Life Advocacy Briefing

Winning with Life

LIFE ADVOCACY WILL OFFER our strategic communication seminar, Winning with Life, on Saturday, June 19, 10 a.m. at 909 E. Rand Road, Arlington Heights, Illinois. Designed for pro-life candidates and officials, the six-hour session is useful, too, for pro-life citizens who wish to equip themselves for more effective communication on Life issues and who wish to better grasp the challenges faced by those who seek their votes and volunteer hours.

Winning with Life is presented by former Illinois State Rep. Penny Pullen, currently the president of Life Advocacy and editor of Life Advocacy Briefing, and by Kevin Burnette, marketing and campaign communication strategist based in Texas. A $40 registration fee includes lunch and a comprehensive Reference Manual in addition to the presentation and discussion of Life Advocacy’s unconventional, practical pro-life communication strategy, Participation may be reserved by phoning 888/344-LIFE or via the Internet website www.LifeAdvocacy.com, following the link to “Donations” and completing the information to submit name, address, phone number, e-mail address and a $40 secure credit card payment, noting “seminar” in the “comments” box.

Speaking Truth Truly

FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL PRESIDENT TONY PERKINS, in his May 27 Washington Update, helpfully dissects the impact of word choice in polling questions. Noting a recent Gallup Poll finding, he writes, “Abortion is viewed as morally wrong by 50% of Americans with only 38% saying it’s acceptable.”

“This poll,” he writes, “shows how important it is to frame issues properly. For example,” notes Mr. Perkins, “Gallup asks if ‘cloning humans’ is morally acceptable or not. Framed that way, fully 88% of Americans say no.

“The poll then asks,” he writes, “if ‘medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos’ is okay. 59% go along with this; only 32% oppose.

“What if Gallup were to ask the question this way,” asks Mr. Perkins. “‘Is it morally acceptable or not to kill embryonic human beings to obtain their stem cells?’ Wouldn’t this greatly change the poll’s response?”

His insightful observation invites us to add our own, related, observation: Wouldn’t the pro-life cause be further ahead on legislation curbing embryo experimentation if we used morally descriptive language in defining the issue instead of constantly using the terminology of the Nazistic scientists, calling their practice “stem cell research” or even “embryonic stem cell research?” The term research applies to valid scientific exploration, not to the anti-ethical experimentation being indulged in our situation-ethics driven public policies of today. A heartfelt and head-engaged revisit to Nuremberg would be a healthy approach for the pro-life/pro-ethics movement to take.

Surge in Voter Support for Repealing ObamaCare

VOTERS IN THE U.S. ARE NOT ACCEPTING THEIR FATE in being subjected to the takeover of the nation’s healthcare system set up by ObamaCare.

Quite the contrary, according to findings of a Rasmussen Reports (RR) survey released last Monday.

“Support for repeal of the new national healthcare plan has jumped to its highest level ever,” reports Rasmussen. “A new RR national telephone survey finds that 63% of US voters now favor repeal of the plan passed by Congressional Democrats and signed into law by Pres. Obama in March.”

The RR summary notes weekly polling previously “had shown support for repeal ranging from 54% to 58%.”

Surge in California Primary Race

SOMETHING SURPRISING IS GOING ON IN CALIFORNIA. A former chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard has surged to first-place in the public opinion polls leading up to the June 8 GOP primary in the race for the US Senate nomination to challenge Sen. Barbara Boxer (D), who can easily be characterized as the most determined and outspoken abortion advocate in the Senate.

The surprise: This business leader is a woman. She’s surged ahead of a veteran former congressman. And she’s pro-life.

Among three principal candidates for the Senate nomination, Carly Fiorina is the only woman. Her reputation has been built principally on her business career, and, of course, California’s fiscal precipice, weakened jobs climate and immigration battles are the chief issues. But, setting her apart from many business-oriented candidates, Carly Fiorina declares on her campaign website: “Carly is Pro-Life. Carly believes that life begins at conception; she is pro-life. She earned an ‘A’ rating from the National Right to Life Committee and has been backed by the committee’s California affiliate, the California Pro-Life Council. Carly has also earned the endorsement of the Susan B. Anthony List, a national pro-life political action committee.”

A Survey USA poll, reports LifeSiteNews.com, “shows that [Mrs.] Fiorina has doubled her number of GOP supporters in the race, from 24%, to capture the lead with 46%. … Another poll by Public Policy Polling (PPP) released [last] Tuesday also shows [Mrs.] Fiorina having surged into the lead with 41%, with [ex-Rep.] Tom Campbell now taking second place at 21% … .”

