Wednesday, December 1st, 2010 This Week's Feature
Looking Ahead: Will Military Hospitals become Abortion Clinics?
 With commentators buzzing over predictions about how much of his agenda President Obama can cram through a lame duck Congress, keep watching for reports on the Burris Amendment.
Currently, abortions may not be performed by DoD medical personnel or in DoD medical facilities except in cases of rape, incest or life of the mother. Like other citizens, women in the military may make their own arrangements when seeking an elective abortion. But former Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) added a provision to the Department of Defense authorization bill (which means the military funding bill) that would allow for military facilities and personnel to be drawn into the business of abortion. AUL will be working on this to ensure that our nation’s military hospitals and personnel are not turned away from their vital work of caring for the needs of our fighting men and women and become alternate abortion clinics. Stay tuned. And Click here for more info. On The Docket AUL Promotes Model Legislation to New Legislators Not only will a large number of pro-life office holders come to the nation’s Capitol as a result of the last election, many state legislatures were transformed as well. In fact, 19 state chambers switched control; more than 1,700 new state legislators were elected to office, and 12 new pro-life governorships were launched. But they are going to need some help. This week AUL’s Vice President of Government Affairs, Daniel McConchie, heads to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) States and Nation Policy Summit to meet with state legislators from across the country. Dan will be promoting AUL’s 36 pieces of model legislation to the newly empowered lawmakers. Many state legislators do not have the legal staff or expertise to draft language on all the issues they wish to work on, but AUL’s legal team simplifies their work with ready-to-go model legislation. Perhaps the most important piece of model legislation will be AUL’s “opt-out” bill that allows states to opt-out of the abortion mandate in the new federal health care law. Legislators, activists and concerned citizens can access AUL’s library of model bills. AUL Assists Illinois Lawmakers Who Believe Parents Make a Difference While many Americans were preparing for Thanksgiving, AUL’s legal team filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of eight Illinois legislators, supporting the Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act and urging the First District appellate court to uphold the law, now 15 years in legal limbo. “Illinois’ lawmakers courageously supported parents in attempting to give them information about their children’s potential chemical or surgical abortions,” said AUL Staff Counsel Mailee R. Smith. “We know that parental involvement positively impacts teen pregnancy and teen birth rates, and it is tragic that legal wrangling has prevented parental involvement.” In 1995, the Illinois General Assembly enacted legislation which requires parental notification before a minor can obtain an abortion. The Act has been enjoined in litigation since that time, thanks to on-going legal maneuverings from the American Civil Liberties Union. Check out this Washington Times article lauding AUL’s work for Illinois parents. Star Student AUL is proud to note that staff attorney Kellie Fiedorek was featured in the bi-annual Ave Maria University School of Law Advocate which highlighted her work at AUL spearheading Advocates for Life chapters on law school campuses where young attorneys can build relationships and start laying groundwork to become future pro-life champions. 
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