Life Advocacy Briefing

May 29, 2017

Draining the Swamp / Greeting Rep.-Elect Gianforte
Welcome, Judge Thapar / Reversing Roe? / Fed Up with Waiting
Miscarriage in Minnesota / Quoteworthy / True Choice

Draining the Swamp

PRES. DONALD TRUMP ACTED IN MID-MAY TO BROADEN the Reagan-era “Mexico City Policy” which disqualifies abortion-committing outfits – including Planned Parenthood and its fellow travelers – from “family planning” grants and contracts issued through the Agency for International Development (AID). One of his first acts in office was to reinstate “Mexico City,” but in the intervening months, several other US foreign aid programs were discovered to have been funding the abortion industry’s variety of overseas “services.”

On May 15, Pres. Trump completed the cleansing via a new Executive Memorandum titled “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance.” It covers, noted a news release from Susan B. Anthony List, “all foreign health assistance provided by government agencies including the State Dept., US AID, the Office of the US Global AIDS Coordinator and the Dept. of Defense. Previously,” explained SBA List, “the policy only covered family planning funds.”

“With the implementation of [the new Memorandum],” noted SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser, “we [the USA] have officially ceasedexporting abortion to foreign nations. No longer will we undermine the pro-life laws and cultural commitments of other countries by funding organizations, like [British-based Planned Parenthood ally] Marie Stopes International, that obsessively promote and perform abortion,” she said.

“By modernizing this important policy and expanding it to include $8.8 billion in foreign aid, Pres. Trump is continuing Ronald Reagan’s pro-life legacy,” said the conservative leader. “This executive order does not cut a single penny from US aid; rather it simply ensures our hard-earned tax dollars are used by other healthcare entities that act consistently to save lives, rather than promoting and performing abortion. Abortion is not health care.”

Also commenting on the new Executive Memorandum was Mat Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, which describes itself as “a nonprofit litigation, education and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life and the family … by providing pro-bono assistance and [legal] representation on these and related topics.”

“Today we celebrate a significant step to make the womb a safe place again,” said Mr. Staver in Liberty Counsel’s news release. “Pres. Trump has now turned off the spigot of taxpayer funding for abortions outside of the United States. We cannot reverse the deaths of millions of innocent children, but we can reverse the tragic flow of money that funds human genocide.”

To ensure this advance will become permanent US policy, Congress should now proceed to enact a law with similar provisions so that a future President cannot do what Presidents Clinton and Obama did in reversing the Reagan Mexico City Policy. The international abortion industry is one huge swamp which has needed to be drained for the sake of generations to come as well as for the image of America in the world.

Greeting Rep.-Elect Gianforte

WE WELCOME THE ELECTION OF GREG GIANFORTE (R) to fill the vacant Congressional seat of Ryan Zinke, who left office early this year to become Secretary of the Interior in the Trump Administration.  Mr. Zinke had a solid pro-life voting record in the term-plus-months he served as Montana’s at-large Representative in Congress.

Businessman – and now Congressman-elect – Gianforte declared a pro-life commitment during his campaign and leads a family foundation which has contributed to pro-life ministries. He was elected last Thursday and will soon take the oath of office to join the 115th Congress.

Welcome, Judge Thapar

THE SENATE LAST THURSDAY VOTED TO CONFIRM FEDERAL DISTRICT JUDGE Amul Thapar to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. The vote was 52-to-44 on Pres. Trump’s first appellate judge to reach a Senate vote.

Judge Thapar’s name was included on the President’s list of possible nominees to the Supreme Court, a list which is widely viewed as focusing only on conservatives. The new appellate judge has been serving in the eastern district of Kentucky at the lowest level of the federal judiciary since his confirmation in 2007 as an appointee by then-Pres. George W. Bush.

Reversing Roe?

REP. STEVE KING (R-IA) HAS FILED A ‘HEARTBEAT’ BILL which would require an abortionist to determine whether a heartbeat can be detected in his or her target, disclose the information to the aborting mother and refrain from committing the killing if the baby’s heartbeat can be detected. HR-490 is currently gestating in the House Judiciary Committee and boasts 87 co-sponsors.

Similar legislation has passed in three states. The bill was vetoed in Ohio by GOP Gov. John Kasich, who signed alternative but less dramatic pro-life legislation on the same day. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked enforcement of the law in Arkansas and North Dakota, but according to Faith2Action president Janet Folger, writing an op-ed in the Washington Times, the 8th Circuit panel “asked the Supreme Court to take up the case, arguing that it should be the states who decide. The 8th Circuit Court,” she noted, “rightly declared that ‘heartbeat’ is a ‘more certain and consistent’ indicator of life than the one the Supreme Court is currently using: viability.” Until the Supreme Court changes its standard, the lower federal courts see their hands as tied to “precedent.”

