Issue Position: Pro-Life

Issue Position

Issue Position: Pro-Life

I am a strong supporter of the right to life. The entire abortion debate hinges on the single question of when life begins. I believe that life begins at conception and therefore abortion is the unjustified taking of innocent human life. I hold out hope that, with the confirmation of new justices on the Supreme Court, we can overturn Roe v. Wade.

In the meantime, I will continue to fight to make access to abortion as limited as possible. For example, in the spring of 2006 the subcommittee I chaired held a hearing on the abortion drug RU-486 in order to investigate the reasons a number of women died after taking the drug. And in October 2006 my subcommittee staff completed an important report on RU-486 called "The FDA and RU-486 - Lowering the Standard for Women's Health." Hopefully we will be able to accumulate enough evidence to make the FDA overturn their approval of this dangerous drug.

For similar reasons, I also oppose human embryonic stem cell research and human cloning research, as both require the destruction of living human embryos. Such research could conceivably lead to a massive industry of forced-embryo destruction, an immoral quid pro quo implicitly declaring a whole class of human life as unworthy of protection. Furthermore, with the progress we have already seen in alternative forms of stem cell research, I do not believe that immoral embryonic research is even necessary to discover the breakthroughs scientists have promised.

Finally, it is also important to ensure the dignity of human beings at the end of life. Hundreds of families in the Third District nobly struggle day in and day out to provide steady and demanding long-term care for their incapacitated loved ones, often with little support, and usually for years on end. Those who think physician-assisted suicide is a solution to this problem are tragically misguided. Abandoning the elderly can never be part of a decent and compassionate society.

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