Life Advocacy Briefing

Running Out of Patience?

TWO FIRST-TERM MEMBERS OF CONGRESS HAVE FILED BILLS to protect Life from conception.

HR-426, defining human life as beginning at conception, is titled “Sanctity of Human Life Act” and is a replay of legislation offered in recent years by then-Rep. Paul Broun, Georgia predecessor of GOP Rep. Jody Hice, the sponsor of HR-426. ­­It has been assigned to the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution & Civil Rights, chaired by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ). The official summary of the bill “declares that: 1) the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human and is the ­person’s paramount and most fundamental right; 2) each human life begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent, at which time every human has all legal and constitu­tional attributes and privileges of personhood; and 3) Congress, each state, the District of Columbia, and all US territories have the authority to protect all human lives.”

HR-816, the “Life at Conception Act,” was filed by freshman Rep. Alexander Mooney (R-WV) and has been sent to the House Committee on the Judiciary, chaired by Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA). The bill’s purpose is summarized officially as “to implement equal protection under the 14th Article of Amendment to the Constitution for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.”

“The bills are functionally equivalent,” reports Dustin Siggins for LifeSiteNews.com, “though HR-426 has more specific language on what it means to be a conceived human being.”

Co-sponsors of HR-426, as of this writing, are Rep. Hice and GOP Representatives Trent Franks (AZ); Rick Allen, Earl Carter, Doug Collins, Tom Graves, Barry Loudermilk, Austin Scott & Lynn Westmoreland (GA); Mike Pompeo (KS); Ralph Abraham (LA); Billy Long (MO); Bill Johnson & Robert Latta (OH); Jeff Duncan & Joe Wilson (SC); David Roe (TN); Blake Farenthold & Pete Olson (TX), and Glenn Grothman (WI).

HR-816 is co-sponsored with Rep. Mooney by Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson (MN) and GOP Representatives Trent Franks, Matt Salmon & David Schweikert (AZ); Eric Crawford & Bruce Westerman (AR); Duncan Hunter & Doug LaMalfa (CA); Ken Buck & Doug Lamborn (CO); Curt Clawson & David Jolly (FL); Barry Loudermilk (GA); Randy Hultgren (IL); Steve King (IA); Tim Huelskamp & Mike Pompeo (KS); Thomas Massie (KY); Ralph Abraham & Charles Boustany (LA); Andy Harris (MD); Gregg Harper & Steven Palazzo (MS); Vicky Hartzler, Jason Smith & Ann Wagner (MO); Walter Jones, Mark Meadows & Robert Pittenger (NC); Kevin Cramer (ND); Steve Chabot, Bill Johnson, Jim Jordan, Robert Latta & Brad Wenstrup (OH); Mike Kelly & Keith Rothfus (PA); Jeff Duncan (SC); Kristi Noem (SD); Diane Black, Charles Fleischmann & David Roe (TN); Blake Farenthold, Louie Gohmert, Kenny Marchant, Randy Neugebauer, Pete Olson, John Ratcliffe, Pete Sessions & Randy Weber (TX); Mia Love (UT); and Evan Jenkins & David McKinley (WV).

Colorado Panel Rejects Abetted Suicide

A BILL TO LEGALIZE DOCTOR-ABETTED SUICIDE WAS KILLED Feb. 6 by a state legislative committee in Colorado. The bi-partisan vote was 8 to 5 and followed some 11 hours of testimony before a packed hearing room. The Colorado House is dominated by Democrats and is not considered a pro-life bastion.

“Some on the committee,” reports Denver Post writer Joey Bunch, “said they appreciated the compassion of the legislation’s intent but thought the proposed bill lacked safeguards to prevent abuse and possibly provided incentives for insurance companies to tacitly urge sick people to consider the cheaper option of lethal, legal drugs.

“‘Supporting a concept and supporting a bill are two different things,’ said the committee’s chairwoman Dianne Primavera (D-Broomfield), who called her ‘no’ vote,” writes Mr. Bunch, “one of the toughest choices of her career.”

A World magazine report by Sarah Padbury more fully explains Rep. Primavera’s “no” vote and her tears. She “revealed,” writes Ms. Padbury, “she is a cancer survivor and recalled how a doctor told her she wouldn’t live more than five years. She got a second opinion,” notes Ms. Padbury, “and is still here, 28 years later.”

The Post story also cites Denver Democratic Rep. Lois Court, who, writes Mr. Bunch, “broke down as she began her closing statement because, she said, she was moved by people’s stories on both sides of the issue.

Agonized as committee members appear to have been over having to reject legislation authorizing the killing of fellow human beings, the lawmakers – on this occasion – reached a proper, Life-protecting decision. Praise the Lord.

Rep. Nunnelee, RIP

WE REGRET TO REPORT THE PASSING of Mississippi GOP Rep. Alan Nunnelee, who had just begun his third term in Congress while battling cancer. He previously served in the Mississippi state senate and had been appointed, for the current term, to the House Committee on Appropriations. The 56-year-old public servant left a wife and three children.

His commitment to the right to life was expressed in a consistent pro-life voting record and explicitly in the biography which appeared on his official Congressional website, which declared he was “known as a champion of pro-life causes” and said he had “been nationally recognized for his success in helping make Mississippi the safest place for unborn children.” (Because of effective state legislation and its enforcement, all but one abortuary in the state has closed in recent years; the one remaining shop is open only by the complicity of federal courts in refusing to shut down the Jackson operation though it cannot comply with state law.)

“During his final state legislative session in 2010, when he was running for Congress,” reports the Associated Press (AP), “Mr. Nunnelee persuaded his colleagues [in the State Senate] to pass a bill specifying that no tax dollars would be spent on abortion if Mississippi ever created a state-sponsored health insurance exchange” under ObamaCare. “Mississippi,” notes AP, “is among the states that have not created their own exchanges.”

In commenting on his passing, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) noted, reports AP, that Mr. Nunnelee was “a ‘rare calming presence in the cauldron of politics.’”

House Voting Record: Procedural on Taxpayer Funding Ban

Motion to Recommit HR-7 – Seeking to block consideration of No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act – Failed – Jan. 22, 2015 – 177-240 (Democrats in italics)

House Voting Record: ObamaCare Repeal

HRes-70 – Rule for Considering ObamaCare Repeal – Procedural Motion to end debate on resolution – Passed – 242-176 – Feb. 3, 2015 (Democrats in italics)

March for Life Speech: Rep. Dan Lipinski

Jan. 22, 2015, speech to the March for Life Rally by Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), co-chairman, House Pro-Life Caucus,  transcribed by Life Advocacy

Thank you. Good afternoon. I’m from Chicago, I’m a Bears fan, I’m a Democrat, and I’m pro-life.

We all need to come together, across parties, across faith, those with no faith, across the country, across races, ethnicities. We all need to come together to protect life because the babies need the protection and because women deserve better than abortion.

You all are here serving a special role as witnesses to Washington, to the country and to the world. You show the force of the pro-life movement. We hear so much about how the young kids – “well, they’re not pro-life.” Well, you are here, you are the proof, you are the ones who are going to change the hearts and minds and help us to change the laws of this country to protect life. You are the pro-life generation. You are going to help us do it, and we can only do it together. So thank you for being here.

Keep on working, keep on fighting, keep on praying, and we will change the laws of nations, change the hearts and minds and protect life in this nation and around the world. Thank you.