Life Advocacy Briefing

Major Pro-Life Bill Moves from House Committee

THE ‘D.C. PAIN CAPABLE CHILD PROTECTION ACT’ WAS REPORTED favorably by the House Committee on the Judiciary last Wednesday on a vote of 18 to 14.

Readers are asked to contact their Representatives to request them to ask Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to bring HR-3803 to a vote in the full House before recessing for the August break. Members may be reached via the Capitol switchboard at 1-202/224-3121; calls to their district offices are also helpful.

The bill was submitted by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) and boasts 215 co-sponsors, whose names we publish near the end of this Life Advocacy Briefing; these Members should be thanked for their leadership. The same measure was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) as S-2103; it has 29 co-sponsors and is under control of the Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs.

The legislation would bar abortions in the District of Columbia of babies whose gestational age is believed to be at least 20 weeks, the point at which medical experts have testified a developing baby can experience pain. The Constitution gives Congress authority to govern the policies as well as the budget of the nation’s capital district, though liberal politicians continually clamor for DC autonomy.

The proposal is a major agenda item this year for those who embrace justice and mercy in our laws.

Public Backs D.C. Late-Term Ban

THE RESULTS ARE IN from a poll conducted by The Polling Company, Inc./WomanTrend for National Right to Life Committee (NRL).

“By more than a two-to-one margin (58-27%),” NRL has announced in a news release, “American adults, once informed of the current abortion policy in the nation’s capital – legal abortion for any reason until birth – would be more likely to vote for lawmakers who support a pending bill that would not permit abortion in the District of Columbia after 22 weeks of pregnancy (20 weeks after fertilization), except to save a mother’s life.”

The NRL release quotes Douglas Johnson, the organization’s legislative director: “A vote against this bill amounts to a vote to ratify the extreme policy currently in effect in the nation’s capital, where abortion is completely legal for any reason until the moment of birth. Under the Constitution,” he said, “Members of Congress and the President are ultimately accountable for this extreme policy.”

In addition to the “late-term” question cited above, the poll also presented a question related to the pain experienced by a 20-plus-week-old preborn baby, the basis on which the late-term DC ban is being sought. The question: “Unless an abortion is necessary to save a mother’s life, do you think abortion should be permitted after the point where substantial medical evidence says that the unborn child can feel pain?” The response: 63% (70% of women, 55% of male respondents) said “no, abortion should not be permitted” in such a circumstance; only 21% (18% of women, 25% of men) said “yes, abortion should be permitted.”

House Co-Sponsors of D.C. Late-Term Abortion Ban

With Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), Republican Representatives Aderholt, Bachus, Bonner, Brooks, Roby & Rogers (AL); Young (AK); Flake, Gosar, Quayle & Schweikert (AZ); Crawford, Griffin & Womack (AR); Calvert, Campbell, Denham, Gallegly, Herger, Hunter, Issa, Lewis, Lungren, McClintock, Miller, Nunes, Rohrabacher & Royce (CA); Coffman, Gardner & Lamborn (CO); Adams, Bilirakis, Buchanan, Crenshaw, Diaz-Balart, Mica, Miller, Nugent, Posey, Rivera, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross, Southerland, Stearns, West & Young (FL); Broun, Gingrey, Graves, Kingston, Price, Scott, Westmoreland & Woodall (GA); Labrador & Simpson (ID); Hultgren, Kinzinger, Manzullo, Roskam, Schilling, Shock, Shimkus & Walsh (IL); Bucshon, Burton, Pence, Rokita, Stutzman & Young (IN); King & Latham (IA); Huelskamp, Jenkins, Pompeo & Yoder (KS); Davis, Guthrie, Rogers & Whitfield (KY); Alexander, Boustany, Cassidy, Fleming, Landry & Scalise (LA); Bartlett & Harris (MD); Amash, Benishek, Camp, Huizenga, [McCotter], Miller, Rogers, Upton & Walberg (MI); Bachmann, Cravaack, Kline & Paulsen (MN); Harper, Nunnelee & Palazzo (MS);

