Life Advocacy Briefing

‘See’ You in December

WE WILL BE SUSPENDING PUBLICATION for a couple of weeks, expecting to return with our Dec. 7 edition, both in observance of Thanksgiving and, next week, because of a temporary eye condition which is proving deeply challenging to our editor’s ability to do the necessary reading. (We will appreciate your prayers.) We do expect, Lord willing, the eye situation to be resolved within a week, and then comes Thanksgiving weekend!

We wish our readers a blessed and peaceful celebration of our many blessings as Americans, and we offer our own praises and thanks to our Creator God for His provision and His own inestimable sacrifice in our behalf. God bless each of you, our readers.

(Past) Time to Defund Planned Parenthood

WE ARE TOLD BY SOURCES INSIDE THE U.S. SENATE that the upper chamber of Congress could well be taking up the defunding of Planned Parenthood, possibly any day now. We cannot know at this writing whether it will be considered via the House-passed budget reconciliation measure (which bypasses the Senate’s filibuster rule and requires only 51 votes to pass) or by another device, but the message is the same.

We urge readers to contact your home-state Senators with an urgent request that they vote to defund Planned Parenthood at every opportunity. They may be contacted via the Capitol switchboard at 1-202/224-3121 – early and often!

More Babies Saved

YET ANOTHER ABORTUARY HAS CLOSED – this one in South Bend, Indiana.

The so-called Women’s Pavilion was the last abortuary in the South Bend area but ceased abortions Nov. 6. It was owned by notorious abortionist Ulrich Klopfer, who has been unsuccessful in his appeal of the state’s Dept. of Health judgment in June ordering him to turn over his abortuary operating license. He had failed, the state learned, to correct the deficiencies uncovered by inspectors.

Mr. Klopfer has been under fire since March of 2014, when his shop was raided by police. Among other charges, he is most notorious for his consistent failure – or shall we say, refusal – to report abortions on minors under the state’s child sexual abuse reporting laws.

Mr. Klopfer, though a resident of Illinois, has been plying his trade throughout northern Indiana for several years. The South Bend closing follows the shuttering of Mr. Klopfer’s abortion businesses in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 2014 and of his baby-killing enterprise in Gary, Indiana, in June of this year.

He continues to face proceedings which could result in revocation of his Indiana medical license itself for hundreds of alleged violations.

Picking on the Poor, Harassed Abortionist? Really?

ULRICH KLOPFER MAY BE NOTORIOUS for refusing to report abortions on minors in keeping with Indiana state law, but evidently he is not alone.

A panelist at last April’s National Abortion Federation confab called such laws and regulations “‘conscription,’” writes Ben Johnson, reporting for LifeSiteNews.com on the contents of an undercover video recorded by the Center for Medical Progress and leaked by a hacker after the NAF videos were turned over to a Congressional panel investigating Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry. The hacked videos were posted on the Internet website www.gotnews.com.

“The NAF presenter,” writes Mr. Johnson, “said all abortion restrictions could be seen as a vehicle for oppressing the youth. …

“Restrictions passed to require tighter health-and-safety standards are merely ‘a Trojan horse’ designed to ‘undermine patient moral agency,’ because they ‘represent a regressive return to rejected paradigms of paternalism,’” Mr. Johnson quoted the NAF speaker as proclaiming.

In one of the most patently ridiculous comments quoted by LifeSiteNews, the NAF speaker actually advocates installing state agents in abortuaries to handle the child-abuse reporting concerns. “‘In my opinion,’” she said, “‘if the state wants these things [reported], they should print state flyers and supply state employees to do these things rather than force physicians to do it on the state’s behalf.’” Just let the state try to do that, and see how quickly the abortion industry takes the health authorities to court!

Quoteworthy

Humanitarian evangelist Franklin Graham, commenting on the Planned Parenthood video revelations, quoted by Michael Haverluck in OneNewsNow.com: “Our nation will one day have to answer to God for the millions of innocent lives taken by abortion, and that applies to every politician who voted for and defended abortion. … The people who perform [abortion] have no conscience, so I am not at all surprised that they would be selling organs, tissue and body parts from babies. … Planned Parenthood should be put out of business; they’ve done enough damage.”

Nice Try

Oct. 20, 2015, BreakPoint commentary by John Stonestreet, reprinted from www.BreakPoint.org

Responding to all the pressure, Planned Parenthood has agreed to stop taking money for fetal tissue!

Unless you’ve been completely unplugged for the last several months, you know about the undercover Planned Parenthood videos released by the Center for Medical Progress. These videos show Planned Parenthood officials haggling over the price of fetal body parts procured during abortions and admitting that they had altered the abortion procedures in order to procure those parts. On air and in front of Congress, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards has denied that the organization ever profited via such transactions – but the videos tell a different story.

Now Richards, after withering publicity, congressional scrutiny, state investigations and calls for the federal government to defund the organization, says that Planned Parenthood will no longer take any money for fetal tissue used for medical research.

