Members of a U.S. House committee will cast a vote on a congressional bill that would ban abortions nationwide at 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, chaired by bill author Rep. Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican, will hold a markup on H.R. 1797 on Tuesday. After lawmakers debate the bill, a vote is expected.

Franks has announced he will amend his bill, the “D.C. Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” (H.R. 1797) to apply nationwide. With this change, the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” will be a national prohibition on abortions of unborn children who can feel pain during the abortion process.

Congressman Franks believes the national abortion ban is timely in light of the conviction of abortionist Kermit Gosnell and news reports of potentially similar gruesome late abortion practitioners around the country.

“I know when the subject is related in any way to abortion, the doors of reason and human compassion in our minds and hearts often close, and the humanity of the unborn can no longer be seen. But I pray we can at least come together to agree that we can and should draw the line at the point that these innocent babies can feel the excruciating pain of these brutal procedures,” he said.

Franks added: “The case of Kermit Gosnell shocked the sensibilities of millions of Americans. However, the crushing fact is that abortions on babies just like the ones killed by Kermit Gosnell have been happening hundreds of times per day, every single day, for the past 40 years. Indeed, let us not forget that, had Kermit Gosnell dismembered these babies before they had traveled down the birth canal only moments earlier, he would have, in many places nationwide, been performing an entirely legal procedure. If America truly understands that horrifying reality, hearts and laws will change.”

“To this end, I have re-introduced the D.C. Pain Capable Unborn Protection Act, which will now be amended to broaden its coverage so that its provisions will apply nationwide,” he said. “Knowingly subjecting our innocent unborn children to dismemberment in the womb, particularly when they have developed to the point that they can feel excruciating pain every terrible moment leading up to their undeserved deaths, belies everything America was called to be. This is not who we are.”

During a hearing last week, former abortion practitioner Dr. Anthony Levatino made national news for his testimony about his abortion practice and his call for the abortion ban to be enacted.

The move to expand the bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks nationwide has the strong support of the National Right to Life Committee.

“National Right to Life strongly concurs in Congressman Franks’ decision that the time is ripe to seek protection for pain-capable unborn children nationwide,” said NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson. “Because of publicity surrounding the trial of Kermit Gosnell and subsequent revelations about other abortionists, many Americans are becoming aware for the first time that abortions are frequently performed late in pregnancy on babies who are capable of being born alive, and on babies who will experience great pain while being killed.”

Johnson says that in a nationwide poll of 1,003 registered voters in March, The Polling Company found that 64% would support a law such as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act prohibiting abortion after 20 weeks — when an unborn baby

Johnson added that the federal bill contains legislative findings and operative language very similar to bills already enacted in nine states, beginning in 2010, based on model legislation prepared by NRLC. Like those state laws, Mr. Franks’ legislation contains findings of fact regarding the medical evidence that unborn children experience pain at least by 20 weeks after fertilization (which is 22 weeks in the “LMP” system, or about the start of the sixth month), and prohibits abortion after that point, except when an acute physical condition endangers the life of the mother.

During the 2011-12 Congress, Mr. Franks’ bill garnered 222 co-sponsors in the 435-member House, and received the support of a majority of House members on July 31, 2012 (roll call no. 539).

The science behind the concept of fetal pain is fully established and Dr. Steven Zielinski, an internal medicine physician from Oregon, is one of the leading researchers into it. He first published reports in the 1980s to validate research showing evidence for it.

He has testified before Congress that an unborn child could feel pain at “eight-and-a-half weeks and possibly earlier” and that a baby before birth “under the right circumstances, is capable of crying.”

He and his colleagues Dr. Vincent J. Collins and Thomas J. Marzen were the top researchers to point to fetal pain decades ago. Collins, before his death, was Professor of Anesthesiology at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois and author of Principles of Anesthesiology, one of the leading medical texts on the control of pain.

“The functioning neurological structures necessary to suffer pain are developed early in a child’s development in the womb,” they wrote.

