FLASHREPORT

Last week Americans United for Life (AUL) released its sixth annual ranking of the most pro-life states in America. Unsurprisingly, California ranked dead last. This ranking is well deserved considering liberal California legislators are notorious for their blind allegiance to the abortion lobby.

A perfect example of this devotion was last session's SB 850, Senator Abel Maldonado's bill to give still birth certificates to mothers with still-born children. I recall during a committee hearing on the bill the gut-wrenching testimony of several mothers who described the excitement about their pregnancies, the anticipation of their sons or daughters' birth and then the devastation at what should have been a joyful moment. No sooner had the mothers finished their testimony than Planned Parenthood, NOW and ACLU lobbyists marched forward to protest the bill's attack on Roe v. Wade. (It would be unconstitutional to acknowledge the child was alive before it left its mother's womb!)

Senator Maldonado was forced by Democrat lawmakers to take an amendment affirming the right to abortion (People v. Belous). Caught in this petty political game were the mothers who sat there looking confused and crestfallen. How on earth would a simple bill like issuing still-birth certificates impact the abortion debate? Senator Maldonado knew that the amendment was essentially a poison pill since pro-life Republicans wouldn't be able to support a bill affirming abortion, even if they supported still-birth certificates. Ultimately, the bill passed the legislature and was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger. But the entire process exposed the insecurity and greed of the abortion lobby. No doubt such acts are accounted for in AUL's ranking of California.

AUL used a variety of criteria in determining their rankings, including parental consent and notification laws (all have failed passage in California), protecting healthcare workers' right of conscience and end-of-life laws. It's important to include all these criteria because even though the battle over the beginning of life still rages, the debate over end-of-life rights is just now getting started. Disregarding the sanctity of life at its beginning, when the young cannot defend themselves, inevitably leads to disregarding life at its end, when the infirm are also unable to defend themselves.

Although California hasn't gone as far as other states in legalizing euthanasia, last session we inched a little closer. Assemblywoman Patty Berg attempted to legalize assisted suicide with AB 2747. Unsuccessful in passing the original version of the bill, she amended the language to mandate doctors "counsel" terminal patients about end-of-life options, particularly assisted suicide. Governor Schwarzenegger apparently agreed that doctors should let you know when society considers you a burden—he signed the bill.  Liberals have been very successful in their incremental chipping away at controversial issues such as euthanasia so we can expect more such incremental laws in the next few years.

Healthcare workers with a conscience (the kind I prefer to administer my care) have also drawn the unwelcome attention of the government. From legal cases mandating doctors inseminate lesbian couples (despite the doctor's conscience), to "Scarlett Letter" laws requiring pharmacies to publicly humiliate pharmacists objecting to filling contraceptive prescriptions, California is a hostile state to those with religious or moral beliefs.

Unfortunately, the attack will continue this year. Assemblyman Pedro Nava has introduced AB 67, the Pharmacy Patient Protection Act of 2008, which "would require pharmacists to dispense all lawfully obtained prescriptions when the prescribed medication is in stock without regard to any ethical, moral, or religious objections." The penalty for conscientious objectors? (After all, this is a war on our rights.)  "Revocation of the pharmacist's license." How can California expect to keep up with the growing demand for healthcare workers when they're being driven from the state because of their religious beliefs?

It doesn't look like California will be inching its way any higher on the AUL list any time soon.