June 27, 2010

Dear Friends,
Probably the only thing most people know about the Arizona State Legislature and the Governor is the Immigration Enforcement Act. But while everyone was getting hot and bothered over immigration, the State did manage to tackle some other issues. Here are a few that pertain to our field of interest:

-- Arizona became the first state in the nation to have its health insurance exchange, which is now being mandated by the new federal health care law, opt out of abortion coverage. Additionally the legislature also clarified that cities cannot use taxpayer funding to provide abortion coverage in insurance plans provided to their employees.

--Other significant pro-life bills that were passed and signed into law include ones that will, among other things, ban embryonic stem cell research (SB 1307) and provide informed consent to women "donating" human eggs (SB 1306).  Additionally, SB 1304 will now provide improved data relating to abortion reporting.

--Bills relating to Assisted Suicide and the weakening of the Rights of Conscience were defeated.

--The state also extended the deadline to claim a tuition tax credit from December 31st to April 15th of the following year.  Given our struggling economy, many people are unsure of what taxable liability they may have until they start preparing their taxes.  This will help raise money from many of these people so that school tuition organizations can continue to enable children to attend the school that best fits their needs.

--In addition to SB 1274, positive legislation promoting increased transparency and accountability for the individual (HB 2664) and corporate (HB 2663) tuition tax credits also has been signed into law.  An additional bonus with HB 2664 is the fact that it includes a modest increase in the maximum amount that people can claim with the individual tuition tax credit, which will now annually increase with the rate of inflation.

In regards to the Catholic Tuition Organization of the Diocese of Phoenix (CTODP) you can now have a regular payroll deduction taken from your paycheck. This will spread the donation out over the course of a year (or whatever you want it to be) thus making it easier on your cash flow. You can contact the School or Parish or visit ctodp.org for information for your employer.

On my wish list: I would like to see put into the procedures for abortion providers that they must perform a pregnancy test before an abortion. I know it sounds obvious but it doesn’t happen. This might help explain why Planned Parenthood Federation of American reported that it spent just $657.1million between 2002 and 2008 from federal grants and programs but it received $2.3 billion from government grants and programs during that same time period. Or maybe this was the reason Consumer Reports ranked Planned Parenthood’s condoms the worst. They certainly did not spend much on their Teen website that includes “All About the Anus” which let teens know that “Some straight couples use anal sex as a way to preserve the woman’s virginity.”

We need to remain vigilant when it comes to assisted suicide and euthanasia. While no outright legislation to legalize is pending, these evil fraternal twins seem to be creeping more and more into hospital and hospice practice and certainly into the medical literature.

We probably also will see another push for legalized medical marijuana. I would oppose this strongly until the Federal Law is repealed and legitimate research can be conducted on what if any medical uses marijuana has. Right now we only have antidotal evidence.

All of these laws are a way to stop the assault on human dignity. There is obviously two competing views of the human person in our society. We, more than just crafting pro life laws, need to convince people from the heart why these issues are so critical to our society and our individual well-being and happiness.

Love,

Fr. John Bonavitacola