Life Advocacy Briefing

You Did It

SO OFTEN WE ASK YOU TO CALL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, to give them your opinion, appeal to them to do what we know is right and, frankly, pressure them. This week, before we start highlighting the need for additional rounds of calls (this time to the Senate!), we get to say thank you to you, our readers, for following through, for making your voices heard, for speaking up for those who have as yet no voices. Thank you, and thank God, for delivering victory on forcing a vote to exclude abortion coverage from Nancy Pelosi’s iteration of ObamaCare and on passing the Stupak/Pitts/Hyde Amendment by a stunning vote of 240 to 194 to 1. (Rep. John Shadegg [R-AZ] voted “present” because of concern that attaching the pro-life amendment would ultimately aid the Speaker in passing her bill, an outcome which was realized later in the evening of Nov. 7.) We publish the House voting records on the Amendment and on passage of HR-3962 at the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing and will publish procedural roll calls as space permits over the next few weeks.

Next Up

THE NEXT CLEAR & PRESENT DANGER facing Americans likely comes before the Senate early this week – probably tomorrow (Tuesday). It is the cloture vote – the vote to go directly to a roll call – on the elevation of Judge Daniel Hamilton to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, the very court which has overruled him repeatedly in his radical decisions at the federal district court level in Indiana.

The cloture vote threshold is 60 – that is, for decent, God-fearing, Life-advocating Americans to halt the Hamilton nomination requires just 41 “no” votes from Senators in the US Capitol.  Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) is expected to mount a filibuster to block a vote on the nomination; the cloture motion would seek to overcome his obstruction.

Senators may be reached via the Capitol switchboard at 1-202/224-3121 or via electronic mail through the Senate’s Internet website at www.Senate.gov. Calls to their home-state offices are also helpful; local contact information is available through the Senate website or by contacting the reference desk at area public libraries. Ask both your Senators – and others whom we list below – to vote “no” on cloture for Judge Hamilton and “no” on his nomination. And let them know you’ll be taking note of how they do vote.

We join one of the leading activists against Judge Hamilton’s nomination, former US Navy Chaplain James Klingenschmidt, in urging that readers contact, in addition to your own: Democratic Senators Blanche Lincoln & Mark Pryor (AR), Barbara Boxer (CA), Michael Bennet (CO), Christopher Dodd (CT), Bill Nelson (FL), Ben Nelson (NE), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Kay Hagan (NC) and Byron Dorgan (ND); as well as Republican Senators Richard Lugar (IN), Susan Collins & Olympia Snowe (ME), Christopher Bond (MO), Judd Gregg (NH) and George Voinovich (OH).

Here are just a few reasons for opposing the controversial Hamilton nomination: His invalidating of Indiana’s 18-hour abortion waiting period and informed consent law (later reinstated by the 7th Circuit); his ruling that those offering prayers before the Indiana legislature may not pray in the name of Jesus but permitting prayers before the lawmakers to be offered to the false god Allah (also overturned at the appellate level); he’s been a fundraiser for ACORN and Indiana leader for the American Civil Liberties Union; and he has handed down rulings which aided criminals – including child sexual predators – and undermined law enforcement.

Pick your reason/s for opposing him, but whatever you do, make the calls and send the e-mails. Senators are beginning to be sensitive to their constituents as the 2010 election nears; you can make a difference in this first major judicial confirmation battle of the Obama Regime.

ObamaCare Starting to Move in Senate

WE HAVE NO TIME TO WASTE on contacting the Senate to block ObamaCare. A vote on a “motion to proceed” could come as early as Thursday and will likely come before Thanksgiving. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) appears to have recovered from a siege of political hiccups brought on his party’s stunning electoral defeats in New Jersey and Virginia early this month and is now back to pressing the issue as quickly as possible. Never mind that the Senate has still not, as of this writing, produced a legislative proposal.

A critical vote in the Senate is on that “motion to proceed,” and it requires 60 votes for passage; hence, securing as few as 41 votes against it would stymie the President and his fellow travelers in the Senate.

Do Not Resuscitate This Bill!