Enactment of such legislation could prompt a Supreme Court review, sponsors believe, as, notes Mrs. Porter, “the Supreme Court has said the states can protect human life if there’s a likelihood of survival to live birth. … Heartbeat,” writes Mrs. Porter, citing constitutional law professor David Forte as source, “is the most accurate indicator of whether a child in the womb will survive to live birth. That means,” she writes, “the court can simply move the line of allowable legal protection to a place that is more in keeping with its [claimed] intent – heartbeat.”

Readers are asked to contact their US Representative (Capitol switchboard: 1-202/224-3121) in thanks for co-sponsoring HR-490 or to ask them to add their names as co-sponsors and to vote for the Heartbeat Bill.

Joining Rep. King as co-sponsors, as of this writing, are GOP Representatives Robert Aderholt, Bradley Byrne, Gary Palmer, Martha Roby & Mike Rogers (AL); Don Young (AK); Andy Biggs, Trent Franks & Paul Gosar (AZ); Rick Crawford & Bruce Westerman (AR); Duncan Hunter, Doug LaMalfa & David Valadao (CA); Ken Buck, Gregg Harper & Doug Lamborn (CO); Gus Bilirakis, Matt Gaetz, Brian Mast, Dennis Ross, Daniel Webster & Ted Yoho (FL); Rick Allen, Buddy Carter, Drew Ferguson, Jody Hice & Barry Loudermilk (GA); Raul Labrador (ID); Randy Hultgren, Peter Roskam & John Shimkus (IL); Todd Rokita (IN); Roger Marshall (KS); Thomas Massie (KY); and Ralph Abraham & Mike Johnson (LA).

Also, GOP Representatives Paul Mitchell & John Moolenaar (MI); Tom Emmer (MN); Trent Kelly (MS); Sam Graves, Vicky Hartzler, Blake Luetkemeyer & Ann Wagner (MO); Don Bacon & Adrian Smith (NE); Stevan Pearce (NM); Claudia Tenney (NY); Ted Budd, Richard Hudson, Walter Jones, Mark Meadows, Robert Pittenger & David Rouzer (NC); Kevin Cramer (ND); Steve Chabot, Warren Davidson, Bob Gibbs, Jim Jordan & James Renacci; Jim Bridenstine & Steve Russell (OK); Mike Kelly, Tom Marino & Scott Perry (PA); Jeff Duncan & Joe Wilson (SC); Marsha Blackburn & David Roe (TN); Brian Babin, Joe Barton, Michael Burgess, John Carter, Blake Farenthold, Louie Gohmert, Jeb Hensarling, Ted Poe, Lamar Smith & Randy Weber (TX); Rob Bishop & Mia Love (UT); Dave Brat, Thomas Garrett & Robert Wittman (VA); Alex Mooney (WV); and Glenn Grothman (WI).

Fed Up with Waiting

THE OKLAHOMA STATE LEGISLATURE HAS TAKEN A FRESH STEP in advocating the right to life for unborn children. The state House of Representatives in mid-May adopted a resolution, reports Fr. Mark Hodges for LifeSiteNews.com, “stating that abortion is ‘murder’ and is to be opposed by state leaders.”

Though the resolution “does not carry the weight of law,” writes Fr. Hodges, it “is regarded as a statement of official policy.”

It notes in its preamble, reports LifeSiteNews, “that ‘the Supreme Court of the United States overstepped its authority’ when it Constitutionalized abortion-on-demand throughout all 50 states.” Its sponsor, State Rep. Chuck Strohm (R-Jenks), “told the media,” writes Fr. Hodges, “that the US Supreme Court violated ‘every act of decency and law’ and abused the Constitution when it forc[ed] the murder of unborn children in our society.’”

The resolution is directed toward law enforcement officials, notes, Fr. Hodges, including “‘sheriffs, district attorneys, judges and justices, the (state) Attorney General and the Governor.’” And a copy of the resolution is to be sent, notes the LifeSiteNews reporter, “to ‘the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate of each state’s legislature, and each Member of the Oklahoma Congressional delegation.’”

The resolution, notes Fr. Hodges, directs “‘every public official in Oklahoma … to exercise their authority to stop (the) murder of unborn children by abortion.’ They also direct Oklahoma judges not to interfere with efforts to protect pre-born children.”

Among the supporting points offered in the resolution, Fr. Hodges writes, “Legislators cite the Declaration of Independence affirmation that ‘all human beings are created in the image of God and are thus endowed by their Creator with the unalienable right to life.’” And the resolution, reports LifeSiteNews, “further cites the US Constitution that ‘no state shall deprive any human being of life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness without due process of law.’”

The full text of the resolution can be read via the Internet at http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2017-18%20FLR/HFLR/HR1004%20HFLR.PDF.

We commend this resolution to lawmakers in other states and even Congress as a means of crying out to the Supreme Court and to society at large: Stop the killing now.

Miscarriage in Minnesota

MINNESOTA GOV. MARK DAYTON (D) HAS VETOED two pro-life measures; though the bills received bipartisan support at passage, they are unlikely to receive sufficient votes for a veto override attempt.

