Life Advocacy Briefing

Don’t Expect Us

YOUR LIFE ADVOCACY BRIEFING STAFF will be traveling during the next two weeks. We ask our readers to excuse us, please, from publishing during the trip. We expect to be back with our March 22 edition. Thank you in advance for your prayers for our safe travel. (We’ll be driving.)

Push Comes to Shove

THE BATTLE IS NOW ‘ON’ IN THE U.S. SENATE over the so-called “Equality Act,” which passed the House Thursday by a vote of 224 to 206.

Unless Senate Democrats do away with the filibuster rule or find some parliamentary bypass, HR-5 would need 60 “aye” votes to pass the Senate. Readers are urged to contact their home-state Senators and request a “no” vote on HR-5, which could be considered the most radical social legislation ever proposed.

Though largely aimed at advancing gender confusion – including promotion of permanently disfiguring transgender treatments – the massive proposal is laced also with promotion of the legalized killing of unborn children.

“Supporters tout [HR-5] as the most sweeping pro-LGBT bill in American history,” notes Raymond Wolfe for LifeSiteNews.com (LSN). Here, he writes, are “things all Catholics and Christians should know about the drastically pro-LGBT, pro-abortion Equality Act that could become law in a matter of days.” [Capitol switchboard: 1-202/224-3121]

“The Equality Act would mandate that ‘existing Federal statutes prohibiting sex discrimination in employment’ cover gender identity and sexual orientation, outlawing Catholic hiring practices,’” said Robert Marshall, writing for LSN, notes Mr. Wolfe. “‘Any church or private school which refused to hire persons who engage in sodomy and other same-sex behaviors, or who support abortion, even though it violates church teaching, will be held to be in violation of the Act,’” he said, quoted by Mr. Wolfe. “‘Businesses run by Christians or those who believe in Natural law, who fail to implement the LGBTQ+/abortion agenda, will be fined, just as they would be for engaging in racial discrimination,’ [Mr. Marshall] continued, adding that churches may lose tax-exempt status if they reject Democrats’ dictates,” reports Mr. Wolfe.

“‘Churches which ordain male-only clergy would be compelled,’” Mr. Marshall warned in the LSN report, “‘to change their policies under the Equality Act or lose their tax-exempt status.’”

The report goes on to cite a 2019 letter concerning the same bill from the previous Congress, “signed by three high-ranking Catholic bishops, as well as leaders of dozens of Catholic and Christian institutions, [which] raised similar issues, stating that the Act would ‘subject private employers and others to expensive lawsuits if they fail to adhere to strict preferred pronoun policies.’”

The LSN report next warns HR-5 “specifically neuters religious protections provided for in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. … The limitations on RFRA,” warns Mr. Wolfe, “would be the first since the pro-faith bill became law” during the Clinton era.

“The Act would redefine sex discrimination in federal civil rights law,” warns Mr. Wolfe, “to include ‘pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition,’ codifying and expanding abortion protections, as the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pro-life committee has noted.” That is, protections of the abortion industry, not protections from abortion.

“‘The Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act to forbid discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, but it would also fulfill the abortion industry’s long-fought desire to establish abortion as “health care” officially and legally,’ Kenneth Craycraft of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology recently wrote in First Things,” notes Mr. Wolfe. “‘It requires that access to “treatment” for pregnancy must not be any different from access to any other kind of healthcare treatment for any other “physical condition.” But this is all code language for implementation of a vigorous national policy of abortion on demand for any or no reason,’ he added.”

Powerful House floor debate last Thursday, managed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), brought out many of these flaws and more. But logic and appeals appear defenseless against the overwhelming control of the House’s majority party by the abortion and homosexual lobby, and a startling number of Democratic lawmakers proclaimed their own homosexuality during debate Thursday.

Our concern is that ordinary American citizens will sleep through this episode, with so little news coverage of the advance of HR-5, and we ask our readers to contact their home-state US Senators and to urge their fellow citizens to do so as well. We cannot count on the White House – or even the Supreme Court – to stand for the Constitution and the traditional rights of Americans to exercise their sincerely held religious views in light of the radical alignment of the majority party.

Too Hot to Handle?

FORMER CONGRESSMAN XAVIER BECERRA (D) is facing resistance from GOP Senators on the committee hearing his nomination to be the Biden Regime’s Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS). Among the issues being raised are his voting record on abortion legislation as well as his record as California Attorney General, an office in which he carried out his predecessor’s prosecution of pro-life investigative journalist David Daleiden.

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins has supplied a detailed report on last Tuesday’s “Senate grilling” of the nominee, and we publish it near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing.

Standing Up for Americans with Down Syndrome

REP. RON ESTES (R-KS) & SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R-OK) HAVE FILED companion bills to give relatives the right to file suit against abortionists who kill an unborn baby based on a Down Syndrome diagnosis. The bills shelter the mother but would target the so-called medical practitioners who commit the killing.

