ABORTION AND FAMILY PLANNING

Ryan Called Pro-Choice Liberals Deeply Pessimistic And Accused Them Of Denigrating Life And Promoting Fear. According to the States News Service, in a press release, Ryan wrote, At the core, todays pro-choice liberals are deeply pessimistic. They denigrate life and offer fear of the present and the future-fear of too many choices and too many children. Rather than seeing children and human beings as a benefit, the pro-choice position implies that they are a burden. Despite the pro-choice label, liberals stance on this subject actually diminishes choices, lowers goals, and leads us to live with less. That includes reducing the number of human beings who can make choices. [States News Service, 9/20/10] Ryan Said Pro-Life Conservatives Were Natural Optimists. According to the States News Service, in a press release, Ryan wrote, pro-life conservatives are natural optimists. On balance, we see human beings as assets, not liabilities. All conservatives should find it easy to agree that government must uphold every persons right to make choices regarding their lives and that every persons right to live must be secured before he or she can exercise that right of choice. In the state of nature-the law of the jungle-the determination of who qualifies as a human being is left to private individuals or chosen groups. In a justly organized community, however, government exists to secure the right to life and the other human rights that follow from that primary right. [States News Service, 9/20/10] Ryan Said He Would Support Young Guns Candidates Who Were Pro-Choice. According to The Janesville Gazette, Young Guns might differ on social issues, Ryan said. He has endorsed candidates who are pro-choice on abortion, while Ryan is pro-life. The only litmus test is whether theyre going to take on this debt and deficits and entitlement spending when they get here, or are they going to buckle when pressure occurs? he said. Were just going to agree to disagree on those issues like abortion, and well do so with mutual respect, he said. [The Janesville Gazette, 7/22/10]

Abstinence
Ryan Voted To Require At Least 1/3 Of AIDS Relief Funding In Bill To Be Dedicated To Abstinence Promotion. According to the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Here's how area members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending Friday. HOUSE ABSTINENCE: The House on Thursday voted, 220 for and 197 against, to require that at least one-third of the funding in H.R. 1298 (above) be spent on promoting abstinence until marriage as the best way to prevent AIDS Wisconsin Voting Yes: Ryan, Petri, Green. Voting No: Baldwin, Kind, Kleczka, Sensenbrenner Not Voting: Obey. [Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 5/4/03]

Access
Ryan Supported Criminalizing Transport of a Minor Across State Lines for an Abortion. In 2006, Rehberg voted in favor of making it a crime to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion without parental consent. The bill allowed for a fine and up to one year in prison. Also, parents would have been allowed to sue people who helped their daughters across the border. The bill did allow an exception if the abortion was necessary to save the life of the minor. The bill passed 264-153. [Roll Call 479, S 403, 09/26/2006; CQ Today, 9/26/06] Ryan Supported Restricting Access to Abortion for Military Personnel. Ryan voted against an amendment to the annual Defense Department authorization bill to allow overseas troops and their relatives to get abortions at military hospitals and clinics. The amendment was defeated 194-233 [Roll Call 216, H 1815, 05/25/2005] Ryan Opposed Choice and Family Planning for Federal Employees. Ryan voted against an amendment to allow women covered by the federal employee health benefit program to receive abortion services. The amendment was defeated 184-230 [Roll Call 422, H 4871, 07/20/2000] Ryan Opposed Choice and Family Planning for Federal Employees. Ryan voted in favor of a spending bill that continued the ban on federal employee health insurance from covering abortions and allowed for religious health plans to be exempt from requiring prescription drug coverage to include contraceptives. The measure passed on a vote of 210-209 [Roll Call 305, H 2490, 07/15/1999]

