FROM THE GALLERY
State Legislation

After a short respite, the Kansas Legislature is back at work with the legislative calendar quite busy for next week. Legislators are working hard to hold hearings on bills that have been passed on by the other house so the hearing schedule for the next two weeks is quite full.

Alexa’s Law: There is supposed to be a hearing on Alexa’s Law the week of March 12 in the Senate Judiciary Committee. This only means that proponents and opponents will have one more chance to submit testimony. It does not mean that the senators will actually “work” the bill; that is, bring it to a vote in committee. Often scheduling a hearing is merely a side-show; the chair may already know that he/she is not going to work the bill.

Action:
It is imperative that people continue to keep up the pressure to give this bill a hearing and voting it out of committee for debate by the whole Senate. If you have not done so already, go the Alexa's Law Web site to familiarize yourself with Alexa’s story and to sign the petition.

There will be a press conference in Overland Park on Friday, March 9, at 3:00 p.m. at the Overland Park Convention Center. Alexa’s grandmother (Chelsea Brooks’ mother) will be participating in the press conference.

Contact the Senate Judiciary Committee members by phone (Capitol switchboard: 785-296-0111) or to e-mail, click on the Senator's name.
John Vratil, Chairman
Terry Bruce, Vice-Chair
Barbara Allen
Leslie Donovan
Phillip Journey
Julia Lynn
Derek Schmidt
Dwayne Umbarger
Greta Goodwin
Donald Betts
David Haley

The opposition:
Those who oppose this bill argue that penalties are already increased for pregnant women who suffer a violent attack. However, if a woman is violently assaulted and loses her baby and lives, there is no penalty for the loss of that child she has chosen to bring into the world. In spite of the fact that opponents say the bill is about abortion the bill specifically excludes abortion. It also excludes medications and therapies undertaken while a woman is pregnant.

HB 2200: This bill passed out of committee with only one dissenting vote . . . Ann Mah (D-Topeka.) However, a poison amendment was waiting for it on the House floor. An amendment to add colleges and universities (excluded community colleges and technical schools) successfully scuttled the bill by a voice vote, sending it to the House Education Committee for further consideration. The bill provided that K-12 teachers would no longer have affirmative defense (exemption) from presenting obscene materials to schoolchildren. The bill would have allowed local prosecutors to seek criminal charges against teachers who knowingly use material that “appeals to the prurient interest.” The exemption the state obscenity law provides teachers now gives them discretion in selecting and using texts for classroom exercises.

The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Lance Kinzer, (R-Olathe), maintained in his testimony that this bill would hold teachers to the same standards as everyone else in society with respect to the crime of prompting criminal obscenity. He states, “It is particularly frustrating because the bill received a full hearing in the House Federal & State Affairs Committee and committee members voted 22-1 to recommend passage of the bill. There have been many misstatements made about this bill. This bill would not have prohibited materials with serious educational value from being shown to a K-12 class. Such materials are by definition not obscene and fall outside the scope of the criminal obscenity statute in Kansas.” [Emphasis Added] Kinzer further states, “What this bill did was clearly provide that if materials shown to a K-12 class did in fact meet the criminal definition of obscenity, then the mere fact the material was used in an approved course of curriculum at the school would not be a defense in a prosecution for promoting obscenity.”

Talking Points:
The questions to ask ourselves: Do we really mean it when we say we want to protect the children? Is it wise to give teachers and educators limitless boundaries on materials they provide to our children’s young minds?

Action:
Contact members of the House Education Committee, especially Chairman Clay Aurand about your thoughts on this issue.
Clay Aurand, Chairman
Deena Horst, Vice-Chairperson
Pat Colloton
Barbara Craft
Owen Donohoe
John Faber
Don Hill
Benjamin Hodge
Steve Huebert
Bill Otto
Ted Powers
Marc Rhoades
Sheryl Spalding
Bill Wolf
Sue Storm
Marti Crow
Geraldine Flaharty
Judith Loganbill
Ann Mah
Shirley Palmer
Eber Phelps
Ed Trimmer
Valdenia Winn

HB 2299 (Domestic Partnership): This bill will be worked in committee this week in the House Federal & State Affairs Committee. The bill prohibits cities and municipalities from establishing domestic partnership registries, leaving the oversight of these issues to the state government. In other words, the people of the state have spoken out on marriage when they approved the marriage amendment to the Kansas Constitution by an over seventy percent margin; municipalities and cities should not usurp the people’s clear statement by enacting a hodge podge of ordinances.