The PPP survey found, reports LifeSiteNews, “that [Mrs.] Fiorina is now polling over both [her GOP opponents] as having a better chance at beating [Sen.] Boxer.”

No Choice

A HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONWHICH FOCUSES ON RED CHINA, China Aid, will present a lunchtime panel discussion tomorrow (Tuesday, June 1) from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. on Capitol Hill in Room B-340 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Participants will discuss “No Choice Allowed: China’s Hollow Celebration of International Children’s Day.” The Beijing regime is notorious for its brutal depopulation pogrom and its enforcement through forced abortion and involuntary sterilization.

Reservations are requested via phone to Jenny McCloy at 1-202/213-0506 or via electronic mail at [email protected].

Drama in Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA LAWMAKERS WERE LOCKED IN BATTLE with Gov. Brad Henry (D) at our press time, striving to override his latest veto of pro-life legislation. “Anti-abortion Democrats in the House and Senate have joined with Republicans,” reports Sean Murphy for the Associated Press (AP), “to override [Mr.] Henry’s three previous vetoes” of pro-life bills. One of those overrides occurred early last week, on legislation which, according to Peter J. Smith for LifeSiteNews.com, “would require that abortionists fill out 37 questions reporting information on abortion procedures and medical saftey protocols and ask their clients for the reasons they were seeking abortion.” The resulting statistics, according to the new law, would be available to the public via the Internet.

The abortion drama continued late Wednesday night, just days before the legislature’s scheduled adjournment, when Gov. Henry vetoed “a measure that would prohibit health insurance providers in Oklahoma from subsidizing elective abortions,” reports Mr. Smith.

Spurred by concerns about ObamaCare’s subsidization of abortions and its impact on the states, the House and Senate, on better than two-thirds-majority roll calls, sent to the governor legislation which would exclude abortion coverage in the state health exchange which ObamaCare mandates be established by 2014. But it goes further, applying even to plans which are not administered or subsidized by the state.

“The legislation states,” reports Mr. Smith: “‘No health plan, including health insurance contracts, plans or policies, offered outside of the state Exchange but within the state, shall provide coverage for elective abortions.’” Unfortunately, the term “elective” explicitly excludes abortions intended to kill babies conceived in the course of a sex crime, a concession based on situation ethics and detrimental to the goals of justice and mercy in the law.

Ironically, Gov. Henry hooked his veto to the wording of the “rape/incest exception,” complaining, reports AP, “the legislation would punish victims of rape or incest by prohibiting insurance coverage for an abortion if they did not report the crime within a certain time period,” a provision inserted in an attempt to limit application of the exception to actual cases of sexual assault. “‘Rape and incest victims should be treated with dignity and respect,’” wrote the governor, reported by AP, “‘not subjected to a state-imposed catch-22 that denies them insurance coverage at such a critical time.’”

The proposal does not impair individual contractual action, as it specifies, reports Mr. Smith, “that individuals can purchase ‘separate supplemental coverage for abortion’ but that such coverage must require that the individual pays a separate premium.” That provision should make such legislation very difficult to overcome in court, despite the governor’s claim, quoted by AP, that the legislation “‘creates an unconstitutional barrier to legal medical treatment protected by this nation’s highest court.’” The governor further complained, reports AP, the legislation would “‘result in an expensive lawsuit and potentially futile legal battle for the state.’” Perhaps Mr. Henry should make his appeal for restraint to his friends in the abortion litigation lobby.

The veto override was expected in the House, which initially advanced the measure on a roll call of 70 to 21. But the initial Senate vote margin, 32 to 13, meant all 32 Senate backers would have to vote “yes” again on the override in order for the measure to become law.

Putting ObamaCare on the Ballot

OFFERING VOTERS THE OPPORTUNITY to bypass their governor and block the ObamaCare insurance mandate in their state, the Oklahoma House and Senate have adopted a joint resolution submitting a proposed state constitutional amendment to the voters this November. (The governor has no power to intervene in a legislatively initiated state constitutional amendment referendum.)

With a bipartisan vote of 88 to 9, the Oklahoma House agreed with the Senate, which had already advanced SJR-59, reports Peter J. Smith for LifeSiteNews.com, “to vote up or down a state constitutional amendment that would prohibit ‘forced participation in a healthcare system’ and allow individuals to pay directly for health services and carry private health insurance.”