Ryan Supported Restricting Access to Abortion for Military Personnel. Ryan voted against an amendment to allow privately funded abortions in overseas military hospitals. The amendment was rejected, 203-225 [Roll Call 184, H 1401, 06/09/1999] Ryan Opposed Providing OTC Status for Morning-After Pill. Ryan has been a strong opponent of efforts to legalize the morning after pill. Blunt has voted three times to prevent the Food and Drug Administration from approving the drug for use in the United States. In 2000, Blunt voted in favor of an amendment that would prohibit the Food and Drug Administration from using funds to test, develop or approve any drug for the chemical inducement of abortion. In 1999, Blunt voted in favor of an amendment to prohibit the use of any funding for Food and Drug Administration to test, develop, or approve any drugs for the chemical inducement of abortion. In 1998, Blunt voted in favor of an amendment to prohibit the Food and Drug Administration from using funds appropriated in the bill to test, develop or approve any drug for chemically induced abortions. [Roll Call 173, H 1906, 06/08/1999] Ryan Voted To Prohibit FDA From Using Funds To Test Or Approve Morning After Pill. Ryan voted in favor of an amendment aimed at the morning after pill that would prohibit the Food and Drug Administration from using funds to test, develop or approve any drug for the chemical inducement of abortion. [Roll Call 173, H 1906, 06/08/1999]

Contraception Mandate
Ryan Said Health And Human Services Mandate Of The Affordable Care Act Was An Affront To Religious Liberty And A Teachable Moment For President Obama. According to States News Service, The following information was released by the office of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan: Laura Ingraham: Joining us now to talk about his speech at CPAC and also Congressional approval rating and the Presidents bump up in the polls with not really an economic agenda to show for it, but nevertheless thats where it is, Congressman Paul Ryan from Wisconsin. [] Congressman Ryan: As you know, you and I are both Catholics. This to quote the President is a teachable moment. I would say it is not quite the lesson the President is hoping we would learn before the election. It is a lesson of what happens when you apply the progressive philosophy of government. You have ObamaCare and it is a philosophy that believes we now have government-granted rights and that the governments job is to grant us our rights. When those government-granted rights collide or conflict with our constitutional rights, well such is the sacrifice needed in the name of progress. So you have this new government granted right, health care, in collision with our First Amendment right of religious freedom and guess what is winning? It kind of surprises me that they are shocked at this backlash because the President and the Administration spoke to Catholic leaders, about this. I remember having long talks with Bart Stupak and other Catholic Democrats back when they were passing this bill about this very issue. [States News Service, 2/9/12]

Criminalization
Ryan Denied Advocating Jail For Doctors Who Perform Abortions Or Women Who Get Them, But Added If Its Illegal, Its Illegal. According to the Associated Press, Ryan, 28, a former congressional aide from Janesville, denied specifically recommending jail for physicians and women, but he added if it's illegal, it's illegal. He also accused Spottswood of altering her position on partial-birth abortion to appear politically moderate. [Associated Press, 9/26/98]

Federal Funding Ban

Ryan Voted To Bar The Use Of Federal Funds To Purchase Insurance Plans That Cover Abortion. On October 13, 2011, Ryan voted for a bill that would amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to bar the use of federal funds to purchase insurance plans that cover abortion services. The bill also would require that insurance companies offering plans on state exchanges that cover abortion services also offer identical plans that do not cover abortion services. Finally, it would bar federal agencies and state or local entities that receive funding under the health care overhaul law from discriminating against health care entities that refuse to provide abortions or training related to abortions. According to the Orlando Sentinel, The bill passed 251-172, with 15 Democrats joining the GOP in favor and two Republicans opposed to the Protect Life Act, which also offers legal protection for hospitals that refuse to perform abortions. The Senate blocked similar legislation passed in May and is likely to do the same to this bill. President Barack Obama also threatened to veto any such bill. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-

