Life Advocacy Briefing

Defunding Bill Passes House

THE U.S. HOUSE VOTED on Sept. 18 – after our publishing deadline for last week’s Life Advocacy Briefing – to advance to the Senate the bill proposed by Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) to put a one-year moratorium on federal funding for Planned Parenthood, respecting taxpayers while Congressional investigations of the abortion behemoth proceed. The bill was put on the Senate calendar for immediate consideration.

The House vote was 241-to-187; we publish the voting record on House passage near the close of this edition. We will publish in future editions the procedural roll calls by which the House arrived at final consideration.

Senate Votes on Funding Gov’t Without Funding Planned Parenthood

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY) INCORPORATED the Planned Parenthood funding moratorium (HR-3134) into the Continuing Resolution he proposed last Thursday to fund the federal government through Dec. 11.

The CR was advanced by the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Sept. 22 with the PP defunding provision intact. The committee-adopted spending plan, reports Ben Johnson for LifeSiteNews.com, “states that no government funds will go to ‘Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., and its affiliates’ unless their facilities ‘will not perform – and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs – an abortion during such period.’” No way could Planned Parenthood agree to that!

Last Thursday’s CR was voted down by a vote of 47­­ to 52. We will publish the voting record on this first Continuing Resolution next week, as space does not permit its inclusion in this edition. Though the CR was much more comprehensive than its Planned Parenthood provisions, we do see it as a Life-related vote, as it did seek to disqualify Planned Parenthood from federal funding; we will leave it to our readers to discern the motives for 52 Senators, including a handful of Republicans, to vote “no.”

We will also publish the voting record on the stripped Continuing Resolution, which Sen. McConnell offered to prevent an Obama-threatened government shutdown over the Planned Parenthood cash-cow issue; the amended CR, which was poised to pass the Senate last Thursday evening after the failure of the principled CR, continues to fund Planned Parenthood despite this summer’s unveiling of PP’s involvement in trafficking the body parts of their aborted victims.

The corrupted, Senate-passed CR is expected to face resistance in the House over Planned Parenthood funding; we predict its ultimate adoption because of Congressional Leadership yielding to Obama intimidation.

Senate Votes Down Late-Term Abortion Ban

THOUGH A MAJORITY OF SENATORS VOTED IN ITS FAVOR, the Senate failed on Sept. 22 to adopt a motion ending debate on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, HR-36, which passed the House earlier this year. We publish the voting record on the “cloture” motion near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing, and we thank the three Democratic Senators (Senators Robert Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia) who broke with their radical party to outlaw post-20-week abortions.

The bill became more urgent than ever this summer when undercover investigators ripped the mask off Planned Parenthood’s involvement in the trafficking of aborted baby body parts, one of the factors in making later-term abortions more profitable to the abortion cartel. Yet the vast majority of Democrats and two Republican-elected Senators, Ms. Collins of Maine and Mr. Kirk of Illinois), refused to break with their political godfathers.

Three GOP Senators – Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Steve Daines of Montana and James Lankford of Oklahoma – appeared at a news conference organized by the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List pro-life group shortly before the Senate vote.

Sen. Lankford cited “a family friend,” reports Dustin Siggins for LifeSiteNews.com, “whose child was born at 20 weeks’ gestation. According to the Senator,” writes Mr. Siggins, “‘It’s not a matter of how tall they are … that’s a living child. This bill does something that we would consider noncontroversial; when a child can experience pain, shouldn’t we protect the life of that child?’”

The LifeSiteNews report cited as “the star of the event” a three-year-old child named Micah Pickering, who was “born at 20 weeks’ gestation. Micah energetically chewed on a Capitol Visitors Center pass,” writes Mr. Siggins, “as his father held him at the press conference. His mother Danielle spoke briefly, saying,” writes Mr. Siggins, “‘My family and I traveled all the way from Iowa to be here as a witness to the truth that unborn children – at the very least those born at 20 weeks fetal age – can experience pain and deserve the protection of the law.’” Amen.

House OKs Born-Alive Survivors Bill

THE U.S. HOUSE PASSED HR-3504 on Sept. 18 by a vote of 248 to 177; we publish the voting record near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing.

The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act was offered in the House by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) with 98 co-sponsors. It has been placed on the Senate calendar, where its fate, as of this writing, is unknown.

