New York 
Republican Vito Fossella is running for the 13th Congressional District Seat vacated by abortion advocate Susan Molinari. We mailed Mr. Fossella the RNC/Life Candidate Questionnaire on June 6. He has not returned it. A special election will be held on November 4. The Staten Island district is heavily Catholic and should be represented by a Congressman who respects the sanctity of life. Since we haven’t heard from Mr. Fossella, we must rely on our sources, who tell us that his Democrat opponent may be more inclined to cast pro-life votes than he.

Arizona 
Jane Dee Hull, former AZ Secretary of State, was sworn in as Governor on September 8, replacing former Republican Gov. Fife Symington who resigned after his conviction on seven counts of bank fraud. Governor Hull, who is expected to announce her candidacy for a full term within several weeks, generally supports abortion rights.

Steve Forbes 
Last week, Americans for Hope, Growth and Opportunity issued a news release calling on Congress to pass the Smith/Barcia/Hyde/Oberstar amendment to end U.S. taxpayer funding of international abortion and China's population control policies. The amendment, known as the "Mexico City" policy, while prohibiting funding for most abortions, does allow U.S. funding for abortions for babies conceived through forcible rape or incest or where the life of the mother is grave danger.

The release contained a statement by Steve Forbes that is also printed in the AHGO brochure. He said, "Life begins at conception and ends at natural death." Lest our friends get the impression that Mr. Forbes is unconditionally pro-life, we think it is important to point out that, while he appears to be working very hard to garner support among pro-lifers, especially in the Republican Party, in reality his position amounts to regulating the practice of abortion while keeping it legal. Mr. Forbes has publicly stated his view that if he were President, and a bill making abortion illegal came to his desk, he would have to insert exceptions for babies conceived as a result of rape and incest before he would sign it. This is a position that discriminates against some babies and is inconsistent with the Republican Party platform and the Declaration of Independence, both of which recognize that the right to life is inherent and God given. Unfortunately, Mr. Forbes is not alone among politicians in this respect. We pray that they will admit that every human life is worthy of legal protection, from conception until natural death.

Lott Backs Helms on Weld Nomination 
Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld is failing in his effort to bring about a hearing on his nomination as Ambassador to Mexico. The strongly pro-abortion Republican is opposed by Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC), powerful chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on the basis of Weld’s liberal views on the legalization of drugs. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) said on CNN's "Evans & Novak Saturday, "It appears to me the nomination is dead." (Washington Post, 9/8/97)

Senate Forces Taxpayers to Fund Fetal Tissue Experiments 
On Wednesday, September 3, the U.S. Senate voted down, 60-38, an amendment offered by Senator Dan Coats (R-IN) to prohibit taxpayer funding of experimentation on fetal tissue derived from babies killed via induced abortion. Pro-Life Republicans voting NO were: Cochran, Lugar, Mack, McCain, McConnell, Smith(OR), and Thurmond. (Life Advocacy Briefing #4-36, 9/8/97) Those who suppport these experiments do so because they say the babies are already dead so what's the harm? We have read medical reports that say in order for transplants to be effective, the transplanted tissue must be living -- that dead tissue won’t work. What investigation, if any, has been done to find out if the tissue involved is obtained from aborted babies who are already dead, or, if the tissue, organs and cells are taken while the baby is still alive ? Is the baby killed in the process of obtaining the tissue? Is obtaining living tissue one reason for the partial-birth abortion technique? What is going on?