Life Advocacy Briefing

Failures in the Senate

BEFORE RECESSING FOR TWO WEEKS EARLY FRIDAY MORNING, the US Senate acted on three Life-related amendments to the Budget Resolution. We publish the roll calls on all three at the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing.

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) attempted to establish a dedicated fund in the Dept. of Justice for the purpose of “vigorous enforcement” of the Child Custody Protection Act, should it become law. The legislation passed both houses in the 109th Congress but was kept by Senate liberals out of the necessary conference to conform the two houses’ versions and which has not yet been considered in the 110th Congress; it would criminalize the transportation of a minor across state lines to undergo an abortion in circumvention of her home state’s parental involvement law. The Ensign Amendment to the Budget Resolution failed Thursday on a heartbreaking tie vote of 49-to-49.

Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) signaled early last week his intention to offer an amendment expressly authorizing states to cover children from conception to age 19 under the State Child Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP); 12 states offer such coverage under a Bush Administration rule, but the policy has not been adopted by Congress. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) last Thursday announced she would propose an amendment offering an alternative approach extending S-CHIP coverage to expectant mothers; her amendment was designed to thwart the Allard Amendment, as “Boxer” would be considered first and would ostensibly render “Allard” superfluous.

The contrasts between the Boxer and Allard Amendments were well defined in a memo crafted by a key Capitol Hill aide, quoted here: “The Allard approach has several notable advantages over the Boxer approach. The Allard Amendment does not classify pregnant women as children, recognizes the personhood of the unborn child, covers a broader pool of unborn children and does not have the potential to increase eligibility for state-funded abortions in certain states where state-funded pregnancy services include abortion.”

Given those implications, we are characterizing, in our publication of the roll call, those 70 who voted for “Boxer” as having voted “pro-abortion;” only 27 Senators showed the courage to vote “no.” No doubt the usually pro-life Senators who voted “yes” on “Boxer” hoped and expected that pro-life citizens would regard only their vote on “Allard” to characterize their position on covering unborn children. But we see no excuse for “pro-life” Senators to vote essentially to thwart the good and needed Allard Amendment, which failed 46-to-52.

PP Ex Finance Chief Blows Whistle

THE FORMER FINANCE CHIEF OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD in Los Angeles has filed a lawsuit against PP “alleging,” reports Operation Rescue (OR) in a news release, “that ‘affiliates knowingly engaged in a criminal plot to fleece state and federal taxpayers out of more than $180 million over the course of at least six years.’” The suit was filed in 2005 but just came to light as the trial date nears.

Plaintiff Victor Gonzales was PPLA’s vice president for finance and administration when he “attempted to bring illegalities he discovered to his superiors,” reports OR. That attempt at whistle-blowing, according to a companion suit for wrongful termination, cost him his job.

“[Mr.] Gonzales submitted documents spanning the late 1990s to 2004,” writes Family Research Council (FRC) president Tony Perkins in his March 10 Washington Update, “including a series of audits, which suggest that the nation’s biggest abortion merchant may have swindled upward of $180 million from California taxpayers. … According to [Mr.] Gonzales’s attorney,” writes Mr. Perkins, “PP manipulated its status as a charitable organization in order to buy contraceptives at a discounted rate, then billed the state’s Medi-Cal program for 12 times as much as it paid.”

The FRC president notes the Los Angeles Times secured “copies of the 2004 audit, which substantiates over $5.2 million in overbillings at the San Diego branch during fiscal year 2003 alone. In total,” writes Mr. Perkins, “the overcharging is said to exceed $10 million a year.” The audit was conducted for the state Dept. of Health Services, yet California has continued funding PP without apparent complaint. The plaintiff’s attorney Jack Schuler, writes Michael Baggot for LifeSiteNews.com, termed the audit “‘an extraordinary indictment against Planned Parenthood.’”

The plaintiff “also claims that the Los Angeles [PP] branch violated the IRS code,” writes Mr. Perkins, “that prohibits political advocacy from charitable organizations by forwarding about $12,000 a month to the Sacramento branch for ‘lobbying’ expenses.

