Federal 2017 Policy Top Priorities: Right to life and freedom of faith, conscience and speech

Christian Medical Association / Freedom2Care

Federal Policy Top Priorities - 2017

The Washington office of the Christian Medical Association (which hosts Freedom2Care) focuses on the fundamental issues of the right to life and freedom of faith, conscience and speech, which serve as the foundation for all other rights and freedoms. Following are some of the top priorities for the new year:

Freedom of faith and conscience 

1.      Protect conscience rights in healthcare by restoring the conscience protection regulation for healthcare professionals and institutions, along with its educational outreach program.

2.      Prevent government coercion related to abortion by passing conscience-protecting legislation (e.g., Conscience Protection Act - S 2927, H.R.4828; Healthcare Conscience Rights Act - S 1919; Abortion Non-Discrimination Act - S 50).

3.      Overturn  "transgender mandate" regulation, which disallows medical judgment and redefines Congress' biological definition of sex to include LGBT issues, by winning our lawsuit vs. US Dept. of HHS.

4.      Sweep away radical federal regulations by empowering Congress (e.g., through the  Midnight Rules Relief Act - S.3483, HR 5982) to disapprove of federal agency regulations that fall within 60 legislative days of a president's final term.

Right to life

1.      Ban abortions of developing babies at the stage in which they can feel pain (e.g., Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act - S.1670; HR 36-passed).

2.      Redirect tax dollars from abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood to federally qualified health centers (e.g., Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act - S 51, HR 217).

3.      Save lives of babies born in an abortion (e.g., Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act - S2066; HR 3504 passed).

Personnel

Promote and support pro-life, pro-religious freedom individuals for key positions including:

·         Supreme Court: new justices

·         Health and Human Services: Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Assistant Secretary for Health, Surgeon General, Assistant Secretary For Children And Families, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Director of National Institutes of Health, Director of faith-based office, Office of Civil Rights, Office of Global Health Affairs.

·         White House - Domestic Policy Advisor, director of faith-based office

·         Department of State – AIDS Ambassador (PEPFAR), Office of International Religious Freedom, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, faith-based office, Office of Religion and Global Affairs.

·         US Agency for International Development – Administrator, Asst. Admin. - Bureau of Global Health, faith-based office.

Three steps to landing a job in the new administration

1.    Learn about the opportunities and the process.

• Transition website: www.greatagain.com (President Elect Donald Trump’s website) - https://www.greatagain.gov/serve-america.html)
• Help Wanted: 4,000 Political Employee release: https://www.greatagain.gov/news/help-wanted-4000-presidential-appointees.html
• Presidential appointments listing - “Plum Book” – http://tinyurl.com/plum16 - research specific positions for each agency. Google job titles to find out more about the specifics of each position. Determine which of the different types of positions (e.g., senate-confirmed, non-career senior executive, etc.—see Types of Appointments list* below) in which you are interested.

o   Top Senate-confirmed appointments position descriptions: (http://presidentialtransition.org/publications/viewcontentdetails.php?id=1352).

o   Guide for employees applying for positions and rights (Office of Personnel Management) (https://www.opm.gov/about-us/our-people-organization/support-functions/executive-secretariat/presidential-transition-guide-2016.pdf).

• Partnership for Public Service website: www.presidentialtransition.org 

2.    Apply.

o   Administration application web page: https://apply.ptt.gov/ - submit your CV, brief essay and cover letter and indicate in what areas (i.e., agencies, job functions, policies) you'd like to work.

3.    Submit your information to candidate referrers.

Freedom2Care (exclusively for health professionals):

·         Send your CV (Word or .pdf format), along with 3-5 bullet points summarizing your qualifications, and a list of positions in which you are interested, to washington@cmda.org.

·         Federal Interest Survey: https://s.zoomerang.com/r/Freedom2Care - indicate your experience, interests and values.

