Dear Pro-Life Friends:

Great news! On March 26th, the Website Amendment to the Woman's Right to Know, H559, passed the Senate, 29 to 6, and was signed by Governor Butch Otter yesterday, Monday, April 1st, 2008.

The Senate floor sponsors were Senators Curt McKenzie (Dis. 12) and Michael Jorgenson (Dis. 3). Both of these senators did a splendid job in pushing this legislation through the Senate.

We thank you, dear friends, for contacting your House and Senate representatives this session and we thank you especially for your heartfelt prayers for this legislation which helps protect women and their unborn children.

In addition, the excellent Anti-Coercion Bill, H654, which was initiated by Idaho Chooses Life, also passed both the House and Senate and is awaiting the Governor's signature. He is also expected to sign this important pro-life legislation.

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Dear Pro-Life Friends:

Yesterday morning at 8:00am in the Senate State Affairs Committee H559, the Website Amendment to the Woman's Right to Know, was approved and sent to the Senate floor with a “do pass” recommendation. The votes were 8 in favor and 1 opposed; the only opposing vote was Senator Kate Kelly. There was an attempt to kill the bill in committee, but that attempt failed.

H559 will now go to the Senate floor for a final vote before arriving on the Governor’s desk for signature. Thank you for your continued prayers. If only one life is saved by this legislation it will be worth it all.

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Dear Pro-Life Friends:

Yesterday at 10:33am, H559 passed by 55 to 10 on the House floor. There were five absent and excused. The great thing is that the three representatives who opposed our bill in the Health & Welfare committee, all voted for H559 when it came to the floor. Sometimes well planned testimonies and prayers can seem to have little or no effect on the hearts of those opposed to the grand goal of our pro-life movement. We need only remember that “God is greater than our hearts” (1 John 3:20) and “The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” (Proverbs 21:1).

Rep. Lynn Luker opened the discussion with remarks that were very simple and to the point. He stated that this website amendment takes advantage of today's technology, allowing young women easier access to Idaho's informed consent materials. When the floor was opened for further debate there was none.

Thank you for all your prayers. Let us continue to pray as H559 moves through the Senate where it will probably be heard in the State Affairs Committee sometime next week.

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Dear Pro-Life Friends:

The Idaho House may vote on H559 as early as tomorrow. We ask you to please call your two House members asking them to vote for H559. If they are a sponsor please thank them.

H559 is being sponsored by Representatives Lynn Luker (15), Janice McGeachin (32), Ken Roberts (8), and Russ Mathews (33) in the House, and Senators Curt McKenzie (12) and Lee Heinrich (8) in the Senate.

Please refer to previous posts for further information and for arguments in favor of H559.

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Dear Pro-Life Friends:

Good news! H559, the Website Amendment to the Woman's Right to Know, passed the 12 member House Health and Welfare Committee by a voice vote of 5 to 3 (four members were absent) on Friday, March 7th. But, it was only passed after much debate by the committee members, and an attempt to amend the bill and an attempt hold the bill in committee for further study, both of which failed 5-3.

Individuals from five pro-life organizations testified in favor of the bill; Planned Parenthood was the only organization who testified in favor of the amendments to H559, which if passed this late in the session, could have been the death knell to this legislation.

Rep. Janice McGeachin, who is sponsoring this bill with Rep. Lynn Luker, Rep. Ken Roberts, and Rep. Russ Mathews, did a masterful job presenting the bill, debating for and defending the bill.

Kerry Uhlenkott, Legislative Coordinator for Right to Life of Idaho, began pro-life testimony by stating that “The goal of this legislation is to enable the mother to view the (already existing) informed consent materials in private and away from being pressured by those who would benefit financially by her abortion.” She stated that, “Today there are 9 states that have this website requirement in their laws ... Although three of these laws were challenged, ALL of these laws are in effect today.”

Julie Lynde with Cornerstone (Idaho's affiliate with Focus on the Family) testified that H559 “is plain old common sense applied to problems faced by today's women utilizing 21st century state of the art technology ... Being able to privately access information on her own time, will help ease her intimidation and feeling of vulnerability.”

Kay Painter, State Team Leader for Operation Outcry and a post-abortive woman herself, testified that in her counseling and meeting with post-abortive women that over and over again she hears of cases of women being pressured by the staff of abortion clinics to have an abortion. “If these women were given a website to refer to BEFORE entering these clinics, they could in the SAFETY AND PRIVACY OF THEIR OWN HOME, read ... the informed consent materials in order to sort through their options (without being pressured).”