Calif., called the legislation savage and a waste of time when Americans are more concerned about jobs. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, noted that the legislation was promised in the GOPs Pledge to America in 2010. Weve done four to five jobs bills this week, Boehner said. [Roll Call 789, H 358, 10/13/2011; Orlando Sentinel, 10/14/11] Paul Ryan Voted To Bar Use of Federal Funds To Pay For Health Insurance That Includes Abortion Coverage. Paul Ryan voted for the Stupak (D-MI) amendment that would bar the use of federal funds authorized in the health care bill to pay for an abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes abortion coverage, unless the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or if the woman suffers from a physical disorder, injury or illness that would, as certified by a physician, endanger the womans life. Individuals with subsidized policies who also want abortion coverage would have to purchase it separately, using their own money. [Roll Call 884, H 3962, 11/07/2009] Ryan Voted to Prohibit Federal Funding for Abortion Services. On May 04, 2011 Ryan voted for the bill that would prohibit federal funding for abortion services, except in cases of rape, incest or when the womans life is endangered. It would modify tax breaks given for health insurance coverage to exclude coverage for abortion, prohibit federal medical facilities from providing abortion services and establish conscience protections for health care providers who object to providing abortion services. According to the Washington Post, The bill would bar women from deducting abortion-related medical expenses from their taxable income. The bill also would bar tax credits that employers receive for the cost of providing employee medical insurance if the insurance covers abortion services. Additionally, the bill makes the Hyde Amendment permanent law rather than one that needs annual renewal [] which bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortions except in cases of rape or incest or to protect a womans life. [Roll Call 292, H 3, 05/04/2011; Washington Post 05/12/2011] Ryan Supported A Block On Aid To The United Nations Population Fund, Which Supported Family Planning And Womens Reproductive Health Programs In 140 Countries. According to the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, The House on July 15 voted, 216 for and 211 against, to block U.S. aid to the United Nations Population Fund, which supports programs in 140-plus countries on family planning and women's reproductive health. This removed $50 million for the fund from a $32.2 billion foreign affairs budget (HR 1950) for fiscal 2004, which awaits Senate action. Ryan voted yes. [Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 7/20/03] Ryan Voted Against Treasury-Postal Service Appropriations Bill, Prohibit Payments Under Federal Employee Health Plans For Abortions. On July 24, 2002, Ryan voted against a Treasury-Postal Service appropriations bill. Specifically the bill would provide $35.1 billion in fiscal 2003 for the Treasury Department, U.S. Postal Service, various offices of the Executive Office of the President and certain independent agencies, a $1.1 billion increase over fiscal 2002 spending. The total includes $9.9 billion for the Internal Revenue Service and $3.1 billion for the Customs Service. The measure provides that all federal employees would receive a 4.1 percent pay raise. It also would ban bankers from serving as real estate agents. It would prohibit payments under federal employee health plans for abortions except in the case of rape, incest or when the womans life is endangered. The bill would provide funds for anti- drug programs, election administration reform, and $24 million for the Office of Homeland Security. [Roll Call 341, H 5120, 07/24/2002] Ryan Voted To Block Federal Funds For Groups That Offer Abortion Services Overseas. Ryan voted to block funding for overseas groups that offer abortion services. Ryan voted for the adoption of the conference report on the bill that would appropriate $15.4 billion in fiscal 2002 for foreign operations, $403 million more than fiscal 2001. The bill would continue a Bush administration policy blocking federal funds to groups that use their own money to offer abortion services overseas. [Roll Call 505, H 2506, 12/19/2001]

Fetal Protection
Ryan Voted Expand The Rights Of A Fetus Over Those Of The Mother. In 2004, Ryan voted to pass the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which makes it a federal crime to harm a fetus during an attack on its mother and establishes unprecedented rights to the fetus. In 2002 Peter Rubin, Georgetown University Professor of constitutional law, said, To suggest in federal law thata one-cell zygote is a full human being is at variance with the American legal tradition and does ultimately present a threat to womens reproductive rights -- and not just abortion, but also contraception. [Roll Call 31, H 1997, 02/26/2004] Paul Ryan Voted for Fetal Protection Act. On February 26, 2004, Paul Ryan voted for HR 1997, legislation making it a criminal offense to injure or kill a fetus during the commission of a violent crime. The bill established criminal penalties, equal to those that would apply if the injury or death occurred to the pregnant woman, of those who harmed the fetus. The bill