·         Federal registry on LinkedIn -  keep your CV and get updates on opportunities for federal service. On the www.LinkedIn.com website (sign in or join for free), go to the search box, click the left arrow and select Groups. Type in Freedom2Care. (If you have problems, just email washington@cmda.org and ask to be added to the group.) How to import your CV to LinkedIn (http://tinyurl.com/h5q5yhk). Visibility options: http://tinyurl.com/hg28oj5

Heritage Foundation (for all candidates):

·         Restore America Candidate Form: http://tinyurl.com/jxpqo4p  – use to note your own availability. After completing this step, health professionals can email washington@cmda.org to request an endorsement (see below).

·         Restore America Recommendation Form: http://tinyurl.com/jtykn7o  – use to endorse/recommend a colleague.

*Types of Appointments:

• Presidential Appointments with Senate Confirmation (PAS): 1,212 senior leaders, including Cabinet secretaries and deputies, heads of most independent agencies and ambassadors, who must be confirmed by the Senate. These positions first require a Senate hearing in addition to background checks and other vetting.
• Presidential Appointments without Senate Confirmation (PA): 353 PA positions, mostly White House staff plus some in smaller federal agencies
• Non-career Senior Executive Service (NA): 680 key positions just below top presidential appointees, bridging gap between political leaders and civil service throughout the federal government. Most SES members are career officials, but up to 10 percent of the SES can be political appointees. (see https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service).
• Schedule C Appointments (SC): 1,403 Schedule C appointees who serve in a confidential or policy role, ranging from schedulers and confidential assistants to policy experts.

"My Election" tool: Who's running? Where do I vote? What's on the ballot?

Consider...

Besides the presidency, this election will determine the balance of power in the US Senate and House, the makeup of the future Supreme Court, plus many state governorships and legislators and local officials. ONE can make a huge difference:
• In 1801, one vote in the U.S. House broke the tie between presidential candidates Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.
• In 1876, one vote in the Electoral College gave Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency.
• In 2000, the presidency came down to a few votes in one state.

"My Election" tool 

Who's running? Where do I vote? What's on the ballot?
Find out by entering your zip code at the Freedom2Care
"My Election" tool
http://cqrcengage.com/f2c/home.
Thank you for exercising your privilege and duty as an American citizen! May God grant you wisdom and discernment as you help direct our government toward justice and mercy.

Returning Power to the Patient: A 10-Point Prescription

I've enjoyed the rare privilege of advising presidential campaigns on domestic and international healthcare issues. Below are some broad-stroke recommendations on domestic healthcare reform:

Returning Power to the Patient

Transfer power from Government
back to the People

As the cost of government-centered healthcare punishes patients and doctors and wreaks havoc on the economy and job market, Americans clearly need a new, patient-focused healthcare reform movement. That movement must take power away from bureaucrats in Washington and return power to the patient, medical decision-making to doctors and proven principles of competition, efficiency, innovation and quality assurance to American healthcare. The following ten steps outline in broad strokes an approach that a new administration and Congress can take to begin to build a healthcare system driven by proven medical and economic principles.

Repeal costly regulations
and job-killing mandates

1.      Make competition for insurance customers national, so monopolistic insurance companies in each state can no longer get away with charging high rates in the absence of competition. Companies all across the country will be competing for customers by offering customers the best coverage at the best price.

2.      Promote tax-protected health savings accounts, so the consumer takes back the driver's seat for her own healthcare. Health savings accounts return insurance to what it was meant to be—low-cost protection against big health crises that patients just couldn't handle out of their own pockets.

3.      Repeal the job-killing mandate of Obamacare and let employers hire back and add hours to their employees. Health savings accounts will let employers continue to contribute to their employees' healthcare while keeping costs manageable.

4.      Make sure that patients with preexisting conditions can get coverage through state high-risk pools and that poor patients get the hand up that they need—without wrecking everyone else's healthcare in the process.

Let doctors make
professional judgments
based on medicine and ethics

5.      Repeal the time-killing, decision-robbing federal bureaucracy of Obamacare and its tangled web of regulations and let doctors turn their attention away from mindless paperwork and back to patients and making professional medical judgments.

6.      Eliminate Medicare and Medicaid waste and fraud and restore reasonable and sustainable reimbursement rates and funding, so poor patients will receive care and doctors will receive adequate reimbursement for providing that care.

