On Wednesday, the Arizona House of Representatives gave Arizona families reason to celebrate by passing four pro-family, pro-life bills.  These four bills are among the first few to be given a final vote by the House this session, which sends a clear message that a strong majority of House members care about protecting Arizona families and timeless values.

The four bills are:

HB 2400 – state ban on partial-birth abortion (vote: 37-18)
HB 2564 – Abortion Consent Act, which makes necessary changes to our abortion statutes regarding parental consent, informed consent, and the rights of conscience of healthcare providers (vote: 36-19)
HB 2288 – continues corporate scholarship tax credit beyond 2011 and includes insurance companies in the tax credit program (vote: 33-23)
HB 2286 – simplifies the charitable tax credit and provides accountability for organizations that are eligible to participate (vote: 55-1)

The debate on the House floor for these bills dragged on for about three hours, and for those with extra time on their hands, you can watch the archived video (school choice debate, abortion bill debate, final vote on all four bills).  Many legislators spoke up in defense of timeless family values and deserve to be commended.  Here are some highlights and excerpts of the comments:

HB 2288 (corporate scholarship tax credit):
The struggle with basic math on this bill is always entertaining. 

As Rep. Steve Yarbrough explained, the average scholarship award for a student to attend a private school under this program is about $2400, while the average amount of tax dollars spent on educating a student in the traditional district schools is about $9000 when you consider all sources.  Even if you consider only the specific state appropriation per student of about $6500, the result is still a significant saving to the state when a student chooses a private school. 

Nevertheless, several members said this program takes money away from public schools and that they did not understand how this could be positive for the state budget.  This blog’s readers are sure to be able to comprehend what many state legislators demonstrated by their comments that they can’t:
$6500 minus $2400 = $4100 state savings per child

HB 2400 (partial-birth abortion ban):
Rep. Andy Tobin called upon members to put aside pro-life and pro-choice differences.  “There is nothing extreme about this bill.  What is extreme is the procedure that it bans.”

Bill sponsor Rep. Nancy Barto said: “We would not think of tolerating this kind of procedure to our pets, let alone our children.  This bill expresses profound respect for the dignity of human life.”

HB 2564 (Abortion Consent Act):
Rep. Doris Goodale gave an account of the moving testimony before the Health and Human Services Committee, including a post-abortive women who found one common theme from her own life and among other post-abortive women whom she counseled: not one of them received full and accurate information about the risks and alternatives of abortion before the procedure.

“This is not about abortion or abortion rights.  This bill is about abortion process. This is a bill that makes the process better. This is a good policy bill,” said Rep. John Kavanaugh.

Rep. Warde Nichols told the story of a mother in 1969 who was addicted to drugs and had no support – a mother who assuredly would have been told that abortion was the best option for her if abortion had been legal at that time.  That baby, Rep. Nichols explained, went on to have a happy and successful life.  That baby was him. “This is human life that we're talking about here, not a choice," he said.

Rep. Frank Antenori urged the members to fulfill their duty to protect women like their wives and daughters.  “I’m not afraid to stand up before this body and say that protecting women is important to me,” he said.

Rep. Debbie Lesko explained how, as a teenager, she thought some problems were the end of the world that she now realizes were manageable problems.  Society recognizes the need for parents to be involved with their kids – we see ads on TV encouraging parents to talk to our kids about drugs.  Parents play a huge role in guiding their children through challenges, and when it comes to an unplanned pregnancy, teenage girls who are confused and scared should not be left alone with strangers to make such an important decision.

Rep. Barto, the bill’s sponsor, refuted many of the distortions that were offered as criticism of the bill, and Reps. Barnes, Seel, Murphy, and Yarbrough all also gave excellent comments in support of the bill.