Life Advocacy Briefing

Where Are the Consultants Getting Us?

AMONG OUR KEY MESSAGES IN LIFE ADVOCACY IS A CAUTION to pro-life candidates not to listen to the professional consultants who advise them to “admit you’re pro-life, if you have to, and then move on. Talk about other issues; don’t get into the abortion thing.” We refute that advice in many ways, and now the president of the National Abortion Rights Action League has given us another point.

In a question-answer session via the Internet device “Twitter,” reported by Kathryn Yoder for LifeSiteNews.com, Ms. Hogue went into lengthy mourning about the “‘upsurge of the tea party’” and of the “‘anti-choice extreme minority’” which “‘dominat[es] our House in Congress’” [even though a “minority”???] and on and on. Accusing the pro-life movement of “‘lying and cheating,’” she goes on to charge, writes Ms. Yoder: “‘Anti-choice legislators and candidates know that they’re outside of the mainstream. They know that the American public does not agree with them.’” (This despite a growing mound of public opinion polls showing a shift in America toward pro-life convictions.)

Here’s how she rationalizes such an obviously erroneous claim: “‘So when they run for office,’” mused Ms. Hogue, “‘they don’t talk about these issues, right? They talk about jobs or the economy, but they steadfastly avoid their extreme positions on choice.’”

There it is, out in the open: A significant consequence of the “admit it and move on” drumbeat which pro-life candidates hear. To the uninvolved voter, the charge seems credible.

But voters for whom pro-life candidates define the issues at stake and warn about the radical agenda of the abortion lobby are better served with not only a clearer understanding of “the issue” but also a sense of the character of the advocate for Life.

Lethal Practice

PLANNED PARENTHOOD HAS SETTLED A WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT in Chicago, getting away with paying just part of only $2 million to the young son of the late Tonya Reaves, who bled to death in 2012 at age 24 at the hands of Planned Parenthood’s downtown Chicago abortion team.

“After the botched abortion took place,” reports IllinoisReview.com, “Tonya Reaves was left to bleed for five-and-a-half hours in the Planned Parenthood clinic without medical treatment. Furthermore,” notes the Internet news publication, “when Ms. Reaves was finally transferred to the hospital, it took several more hours for her to be treated properly, which indicates that Planned Parenthood did not provide the hospital with sufficient information regarding Ms. Reaves’ condition. The autopsy after her death revealed that Ms. Reaves had suffered perforation of the uterus.”

Co-defendants in the lawsuit filed by the deceased mother’s family were Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, which shared with Planned Parenthood in the settlement. The $2 million will be provided to Ms. Reaves’ then-year-old son on a schedule which begins in 2029, when the little boy reaches his 18th birthday.

Just one year ago, the pro-bono Thomas More Society filed a complaint with the state’s professional regulatory authority seeking “an investigation,” reports Illinois Review, “into the Chicago ‘Loop Health Center’ of Planned Parenthood, which was responsible for Ms. Reaves’ botched abortion. No known action has been taken by the [state] to follow up on the complaint.”

Thomas More Society’s senior legal counsel Peter Breen told Illinois Review, “‘The fact that Planned Parenthood has been allowed to merely pay “hush money” to the victim’s family without further consequences is a slap in the face to every woman who walks through the doors of the nation’s largest abortion provider.’”

It also should be a signal to Illinois lawmakers concerning the lethal consequences of the state’s total lack of abortuary regulations. Whatever pressures took Tonya Reaves to that abortion shop, she deserved better than the treatment she received at the hands of America’s humongous abortion cartel.

Celebrating Life

A NEW ‘RESPECT LIFE’ PATCH is being offered participants in American Heritage Girls, an international faith-based program established to give parents of five-to-18-year-old girls an alternative to Girl Scouts as an aid to their daughters’ character development.

“Troops representing more than 30,000 girls in 48 states can earn the patch,” announced the organization in a news release, “by participating in an event that brings attention to respecting Life or by providing a service project for an organization whose mission/purpose demonstrates a desire to respect Life, such as pregnancy resource centers, pro-life groups and hospices. …

“‘One of the things that attracts so many girls to American Heritage Girls is our strong affirmation of the Biblical worldview,’” said AHG executive director Patti Garibay, in the news release, “‘which includes respecting all life from conception to natural death. … Over the years,’” she said, “‘AHG troops have supported life in a variety of ways, and we are pleased to offer them the opportunity to earn this patch and display it on their uniforms.’”