Streamline medicines and
promote price transparency

7.      Enforce the bipartisan conscience laws that protect some of our best doctors from discrimination and job loss simply because they follow the Hippocratic oath and won't participate in abortions, or because they base their decisions about controversial treatments on medical evidence and not government social policy.

8.      Follow the proven example of states that have implemented sensible controls on malpractice lawsuits. Patients with legitimate complaints must receive just compensation, but ambulance-chasing lawyers should not be allowed to milk the system with baseless cases that are more expensive to fight than settle.

9.      Streamline affordable medicines by incentivizing innovation and eliminating needless costly regulations and delays in bringing new lifesaving drugs to market.

10.  Empower patients and control spending by promoting price transparency to enable consumers to comparison shop easily and make informed decisions based on the actual cost of treatments.

Bedrock biblical principles for a seismic election

By Jonathan Imbody*

In over two decades of public policy advocacy in Washington, DC, I have never witnessed such division among colleagues and people of faith as in this polarizing election.

Taking a deep breath and a step back to remember some bedrock biblical principles can help us navigate this tumultuous season. We can emerge on the other side of the election with both our relationships and our principles intact.

Consider the following passages and their implications for a time such as this:

"For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil" (Romans 13:3). 

Until His heavenly kingdom finally comes in its full glory, God's fundamental purpose for establishing government here on earth is to reward good and punish evil. So choose candidates who demonstrate by their words and actions that they understand the difference between good and evil and will govern accordingly. Otherwise it's a crapshoot on who and what gets rewarded or punished. After years of cultural decay and the erosion of religious liberties, people of faith are more vulnerable than ever to governing authorities who reward evil and punish righteousness (for examples, see www.Freedom2Care.org).

"I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men" (Acts 24:16). 

Pray for God's wisdom on voting and also be prepared to explain to others how your reasons fit the faith. If you're voting for a candidate with obvious flaws of character or policy, explain whatever higher principle motivates you to vote despite the problems. Otherwise you risk appearing to compromise your faith for expedience, personal preference or just plain ignorance.

"Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions" (Romans 14:1). 

Consider what your family and friends already know: You are not always as wise and righteous as you wish you were. And your disagreeing colleagues might not be as dumb or faithless as you think they are. So in humility remember that each believer will each stand before God on the final day, and in the meantime He has not appointed any of us as a surrogate judge.

"Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" (1 Corinthians 6:2). 

The Scriptures and the Holy Spirit provide the Christian believer with an understanding of how the King of the universe rules over His creation. He equips us with the ability to discern and choose good over evil and to exercise the antidote of love to counter the disease of enmity. God's Word illuminates this truth and power in a way that natural revelation (the testimony that the created world provides to its Creator and the voice of personal conscience He gives to each person) displays only dimly.

That means Christians carry a special responsibility, as far as within their power, to guide government toward good and away from evil. We do so for the good of others, and especially for the vulnerable.

In a democratic republic, voting is our bare minimum responsibility. Not voting represents a dereliction of duty and leaves governing to those who do not benefit from God's clear revelation. That puts people at risk whom God calls us to protect.

So if you know God's principles, vote for those who will come closest to carrying out those principles. If you can't in good conscience vote for a main party candidate for president, write in your choice and make sure to also vote for U.S. Senators and Representatives and state and local officials.

*Jonathan Imbody is the author of Faith Steps (http://www.freedom2care.org/learn/page/faith-steps-book-study-guide), VP of Government Relations for the Christian Medical Association (www.joincmda.org) and Director of Freedom2Care (www.Freedom2Care.org). 

---

Rembrandt van Rijn paintings above:

1.      Conspiracy of Batavians under Claudius Civilis

2.      The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

3.      Return of the Prodigal Son

4.      Matthew and the Angel

What you need to know and do about the new HHS transgender mandate

If you receive federal health funds,
read on...

What do doctors and health institutions need to know about and how can they defend themselves from the Obama administration’s newly enacted transgender mandate?

Action:

If you are a health professional or institution impacted by the HHS transgender mandate, you may use this web page to present your views confidentially (or publicly if you prefer).

What happened when?

