Release: Missouri Right to Life Neutral on Raise Your Hands for Kids Tobacco Tax Initiative (RYHFK) – Amendment 3

There is misinformation being circulated in television, radio, Facebook ads and phone calls concerning the Raise Your Hands for Kids Initiative, Amendment 3. Opponents of the initiative are stating that Amendment 3 will place abortion funding in the state constitution. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Clear language has been added to the amendment that prohibits these funds from being used for abortion services or for embryonic stem cell research and cloning. Consequently, Missouri Right to Life is taking a neutral position on the proposed tobacco tax initiative RYHFK because, after care­ful review, it cannot envision any scenario where the funds could be used for anti-life purposes.

The Raise Your Hands for Kids Tobacco Tax Initiative will:

• Go to early childhood education;
• Go to educate pregnant women about smoking cessation;
• Be available for Private schools, including Christian schools;
• Be available for Pregnancy Resource Centers.

Those opposing the RYHFK To­bacco Tax Initiative include those in the business and research communities who support human cloning and life destroy­ing research.

It is those who deceived with Amendment 2 in 2006 who are opposing Amendment 3 because the monies from this tobacco tax initiative will go only to educating children and pregnant women on the dangers of smoking and will not be available to them for open-ended research.

These are the same people who de­ceived the public with their Amendment 2 initiative in 2006, enshrining the right to clone humans in our state constitution. They said they would never seek public funds, and yet they have been after public funding through our state budget for their life-destroying research through any means possible.

National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) is working with the business and research communities to oppose RYHFK. We can only assume they want unethical research being done and funded by our tax dollars so they can sell baby body parts to researchers.