Life Advocacy Briefing

Big Win

THE SENATE HAS CONFIRMED outstanding conservative attorney Sarah Pitlyk as District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri. The new judge is one for whom a coalition of conservative leaders issued a statement on Oct. 30, which we published in our Nov. 4 edition of Life Advocacy Briefing. Ms. Pitlyk is a Yale Law School graduate, a former clerk to then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh and a long-time litigator. She has also worked as a public interest lawyer defending constitutional and civil rights on behalf of the Thomas More Society.

Last Wednesday’s vote was 49 to 44, needing a simple majority. Tuesday’s cloture vote, bringing the nomination to a vote, was 50 to 43. We publish the voting records at the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing, and we commend the President and the Senate for this victory for justice.

Assault on the States

THE ABORTION LOBBY has corralled their fellow travelers in the House and Senate to sign on to an amicus brief in a Supreme Court wrangle over a simple, sensible Louisiana law.

“The Court is set to hear oral arguments in March challenging the law,” reports Nathaniel Weixel for The Hill, “which would require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital,” a regulatory law which is designed not even to criminalize abortions but to assure emergency care for aborting mothers in the event of complications.

The most recent court ruling on the law was a September, 2018, ruling in the 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals, reports Mr. Weixel, upholding the Louisiana statute in a 2-to-1 vote, “ruling it ‘does not impose a substantial burden on a large fraction of women.’”

Near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing, we list 36 Senate Democrats and 161 House Democrats who have subscribed publicly to blocking Louisiana’s reasonable law for the protection of women.

Looking for Justice

DAVID DALEIDEN’s CENTER FOR MEDICAL PROGRESS HAS FILED a defamation lawsuit against Savinda Ginde, one of the then-Planned Parenthood abortionists featured in the CMP’s video footage documenting the abortion outfit’s complicity in baby-body-parts trafficking.

In a Live Action News report, Carole Novielli quotes one provision of the lawsuit: “‘Dr. [Savita] Ginde published a book and made a TEDx presentation, in which she falsely claims that the videos were ‘dubbed’ and ‘spliced and diced …’ and that they did not reflect her actual statements … . The Ginde Videos,’” states the suit, quoted by Ms. Novielli, “‘accurately portray the discussions that Dr. Ginde had with Mr. Daleiden during the undercover investigations. No facts were fabricated or added to the video. Neither the context of Dr. Ginde’s statements, or the accompanying audio, was manipulated.’”

Fanaticism over Compassion

PENNSYLVANIA GOV. TOM WOLF (D) HAS VETOED a Down Syndrome Protection Bill, announcing his veto, reports Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation legislative director Maria Gallagher, “via a video posted on Twitter one day after the bill passed the ST Senate. The video,” she writes, “had been captioned, ‘Another attack on abortion – VETOED.’”

Gov. Wolf is a committed advocate for abortion and a former clinic escort volunteer for Planned Parenthood. The abortion fanatic did issue a veto message, reports Ms. Gallagher, claiming, “‘There is no evidence that this bill is needed in Pennsylvania.’” The legislation had passed the House 117 to 76 and the State Senate 27 to 22, short of the votes needed for a veto override.

But the bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Kate Klunk (R-Hanover) responded, writes Ms. Gallagher, “‘When I looked at all the people with Down Syndrome who advocated for this bill, I saw the evidence of why this bill should be law in our Commonwealth. I saw the love and value they add to their families and to the fabric of our communities. And I saw the need to protect these individuals from needless death simply because they have an extra chromosome. … Allowing babies to be aborted solely because they have a diagnosis of Down Syndrome is a return to a dark hour of human history. We must stand with these perfectly imperfect individuals and support their right to life, their right to love and to spread happiness in this world.’”

Candidate Watch

• ELIZABETH WARREN, Democratic Presidential contender, told a campaign-stop crowd last Monday, reports Calvin Freiburger for LifeSiteNews.com, citing the website Disrn.com as source, “that she intends to signal her solidarity with abortion-on-demand by wearing a pink scarf on Inauguration day, should she become the next President … . ‘I made the decision when Donald Trump was elected,’” said the Massachusetts Senator, quoted by Mr. Freiburger, “‘I decided I would go to the Inauguration … but it was important to me what I wore. I’ll tell you what I wore: I wore my scarf that has in big letters on it embroidered “Planned Parenthood”,’ [Sen.] Warren said on the University of Iowa campus, Disrn reports. ‘And then the next day I showed up at [the Women’s March]; I spoke and I wore my pink Planned Parenthood scarf. Now that’s two, so here’s my plan for number three: I’m gonna be wearing that scarf when I’m sworn as President of the United States.’” The LifeSiteNews reporter further notes Mrs. Warren’s declaration last month “that ‘trans,’ ‘nonconforming’ and ‘non-binary’ women of color to be the ‘backbone’ of American democracy.” Oh.