Marilyn Scott, Executive Director of the Pregnancy Crisis Center in Twin Falls, testified, “I have had many clients in our offices that traveled all the way to Boise (for an abortion), only to read the informed consent material and decide abortion was NOT the best option for them ... Many of our clients have said when they went back into the abortionist's office to cancel their appointment or when they called to cancel, they were pressured to continue with the procedure. Some caved under the pressure ... The informed consent legislation went a long way in helping inform women ... but we need to get this information into their hands before they are in the office of an abortionist, who is profiting financially from the abortion...”

Jason Herring, Legislative Assistant for Right to Life of Idaho, summed up pro-life testimony, by testifying that, “One of the best ways we can empower women in our state is making knowledge available and easily assessable (to them) ... Currently when one goes to the website of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, the only information available on abortion is vital statistics and definitions ...” He further stated that although there is information currently on their website about fetal development under “pregnancy and prenatal care,” young women who are contemplating an abortion are not likely to look under those categories. “It behooves the state to provide the (informed consent materials) on the already existing website that could be viewed ... by women seeking an abortion under the 'abortion' category.”

Those voting in favor of sending H559 to the floor with a “Do Pass” recommendation were: Chairman Sharon Block (R) Twin Falls, Pete Nielsen (R) Mountain Home, Jim Marriott (R) Blackfoot, Steven Thayn (R) Emmett, and Janice McGeachin (R) Idaho Falls. Those opposing H559 were Margaret Henbest (D) Boise, John Rusche (D) Lewiston, and Sue Chew (D) Boise. Four members were absent.

For continued information on H559 please check back here for updates.

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Dear Pro-Life Friends:

The House Health and Welfare Committee will conduct a hearing on H559 at 1:00 pm on Friday, March 7 (instead of 1:30) in the basement of the Supreme Court Building on 451 West State. H559 will be first on the agenda.

We ask for prayers for all of those testifying in support of this legislation.

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Dear Pro-Life Friends:

H559, the Website Amendment to the Woman's Right to Know Statute, will be heard in the House Health and Welfare Committee this Friday, March 7 at around 1:30pm. Please contact your two House representatives to ask them to vote for this protective legislation. You can read additional information about H559 on the State of Idaho website and below in the February 27th post.

In addition, please also ask your representatives to support the Anti-Coercion Bill H464, which would protect a pregnant woman from being coerced into having an abortion. This bill probably will be debated on the House floor this week. This bill has been initiated by Idaho Chooses Life.

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Dear Pro-Life Friends:

Right to Life of Idaho and Cornerstone Institute have been working with legislators drafting language to strengthen the Woman's Right to Know Statute by adding a web site requirement to the existing language. The Idaho House State Affairs voted to print this legislation 14 to 4 on Monday, 2/25/08. The bill number is H559. The sponsors of the legislation are Representatives Lynn Luker, Janice McGeachin, Ken Roberts, and Russ Matthews. This legislation has been referred to the House Health and Welfare Committee. We do not know yet when the formal hearing will be on this legislation. It could be as early as next week.

H559 would require the Department of Health and Welfare to put the existing informed consent materials on their web site. It would also require that when a woman initially contacts the abortion clinic by telephone or visit, she would be told that the informed consent materials can be accessed on a state-sponsored web site and the address of the web site.

The goal of this legislation is to keep the woman from actually having to go into the abortion clinic to obtain the informed consent materials. This would enable the woman to view the informed consent materials in the privacy of her own home without having to deal with the high pressure sales tactics of the abortion clinic staff who are in the business of selling her an abortion.

We would appreciate it very much if each of you would begin contacting your two Idaho House members asking them to vote for this protective pro-life bill. You can go to www.legislature.idaho.gov to read this legislation by typing in “H0559” under “Bill Search”, or clicking on the H559 link. Click on “How to Contact Legislators” to find out who your two House members are, then click on each name to send an e-mail. Or you can call 1-800-626-0471 or 208-332-1000 to leave a message for them.

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Dear Pro-Life Friends:

The Legislative session for 2008 has begun! Stay tuned here for details on upcoming Pro-Life legislation.

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