Also GOP Representatives Akin, Emerson, Graves, Hartzler, Long & Luetkemeyer (MO); Rehberg (MT); Fortenberry, Smith & Terry (NE); Amodei & Heck (NV); Guinta (NH); Garrett, Lance & Smith (NJ); Pearce (NM); Buerkle, Griffith, King, Reed & Turner (NY); Coble, Ellmers, Foxx, Jones, McHenry & Myrick (NC); Berg (ND); Austria, Chabot, Gibbs, Johnson, Jordan, LaTourette, Latta, Renacci, Schmidt, Stivers, Tiberi & Turner (OH); Cole, Lankford, Lucas & Sullivan (OK); Barletta, Gerlach, Kelly, Marino, Murphy, Pitts, Platts, Shuster & Thompson (PA); Duncan, Gowdy, Mulvaney, Scott & Wilson (SC); Noem (SD); Black, Blackburn, Duncan, Fincher, Fleischmann & Roe (TN); Barton, Brady, Burgess, Canseco, Carter, Conaway, Culberson, Farenthold, Flores, Gohmert, Hall, Hensarling, Johnson, Marchant, McCaul, Neugebauer, Olson, Poe, Sessions, Smith & Thornberry (TX); Bishop & Chaffetz (UT); Forbes, Goodlatte, Hurt, Rigell, Wittman & Wolf (VA); McMorris-Rodgers (WA); McKinley & Rahall (WV); Duffy, Petri, Ribble, Ryan & Sensenbrenner (WI); Lummis (WY). [Mr. McCotter of Michigan has resigned.]

And Democratic Representatives Costello & Lipinski (IL); Peterson (MN); McIntyre (NC); Boren (OK).

The Law Means What It Says

BUREAUCRATS ARE TAKING THE LAW INTO THEIR OWN HANDS when it comes to implementing Virginia’s new abortion clinic regulation statute.

Though the State Board of Healing Arts was warned by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli that they had no authority to exempt existing abortuaries from the new clinic regs law, the Board has advised abortion shops in the Commonwealth that they must comply with new regulations concerning records but, writes Karla Dial for CitizenLink.com, that “they don’t have to renovate their buildings in an effort to comply.”

The Attorney General’s office, to which the Board’s regulations are submitted for certification, is refusing to go along, telling the Board in what Ms. Dial calls “a terse letter:” The Board does not have the statutory authority to adopt these regulations” modifying the clear intent of the legislature. “‘The Board has exceeded its authority,’” the letter continued, quoted by Ms. Dial. “‘Thus, this office cannot certify these regulations.’”

The issue is now in the purview of Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), who, according to Ms. Dial, “is not bound by the attorney general’s opinion. He could choose to certify [the regulations],” reports CitizenLink, “or send them back to the Board of Health with recommended changes.”

Changing them to reflect the actual statute would most certainly be a good idea. The exemptions being offered are to requirements for such outpatient surgery standards, reports Ms. Dial, as “the size of exam rooms [and] the width of hallways.”

Notes Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia, quoted by Ms. Dial, “The regulations were not politically motivated when the legislature drafted them. ‘Requiring that Virginia’s abortion centers have adequate facilities for emergency personnel to enter with emergency equipment necessary to transport patients to hospitals is simply a matter of caring about the health of women,’ she said. ‘It is sad that the abortion industry is more concerned about their profits than they are about the health of women … .’”

Sad and dangerous. It was little more than a year ago that the citizens of Pennsylvania were shocked to learn that responsible state bureaucrats – and the then Governor – had decided some 17 years before to stop inspecting abortuaries in the interest of currying political favor with the abortion industry. That laxity led to the West Philadelphia “house of horrors” from which abortionist Kermit Gosnell ran drugs and butchered born-alive babies as well as harming their mothers.

This, Gov. McDonnell, is no time to coddle the abortion industry. If the regulations cost them time and money, so be it. The law is supposed to be about protecting lives, and the legislature’s clear intent is to protect mothers – even those who are aborting their children – from abortion profiteers whose wallets trump health and safety.

Chilling

A FEDERAL DISTRICT JUDGE HAS WRITTEN HIS OWN EXEMPTION from Mississippi’s new abortion clinic regulations.

Judge Daniel Jordan III ruled July 13 that Mississippi could enforce its new law, reports Ben Johnson for LifeSiteNews.com, which requires “all abortionists to have admitting privileges at a local hospital in case of complications.”

But, the judge further directed state officials, reports Mr. Johnson, “to give out-of-state abortionists at Jackson Women’s Health Organization more time to see if they can gain such access” to admitting privileges. JWHO is the state’s only remaining abortuary and employs only out-of-state abortionists.

Here are the brilliant words penned by Judge Jordan, quoted by Mr. Johnson, “‘The Act will be allowed to take effect,’” he ruled, “‘but plaintiffs will not be subject to the risk of criminal or civil penalties at this time or in the future for operating without the relevant privileges,’ because the [law] would do ‘irreparable harm’ to the clinic – and that,” writes Mr. Johnson, “would make it hard for Mississippi women to obtain an abortion. …

“He worried,” writes Mr. Johnson, “allowing penalties would have ‘a chilling effect’ on the clinic workers’ willingness to continue offering the procedure.” Tut-tut.