“At least one PPLA executive used a corporate credit card,” reports Mr. Perkins, “to make Victoria’s Secret and private video purchases on the government’s dime. And,” writes Mr. Perkins, “the list of alleged abuses goes on.”

Remarked the Gonzales attorney, quoted by LifeSiteNews, “‘Here is the ultimate Hollywood movie set façade of a corporation that poses as charitable while grossly overbilling government programs funded to service the needy, not the greedy. I would not be shocked,’” added attorney Schuler in the LifeSiteNews story, “‘that criminal prosecutions might follow.’”

Operation Rescue used the unveiling of the lawsuit to renew its call for investigations into Planned Parenthood and an end to taxpayer funding of the massive abortion outfit. “There are far too many credible allegations to dismiss them as rumor,” said OR president Troy Newman in the news release. “When Planned Parenthood vice presidents start blowing the whistle, it’s time to listen and taken action.” Especially when a state audit has documented chronic “overbilling.”

Congressman Kevorkian? No Way!

CONVICTED KILLER JACK KEVORKIAN has found a new way to be a nuisance. “Dr. Death” has announced he will challenge pro-life Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) for Congress this year.

The medical maverick will need signatures from 3,000 citizens to achieve ballot status as an “independent,” according to Thaddeus M. Baklinski writing for LifeSiteNews.com.

Citing “an interview from his prison cell in 2005,” Mr. Baklinski quotes Mr. Kevorkian as vowing to “‘pursue [dispatching vulnerable people] from a legal standpoint by campaigning to get the laws changed.’ When asked in the same interview about his views on the death of Terri Schiavo by starvation and dehydration” in March 2005, Mr. Baklinski reports, “he responded by saying that he would have killed Terri had her husband asked him earlier. ‘After all that long period of time in a coma [sic],’” Mr. Kevorkian said, “‘I think she would qualify.’”

Calling the potential candidacy “‘a publicity stunt,’” Oakland County prosecutor David Gorcyca, whose office successfully prosecuted Mr. Kevorkian in the nationally televised murder of a 52-year-old man, told the Oakland Press, writes Mr. Baklinski, “‘To call attention to himself is standard protocol for Jack when he doesn’t have the limelight focused on him.’”

Advocating for Life: The March for Life Rally

Transcripts of Congressional speakers, March for Life in Washington, DC, Jan. 22, 2008, transcribed by Life Advocacy Briefing from televised coverage

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE): Good afternoon, everyone. Let me hear again from the Nebraskans who are here. [cheers] All right. I see we got a front-row seat right next to our good neighbors from Kansas this year. [cheers] We’re strong in the heartland. Let me say hello to members of my alma mater from Franciscan University of Steubenville [cheers]. Thanks so much for coming out.

It is truly an honor and a pleasure to be here with you all today as we celebrate the beautiful gift of life, to be here with so many of you as we stand for this most just cause warms my heart in spite of the cold and lifts my spirits. I have to tell you all a few days ago as I was preparing to come to Washington, I was helping my little children, my little daughters clean their room, which made my wife very happy. And on the floor of their room, I found something, and if you can see this [holding up fetal model], this is about a two-inch plastic replica of an eleven-week-old baby, eleven-week-old unborn child, and I recall the words of what I think was my oldest daughter when she used to carry around this little unborn child, before she could hardly say anything, she would utter the words, Baby, Baby. Out of the mouth of a babe came a beautiful truth.

If only the learned and the wise of our land – the members of the Supreme Court – had recognized this beautiful truth 35 years ago. If only the judges had called upon our founding documents and said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men, all persons are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” And if only our nation had responded, “We believe that women deserve better than abortion; abortion is violence against women, and a truly good society must be a just society, protecting those who are least among us and rejecting the false choice of abortion.” Then perhaps we would have been spared all of this grief, all of this pain and all of this suffering.

In the 1830s, a man named Alex deTocqueville came to America from Europe to discover the essence of who we are as a country, why America was successful. And in his great work entitled Democracy in America, one of the conclusions drawn is that America is great because America is good.