The Senate version of the bill, S-2066, has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and is sponsored by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), along with the following co-sponsors (all Republicans): Senators John McCain (AZ), Marco Rubio (FL), David Perdue (GA), Mike Crapo (ID), Daniel Coats (IN), Joni Ernst & Chuck Grassley (IA), Jerry Moran (KS), Mitch McConnell & Rand Paul (KY), Roy Blunt (MO), Steve Daines (MT), Deb Fischer (NE), Thom Tillis (NC), Rob Portman (OH), James Inhofe & James Lankford (OK), Lindsey Graham (SC), Mike Rounds (SD), John Cornyn & Ted Cruz (TX), Ron Johnson (WI) and Michael Enzi (WY).

The proposal “makes killing abortion survivors first-degree murder,” notes Dustin Siggins for LifeSiteNews.com, “with a maximum of five years in prison and requires that care be provided to any survivors.” It further mandates reporting of violations to authorities, reports Mr. Siggins, “by any employee of an abortion clinic and in some cases requires newborns to be immediately transported to a hospital.”

The bill is considered an urgent response to the Planned Parenthood baby body parts trafficking expose, as tissue from aborted babies is particularly valuable if taken from larger babies and if the tissue is fresh.

House Voting Records

HR-3134 – Defunding Planned Parenthood — Final Passage – Sept. 18 – Passed – 241-187 (Democrats in italics; new Members in ALL CAPS)

Voting “yes” / pro-Life: Aderholt, Brooks, Byrne, Palmer, Roby, Rogers/AL; Young/AK; Franks, Gosar, McSally, Salmon, Schweikert/AZ; Crawford, Hill, Westerman, Womack/AR; Calvert, Cook, Denham, Hunter, Issa, Knight, LaMalfa, McCarthy, McClintock, Nunes, Rohrabacher, Royce, Valadao, Walters/CA; Buck, Coffman, Lamborn, Tipton/CO; Bilirakis, Buchanan, Clawson, Crenshaw, Curbelo, DeSantis, Diaz-Balart, Jolly, Mica, Miller, Nugent, Posey, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross, Webster, Yoho/FL; Allen, Carter, Collins, Graves, Hice, Loudermilk, T. Price, A. Scott, Westmoreland, Woodall/GA; Labrador, Simpson/ID; Bost, R. Davis, Hultgren, Kinzinger, LaHOOD, Lipinski, Roskam, Shimkus/IL; Brooks, Bucshon, Messer, Rokita, Stutzman, Walorski, Young/IN; Blum, Young/IA; Huelskamp, Jenkins, Pompeo, Yoder/KS; Barr, Guthrie, Massie, Rogers, Whitfield/KY; Abraham, Boustany, Fleming, Graves, Scalise/LA; Poliquin/ME; Harris/MD; Amash, Benishek, Bishop, Huizenga, Miller, Moolenaar, Trott, Upton, Walberg/MI; Emmer, Kline, Paulsen, Peterson/MN; Harper, KELLY, Palazzo/MS; Graves, Hartzler, Long, Luetkemeyer, Smith/MO; Zinke/MT; Smith/NE; Amodei, Hardy, Heck/NV; Guinta/NH; Frelinghuysen, Garrett, Lance, LoBiondo, MacArthur, Smith/NJ; Pearce/NM; Collins, DONOVAN, Gibson, Katko, King, Reed, Stefanik, Zeldin/NY; Ellmers, Foxx, Holding, Hudson, Jones, McHenry, Meadows, Pittenger, Rouzer, Walker/NC; Cramer/ND; Chabot, Gibbs, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Latta, Renacci, Stivers, Tiberi, Turner, Wenstrup/OH; Bridenstine, Cole, Lucas, Mullin, Russell/OK; Walden/OR; Barletta, Costello, Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Marino, Meehan, Murphy, Perry, Pitts, Rothfus, Shuster, Thompson/PA; Duncan, Gowdy, Mulvaney, Rice, Sanford, Wilson/SC; Noem/SD; Black, Blackburn, DesJarlais, Duncan, Fleischmann, Roe/TN; Babin, Barton, Brady, Burgess, Carter, Conaway, Culberson, Farenthold, Flores, Gohmert, Granger, Hensarling, Hurd, S. Johnson, Marchant, McCaul, Neugebauer, Olson, Poe, Ratcliffe, Sessions, Smith, Thornberry, Weber, Williams/TX; Bishop, Chaffetz, Love, Stewart/UT; Brat, Comstock, Forbes, Goodlatte, Griffith, Hurt, Rigell, Wittman/VA; Herrera-Beutler, McMorris-Rodgers, Newhouse, Reichert/WA; Jenkins, McKinley, Mooney/WV; Duffy, Grothman, Ribble, Ryan, Sensenbrenner/WI; Lummis/WY.

