Life Advocacy Briefing

Another Bad Nomination

THE BIDEN-HARRIS TEAM HAVE NOMINATED a Planned Parenthood political consultant as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), reports Calvin Freiburger for LifeSiteNews.com.

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure “accepted thousands of dollars from Planned Parenthood,” writes Mr. Freiburger, “to advise Democrats on abortion issues, financial disclosure documents reveal.”

CMS “oversees federal healthcare spending and various policy decisions,” notes Mr. Freiburger. She has held posts in the federal health bureaucracy before, but the Public Finance Disclosure Report the nominee “filed as part of the confirmation process,” writes Mr. Freiburger, “lists that she previously received an undisclosed amount greater than $5,000 from Planned Parenthood Federation of America for services described as follows: ‘Summarize Democrat candidates’ position on women’s health and facilitated discussion on their priorities as a primary care provider (client of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP).’ The year in which this service took place,” notes Mr. Freiburger, “is not specified.”

An Internet website operated by a group called “American Accountability Foundation,” at the online address BidenNoms.com summarizes the above description, writes Mr. Freiburger, “as ‘Washington-speak for using her position at her law firm to coordinate strategy with Democratic politicians on Planned Parenthood between the Biden campaign and elected officials in Washington. It is basically a lobbying position without having to be disclosed as a lobbyist.’”

The nomination is currently being held in committee, reports Mr. Freiburger, but “for an unrelated reason” related to leverage the state of Texas is seeking on “the Biden Administration’s refusal to extend a Medicaid waiver the state relied on to reimburse hospitals for treating uninsured patients.”

Regardless of whether Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) removes his hold on the Brooks-LaSure nomination, pro-life citizens should be contacting home-state Senators and asking for a “no” vote on Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as CMS Administrator. [Capitol switchboard: 1-202/224-3121]

Playing God? Really?

WHILE POLICYMAKERS CONTINUE TO TURN A BLIND EYE to excesses underway in biological research, “scientists,” reports Calvin Freiburger for LifeSiteNews.com, “have created a hybrid embryo comprised of human and monkey cells.

“‘Interspecies chimera formation with human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) represents a necessary alternative to evaluate hPSC pluripotency in vivo and might constitute a promising strategy for various regenerative medicine applications, including the generation of organs and tissues for transplantation,’ reads the summary of the paper, published in the journal Cell,” reports Mr. Freiburger. “‘Using hPSCs to generate human-animal chimeric embryos,’” the researchers insist, “‘provides an experimental paradigm for studying early human development and holds great potential for diverse applications in regenerative medicine as well as for producing human tissues and organs for replacement therapies.’”

Some “advances” are neither ethical nor defensible. Said Kirstin Matthews of Rice University’s Baker Institute, quoted by LSN, “‘I think the public is going to be concerned, and I am as well, that we’re just kind of pushing forward with science without having a proper conversation about what we should or should not do.’”

In the Courts

• A COUNTY JUDGE IN OHIO has issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement of Ohio’s ban on telemed abortions, which had been scheduled to take effect April 12. The suspended law, reports National Right to Life News Today editor Dave Andrusko, “prohibits the use of telemedicine for the purpose of providing abortion-inducing drugs and ensures that those drugs could only be provided in-person by the prescribing physician.” The legal challenge came from Planned Parenthood and two of its affiliates.

• ATTORNEYS GENERAL FROM 21 STATES – led by Kentucky Atty. Gen. Daniel Cameron (R) – have filed an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court seeking to allow Tennessee to enforce an abortion waiting-period requirement while litigation over the law continues in the 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals; it was earlier enjoined by a federal district judge. According to a news report by Illinois Federation for Right to Life, “The brief argues that the 6^th Circuit’s decision to temporarily block enforcement of the law runs contrary to Supreme Court precedent set by Planned Parenthood of SE Pennsylvania vs. Casey 30 years ago. In that decision,” notes IFRL, “the Supreme Court upheld a Pennsylvania abortion waiting period law. The attorneys general argue,” reports IFRL, “that continuing to block Tennessee’s law calls that precedent into question and threatens waiting-period laws in other states.”

Stateside

• HAWAII GOV. DAVID IGE (D) HAS SIGNED a law authorizing first-trimester abortions by advanced practices registered nurses. The legislation includes dispensing the RU-486 abortion drug cocktail and committing D&C or aspiration abortions, notes Nancy Flanders for Live Action. Hawaii has only three abortion businesses, notes Ms. Flanders, including two operated by Planned Parenthood. Though claiming not to have enough abortionists to meet demand, Hawaii’s abortion industry is suing Guam for an opportunity to administer abortion drugs to kill unborn Guamanian babies via telemedicine while sitting in Hawaii.

• PLANNED PARENTHOOD ACTION FUND OF NEW JERSEY is mounting a campaign to push the state’s legislature into passing a bill, reports Live Action’s Cassy Fiano-Chesser, to “make abortion a permanent right in the state constitution.” The bill is called “the Reproductive Freedom Act” and was filed, notes Mrs. Chesser, “in response to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg” last year. It has thus far stalled in a State Senate committee. Pro-life citizens in New Jersey would be wise to contact state senators to urge opposition to the radical measure.