Abortion is so often the result of abandonment, loneliness and confusion. It is a false choice that no woman should ever have to make. I believe, and I know you believe, that we are big enough as a country, loving enough, strong enough and good enough to say America is pro-life. [cheers] America, America upholds the dignity and rights of all persons, no matter how small and vulnerable. No matter how weak and frail, and no matter how difficult the circumstances, we are here to bring hope and healing.

And young people, let me finally say to those of you who are here today, I’m so very proud of you. America’s most sacred traditions rest upon your shoulders. You will make America a nation of justice and compassion, a society that protects and cares for the weakest and vulnerable. Thank you all for your sacrifice. Thank you for your perseverance. Thank you for raising your hand today and saying, “I believe in the mother and the child hidden within her. I believe in the beautiful gift of life.” [cheers]

Former Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA): I can’t hear ya [cheers]. It is so wonderful to be back here. I’m so inspired by the turnout on a kind of nasty day. But I ran into people from my church, St. Alexis in Wexford, ran into them from St. John & Paul in Franklin Park, St. Sebastian’s in Ross, ran into the people from Mother of Sorrows in Murraysville and a whole bunch more from all over western Pennsylvania, my home, where I’ve been spending a lot of time lately working with pro-life groups on Saturday at our vigil in Beaver, and the message is the same: We have made so much progress because of you, because of your commitment, because of moms and dads bringing their children into this movement; I’m seeing so many wonderful young people today. Thank you for everything you’ve done to have whole families here. Because that is what makes this movement successful.

I was in Congress for six years. We passed the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. We passed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban. We passed my bill, Laci & Conner’s Law, which criminalizes acts of violence against unborn children except for abortion. We’ve got to get there, and with your help and your continued commitment, we will.

Thank you to all the families who’ve come here. Thank you for taking the time away from your families if you came without them today. God bless you. Keep praying. We will win this fight.

Senate Voting Records

Ensign Amendment to S-ConRes-70 – Budget Resolution – To increase funding for the Dept. of Justice for vigorous enforcement of a prohibition against taking minors across state lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions consistent with the Child Custody Protection Act, which passed the Senate by a bipartisan vote of 65-34 in the 109th Congress but did not yet pass into law – March 13, 2008, Rejected 49-49. (Democrats in italics; Independents marked “I”)

Voting “yes” / pro-life: AL/Sessions & Shelby, AK/Murkowski & Stevens, AZ/Kyl, CO/Allard, FL/Martinez, GA/Chambliss & Isakson, ID/Craig & Crapo, IN/Lugar, IA/Grassley, KS/Brownback & Roberts, KY/Bunning & McConnell, LA/Landrieu & Vitter, MN/Coleman, MS/Wicker, MO/Bond, NE/Hagel & Nelson, NV/Ensign & Reid, NH/Gregg & Sununu, NM/Domenici, NC/Burr & Dole, OH/Voinovich, OK/Coburn & Inhofe, OR/Smith, PA/Casey, SC/DeMint & Graham, SD/Johnson & Thune, TN/Alexander & Corker, TX/Cornyn & Hutchison, UT/Bennett & Hatch, VA/Warner, WY/Barrasso & Enzi

Voting “no” / pro-abortion: AR/Lincoln & Pryor, CA/Boxer & Feinstein, CO/Salazar, CT/Dodd & Lieberman (I), DE/Biden & Carper, FL/Nelson, HI/Akaka & Inouye, IL/Durbin & Obama, IN/Bayh, IA/Harkin, ME/Collins & Snowe, MD/Cardin & Mikulski, MA/Kennedy & Kerry, MI/Levin & Stabenow, MN/Klobuchar, MS/Cochran, MO/McCaskill, MT/Baucus & Tester, NJ/Lautenberg & Menendez, NM/Bingaman, NY/Clinton & Schumer, ND/Conrad & Dorgan, OH/Brown, OR/Wyden, PA/Specter, RI/Reed & Whitehouse, VT/Leahy & Sanders (I), VA/Webb, WA/Cantwell & Murray, WV/Rockefeller, WI/Feingold & Kohl