HR-532 has 39 co-sponsors in the House, and S-75 is co-sponsored by 22 Senators. We list them  near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing and encourage our readers in their districts or states to express thanks for their leadership in this proposal, as well as urging readers to call others to request them to sign on. [Capitol switchboard: 1-202/224-3121]

Reporting on the bills in The Federalist, journalism intern Evita Duffy, who is the daughter of former US Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) and a student at the University of Chicago, reports “67% of babies with a Down Syndrome diagnosis are aborted” in the US. The Downs diagnosis of her then-unborn sister, combined with other diagnostic challenges, prompted her father not to seek abortion of his child but instead to resign from Congress in 2019 in order to help care for his growing family.

Born-Alive Bill Signed in South Dakota

SOUTH DAKOTA GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R) LAST WEEK SIGNED legislation, reports KNBN-TV, requiring “medical professionals to offer any baby born alive the same medical care they would offer for any other child – regardless of the circumstances of the child’s birth. …

“‘We expect doctors to treat all children equally,’” said Mrs. Noem in the NBC report, “‘even those born in horrific circumstances,’” such as in the midst of an abortion. “‘That’s basic human decency.’”

The new law also, notes the KNBN staff, “allows a mother to sue any doctor or abortion facility that violates the law, imposes financial penalties on those who violate the law and requires certain reporting to the Dept. of Health for any births that arise following a failed abortion.”

Becerra Nomination in Trouble?

Feb. 25, 2021, Washington Update commentary by Family Research Council president Tony Perkins

            Joe Biden wouldn’t trust his heath care to someone with zero experience, so why is he asking America to? That was one of the biggest questions at Tuesday’s Senate grilling of Xavier Becerra, the President’s surprising pick for HHS Secretary. The California Attorney General, who’s never had a lick of training in medicine, science, pharma or the healthcare world, is applying for a job to oversee – not just the nation’s pandemic response – but the biggest budget of any US agency as a complete novice. And Biden said Donald Trump’s COVID plan was bad?

            The President could have found a better candidate on Linked-In, Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said without joking. “If you’re doing a search on a Linked-In for someone who’d be a perfect match to be in Health & Human Services, he wouldn’t even show up – because he has no healthcare background or experience. … Becerra is not a healthcare professional,” he argued on [FRC’s] Washington Watch. “Traditionally in this role, [there] would be someone who’s been in healthcare administration or a physician or a scientist. We’re in the middle of a pandemic. And you would think that the group that’s going to oversee the pandemic response and all that’s got to happen would be somebody with a science or healthcare background. But instead, Pres. Biden has selected an attorney. That seems to be his only criteria. And his only main qualification on this is, he has been [a] very outspoken [supporter] of abortion – and not just the existence of abortion, but the [radical promotion] of it.”

            In his opinion – and the opinion of several Republicans in Tuesday’s hearing – this isn’t a nominee that should even be considered. “He may be qualified to be something like an Attorney General, but definitely not leading Health & Human Services.” The only real experience he has with the industry is suing hospitals, pregnancy care centers and other entities that aren’t pro-abortion enough for his liking. When he served as Attorney General of California, people didn’t just object to his extreme views (which are bad enough), they objected to how he forced those views on others – stripping conscience protections, suing states with pro-life laws, even ordering pro-life centers to advertise for abortion.

            When David Daleiden’s undercover videos exposed Planned Parenthood for its baby-body-parts market, what did Becerra do? “Instead of going [after] those that were selling the body parts of children, he immediately filed suit against the individuals that exposed it,” Lankford said in disgust. “So he went after the whistleblowers instead of going after those that were selling the body parts.” Imagine what he would do with a $1.286 trillion budget and 80,000 employees.

            Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) tried to pin him down on that, asking if he would “commit to not using taxpayer money to fund abortion and abortion providers?” Becerra replied that he would follow the law. When Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) pressed him on chemical abortion and why he supported removing the safety regulations, he dodged, saying that it was important for women to have “access to health care without COVID being a danger.” But what about the dangers of the drugs, conservatives wanted to know, which have resulted in thousands of hospitalizations, blood transfusions, infections and deaths?

            Even moderates like Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) seemed stunned by Becerra’s barbaric views. “Most people agree that partial-birth abortion is awful,” Romney insisted. “You voted against a ban on partial-birth abortion. Why?” Becerra gave the standard reply, saying he respected other people’s views and thought they could “find common ground” – to which Romney fired back, there is no common ground on a procedure that half-delivers, then kills a healthy baby. It’s bad enough that he is unqualified, but to double down on being inhumane should be a deal killer in his bid to head the nation’s health agency.

