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Back to 2004 Meeting
Respect Life
There are several bills we are following that are related to this category.
The Conference actively works on some bills and
simply monitors others. Members of the CCK Pro-life Committee offer guidance and
provide analysis of legislation related to life issues.
We propose actions for you to take when we are actively
working a bill. More information, including the full text of a
bill, is available by clicking on the bill number.
See our Publication and
Public Witness pages for materials to help
you advocate these issues. Additional valuable information is also found at the
website for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
www.usccb.org.
Cloning and Related Matters
HB 170 and HB 171 deal with cloning and embyronic research. Human cloning is a form of asexual reproduction. It is done by taking
genetic material from a person’s body cell and injecting it into an egg, then
stimulating the egg to begin embryonic development.
Human cloning dehumanizes human procreation
and treats human beings as laboratory products, as nothing more than carriers
of traits that others find useful. Cloning human embryos for research
(so-called “therapeutic cloning”) demeans life by creating new human lives in
order to destroy them. Cloning embryos for live birth (so-called
“reproductive cloning”) violates human dignity, robbing the child of a real
mother and father and subjecting him or her to other people’s pre-conceived
blueprints for the “perfect” or wanted child.
 | HB 170 -
Sponsored by Representative Joseph Fischer; assigned to House Judiciary
Committee |
| HB 171 -
Sponsored by Representative Joseph Fischer; assigned to House Judiciary
Committee |
HB 170 and HB 171 seek to respect human life by stopping unethical research
and the destruction of human life in embryonic form. We support both bills and
urge their passage.
Action:
Contact
your State Representative and ask him/her to co-sponsor both HB 170 and HB
171.
Death Penalty
Total Abolition
HB 88 will completely abolish the death penalty in Kentucky. The Catholic
Catechism and subsequent statements from Rome and our own U. S. and Kentucky
Bishops call for an end to the use of this penalty because its use violates the
sanctity of human life created in the image of God.
| HB 88-
Sponsored by Representative Tom Burch; assigned to House Judiciary Committee |
Action:
Contact
your State Representative and ask him/her to co-sponsor HB 88.
Limit Application of the Death Penalty
SB 166 and HB 475 abolish the death penalty for juveniles. We
support efforts to limit the use of the death penalty. Like the mentally
retarded, juveniles, 16 and 17 year old children, act with diminished mental
capacity. In their case, their brains are still developing and we do not hold
them responsible for behavior in the same way we do adults. In fact, the law
clearly limits what we allow them to do on their own. The law prohibits persons
under the age of 18 from voting, serving in military combat and on juries,
making medical decisions, entering into contracts, marrying, leaving home,
buying cigarettes, and drinking alcohol precisely because adolescents are less
mature than adults. Furthermore, of all offenders, adolescents are the most
capable of rehabilitation given their youth, immaturity and potential for
growth.
| SB 166 -
Sponsored by Senator Gerald Neal; assigned to Senate Judiciary Committee |
| HB 475 -
Sponsored by Representative Robin Webb; assigned to House Judiciary Committee |
Action:
Contact
your State Senator and State Representative and discuss this issue with him/her. Ask for
co-sponsorship and support FOR the juvenile death penalty bill. Click on bill
number above to see complete list of co-sponsors. Thank your Senator or
Representative if he or she has already co-sponsored.
Click here
for a fact sheet on juvenile death penalty issues and a list of the members of a
broad coalition supporting abolition of the death penalty for juveniles. Please
print and distribute as broadly as possible.
Repairing a Broken System
There will be several bills introduced which attempt to repair a broken
system. Similar legislation has become law in Illinois. We will support these
incremental steps until the opportunity to abolish the death penalty becomes
available.
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HB 334 -
Sponsored by Representative Perry Clark; assigned to House Judiciary Committee |
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HB 335 -
Sponsored by Representative Perry Clark; assigned to House Judiciary Committee |
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HB 390 -
Sponsored by Representative Lonnie Napier; assigned to House Judiciary
Committee |
HB 390 -
Sponsored by Representative Lonnie Napier; assigned to House Judiciary Committee
HB 390, as amended in the Committee hearing, requires
the audio, digital or video recording of interrogations of suspects in cases of
capital offenses. Both defense and prosecution will have access to these
recordings for the purpose of trial. This bill garnered strong support in the
House Judiciary Committee hearing and was recommended for passage. For some
unknown reason, HB 390 has been sent back to the Judiciary committee. This
probably means we have run out of time to get it passed, even in the House.