• FLORIDA LAWMAKERS HAVE ADVANCED a bill prohibiting abortion if the so-called doctor knows or should know that the abortion is being sought “based on a test result that suggests a disability” in the developing baby, reports Jason Delgado for com. The vote in the House was 74 to 44. “During debate,” the clearly biased reporter writes, “Republicans largely boiled the issue down to a firm anti-abortion position.” After quoting emotional speeches by abortion advocates who had spoken of their burdens with disabled children, Mr. Delgado ends his report quoting GOP Rep. Tyler Sirois: “‘These challenges should not be a denial of our most basic and God-given right: the right to life. … As a representative duly elected to this chamber,’” Rep. Sirois continued, quoted by Mr. Delgado, “‘I’m here to tell you that I believe that terminating a pregnancy on the basis of a child’s disability is indeed a form of eugenics, and I believe it is wrong.’” Blessedly, a compelling majority of his colleagues agreed with that assessment.

• IDAHO GOV. BRAD LITTLE (R) LAST WEEK SIGNED a ban on abortions of babies whose heartbeats can be detected. The measure’s “trigger” provides for the law to take effect once a federal appeals court – anywhere in the US – upholds similar legislation in any state. Aborting an unborn child with “detectible cardiac activity,” reports Associated Press writer Keith Ridler, will be “punishable by up to five years in prison.” The measure also, notes AP, would “allow the woman who receives the abortion to sue the provider. … The Idaho Dept. of Health & Welfare reports,” writes Mr. Ridler, “there were 1,513 induced abortions in 2019. The agency says 1,047 of those occurred within the first nine weeks.”

• ARIZONA GOV. DOUG DUCEY (R) SIGNED LEGISLATION last week, “criminalizing eugenic abortions of preborn babies with disabilities like Down syndrome,” reports Raymond Wolfe for com. “SB-1457 bans abortion providers from knowingly committing abortions ‘sought because of a genetic abnormality of the child’ and classifies violations as Class 6 felonies. Threatening or intimidating women into an abortion due to genetic abnormalities likewise constitutes a felony under law, though it does not apply to ‘cases where the child has a lethal fetal condition,’ a press release from the governor’s office said,” according to the LSN report. “‘Under SB 1457, a person performing an abortion must complete an affidavit stating that the person is not aborting the child because of an abnormality,’ the press release added,” writes Mr. Wolfe. “‘It also requires the doctor performing the abortion inform the woman that is it unlawful to perform an abortion due to the child’s race, sex, or genetic abnormality.’” The new law also requires burial or cremation of the remains of aborted babies and prohibits “public education institutions,” reports Mr. Wolfe, “from performing abortions unless the mother’s life is in danger.” Other provisions ban “mail delivery of abortion pills,” according to LSN, “and taxpayer funding for research using aborted babies.”

• MONTANA GOV. GREG GIANFORTE (R) SIGNED THREE PRO-LIFE BILLS into law last week, reports Associated Press writer Iris Samuels, who notes “several attempts to pass similar measures in previous years were vetoed by former Democratic governors.” The measures ban abortion after 20 weeks, give aborting mothers an “opportunity to view an ultrasound before performing an abortion,” Ms. Samuels reports, “and place several restrictions on abortion pills, including requiring that they be administered in-person rather than through telehealth.” The governor’s signature was affixed, notes AP, “in the presence of a jubilant crowd of Republican lawmakers and anti-abortion activists. ‘It’s a promising day, a day that will go down in our state’s history as we defend life,’ [Gov.] Gianforte said,” quoted by AP. The governor is a former Member of Congress who served from 2017 till his inauguration in January of this year.

Outright Thievery

April 22, 2021, Washington Update commentary by Family Research Council president Tony Perkins

            There are lots of ways to describe a business with two-billion dollars in assets – but “charity” isn’t one of them. And yet, that’s how Democrats must see Planned Parenthood, the “non-profit” that just took in its biggest taxpayer-funded haul in history: $618 million. Now, as if that weren’t enough, they’ve stuck out their hand for more – trying to cash in on the pandemic relief clearly meant for small businesses. Well, Planned Parenthood isn’t “small” and isn’t eligible. And if the country’s abortion tycoon doesn’t give the money back, Senate Republicans want the government to come and take it.

            The Paycheck Protection loans were supposed to be for hurting mom-and-pops – not abortion tycoons trying to stop people from being moms and pops. And Planned Parenthood knew it. When they swindled $80 million out of the small business pool in 2020, they knew the rules. The government specifically excluded big businesses, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) pointed out. For a company with 16,000 employees to say otherwise, Republicans have said, is fraud. They not only cheated taxpayers out of the money – they poached it from desperate employers who need these loans to stay afloat.

            Of course, the other outrage is that Planned Parenthood didn’t need the loans, because – guess what? – they were still operating! Even in states where governors explicitly told them to stop, they went ahead performing abortions anyway – cramming women into unsafe waiting rooms and openly defying states’ orders. While everyone else was taking a hit to their bottom line because of the lockdown, their cash registers didn’t stop ringing. In fact, some affiliates bragged they’d never been busier!

