Life Advocacy Briefing

House Endorses Baby-Body-Parts Probe

SEEKING TO EXTEND THE HOUSE PROBE of the trafficking of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood and its business associates, the House of Representatives on Dec. 1 voted 234 to 181 to add $800,000 in funding for the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, chaired by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).

The vote came after lengthy debate in which Democrats led by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL), the Panel’s Ranking Member, debunked the scandal and sought to kill the special subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy & Commerce.

After Panel member Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) blurted, as quoted by LifeSiteNews.com’s Claire Chretien, “‘What the heck are we being asked to spend another $800,000 on?’,” fellow panelist Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) responded, again quoting the LifeSiteNews report, “‘This is about following the law.’”

Mr. Duffy particularly noted the resistance of tissue middleman StemExpress to cooperate with the Panel’s probe. “‘StemExpress has thumbed its nose against the Select Investigative Panel and obstructed our efforts to bring light to the fetal tissue procurement industry.’ [Rep.] Duffy noted,” writes Ms. Chretien, “that StemExpress has not fully complied with subpoenas from the Panel.”

Said Panel member Rep. Vicky Hartzler, quoted by Ms. Chretien, “the Select Panel has ‘uncovered many valid concerns and potential law violations that are disturbing, horrific and unacceptable. … It is difficult to imagine a more vulnerable time in a woman’s life,’” said the Missouri Republican in debate, quoted by LifeSiteNews, “‘than when she is considering an abortion,’ and the abortion and fetal tissue industries take advantage of this.”

Rep. Mia Love (R-UT), who also serves on the Select Panel, spoke in debate as well, noting panelists “‘have alarming revelations about the fetal tissue industry, and because of this,’” she said, quoted by Ms. Chretien, “‘there have been criminal and regulatory referrals. They have resulted in numerous investigations around the nation.’” She noted as among “the most egregious discoveries,” writes Ms. Chretien, “that ‘StemExpress and certain abortion clinics were violating [federal] HIPAA privacy rights of vulnerable women for the sole purpose of increasing and harvesting fetal tissue to make money. …

“‘As elected Representatives,’” declared Rep. Love, quoted by Ms. Chretien, “‘we are tasked with oversight of our government that enforces our laws.’” Noting the Panel’s referrals for enforcement actions, Rep. Love said, “‘These eight referrals are proof of potential criminal activity in the fetal tissue industry. They justify the existence of the Panel and their investigations. However,’” she said, “‘the work of the Select Panel is not over; … more referrals will come.’”

For her part, Panel chairman Blackburn declared, writes Ms. Chretien, “‘For most of us, it is nothing short of an outrage that Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics supplement their budgets by selling human fetal tissue from aborted babies. … The work of our Panel is specifically focused,’” she said, “‘on protecting the integrity of research, scientific advancements and voluntary organ donation in America. Evidence we have uncovered reveals that the unethical and potentially unlawful practices of some bad actors may be putting important research at risk.’”

Members of the Panel are Rep. Blackburn and GOP Representatives Larry Bucshon (IN), Andy Harris (MD), Vicky Hartzler (MO), Joe Pitts (PA), Diane Black (TN), Mia Love (UT) and Sean Duffy (WI). The Minority Members are Rep. Schakowsky and Democratic Representatives Jackie Speier (CA), Diana DeGette (CO), Bonnie Watson-Coleman (NJ), Jerrold Nadler (NY) and Suzan DelBene (WA).

What’s Gov. Kasich to Do?

OHIO GOV. JOHN KASICH (R) HAS A DILEMMA ON HIS DESK. The Ohio Legislature has sent him a measure which he never expected to see; stalled in the State Senate for some two years after passing the Ohio House, a “Heartbeat Bill” was attached as an amendment to a measure concerning child abuse reporting and passed the Senate 21 to 10. The governor has 10 days to sign or veto the proposal, or it will become law without his signature.

The bill outlaws abortions of babies whose heartbeat can be detected, very early in pregnancy. Indeed, so early that NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio said, reports the Associated Press, “the move would block access to abortion before most women even know they’re pregnant.” Well, yes, probably – but after the baby is conceived and growing as a totally human being.

The dilemma is, Gov. Kasich has indicated – back when the bill was stalled so he was unlikely to face a decision on it – concerns that the measure could fall in court. But backers of the measure are hopeful of federal judiciary changes, in the wake of the recent Presidential election, and are unwilling to listen to such a qualm from one who has always declared himself pro-life.

