MDRTL-Legislation

Maryland Right to Life, Inc.

420 Chinquapin Round Rd. Suite 2-I

Annapolis, MD 21401

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MDRTL Legislative Information

An educated constituency is the key to changing the law!

Thank you for choosing MDRTL as your source for legislative information about life issues in Maryland. Our goal is to provide you with timely, accurate information. This page will be updated as the session progresses and as the status of bills change.

MDRTL is the only single-issue pro-life lobbying organization in Maryland. We employ a full-time Legislative Director to monitor, take action upon, and lobby on behalf of those whose lives are threatened and cannot defend themselves.

If you have questions and comments, contact us at [email protected].

MDRTL lobbied on the following bills, which may impact the right to life in Maryland. This page will be updated as analyses on newly introduced bills are completed, so please check back regularly to get the latest information.

For a summary of seminal pro-life votes in prior General Assembly sessions, please refer to the right under "Roll Call Votes".

2016 Maryland General Assembly Session

Key MDRTL measures and dangerous threats to the pro-life movement. Below are pieces of legislation MDRTL took a position on in the 2016 General Assembly Session.
You can download a scorecard to the left for this session and the past 10 years of General Assembly sessions.

Bill Number	Title; lead sponsor(s)	MDRTL position	Current Status
SB190/HB150	Budget; Administration	Oppose taxpayer funding of elective abortion and option to fund embryonic-destructive research.	Passed. Amendment to strip taxpayer funded abortions-on-demand in Medicaid defeated in Senate 16-27 and defeated in House 55-81.
HB404/SB418	Richard E. Israel and Roger "Pip" Moyer End-of-Life Options Act Del. Pendergrass & Sen. Young	Strongly Oppose- a legalization of doctor-prescribed suicide which threatens wanted care and allows undue pressure on patients. Click here for more information. *Click here to contact your legislators!*	Never brought to a vote in the House/ Withdrawn in Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee!
HB603/SB749	Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act; Del. Afzali Sens. Ready & Bates	Strongly Support- Protects unborn children at 20 weeks postfertilization and after due to substantial evidence indicating they feel pain.	Never brought to a vote in either chamber.
HB644/SB691	Vulnerable Protection Act Del. Aumann Sen. Bates	Support- protects communities from discrimination in access to wanted healthcare	Never brought to a vote in either chamber.
SB793	DHMH- Data Collection and Use - Pregnancy Rates Sen. Cassilly	Support- Brings MD in line with 46 other states in data collection on pregnancy outcomes.	Never brought to a vote in committee.
SB593/HB646	Rape Survivor Family Protection Act Sen. Raskin Del. Dumais	Support- Removes paternity rights from fathers whose child was conceived due to their act of rape.	HB646 passed the House unanimously and was given a favorable with amendments report by the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. SB593 was not brought to a vote.
HJ7	Commencement of Life of the Human Person at Conception Del. McComas	Support- Proclaims scientific reality of human life beginning at conception. This is a resolution, not a bill.	Never brought to a vote in committee.
HB1357	Public Health - State Funding of Abortions - Prohibition and Exceptions Del. Glass	Support- Limits taxpayer funding of abortion.	Never brought to a vote in House Appropriations.