| September 24, 2012 William Harasym 200 Smith Street Apt 410 Sheridan, WY 82801-3842 Dear William: Thank you for contacting me regarding pro-life issues. I appreciate this opportunity to respond. I support overturning Roe v. Wade and returning the ultimate decision of abortion legality to the 50 states. The people of Wyoming, through the state legislature and the constitutional amendment process, should have the right to establish policy on abortion, adoption, the definition of marriage, and other social and family matters in a manner that is consistent with their values, instead of these decisions being made by the Supreme Court. Further, I oppose federal tax dollars being used for abortions – both domestically and abroad. Federal family planning dollars are currently provided to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the United States. While these dollars cannot directly fund an abortion, Planned Parenthood still uses it to free up money for its abortion-providing affiliates. To end this federal subsidy of abortion, I have cosponsored H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. H.R. 3 would establish a permanent, government-wide, prohibition on federal funding for elective abortions and insurance coverage for elective abortions. This prohibition would apply specifically to Obama Care. It would not extend to treatment for complications caused by an abortion or an abortion in cases of rape, incest, or to preserve the life of the mother. H.R. 3 also institutes conscience protections for medical providers. I do not believe that any physician who objects to abortions should be forced to participate in abortions. All physicians, regardless of source of funding, should have the right to practice medicine pursuant to their personal values regarding life. I voted for H.R. 3 when it passed the House on May 4, 2011 by a vote of 251-175. H.R. 3 now goes to the Senate for consideration. In order to combat gender-based abortion, I cosponsored H.R. 3541, the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA), which was introduced by Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona. H.R. 3541 would make it a federal offense for doctors to knowingly perform abortions that are sought solely because of the gender of the child. This is an atrocious practice that is usually pursued to prevent the birth of baby girls in favor of having baby boys. It is a barbaric form of sex discrimination that is unfortunately occurring in the United States. I voted in favor of H.R. 3541 when it came to vote on May 31, 2012. H.R. 3541 received a simple majority vote of 246-148. However, on a motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, it did not meet the required two-thirds majority vote and was not passed by the House. Despite this setback, I am committed to seeing this legislation through the House of Representatives. I will keep working to bring it back up, pass it through the House, and send it to the Senate. I have also cosponsored H.R. 3803, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. In light of what we know about when unborn children might start experiencing pain, H.R. 3803 prohibits elective abortions in the District of Columbia if the post-fertilization age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or more. The House Committee on the Judiciary recently approved H.R. 3803 by a vote of 18-14. It now awaits consideration on the House floor. I will maintain my support for H.R. 3803 should it come before the House for a vote. I also oppose human embryo destroying research, and have instead chosen to support alternative research, using ethically obtained stem-cells as viable alternatives. That is why I support research and clinical trials that use adult-stem cells. These stem-cells have been used to successfully treat patients who suffered from Type 1 Diabetes, Leukemia, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, and heart diseases. Thank you again for taking the time to write to me. I value your input. If you haven't done so already, I would like to encourage you to visit my website at www.lummis.house.gov. There you can sign up to receive my newsletter, and have access to a wealth of other information. I won't flood your email box, but I will provide you with updates once in a while about activities in Washington that affect our lives in Wyoming. I hope you will sign up so that we can stay in close touch, and I look forward to seeing you in Wyoming. Sincerely, Cynthia M. Lummis Member of Congress |