AHG was founded in part in response to discoveries about the growing connection between the Girl Scouts and the feminist/abortion lobby, about which pro-life champion Ryan Bomberger has recently published a commentary on his Internet website at www.theradiancefoundation.org/girls-scouts-usa-in-bed-with-big-abortion/.

Mr. Bomberger notes, among other details, the troubling political involvement of the current Girl Scouts USA CEO, Anna Maria Chavez, who, he reports, “lists Janet Napolitano as her mentor in her bio” and shows “her opposition to a pro-life worldview with thousands donated [from her personal funds] to radically pro-abortion [PAC] Emily’s List, [California Sen.] Barbara Boxer, [California US Rep.] Barbara Lee, [Secretary of State] John Kerry, [Pres.] Barack Obama and new Margaret Sanger award-recipient [SanFrancisco Rep.] Nancy Pelosi,” plus “over $78,500 to the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (2005-2008) and $30,800 to the DNC (2008).”

Quoteworthy

A sobering reminder from former Sen. Rick Santorum, addressing the 2014 Legatus Summit, quoted by John-Henry Westen for LifeSiteNews.com: “America is broken because we’re afraid to fight. … We don’t live in a time in America when we can afford to stop fighting.” Amen.

Noteworthy Quote

Iowa State Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, a 2011 winner of Planned Parenthood’s “Champion” award, explaining her vote against outlawing telemed abortions, quoted by Ben Johnson for LifeSiteNews.com: “We as women know about babies; we love them, we adore them. But we also know that they have the challenges they bring. They have colic, the sleepless nights, the finances, the disciplinary challenges, the education challenges, the birth defects, the mental health issues, the learning disabled – the list goes on and on. What women do know is that we know where our limits are, whether we’re physically ready, whether we’re emotionally ready, whether we’re financially ready to be parents. And we have the right to make those decisions.” But the right to kill?

March for Life Speeches: Ryan Dobson & Dr. James Dobson

Major speeches from the Jan. 22, 2014, rally on the National Mall, transcribed by Life Advocacy Briefing from C-Span coverage

Ryan Dobson, host of Grounded, with Ryan Dobson on Family Talk radio network and co-host of Dr. Dobson’s Family Talk, introducing his father and giving his own testimony: How ya doin’? Are you cold? It is freezing here. Thank you for being here. Thank you for braving this weather and being here.

I’m here to say thank you. I’m going to say thank you to you. I appreciate you, all of you. You may or may not know this: my birth mother was 17 years old. She wasn’t married, she didn’t have a boyfriend. She was terrified, didn’t know what to do, and her dad and her church put her at the doors of a pregnancy resource center, and people just like you opened their arms to her, showed her the love of Christ, and gave her an alternative.

And I’m here and alive today because of this movement. And I’m here to say thank you, and I’ll continue saying thank you until abortion is ended in the United States.

But I’m not here alone. I’m pro-life because my parents were pro-life. They prayed for me for four-and-a-half years before I came along, before I got adopted. It is my greatest pleasure in the world to work with my dad every day. Will you please help me in welcoming my hero, Dr. James Dobson.

Dr. James Dobson: Greetings, all you frozen people. Your faces are cold but your hearts are on fire, right? What a wonderful thing to see this crowd on a snowy, cold day like this. I can’t make my mouth work, but I’m so glad to be with you. You’ve heard Ryan’s story, which is one of the highlights of my life. Let me tell you about my story.

It was January 22nd, 1973. I was on a freeway in Los Angeles. And I was driving home from work, and the word came that the Supreme Court had legalized abortion for any reason or for no reason through the pregnancy of women. I grieved over it, because I knew it meant millions of babies would die. Who would have known it would be fifty-six million by this point, forty-one years later.