included a statement that its provisions not be interpreted to apply to consensual abortion or to a womans actions with respect to her pregnancy. Pro-choice activists and many Democrats opposed the bill because it recognized embryos and fetuses as distinct legal entities. They said the bill could be used to undermine abortion rights as outlined in Roe v. Wade by putting the legal rights of fetuses on par with those of pregnant women. [Roll Call 31, H 1997, 02/26/2004] Ryan Voted to Establish Criminal Penalties for Harming a Fetus. On April 26, 2001, Ryan voted for establishing criminal penalties for harming a fetus while committing a crime against a pregnant woman. According to the New York Times, Its supporters called it an anti-violence measure intended to ensure that criminals who attack a pregnant woman are charged with murder or manslaughter if the woman survives but her fetus perishes. While the bill says specifically that it does not apply to abortion, opponents said the legislation was a thinly disguised effort to undermine abortion rights by granting a new legal protection to a fetus. The bill, called the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, is one of a series of measures put forward by abortion opponents in recent years that sidestep a direct confrontation over the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on abortion rights. [] The bill approved by the House today establishes criminal punishment for someone who in the course of committing any one of 68 federal crimes causes death or injury to a child who is in utero at the time the conduct takes place. [] It would not, however, allow the death penalty to be imposed. [Roll Call 89, H 503, 04/26/2001; New York Times, 04/27/01] Ryan Said He Couldnt Believe People Defended The Notion That An Unborn Human Being Had No Rights. According to States News Service, in a press release, Ryan wrote, after America has won the last centurys hard-fought struggles against unequal human rights in the forms of totalitarianism abroad and segregation at home, I cannot believe any official or citizen can still defend the notion that an unborn human being has no rights that an older person is bound to respect. I do know that we cannot go on forever feigning agnosticism about who is human. [States News Service, 9/20/10] Ryan Said The Freedom To Choose Was Pointless For An Unborn Child Who Didnt Have The Right To Live. According to States News Service, in a press release, Ryan wrote, As Thomas Jefferson wrote, The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time. The freedom to choose is pointless for someone who does not have the freedom to live. So the right of choice of one human being cannot trump the right to life of another. How long can we sustain our commitment to freedom if we continue to deny the very foundation of freedom-life-for the most vulnerable human beings? [States News Service, 9/20/10]

Funding
Ryan Voted for Government Funding Continuing Resolution, Barring DC from Funding Abortions. On April 09, 2011 Ryan voted to advance a bill that would provide continuing appropriations for all government agencies through April 15, 2011. Most spending levels would be based on fiscal 2010 levels, less certain eliminations and reductions totaling $2 billion. According to the Virginia Pilot, the bill would fund the military through Sept. 30 while funding the rest of the government through April 15 with $12 billion in spending cuts. The bill also barred the District of Columbia from using its own revenue to fund abortions. [Roll Call 253, H 1363, 04/09/2011; Virginia Pilot 4/11/11]

Notification
Paul Ryan Voted for Requiring Women Seeking Abortions Be Informed of Fetal Pain During Procedure. On December 6, 2006, Paul Ryan voted for the bill that would require women who are at least 20 weeks pregnant and seeking an abortion to be informed that there is substantial evidence that the fetus would experience pain during the procedure. The abortion provider would be required to inform women that they can request anesthesia for the fetus. The bill, which required a two-thirds majority, failed 250-162. [Roll Call 526, H 6099, 12/06/2006] Ryan Voted In Favor of Parental Notification Law. On September 26, 2006, Paul Ryan voted for a bill that would make it a federal crime to take a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion in order to circumvent state parental notification and consent laws. It would provide an exception for cases in which an abortion is necessary to save the life of the minor. Physicians who perform an abortion on an out-of-state minor would have to provide at least 24 hours notice to the minors parent. Violators would be subject to a fine of up to $100,000 and up to one year in prison. The bill passed 264-153. [Roll Call 479, S 403, 09/26/2006]

Ryan Supported Parental Notification Law. In 2005, Ryan voted in favor of final passage of a parental notification law. The law would have made it a federal crime to knowingly transport a minor across state lines with the intent of circumventing parental consent laws. The law would have also required physicians, who perform abortions on minors and reside in other states, to provide 24 hours notice to the pregnant girls parents. Critics of the legislation said it was an assault on abortion rights that could endanger vulnerable girls who fear for their safety if they must first get a parents permission or who are the victims of incest. The bill passed, 270-157 [Roll Call 144, H 748, 04/27/2005; Detroit Free Press, 4/28/05]