“‘The judge has proposed a new legal doctrine,’” declared Operation Rescue (OR) president Troy Newman, quoted by LifeSiteNews: “‘A dangerous abortion clinic is better than no abortion clinic. … If a clinic has unsafe operations that endanger patients and violate the law,’” added Mr. Newman, “‘then it makes no good sense to keep it open.’”

Mr. Newman further said, in an OR news release, “It is reprehensible that the JWHO should be allowed to continue to endanger the lives and health of women simply because it is the last abortion clinic in Mississippi. Women deserve better than to have the court ignore serious health risks inflicted upon them by fly-by-night abortionists who swoop into Mississippi from out of state, only to leave the matter of complications to emergency room staff that have to figure out on their own what happened.”

Said Tanya Britton, spokesman for Pro-Life Mississippi, quoted by Associated Press (AP) writer Emily Wagster Pettus in a story reprinted by OneNewsNow.com, “‘It’s not a victory for the women of the state of Mississippi. This law was always about their health. If a woman is going to have an abortion,’” she said, “‘and if people who perform abortions say they really care about the health of women, then they should want the best standard of care.’” Right.

The Motion to Recommit ObamaCare Repeal

WE PUBLISH BELOW the House voting record on the motion to recommit the ObamaCare repeal bill to committee “with instructions.” This is one of three procedural roll calls which we plan to publish to give our readers a complete record of the votes on ObamaCare repeal, which passed the House earlier this month after the procedural motions were disposed of; space considerations prevented our publishing them all along with last week’s voting record on final passage; we will continue to publish them in future editions. (Some Members may vote on final passage in accord with their assessment of their constituents’ views but side with their party leadership on lesser noticed procedural votes.)

Rather than simply reporting the “motion to recommit” as one of three procedural motions, we wish our readers to take note of the substantive element in this motion. It is a particularly nasty partisan ploy, characteristic, we believe, of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s style. The “recommit” motion included an “instruction” to the committee to which the bill was being returned, directing the committee – as the will of the House – to add a provision barring from the Congressional health benefits plan any Member who voted for ObamaCare repeal.

Perhaps it was the mean-spirited nature of the motion which prompted some House Democrats to vote “no” on this motion even while intending to vote against the repeal bill itself. Of the four roll calls related to this measure, the one on the motion to recommit was the most lopsided, with the fewest Democrats voting with the SanFrancisco Democrat who is their Leader.

Quoteworthy

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), quoted by Robert Costa in National Review Online’s The Corner blog, July 3, 2012: “Repeal of ObamaCare will be the first item up in the Senate if I am majority leader [after the 2012 election]. If we have a President who will sign the [repeal] bill, we will do everything we can to get it off the books, and we’ll be looking for every angle that could be pursued. … In my view, it is the single worst piece of legislation that has been passed in modern times … . Just because the Supreme Court has decided it is constitutional doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.”