HF-809 would have barred state funds from being used for abortion.  Because of a 1995 state supreme court ruling, reports Bill Poehler for National Right to Life (NRL) News Today, state “taxpayers now fund 43% of all abortions at a cost of more than $1 million per year. … A 2015 poll,” notes Mr. Poehler, “found 68% of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion, including 69% of women and 71% of millennials.”

The other bill, HF-812, would have “require[d] facilities that perform 10 or more abortions per month to be licensed by the state commissioner of health. The bill also authorizes the commissioner,” notes Mr. Poehler, “to perform inspections of abortion facilities. The bill was amended to require abortion facilities to follow their own industry standards and to ensure facilities abide by those standards to be eligible for state licensure.

“‘Gov. Dayton has dismissed the abortion industry’s own safety requirements, shielding the state’s abortion facilities from any oversight whatsoever,’” commented the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life’s legislative director, Andrea Rau, quoted by Mr. Poehler. “‘He is willing to risk women’s health and safety in order to protect the abortion industry.’” That’s what extremists do.

Quoteworthy

Family Research Council’s Arina Grossu, commenting on FRC Blog about a new study showing the nervous system of an embryonic human child is complex even by the time their mothers discover their existence: “In our culture, there are those who will have more compassion for animals than for babies who are given a death sentence because of their age and location. We will continue to fight until every one of these vulnerable preborn babies are protected – by our laws and our culture. It is not enough to recognize that these children feel pain when aborted; we must empower those around us to make life-affirming choices. Only then will our nation become one where it is safe to be in the womb.”

True Choice

May 8, 2017, commentary by Jay Hobbs, editor-in-chief, PregnancyHelpNews.com

            Tune up the world’s smallest violin to bemoan the plight of the last remaining abortion business in Mississippi, which pays the rent by ending 2,300 unborn human lives every year. Tonight’s tiny-stringed orchestra conductor, New York Magazine, set off a cacophony of pro-abortion sorrow Thursday in an article entitled “A New Threat to Mississippi’s Only Abortion Clinic Moved in Across the Street.”

            Soon, Mic.com and Romper.com followed with similar pieces, decrying a new neighbor to Jackson Women’s Health Organization, an abortion clinic that has been a darling of the Left and is the stomping grounds to self-styled Christian abortionist Willie Parker. As first reported by Pregnancy Help News, the clinic now has a pro-life neighbor just 100 yards away, dedicated to giving a woman one last chance to save her baby and reject abortion.

            While a free ultrasound is the main tool the pro-life Center for Pregnancy Choices will use to help women choose life for their babies in the shadow of the pink-painted abortion mill, that fact is conveniently absent from the coverage by New York Magazine and friends.

            In place of the facts, New York Magazine trots out old, baseless talking points from abortion fanatics at NARAL Pro-Choice America, accusing pregnancy centers of hurting and lying to women “to persuade women into their center instead, often claiming that their centers can offer the services they may need.”

            Along with NARAL’s trope, the author points to numbers pulled from the pro-abortion 2016 National Clinic Violence Survey in attempts to show that a pregnancy center’s proximity to an abortion clinic poses an actual physical threat to clinic staff. Compiled by the Feminist Majority Foundation, the survey is deeply flawed, drawing self-reported responses from 319 abortionists around the nation and failing to include any crime statistics whatsoever.

            Far from putting abortionists at risk by locating near a clinic, pro-life pregnancy centers put themselves in harm’s way to give their clients a true choice. While women are indeed often persuaded to go into a pregnancy center rather than an abortion clinic, there’s no question that a decision has everything to do with what’s inside each type of facility.

            At a pregnancy help center like Center for Pregnancy Choices, a woman will find free pregnancy testing, a free ultrasound and free options consulting that has zero profit motivation. Choices, in other words. At an abortion clinic like Jackson Women’s Health Organization, however, what a woman will find is anything but choice. All she will find is an abortion, because that’s all the clinic offers. That’s what keeps the lights on and the money flowing in, after all.

            While clients at abortion clinics often regret their decision to abort – some are physically harmed and even die – more than nine in 10 clients at a pro-life pregnancy center report the highest levels of satisfaction with the care they received.

            Those women, like Ashleigh, who chose life for her son thanks to a central Ohio pregnancy center, go on to become outspoken proponents of the help they received, contributing to the reality that the No. 1 way pregnancy centers attract new clients is word of mouth.

            “Hands down, I’m so much better off because I chose life,” Ashleigh said in early April. “When I went there, the lady there was 100% non-judgmental, and my decision wasn’t going to make them any profit. That’s what I was looking for – someone to talk to who wasn’t going to profit off me or my baby.”

                In the final analysis, that is why a pregnancy center poses such a threat to the abortion industry. The threat has everything to do with the abortion clinic’s bottom line.