            Like most people, Lankford says he wants to believe “that the person who leads Health & Human Services is actually helping humans receive services rather than taking human life. I am proud to be able to say I believe all children are valuable. For whatever reason, he believes only some children are valuable.”

            Worse, he wants to force everyone who doesn’t agree with him to destroy those children – whether they’re morally opposed or not. That’s why Lankford introduced a bill, S-183, that would protect basic conscience protections. They may be in federal law now, but, as he pointed out, they “only work if the government actually [enforces them].” If an Administration like Biden’s won’t, then he thinks these men and women who got in the healthcare profession to save lives should have some way to fight back – in court or otherwise. The point is “to say to all of my colleagues, Republican and Democrat alike, why can’t we at least agree to be able to honor the basic rights and conscience of individuals?”

            Of course, if they vote to approve this radical, there’s no guarantee any freedoms – or lives – will stand. “The only reason he was selected,” Lankford argued, “was because of his outspoken support for abortion. This was a hat-tip to the Left and the most progressive elements of the President’s party, to be able to say, ‘I’m going to be the most pro-abortion President ever’ after having Pres. Trump [as] the most pro-life President ever.”

            Join us in stopping Pres. Biden from appointing a know-nothing abortion activist at the helm of one of the most important government agencies in the country. Contact your Senators and urge them to vote “NO” on the confirmation of Xavier Becerra.

Down Syndrome Bills’ Sponsors

Co-sponsoring S-75 with Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK): GOP Senators John Boozman & Tom Cotton (AR), Marco Rubio & Rick Scott (FL), James Risch (ID), Mike Braun (IN), Joni Ernst (IA), Roger Marshall (KS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS), Josh Hawley (MO), Steve Daines (MT), Ben Sasse (NE), Kevin Cramer & John Hoeven (ND), James Lankford (OK), Tim Scott (SC), Mike Rounds & John Thune (SD), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Ted Cruz (TX), and John Barrasso & Cynthia Lummis (WY).

Co-sponsoring HR-532 with Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS): GOP Representatives Robert Aderholt (AL); Andy Biggs (AZ); Lauren Boebert & Doug Lamborn (CO); Greg Steube (FL); Rick Allen, Marjorie Taylor-Greene & Jody Hice (GA); Mary Miller (IL); Jim Banks (IN); Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA); Tracey Mann (KS); Mike Johnson (LA); John Moolenaar (MI); Michelle Fischbach & Pete Stauber (MN); Michael Guest (MS); Chris Smith (NJ); Yvette Herrell (NM); Ted Budd & Greg Murphy (NC); Jim Joyce, Robert Latta & Brad Wenstrup (OH); John Joyce, Fred Keller & Mike Kelly (PA); Ralph Norman (SC); Brian Babin, Ronny Jackson, Michael McCaul, August Pfluger, John Rose, Pete Sessions, Randy Weber & Roger Williams (TX); Jaime Herrera-Beutler (WA); Alex Mooney (WV), and Glenn Grothman (WI).

House Voting Record

HR-5 –The ‘Equality’ Act – Final Passage – Feb. 25, 2021 – Passed 224 to 206 (Democrats in italics; new Members in ALL CAPS)

Voting “no”/pro-Life: Aderholt, Brooks, CARL, MOORE, Palmer, Rogers/AL; Biggs, Gosar, Lesko, Schweikert/AZ; Crawford, Hill, Westerman, Womack/AR; Calvert, GARCIA, ISSA, KIM, LaMalfa, McCarthy, McClintock, Nunes, OBERNOLTE, STEEL, Valadao/CA; Buck, Lamborn/CO; Bilirakis, Buchanan, CAMMACK, Diaz-Balart, DONALDS, Dunn, FRANKLIN, Gaetz, GIMENEZ, Mast, Posey, Rutherford, SALAZAR, Steube, Waltz, Webster/FL; Allen, Carter, CLYDE, Ferguson, GREENE, Hice, Loudermilk, A. Scott/GA; Fulcher, Simpson/ID; Bost, R. Davis, Kinzinger, LaHood, MILLER/IL; Baird, Banks, BARR, Bucshon, Hollingsworth, Pence, SPARTZ, Walorski/IN; FEENSTRA, HINSON, MILLER-MEEKS/IA; Estes, LaTURNER, MANN/KS; Comer, Guthrie, Massie, Rogers/KY; Harris/MD; Graves, Higgins, Johnson, Scalise/LA; Bergman, Huizenga, McCLAIN, MEIJER, Moolenaar, Upton, Walberg/MI; Emmer, FISCHBACH, Hagedorn, Stauber/MN; Guest, Kelly, Palazzo/MS; Graves, Hartzler, Long, Luetkemeyer, Smith, Wagner/MO; ROSENDALE/MT; Bacon, Fortenberry, Smith/NE; Amodei/NV; HERRELL/NM; Smith, VanDrew/NJ; GARBARINO, JACOBS, MALLIOTAKIS, Stefanik, TENNEY, Zeldin/NY; Bishop, Budd, CAWTHORN, Foxx, Hudson, McHenry, Murphy, Rouzer/NC; Armstrong/ND; Balderson, Chabot, Davidson, Gibbs, Gonzalez, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Latta, Stivers, Turner, Wenstrup/OH; BICE, Cole, Hern, Lucas, Mullin/OK; BENTZ/OR; Joyce, Keller, Kelly, Meuser, Perry, Reschenthaler, Smucker, Thompson/PA; Duncan, MACE, Norman, Rice, Timmons, Wilson/SC; Johnson/SD; Burchett, DesJarlais, Fleischmann, Green, HARSHBARGER, Kustoff, Rose/TN; Arrington, Babin, Brady, Burgess, Carter, Cloud, Crenshaw, FALLON, Gohmert, GONZALES, Gooden, Granger, JACKSON, McCaul, NEHLS, PFLUGER, Roy, SESSIONS, Taylor, VanDUYNE, Weber, Williams/TX; Curtis, MOORE, OWENS, Stewart/UT; Cline, Good, Griffith, Wittman/VA; Herrera-Beutler, Newhouse, Rodgers/WA; McKinley, Miller, Mooney/WV; FITZGERALD, Gallagher, Grothman, Steil, TIFFANY/WI; Cheney/WY.