• CATHOLIC LEAGUE PRESIDENT BILL DONOHUE on Nov. 27 called former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg – the latest entry into the Democratic Presidential mob – “a total bomb” on abortion and religious liberty, writing in an opinion piece for LifeSiteNews.com, that the billionaire stock broker “is one of the most radical pro-abortion politicians in American history. When he first ran for mayor … in 2001,” notes Mr. Donohue, “he pledged to force everyone training to become an obstetrician or a gynecologist in a city hospital to learn how to perform an abortion. It was NARAL’s New York City office that pushed him to accept this outrageous policy,” writes Mr. Donohue, who acknowledged that “in the end, he allowed for moral and religious exemptions” when he issued an executive order implementing the policy. What is more, Mr. Bloomberg “personally donated $250,000 to Planned Parenthood” in 2012, in response to the Susan B. Komen Foundation’s abbreviated decision to stop pouring its own resources into the abortion giant. He also, according to Mr. Donohue, “appropriate[d] $15 million from a civic facility revenue bond transaction that benefited Planned Parenthood. … The new national headquarters [of the outfit] was publicly funded even though the Planned Parenthood Federation of America posted a budget of over $1 billion in 2009-2010.” More detail is available at https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/new-dem-2020-candidate-bloomberg-violently-pro-abortion-antireligious-freedom.

In the States

• THE VIRGINIA SENATE’s INCOMING MAJORITY LEADER, Sen. Dick Saslaw (D-Fairfax County), has filed a bill, reports Hank Berrien for DailyWire.com, “whose summary states it ‘removes the requirement that a pregnant minor seeking an abortion obtain either parental consent or judicial authorization.’” SB-21 also, notes Mr. Berrien, “removes the requirement that a pregnant woman seeking to obtain an abortion undergo a fetal transabdominal ultrasound … at least 24 hours prior to obtaining an abortion or at least two hours prior to obtaining an abortion if the pregnant woman lives at least 100 miles from the [abortion] facility.” And it further, according to the Daily Wire report, “removes language classifying facilities that perform five or more first-trimester abortions per month as hospitals for the purpose of complying with regulations establishing minimum standards for hospitals.” Virginia is expected to be a major legislative battleground on abortion because of the change in party control resulting from the November 2019 election. It is also a key target of the radical feminists in their drive to revive the extinct, pro-abortion Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution by pushing Virginia ratification, though the amendment expired in 1982.

• THE NEW JERSEY ASSEMBLY VOTED 49 to 21 Nov. 25 “to direct $9.5 million in taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood in the state,” writes Calvin Freiburger for LifeSiteNews.com, “for the express purpose of compensating for the money the abortion giant has lost due to the Trump Administration’s Protect Life Rule” disqualifying abortionists from family planning (Title Ten) grants. “‘We cannot allow even one New Jerseyan to be denied care because of the Trump-Pence gag rule,’ declared Kaitlyn Wojtowicz, vice president for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey,” quoted by Mr. Freiburger, who notes, “If the Senate also passes the bill [in December] and Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy signs it into law, the $9.5 million would be added to [the generous amount] already allocated at the state level to the abortion giant.”

Discriminatory Law

Nov. 22, 2019, The Point commentary by John Stonestreet & David Carlson

            Recently, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law a bill that prohibits employment discrimination based on “the employee’s … reproductive health decision making.” The bill also prohibits employers from forcing their employees “to sign a … document which purports to deny an employee the right to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions.”

            In other words, employees cannot be asked to agree to policies that would be pro-life. This includes, as the Alliance Defending Freedom translates: “all employers – including churches, religious schools, faith-based pregnancy care centers and religious nonprofits – to disavow their beliefs about abortion, contraception and sexual morality by forcing them to hire and employ those who refuse to abide by the organizations’ statements of faith.”

            So, ADF filed a lawsuit on behalf of a pregnancy care center, an association of care centers and a New York church.