“Functioning neurological structures necessary for pain sensation are in place as early as 8 weeks, but certainly by 13 1/2 weeks of gestation. Sensory nerves, including nociceptors, reach the skin of the fetus before the 9th week of gestation. The first detectable brain activity occurs in the thalamus between the 8th and 10th weeks. The movement of electrical impulses through the neural fibers and spinal column takes place between 8 and 9 weeks gestation. By 13 1/2 weeks, the entire sensory nervous system functions as a whole in all parts of the body,” they continued.

With Zielinski and his colleagues the first to provide the scientific basis for the concept of fetal pain, Dr. Kanwaljeet Anand of the University of Arkansas Medical Center has provided further research to substantiate their work.

“The neural pathways are present for pain to be experienced quite early by unborn babies,” explains Steven Calvin, M.D., perinatologist, chair of the Program in Human Rights Medicine, University of Minnesota, where he teaches obstetrics.

Further documentation and links to the scientific studies can be found at: www.doctorsonfetalpain.com.

Results of a recent study indicate that American entrepreneurs pray and meditate more frequently than non-entrepreneurs. This new research could perhaps explain the interesting number of God-fearing men and women who have founded and built wildly successful companies in America and even with the changing social tides and increasing wealth, continue to cling to their faith. The Christian Post highlights five big companies below where faith in God plays a major role in the lives of the people who lead them.

Hobby Lobby
hobby lobby
(Photo: Hobby Lobby)
A Hobby Lobby store in Orem, Utah, is seen here.

Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., headquartered in Oklahoma City, Okla., is not just one of America’s largest privately owned businesses. Last fall, the arts and crafts giant’s founder and CEO, David Green, was billed the “largest evangelical benefactor in the world” by Forbes and he told the publication that everything in his $3 billion empire belongs to God. “If you have anything or if I have anything, it’s because it’s been given to us by our Creator,” Green told Forbes. “So I have learned to say, ‘Look, this is yours, God. It’s all yours. I’m going to give it to you.'” According to Forbes, Hobby Lobby is 100 percent family-owned and on their list of America’s 400 richest people, Green sits at No. 79 with an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion. The company also employs 22,000 workers in 525 stores nationwide.
Forever 21
forever 21
(Photo: Reuters/Lily Bowers)
Vehicles pass the Forever 21 flagship store in New York’s Times Square during its grand opening June 25, 2010. The 91,257 square feet megastore makes Forever 21’s Times Square location the largest single brand apparel store in Manhattan.

With recorded revenues of $3.4 billion as of November 2012, Forever 21 is ranked #121 on Forbes’ list of America’s largest private companies. The company’s owners, Korean immigrants Do Won and Jin Sook Chang, are born-again Christians who credit their success to direction from God. In a Business Week Magazine report, Mrs. Chang explains that when they were starting out, she went to the top of a mountain in Los Angeles to pray. She said God told her she should open a store and that she would be successful. The couple hope to devote themselves to missionary work when they retire. If the business venture hadn’t worked out, explained Mr. Chang, he would have become a missionary.
Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods
(Photo: facebook/ Tyson Foods)
Tyson Foods logo.

Tyson Foods, Inc., headquartered in Springdale, Ark., is one of the largest meat protein and food production companies in the world with $33.35 billion in sales. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Donnie Smith is not just the company CEO but also a Sunday School teacher. The Bible, he explains in the report, is his “favorite book.” “My faith influences how I think, what I do, what I say. There are a lot of great biblical principles that are fundamental to operating a good business. Being fair and telling the truth are biblical principles,” he says.
Chick-fil-A
chick-fil-a(Photo: The Christian Post)A Chick-fil-A restaurant is seen here in Southern California, Aug. 1, 2012.

Chick-fil-A is America’s second largest fried chicken chain and no stranger to Christians across the country. The company’s founder and CEO, S. Truett Cathy, is a devout Baptist who has been very vocal in his opposition to same-sex marriage. He has a net worth of $4.2 billion, according to Forbes. The company has more than 1,600 stores in 40 states. All Chick-fil-A stores are closed on Sundays so employees can attend church.
Marriott International, Inc
Marriott Hotel Manila(Photo: facebook/Marriott Hotels & Resorts)Marriott Hotel Manila.

