s capacity to experience great pain, and on a bill to ban all human cloning," National Right to Life legislative director Douglas Johnson told LifeNews.com in a statement.
Pro-life Reps. Dave Weldon, a Florida Republican, and Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat, are the leading sponsors of the Human Cloning Prohibition Act (H.R. 1357).
The House previously approved the ban, which prohibits both reproductive and research-based cloning, in 2001 and 2003. The Senate has never acted on the legislation but may do so this summer when it considers legislation that would overturn President Bush’s limits on using taxpayer dollars to pay for embryonic stem cell research.
The president has repeatedly called on Congress to approve a comprehensive human cloning ban, including as recently as a videotaped speech he made last week at the National Right to Life annual convention.
Rep. Chris Smith, a pro-life New Jersey Republican, is the lead sponsor of the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act (H.R. 356). The bill makes sure abortion practitioners tells women considering an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy that it will likely cause severe pain for the baby. Neither the House nor the Senate have ever debated or voted on the measure.
Lanier Swann, director of government relations for Concerned Women for America, told LifeNews.com in a statement that “Protecting at every stage is a most important aspect of any American Values Agenda."
"Our hope is that the Senate will follow suit in scheduling pro-life votes before they recess for the summer. A vote cast to protect life is the most significant vote a member of Congress can cast. We look forward to those votes in the coming weeks,” Swann said.
Related web sites:
House of Representatives – https://www.house.gov
National Right to Life – https://www.nrlc.org
Concerned Women for America – https://www.cwfa.org