Nov. 11, 2009, PRI Weekly Briefing by Steven W. Mosher, president, Population Research Institute, excerpted

By twisting the arms of freshman Democrats nearly out of their sockets, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi … managed to eke out passage of HR-3962, her healthcare reform [sic] bill. But her five-vote victory was so narrow that some pundits are now opining that the Senate version of the bill is dead. Don’t count on it. With the President, Pelosi and Reid all pushing for some kind of healthcare legislation, the struggle against ObamaCare is far from over.

The Left is furious at San Fran Nan for allowing a vote on the Stupak Amendment, which passed by a wide margin with bipartisan support. Its wide margin of passage makes Planned Parenthood and other abortion supporters even more determined to hold the line in the US Senate, where they [customarily] have the support of the majority of Democrat Senators and the two Republican Senators from Maine. They will seek to keep abortion in the Senate bill, then win in conference and then count on Pelosi to deliver a party-line vote – this time without amendments allowed – in the House. As I say, the battle to keep abortion out of the bill is not over. Complacency could cost the lives of many babies.

For the moment, however, the pro-life movement can justly take pride in its political strength. Politicians are nothing if not realists, and they have just been treated to the spectacle of both Pelosi and the President caving in to pro-life pressure from within their own party. Notwithstanding their strident support of federally funded abortions – and despite the anger that their action generated among a large part of the Democrat base – they backed down.

I have no doubt that they will be back, quietly inserting abortion funding in conference and then counting on party loyalty to carry the day, but this will take time. In the meantime, we must continue to oppose any healthcare reform that violates the rights of healthcare workers to freedom of conscience, or which denies the elderly the level of medical care they are accustomed to receiving, with the ultimate aim of reducing their number. (Think “Do Not Resuscitate.”) Nor should we agree to give permanent federal status, funding and protection to Planned Parenthood, as the current bill does. Our goal must be to defund the abortion machine entirely. …

Still, a bill will probably emerge from the Senate at some point. Pro-life Senators will probably even propose an amendment similar to that proposed by Bart Stupak and Chris Smith in the House. But simply banning abortion funding, although a necessary step, is far from sufficient to redeem this huge, indigestible monstrosity of a bill. …

Pro-lifers must decide now if making modest improvements to ObamaCare will produce a bill they can live with. I, for one, am not sure how many amendments would be necessary to clean up the bill so that its provisions no longer threaten unborn babies and infirm elderly. A Stupak Amendment is clearly not enough; it includes no conscience protection and does nothing to prohibit hastening death. Other shortcomings abound. …

The final vote will probably not occur until Christmas, a time when many Americans will be focused on faith and family. I do not intend to sit out the debate in the Senate or be distracted from our goal of protecting the sanctity of life. We will continue to urge amendments to improve the bill. At the same time, I can tell you candidly that, no matter how many amendments are passed, I do not believe that this legislative monstrosity serves the interests of unborn babies or the elderly or the rest of us. I, for one, do not want any part of ObamaCare.

House Voting Records

Stupak/Pitts/Hyde Amendment to HR-3962, Pelosi Healthcare Takeover Plan – Nov. 7, 2009 – Adopted 240-194-1 (Democrats in italics; New Members in ALL CAPS)

