U.S. Capitol This Week Nov 27- 30
U.S. Congress
Democrats rejected the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) proposed by Republicans. The reason? The republican version of the bill does not include reimbursement for the travel expenses of service members who obtain abortions, payments for gender transition surgery, and the promotion of critical race theory- issues that have nothing to do with national security. U.S. Congressional Armed Services Committee leaders are confident that the NDAA will pass, perhaps with some compromises, given that national defense is at stake. The NDAA is one of the few major pieces of legislation Congress has passed every year since 1961. It governs everything from pay raises for the military troops to purchases of ships and aircraft to policies such as support for Ukraine.
Republican lawmakers signed a letter congratulating Argentina’s president-elect Javier Milei. The signers included Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar (FL.), Andy Biggs (AZ.), Andy Ogles (TN.), Doug Lamborn (CO.) and Matt Rosendale (MT.) Milei vowed to launch a referendum on Argentina’s abortion law, which, together with Argentina’s Vice President,, Victoria Villarruel, he hopes to overturn. Villarruel, speaking about a 2020 law that legalized abortion up to 14 weeks in Argentina said that “there was a lobby here that was also promoted from abroad, abortion is big business and there is a lobby that promoted this issue”.
Javier Milei won the Argentinian elections with 56% of the votes in the Latin American country, in the second round of elections against Sergio Massa.
Federal Agencies
In mid-September, the FDA Pediatric Advisory Committee met to discuss artificial womb technology. They say this technology would be used to save the lives of premature infants, or babies born before 28 weeks of pregnancy. The committee assessed the safety and effectiveness of the technology, including regulatory and ethical considerations for human use, as this technology has only been tested with animals so far.
The U.S. preterm birth rate reached the highest level reported since at least 2007, according to a National Vital Statistics System report released in January by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most recently, the CDC reported that the preterm birth rate rose from 10.1% in 2020 to 10.5% in 2021.
Some fear that this technology will end up being used to replace normal pregnancies. In this context, John F. Brehany, the Executive Vice President and Director of Institutional Relations at the National Catholic Bioethics Center said “The risks are that people will have even more power over human beings during pregnancy and more discretion in choosing whether to continue pregnancies or not.”
