Life Advocacy Briefing

On Recess

CONGRESS HAS ENTERED ITS ANNUAL AUGUST RECESS, giving citizens many more opportunities to visit personally with their Representatives and Senators “back home” and to remind them of their duty to protect innocent human lives.

Life Advocacy Briefing will not “recess” for the entire month, as timely news continues off Capitol Hill, but we do plan to suspend for the next two weeks, as our editor partakes of family vacation time and some rest during continued recovery. We hope our readers will understand, and we look forward to being back in publication by Aug. 26.

Miracle Baby

WE CANNOT CHEER ANY LOUDER for US Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) and her family, on the news of the blessed birth of her daughter.

Abigail was born at 28 weeks on July 15 and is doing remarkably well, according to a report by Kirsten Andersen in LifeSiteNews.com. We join the Beutler family in referring to Abigail’s life as miraculous, and not alone because of her prematurity.

The Beutler family were offered abortion when doctors discovered the little one was stricken with Potter’s Syndrome, a condition unfamiliar to most of us because there have, before now, been no survivors. Abigail is the first baby ever to survive Potter’s more than a few minutes, and her condition appears to be hopeful beyond these first weeks.

“The Beutlers were told to expect their baby to be stillborn,” writes Ms. Andersen, “or die of suffocation within minutes of birth.” Opting for abortion, she reports, was “something the pro-life couple would not do.” Instead they turned to God and to what became a large following of prayer warriors through postings on Facebook. “‘There is no medical solution available to us,’ the Beutlers wrote on Facebook after the diagnosis,” reports Ms. Andersen. “‘We are praying for a miracle.’”

And the couple went to Johns Hopkins University “for an experimental treatment,” reports Ms. Andersen, “called amnioinfusion. Each week, doctors injected the Congresswoman’s womb with a saline solution, giving little Abigail more room to grow and develop her lungs.” Potter’s Syndrome is “a condition in which the kidneys fail to develop properly, leading to insufficient levels of amniotic fluid to allow the lungs to fully form.”

After just five injections, Rep. Herrera Beutler went into labor, and though doctors worked four days to stem the labor and give Abigail a longer time to mature, the little one was born “weighing just two pounds, two ounces,” writes Ms. Andersen. “Upon her arrival, she took a deep breath and cried,” signaling that she had defied the odds and the expectations of the medical team. “‘After a few minutes, it was clear,’” Rep. Herrera Beutler reported,” writes Ms. Andersen, “‘that her lungs were very well developed for a baby born so early. The infusions had stopped the Potter’s Sequence,’” declared the joyful mother.

The baby is thriving in a newborn intensive care nursery, on dialysis until she can receive a kidney transplant. “But she is, in the Beutlers’ words,” writes Ms. Andersen, “‘active, stable and breathing on her own.’ Doctors believe she is the first patient of her kind to survive.”

In announcing the birth on Facebook just last Monday, the family, writes Ms. Andersen, “thanked their team of doctors as well as the many people who prayed for them. ‘We are grateful to the doctors and nurses … who, like us, were not willing to accept the fatal diagnosis but were willing to fight for the impossible,’ the couple wrote. ‘We are grateful to the thousands who joined us in praying for a miracle. But most of all,’” they wrote, quoted by LifeSiteNews, “‘we are grateful to God for answering those prayers. … Although Abigail will need ongoing care after she comes home, we have every expectation that she will lead a full and healthy life. … She is every bit a miracle.’”

One sour note to the entire episode: After the baby’s diagnosis was made known, Rep. Herrera Beutler had to endure loud pressure from the abortion lobby to dispose of her developing daughter. We are saddened that she had to stand up to them at such a time, but we are grateful to her for doing so and praising the Lord Himself for the blessed outcome. And we thank the Beutlers for so publicly giving hope and courage to other families who face such challenging diagnoses and such ugly pressures.

Go, Defunders!

A CAMPAIGN AMONG U.S. SENATORS TO DEMAND OBAMACARE DEFUNDING in considering an anticipated September continuing resolution to fund the federal government took an interesting turn last week.

Amid warnings from media Obama allies and establishment Republican pundits that “threatening a government shutdown” could backfire on Republicans in Congress in the 2014 elections, GOP Senators Marco Rubio (FL) and Ted Cruz (TX) put the onus where it belonged. In a Rubio speech on the Senate floor and a Cruz interview on Fox News Channel, the two conservatives backed up ObamaCare Defunding leader Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) by declaring that the real culprit in any government shutdown would be Pres. Obama.