            After all, as ADF put it, would New York force the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to hire meat-eating, fur-wearing recreational hunters? Of course not.

Amicus Brief Signers

Subscribers to the Supreme Court amicus brief challenging Louisiana’s admitting privileges law

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (NY) and Senators Dianne Feinstein & Kamala Harris (CA), Michael Bennet (CO), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Tom Carper & Christopher Coons (DE), Mazie Hirono & Brian Schatz (HI), Tammy Duckworth & Richard Durbin (IL), Benjamin Cardin & Chris VanHollen (MD), Edward Markey & Elizabeth Warren (MA), Amy Klobuchar & Tina Smith (MN), Catherine Cortez-Masto & Jacky Rosen (NV), Margaret Hassan & Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Cory Booker & Robert Menendez (NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Sherrod Brown (OH), Jeff Merkley & Ron Wyden (OR), Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Patrick Leahy & Bernard Sanders (VT), Tim Kaine & Mark Warner (VA), Maria Cantwell & Patty Murray (WA), Tammy Baldwin (WI). Also Sen. Angus King (ME), who ran as an “Independent” but caucuses with the Democrats.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Representatives Ruben Gallego & Raul Grijalva (AZ); Nanette Barragan, Karen Bass, Ami Bera, Julia Brownley, Salud Carbajal, Tony Cardenas, Judy Chu, Gilbert Cisneros, Susan Davis, Mark DeSaulnier, Anna Eshoo, John Garamendi, Jimmy Gomez, Jared Huffman, Ro Khanna, Barbara Lee, Mike Levin, Ted Lieu, Zoe Lofgren, Alan Lowenthal, Doris Matsui, Jerry McNerney, Grace Napolitano, Jimmy Panetta, Katie Porter, Harley Rouda, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Linda Sanchez, Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman, Jackie Speier, Eric Swalwell, Mark Takano, Mike Thompson, Norma Torres, Juan Vargas, Maxine Waters (CA); Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse & Ed Perlmutter (CO); Rosa DeLauro, Jahana Hayes & Jim Himes (CT); Lisa Blunt-Rochester (DE); Kathy Castor, Val Demings, Theodore Deutch, Lois Frankel, Alcee Hastings, Al Lawson, Donna Shalala, Darren Soto, Wasserman-Schultz & Frederica Wilson (FL); Hank Johnson & David Scott (GA); Ed Case (HI); Sean Casten, Danny Davis, Bill Foster, Jesus Garcia, Robin Kelly, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Mike Quigley, Jan Schakowsky, Bradley Schneider & Lauren Underwood (IL); Andre Carson (IN); Cindy Axne & Dave Loebsack (IA).

Also, Sharice Davids (KS); John Yarmuth (KY); Cedric Richmond (LA); Chellie Pingree (ME); Anthony Brown, Steny Hoyer, Jamie Raskin, John Sarbanes & David Trone (MD); Katherine Clark, William Keating, Joseph Kennedy, James McGovern & Ayanna Pressley (MA); Debbie Dingell, Daniel Kildee, Brenda Lawrence, Andy Levin & Rashida Tlaib (MI); Betty McCollum & Ilhan Omar (MN); William Clay & Emanuel Cleaver (MO); Steven Horsford, Susie Lee & Dina Titus (NV); Ann Kuster & Chris Pappas (NH); Jeff Gottheimer, Donald Norcross, Frank Pallone, Bill Pascrell, Albio Sires, Jeff VanDrew & Bonnie Watson-Coleman (NJ); Deb Haaland (NM); Eliot Engel, Adriano Espaillat, Brian Higgins, Nita Lowey, Gregory Meeks, Grace Meng, Joseph Morelle, Jerrold Nadler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Kathleen Rice, Max Rose, Jose Serrano & Nydia Velazquez (NY); Alma Adams & David Price (NC); Marcia Fudge & Tim Ryan (OH); Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer & Peter DeFazio (OR); Brendan Boyle, Matthew Cartwright, Madeleine Dean, Mary Scanlon & Susan Wild (PA); David Cicilline (RI); Steve Cohen & Jim Cooper (TN); Lloyd Doggett, Veronica Escobar, Lizzie Fletcher, Sylvia Garcia, Al Green, Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX); Peter Welch (VT); Donald McEachin, Robert Scott & Jennifer Wexton (VA); Suzan DelBene, Denny Heck, Pramila Jayapal, Derek Kilmer, Kim Schreier, Adam Smith (WA); Ron Kind, Gwen Moore & Mark Pocan (WI). Plus Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delegate from the District of Columbia, who is unconstitutionally listed as a Representative by House Democrats.