Three years after that, I was a professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, and my last appointment in the day was with a young couple, a pastor and his wife. She had been having abdominal problems and went in for tests. And they found that she was pregnant. She had had a lot of x-rays. The doctors all came and said, “You have to abort this child. It could be deaf, it could be blind, it could be neurologically handicapped, mentally handicapped – you have to abort this baby.” They were Christians. They came to see me. They asked what I would do, and I said to them on that day, “I don’t know where this is going, and I don’t know what the outcome will be. I don’t know what your baby will experience. But I say to you, if it were Shirley and me, I would say, Give life to that baby. Let that baby live and let God have His plan and His way.” And they did. They took my advice.

That was forty-one years ago – or actually thirty-eight years ago. That baby was born perfectly normal, a beautiful, healthy little girl. She is now thirty-eight years of age. She is married to a pastor. They live in the inner city, one of the most dangerous places they could live, feeding homeless people and bring hope to the destitute. And that woman – thirty-eight years of age – her name is Christy – has been a joy to everyone who has known her.

I say to you and to those who are watching on television – I say to you, if you’re facing a similar situation, I can’t promise what the outcome will be. No one knows, but let your baby live.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for braving the cold. Thank you for caring.
Look at the young people who are here. You are the hope of the future, and together we’re going to win this fight. God’s blessings to you all.

Dr. Dobson was brought back to the platform to lead rally participants in the closing prayer:

Dr. Dobson: Let’s pray together. Heavenly Father, I thank you for every person who is here, who came to speak on behalf of those precious babies.

Lord, I pray for all the women out there who have been through an abortion and who are dealing with guilt and sorrow. I pray that You will be with each one.

And Lord, bless this movement, I pray. And may the children of the future have a chance at life.

I thank You for this group that has gathered together, this huge throng today, and we give You praise because these babies are Yours, and we will protect them. In Thy Name we pray, Amen.

House Voting Record

HRes-465 – Rule for Consideration of HR-7 (No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act) – Jan. 28, 2014 – Adopted – 224-192 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “yes” / pro-Life: Aderholt, Bachus, Brooks, Byrne, Roby, Rogers/AL; Young/AK; Franks, Gosar, Salmon, Schweikert/AZ; Cotton, Crawford, Griffin, Womack/AR; Calvert, Cook, Denham, Hunter, Issa, LaMalfa, McCarthy, McClintock, McKeon, Gary Miller, Nunes, Rohrabacher, Royce, Valadao/CA; Coffman, Gardner, Lamborn/CO; Bilirakis, Buchanan, Crenshaw, DeSantis, Diaz-Balart, Mica, Nugent, Posey, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross, Southerland, Webster, Yoho/FL; Broun, Collins, Gingrey, Graves, Kingston, Price, A.Scott, Woodall/GA; Labrador, Simpson/ID; R.Davis, Hultgren, Kinzinger, Lipinski,.Roskam, Schock, Shimkus/IL; Brooks, Bucshon, Messer, Rokita, Stutzman, Walorski, Young/IN; King, Latham/IA; Huelskamp, Jenkins, Pompeo, Yoder/KS; Barr, Guthrie, Massie, Rogers, Whitfield/KY; Boustany, Cassidy, Fleming, McAllister, Scalise/LA; Harris/MD; Amash, Benishek, Bentivolio, Camp, Huizenga, Miller, Upton, Walberg/MI; Kline, Paulsen/MN; Harper, Nunnelee, Palazzo/MS; Graves, Hartzler, Long, Luetkemeyer, Smith, Wagner/MO; Daines/MT; Fortenberry, Smith, Terry/NE; Heck/NV; Frelinghuysen, Garrett, Lance, LoBiondo, Smith/NJ; Pearce/NM; Collins, Gibson, Grimm, Hanna, King, Reed/NY; Coble, Ellmers, Foxx, Holding, Hudson, McHenry, McIntyre, Meadows, Pittenger/NC; Cramer/ND; Chabot, Gibbs, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Latta, Renacci, Stivers, Tiberi, Turner, Wenstrup/OH; Bridenstine, Cole, Lankford, Lucas, Mullin/OK; Walden/OR; Barletta, Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Kelly, Marino, Meehan, Murphy, Perry, Pitts, Rothfus, Shuster, Thompson/PA; Duncan, Gowdy, Mulvaney, Rice, Sanford, Wilson/SC; Noem/SD; Black, Blackburn, DesJarlais, Duncan, Fincher, Fleischmann, Roe/TN; Barton, Brady, Burgess, Carter, Conaway, Culberson, Farenthold, Flores, Gohmert, Granger, Hall, Hensarling, S.Johnson, Marchant, McCaul, Neugebauer, Olson, Poe, Sessions, Smith, Stockman, Thornberry, Weber, Williams/TX; Bishop, Chaffetz, Stewart/UT; Cantor, Forbes, Goodlatte, Griffith, Hurt, Rigell, Wittman, Wolf/VA; Hastings, Herrera-Beutler, McMorris-Rodgers, Reichert/WA; Duffy, Petri, Ribble, Ryan, Sensenbrenner/WI; Capito, McKinley/WV; Lummis/WY.