Voting “yes” / pro-life: Aderholt, Akin, Alexander, Altmire, Austria, Baca, Bachmann, Bachus, Barrett (SC), Barrow, Bartlett, Barton (TX), Berry, Biggert, Bilbray, Bilirakis, Bishop (GA), Bishop (UT), Blackburn, Blunt, Boccieri, Boehner, Bonner, Bono-Mack, Boozman, Boren, Boustany, Brady (TX), Bright, Broun (GA), Brown (SC), Ginny Brown-Waite, Buchanan, Burgess, Burton (IN), Buyer, Calvert, Camp, Campbell, Cantor, Cao, Capito, Cardoza, Carney, Carter, Cassidy, Castle, Chaffetz, Chandler, Childers, Coble, Coffman (CO), Cole, Conaway, Cooper, Costa, Costello, Crenshaw, Cuellar, Culberson, Dahlkemper, Davis (AL), Davis (KY), Davis (TN), Deal (GA), Dent, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Diaz-Balart, Donnelly (IN), Doyle, Dreier, Driehaus, Duncan, Ehlers, Ellsworth, Emerson, Etheridge, Fallin, Flake, Fleming, Forbes, Fortenberry, Foxx, Franks (AZ), Frelinghuysen, Gallegly, Garrett (NJ), Gerlach, Gingrey (GA), Gohmert, Goodlatte, Gordon (TN), Granger, Graves, Griffith, Guthrie, Hall (TX), Harper, Hastings (WA), Heller, Hensarling, Herger, Hill, Hoekstra, Holden, Hunter, Inglis, Issa, Jenkins, Johnson (IL), Sam Johnson, Jones, Jordan (OH), Kanjorski, Kaptur, Kildee, King (IA), King (NY), Kingston, Kirk, Kline (MN), Lamborn, Lance, Langevin, Latham, LaTourette, Latta, Lee (NY), Lewis (CA), Linder, Lipinski, LoBiondo, Lucas, Luetkemeyer, Lummis, Daniel Lungren, Lynch, Mack, Manzullo, Marchant, Marshall, Matheson, McCarthy (CA), McCaul, McClintock, McCotter, McHenry, McIntyre, McKeon, McMorris-Rodgers, Melancon, Mica, Michaud, Miller (FL), Miller (MI), Gary Miller, Mollohan, Moran (KS), Tim Murphy, Murtha, Myrick, Neal (MA), Neugebauer, Nunes, Oberstar, Obey, Olson, Ortiz, Paul, Paulsen, Pence, Perriello, Peterson, Petri, Pitts, Platts, Poe (TX), Pomeroy, Posey, Price (GA), Putnam, Radanovich, Rahall, Rehberg, Reichert, Reyes, Rodriguez, Roe (TN), Rogers (AL), Rogers (KY), Rogers (MI), Rohrabacher, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Roskam, Ross, Royce, Ryan (OH), Ryan (WI), Salazar, Scalise, Schmidt, Schock, Sensenbrenner, Sessions, Shimkus, Shuler, Shuster, Simpson, Skelton, Smith (NE), Smith (NJ), Smith (TX), Snyder, Souder, Space, Spratt, Stearns, Stupak, Sullivan, Tanner, Taylor, Teague, Terry, Thompson (PA), Thornberry, Tiahrt, Tiberi, Turner, Upton, Walden, Wamp, Westmoreland, Whitfield, Wilson (OH), Wilson (SC), Wittman, Wolf, Young (AK), Young (FL)

Voting “no” / pro-abortion: Abercrombie, Ackerman, Adler (NJ), Andrews, Arcuri, Baird, Baldwin, Bean, Becerra, Berkley, Berman, Bishop (NY), Blumenauer, Boswell, Boucher, Boyd, Brady (PA), Braley (IA), Corrine Brown, Butterfield, Capps, Capuano, Carnahan, Carson (IN), Castor (FL), Chu, Clarke, Clay, Cleaver, Clyburn, Cohen, Connolly (VA), Conyers, Courtney, Crowley, Cummings, Davis (CA), Davis (IL), DeFazio, DeGette, Delahunt, DeLauro, Dicks, Dingell, Doggett, Edwards (MD), Edwards (TX), Ellison, Engel, Eshoo, Farr, Fattah, Filner, Foster, Frank (MA), Fudge, GARAMENDI, Giffords, Gonzalez, Grayson, Al Green, Gene Green, Grijalva, Gutierrez, Hall (NY), Halvorson, Hare, Harman, Hastings (FL), Heinrich, Herseth-Sandlin, Higgins, Himes, Hinchey, Hinojosa, Hirono, Hodes, Holt, Honda, Hoyer, Inslee, Israel, Jackson (IL), Jackson-Lee (TX), Johnson (GA), E.B. Johnson, Kagen, Kennedy, Kilpatrick (MI), Kilroy, Kind, Kirkpatrick (AZ), Kissell, Klein (FL), Kosmas, Kratovil, Kucinich, Larsen (WA), Larson (CT), Lee (CA), Levin, Lewis (GA), Loebsack, Zoe Lofgren, Lowey, Lujan, Maffei, Maloney, Markey (CO), Markey (MA), Massa, Matsui, McCarthy (NY), McCollum, McDermott, McGovern, McMahon, McNerney, Meek (FL), Meeks (NY), Miller (NC), George Miller, Minnick, Mitchell, Moore (KS), Moore (WI), Moran (VA), Murphy (CT), Murphy (NY), Patrick Murphy, Nadler (NY), Napolitano, Nye, Olver, OWENS, Pallone, Pascrell, Pastor (AZ), Payne, Pelosi, Perlmutter, Peters, Pingree (ME), Polis (CO), Price (NC), Quigley, Rangel, Richardson, Rothman (NJ), Roybal-Allard, Ruppersberger, Rush, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Sarbanes, Schakowsky, Schauer, Schiff, Schrader, Schwartz, Scott (GA), Scott (VA), Serrano, Sestak, Shea-Porter, Sherman, Sires, Slaughter, Smith (WA), Speier, Stark, Sutton, Thompson (CA), Thompson (MS), Tierney, Titus, Tonko, Towns, Tsongas, VanHollen, Velazquez, Visclosky, Walz, Wasserman-Schultz, Waters, Watson, Watt, Waxman, Weiner, Welch, Wexler, Woolsey, Wu, Yarmuth