Senate Voting Records

Cloture on Nomination of Sarah Pitlyk as District Judge – Dec. 3, 2019 – Passed – 50-43 (Democrats in italics; “Independent” marked “I”)

Voting “yes”/pro-Life: Shelby/AL, Sullivan/AK, McSally/AZ, Boozman & Cotton/AR, Gardner/CO, Rubio & Scott/FL, Isakson & Perdue/GA, Crapo & Risch/ID, Braun & Young/IN, Ernst & Grassley/IA, Moran & Roberts/KS, McConnell & Paul/KY, Cassidy & Kennedy/LA, Hyde-Smith & Wicker/MS, Blunt & Hawley/MO, Daines/MT, Fischer & Sasse/NE, Burr & Tillis/NC, Cramer & Hoeven/ND, Portman/OH, Inhofe & Lankford/OK, Toomey/PA, Graham & Scott/SC, Thune/SD, Alexander & Blackburn/TN, Cornyn & Cruz/TX, Lee & Romney/UT, Capito/WV, Johnson/WI, Barrasso & Enzi/WY.

Voting “no”/anti-Life: Jones/AL, Sinema/AZ, Feinstein/CA, Bennet/CO, Blumenthal & Murphy/CT, Carper & Coons/DE, Hirono & Schatz/HI, Duckworth & Durbin/IL, Collins & King (I)/ME, Cardin & VanHollen/MD, Markey/MA, Peters & Stabenow/MI, Smith/MN, Tester/MT, Cortez-Masto & Rosen/NV, Hassan & Shaheen/NH, Menendez/NJ, Heinrich & Udall/NM, Gillibrand & Schumer/NY, Brown/OH, Merkley & Wyden/OR, Casey/PA, Reed & Whitehouse/RI, Leahy/VT, Kaine & Warner/VA, Cantwell & Murray/WA, Manchin/WV, Baldwin/WI.

Not voting: Murkowski/AK, Harris/CA, Warren/MA, Klobuchar/MN, Booker/NJ, Rounds/SD, Sanders/VT.

Confirmation of Sarah Pitlyk as District Judge – Dec. 4, 2019 – Confirmed – 49-44 (needing ½ of those voting) (Democrats in italics; “Independent” marked “I”)

Voting “yes”/pro-Life: Shelby/AL, Sullivan/AK, McSally/AZ, Boozman & Cotton/AR, Gardner/CO, Rubio & Scott/FL, Perdue/GA, Crapo & Risch/ID, Braun & Young/IN, Ernst & Grassley/IA, Moran & Roberts/KS, McConnell & Paul/KY, Cassidy & Kennedy/LA, Hyde-Smith & Wicker/MS, Blunt & Hawley/MO, Daines/MT, Fischer & Sasse/NE, Burr & Tillis/NC, Cramer & Hoeven/ND, Portman/OH, Inhofe & Lankford/OK, Toomey/PA, Graham & Scott/SC, Thune/SD, Alexander & Blackburn/TN, Cornyn & Cruz/TX, Lee & Romney/UT, Capito/WV, Johnson/WI, Barrasso & Enzi/WY.

Voting “no”/anti-Life: Jones/AL, Sinema/AZ, Feinstein/CA, Bennet/CO, Blumenthal & Murphy/CT, Carper & Coons/DE, Hirono & Schatz/HI, Duckworth & Durbin/IL, Collins & King (I)/ME, Cardin & VanHollen/MD, Markey/MA, Peters & Stabenow/MI, Klobuchar & Smith/MN, Tester/MT, Cortez-Masto & Rosen/NV, Hassan & Shaheen/NH, Menendez/NJ, Heinrich & Udall/NM, Gillibrand & Schumer/NY, Brown/OH, Merkley & Wyden/OR, Casey/PA, Reed & Whitehouse/RI, Leahy/VT, Kaine & Warner/VA, Cantwell & Murray/WA, Manchin/WV, Baldwin/WI.

Not voting: Murkowski/AK, Harris/CA, Isakson/GA, Warren/MA, Booker/NJ, Rounds/SD, Sanders/VT.