Christian Activist: California's Pro-Life Voters Being Duped
by Mary Rettig
February 2, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A Christian activist in California says a state senator running for Congress who portrays himself as pro-life is not truly what he claims to be.California State Senator Bill Morrow is running for the congressional seat left empty when Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigned. James Hartline, a Christian activist in the San Diego area, says Morrow has always claimed to be a conservative, pro-life Republican. But Hartline is now disputing those claims. He says the senator's wife, an attorney, is linked to a group that promotes embryonic stem-cell research.
"There is a corporation in San Diego called the California Healthcare Institute," Hartline explains. "They were one of the biggest promoters of Prop. 71 [a measure approved by voters authorizing embryonic stem-cell institutions]. According to Hartline, the Institute and others like it will be "experimental factories where they will be able to experiment on [human] embryos, including cloning them." According to the Christian activist, Barbara Morrow -- wife of the senator -- is vice president-general counsel for the Institute.
While acknowledging the senator himself is not directly linked to the Institute, Hartline says Senator Morrow has shown support for his wife's involvement by authoring bills promoting "life science," which has given major tax breaks to those types of facilities. However, says the activist, the state lawmaker's website promoted his involvement with BIOCOM, another major supporter of embryonic stem-cell research and Prop. 71.
Hartline believes the voting public -- particularly the senator's conservative base -- needs to be aware of what Hartline sees as a mixed message. "To me, if you [as a Christian] are participating in any company that not only believes in embryonic stem-cell research, but you are actually promoting the expansion of it, then ... you can't work for that company because you have to have some kind of conscience that what you're doing is impacting that company's ability [to fulfill its mission]," he states.
He adds that Morrow was mysteriously absent from a vote in 2002 that authorized California companies to experiment with embryos. Barbara Morrow took her current position with the California Healthcare Institute a month later, Hartline says.
In a recent newsletter, the activist notes that Project Vote Smart reveals the senator voted in support of the interests of Planned Parenthood 20 percent of the time in 2004, and 11 percent of the time in 2003. Hartline contends Senator Morrow is misleading his conservative constituents -- and they need to know the truth before they go to the polls this spring, he says.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