The transgender mandate, promulgated by the US Department of Health and Human Services under the assumed authority of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), went into effect July 18, 2016.

A new website, www.transgendemandate.org, explains what the mandate requires, why it violates the law and what conscientious objectors can do to protect their rights.

Whom does the rule target?

HHS recently mandated that doctors must perform gender transition procedures on any child referred by a mental health professional, even if the doctor believes the treatment or hormone therapy could harm the child. 
Doctors who follow their Hippocratic Oath to act in the best interest of their patient instead of this new mandate can face severe consequences, including losing their job.

The Transgender Mandate also requires virtually all private insurance companies and many employers to cover gender transition procedures or face stiff penalties and legal action.

What do they have to do?

No religious exemption

The new rule includes no religious exemption; it will have significant impacts on religious healthcare professionals:

• It will require healthcare professionals to perform certain gender transition services, including elective hysterectomies or cross-hormone therapy;
• It will require healthcare professionals to refer individuals for gender transition services;
• It will require healthcare professionals to provide insurance coverage for gender transition services, some of which include sterilization procedures;
• It may require healthcare professionals to provide coverage for abortion;
• It will require healthcare professionals to open facilities, such as showers, bathrooms, or locker rooms, to employees based on gender preference;
• It will expose healthcare professionals to hostile work environment lawsuits unless healthcare professionals refer to individuals by their preferred name or gender pronoun.

What happens to those who do not comply?

A healthcare professional not in compliance risks:

Liable for lawsuits

• losing HHS funding
• being subjected to federal enforcement proceedings
• being subjected to false claims liability
• being sued for damages and attorneys’ fees by patients, employees, or their dependents.

What does the evidence show regarding gender transition procedures?

Research shows that there are significant risks with gender transition procedures in childhood.  Again, that is why HHS’s own medical board advised against requiring coverage of gender transition surgical procedures under Medicare and Medicaid. 

Putting children at risk

Along with physical impacts like heart conditions, increased cancer risk, and loss of bone density, the peer-reviewed longitudinal studies of children with gender dysphoria (that HHS accepted as valid) found that fewer than 1-in-4 children referred for gender dysphoria continued to experience that condition into adulthood. Some grew out of it, but many of the children ended up realizing that they were not transgender but instead gay or lesbian. 

The Transgender Mandate virtually guarantees that doctors will be forced—against their medical judgment—to perform procedures aimed at altering the gender of children who are not actually transgender.

Medical science is on the side of any doctor who feels that in a specific case it would be a mistake to begin gender transition procedures on a child.

What about medical judgment?

No medical judgment

The Mandate does not allow space for the doctor’s medical judgment and does not even allow the doctor to refer the child to another doctor, even one more qualified, or for a hospital to find a doctor willing to perform the procedure. Any refusal by a qualified and practicing doctor to perform such a procedure is a violation of the Mandate.

To be clear, this is not a question of access to care but of forcing a political ideology on doctors against their medical judgment.

Is anyone moving to stop this?

In August 2016, the Christian Medical Association; the states of Texas, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kentucky, and Kansas; North Texas State Hospital; Franciscan Alliance, Inc.; and Specialty Physicians of Illinois, LLC filed a lawsuit against HHS in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which boasts an undefeated record in Supreme Court cases, represents the plaintiffs. The lawsuit asks the court to do the following:

1. Declare that the challenged Regulation is invalid under the Administrative Procedure Act;
2. Declare that the challenged Regulations is invalid under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act;
3. Declare that the challenged Regulation is invalid under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution;
4. Declare that the challenged Regulation is invalid under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution;
5. Declare that the challenged Regulation is invalid under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution;
6. Issue a permanent injunction enjoining Defendants from enforcing the challenged Regulations against Plaintiffs, those acting in concert with Plaintiffs, and all States;
7. Award actual damages;
8. Award nominal damages;
9. Award Plaintiffs the costs of this action and reasonable attorney’s fees; and
10. Award such other and further relief as it deems equitable and just.

Action:

If you are a health professional or institution impacted by the HHS transgender mandate, you may use this web page to present your views confidentially (or publicly if you prefer).