Not voting: AZ/McCain & WV/Byrd

Boxer Amendment to S-ConRes-70 – Budget Resolution – To facilitate coverage of pregnant women in S-CHIP in order to thwart the Allard Amendment and defining expectant mothers as “children” while denying the personhood of unborn boys and girls – March 14, 2008, Adopted 70-27. (Democrats in italics; Independents marked “I”)

Voting “no” / pro-life: AL/Sessions & Shelby, AZ/Kyl, CO/Allard, FL/Martinez, ID/Craig & Crapo, KS/Brownback & Roberts, KY/Bunning, LA/Vitter, MS/Cochran & Wicker, NE/Hagel, NV/Ensign, NH/Gregg & Sununu, NC/Burr, OH/Voinovich, OK/Coburn & Inhofe, SC/DeMint, SD/Thune, UT/Bennett & Hatch, WY/Barrasso & Enzi

Voting “yes” / pro-abortion: AK/Murkowski & Stevens, AZ/McCain, AR/Lincoln & Pryor, CA/Boxer & Feinstein, CO/Salazar, CT/Dodd & Lieberman (I), DE/Biden & Carper, FL/Nelson, GA/Chambliss & Isakson, HI/Akaka & Inouye, IL/Durbin & Obama, IN/Bayh & Lugar, IA/Grassley & Harkin, KY/McConnell, LA/Landrieu, ME/Collins & Snowe, MD/Cardin, MA/Kennedy & Kerry, MI/Levin & Stabenow, MN/Coleman & Klobuchar, MO/Bond & McCaskill, MT/Baucus & Tester, NE/Nelson, NV/Reid, NJ/Lautenberg & Menendez, NM/Bingaman, NY/Clinton & Schumer, NC/Dole, ND/Conrad & Dorgan, OH/Brown, OR/Smith & Wyden, PA/Casey & Specter, RI/Reed & Whitehouse, SC/Graham, SD/Johnson, TN/Alexander & Corker, TX/Cornyn & Hutchison, VT/Leahy & Sanders (I), VA/Warner & Webb, WA/Cantwell & Murray, WV/Rockefeller, WI/Feingold & Kohl

Not voting: MD/Mikulski, NM/Domenici, WV/Byrd

Allard Amendment to S-ConRes-70 – Budget Resolution – To define unborn boys and girls as children under S-CHIP – March 14, 2008, Rejected 46-52. (Democrats in italics; Independents marked “I”)

Voting “yes” / pro-life: AL/Sessions & Shelby, AK/Stevens, AZ/Kyl & McCain, CO/Allard, FL/Martinez, GA/Chambliss & Isakson, ID/Craig & Crapo, IN/Lugar, IA/Grassley, KS/Brownback & Roberts, KY/Bunning & McConnell, LA/Vitter, MN/Coleman, MS/Cochran & Wicker, MO/Bond, NE/Hagel & Nelson, NV/Ensign, NH/Gregg & Sununu, NC/Burr & Dole, OH/Voinovich, OK/Coburn & Inhofe, OR/Smith, PA/Casey, SC/DeMint & Graham, SD/Thune, TN/Alexander & Corker, TX/Cornyn & Hutchison, UT/Bennett & Hatch, VA/Warner, WY/Barrasso & Enzi

Voting “no” / pro-abortion: AK/Murkowski, AR/Lincoln & Pryor, CA/Boxer & Feinstein, CO/Salazar, CT/Dodd & Lieberman (I), DE/Biden & Carper, FL/Nelson, HI/Akaka & Inouye, IL/Durbin & Obama, IN/Bayh, IA/Harkin, LA/Landrieu, ME/Collins & Snowe, MD/Cardin & Mikulski, MA/Kennedy & Kerry, MI/Levin & Stabenow, MN/Klobuchar, MO/McCaskill, MT/Baucus & Tester, NV/Reid, NJ/Lautenberg & Menendez, NM/Bingaman, NY/Clinton & Schumer, ND/Conrad & Dorgan, OH/Brown, OR/Wyden, PA/Specter, RI/Reed & Whitehouse, SD/Johnson, VT/Leahy & Sanders (I), VA/Webb, WA/Cantwell & Murray, WV/Rockefeller, WI/Feingold & Kohl

Not voting: NM/Domenici, WV/Byrd