Mr. Smith quotes the resolution’s House sponsor, GOP Rep. Mike Thompson: “‘This constitutional amendment will provide Oklahomans with a powerful legal protection against the federal government’s attempt to insert itself into everyday decisions that affect their finances and health.’ … He said,” writes Mr. Smith, “that legislators were ‘adamant’ that Oklahomans have an opportunity to reject a federal takeover of their health care. ‘States have the authority,’” he said, “‘to protect the liberty of their citizens. … Clearly, a close, functional relationship between doctors and their patients is preferable to one dictated by the federal government.’”

Gov. Brad Henry (D) “condemned the passage” of the amendment proposal, writes Mr. Smith. He had earlier vetoed a legislative bill for a law to accomplish the protection. When the override of his veto fell short, lawmakers moved ahead on the referendum proposition, permitting voters to have the last word.

Getting Ready

WHEN A NEW LEGISLATURE & NEW GOVERNOR TAKE OFFICE next January in Wisconsin, they will be presented with petitions signed by their citizens urging them to opt Wisconsin out of the coverage of abortion in state health “exchanges” mandated by ObamaCare. The federal legislation has a provision graciously permitting states to protect their taxpayers from being forced to cover abortion in the state-governed “exchanges.”

For Wisconsin and several other states, January 2011 will be the state government’s first opportunity to take the protective action. Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL) last week announced “a massive campaign” to gather petition signatures to that effect. The petition can be viewed at the group’s Internet website at www.wrtl.org/petition.

Said WRTL legislative director Susan Armacost: “While state legislation cannot correct all of the abhorrent federal abortion provisions, we do have the ability to make sure that the state-based insurance exchanges are not spending tax dollars to subsidize abortions.”

Setback for Planned Parenthood?

A COUNTY JUDGE IN ILLINOIS HAS REJECTED a motion by Planned Parenthood to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Thomas More Society attorneys against the citing of a PP megabortuary in the Chicago suburb of Aurora.

The suit is based on Aurora’s zoning ordinance, charging that the PP shop violates the ordinance and that the town’s zoning board “blatantly ignored the violation,” reports James Tillman for LifeSiteNews.com, who notes that the judge dismissed several of the defendants, including PP’s CEO, but focuses the case against the zoning board and the Aurora building code board.

“PP had begun furtively constructing the abortuary by using the name of a front corporation called Gemini Office Development,” reports Mr. Tillman. In so doing, PP “prevented Aurora residents from objecting to the construction of the clinic. A pro-life construction worker’s suspicions were raised only after noticing the bulletproof glass and surgical equipment that were being installed,” reports Mr. Tillman. Once tipped off, area pro-life citizens and neighbors offended by the planned purpose began a sustained series of massive protests and complaints to Aurora’s officials. The PP facility, however, was allowed to open and is now the death chamber of growing numbers of vulnerable babies.

Gratitude

May 28, 2010, BreakPoint with Chuck Colson, copyright Prison Fellowship Ministries

This Memorial Day, reflect with me on how we should respond to the enormous sacrifices of our men and women in uniform.

Memorial Day is when we honor the men and women of our Armed Services who have made “the supreme sacrifice,” who gave their lives for their country.

Especially these days, when Memorial Day seems nothing more than a time for cookouts and swim parties, we cannot be reminded often enough about how great a debt we owe our war dead.

They gave up their hopes and dreams, families and friends. They submitted themselves to rigorous discipline – something I understand as a former Marine – 24-hour-a-day duty, and placed their lives in great peril. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

Their sacrifice should inspire in us a profound sense of gratitude. Gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy, bought with a price. And that gratitude should compel us to lives of service as well. Serving Christ, our neighbor and yes, our nation.

… And Memorial Day is a great time for each of us to look into the mirror – to examine our own lives. Are we living good lives in gratitude for all those who have sacrificed for us – including our men and women in the military, our families, our friends and, most of all, Christ? … Are we, out of gratitude, doing our duty for Christ, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, ministering to those in prison, in whatever harvest field to which the Lord has called us?

Examine your life. And this Memorial Day, at the very least, thank those who have sacrificed for you and those you know who have served in our nation’s armed forces. Maybe you’ll do what I do when you see a guy or gal in uniform – at the airport, at the store, wherever – walk up to them and thank them for their service. And then go and remember Whom it is you serve.

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