http://www.ginabauman.com/blog
It has come to my attention that I am categorized as a "non responder" in the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) 2010 Voter's Guide - General Election. I know that I completed the survey when I received it (as I remember it was a while ago) and believe that I returned it. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the MCCL did not receive it. I have notified the MCCL of the situation and requested that the guide be updated to reflect my positions (although this may not be possible this late in the campaign).
Whether or not the guide gets updated, you can view the survey questions along with my responses below:
AbortionI assure you that I am, and always have been, very strongly pro-life. For a detailed discussion of my beliefs andpositions on this important issue please see the "Life, Marriage, and Family Issues" post on my campaign blog, which is actually a transcription of the first position paper I wrote at the start of this campaign and did not yet have a web site. If you have any questions about this or any other issues please don't hesitate to contact me at gina@ginabauman.com or give me a call at 763-250-3628.
Many women, especially young women, feel coerced into having an abortion due to pressure from a boyfriend, parent or other person. Often it is these women who suffer the long-lasting psychological impacts of abortion the most, because they did not want the abortion themselves. According to the Elliot Institute, 64% of all abortions involve some form of coercion.
1. Will you vote for legislation that would make it a crime to use coercion or the threat of physical harm to pressure someone into having an abortion?
X yes __no
To use abortion as a method of birth control means to use it for the same reasons as one would employ any method of birth control, such as contraceptives or natural family planning. People use birth control to space children, to avoid interference with a career or education, or for a variety of other motivations that all have one thing in common: the desire to avoid having any child at the current time.
There are other categories of abortions that might be sought: (1) abortions performed to prevent death to the mother, (2) abortions performed to prevent serious physical health problems to the mother, (3) in cases of rape and (4) incest, or (5) in cases in which the unborn child has a fetal abnormality incompatible with life. For purposes of clarity and enforceability, a law preventing the use of abortions as a means of birth control would defne such abortions as covering abortion other than those in the five categories described above.
2. Will you vote for legislation that would prevent the use of abortion as a means of birth control?
X yes __no
New non-invasive technology allows expectant parents to identify the sex of their unborn child as early as six weeks into pregnancy. This ability makes it easy for sex-selection abortions to occur even before others are aware of the pregnancy.
3. Will you vote for legislation to ban sex-selection abortions?
X yes __no
Currently the state of Minnesota neither licenses nor inspects most abortion facilities, even though they complete thousands of surgical abortions every year. Many other medical facilities are required to be licensed and/ or inspected by the government.
4. Will you vote for legislation that would require abortion facilities to be licensed and inspected by the state?
X yes __no
According to a November 2009 CNN/Opinion Research poll, only 37% of registered voters nationwide indicated that they were in favor of using public funding for abortions when the woman cannot afford it.
5. Will you vote against the use of government funding for abortion other than to prevent the death of the mother, when the pregnancy is the result of forcible rape (reported to law enforcement agencies within two days), or when the pregnancy of a minor is the result of incest (with the perpetrator reported to law enforcement agencies)?
X yes __no
Human cloning
Human cloning, also referred to as Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer or Transplantation (SCNT), is a process in which genetic material from one person would be artifcially transferred into a human or animal egg cell, thereby beginning the life of a new human individual who is virtually genetically identical to the parent. MCCL believes that human life at every stage of biological development is deserving of respect and protection, regardless of the circumstances under which the human life was created. Some scientists propose creating human life through cloning (SCNT) for the purpose of destructive experiments on those human beings, and for the purpose of scavenging the bodies of those human beings to obtain cells, tissues or organs. Both purposes result in the death of newly formed human beings.
6. Will you vote for a legal prohibition on all human cloning (ScnT), including the cloning of human embryos for research (sometimes called "therapeutic" cloning)?
X yes __no
Health Care Rationing
MCCL respects the right of patients and/or their proxies to make medical decisions. Additionally, MCCL is opposed to any efforts that seek to force medical decisions on others which are based on quality of life criteria. The "quality of life" debate is really a debate about values: Whose lives are worth preserving? Whose lives are not? Minnesota law bases "cost effective health care" on "quality of life" measures such as ability to function and return to work (62J.03, subd. 7). This defnition means that older people and people with disabilities are in danger of being denied life-preserving health care simply because an insurance review agent or medical personnel doesn't think the patient's life is worth saving. Unfortunately, we have seen government attempts to involve itself in such quality of life scenarios, including the following situations:
- Mandated denial of nutrition and/or hydration to patients when the patient's wishes are unknown;
- Creation of evidence-based/best practices guidelines;
- Rationing proposals like the so-called "Oregon plan" based on diagnosis and treatment pairings; and
- General cost-effectiveness programs which attempt to limit expensive care.
7. Will you vote against legislation that removes a patient (or proxy) from decision-making?
X yes __no
8. Will you vote against legislation that allows for rationing of care based on quality of life criteria?
X yes __no
Political Free Speech
MCCL is strongly opposed to any legislation that would infringe on the right of groups to disseminate printed or broadcast issue advocacy communications that comment on candidates' positions and voting records, including any restrictions on the timing, amount or funding sources for such speech, or any requirement that the names of their donors be reported to the government.
9. Will you vote against any legislation that would restrict or regulate the right of nonproft corporations (not PAcs) to engage in unrestricted commentary (issue advocacy) on the positions and voting records of specifc offce holders and offce seekers, such as publication of voting scorecards and voter guides, or any legislation that would require that names of citizens who fund such communications be reported to the government?
X yes __no
