WEEKLY RECAP
From Hawaii Family Forum, April 16, 2021
Governor Ige Signs Abortion Expansion Bill
Never Enough
HB 576 HD3 is now law in Hawaii. Act 003, 04/12/2021 (Gov. Msg. No. 1103). Governor Ige, flanked by women legislators, signed it into law on Monday, April 12.
I find it interesting that Doctors and pharmacists have, by pretty large numbers, refused to participate in abortions. Rather than asking "why," the legislators, with the approval of Hawaii's governor, has just added a new group of professionals to do it.
Are Advanced Practice Registered Nurses with the training to do so lining up to be able to perform these services? Let's wait and see if the tier needs to be increased because those of us who have labored on life issues in Hawaii know that each chipping away of the law is never enough.
Read article in Hawaii News Now
Watch Governor Ige sign the bill and listen to his comments
Upcoming Legislative Deadlines
APR 22 - FINAL DECKING OF NON-FISCAL BILLS - Deadline for submitting non-fiscal bills for final reading by both chambers.
APR 23 - FINAL DECKING OF FISCAL BILLS - Deadline for submitting fiscal bills for final reading by both chambers. Fiscal bills include appropriation or spending bills, tax credits, etc., or any bill with a House Finance or Senate Ways and Means referral.
APR 29 - ADJOURNMENT SINE DIE - In Latin, "sine die" means "without a day specified" for future meeting. Adjournment sine die occurs on the last day of a Regular Session and indicates a suspension of the business of the legislature indefinitely. Next, the Legislature will certify the bills whose form both chambers have agreed to and will transmit or "enroll" those bills to the Governor. Contact the Public Access Room (PAR) for information regarding the Governor's deadlines: (808) 587-0478, par@capitol.hawaii.gov
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FROM AROUND THE NATION
Abortion Extremism Exposed: During Pandemic Biden's FDA Won't Enforce In-Person Requirement to Receive Dangerous Abortion-Inducing Drugs
On Tuesday, April 13, 2021, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced they will not enforce longstanding safety precautions that require doctors to dispense the drug at an in-person visit to prevent severe side-effects.
A recent study reviewing reported adverse events over a 20-year period found that women can experience severe side-effects after taking the chemical abortion pill, include heavy bleeding, intense pain, and even death.
So far in 2021, legislators in Montana, Texas, and Oklahoma are acting on the will of the people to pass laws protecting women by restricting chemical abortion. Hawaii legislators (other than a few heroic ones) refuse to hear pro-life bills.
Born-Alive Discharge Petition
This Wednesday, April 14, 2021, U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) signed a discharge petition to bring the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (H.R. 619) to the House floor for a vote.
There are a couple ways that bill can be considered on the floor, but to do so without an OK from the Speaker a majority of the House (218) need to sign a discharge petition. Whip Scalise and Rep. Wagner led the charge last Congress and joining them in leading this year will be Rep. Kat Cammack.
A discharge petition is a procedural tool to bring legislation to the floor when House leaders are blocking a vote. If 218 members of the House sign the discharge petition, the legislation goes to the floor for debate and a final vote. With all 212 House Republicans signing, the discharge petition for H.R. 619 will succeed if six Democrats also sign.
D.C. Statehood
According to Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), the bill to make D.C. the nation's 51st state will get a vote in the full House next week Thursday. This will fulfill the promise of House leadership to prioritize the legislation within President Biden's first 100 days.
With at least 212 co-sponsors, House Democrats expect to pass the Washington, D.C. Admission Act for the second consecutive year. (The record reflects 216 co-sponsors, but three of them have joined the Biden administration and Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, a Democrat from Florida, died this month.)
Chemical Abortion
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a letter on April 12, 2021 to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) indicating it is suspending enforcement of a policy that forces patients to risk unnecessary exposure to COVID-19 as a condition of accessing mifepristone, medication used for early abortion and miscarriage care.
While likely the case is carried on by the states, this is a major shift from the pro-life Trump Administration to the pro-abortion Biden-Harris-Becerra agenda. Elections have consequences.
You may remember the coalition letter signed by many pro-life groups last year (including Hawaii Family Forum) encouraging the past administration to stand up to the abortion lobby to uphold the REMS.
Title X
graphic: https://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Title%20X%20in%20Hawaii1.pdf
On April 15, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a proposed rule, "Ensuring Access to Equitable, Affordable, Client-Centered, Quality Family Planning Services," to formally repeal the 2019 rules for Title X grants that limited access to family planning services for many low-income people. Comments are due on May 17.
Specifically, the proposal would return to regulations promulgated in 2000, with modifications to strengthen the program, which provides comprehensive family planning services and other basic health care.
Faith in Politics Podcast
Faith in Politics: Recent Episodes
In this episode we talk with Dr. Hale Akamine about the mental health issues surrounding Hawaii's youth during the lockdown and we share the results of the Hawaii Family Forum Survey on the question asking you to rate Hawaii's leaders during the past year.
SPECIAL GUEST DR. HALE AKAMINE AND REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR JIM HOCHBERG
To see the results of question three, go to this link.