Partial Birth Abortion

Ryan Supported Partial Birth Abortion Ban. Ryan voted in favor of a bill to prohibit the procedure commonly known as partial-birth abortion. The bill passed 281-142 [Roll Call 530, S 3, 10/02/2003] Ryan Supported Partial Birth Abortion Ban. Ryan voted in favor of a bill to ban the procedure that opponents refer to as partial birth abortion. It would have allowed the procedure only when it was necessary to save a womans life. Those who performed the procedure for other reasons would face fines and up to two years in prison, although the woman would not be criminally liable. The bill also included congressional findings that established the constitutionality of the measure. The bill passed, 248-177. [Roll Call 104, H 3660, 04/05/2000] Ryan Eventually Voted for GOP Ban on Partial Birth Abortions. Ryan voted in favor of the GOP bill that would ban a certain late-term abortion procedure, in which the physician partially delivers the fetus before completing the abortion. Anyone convicted of performing such an abortion would be subject to a fine and up to two years in prison. The bill allows the father, if hes married to the mother, or maternal grandparents, if the mother is under 18, to file a civil lawsuit against the doctor for monetary damages. The penalties would not apply if the abortion were necessary to save the womans life. [Roll Call 104, H 3660, 04/05/2000] Ryan Opposed Abortion And Believed Any Exceptions To A Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Would Make That Ban Meaningless. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Ryan said he opposes abortion, period. He said any exceptions to a partial-birth abortion ban would make that ban meaningless. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/8/98]

Planned Parenthood
Ryan Voted To De-Fund Planned Parenthood. On February 18, 2011, Ryan voted in favor of the Pence, R-Ind., amendment to a fiscal year 2011 continuing appropriations bill that would prohibit any funds in the bill from being made available to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. or its affiliates. [Roll Call 93, H 1, 02/18/2011]

Roe v Wade
Ryan Compared Roe v. Wade Decision To Dred Scott v. Sandford, Which Denied Africans And Descendants Human Rights. According to States News Service, in a press release, Ryan wrote Twice in the past the U.S. Supreme Courtcharged with being the guardian of rights-has failed so drastically in making this crucial determination that it disqualified a whole category of human beings, with profoundly tragic results. The first time was in the 1857 case, Dred Scott v. Sandford. The second time the Court failed in a case regarding the definition of human was in Roe v. Wade in 1973, when the Supreme Court made virtually the identical mistake. Like the Dred Scott decision, this opinion has wounded America and solved nothing. It has set good people on all sides against each other, fueled a culture war, split churches, soured politics, and greatly strained civil dialogue. [States News Service, 9/20/10] Ryan Said The Supreme Court Did Not Err On The Side Of Caution In Its Decision To Prohibit States Abortion Restrictions. According to States News Service, in a press release, Ryan wrote, Since the Court decided there was no consensus on when fetuses become human persons, it struck down abortion restrictions in all 50 states that thought they had reached a consensus. Only those already born qualified for protection. Moreover, the already born were empowered to deny, at will, the rights of persons still in the womb. The Court did not say that, given the lack of consensus, the matter ought to be left to the states. It did not choose to err on the side of caution, since human lives

might be at stake. Nor did it choose not to rule on the matter. These options would seem to be rational courses in light of the Courts stated agnosticism. Instead, the Court used the lack of consensus to justify prohibiting states from protecting the life of the unborn. [States News Service, 9/20/10]

Stupak Amendment
Paul Ryan Supported Stupak Amendment to Bar Federal Funds in Health Care Bill to Pay for any Abortion Services. In 2009, Paul Ryan supported Congressman Bart Stupaks (D-MI) amendment to the Affordable Health Care for America Act that banned federal funds authorized in the bill from being used to pay for an abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that included abortion coverage. This excluded elective abortion coverage from the public option and an individual using a subsidy to purchase a private plan cannot purchase one that covers elective abortion. Insurers would be allowed to cover abortions that result from rape or incest or when a pregnancy threatens a mothers life. An individual with a subsidized policy from the bill would have to purchase coverage for elective abortion separately with their own money. [Roll Call 884, H 3962, 11/07/2009]

