VCC urges key respect-life provisions

For the third straight year, the Virginia General Assembly has gone into “overtime.”
Although transportation and taxation occupy center stage in the ongoing budget deliberations, many other provisions remain in limbo. For the Virginia Catholic Conference, top priorities include two amendments to ensure that tax dollars are not used to exploit or end human lives; one would prevent state financing of research on embryos and aborted fetuses, and the other would prohibit the use of state Medicaid funds for abortions.

The budget proposed by departing Governor Mark Warner before he left office in January included a massive infusion of new money for higher-education research, but provided no ethical standards to govern the use of the proposed funds. To establish much needed guidelines, Delegate Vincent Callahan (R – McLean), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, sponsored a budget item prohibiting state investment in research that requires the destruction of human embryos or fetuses.

The House of Delegates approved that provision. The Senate, however, did not follow suit. Although Senator Charles Colgan (D – Manassas) sponsored the same item in his chamber, it was scuttled by a Senate Finance subcommittee. Its fate, therefore, is now in the hands of an 11-member “conference committee.”

Highlighting this unresolved matter in an op-ed appearing in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on March 25, Virginia Bishops Francis DiLorenzo and Paul Loverde wrote:

“On the issue of research funding, Virginia has indeed arrived at a critical moment: Lawmakers must decide whether sizeable investments will be governed by ethical parameters, or whether instead many taxpaying citizens will be forced to pay for practices that exploit and end lives. We pray that our elected leaders will cherish the book of life and safeguard its many chapters, in the name of science and responsible government.”

Another key development in the budget debate was the House’s adoption of an amendment, championed by Delegate Robert Marshall (R – Manassas) and strongly supported by the VCC, to prevent state funding of Medicaid abortions. However, because no such provision was added to the Senate version of the budget, this matter also awaits resolution by the conference committee.

As the budget conferees continue to meet and negotiate, you are encouraged to e-mail or call them (as well as the Speaker of the House) and convey the message indicated below. To receive regular alerts and updates on these and many other important issues advanced by the VCC on behalf of the Virginia bishops, you are also encouraged to sign up for the VCC’s e-mail network by visiting www.vacatholic.org, clicking on JOIN NOW in the Legislative Action Center box, and completing the short form that is provided.

Message for Budget Conferees and Speaker:

“During budget negotiations, please insist upon a final budget that does not fund abortions, embryonic stem-cell research, or research on aborted children. I strongly oppose any use of my money for these purposes. Please retain provisions approved by the House of Delegates to ensure that I will not be forced to pay for these practices, which exploit and end lives.”