Thursday, September 26, 2013

ESPERANSA: CONGRATULATIONS TO SENATOR AGUON

Dear Friends of the Unborn...and already born:

Congratulations to Senator Frank Aguon, Jr. for introducing the "INFANT CHILD'S RIGHT TO LIFE ACT", BILL NO. 195-32 (COR).

The bill calls for healthcare providers to give "medically appropriate and reasonable life-saving and life-sustaining medical care and treatment" to all infants who survive an abortion procedure. It also goes on to criminalize the intentional lack of care as "criminal homicide."

The senator prefaced the bill with a personal message as follows:

"During my tenure as a Senator, I have accepted the fact that my decisions and actions in the past had been influenced and directed away from my personal beliefs.  As a man of my faith, it is my personal purpose to lend my voice to those who are voiceless and those who have been stripped of their fundamental right to life. Bill No. 195-32 (COR), "Infant Child's Right to Life Act", provides a voice to these children. I am deeply thankful to the authors of the original legislation and to all the staunch advocates for life."

These are good words and the senator can be commended for sharing them. Of particular note is the senator's acknowledgment "of the authors of the original legislation." 


The original legislation was Bill 309-30, THE CHILD'S RIGHT TO LIVE ACT, authored by then-Senator Eddie Calvo, and introduced in January of 2010. The bill was referred to Senator Aguon's committee (he was Chairman of the Committee on Health at the time), and, as we critically pointed out in our last letter, despite our very public calls, the bill was never heard from again.

We assume Senator Aguon's decision not to advance the bill was tied to political motives since he was running against Calvo as one half of gubernatorial team. And it appears his regret over that decision is what has prompted him to courageously admit: "my decisions and action in the past had been influenced and directed away from my personal beliefs".
 
The Esperansa Project has been harshly critical of the senator's "decisions and actions in the past" and the record shows that we had both cause to be critical of his past actions and cause to remain skeptical of his current ones.

However, we all make mistakes. And if the senator is willing to admit them and truly join the effort to further legal protections for the most defenseless members of our race, then his efforts are most welcome, and we look forward to the senator advancing this legislation as soon as possible. 

One last point. When this bill's predecessor, Bill 309-30 was introduced in 2010, the first question was whether or not there were any known cases of children surviving abortions on Guam, and thus: "Was there any need for this legislation?" 

The answer is yes. Epseransa is aware of two instances. And given the secrecy surrounding abortion, especially the potentially gruesome reality of a child actually surviving one where we can expect that the secrecy to be even greater, there may be many more.

While we know of two, there is only one which we can publicly speak about. And that is because the adoptive father of the child told the story of his then-seven year old daughter at the Rally for Life in December 2012. 

The child was the product of a failed abortion and the mother had been received at the hospital's emergency room. Thanks to an intervening nurse, the child was saved and adoptive parents were found. 

The family has since moved to the states. We will contact them to see if they would like to share their story again now that legislation calling for normal medical care for children who survive the abortion procedure has been reintroduced. 

Stay tuned. The pro-abortion people are not likely to stay silent in the face of this sudden interest in advancing legal protections for the unborn...and, as per Senator Aguon's bill, the already born.



The Esperansa Project

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