Some Guides may require Adobe Acrobat Reader With the primary goal of helping state legislators pass pro-life laws to protect human life, the AUL legal department drafts model legislation on the following issues, and continues to develop legislation to address developing issues. In addition to the model bill language, each guide contains a "myths and facts" section to help legislators and advocates prepare for committee hearings and media interviews, as well as related court decisions and a detailed survey on the status of similar legislation in other states.
For a brief discussion of our philosophy and the need for life protective legislation, click here .
Abortion Clinic RegulationAbortion remains one of the least regulated medical procedures in the United States, often resulting in unsanitary and unsafe conditions at abortion clinics with the accompanying injury or death to untold women who have been misled by the myth that abortion is "safe and legal." Exposing that rhetoric as a dangerous myth, AUL has taken the lead in shaping abortion clinic regulations in the states. The lives of both women and children deserve the full protection of the law. Review information on court decisions in this developing area of the law.
Crimes Against the Unborn Child (Fetal Homicide)
The purpose of this Act is to overturn the common law born-alive rule and to criminalize conduct (outside the context of abortion) causing the death of an unborn child, thus vindicating the rights of unborn children who are killed or injured by criminal acts. Such conduct is punishable as homicide, regardless of whether the child is born alive or is stillborn. The Act also criminalizes conduct causing nonfatal injury to the unborn child.
Destructive Human Embryo Research
In prohibiting destructive experimentation on human life at all stages of development, states who enact this legislation can, in the words of Pope John Paul II, lead our nation on "a path to a truly humane future in which [human beings] remain the master, not the product, of this technology." The Destructive Human Embryo Research Act, if passed, will allow research money and effort to be directed to research also on adult stem cell transplantation and somatic cell gene therapies.
The recent announcements by some scientists and groups that they will try to clone human beings have renewed the interest of Congress and the states on this issue. Modeled on the federal "Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001" (H.R. 2505, S. 790), AUL has drafted a model for states to consider enacting. The Model Legislation and Policy Guide addresses the serious ethical and practical objections to human cloning, and explains why a complete ban on human cloning would not interfere with promising medical research.
Health Care Rights of Conscience
This comprehensive legislation protects the civil rights of all health care workers (including medical students), as well as health care institutions and payers who conscientiously object to participating in or paying for any procedure that violates their religious or ethical convictions.
Informed Consent / Abortion-Breast Cancer Warning
This model bill was drafted in response to requests from many women who have been physically and psychologically harmed by abortion and are interested in helping other women understand all the medical risks, alternatives to, and consequences of abortion. The model bill provides for a booklet with color photographs of the developing unborn child, and a warning of all the medical risks of abortion, including the link between abortion and breast cancer. A guide to agencies that provide abortion alternatives is also required, along with a 24-hour reflection period.
Parental Involvement for Minors Seeking Abortion (Parental Notice)
Because minors often lack the ability to make fully informed decisions, and because the medical, emotional, and psychological consequences of abortion can be serious and lasting, this model requires 48-hour parental notice. This type of legislation draws broad support because its public policy and practical benefits appeal to common sense and respect for parental rights. Most polls find significant support for parental involvement laws for teenagers considering abortion.
This guide provides information regarding the legal status of assisted suicide in the states and court decisions affecting state laws prohibiting assisted suicide. It also provides assistance in combating legislative or referendum efforts to legalize physician-assisted suicide or any form of active euthanasia.
Some Guides may require Adobe Acrobat Reader