Life Advocacy Briefing

Long-standing Protections Restored, for Now

WHEN THE U.S. HOUSE PASSED THE CONTINUING RESOLUTION (CR)last Friday to extend beyond March 5 the appropriations for the 2011 Fiscal Year, pro-life America scored several victories all at once.

Within the legislation – needed because the previous Congress had passed only temporary spending bills and had refused to enact the annual spending measures necessary to operate the federal government – were provisions restoring pro-life policies sacked and burned over the past two years by the Obama Regime and its Congressional fellow travelers.

The House-passed CR (HR-1) reinstates the long-standing ban on all taxpayer funding for elective abortions in the District of Columbia and reinstates Pres. Ronald Reagan’s Mexico City Policy barring tax dollars to nongovernmental organizations which commit abortions or lobby for abortion decriminalization in foreign countries.

The CR also eliminates funding for the Title X (Ten) “family planning” program through which Planned Parenthood derives hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, wipes out funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and reduces funding for international population control and family planning.

The House vote on sending the CR to the Senate was 235 to 189. We publish the roll call near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing. We plan also to publish the roll call on a procedural motion (motion to recommit), by which opponents sought to block passage of HR-1; that voting record will come when space permits, hopefully next week.

Pence Amendment Flies!

ONE OF THE MOST HOTLY CONTESTED AMENDMENTS to the Continuing Resolution was offered by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) and adopted Thursday on a stunning vote of 240 to 185.

The Pence Amendment singled out Planned Parenthood, which receives more than $350 million through various federal government programs, barred funding to Planned Parenthood Federation of America and delineated every PP affiliate in the country to disqualify them – by name – from funding as well.

Debate on the Pence Amendment stretched well over three hours and brought out everything from the ghoulishness of various methods of abortion to the complicity of PP in such outrageous crimes as sex trafficking. It was a fine “teaching moment” for those Americans who watch the Congressional debate on C-SPAN television, and the speeches are all published in the Congressional Record.

We publish the roll call near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing, noting a smattering of Republicans voting with Planned Parenthood against the Pence Amendment and a small number of Democrats voting with Rep. Pence to defund the abortion behemoth.

Incidentally, the subject matter of the Pence Amendment is found also in a bill, HR-217, which can still move through the legislative process regardless of whether the Pence Amendment to the CR survives House negotiations with the Senate over the final language of HR-1.

Two More Reforms Sought but Dropped

TWO FURTHER AMENDMENTS TO STRENGTHEN THE C.R. did not move forward.

Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH) filed an amendment but dropped it when he learned it would have been subject to a parliamentary maneuver which would have clouded the roll call with unrelated controversy. His amendment would have barred the federal government from spending any taxpayer money on international family planning, population control measures or “reproductive health.” The CR as drafted does provide for cuts in those arenas. We thank Rep. Latta and encourage budget framers to pick up his reform when drafting the Fiscal Year 2012 budget.

An amendment by Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), a medical doctor, would have blocked ongoing Obama Regime attempts to water down or repeal conscience protections for medical providers promulgated in 2008 through the personal leadership of then-Secretary of Health & Human Services Mike Leavitt. While the CR was under debate in the House, the Obama Regime moved forward their new regulations gutting the Leavitt Conscience Rules, and Dr. Fleming withdrew his amendment. Under the circumstances, the Fleming Amendment would have sealed in place the new, watered down conscience rules rather than blocking their adoption. We thank Rep. Fleming for his intentions and his quick action and encourage him to continue pursuing legislation protecting the conscience rights of medical providers, a necessary reform regardless of whether ObamaCare is repealed or invalidated.

Deforms Sought, Too, But Abandoned

SEVERAL ABORTION BACKERS IN THEHOUSE offered their own amendments to HR-1, trying to restore the abortion industry subsidies blocked by the wording of the CR as drafted.

None of the abortion lobby’s amendments wound up going to debate or vote, but their sponsors are worth noting: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), DC Abortion Subsidy continuation; Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), restoration of funding for UNFPA and its $55 million earmark; Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY), restoration of funding for UNFPA but not the earmark, and a second amendment to strike the Mexico City Policy so outfits like International Planned Parenthood could continue receiving US tax dollars, plus a third amendment to strike the Mexico City Policy and bar the administration from reinstating it by executive order; Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), appropriation of $317,491,000 for Title X; and Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL), restoration of the money for Title X and also for some other programs.