“‘If we pass a budget that pays for everything except for ObamaCare – and the President says he’ll veto that – it is he who wants to shut down the government,’” Sen. Rubio declared in a Senate floor speech quoted by Curtis Houck for CNSNews.com. “‘It is he who is basically saying, “I will shut down the government unless it pays for ObamaCare.” And that,’” commented Sen. Rubio, “‘is an unreasonable position. It’s unreasonable because this law is so bad. …

“‘Why would we continue to pour billions and hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars[s] into a disaster,’ [Sen.] Rubio asked,” as reported by CNSNews. “‘Why would we double down with your hard-earned money on a program that’s going to hurt you? …

“‘We have got to stop this from moving forward,’” Mr. Rubio continued in his floor speech as quoted by Mr. Houck. “‘The implications of this law are already being felt, but the regulations around this law,  the mandates in this law, the fees and the costs and the new rate increases in this law, those things you’re only going to start to feel right now in the next few months. You’re really going to start to feel what this new law means to your life, to your business, to the place where you work.’”

Sen. Lee’s speech was also quoted in part by the CNSNews writer, who indicates he “challenged his colleagues, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who say they are against ObamaCare but have not committed to defunding it through the [continuing resolution]. ‘I would invite you to consider the possibility that what you’re doing, in thinking about funding it, isn’t really where you want to go. Consider what might be said about this,’ [Sen.] Lee warned. ‘Defund it or own it. If you fund it,’” he said in the floor speech, according to the CNSNews report, “‘you’re for it.’”

Abortion Issue Heating Up in Virginia

VIRGINIA VOTERS ARE GETTING A TASTE OF THE ABORTION LOBBY and its vicious, political distortions.

This is state election year for Virginians, and among the contests is one for governor, a contest which pits former Clinton fundraiser Terry McAuliffe against the state’s GOP attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli.

Because of his unapologetic leadership for the protection of innocent human life, Mr. Cuccinelli is being attacked by blistering broadcast ads which are calling him names and lying not only about the attorney general but also about pregnancy care centers and calling their own abortuaries “credible health facilities.”

Having seen outstanding public officials and candidates ridiculed, lied about and defeated by ads of this sort over more than 20 years now, Life Advocacy urges Virginia voters to reject the scurrilous attacks on their attorney general and on the citizens who daily give sacrificial service to the pro-life cause and to mothers in need. And we urge pro-life front-liners to speak confidently about their stand for commonsense reforms in America’s laws. Majorities of voters agree with reasonable reforms being proposed across this country, but they cannot discern what is at stake unless our own candidates and officials – opinion leaders, if you will – point out how radical the law is and what reforms are needed to restore justice and mercy.

Much to Answer For

A NORTH DAKOTA DISTRICT JUDGE HAS ISSUED A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION against the state’s new law barring abortions by doctors with no admitting privileges at any nearby hospital.

The injunction, issued by Judge Wickham Corwin, who could, within 60 days, be forcibly retired because of pending charges that he sexually harassed a court reporter, covers for the Red River Women’s Clinic, where 1,200 babies are aborted annually. It is the state’s only baby killing center and has no relationship with hospitals which can treat aborting mothers who may suffer complications.

The same judge earlier in July declared unconstitutional a law – which he blocked temporarily when it was passed a year ago – “prohibiting the off-label use of misprostol [Cytotec] to induce a chemical abortion.” Cytotec is an ulcer-fighting drug which abortionists use with RU-486 in order to deliver a developing baby after killing him or her with the French abortion drug.

According to Ben Johnson, writing for LifeSiteNews.com, North Dakota’s GOP governor, Jack Dalrymple, “has received death threats for signing this measure along with a spate of other pro-life bills.”

The staff attorney for the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, arguing against the admitting privileges law in court, “argued that [the] law would withhold necessary services to the women,” reports the Associated Press (AP), “expose doctors to the threat of prosecution and deprive [the Red River clinic director] and other clinic workers of their right to earn a living. She said,” reports AP, “the legislation is not needed because the clinic provides safe outpatient abortion care.” And the judge chose to believe her.

Who Cares About Women’s Health & Safety?