With more than 127,000 employees and $11.81 billion in sales, according to Forbes, Marriott International, Inc. is a force to be reckoned with in the hospitality industry. The company’s founder, John Willard Marriott, was a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he was building the business. Even though Willard has passed away, his values live on in the company, which recently stopped offering pay-per-view pornography in the hotel rooms of its various properties.

The abandoned baby who was rescued this past weekend from a sewage pipe in China is being nursed back to health in a local hospital. Meanwhile, the baby’s mother has been found and has reportedly been reunited with the infant.

Firefighters in an eastern Chinese province rescued a an apparently-abandoned newborn infant from a sewage pipe after neighbors reported hearing crying. Officials in China’s Zhejiang Province rescued the infant on Saturday afternoon.

Reports from Chinese media indicated the baby was found in the toilet sewage pipe in a residential building in the city of Jinhua after residents on the fourth floor called the fire department with reports of a baby crying.

Now, the London Daily Mail has new pictures of the baby and additional information:

The baby boy’s mother – believed to be a 22-year-old single woman – has been found and is said to be with her baby in hospital.

The infant- named Baby No. 59 from the number of his hospital incubator – was in a critical condition when he arrived at the hospital with an apparent fracture to his skull.

But the baby boy has been pictured being nursed back to health in hospital as staff reveal his condition is now stable.

Nurse Zhang Songhe of the pediatric department of the Pujiang County People’s Hospital in the city of Jinhua, Zhejiang province, East China, told the Daily Mail: ‘When the baby arrived here, he was in critical condition.

‘We suspect he has a fracture in the top right section of his skull. But now everything has been stabilized.’

Staff at the Pujiang County People’s Hospital in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, said well-wishers have visited the hospital with diapers, baby clothes and powered milk for the child

The nurse added that the mother of the baby has been found and is currently with her child in hospital.

They said: ‘The mother has been found. She is right now in the hospital. I heard she is a 22 year-old single woman. I don’t know the reason she abandoned the baby.

Nurse Zhang Songhe added that news of the rescue prompted an outpouring from strangers who came to the hospital with diapers, baby clothes, powdered milk and offers to adopt the child.

The nurse continued: ‘There have been three or four groups of visitors delivering baby formula some of whom have expressed willingness to adopt.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have reversed their longstanding membership guidelines to allow homosexuals to join the organization.

In an email to CNSNews.com, the BSA public affairs office said the vote on the resolution to “remove the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone” was passed with 61.44 percent in favor and 38.56 percent opposed.

“For 103 years, the Boy Scouts of America has been a part of the fabric of this nation, with a focus on working together to deliver the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training,” a statement released to the media says.

The statement includes a ban on all sex in scouting activities and says that the voting body did not consider whether to allow homosexuals in leadership positions in the organization.

“The resolution also reinforces that Scouting is a youth program, and any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting,” the statement says. “A change to the current membership policy for adult leaders was not under consideration; thus, the policy for adults remains in place.”

Boy Scouts Change Membership Guidelines to Allow Homosexuals

(AP Photo)
Reaction to the vote-results announcement was immediate, including a statement from John Stemberg, founder of OnMyHonor.net, a coalition of members of the BSA, including parents, Scoutmasters and Eagle Scouts.

“It is with great sadness and deep disappointment that we recognize on this day that the most influential youth program in America has turned a tragic corner,” Stemberg said. “The vote today to allow open and avowed homosexuality into Scouting will completely transform it into an unprincipled and risky proposition for parents.”

“It is truly a sad day for Scouting,” Stemberg said.

But gay rights activists praised the decision and are already pushing for a lift on the ban of openly gay adults in leadership positions.

“This vote marks a monumental step forward for the Boy Scouts of America,” Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said in a statement. “We are thrilled for the gay youth who will no longer be turned away from scouting simply because of who they are.”

“This milestone has been years in the making, and we thank all those who have fought so hard to end this grave injustice against our young people,” Carey said.

“Boy Scouts’ leadership should stop clinging to a policy of exclusion and scrap the ban, once and for all. It’s long past time for a fully inclusive Boy Scouts of America,” Carey said.
“This policy change is effective Jan. 1, 2014, allowing the Boy Scouts of America the transition time needed to communicate and implement this policy to its approximately 116,000 Scouting units,” the BSA statement said.