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

Voting “Present”: King/IA.

Not voting: Thompson/CA; Wagner/MO; Fortenberry/NE; Boehner/OH; Fincher/TN; Smith/WA.
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HR-3504 – Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act – Final Passage – Sept. 18 – Passed – 248-177 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “yes” / pro-Life:  Aderholt, Brooks, Byrne, Palmer, Roby, Rogers/AL; Young/AK; Franks, Gosar, McSally, Salmon, Schweikert/AZ; Crawford, Hill, Westerman, Womack/AR; Calvert, Cook, Denham, Hunter, Issa, Knight, LaMalfa, McCarthy, McClintock, Nunes, Rohrabacher, Royce, Valadao, Walters/CA; Buck, Coffman, Lamborn, Tipton/CO; Bilirakis, Buchanan, Clawson, Crenshaw, Curbelo, DeSantis, Diaz-Balart, Jolly, Mica, Miller, Nugent, Posey, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross,  Webster, Yoho/FL; Allen, Carter, Collins, Graves, Hice, Loudermilk, T. Price, A. Scott, Westmoreland, Woodall/GA; Labrador, Simpson/ID; Bost, R. Davis, Dold, Hultgren, Kinzinger, LaHood, Lipinski, Roskam, Shimkus/IL; Brooks, Bucshon, Messer, Rokita, Stutzman, Walorski, Young/IN; Blum, King, Young/IA; Huelskamp, Jenkins, Pompeo, Yoder/KS; Barr, Guthrie, Massie, Rogers, Whitfield/KY; Abraham, Boustany, Fleming, Graves, Scalise/LA; Poliquin/ME; Harris/MD; Amash, Benishek, Bishop, Huizenga, Miller, Moolenaar, Trott, Upton, Walberg/MI; Emmer, Kline, Paulsen, Peterson/MN; Harper, Kelly, Palazzo/MS; Graves, Hartzler, Long, Luetkemeyer, Smith/MO; Zinke/MT; Smith/NE; Amodei, Hardy, Heck/NV; Guinta/NH; Frelinghuysen, Garrett, Lance, LoBiondo, MacArthur, Smith/NJ; Pearce/NM; Collins, Donovan, Gibson, Hanna, Katko, King, Reed, Stefanik, Zeldin/NY; Ellmers, Foxx, Holding, Hudson, Jones, McHenry, Meadows, Pittenger, Rouzer, Walker/NC; Cramer/ND; Chabot, Gibbs, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Latta, Renacci, Stivers, Tiberi, Turner, Wenstrup/OH; Bridenstine, Cole, Lucas, Mullin, Russell/OK; Walden/OR; Barletta, Cartwright, Costello, Dent, Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Marino, Meehan, Murphy, Perry, Pitts, Rothfus, Shuster, Thompson/PA; Langevin/RI; Duncan, Gowdy, Mulvaney, Rice, Sanford, Wilson/SC; Noem/SD; Black, Blackburn, DesJarlais, Duncan, Fleischmann, Roe/TN; Babin, Barton, Brady, Burgess, Carter, Conaway, Cuellar, Culberson, Farenthold, Flores, Gohmert, Granger, Hensarling, Hurd, S. Johnson, Marchant, McCaul, Neugebauer, Olson, Poe, Ratcliffe, Sessions, Smith, Thornberry, Weber, Williams/TX; Bishop, Chaffetz, Love, Stewart/UT; Brat, Comstock, Forbes, Goodlatte, Griffith, Hurt, Rigell, Wittman/VA; Herrera-Beutler, McMorris-Rodgers, Newhouse, Reichert/WA; Jenkins, McKinley, Mooney/WV; Duffy, Grothman, Ribble, Ryan, Sensenbrenner/WI; Lummis/WY.

