Senators Reintroduce Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act

On Jan. 26, pro-life lawmakers in the Senate reintroduced the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, a key pro-life legislative priority for the 109th Congress.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) is similar to a measure that failed to pass the Senate last year. The bill would require abortion providers to notify a woman seeking an abortion 20 weeks or more after becoming pregnant of the growing medical evidence that the unborn child in her womb can feel “severe and extreme pain” during an abortion procedure.

Thirty-one senators have joined Brownback in cosponsoring the bill. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) is introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

(Pete Winn, CitizenLink/EP News)

Conservative Senators Promise to Push for Marriage Amendment

Senators supporting a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage say they are determined to press for its passage in the new Congress.

Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) said he expects GOP leaders to call for a vote before the 2006 elections and added, “I think it would be foolhardy to back off when we’ve got a good head of steam coming out of the election.”

The amendment states that marriage “shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman,” adding that no state would be required to give legal recognition to same-sex marriages sanctioned by any other state.

(EP News)

Kansas Legislature Passes Marriage Protection Amendment

On Feb. 2, the Kansas House of Representatives approved a marriage protection amendment to the state’s constitution. The measure passed, 86-37, three votes more than the two-thirds’ majority necessary. The citizens of Kansas will vote on the amendment on Apr. 5. Though Kansas law already recognizes marriages only between one man and one woman, amendment supporters say the measure is necessary to further protect the state’s traditional definition of marriage from legal challenges, and to display support for the importance of the institution of traditional families.

(EP News)

Canada Introduces Contentious Same-Sex Marriage Bill

The Canadian government introduced a same-sex marriage bill in Parliament on Feb. 1 over the objections of the Roman Catholic Church and other conservative clergy, according to the Associated Press. Canada remains deeply divided on the issue, and the bill’s passage appears questionable.

The opposition Conservative Party said it would fight the legislation, which defines marriage as a civil union between two people, as opposed to the current definition of marriage between a man and a woman. “Marriage is a historical union that has existed between a man and a woman. It has been recognized in that way by cultures across time,” said Vic Toews of the Conservative Party.

Roman Catholic Church groups have joined forces with other religious groups to defeat the legislation, with Quebec Archbishop Marc Cardinal Quellet saying the bill “threatens to unleash nothing less than cultural upheaval whose negative consequences are still impossible to predict.”

(EP News)