KUDOS TO THE MISSOURI LEGISLATURE, which recently enacted a new law – without the signature of Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon – to require a doctor to be physically present “when a woman takes the first dose of abortion-inducing drugs,” reports Ben Johnson for LifeSiteNews.com.

It is an effective ban on Planned Parenthood’s “telemed” abortions, by which the abortion behemoth has sought to dot the rural landscape (especially in neighboring Iowa) with computer booths equipped with “Skype”-style communication and a drawer that pops open to dispense abortion pills when the doctor touches a key on his own, remote computer keyboard. As fewer doctors are willing to commit abortions, the industry leader is looking for cheap ways to sell more of them, particularly in “underserved” areas. Health and safety for the customer? Not Planned Parenthood’s concern!

Shame on Gov. Nixon for abetting Planned Parenthood’s war on women and their babies. But even he did not dare apply a veto to this good new law.

Update on Planned Parenthood Fraud

IT TURNS OUT THAT THE $1.4 MILLION cited in late July (and reported in this publication) was merely the Texas share of a more massive settlement in a broad lawsuit against Houston-based Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC).

The payout actually totaled $4.3 million, forked over by PPGC to Texas, the United States taxpayers and the whistleblower who brought the charges, Planned Parenthood admitted last week.

But even that figure is modest, reports pro-life blogger Jill Stanek, who quotes American Life League’s Jim Sedlak: “‘If the original claim that Planned Parenthood defrauded the taxpayer of $30 million is near accurate,’” he wrote in an e-mail message to Mrs. Stanek, “‘it means that PP settled for 15 cents on the dollar. … No incentive there,’” he wrote, “‘to stop committing Medicaid fraud.’”

True, but still a black eye worth telling friends about. Some taxpayers believe $1 of fraud is too much. No doubt Mr. Sedlak does, too.

What is more, the PPGC case is not the only one going on. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) assured Charlie Butts of OneNewsNow.com last week the pro-bono law firm “is moving forward with a separate lawsuit alleging fraud, … pursuing fraud lawsuits against Planned Parenthood in Texas, Iowa and Washington State. …

“All Planned Parenthood abortion clinics come under the same national umbrella,” notes Mr. Butts, “and [the ADF attorney] believes the same practices are likely nationwide.” What can one expect of an enterprise whose “service” is the determined and lucrative killing of innocent human boys and girls?

Reverberations

STATES NEIGHBORING TEXAS are exhibiting nervousness about potential reverberations, both of the state’s new, comprehensive abortion laws and of the Texas headlines pointing to Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid fraud.

Pro-life citizens in Albuquerque, New Mexico, have achieved twice the needed signatures on their petition to place a proposition on the local ballot to outlaw late-term abortions in the city, fearing an influx of Texas abortion-seekers to their city, which is the site of Southwestern Women’s Options, an abortuary which specializes in the killing of late-term developing babies. The Albuquerque effort is believed to be the first in the country to seek a local late-term ban ordinance.

And in Louisiana, pro-life leaders are citing the Planned Parenthood Medicaid fraud settlement in Texas in urging Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) to take immediate action suspending the state’s contract with Planned Parenthood while investigating possible Medicaid fraud. Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast reportedly received $575,000 in taxpayer funds from Louisiana in 2012. PPGC operates 10 abortuaries in Texas and two in neighboring Louisiana.

Having been urged by the Louisiana State Legislature to investigate the abortion business, reports Ben Johnson for LifeSiteNews.com, “Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals spokeswoman Olivia Watkins announced that investigators are probing PPGC’s billing history but had not yet made any decision to withhold funds.”

The outfit “has vowed to move forward,” reports Mr. Johnson, “with a $4.2 million, 7,000-square-foot abortion facility in New Orleans ‘no matter what.’”

Indiana Defunding Bid Blocked

THE INJUNCTION AGAINST INDIANA’s EXCLUSION OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD from Medicaid was made permanent last week by US District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.

The Supreme Court in May turned back the state’s appeal, and “days later,” reports the Associated Press (AP), “the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued an administrative ruling siding with Planned Parenthood.”

The abortion behemoth was represented by its fellow traveler, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), since the defunding law was enacted in 2011. The suit was based on a provision of federal law which guarantees Medicaid patients freedom of choice in healthcare providers.

“‘If legal challenges to similar statutes in other states eventually reach the United States Supreme Court,’” said state Attorney General Greg Zoeller, quoted by AP, “‘then Indiana would have another opportunity through an amicus brief to assert [its] legal argument.’”