Assembly Bill 1009 (John Benoit - R/Riverside-Palm Desert) is entitled the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2008. The bill provides that a mother seeking an abortion be given information regarding the pain felt by the unborn baby during an abortion. AB 1009 (if enacted into law) would also require that the mother be given the choice to have anesthesia administered to the unborn child if she chooses to proceed with the abortion. Assemblyman Benoit introduced the bill last year but pulled it from the Assembly Health Committee's hearing schedule last April. It is now set for a hearing before the Health Committee this coming Tuesday, January 8th. If you wish to support the bill, telephone calls, e-mails and letters should be sent to Assemblyman Benoit's office at 916-319-2064, 916-319-2164 (fax) or scott.seekatz@asmca.gov. You can also send a letter to the Committee's fax at 916-319-2197. The proponents of abortion on demand want a woman to have choice in her reproductive rights. Assemblyman Benoit's bill only adds to that "right" of choice by giving the mother a more complete picture of the consequences of an abortion and the choice to relieve the unborn baby's pain during the procedure. Somehow I doubt Planned Parenthood will agree with my logic and support the bill.