            For months, Republicans have been holding the Small Business Administration’s feet to the fire, demanding that they get those dollars back. Maybe there was confusion in the mad dash for cash last April, but there’s no confusion now. So why is the SBA still forking over millions to Planned Parenthood? Good question, Paul says. And yet, “One more affiliate was approved for a second PPP loan while conservatives were leading the call for an investigation!

            “The Trump Administration saw that they lied,” Paul explains. “They knew that they got the money illegally … . So they made a ruling … on what affiliates are and who controls them. And so the Trump Administration said, ‘Send the money back.’ A few of the Planned Parenthoods did send some money back, but most of them kept the money.” Now, with the commander-in-abortion Joe Biden in charge, the SBA is even more indifferent. When officials came before the Small Business Committee, where Paul is the ranking Republican, he said they asked them: “Look, we’ve seen the data, and we know that you’re giving second loans to Planned Parenthood after you already told them it was illegal. Why aren’t you pushing to get all of the money back – and why in the world would you be giving second loans to entities that you knew were getting it illegally?”

            “They professed not to understand,” Paul said. That was even more infuriating, the Senator explained, because these same officials had bragged in their testimony about how they were surveilling and catching ineligible businesses. And that’s when Paul asked the Administrator directly: “‘Have you changed the policy? Have you changed the Trump policy, and are Planned Parenthood affiliates now able to get this money?’ He said, ‘No, we haven’t changed the policy.’ … So we immediately sent a letter to the Dept. of Justice, to the inspector general for the Small Business Administration and to the SBA itself [demanding an investigation].”

            At the end of the day, these are Biden officials. “And, as you know,” Paul said, “Planned Parenthood dictates the politics of the Left and dictates the politics of the Democrat Party. And I think they’re going to keep giving them money, even though it is overtly against the law. But,” he warned, “they also know now that I’m going to be dogged in pursuing this, and we’re not going to let go.” There’s a chance the inspector general will take this seriously, Paul told listeners [to FRC’s Washington Watch podcast]. “If there’s anything that’s pretty close to independent in the federal government – an independent watchdog – it’s the inspector general. So we’re going to keep pushing it on all fronts … . If they’re breaking the law, we want them to stop.”

            He’s right. Planned Parenthood doesn’t need a bailout. It needs a blackout of taxpayer funds!

House Voting Record

HR-51 – Procedural Motion to Recommit to Committee the bill conferring statehood on the District of Columbia  – April 22, 2021 – Failed 205 to 215 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “no”/pro-Life: Aderholt, Brooks, Carl, Moore, Palmer, Rogers/AL; Young/AK; Biggs, Gosar, Lesko, Schweikert/AZ; Crawford, Hill, Westerman, Womack/AR; Calvert, Garcia, Issa, Kim, McCarthy, Nunes, Obernolte, Steel, Valadao/CA; Boebert, Buck, Lamborn/CO; Bilirakis, Buchanan, Cammack, Diaz-Balart, Donalds, Dunn, Franklin, Gaetz, Gimenez, Mast, Posey, Rutherford, Salazar, Steube, Waltz, Webster/FL; Allen, Carter, 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, Letlow, 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/NE; Amodei/NV; Herrell/NM; Smith, VanDrew/NJ; Garbarino, Jacobs, Katko, Malliotakis, Reed, Tenney, Zeldin/NY; Bishop, Budd, Cawthorn, Foxx, Hudson, McHenry, Murphy, Rouzer/NC; Armstrong/ND; Balderson, Chabot, Davidson, Gonzalez, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Latta, Stivers, Turner, Wenstrup/OH; Bice, Cole, Hern, Lucas, Mullin/OK; Bentz/OR; Fitzpatrick, Joyce, Keller, Kelly, 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, McClintock, McNerney, Napolitano, Panetta, Peters, Porter, Roybal-Allard, Ruiz, Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Speier, Swalwell, Takano, Thompson, Torres, Waters/CA; Crow, DeGette, Neguse, Perlmutter/CO; Courtney, DeLauro, Hayes, Himes, Larson/CT; Blunt-Rochester/DE; Castor, Crist, Demings, Deutch, Frankel, Lawson, 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/MO; Horsford, Jones, Lee, Titus/NV; Kuster/NH; Gottheimer, Kim, Malinowski, Norcross, Pallone, Pappas, Pascrell, Payne, Sherrill, Sires, Watson-Coleman/NJ; Leger-Fernandez/NM; Clarke, Delgado, Espaillat, Higgins, Jeffries, C.Maloney, S.Maloney, Meeks, Meng, Morelle, Nadler, Ocasio-Cortez, Rice, Suozzi, Tonko, Torres, Velazquez/NY; Adams, Butterfield, Manning, Price, Ross/NC; Beatty, Kaptur, Ryan/OH; Blumenauer, Bonamici, DeFazio, Schrader/OR; Bowman, Boyle, Cartwright, Dean, Doyle, Evans, 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: LaMalfa & Vargas/CA, Murphy/FL, Clyde/GA, Cleaver/MO, Smith/NE, Stefanik/NY, Gibbs/OH, Meuser/PA.