Life Advocacy Briefing

Charges Dismissed!

THE LAST REMAINING CHARGE against David Daleiden was dismissed last week at the request of the prosecutor in Houston, freeing the pro-life hero from the political prosecution engendered by Planned Parenthood in its attempt to debunk the undercover videos by which Mr. Daleiden and his Center for Medical Progress (CMP) have exposed the abortion goliath’s harvesting of baby body parts.

Mr. Daleiden and his co-defendant, Sandra Merritt, had been prepared to seek a dismissal of all charges, but the judge dismissed the final charge – after having earlier dismissed others – thus freeing the pair from future jeopardy.

The charges stemmed from seeming manipulation of a grand jury by the Harris County District Attorney’s office, which employs an attorney who has served on the board of Planned Parenthood in Texas. The grand jury had been charged with probing Planned Parenthood’s involvement in baby-body-parts trafficking but was turned instead against the CMP team in an effort to exonerate Planned Parenthood by charging the pair with violations of Texas law.

The defense team had argued the prosecution was an affront to the First Amendment rights of investigative reporters. The aroma which had arisen from the entire episode brought unpalatable controversy to the Houston area prosecutor.

Live Action president Lila Rose was quoted by the Associated Press in response to the news of the unexpected victory. “‘Justice was served for David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt,’” she said, “‘when the indictment against them was lifted by the Houston judge. They should be commended for the amazing service they’ve done on behalf of the most vulnerable in our country by exposing Planned Parenthood,’” she told AP.

“‘The fact that the charges have been dismissed shows the political motivation of the district attorney’s office,’” she said in the AP report, “‘to go after these brave investigative journalists who are exposing Planned Parenthood’s barbaric trafficking of baby body parts.’”

Yes, that was actually published by the Associated Press, a victory in itself.

But the principal victory was, of course, freedom for two young pro-life crusaders, who each could have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison on the felony charges. The pair had rejected a plea deal which had offered them probation but would have required their changing their pleas to “guilty,” a plea which only Planned Parenthood ought to be offering in this scandal.

Mr. Daleiden and CMP continue to defend against a civil lawsuit in California which is currently blocking them from releasing further video footage obtained during their lengthy undercover investigation.

But for Mr. Daleiden, the dismissal of the felony charges brings its own sweet freedom. In a LifeSiteNews.com report by Ben Johnson, Mr. Daleiden himself responded to the good news from Houston, calling the dismissal “‘a resounding vindication of the First Amendment rights of all citizen journalists and also a clear warning to any of Planned Parenthood’s political cronies who would attack whistleblowers to protect Planned Parenthood from scrutiny. …

“‘Planned Parenthood tried to collude with public officials to manipulate the legal process to their own benefit,’” he said in Mr. Johnson’s report, “‘and they failed. A year after the release of the undercover videos, the ongoing nationwide investigation of Planned Parenthood by the House Select Investigative Panel makes clear that Planned Parenthood is the guilty party in the harvesting and trafficking of baby body parts for profit.’”

Saturation

THE TRAGIC DEPARTURE of the Democratic Party from any semblance of respect for America’s long-established principle of the right to life was on display in Philadelphia in many respects last week during the party’s quadrennial national nominating convention.

In addition to nominating a full-throated advocate of abortion till birth for the highest elected office in the land, the convention was organized to celebrate the killing of preborn boys and girls. It was not just the flamingly anti-Life platform nor the speeches by abortion-advocate-only politicians, nor the marketing and distribution of pro-abortion, pro-sexual-license memorabilia, those citizens who sat through the planned program witnessed a “schedule of speakers for the four-day 2016 nominating convention,” writes Ben Johnson for LifeSiteNews.com, which “include[d] the leaders of every major abortion lobbying group in the nation,” including disgraced Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards, who, when she was not addressing the crowd, was given the honor of being seated next to the former President of the United States, Bill Clinton.

