Life Advocacy Briefing

Persisting in Prayer

OUR READERS NO DOUBT KNOW the Presidential election outcome will likely be delayed for perhaps weeks, so we will not comment much on that at this time.

Most of the election results are known with respect to Congress but are scattered, so our coverage there is limited; we are cheered to see a coterie of pro-life women preparing to take seats in Washington and report on those victories below.

Along with many of our readers, we are experiencing exhaustion, but we persevere with faith in the Lord of the universe – and of this country – and confidence that our cause, it is just.

S.B.A. List Outlines Campaign Focus

IN AN ELECTION DAY MESSAGE, Susan B. Anthony List (SBA) quantified its “unprecedented” 2020 campaign effort. “In its largest campaign ever,” the major pro-life political committee declared, “SBA List spent $52 million and reached out to over eight million voters in 10 key swing states. Interactions with more than eight million voters,” writes Emily Mangiaracina, reporting for LifeSiteNews.com, “translated into 2.5 million homes visited and over 1,000 pro-life canvassers deployed.”

Further, the SBA List campaign operation “reached out via 14.7 million voter mail pieces sent,” reports Ms. Mangiaracina, “45 million online ad views, 6.6 million live voter calls completed and seven million text messages sent.”

The basic effort, according to SBA’s vice president Mallory Quigley, quoted by LifeSiteNews, was “to expose Democrats’ extremism on abortion in order to re-elect Pres. Trump and our pro-life Senate majority.”

The 10 states on which SBA focused were Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.

S.B.A. Claims Victories for Life

IN THE ELECTION’s AFTERMATH, the Susan B. Anthony List exulted in the election of a “surge of pro-life women elected to Congress” last Tuesday, reports LifeSiteNews.com. SBA focuses election efforts chiefly on adding pro-life women to the nation’s highest legislature.

In the US Senate, according to the SBA report published by LifeSiteNews, Joni Ernst (R-IA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) and Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV) were re-elected to join three pro-life women whose terms are continuing. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) has advanced to a run-off election on Jan. 5.

In the US House, “all 11 pro-life women incumbents have won re-election,” reports LifeSiteNews. With eight races still to be called – which could bring the total to 21 – 13 new pro-life women were chosen for the House, of whom seven replaced Democratic House Members in Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma and South Carolina. In the Minnesota contest, pro-life state legislator Michelle Fischbach defeated veteran Rep. Collin Peterson, the last semi-reliable pro-life Democrat in Congress; the other six replaced consistent abortion advocates.

Another six newly elected lady House Members succeeded reliably pro-life retiring Members in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and Tennessee.

Eight more pro-life lady candidates are awaiting final results in races too close to call, as of the day following the election when SBA made its announcement to LifeSiteNews. These include one in Arizona (Tiffany Shedd), two in California (Young Kim and Michelle Steel), one in Illinois (Esther Joy King), one in Indiana (Victoria Spartz), one in Iowa (Mariannette Miller-Meeks), one in New York (former Rep. Claudia Tenney) and one in Texas (Beth VanDuyne).

House Republicans overall have sharply narrowed the gap in party alignment; at this writing, we are not aware of any Democratic Members-elect who took a pro-life stand; Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Rep. Ben McAdam (D-UT) have mixed voting records on Life; Rep. McAdam’s race was not called as of this writing; he was challenged by pro-life GOP nominee Burgess Owens.

Pluses & Minuses in Senate

THE CAUSE OF LIFE GAINED a seat in the US Senate with the election last Tuesday of GOP nominee Tommy Tuberville, who defeated Sen. Doug Jones (D) in Alabama.

Sen. Jones had won a special election in December 2017, succeeding long-time pro-life veteran Jeff Sessions, who resigned after being appointed US Attorney General. Though elected from a deeply conservative state, Sen. Jones compiled a thoroughly pro-abortion voting record and, reports Victoria Gisondi for LifeSiteNews.com, “insulted a constituent when he asked if he believed abortion should be banned after five months” last winter. Sen. Jones, notes Ms. Gisondi, “quipped that it was a ‘stupid question.’”