Voting Present: Shadegg

Final Passage – HR-3962, Pelosi Healthcare Takeover Plan – Nov. 7, 2009 – Passed 220-215 (Democrats in italics; New Members in ALL CAPS)

Voting “no” / pro-Life: Aderholt, Adler (NJ), Akin, Alexander, Altmire, Austria, Bachmann, Bachus, Baird, Barrett (SC), Barrow, Bartlett, Barton (TX), Biggert, Bilbray, Bilirakis, Bishop (UT), Blackburn, Blunt, Boccieri, Boehner, Bonner, Bono-Mack, Boozman, Boren, Boucher, Boustany, Boyd, Brady (TX), Bright, Broun (GA), Brown (SC), Ginny Brown-Waite, Buchanan, Burgess, Burton (IN), Buyer, Calvert, Camp, Campbell, Cantor, Capito, Carter, Cassidy, Castle, Chaffetz, Chandler, Childers, Coble, Coffman (CO), Cole, Conaway, Crenshaw, Culberson, Davis (AL), Davis (KY), Davis (TN), Deal (GA), Dent, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Diaz-Balart, Dreier, Duncan, Edwards (TX), Ehlers, Emerson, Fallin, Flake, Fleming, Forbes, Fortenberry, Foxx, Franks (AZ), Frelinghuysen, Gallegly, Garrett (NJ), Gerlach, Gingrey (GA), Gohmert, Goodlatte, Gordon (TN), Granger, Graves, Griffith, Guthrie, Hall (TX), Harper, Hastings (WA), Heller, Hensarling, Herger, Herseth-Sandlin, Hoekstra, Holden, Hunter, Inglis, Issa, Jenkins, Johnson (IL), Sam Johnson, Jones, Jordan (OH), King (IA), King (NY), Kingston, Kirk, Kissell, Kline (MN), Kosmas, Kratovil, Kucinich, Lamborn, Lance, Latham, LaTourette, Latta, Lee (NY), Lewis (CA), Linder, LoBiondo, Lucas, Luetkemeyer, Lummis, Daniel Lungren, Mack, Manzullo, Marchant, Markey (CO), Marshall, Massa, Matheson, McCarthy (CA), McCaul, McClintock, McCotter, McHenry, McIntyre, McKeon, McMahon, McMorris-Rodgers, Melancon, Mica, Miller (FL), Miller (MI), Gary Miller, Minnick, Moran (KS), Murphy (NY), Tim Murphy, Myrick, Neugebauer, Nunes, Nye, Olson, Paul, Paulsen, Pence, Peterson, Petri, Pitts, Platts, Poe (TX), Posey, Price (GA), Putnam, Radanovich, Rehberg, Reichert, Roe (TN), Rogers (AL), Rogers (KY), Rogers (MI), Rohrabacher, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Roskam, Ross, Royce, Ryan (WI), Scalise, Schmidt, Schock, Sensenbrenner, Sessions, Shadegg, Shimkus, Shuler, Shuster, Simpson, Skelton, Smith (NE), Smith (NJ), Smith (TX), Souder, Stearns, Sullivan, Tanner, Taylor, Teague, Terry, Thompson (PA), Thornberry, Tiahrt, Tiberi, Turner, Upton, Walden, Wamp, Westmoreland, Whitfield, Wilson (SC), Wittman, Wolf, Young (AK), Young (FL)

