Considering the fact that tobacco-related products kill 400,000 people annually, this is indisputably a pro-life issue, although of course it isn’t being described that way. Almost half a century is way too long for Congress to have gotten its act together on tobacco legislation, but better late than never:
The Senate approved landmark legislation today that would give the government sweeping new power to oversee tobacco, a centuries-old product used by 20 percent of Americans yet largely unregulated in this country.
The bipartisan measure, approved by a margin of 79 to 17, largely mirrors a measure passed by the House last month. The House has indicated it will accept the Senate version and will vote on it early next week before a bill is sent to President Obama. Obama, a smoker who has struggled to quit, has said he is eager to sign the bill into law. It comes 50 years after the surgeon general first warned of the health effects of tobacco.
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