Action: Contact members of the House Federal and State Affairs Committee.
Arlen Siegfreid, Chairman
Steve Huebert, Vice-Chairman
Elaine Bowers
Anthony Brown
Steven Brunk
Richard Carlson
Owen Donohoe
Benjamin Hodge
Lance Kinzer
Forrest Knox
Judy Morrison
Rob Olson
Ted Powers
Dale Swenson
Michael Peterson
Nile Dillmore
Oletha Faust-Goudeau
Tom Hawk
Broderick Henderson
Judith Loganbill
Ann Mah
Melody McCray-Miller
Louis Ruiz

HB 2292 (Teen Protection Act): This bill relates to performance of abortions on minors requiring the person who accompanies a minor for an abortion present a valid form of identification and declare their relationship to the child and to the known or probable father of the unborn fetus. The minor must also present a valid form of identification and verification of the minor’s state of residence. This bill will have a hearing in the House Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday, March 6, at 1:30 in Room 526-S. The bill will protect teens from being taken for abortions by an adult who might not have their best interests at heart. The bill also requires the judge who is determining a judicial by-pass to report suspected abuse.

Action: Contact members of this committee to support this bill.
Brenda Landwehr, Chairperson
Peggy Mast, Vice-Chairperson
Jeff Colyer
David Crum
Don Hill
Mike Kiegerl
Ronnie Metsker
Jim Morrison
Bill Otto
Joe Patton
Marc Rhoades
Don Schroeder
Clark Shultz
Geraldine Flaharty
Delia Garcia
Tom Holland
Cindy Neighbor
Sue Storm
Annie Tietze
Ed Trimmer
Jim Ward

HB 2098 defines the terms of human cloning as prescribed by the President’s Council on Bioethics, a non- partisan, diverse group of scientists, ethicists, educators and doctors. The terminology was derived from terms used by the National Institutes of Health and the National Academy of Science. The bill is neither for or against cloning; it is merely defining the terms so that discussion will be on a level playing field. Legislators opposed to this bill base their objections on spurious notions that enacting the bills that place ethical boundaries around science will somehow cripple Kansas’ attempts to attract the Federal Bio and Agro-terrorism Facility from locating here. One legislator states in her newsletter to her constituents that the President’s Council on Bioethics used different definitions than the National Institutes of Health and the National Academy of Science. She implies that the definitions are not “credible.” For a comparison of crucial definitions and a link to the resumes of the members of the council see our Family Concerns on Cloning Definitions.

Action: Contact your Representative to express your support for this bill.

HB 2255 is a bill that would prohibit the state from supporting human cloning. To date no stem cells have been derived from a human clone; only one documented incident is recorded of a human being successfully cloned in England ... the cloned embryo only lived for a few days. Human cloning, whether for reproduction or to produce stem cells for harvesting is unethical science. It is also very risky. The state should not be spending taxpayer dollars on a risky and unethical venture.

Action: Contact your Representative and express your views.

HB 2266 (Umbilical Cord Donation Information Act) also has a hearing this Thursday in the House Health and Human Services Committee. This bill provides information concerning umbilical cord collection to pregnant women. It provides that health care providers providing health care services to a pregnant woman during the last trimester of their pregnancy advise that woman of her option to donate her child’s umbilical cord following the deliver of her child. Umbilical cords are rich sources of adult stem cells. Adult stem cells to date have provided over 70 treatments, therapies and cures of various diseases.

Update on mandating the HPV vaccine: Even though the bill died a natural death in committee the backers of mandated HPV vaccine persist in lobbying for this mandate in spite of opposition to the mandate.

The CDC opposes mandating the vaccine, according a Washington Times article dated February 27, 2007. Dr. Jon Abramson, chairman of the CDC's advisory committee on immunization practices said he and panel members told Merck & Co. the maker of Gardasil that they should not lobby state lawmakers to mandate the vaccine. He also stated,that HPV, a sexually-transmitted disease is not a communicable disease like measles. He states " The vaccines out there now are for very communicable diseases. A child in school is not at an increased risk for HPV like he is for measles." Merck, who has been lobbying heavily for mandating the vaccine, dropped its lobbying efforts recently because of pressure from parents who were upset that their control over their own children's medical decisions would be usurped.

A recent article from Reuters (February 27, 2007) states that although one in four of American women have been infected with HPV only 3.4% are affected by the two strains of HPV that Gardasil covers. Admittedly the two strains are responsible for 70% of the cervical cancers reported, but this is a much smaller number of affected women than most have been led to believe. Gardasil DOES NOT protect against the strains that cause the remaining 30% of the cancers. Gardasil is a very expensive vaccine, requiring three shots at a minimum of $360 plus office calls.

Please contact your legislators and encourage them NOT to mandate HPV vaccinations for sixth-grade girls. Mandating a vaccine that has not had longitudinal studies for efficacy and safety is not good government policy.

Keep in mind that this is not a "religious" issue as much as it is a medical decision; you have the right to decide what is best for your child.
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We know that there is a lot to think about in this update. Please pray and ask God to give you wisdom and direction as you consider these issues. Please follow through if He directs you to contact your legislator or testify on a particular bill. Those in the legislature that carry the bills we care about need your support . . . they cannot do it alone. Keep that in mind as you ask for His direction.

Concerned Women for America of Kansas
P. O. Box 11233
Shawnee Mission, KS 66207
Phone/Fax: 913-491-1380
Email: director@kansas.cwfa.org
Web site: kansas.cwfa.org