House Voting Records

Pence Amendment to HR-1 – Defunding Planned Parenthood Federation of America and each of its affiliates in the Continuing Resolution for Fiscal Year 2011 – Feb. 18, 2011 – Adopted 240 – 185 – 1 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “yes” / pro-Life: AL/Aderholt, Bachus, Bonner, Brooks, Roby, Rogers; AK/Young; AZ/Flake, Franks, Gosar, Schweikert; AR/Crawford, Griffin, Ross, Womack; CA/Bilbray, Calvert, Campbell, Denham, Dreier, Gallegly, Herger, Hunter, Issa, Lewis, Lungren, McCarthy, McClintock, McKeon, Gary Miller, Nunes, Rohrabacher, Royce; CO/Coffman, Gardner, Lamborn, Tipton; FL/Adams, Bilirakis, Buchanan, Crenshaw, Diaz-Balart, Mack, Mica, Miller, Nugent, Posey, Rivera, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross, Southerland, Stearns, Webster, West, Young; GA/Broun, Gingrey, Graves, Kingston, Price, Austin Scott, Westmoreland, Woodall; ID/Labrador, Simpson; IL/Costello, Hultgren, Johnson, Kinzinger, Lipinski, Manzullo, Roskam, Schilling, Schock, Shimkus, Walsh; IN/Bucshon, Burton, Donnelly, Pence, Rokita, Stutzman, Young; IA/King, Latham; KS/Huelskamp, Jenkins, Pompeo, Yoder; KY/Davis, Guthrie, Rogers, Whitfield; LA/Alexander, Boustany, Cassidy, Fleming, Landry, Scalise; MD/Bartlett, Harris; MI/Benishek, Camp, Huizenga, McCotter, Miller, Rogers, Upton, Walberg; MN/Bachmann, Cravaack, Kline, Paulsen, Peterson; MS/Nunnelee, Palazzo; MO/Akin, Emerson, Graves, Hartzler, Long, Luetkemeyer; MT/Rehberg; NE/Fortenberry, Smith, Terry; NV/Heck, Heller; NH/Guinta; NJ/Garrett, Lance, LoBiondo, Runyan, Smith; NY/Buerkle, Gibson, Grimm, Hayworth, King, Reed; NC/Coble, Ellmers, Foxx, Jones, McHenry, McIntyre, Myrick, Shuler; ND/Berg; OH/Austria, Chabot, Gibbs, Johnson, Jordan, LaTourette, Latta, Renacci, Schmidt, Stivers, Tiberi, Turner; OK/Boren, Cole, Lankford, Lucas, Sullivan; OR/Walden; PA/Barletta, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Kelly, Marino, Meehan, Murphy, Pitts, Platts, Shuster, Thompson; SC/Duncan, Gowdy, Mulvaney, Tim Scott, Wilson; SD/Noem; TN/Black, Blackburn, DesJarlais, Duncan, Fincher, Fleischmann, Roe; TX/Barton, Brady, Burgess, Canseco, Carter, Conaway, Culberson, Farenthold, Flores, Gohmert, Granger, Hall, Hensarling, Sam Johnson, Marchant, McCaul, Neugebauer, Olson, Paul, Poe, Reyes, Sessions, Smith, Thornberry; UT/Bishop, Chaffetz; VA/Cantor, Forbes, Goodlatte, Griffith, Hurt, Rigell, Wittman, Wolf; WA/Hastings, Herrera-Beutler, McMorris-Rodgers, Reichert; WV/Capito, McKinley, Rahall; WI/Duffy, Petri, Ribble, Ryan, Sensenbrenner; WY/Lummis.