Voting “no”/ anti-Life: Sewell/AL; Gallego, Grijalva, Kirkpatrick, Sinema/AZ; Aguilar, Bass, Becerra, Bera, Brownley, Capps, Cardenas, Chu, Costa, Davis, DeSaulnier, Eshoo, Farr, Hahn, Honda, Huffman, Lee, Lieu, Lofgren, Lowenthal, Matsui, McNerney, Napolitano, Pelosi, Peters, Roybal-Allard, Ruiz, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Speier, Swalwell, Takano, Torres, Vargas, Waters/CA; DeGette, Perlmutter, Polis/CO; Courtney, DeLauro, Esty, Himes, Larson/CT; Carney/DE; Brown, Castor, Deutch, Frankel, Graham, Grayson, Hastings, Murphy, Wasserman-Schultz, Wilson/FL; Bishop, Johnson, Lewis, D. Scott/GA; Gabbard, Takai/HI; Bustos, D. Davis, Duckworth, Foster, Gutierrez, Kelly, Quigley, Rush, Schakowsky/IL; Carson, Visclosky/IN; Loebsack/IA; Yarmuth/KY; Richmond/LA; Pingree/ME; Cummings, Edwards, Hoyer, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes, VanHollen/MD; Capuano, Clark, Keating, Kennedy, Lynch, McGovern, Moulton, Neal, Tsongas/MA; Conyers, Dingell, Kildee, Lawrence, Levin/MI; Ellison, McCollum, Nolan, Walz/MN; Thompson/MS; Clay, Cleaver/MO; Ashford/NE; Titus/NV; Kuster/NH; Norcross, Pallone, Pascrell, Payne, Sires, Watson-Coleman/NJ; Lujan, Lujan-Grisham/NM; Clarke, Crowley, Engel, Higgins, Israel, Jeffries, Lowey, C. Maloney, S. Maloney, Meeks, Meng, Nadler, Rice, Serrano, Slaughter, Tonko, Velazquez/NY; Adams, Butterfield, Price/NC; Beatty, Fudge, Kaptur, Ryan/OH; Blumenauer, Bonamici, DeFazio, Schrader/OR; Boyle, Brady, Doyle, Fattah/PA; Cicilline/RI; Clyburn/SC; Cohen, Cooper/TN; Castro, Doggett, A. Green, G. Green, Hinojosa, Jackson-Lee, E.B. Johnson, O’Rourke, Veasey, Vela/TX; Welch/VT; Beyer, Connolly, Scott/VA; DelBene, Heck, Kilmer, Larsen, McDermott/WA; Moore, Pocan/WI.

Voting “Present”: Garamendi/CA.

Not voting: Thompson/CA; Delaney/MD; Wagner/MO; Fortenberry/NE; Rangel/NY; Boehner/OH; Fincher/TN; Smith/WA; Kind/WI.

Senate Voting Record

HR-36 – Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act – Cloture Motion to Proceed for Vote – Failed – 54-42 (needing 60) (Democrats in italics)

Voting “yes”/ pro-Life: Sessions & Shelby/AL; Sullivan/AK; Flake & McCain/AZ; Boozman & Cotton/AR; Gardner/CO; Rubio/FL; Isakson & Perdue/GA; Crapo & Risch/ID; Coats & Donnelly/IN; Ernst & Grassley/IA; Moran & Roberts/KS; McConnell & Paul/KY; Cassidy & Vitter/LA; Cochran & Wicker/MS; Blunt/MO; Daines/MT; Fischer & Sasse/NE; Heller/NV; Ayotte/NH; Burr & Tillis/NC; Hoeven/ND; Portman/OH; Inhofe & Lankford/OK; Casey & Toomey/PA; Graham & Scott/SC; Rounds & Thune/SD; Alexander & Corker/TN; Cornyn & Cruz/TX; Hatch & Lee/UT; Capito & Manchin/WV; Johnson/WI; Barasso & Enzi/WY.

Voting “no”/ anti-Life: Feinstein/CA; Bennet/CO; Blumenthal & Murphy/CT; Carper & Coons/DE; Nelson/FL; Hirono & Schatz/HI; Durbin & Kirk/IL; Collins & King(I)/ME; Cardin & Mikulski/MD; Markey & Warren/MA; Peters & Stabenow/MI; Franken & Klobuchar/MN; McCaskill/MO; Tester/MT; Reid/NV; Shaheen/NH; Booker & Menendez/NJ; Heinrich & Udall/NM; Gillibrand & Schumer/NY; Heitkamp/ND; Brown/OH; Merkley & Wyden/OR; Reed & Whitehouse/RI; Leahy & Sanders(I)/VT; Kaine/VA; Cantwell/WA; Baldwin/WI.

Not voting: Murkowski/AK; Boxer/CA; Warner/VA; Murray/WA.