Stem Cell Research

Ryan Said House Republicans Opposed Using Tax Dollars To Fund Embryonic Stem Cell Research, But Did Not Oppose The Research Itself. According to the Fifty House Republicans broke with the GOP majority to vote for expanded funding last month. Wisconsins four House Republicans voted against it. The vote was not whether or not to ban embryonic stem cell research, said Janesvilles Paul Ryan in an interview Friday. The vote was whether or not to commit taxpayer dollars to finance research that many taxpayers believe is immoral and unethical. Ryan said he thinks the issue is widely misunderstood. Most people - literally 95 percent of people you run into - think we voted to ban the research, he said. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/12/05] Ryan Said Consensus On Stem Cells Should Be Settled By Scientists And Not Taxpayers, Who Thought It Was Unethical. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, What the scientific consensus on stem cells ultimately will be, Ryan said, should be settled by scientists, not taxpayers. The issue is going to be settled by science in the very near future, so we dont have to decide whether to commit tax dollars to research that many Americans feel is unethical, Ryan said. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/12/07] Ryan Opposed Effort To End Ban On Federal Funding For Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to end a ban on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. But the vote fell 37 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to overturn President Bush's promised veto. The bill was co-sponsored by 218 House members, including all the Democratic members of the Wisconsin delegation. Republican Congressmen Tom Petri (R-Fond du Lac), Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls) voted against the legislation, as they have in the past. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/12/07] Capital Times Editorial: Ryan Played Political Games With Stem Cell Research Votes. According to a Capital Times editorial, Unfortunately, three members of Wisconsins House delegation did, indeed, vote no. Reps. Paul Ryan, Tom Petri and Jim Sensenbrenner are not fools. So we have to assume that they are cynics. Ryan, Petri and Sensenbrenner choose to play political games rather than join the vast mainstream - including conservative Republicans with strong anti-abortion records - in voting to fund essential stem cell research. [Capital Times (Madison, WI), 6/14/07] Paul Ryan Voted Against Federal Funding of Stem Cell Research. On June 7, 2007, Paul Ryan voted against allowing federal funding of stem cell research. It would lift some restrictions on funding that President Bush put in place on Aug. 9, 2001, and allow research funding on stem cells from surplus embryos discarded by fertility clinics. The bill passed, 247-176. [Roll Call 443, S 5, 06/07/2007; CQ Weekly, 6/11/07] Ryan Opposed Ban On Human Cloning. In 2007, Ryan voted against a bill to prohibit reproductive human cloning and transporting human somatic cell nuclear transfer technology intended for human cloning. Under the bill, violators would be subject to fines of up to $10 million and up to 10 years in prison. The bills sponsor, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) argued that there is no federal law preventing irresponsible individuals from conducting research in an attempt to achieve