Voting “no” / anti-Life: AL/Sewell; AZ/Grijalva, Pastor; CA/Baca, Bass, Becerra, Berman, Bono-Mack, Capps, Cardoza, Chu, Costa, Davis, Eshoo, Farr, Filner, Garamendi, Harman, Honda, Lee, Lofgren, Matsui, McNerney, George Miller, Napolitano, Pelosi, Richardson, Roybal-Allard, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Speier, Stark, Thompson, Waters, Waxman, Woolsey; CO/DeGette, Perlmutter, Polis; CT/Courtney, DeLauro, Himes, Larson, Murphy; DE/Carney; FL/Brown, Castor, Deutch, Hastings, Wasserman-Schultz, Wilson; GA/Barrow, Bishop, Johnson, Lewis, David Scott; HI/Hanabusa, Hirono; IL/ Biggert, Davis, Dold, Jackson, Quigley, Rush, Schakowsky; IN/Carson, Visclosky; IA/Boswell, Braley, Loebsack; KY/Chandler, Yarmuth; LA/Richmond; ME/Michaud, Pingree; MD/Cummings, Edwards, Hoyer, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes, VanHollen; MA/Capuano, Frank, Lynch, Markey, McGovern, Neal, Olver, Tierney, Tsongas; MI/Clarke, Conyers, Dingell, Kildee, Levin, Peters; MN/Ellison, Walz; MS/Thompson; MO/Carnahan, Clay, Cleaver; NV/Berkley; NH/Bass; NJ/Andrews, Frelinghuysen, Holt, Pallone, Pascrell, Payne, Rothman, Sires; NM/Heinrich, Lujan; NY/Ackerman, Bishop, Clarke, Crowley, Engel, Hanna, Higgins, Hinchey, Israel, Lowey, Maloney, McCarthy, Meeks, Nadler, Owens, Rangel, Serrano, Slaughter, Tonko, Towns, Velazquez, Weiner; NC/Butterfield, Kissell, Miller, Price, Watt; OH/Fudge, Kaptur, Kucinich, Ryan, Sutton; OR/Blumenauer, DeFazio, Schrader, Wu; PA/Altmire, Brady, Critz, Dent, Doyle, Fattah, Holden, Schwartz; RI/Cicilline, Langevin; SC/Clyburn; TN/Cohen, Cooper; TX/Cuellar, Doggett, Edwards, Gonzalez, Al Green, Gene Green, Jackson-Lee, E.B. Johnson; UT/Matheson; VT/Welch; VA/Connolly, Moran, Scott; WA/Dicks, Inslee, Larsen, McDermott, Smith; WI/Baldwin, Kind, Moore.

Voting “present”: MI/Amash.

Not voting: AZ/Giffords, Quayle; IL/Gutierrez; MA/Keating; MN/McCollum; MS/Harper; OH/Boehner; TX/Hinojosa.

House Passage of HR-1 – The Continuing Resolution for Fiscal Year 2011 appropriations – Feb. 19, 2011 – Adopted 235 – 189 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “yes” / pro-Life*: AL/Aderholt, Bachus, Bonner, Brooks, Roby, Rogers; AK/Young; AZ/Franks, Gosar, Schweikert; AR/Crawford, Griffin, Womack; CA/Bilbray, Bono-Mack, Calvert, Denham, Dreier, Gallegly, Herger, Hunter, Issa, Lewis, Lungren, McCarthy, McClintock, McKeon, Gary Miller, Nunes, Rohrabacher, Royce; CO/Coffman, Gardner, Lamborn, Tipton; FL/Adams, Bilirakis, Buchanan, Crenshaw, Diaz-Balart, Mack, Mica, Miller, Nugent, Posey, Rivera, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross, Southerland, Stearns, Webster, West, Young; GA/Broun, Gingrey, Graves, Kingston, Price, Austin Scott, Westmoreland, Woodall; ID/Labrador, Simpson; IL/ Biggert, Dold, Hultgren, Johnson, Kinzinger, Manzullo, Roskam, Schilling, Schock, Shimkus, Walsh; IN/Bucshon, Burton, Pence, Rokita, Stutzman, Young; IA/King, Latham; KS/Huelskamp, Jenkins, Pompeo, Yoder; KY/Davis, Guthrie, Rogers, Whitfield; LA/Alexander, Boustany, Cassidy, Fleming, Landry, Scalise; MD/Bartlett, Harris; MI/Amash, Benishek, Camp, Huizenga, McCotter, Miller, Rogers, Upton, Walberg; MN/Bachmann, Cravaack, Kline, Paulsen; MS/Harper, Nunnelee, Palazzo; MO/Akin, Emerson, Graves, Hartzler, Long, Luetkemeyer; MT/Rehberg; NE/Fortenberry, Smith, Terry; NV/Heck, Heller; NH/ Bass, Guinta; NJ/Frelinghuysen, Garrett, Lance, LoBiondo, Runyan, Smith; NM/Pearce; NY/Buerkle, Gibson, Grimm, Hanna, Hayworth, King, Reed; NC/Coble, Ellmers, Foxx, McHenry, Myrick; ND/Berg; OH/Austria, Chabot, Gibbs, Johnson, Jordan, LaTourette, Latta, Renacci, Schmidt, Stivers, Tiberi, Turner; OK/Cole, Lankford, Lucas, Sullivan; OR/Walden; PA/Barletta, Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Kelly, Marino, Meehan, Murphy, Pitts, Platts, Shuster, Thompson; SC/Duncan, Gowdy, Mulvaney, Tim Scott, Wilson; SD/Noem; TN/Black, Blackburn, DesJarlais, Duncan, Fincher, Fleischmann, Roe; TX/Barton, Brady, Burgess, Canseco, Carter, Conaway, Culberson, Farenthold, Flores, Gohmert, Granger, Hall, Hensarling, Sam Johnson, Marchant, McCaul, Neugebauer, Olson, Poe, Sessions, Smith, Thornberry; UT/Bishop, Chaffetz; VA/Cantor, Forbes, Goodlatte, Griffith, Hurt, Rigell, Wittman, Wolf; WA/Hastings, Herrera-Beutler, McMorris-Rodgers, Reichert; WV/Capito, McKinley; WI/Duffy, Petri, Ribble, Ryan, Sensenbrenner; WY/Lummis.