“Aside from abortion lobbyists,” notes Mr. Johnson, “the convention [heard] from Tom Steyer, a California billionaire who has spent millions of dollars funding Democratic candidates for office. Although [Mr.] Steyer is motivated by his support from environmentalists policies,” writes Mr. Johnson, “he has funded ads attacking pro-life Republicans like Ken Cuccinelli on the issue of abortion on demand. …

“The schedule,” writes Mr. Johnson, “complements a Democratic Party platform that is, critics say, the most pro-abortion in the history of any political party.” Such a grand celebration of darkness.

Kaine Moves All the Way for Hillary

VIRGINIA SEN. TIM KAINE HAS BEEN TAPPED by Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as her running mate for the 2016 election.

The first-term Senator is a former Virginia governor, who served one term from 2006 to 2010 and was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009-2011. He is a graduate of Harvard.

Though Mr. Kaine has not been compiling a Senate voting record in favor of the right to life, he has long been considered moderate (whatever that means!) on Life issues, based, no doubt on his campaign for governor, when he declared himself in favor of parental consent, of banning partial-birth abortion and of protecting taxpayers from complicity in the deed. Or perhaps on his having signed a “Choose Life” license plate law while serving as governor.

“Until three weeks ago,” reports Claire Chretien for LifeSiteNews.com, “[Sen.] Kaine publicly supported the Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of federal funds for abortions.” And as recently as July 6, Mr. Kaine “told the Weekly Standard,” writes Ms. Chretien, “that he has ‘traditionally been a supporter of the Hyde Amendment.’”

But a funny thing happened on the way to his designation by Mrs. Clinton. “According to Jesse Ferguson, a spokesperson for the Clinton campaign,” Ms. Chretien writes, “[Mr.] Kaine ‘privately’ committed to [Mrs.] Clinton to stand with her on repealing the 40-year-old law,” a policy shift which appears to be developing into a major objective of Mrs. Clinton and of the Democratic Party as a whole, given the radicalism of the party’s platform abortion plank.

The choice of Mr. Kaine was backed by Planned Parenthood despite his past claims at moderation and seems to have been contingent on his caving in on the Hyde Amendment. He is now, apparently, fully on board the abortion agenda. But then, his voting record on the issues which have come before the Senate during his three years there has secured for him a 100% Planned Parenthood rating, according to Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook, speaking on CNN, as reported by LifeSiteNews. And, notes Ms. Chretien, “As a Senator, [Mr.] Kaine co-sponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill to undermine pro-life laws across the country.”

Dems Out of Step with America on Abortion?

A NEW POLL HAS BEEN RELEASED – just at the eve of the Democratic National Convention – showing some 62% of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortions. That is, the American people support the Hyde Amendment. According to the Daily Signal’s report by Fred Lucas on the newly released Marist Poll, “at least four out of ten Democrats” oppose taxpayer-funded abortion and therefore back “Hyde.”

The poll was taken among 1,009 adults, reports Mr. Lucas, “by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. … Further breakdown,” he writes, “shows 45% of [self-identified] pro-choice Americans oppose taxpayer-funded abortion, 65% of African-Americans oppose it, and so do 61% of Latinos. Fully 44% of Democrats,” he writes, “oppose federal funding of abortion, the poll found.”

Furthermore, the Marist Poll finds, reports Gary Bauer in his July 26, 2016, End of Day Memo, “that 78% of Americans support restrictions on abortion that would effectively limit the procedure to the first three months of pregnancy. Hillary Clinton,” notes Mr. Bauer, “voted against the ban on partial-birth abortions and said that unborn babies have no rights.”

The former Reagan domestic policy chief went on to report the Marist poll finding that “78% of Americans believe abortion clinics should meet the same standards as other surgery centers, and 70% of Americans want doctors who perform abortions to be required to have hospital admitting privileges.” These were the two reforms which the liberal justices on the Supreme Court rejected in June by overturning parts of the new Texas abortion law.

Court Invalidates Parental Notice

THE STATE SUPREME COURT HAS STRUCK DOWN Alaska’s parental notice of abortion law by a vote of 4 to 1. The challenge to the law was brought by Planned Parenthood.

The law was enacted in 2010 by vote of the people – 56 to 43% – the first time a state had enacted parental notice through a citizen-led initiative, according to Catholic Anchor (CA). The law provided for one-parent notification and contained a judicial bypass provision for special circumstances.