Voting “no” / anti-Life: Sewell/AL; Barber, Grijalva, Kirkpatrick, Pastor, Sinema/AZ; Bass, Becerra, Bera, Brownley, Capps, Cardenas, Chu, Costa, Davis, Eshoo, Farr, Garamendi, Hahn, Honda, Huffman, Lee, Lofgren, Lowenthal, Matsui, McNerney, Geo.Miller, Napolitano, Negrete-McLeod, Pelosi, Peters, Roybal-Allard, Ruiz, Linda Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Speier, Swalwell, Takano, Thompson, Vargas, Waters, Waxman /CA; DeGette, Perlmutter, Polis/CO; Courtney, DeLauro, Esty, Himes, Larson/CT; Carney/DE; Brown, Castor, Deutch, Frankel, Garcia, Grayson, Hastings, Murphy, Wasserman-Schultz, Wilson/FL; Barrow, Bishop, Johnson, Lewis, D.Scott/GA; Gabbard, Hanabusa/HI; Bustos, D.Davis, Duckworth, Enyart, Foster, Gutierrez, Kelly, Quigley, Schakowsky, Schneider/IL; Carson, Visclosky/IN; Braley, Loebsack/IA; Yarmuth/KY; Richmond/LA; Michaud, Pingree/ME; Cummings, Delaney, Edwards, Hoyer, Sarbanes, VanHollen/MD; Capuano, Clark, Keating, Kennedy, Lynch, McGovern, Neal, Tierney, Tsongas/MA; Conyers, Dingell, Kildee, Levin, Peters/MI; Ellison, McCollum, Nolan, Peterson, Walz/MN; Thompson/MS; Cleaver/MO; Horsford, Titus/NV; Kuster, Shea-Porter/NH; Andrews, Holt, Pallone, Pascrell, Payne, Sires/NJ; Lujan, Lujan-Grisham/NM; Bishop, Clarke, Crowley, Engel, Higgins, Israel, Jeffries, Lowey, Maffei, C.Maloney, S.Maloney, Meeks, Meng, Nadler, Owens, Rangel, Serrano, Slaughter, Tonko, Velazquez/NY; Butterfield, Price/NC; Beatty, Fudge, Kaptur, Ryan/OH; Bonamici, DeFazio, Schrader/OR; Brady, Cartwright, Doyle, Fattah, Schwartz/PA; Cicilline, Langevin/RI; Clyburn/SC; Cohen, Cooper/TN; Castro, Cuellar, Doggett, Gallego, A.Green, G.Green, Hinojosa, Jackson-Lee, E.B.Johnson, O’Rourke, Veasey, Vela/TX; Matheson/UT; Welch/VT; Connolly, Moran, Scott/VA; DelBene, Heck, Kilmer, Larsen, McDermott, Smith/WA; Rahall/WV; Kind, Moore, Pocan/WI.

Not voting: Campbell, Loretta Sanchez/CA; Tipton/CO; Miller/FL; Westmoreland/GA; Rush/IL; Ruppersberger/MD; Rogers/MI; Bachmann/MN; Clay/MO; Amodei/NV; Runyan/NJ; McCarthy/NY; Jones/NC; Boehner/OH; Blumenauer/OR.