Gov. Kasich may – by the time you see this account – have a fallback proposition on his desk, as the Ohio House was working at our publication deadline on advancing to the governor a Senate-passed version of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would outlaw abortions in Ohio after 20 weeks of the target baby’s gestation.

Preparing for the Roe Anniversary

THE MARCH FOR LIFE NEXT MONTH is scheduled for Jan. 27, rather than the usual practice of scheduling the March through Washington, DC, on the exact anniversary of the Roe v. Wade/Doe v. Bolton edicts (Jan. 22). Organizers are acknowledging the accommodations and traffic jams which will, on Jan. 22, still likely be left over from activities related to the Jan. 20 inauguration of America’s new President; hence the adjusted schedule.

But in the weeks leading up to the March, pro-life citizens can do more than line up their seats on their respective overland buses. Indeed, we can pray. Near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing, we reprint a call to prayer by Eric Metaxas of BreakPoint. We commend it to our readers

Planned Parenthood Loses a Backer

A CORPORATE WATCHDOG GROUP called 2nd Vote, which operates an Internet website at www.2ndvote.com, announced last week, in a story carried by LifeSiteNews.com, that iconic retailer Macy’s “no longer donates to or matches employee donations to abortion giant Planned Parenthood.” The 2nd Vote announcement came on Nov. 30, “credit[ing] the victory to pro-life customers who expressed their concerns to Macy’s.”

Though noting that Macy’s continues to score “100 on the Corporate Equality Index of the [pro-homosexuality] Human Rights Campaign,” reports Claire Chretien for LifeSiteNews, “2nd Vote called Macy’s withdrawal of Planned Parenthood funding ‘a great (early) Christmas present.’” In any case, it is a signal of effectiveness of pro-life input to PP’s corporate sponsors, a campaign which has long been led by Life Decisions International, whose website is at fightpp.org.

Welcome Departure

REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES leaving Capitol Hill for new executive-branch posts.  Rep. Xavier Becerra (D) has been tapped by California’s Democratic Governor, Jerry Brown, to fill the shoes of the state’s left-wing attorney general, Kamala Harris, when the fierce abortion proponent takes her seat next month as the elected successor to retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer (D).

Though Mr. Becerra’s successor is not yet identified, as the vacancy will be filled by special election, we do not expect his overwhelmingly Democratic district to shift orientation, though a pro-life Democrat – if one can be found – could score well in a primary in the 2/3-Hispanic district.

In any case, Mr. Becerra’s long tenure in the House, his prominence in television news interviews and his leadership among Hispanic-American House Members have long given him influence which will be wanting in his successor, whoever it might be.

His 100% rating by the abortion lobby correlates perfectly to his 100% anti-Life voting record reflected in Life Advocacy Briefing’s annual voting record index of Members of Congress.

We can only hope Mr. Becerra, despite his ideological leanings, will prove a more worthy attorney general than his predecessor, who has been waging an abortion-lobby-driven vendetta against the whistleblowing Center for Medical Progress and its leader, David Daleiden.

Prepare for Prayer

Dec. 8, 2016, commentary by Eric Metaxas, reprinted from BreakPoint.org

This month [sic], hundreds of thousands of people will join the March for Life in Washington, DC. But what if there were three times that many praying?

Jan. 22nd is the 44th anniversary of the worst Supreme Court decision in our nation’s history. With Roe v. Wade, seven robed men gave America some of the most permissive abortion-on-demand laws in the world. Since that time, nearly 60 million unborn children have been killed in the womb.

… January is the month so many American Christians memorialize the unborn – through Sanctity of Life Sunday (this year on Jan. 15) and the March for Life on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on Jan. 27th – I will be there. The day before that, by the way, my colleague John Stonestreet will be speaking at the Anglicans for Life conference, and then after the March at the Evangelicals for Life conference. As you may know, John and I are very passionate about this issue.

Now, if you can get to Washington, DC, please do! But if you can’t, you can still be a part of the most significant cause of our day, the cause for Life. How? Well, the Colson Center for Christian Worldview has produced a free, downloadable booklet called 21 Days of Prayer for Life. It’s updated for 2017, and we want to see millions of Christians appeal together to heaven to end this grave evil.

This full-color booklet was co-written by John Stonestreet and top pro-life apologist Scott Klusendorf and is co-sponsored by the top pro-life groups in America: Students for Life, Focus on the Family, Save the Storks, the March for Life, Life Training Institute, CareNet and others.