Two pro-life US Senators, Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Cory Gardner (R-CO), were defeated by abortion advocates Mark Kelly and John Hickenlooper.

Races are not yet settled in Georgia (Sen. Perdue & Sen. Loeffler) and North Carolina (Sen. Tillis). 

Overall, it appears the GOP will likely maintain its majority status in the US Senate but by a narrow margin.

Colorado Proposition Goes Down

AMONG THE DISTURBING RESULTS from last Tuesday’s election was the loss of a Colorado ballot proposition to outlaw the killing of pre-born human babies who have gestated 22 weeks.

The “Due Date Too Late” campaign brought forth 138,000 signatures to put the late-term abortion ban on the ballot. “With 82% of the state’s precincts reporting at 10:42 p.m. CST,” reports Patrick Delaney for LifeSiteNews.com, “the proposition was listed as a loss with 40.6% of voters supporting these protections for preborn children and 59.4% opposing such protections. …

“‘Failing to pass Proposition 115 allows Colorado to remain just one of seven states in the entire country,’” declared Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins, quoted by Mr. Delaney, “‘that approves of elective abortions up until birth for any reason and with no restrictions. In this state,’” she noted, “‘it is perfectly legal for a mother to have an abortion on her due date. Allowing viable babies to be killed through abortion is an act of infanticide,’” she said – true regardless of voter sentiment.

Had the proposition been ratified by voters, notes Mr. Delaney, Due Date Too Late campaign organizers estimated it “would have stopped an estimated 400 late-term abortions per year” in the state, which is home to Warren Hern, one of America’s most infamous late-term abortion specialists; he plies his trade in Boulder, where the 82-year-old has been killing babies since 1975.

Louisianans Love Life

TWO-THIRDS OF THE VOTERS IN LOUISIANA VOTED ‘YES’ last Tuesday on a ballot proposition adding an amendment to the state constitution affirming life.

The newly ratified amendment reads, according to a LifeSiteNews.com report by Charles Robertson: “‘To protect human life, nothing in this constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.’ … The ballot [proposition] is designed,” writes Mr. Robertson, “to prevent ST judges from circumventing state legislation restricting abortion.”

The LifeSiteNews report quotes an opinion piece authored Oct. 20 by pro-life State Sen. Katrina Jackson (D), “‘Our body of pro-life laws ensure that women are empowered with the truth about their pregnancy prior to an abortion, that minors seeking an abortion have parental consent and that babies born alive following a botched abortion receive immediate medical care. Our law also makes sure that not a dollar of your state tax dollars fund abortion,’ she wrote. ‘Yet these laws and others are at risk unless we pass Amendment 1.’”

Sen. Jackson referred to experiences in some other states, such as Kansas, where, notes Mr. Robertson, “the Kansas Supreme Court [last year] struck down a law banning late-term abortions as unconstitutional and upheld abortion as a right even though abortion does not appear anywhere in the state’s constitution.” The proposition clearly was preventive medicine in the toxic political environment which America has become.

Action Births Results

Nov. 4, 2020, FRC Action Update commentary by Family Research Council president Tony Perkins

            For anyone who remembers Donald Trump’s landslide upset in 2016, it’s no surprise the polls got it wrong in 2020. Whether it was wishful thinking or a coordinated attempt to suppress Republican turnout, the mainstream media’s much-hyped “blue wave” failed to materialize.

            As of now, the race for the Presidency is too close to call, with a handful of key states not likely to finish counting votes until at least the end of the week, and a potential for recounts, maneuvering and litigation. Either way, the election will be a squeaker, not the resounding rejection of Trump for which the media hoped.

            FRC Action PAC endorsed 150 candidates who are or will be champions for Life and Christian values in Congress. Of those champions, 119 have won their races, while 13 lost. (In 18 races, the winner hasn’t been declared.) That’s a win rate of over 90% for decided races!

            Of the 92 True-Blue Members of Congress FRC Action PAC endorsed, only one, Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) has lost her race. One highlight is the Montana Senate race, where my friend Sen. Steve Daines (R) effectively survived a challenge from the Democratic Governor, Steve Bullock, who has consistently vetoed pro-life legislation during his time as governor. [Sen. Daines is chairman of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus.]

            Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), the sponsor of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, won her race despite being named as one of the Democrats’ top targets. And pro-life champion Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) defeated high-profile abortion activist and former State Sen. Wendy Davis [D] by seven percentage points in a race the New York Times called a “toss-up.”

            Adding to the number of pro-life women in the US House, Minnesota State Sen. Michelle Fischbach defeated an incumbent in Minnesota’s 7^th District; she was endorsed by FRC Action Pac.

            State legislative results are slow to come in, but by this afternoon Republicans had retained “trifectas” (single-party control) in four states (Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska and West Virginia), where Democrats thought they were vulnerable. They also retained the Republican legislature in North Carolina.

            Continuing a decade-long trend, largely pro-life Republicans continue to dominate state government; they will continue to hold single-party control in at least 20 states at this hour, and control both legislative chambers in at least five additional states where the governor is Democrat. By comparison, this afternoon Democrats had single-party control in only 10 states and controlled two additional legislatures in states with a Republican governor.

            Control of state legislatures will be especially important over the next two years, as they are tasked with re-drawing Congressional districts to reflect the 2020 Census. In this way, they can shape the composition of Congress by drawing more districts to be winnable by a Democrat or Republican.

            In Louisiana, voters overwhelmingly passed (62% to 38%) a ballot measure to make clear that a right to abortion or abortion funding cannot be read into the Louisiana constitution if Roe v. Wade is overturned. The initiative was sponsored by Democratic State Sen. Katrina Jackson, a strong voice for the unborn. A similar measure in Colorado was defeated only after it was outspent 17-to-1.

            Whether or not President Trump wins re-election, the 2020 election provided substantial victories for candidates who are pro-life, pro-family and pro-religious freedom.

America at the Edge

Nov. 4, 2020, End-of-Day commentary by Reagan domestic policy advisor Gary Bauer

            Last night former Vice Pres. Joe Biden did what the media warned Donald Trump not to do. Biden ran to a microphone and insisted that he had basically won the election, saying, “We’re on track to win this election.”

            Pres. Trump and Vice Pres. Pence came out later and warned that the Left was trying to steal the election. President Trump said, “This is a fraud on the American people. This is an embarrassment to our country … . Frankly, we did win this election. … We want the law to be used in a proper manner. So we’ll be going to the US Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop. We don’t want them to be finding any ballots at four o’clock in the morning.”

            The Vice President added, “While the votes continue to be counted, we’re going to remain vigilant. The right to vote has been at the center of our democracy since the founding of this nation, and we’re going to protect the integrity of the vote. … But I truly do believe that we are on the road to victory.”

            People wondered in this election if we would have another “Florida situation” similar to what happened in 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore. It’s worse than that. We’ve got multiple states hanging in the balance with growing evidence of illegality – all the things we have seen in big Democrat cities for decades.

            When Kennedy beat Nixon, everyone knew it was because the Daley Machine in Chicago manufactured votes. Richard Nixon and the Republican Party chose not to fight back because they felt it would hurt the country. Donald Trump and Mike Pence are going to fight back because the Left will hurt the country!

            Unfortunately, many commentators today – including on Fox News – are repeating the progressive-socialist talking point that was echoed for the past two weeks and is now becoming a chorus. “Every vote must be counted.” They keep leaving out the most important word that should be in that sentence. Every legal vote should be counted. The Democrats can manufacture votes from now until Christmas.

            I believe Donald Trump and Mike Pence won yesterday. Let me repeat that: I believe Trump/Pence won. President Trump won four million more votes than he did in 2016.

            Now Democrats will try to steal this victory from them. They changed the rules in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The President warned weeks ago that mail-in balloting could lead to fraud and chaos, and that’s exactly what we have now.

            Because of the unprecedented vote-by-mail juggernaut the Democrats ran through in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, we are facing a dicey situation this morning. But there are ways it could still work out.

            I believe there is ample evidence that mail-in votes were handled in such a way that inevitably resulted in fraud for the Democrats. There were duplicate ballots being sent to households. Incorrect ballots were mailed out.

            The Trump campaign went into court multiple times to get this under control, and I know it will continue to fight.