Voting “yes”/anti-Life: Sewell/AL; Gallego, Grijalva, Kirkpatrick, O’Halleran, Stanton/AZ; Aguilar, Barragan, Bass, Bera, Brownley, Carbajal, Cardenas, Chu, Correa, Costa, DeSaulnier, Eshoo, Garamendi, Gomez, Harder, Huffman, JACOBS, Khanna, Lee, Levin, Lieu, Lofgren, Lowenthal, Matsui, McNerney, Napolitano, Panetta, Pelosi, Peters, Porter, Roybal-Allard, Ruiz, Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Speier, Swalwell, Takano, Thompson, Torres, Vargas, Waters/CA; Crow, DeGette, Neguse, Perlmutter/CO; Courtney, DeLauro, Hayes, Himes, Larson/CT; Blunt-Rochester/DE; Castor, Crist, Demings, Deutch, Frankel, Hastings, Lawson, Murphy, Soto, Wasserman-Schultz, Wilson/FL; BISHOP, BOURDEAUX, Johnson, McBath, D. Scott, WILLIAMS/GA; Case, KAHELE/HI; Bustos, Casten, D.Davis, Foster, Garcia, Kelly, Krishnamoorthi, NEWMAN, Quigley, Rush, Schakowsky, Schneider, Underwood/IL; Carson, MRVAN/IN; Axne/IA; Davids/KS; Yarmuth/KY; Golden, Pingree/ME; Brown, Hoyer, MFUME, Raskin, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes, Trone/MD; AUCHINCLOSS, Clark, Keating, Lynch, McGovern, Moulton, Neal, Pressley, Trahan/MA; Dingell, Kildee, Lawrence, Levin, Slotkin, Stevens, Tlaib/MI; Craig, McCollum, Omar, Phillips/MN; Thompson/MS; BUSH, Cleaver/MO; Horsford, JONES, Lee, Titus/NV; Kuster/NH; Gottheimer, Kim, Malinowski, Norcross, Pallone, Pappas, Pascrell, Payne, Sherrill, Sires, Watson-Coleman/NJ; Haaland, LEGER-FERNANDEZ/NM; Clarke, Delgado, Espaillat, Higgins, Jeffries, Katko, C. Maloney, S. Maloney, Meeks, Meng, Morelle, Nadler, Ocasio-Cortez, Reed, Rice, Suozzi, Tonko, TORRES, Velazquez, /NY; Adams, Butterfield, MANNING, Price, ROSS/NC; Beatty, Fudge, Kaptur, Ryan/OH; Blumenauer, Bonamici, DeFazio, Schrader/OR; BOWMAN, Boyle, Cartwright, Dean, Doyle, Evans, Fitzpatrick, Houlahan, Lamb, Scanlon, Wild/PA; Cicilline, Langevin/RI; Clyburn/SC; Cohen, Cooper/TN; Allred, Castro, Cuellar, Doggett, Escobar, Fletcher, Garcia, Gonzalez, Green, Jackson-Lee, Johnson, Veasey, Vela/TX; Welch/VT; Beyer, Connolly, Luria, McEachin, Scott, Spanberger, Wexton/VA; DelBene, Jayapal, Kilmer, Larsen, Schrier, Smith, STRICKLAND/WA; Kind, Moore, Pocan/WI.

Not voting: Young/AK and BOEBERT/CO.