The "right to die" quickly morphs into a "duty to die"

Oregon's lethal drug of choice: Secobarbital

Assisted suicide advocates and their media allies would have us believe that taking lethal pills somehow represents the supreme expression of individual choice (see for example, "Deciding to use the end-of-life law," Los Angeles Times, Aug. 16). In reality, however, legalized assisted suicide can lead down a quick and dangerous path to patient abuse and the loss of autonomy.

What happens when government and corporate payers or unscrupulous heirs calculate that your early death spells cost savings? The "right to die" quickly morphs into a "duty to die," complete with subtle and not-so-subtle psychological pressures on vulnerable patients.

Such abuses of elderly, handicapped and other vulnerable patients will never show up in whitewashed, bare-bones bureaucratic reports. Secrecy provisions in the law prevent independent investigations. The only witness is dead.

Palliative care including powerful pain relief, coupled with the unconditional and persevering love of family and friends, offer a priceless alternative to cheap suicide pills and a safeguard of patient choice.

Doctors, States challenge new “transgender regulation”

The Christian Medical Association has filed a lawsuit along with others to fight an Obamacare transgender mandate, outlined below in a news release from The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

Government orders doctors to perform procedures it admits may harm children

For Immediate Release:  August 23, 2016

Media Contact:  Melinda Skea | media@becketfund.org | 202-349-7224

Washington, D.C. – Doctors, hospitals and five states will file a lawsuit today against a new federal regulation that would force doctors to ignore science and their medical judgment and perform gender transition procedures on children. The government does not even require Medicare and Medicaid to cover these same gender transition procedures because the Health & Human Services’ (HHS) medical experts found the risks were often too high and benefits too unclear. But any doctor citing the same evidence and their judgment in an individual case would be in violation of the new mandate and face potential lawsuits or job loss.

“No doctor should be forced to perform a procedure that he or she believes will harm a child,” said Lori Windham, senior counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “Decisions on a child’s medical treatment should be between families and their doctors, not dictated by politicians and government bureaucrats.”

A new website provides leading research on this issue, including guidance the government itself relies on demonstrating that up to 94 percent of children with gender dysphoria (77 to 94 percent in one set of studies and 73 to 88 percent in another) will grow out of their dysphoria naturally and will not need surgery or lifelong hormone regimens. Studies also show that there are numerous negative effects when children undergo hormone regimens, such as increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer.

The government itself does not require coverage of gender transition procedures in Medicare or Medicaid — even in adults — because it has acknowledged that such procedures can be harmful. This rule would be the first time a law forces doctors to break their Hippocratic Oath and is also unique in placing mental health professionals as the final decision-makers on what medical care doctors must provide for their patients.

The new regulation applies to 900,000 doctors — virtually every doctor in the U.S., many of whom have chosen the medical profession because they are inspired by their faith to serve those in need and to heal others. They have taken an oath to put the needs of each patient first and do no harm. But this regulation violates doctors’ ability to exercise both their best medical judgment and their religiously-inspired desire to care for society’s most vulnerable. It will also cost healthcare providers and taxpayers nearly $1 billion.

“This regulation is blatantly hypocritical: The government exempts coverage of gender transition procedures from Medicare or Medicaid because it admits that they may be harmful; but it then tries to force private doctors to perform the same procedures on young children,” said Windham.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty will file a lawsuit today in federal district court in Wichita Falls, Texas, on behalf of Franciscan Alliance, a religious hospital network sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration, and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, defending them from the new government regulation. The States of Texas, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, and Wisconsin also joined the Becket Fund’s legal challenge. More information can be found at www.transgendermandate.org.

For more information or to arrange an interview with a Becket Fund attorney, please contact Melinda Skea at media@becketfund.org or 202-349-7224.  Interviews can be arranged in English, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

Additional Information:

• NEW Website
• Complaint (August 23, 2016) 
• Press Kit (infographics, facts page)

Dem, GOP platforms contrasted on life issues

Both major political parties recently issued new platforms that communicate contrasting core values to the American people. Following is a breakdown of where each party stands on the life issues of particular concern to readers of this blog: abortion, sex education, embryos and stem cell research and assisted suicide:

Abortion

The Democrat party platform maintains that “that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion” (p. 37).