In an October 13 letter to the National Institutes of Health, Planned Parenthood stated, “In order to completely debunk the disingenuous argument that our opponents have been using … our Federation has decided … that any Planned Parenthood health center that is involved in donating tissue after an abortion for medical research” will accept “no reimbursements for its reasonable expenses.”

Well, if accusations were disingenuous, why the sudden change of plans? And if no profit was involved, why won’t they disclose how much they received for the so-called “donations?” Clearly, compared to the half-a-billion dollars of annual taxpayer dollars given to Planned Parenthood, this was a decision between income and more income.

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Planned Parenthood didn’t disclose the amount it will forgo with its new policy.”

But make no mistake: Planned Parenthood is still profiting handsomely off the grisly abortion industry. As Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League and founder of Stop Planned Parenthood International, says, “The steps taken by Planned Parenthood show how worried it is that the truth of its baby-body-parts business has become public and betrays its true colors. It is not just the profits that have the public upset. It is the callousness shown by PP employees toward babies in the womb.”

Indeed, Anika Smith, writing for The Stream.org, notes that “the profit motive, while disgusting, was not the most horrifying revelation.” What’s horrifying people is “that these abortion procedures may be changed in order to ‘procure specimens,’ that they are probably conducting illegal partial-birth abortions, that some children may be born alive and cut open for their body parts.”

So, friends, this is no time to ease up on the pressure. Planned Parenthood’s stated change of plans, even if it’s a misdirection play, shows that our efforts and prayers arehaving an effect. Planned Parenthood and its shameless defenders are feeling the heat, so let’s turn it up even higher. We must continue advocating for federal funding of Planned Parenthood to come to an end, and for the investigation and appropriate prosecution of lawbreakers.

This is another example where we cannot choose between sharing Christ’s love and doing all we can to stand up for the most defenseless in our society. Both evangelism and confronting evil will bring glory to God.

Like William Wilberforce did, we face a long struggle. No doubt he felt like giving up some days, because of the entrenched citadels supporting slavery that seemed impregnable. But knowing his cause was just and God was on his side, he worked patiently, year by year, decade by decade.

And so must we! Whether Planned Parenthood changes its plans or not, we can’t change our goal – protecting babies and their mothers.

This is the greatest evil of our day, hands down. It’s claiming men, women, brothers, sisters, and certainly innocent children as its victims. So, as Chuck [Colson] would say, let’s stay at our posts and do our duty.

Hopeful News on the StemCell Front

Commentary by Wesley J. Smith, reprinted from NationalReview.com

This can’t be true! Embryonic stem cells are the ONLY Hope, “the scientists” and their media and celebrity camp followers repeatedly insisted – as they urged priority funding for studies from embryonic [cells].

Except, those who argued that adult stem cells offered great potential are the ones being proven right – as embryonic successes are almost nowhere to be seen.

Now the early indications of a possible efficacious treatment for MS are looking to be even more hopeful. From the Science Alert story:

A group of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients have had their immune systems destroyed and then rebuilt using their own blood stem cells. Three years later, 86% of them have had no relapses, and 91% are showing no signs of MS development.

Wunderbar.

Now, think of the people with MS who have had assisted suicide out of despair, cheered on by the “death with dignity” crowd. In Belgium, some MS patients have even coupled their killings with organ harvesting.

You’d think this ongoing success would make huge headlines. I mean, imagine if it was an embryonic stemcell success. But for the media, adult stem cells are still the wrong stem cells.

Here’s a good formula going forward. Good ethics = good science = good medicine = true hope.

House Voting Record

HR-3495 –Procedural Motion to Recommit (blocking consideration) –Planned Parenthood Defunding – Sept. 29, 2015 – Failed – 184-242 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “no” / 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, 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, Wagner/MO; Zinke/MT; Fortenberry, Smith/NE; Amodei, Hardy, Heck/NV; Guinta/NH; Frelinghuysen, Garrett, Lance, LoBiondo, MacArthur, Smith/NJ; Pearce/NM; Collins, Donovan, Gibson, Hanna, Katko, King, Stefanik, Zeldin/NY; Ellmers, Foxx, Holding, 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, Dent, Fitzpatrick, 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; 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, Forbes, Goodlatte, Griffith, Rigell, Wittman/VA; Herrera-Beutler, McMorris-Rodgers, Newhouse/WA; Jenkins, McKinley, Mooney/WV; Duffy, Grothman, Ribble, Ryan, Sensenbrenner/WI; Lummis/WY.

Voting “yes” / 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, Thompson, Torres, Vargas, Waters/CA; DeGette, Perlmutter, Polis/CO; Courtney, DeLauro, Esty, Himes/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, 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, 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, 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, Smith/WA; Kind, Moore, Pocan/WI.

Not voting: Larson/CT; T. Price/GA; Kelly/IL; Reed/NY; Hudson/NC; Boehner/OH; Comstock, Hurt/VA; Reichert/WA.