House Voting Record

HR-6079 – ObamaCare Repeal – Motion to Recommit to Committee (thwarting passage) Failed – July 11, 2012 – 180-248 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “no”/pro-life: Aderholt, Bachus, Brooks, Roby, Rogers (AL); Young (AK); Flake, Franks, Gosar, Quayle, Schweikert (AZ); Crawford, Griffin, Ross, Womack (AR); Bilbray, Bono-Mack, Calvert, Campbell, Denham, Dreier, Gallegly, Herger, Hunter, Issa, Lewis, Lungren, McCarthy, McClintock, McKeon, Gary Miller, Nunes, Rohrabacher, Royce (CA); Coffman, Gardner, Lamborn, Tipton (CO); Adams, Bilirakis, Buchanan, Crenshaw, Diaz-Balart, Mack, Mica, Miller, Nugent, Posey, Rivera, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross, Southerland, Stearns, Webster, West, Young (FL); Barrow, Broun, Gingrey, Graves, Kingston, Price, Austin Scott, Westmoreland, Woodall (GA); Labrador, Simpson (ID); Biggert, Dold, Hultgren, Johnson, Kinzinger, Manzullo, Roskam, Schilling, Schock, Shimkus, Walsh (IL); Bucshon, Burton, Pence, Rokita, Stutzman, Young (IN); King, Latham (IA); Huelskamp, Jenkins, Pompeo, Yoder (KS); Davis, Guthrie, Rogers, Whitfield (KY); Alexander, Boustany, Cassidy, Fleming, Landry, Scalise (LA); Bartlett, Harris, Hoyer (MD); Amash, Benishek, Camp, Huizenga, Miller, Rogers, Upton, Walberg (MI); Bachmann, Cravaack, Kline, Paulsen (MN); Harper, Nunnelee, Palazzo (MS); Akin, Emerson, Graves, Hartzler, Long, Luetkemeyer (MO); Rehberg (MT); Fortenberry, Smith, Terry (NE); Amodei, Heck (NV); Bass, Guinta (NH); Frelinghuysen, Garrett, Lance, LoBiondo, Runyan, Smith (NJ); Pearce (NM); Buerkle, Gibson, Grimm, Hanna, Hayworth, King, Reed, Turner (NY); Coble, Ellmers, Foxx, Jones, Kissell, McHenry, Myrick, Shuler (NC); Berg (ND); Austria, Chabot, Gibbs, Johnson, Jordan, LaTourette, Latta, Renacci, Schmidt, Stivers, Tiberi, Turner (OH); Boren, Cole, Lankford, Lucas, Sullivan (OK); Walden (OR); Barletta, Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Kelly, Marino, Meehan, Murphy, Pitts, Platts, Shuster, Thompson (PA); Duncan, Gowdy, Mulvaney, Scott, Wilson (SC); Noem (SD); Black, Blackburn, Cohen, DesJarlais, Duncan, Fincher, Fleischmann, Roe (TN); Barton, Brady, Burgess, Canseco, Carter, Conaway, Culberson, Farenthold, Flores, Gohmert, Granger, Hall, Hensarling, Sam Johnson, Marchant, McCaul, Neugebauer, Olson, Paul, Poe, Sessions, Smith, Thornberry (TX); Bishop, Chaffetz, Matheson (UT); Cantor, Forbes, Goodlatte, Griffith, Hurt, Rigell, Wittman, Wolf (VA); Hastings, Herrera-Beutler, McMorris-Rodgers, Reichert, Smith (WA); Capito, McKinley (WV); Duffy, Petri, Ribble, Ryan, Sensenbrenner (WI); Lummis (WY).

Voting “yes”/anti-Life: Sewell (AL); BARBER, Grijalva, Pastor (AZ); Baca, Bass, Becerra, Berman, Capps, Cardoza, Chu, Costa, Davis, Eshoo, Farr, Filner, Garamendi, Hahn, Honda, Lee, Lofgren, Matsui, McNerney, George Miller, Napolitano, Pelosi, Richardson, Roybal-Allard, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Speier, Stark, Thompson, Waters, Waxman, Woolsey (CA); DeGette, Perlmutter, Polis (CO); Courtney, DeLauro, Himes, Larson, Murphy (CT); Carney (DE); Brown, Castor, Deutch, Hastings, Wasserman–Schultz, Wilson (FL); Bishop, Johnson, Lewis, David Scott (GA); Hanabusa, Hirono (HI); Costello, Davis, Gutierrez, Lipinski, Quigley, Rush, Schakowsky (IL); Carson, Donnelly, Visclosky (IN); Boswell, Braley, Loebsack (IA); Yarmuth (KY); Richmond (LA); Michaud, Pingree (ME); Cummings, Edwards, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes (MD); Capuano, Frank, Keating, Lynch, Markey, McGovern, Neal, Olver, Tierney, Tsongas (MA); Clarke, Conyers, Dingell, Kildee, Levin, Peters (MI); Ellison, McCollum, Peterson, Walz (MN); Thompson (MS); Carnahan, Clay, Cleaver (MO); Berkley (NV); Andrews, Holt, Pallone, Pascrell, Rothman, Sires (NJ); Heinrich, Lujan (NM); Ackerman, Bishop, Clarke, Crowley, Engel, Higgins, Hinchey, Hochul, Israel, Lowey, Maloney, McCarthy, Meeks, Nadler, Owens, Rangel, Serrano, Slaughter, Tonko, Towns, Velazquez (NY); Butterfield, McIntyre, Miller, Price, Watt (NC); Fudge, Kaptur, Kucinich, Ryan, Sutton (OH); Blumenauer, Bonamici, DeFazio, Schrader (OR); Altmire, Brady, Critz, Doyle, Fattah, Holden, Schwartz (PA); Cicilline, Langevin (RI); Clyburn (SC); Cooper (TN); Cuellar, Doggett, Gonzalez, Al Green, Gene Green, Hinojosa, Jackson-Lee, E.B. Johnson, Reyes (TX); Welch (VT); Connolly, Moran, Scott (VA); Dicks, Larsen, McDermott (WA); Chandler, Rahall (WV); Baldwin, Kind, Moore (WI).

Not Voting: Bonner (AL); Jackson (IL); VanHollen (MD); Boehner (OH).