Posted on 01/23/2005 7:57:58 AM PST by Dog Gone
AUSTIN - Republican Gov. Rick Perry reaffirmed his anti-abortion stance Saturday and, in a stark disagreement with potential rival Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, said he doesn't support embryonic stem cell research.
"As long as I am the governor of this great state, I will oppose any taxpayer dollars being used and spent on research that ends a human life," Perry said.
Hutchison, a Republican who is considering a run for governor next year, said last month that state leaders should develop a stem-cell research policy that keeps Texas from being "left in the dust by California." That state recently approved a $3 billion initiative to fund stem-cell research.
He made his comments in front of hundreds of anti-abortion activists who carried American flags and signs that said "Parental Rights" as they marched through downtown Austin to the Capitol chanting "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Roe v. Wade has got to go."
The march coincided with the 32nd anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.
To a wave of applause, Perry pledged his support for a bill requiring parents to give their consent before a minor can have an abortion.
Texas law now requires parents of minors to be notified before their daughter has an abortion. The minor can ask a judge for a waiver of parental notification if she believes she cannot confide in a parent.
"Five years ago, we passed a bill requiring parental consent for a child to get her ears pierced," Perry said. "I think it's time that we applied that rationale and that same rational standard to abortions performed on minors."
NARAL Pro-Choice Texas is more concerned about another bill that Wheat said would allow a pharmacist to refuse to fill birth control or emergency contraceptive prescriptions.
Another anti-abortion group, Texas Right to Life, is not putting the parental consent bill high on its agenda this session, said Stacey Emick, the group's legislative director. She said statistics show that the decline in abortions for minors is about the same if a state has a parental notification law or a parental consent law.
On stem cell research, Perry said he supports President Bush's position and that an ethical balance can be struck between science and the protection of life.
Hutchison last month said state leaders should work with Perry and the Legislature on a stem-cell research policy. The research could help cure cancer, Alzheimer's and Hodgkin's Disease, she said.
Hurray for Perry--and Kay better start some serious reconsideration of her "big-tent" credos.
WTG! Thank you Gov Perry for that. Now get with the program on stopping giving benefits and jobs to illegal aliens and you have my vote again.
Perry keeps getting his ducks.... er votes lined up.... It looks like he is about to force KBH to have to rethink her bid for the Gov's position. I really don't see Strayhorn as that much of a contender in the Gov. race.
Some people oppose him because of a specific issue such as the TransTexas Corridor, but those things aren't even on the radar of most voters.
ProLife Ping!
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Debate finished.
I'm impressed with Texas politics. It's a shame it's such an ugly and hot state.
It's pretty darn cold here in Texas today, and I'm not sure what's so ugly about it. West Texas is dry, but most of the state is either forests or nice hill country.
There are nice parts of the state, yes. But having lived through eight Houston summers, I really do feel sorry for Texans. The libs get the California redwoods, Yosemite, Mt. Rainier, and the Olympic Rainforest.
Odd, the reporter has no quotes from participants other than the Governor!! This is the same woman who leaves conferences and meetings when pro-life speakers come to the mike, in order to go to the lobby and interview the pro-abortion NARAL woman.
The Governor was incredible. He stayed for over 2 hours, even though in the direct sun for the first hour or so, and then when the wind turned cold. He stuck around for 5 or 10 minutes after the close of the meeting to shake hands.
The speech showed an understanding of the issue of stem cell research, as well as parental consent for all medical procedures for minor girls.
Thanks for the ping, Mr. Silverback, and thanks for posting this, Dog Gone. I've been sick all day, doped up enough to make me sleep, because those winds at the end evidently brought Mountain Cedar pollen with them. (Forget WMD, blow Cedar pollen at our enemies. The pollen is an irritant, even for those who are not allergic.)
I have pictures, if anyone has a way to post them.
Pro-Life PING
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I was told that ad ran in USA Today and other large newspapers. They are in PDF for regular paper printing for easy distribution. All Churches should put these in their bullitians alternating and doing it more than once. These are available as direct PDF downloads are at
http://usccb.org/prolife/JoshuaFINAL.pdf
and
http://usccb.org/prolife/MinerFINAL.pdf
Don't go knockin' my great state just because you prefer to piss ice cubes, pard.
Cancer, AIDS, Heart problems, Alzheimers, Hodgkins disease, etc., are horrible diseases alright Senator Kay Bailey Hutginson, but the death rate from those and all other diseases combined,including murder and accidents ain't diddly sh*t when compared to the disease of abortion, from whence you would harvest those precious stem cells.
Excuse us Maam if some of us consider the cure of everyone associated with those tragedies, of less importance and far less precious, than the life and welfare of the least wanted among the innocents that would be sentenced to death by this stem cell harvest.
I like Texas but I could never stand going through 1 summer in Houston, much less 8. You deserve an award for bravery in harsh conditions.
Reagrding the quoted passage, KBH doesn't believe embryos are yet human beings ... magic thinking does that sort of illogical twisting. Of course Se. Hutchinson won't say just when the new individual life is a human being, just when does the life of the human being begin. Perry appears to understand it in all its simplicity ... killing embryos for their body parts, their stem cells, is ending a human life! Poor KBH, so lost to her support for cannibalism, so wrong yet so typical of too many Pubbies now in power.
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