The Republican party platform focuses on “The Constitution’s guarantee that no one can ‘be deprived of life, liberty or property’ deliberately echoes the Declaration of Independence’s proclamation that ‘all’ are ‘endowed by their Creator’ with the inalienable right to life” (p. 13).

Democrats: “We will continue to stand up to Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood health centers, which provide critical health services to millions of people” (p.37).

“We will continue to oppose—and seek to overturn—federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment [which prohibits most government funding of abortions]” (p. 37).

“We will support sexual and reproductive health and rights around the globe. In addition to expanding the availability of affordable family planning information and contraceptive supplies, we believe that safe abortion must be part of comprehensive maternal and women’s health care and included as part of America’s global health programming. Therefore, we support the repeal of harmful restrictions that obstruct women’s access to health care information and services, including the “global gag rule” and the Helms Amendment that bars American assistance to provide safe, legal abortion throughout the developing world” (p. 46).

Republicans: “We oppose the use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood, so long as they provide or refer for elective abortions or sell fetal body parts rather than provide healthcare” (p. 13).

“We will not fund or subsidize healthcare that includes abortion coverage” (p. 13).

“Because of [Democratic party] opposition to simple abortion clinic safety procedures, support for taxpayer-funded abortion, and rejection of pregnancy resource centers that provide abortion alternatives, the old Clinton mantra of “safe, legal, and rare” has been reduced to just “legal” (p. 14).

“We condemn the Supreme Court’s activist decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt striking down commonsense Texas laws providing for basic health and safety standards in abortion clinics” (p. 14).

Sex education

Democrats: “We recognize that quality, affordable comprehensive health care, evidence-based sex education and a full range of family planning services help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions” (p. 37).

Republicans: “We renew our call for replacing ‘family planning’ programs for teens with sexual risk avoidance education that sets abstinence until marriage as the responsible and respected standard of behavior. That approach — the only one always effective against premarital pregnancy and sexually-transmitted disease — empowers teens to achieve optimal health outcomes” (p. 34)

Embryos and stem cell research

Democrats: No mention.

The 2012 platform had noted that “the President issued an executive order repealing the restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.”

The 2008 platform had issued a call to “lift the current Administration's ban on using federal funding for embryonic stem cells– cells that would have otherwise have been discarded and lost forever–for research that could save lives.”

Republicans: “We call for expanded support for the stem cell research that now offers the greatest hope for many afflictions — through adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood, and cells reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells — without the destruction of embryonic human life. We urge a ban on human cloning for research or reproduction, and a ban on the creation of, or experimentation on, human embryos for research” (pp. 37-38).

Assisted suicide and euthanasia

Democrats: No mention.

Republicans: “We oppose the non-consensual withholding or withdrawal of care or treatment, including food and water, from individuals with disabilities, newborns, the elderly, or the infirm, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide” (pp. 13-14).

Resources and summary of Planned Parenthood baby parts scandal

Resources from colleagues on Capitol Hill regarding the Planned Parenthood baby parts scandal:

One year ago the first of a series of videos showing Planned Parenthood and fetal tissue brokers discussing harvesting and selling baby body parts was released.  In the months following, the House responded to the information in the videos by voting to defund Planned Parenthood six times. The House also passed a bill to protect babies who survive abortions and established a Select Panel on Infant Lives to investigate. 

 Resources

• Select Panel on Infant Lives interim update 
• House Speaker Paul Ryan video 
• Chairman Marsha Blackburn Press Conference  and statement 
• evidence that U. New Mexico and SW Women’s Options may have violated New Mexico law
• potential violations of federal law by StemExpress and abortion clinics 
• new recap video released by the Center for Medical Progress today. 

Executive Summary 

Select Investigative Panel Interim Update to the House

I.                    Congress Created the Select Investigative Panel

a.       Following the release of undercover videos documenting shocking admissions and graphic footage of abortion clinics and so-called “tissue procurement companies,” Congress initiated hearings and subsequently created a Select Investigative Panel to carry out an in-depth investigation into the allegations revealed by the videos. The primary allegation was that abortion clinics received a payment for aborted babies’ body parts from tissue procurement companies who then resold those parts for researchers.