human reproductive cloning. The most effective way to prevent human reproductive cloning in the United States is to pass a federal prohibition on this practice and impose severe penalties for doing so, DeGette said of the bill. Our bill would make it illegal to use cloning technology to initiate a pregnancy and thereby create a cloned human being. According to Congressional Quarterly Weekly, Anti-abortion groups opposed the bill because it would not extend the ban to include cloning of human embryos for research purposes. They believe that life begins at conception, which in the case of cloning would occur before the embryos placement in a uterus. The National Right to Life Committee said DeGettes bill would allow the creation and destruction of embryos for research purposes, a process that opponents equate with abortion. The White House issued a policy statement before the June 6 vote that said President Bush strongly opposed the bill and warned that he would veto it. A two-thirds majority of those present and voting (278 in this case) was required for passage under suspension of the rules. The measure was defeated 204-213. [Roll Call 439, H 2560, 06/06/2007; Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 6/9/07; Congresswoman Diana DeGette press release, 6/6/07] Paul Ryan Voted Against Federal Funding of Stem Cell Research. On January 11, 2007, Paul Ryan voted against bill that would allow the use of federal funds in research on embryonic stem cell lines derived from surplus embryos at in-vitro fertilization clinics, but only if donors give their consent and are not paid for the embryos. The bill would authorize the Health and Human Services Department to conduct and support research involving human embryonic stem cells that meet certain criteria, regardless of when stem cells were derived from a human embryo. The bill passed 253-174. [Roll Call 20, H 3, 01/11/2007] Ryan Voted Against Overriding Veto of Bill to Expand Federal Funding of Stem Cell Research. In 2006, Ryan voted against an attempt to override President Bushs veto of a bill that would expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The bill would authorize federal funds to be used for research on embryonic stem cell lines derived from surplus embryos at in vitro fertilization clinics that would otherwise be discarded. Current policy allows federal funds to be used for research only on those stem cell lines that existed when President Bush issued an executive order on August 9, 2001. This bill attempted to lift that restriction. According to a USA Today editorial, The bill Congress sent to Bush wouldnt create embryos solely to destroy them. Rather, it simply would allow federal research on embryos from fertility clinics that would otherwise be discarded. The families that donated the embryos have given their consent to use them for researchThe price of Bushs threatened veto might well be paid in the suffering of millions of people. Its hard to believe that he, and those in Congress who support his stance, consider this to be the pro-life position. The attempt to override the veto, which required a two-thirds majority to pass, was defeated 235-193. [Roll Call 388, H 810, 07/19/2006; Leadership Document, Congress Should Override the Presidents Veto of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, 7/19/06] Ryan Voted in Favor of Research into Creating Stem Cell Lines without Destroying Human Embryos. On July 18, 2006, Ryan voted in favor of the Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act. According to the Washington Post, It would have promoted efforts to conduct stem cell research without destroying human embryos. Bush called it an important piece of legislation, but several Democrats called it a political fig leaf intended to distract attention from his veto of the long-debated funding measure for embryonic stem cells. Bush has threatened vetoes on numerous issues over the years, but he and the Republican-controlled Congress had always worked out their differences. On stem cells, however, the president drew a sharp line during his first nationally televised address, on Aug. 9, 2001, banning government funding for research using human embryonic stem cell colonies created after that date. [Roll Call 380, S 2754, 07/18/2006; Washington Post, 07/20/06] Paul Ryan Voted Against Easing Restrictions on Federal Funding for Embryonic Stem Cell Research. On May 24, 2005, Paul Ryan voted against HR 810, a bill that would allow federal funds to be used in research on embryonic stem cell lines derived from surplus embryos at in-vitro fertilization clinics, but only if donors give their consent and if they are not paid for the embryos. The bill would authorize the Health and Human Services Department to conduct and support research involving human embryonic stem cells that meet certain criteria, regardless of the date on which the stem cells were derived from a human embryo. The House passed the bill 238-194. [Roll Call 204, H 810, 05/24/2005] Ryan Supported Ban on Stem Cell Research for Medical Purposes. In 2003, Ryan voted in favor of a bill banning human cloning and punished violators with up to 10 years in prison and fines of at least $1 million. The bill prohibited cloning, and attempts at cloning, for both medical research and reproductive purposes. The bill passed 241-155. [Roll Call 39, H 534, 02/27/2003] Ryan Opposed Stem Cell Research in 2001. In 2001, Ryan voted in favor of a bill to prohibit human cloning for either medical research or reproductive purposes. The bill would make it illegal for any person or organization to perform, attempt or participate in human cloning. It also would ban receiving, shipping or importing cloned embryos or products made from them. The bill includes civil and criminal penalties including up to 10 years imprisonment and fines of more than $1 million. While there was virtual agreement in the House that cloning human cells for the purposes of reproducing whole human beings

should be outlawed, the bill alarmed scientists, who said the ban would interfere with progress on stem cell research, which involves human embryos. Embryonic stem cell research involves using human or animal embryos to grow various kinds of cells. The cells could then be used to help repair human tissue or aid in finding cures for cancer, Alzheimers, Lou Gehrigs and other fatal or disabling diseases. The legislation would impose a fine of at least $1 million and a prison sentence of up to 10 years on anyone who participates in human cloning. The bill did not specifically ban stem cell research, but would prohibit the cloning of human embryos for use in stem cell experiments. The bill passed, 265-162 [Roll Call 304, H 2505, 07/31/2001; Boston Globe, 8/02/01; Boston Globe, 8/01/01; AP, 8/01/01]