Ironically, the parental notice law was brought forth as a presumably satisfactory substitute for the parental consent law which the state supreme court had invalidated in 2007.

Supreme Court Justice Craig Stowers, in a written dissent to the late July ruling, criticized the court majority, noting that the same court in 2007 had opined that a parental notice law could withstand a constitutional challenge even while invalidating parental consent. Indeed, a news release from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) quotes that 2007 ruling, noting, “The same court ruled in a previous case that ‘the Alaska Constitution permits a statutory scheme which ensures that parents are notified so that they can be engaged in their daughters’ important decisions in these matters.’”

The citizens who sought and won the parental notice law no doubt thought they had satisfied the court’s objections and were encouraged in 2012 when Anchorage Superior Court Judge John Suddock, reports CA, “upheld major portions of the [notification] law, concluding that ‘minors may be pleasantly surprised when underestimated parents support, comfort and affirm them. Or a teen might overlook available resources. Her parents might help raise the child and so make college or military service feasible. Parental notification undoubtedly can open doors to unconsidered options,’” Judge Suddock declared, “‘for an otherwise isolated young woman.’”

The law was permitted to take effect while the court challenge went on, contributing, no doubt to Alaska’s “dramatic drop” in the number of abortions on girls aged 17 and younger, reports CA. And it has contributed as well, no doubt, to the overall reduction in abortion rates in America’s most northern state, no thanks to the state’s robed rulers.

Nice Try

A COUNTY JUDGE IN ILLINOIS LAST WEEK REFUSED TO DISMISS a long-pending defamation lawsuit brought against Planned Parenthood of Illinois by Pro-Life Action League (PLAL).

The suit stems from Planned Parenthood’s outrageous response to lawful efforts by the pro-life activist group to persuade the city of Aurora to refuse a permit for Planned Parenthood to establish a mega-abortuary in a low-income area in the far western Chicago suburb.

Planned Parenthood responded to PLAL’s public advocacy efforts by placing full-age ads in area newspapers in September, 2007, wrongly accusing the pro-life group of advocating violence and incorporating an irrelevant photo of a bombed-out abortuary in Michigan.

The bitter fight between Planned Parenthood and PLAL is well established not only because the two groups are diametrically opposed on the embrace (by PLAL) of Life but also because of a two-decades-long court battle between PLAL and the Planned Parenthood ally, the National Organization for [sic] Women, in which NOW charged PLAL with racketeering. That epic lawsuit was an underhanded effort to stymie PLAL’s activism and effective advocacy, as were those Aurora newspaper ads. The NOW v. Scheidler/PLAL saga ended with two rulings by the US Supreme Court declaring the racketeering charges meritless.

Now the shoe is on the other foot, with PLAL being the plaintiff and seeking to thwart the thwarters. So far, so good.

House Voting Record

S-304 – Conscience Protection Act – Procedural Motion to Recommit (blocking consideration) – July 13, 2016 – Failed – 182-244 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “no,” pro/life: Aderholt, Brooks, Byrne, Palmer, Roby, Rogers/AL; Young/AK; 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, Westmoreland, Yoho/FL; Allen, Carter, Collins, Graves, Hice, Loudermilk, Price, A. Scott, Woodall/GA; Labrador, Simpson/ID; Bost, 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; Collins, Donovan, Gibson, Hanna, Katko, King, Reed, Stefanik, Zeldin/NY; Ellmers, Foxx, Holding, Hudson, Jones, McHenry, Meadows, Pittenger, Rouzer, Walker/NC; Cramer/ND; Chabot, Davidson, 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, 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, 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, Larson/CT; Carney/DE; Brown, Castor, Deutch, Frankel, Graham, Grayson, Murphy, Wasserman-Schultz, Wilson/FL; Bishop, Johnson, Lewis, D. Scott/GA; Gabbard /HI; Bustos, 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, 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/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: Franks/AZ, Hastings/FL, Takai/HI, D. Davis, R. Davis/IL, Pearce/NM, Poe/TX, Ryan/WI.