Action: Call 1-800-372-7181 and leave this
message for House Judiciary Chairman, Representative Lindsay: please let HB
390 out of committee on Tuesday, March 23.
This bill will have to be brought back. With one day
left,
Death Penalty Expansion
| SB 25 -
Sponsored by Senator Gary Tapp; assigned to Senate Judiciary Committee |
SB 25 expands the definition of homicide and
exponentially increases the number of instances in which the death penalty
will be sought and imposed. As a result of this change in definition, the
Legislative Research Commission predicts that it will mean that "hundreds of
additional inmates" will fill our prisons at a cost of "millions of dollars."
SB 25 passed in the Senate and is now in House Judiciary Committee.
Action: If your State Representative
serves on the House Judiciary Committee, then call 1-800-372-7181 and ask
him/her to ask Chairman Gross Lindsay NOT to hold a hearing on SB 25.
Click
here
and then scroll down the page to see the names of the House Judiciary
Committee members.
Click here
to find the name of your State Representative.
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SB 163 -
Sponsored by Senator Robert Stivers. |
SB 163
expands the use of the death penalty under the guise of protecting children.
This bill could be used to put to death a person who has not even committed a
crime, though knows one is being committed.
SB 163 HAS
BEEN SENT BACK TO HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE WHERE WE ARE PROMISED THE DEATH
PENALTY PROVISION WILL BE REMOVED. WE WILL STILL MONITOR THIS BILL TO SEE IF THE
SENATE THEN CONCURS WITH THE AMENDMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN ADDED IN THE HOUSE.
Emergency Contraception
HB 87, an act relating to Emergency Contraception. "Emergency Contraceptives" are multiple-dose oral contraceptives taken after
intercourse. The pills have at least four possible mechanisms: (1) suppressing
ovulation, (2) altering cervical mucus to hinder the transport of sperm, (3)
slowing the transport of the ovum and (4) inhibiting implantation of the newly
conceived human embryo. Which of these mechanisms is operative depends on when
the pills are taken. If taken before ovulation, EC may delay or inhibit
ovulation, thereby preventing conception. If taken after the LH surge which
triggers ovulation, EC will not disrupt ovulation in that cycle, but can inhibit
implantation of the developing embryo.
Emergency contraception can act as an abortifacient, rather than as a
contraceptive in the traditional sense of that term. Therefore it is unsafe and
may be toxic to developing human embryos, recognized in law and medicine as
human subjects and patients in their own right.
| HB 87 -
Sponsored by Representative Tom Burch; assigned to House Health and Welfare
Committee |
This bill is severely flawed when measured by our teachings regarding human
life. We will oppose this measure.
Fetal Homicide - It is now the law
HB 108 has passed both houses of the General
Assembly and Governor Ernie Fletcher has signed it. Because of the emergency
clause, it is now the law.
Thanks to all who supported this legislation by
contacting legislators and urging its passage. It is a tribute to the Faithful
Citizens of Kentucky. Congratulate yourselves and keep praying that the Spirit
guide us and guide those whom we send to Frankfort to represent us.
| HB 108 -
Sponsored by Representative Bob Damron; assigned to House Judiciary Committee |
HB 108/HCS created
a separate crime of fetal homicide. It applies to the
unborn child in utero from conception and excludes the death penalty as a
punishment for a person who commits the crime of fetal homicide. It provides for
a maximum penalty of life without parole. In addition, the Court may impose
lengthy prison terms.
We encourage you to thank your Senator and Representative if they supported
this bill. Because the list is much shorter, I am listing the names of those who
failed to support it and voted NO and a list of those who did not vote.
Please thank all the others.
Voting NO in the House: Representatives Crenshaw, Lindsay, Marzian,
Palumbo, and Stein
Voting NO in the Senate: Senators Karem, Neal, Scorsone, and
Shaugnessy
Not Voting in the House: Representatives Adams, J., Bather, Jenkins, Miller,
Mobley, Nunn
Not Voting in the Senate: Senator Stine
Other Life Legislation
We are also watching
HB 13, an Act
relating to the notification of parents or guardians when certain health
services are provided to minors;
HB 31, an Act
relating to birth control education programs; and
HB 32, an Act
relating to abortion.
Click on the Feedback button above to add your name to our Faithful Citizen
Advocate List.
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502-875-2841 Fax