Voting “no” / anti-Life*: AL/Sewell; AZ/Flake, Grijalva, Pastor; AR/Ross; CA/Baca, Bass, Becerra, Berman, Campbell, Capps, Cardoza, Chu, Costa, Davis, Eshoo, Farr, Filner, Garamendi, Honda, Lee, Lofgren, Matsui, McNerney, George Miller, Napolitano, Pelosi, Richardson, Roybal-Allard, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Speier, Thompson, Waters, Waxman, Woolsey; CO/DeGette, Perlmutter, Polis; CT/Courtney, DeLauro, Himes, Larson, Murphy; DE/Carney; FL/Brown, Castor, Deutch, Hastings, Wasserman-Schultz; GA/Barrow, Bishop, Johnson, Lewis, David Scott; HI/Hanabusa, Hirono; IL/Costello, Davis, Gutierrez, Jackson, Lipinski, Quigley, Rush, Schakowsky; IN/Carson, Donnelly, Visclosky; IA/Boswell, Braley, Loebsack; KY/Chandler, Yarmuth; LA/Richmond; ME/Michaud, Pingree; MD/Cummings, Edwards, Hoyer, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes, VanHollen; MA/Capuano, Frank, Keating, Lynch, Markey, McGovern, Neal, Olver, Tierney, Tsongas; MI/Clarke, Conyers, Dingell, Kildee, Levin; MN/Ellison, Peterson, Walz; MS/Thompson; MO/Carnahan, Clay, Cleaver; NV/Berkley; NJ/Andrews, Holt, Pallone, Pascrell, Payne, Rothman, Sires; NM/Heinrich, Lujan; NY/Ackerman, Bishop, Clarke, Crowley, Engel, Higgins, Hinchey, Israel, Lowey, Maloney, McCarthy, Meeks, Nadler, Owens, Rangel, Serrano, Slaughter, Tonko, Towns, Velazquez, Weiner; NC/Butterfield, Jones, Kissell, McIntyre, Miller, Price, Shuler, Watt; OH/Fudge, Kaptur, Kucinich, Ryan, Sutton; OK/Boren; OR/Blumenauer, DeFazio, Schrader, Wu; PA/Altmire, Brady, Critz, Doyle, Fattah, Holden, Schwartz; RI/Cicilline, Langevin; SC/Clyburn; TN/Cohen, Cooper; TX/Cuellar, Doggett, Gonzalez, Al Green, Gene Green, Jackson-Lee, E.B. Johnson, Reyes; UT/Matheson; VT/Welch; VA/Connolly, Moran, Scott; WA/Dicks, Inslee, Larsen, McDermott, Smith; WV/Rahall; WI/Baldwin, Kind, Moore.

Not voting: AZ/Giffords, Quayle; CA/Harman, Stark; FL/Wilson; MI/Peters; MN/McCollum; OH/Boehner; TX/Hinojosa, Paul.

*Other issues were involved as well. Some Members, then, may have been voting “yes” or “no” for other reasons or purposes. However, as this proposition was laden with significant pro-life reforms, we characterize the respective votes in our usual style as “pro-Life” or “anti-Life.”

March for Life Speeches

Congressional speeches delivered at the Jan. 24, 2011, March for Life, transcribed by Life Advocacy Briefing from EWTN television coverage; more to follow in future editions.

Majority Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX): There’s a place in Dallas called the Dallas Pregnancy Resource Center. Great ladies counseling unwed mothers. They put little footprints on the bulletin board every time they save a life. Last time I was there, there was 40 or 50 footprints on the bulletin board, and they said, Congressman, We’re going to buy some more bulletin boards. In small ways making a big difference in saving small human lives. Let us all resolve here in a big way to change the hearts and minds of our countrymen. Let them know that Life is a gift of the Creator, that as a matter of constitutional law, as a matter of science, as a matter of faith, there is no more fundamental right than the right to Life. God bless you for what you do today and every day.

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