The booklet will guide you through a three-week journey to pray for all of the victims of abortion: the unborn, expectant mothers and fathers in crisis, siblings, grandparents and yes, even abortion clinic workers. It also includes prayers for pastors, as well as politicians and policy makers.

You see, Roe v. Wade, as bad of a decision as it was, did not “settle” the abortion debate in America. In fact, if the growing concern and hysteria from pro-abortion forces tell us anything, it’s that America is shifting away from unrestricted abortion. Pro-life forces have made major gains in state legislatures across the country in recent years, and new survey data show that 53% of millennials believe abortion should be either illegal or legal only in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother.

Let’s keep the momentum going in 2017 – and let’s start on our knees, in prayer!

But there’s something else powerful about this prayer guide. Each day features beautiful stories of life: of the dad who chose life for his son with Down syndrome, of the sibling who found peace for the loss of her aborted sister and forgiveness for her mom, of the student who courageously stood for life in a hostile college classroom. These stories will inspire you to also pick up the mantle and stand for life.

And as you pray, this guide will equip you to have pro-life conversations with your friends and neighbors. Did you know you can defend the dignity of unborn life through science and philosophy? Could you use some talking points on fetal development and how to graciously answer the red herring arguments that you often hear like: “don’t like abortion, don’t have one”? Well, then you need this prayer guide.

So here’s what you can do: Come to BreakPoint.org and download it for free right from our website. And please, please, will you think of five people you could share it with and forward the link to them? And don’t forget your pastor. Maybe your small group or Bible study or family or homeschool group or Christian school class will commit together to pray for Life this January. And Facebook and Twitter would be great ways to share the prayer guide. Again, come to BreakPoint.org and download 21 Days of Prayer for Life. God bless you.

House Voting Record

HRes-933 –Increased Appropriation for House Investigative Panel on Infant Lives (Baby-Body-Parts Trafficking Probe) – Dec. 1, 2016 – Adopted – 234-181 (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, Mica, Miller, Posey, Rooney, Ros-Lehtinen, Ross, Webster, Yoho/FL; Allen, Carter, Collins, Graves, Hice, Loudermilk, Price, A. Scott, 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, COMER, Guthrie, Massie, Rogers/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, Lance, LoBiondo, MacArthur, Smith/NJ; Pearce/NM; Collins, Donovan, Gibson, Katko, King, Reed, Stefanik, Zeldin/NY; Ellmers, Foxx, Holding, Hudson, McHenry, Meadows, Pittenger, Rouzer, Walker/NC; Cramer/ND; Chabot, Davidson, Gibbs, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Latta, 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, Fleischmann, Roe/TN; Babin, Barton, Brady, Burgess, Carter, Conaway, Culberson, Farenthold, Gohmert, Granger, Hensarling, Hurd, S. Johnson, Marchant, McCaul, Neugebauer, Olson, Ratcliffe, Sessions, Smith, Thornberry, Weber/TX; Bishop, Chaffetz, Love, Stewart/UT; Brat, Comstock, Goodlatte, Griffith, Hurt, Rigell, Wittman/VA; Herrera-Beutler, McMorris-Rodgers, Newhouse, Reichert/WA; Jenkins, McKinley, Mooney/WV; Duffy, Grothman, Ribble/WI; Lummis/WY.

Voting “no” / anti-Life: Sewell/AL; Gallego, Grijalva, Sinema/AZ; Aguilar, Bass, Becerra, Bera, Brownley, Capps, Cardenas, Chu, Costa, Davis, DeSaulnier, Eshoo, Farr, Garamendi, Honda, Huffman, Lee, Lieu, 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; Castor, Deutch, Frankel, Graham, Grayson, Hastings, Murphy, Wasserman-Schultz, Wilson/FL; Bishop, Johnson, Lewis, D. Scott/GA; Gabbard,HANABUSA/HI; Bustos, D. Davis, 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, Schrader/OR; Boyle, Brady, Cartwright, Doyle, EVANS/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/TX; Welch/VT; Beyer, Connolly, Scott/VA; DelBene, Heck, Kilmer, Larsen, McDermott, Smith/WA; Kind, Moore, Pocan, Sensenbrenner/WI.

Not voting: Kirkpatrick/AZ; Hahn, Lofgren/CA; Carney/DE; Brown, Jolly, Nugent/FL; Westmoreland/GA; Garrett/NJ; Jones/NC; Renacci, Stivers/OH; DeFazio/OR; Fincher/TN; Flores, Poe, Vela, Williams/TX, Forbes/VA, Ryan/WI.