II.                 Formation of the Investigative Plan- Applicable Laws, Regulations, and Commissions

a.       Federal Laws that Address the Treatment of Women and Children

                                                              i.      There are guidelines in place meant to prevent the callous treatment of women and children whose privacy and well-being the Panel’s investigation reveals are being violated. Among them are the Born Alive Protection Act, the Belmont Report, the findings of several Presidential Commissions on bioethics, the HIPAA Privacy Rule, the Common Rule, Institutional Review Board Regulations, and federal statutes. Investigative evidence shows that the motive for disregarding these safeguards is financial gain. Abortion clinics remedy these problems by, among other activities, overbilling the government for Medicaid reimbursements and, more disturbingly, profiting from the sale of the leftover body parts of babies they have just aborted.

b.      Federal Statutes Governing the Transfer of Human Fetal Tissue

                                                              i.      The NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. § 289g-1 and 42 U.S.C. § 289g-2): Rep. Waxman, a Democrat, offered the amendment to the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 that governs the donation of fetal tissue, specifically §289 g-2(a). It states that “it shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human fetal tissue for valuable consideration if the transfer affects interstate commerce.”

                                                            ii.      The Statute Informed the Panel’s Investigative Plan: The main point of the Panel’s inquiry centered on this question: If fetal tissue is transferred from one entity to another, does the transfer violate the intent of §289 g-2? To answer this question, the Panel has analyzed four business models currently operating in the market sector and one operating in the public sector: 1) The Middleman Model; 2) The University/Clinic Model; 3) The Biotech Company/Clinic Model; 4) The Late-Term Clinic Model; and 5) The Government Funded Research Model.

                                                          iii.      Fetal Tissue Sales and Abortion Clinic Fiscal Problems: Although abortion providers and abortion rights advocates have a long history of stating that “it’s not about the money” but about women’s reproductive health, the Panel’s investigation has produced evidence that financial interests are increasingly driving management and clinical practice decisions.

III.              The Ethics of Fetal Tissue

a.       Amazing scientific and biomedical advances are continuously being discovered and developed. Congress, research institutions, and the medical community must continue to work together to promote medical advancements while simultaneously ensuring that laws and regulations on ethics remain up to date. On March 2, 2016, the Panel held a hearing entitled Bioethics and Fetal Tissue. The hearing focused on ethical issues raised as a result of information recently made public about fetal tissue donations, transfer of fetal tissue, and use of fetal tissue by research institutions.

IV.              Case Studies of the Fetal Tissue Industry

a.       At a hearing on The Pricing of Fetal Tissue, the Panel compared documents produced from StemExpress, LLC, a for-profit business, to the applicable federal statute. StemExpress obtains fetal tissue from abortion clinics and offers it for resale to researchers. The documents show that StemExpress embedded employees within a group of abortion clinics to procure fetal tissue, and those employees then shipped the tissue to customers. StemExpress paid the abortion clinics a per-tissue fee for each tissue its employees procured, plus a per-tissue bonus to StemExpress employees.

V.                Biomedical Research and Fetal Tissue

a.       The Panel’s investigation has produced a fact-based picture of the history, utility, and uses of fetal tissue in biomedical research. The importance of fetal tissue has been mischaracterized by political rhetoric. The Panel continues to seek ethical methods for the conduct of important research to find treatment and cures for injuries and disease.

VI.              Compliance with Congressional Subpoenas

a.       At least four entities from whom the Panel requested documents have failed to fully comply with the Panel’s requests. As a result, the Panel was forced to serve subpoenas on Southwestern Women’s Options, the University of New Mexico, Advanced Bioscience Resources, and StemExpress. However, none of these entities have complied with their subpoenas, making it impossible for the Panel to fully conduct its investigation. In some cases, the Panel has been made aware, through other sources, of documents missing from productions. The absence of these important documents raises the concern that others are missing as well.