Voting “yes” / anti-Life: Abercrombie, Ackerman, Andrews, Arcuri, Baca, Baldwin, Bean, Becerra, Berkley, Berman, Berry, Bishop (GA), Bishop (NY), Blumenauer, Boswell, Brady (PA), Braley (IA), Corrine Brown, Butterfield, Cao, Capps, Capuano, Cardoza, Carnahan, Carney, Carson (IN), Castor (FL), Chu, Clarke, Clay, Cleaver, Clyburn, Cohen, Connolly (VA), Conyers, Cooper, Costa, Costello, Courtney, Crowley, Cuellar, Cummings, Dahlkemper, Davis (CA), Davis (IL), DeFazio, DeGette, Delahunt, DeLauro, Dicks, Dingell, Doggett, Donnelly (IN), Doyle, Driehaus, Edwards (MD), Ellison, Ellsworth, Engel, Eshoo, Etheridge, Farr, Fattah, Filner, Foster, Frank (MA), Fudge, GARAMENDI, Giffords, Gonzalez, Grayson, Al Green, Gene Green, Grijalva, Gutierrez, Hall (NY), Halvorson, Hare, Harman, Hastings (FL), Heinrich, Higgins, Hill, Himes, Hinchey, Hinojosa, Hirono, Hodes, Holt, Honda, Hoyer, Inslee, Israel, Jackson (IL), Jackson-Lee (TX), Johnson (GA), E.B. Johnson, Kagen, Kanjorski, Kaptur, Kennedy, Kildee, Kilpatrick (MI), Kilroy, Kind, Kirkpatrick (AZ), Klein (FL), Langevin, Larsen (WA), Larson (CT), Lee (CA), Levin, Lewis (GA), Lipinski, Loebsack, Zoe Lofgren, Lowey, Lujan, Lynch, Maffei, Maloney, Markey (MA), Matsui, McCarthy (NY), McCollum, McDermott, McGovern, McNerney, Meek (FL), Meeks (NY), Michaud, Miller (NC), George Miller, Mitchell, Mollohan, Moore (KS), Moore (WI), Moran (VA), Murphy (CT), Patrick Murphy, Murtha, Nadler (NY), Napolitano, Neal (MA), Oberstar, Obey, Olver, Ortiz, OWENS, Pallone, Pascrell, Pastor (AZ), Payne, Pelosi, Perlmutter, Perriello, Peters, Pingree (ME), Polis (CO), Pomeroy, Price (NC), Quigley, Rahall, Rangel, Reyes, Richardson, Rodriguez, Rothman (NJ), Roybal-Allard, Ruppersberger, Rush, Ryan (OH), Salazar, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Sarbanes, Schakowsky, Schauer, Schiff, Schrader, Schwartz, Scott (GA), Scott (VA), Serrano, Sestak, Shea-Porter, Sherman, Sires, Slaughter, Smith (WA), Snyder, Space, Speier, Spratt, Stark, Stupak, Sutton, Thompson (CA), Thompson (MS), Tierney, Titus, Tonko, Towns, Tsongas, VanHollen, Velazquez, Visclosky, Walz, Wasserman-Schultz, Waters, Watson, Watt, Waxman, Weiner, Welch, Wexler, Wilson (OH), Woolsey, Wu, Yarmuth

Permission granted to quote with attribution. Reproduction rights granted only by express authorization.