Life Advocacy Briefing

Still Struggling

WE CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE and ask for the continued prayers of our readers. Thank you.

Senate Confirms F.D.A. Retread

IT WAS BY A NARROW MARGIN, but the Biden Regime won confirmation – 50 to 46 – of Robert Califf to head the federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

His appointment was opposed by pro-life leaders because of his previous leadership of the FDA under Pres. Barack Obama (D) in 2016. It was under the Obama/Califf administration that the FDA extended the age of babies who can be killed via the RU-486 abortion pill regime.

When it was originally cleared for marketing in the later days of the Clinton Regime, RU-486 was approved for the killing of babies who were within the first 49 days of gestational life. Since 2016, babies can be poisoned up to 10 weeks from fertilization.

A coalition of pro-life leaders warned the Senate about the Biden nomination of Mr. Califf in a letter earlier this year. “‘Under Califf’s leadership …,’” the letter noted, quoted by Live Action’s Carole Novielli, “the FDA significantly undermined the reporting and safety requirements on medication abortion, also known as chemical abortion. … As the abortion industry continues to push for abortion on demand, the FDA needs a leader who will follow the science and prioritize the health and well-being of women and girls. Based on his past (successful) effort to weaken data and safety requirements for chemical abortion, we must oppose his nomination.’”

Among the liberalizations undertaken by the Califf FDA in 2016, the FDA’s safety prescriptions “enabled women and teen girls to take … the drug unsupervised at home or any other location,” notes Ms. Novielli. And the manufacturers and marketers of the drug are no longer required to report adverse events related to marketing of the drug.

Thanks to Mr. Califf and his fellow FDA ideologues, mothers opting for chemical abortions are doing so at their own risk, with very little of the precautions which are customary for FDA marketing approval.

We publish two Senate voting records on the Califf confirmation at the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing.

Watershed Moment in Vermont

VERMONT VOTERS WILL FIND ON THEIR BALLOTS this November a proposition seeking to add the trashing of unborn human babies to the hallowed principles of their state constitution.

The amendment proposal states, as quoted by National Right to Life News editor Dave Andrusko, “‘That an individual’s right to personal reproductive autonomy is central to the liberty and dignity to determine one’s own life course and shall not be denied or infringed unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.’”

The amendment has been cooking for years; to add an amendment to the Vermont constitution requires adoption by two consecutively elected legislatures and then ratification by voters in a statewide referendum. This “Reproductive Liberty Amendment” has now achieved the requisite legislative approvals and reached the voter ratification phase. The vote advancing it through the Vermont House earlier this month was 107 to 41.

“Proposal 5 ‘is reckless and irresponsible, dangerous and expensive as well as morally and ethically wrong,’ says Vermont Right to Life,” quoted by Mr. Andrusko. “‘The lives of countless unborn babies will be placed at further risk of abortion if Proposal 5 is adopted.’”

The Andrusko report also quoted a Vermont politician, who pointed out that if the proposition’s language is added to the state constitution, conservatives elected to state offices would be “‘compel[ed] … to swear an oath to its abhorrent provision.’”

Marist Poll Shows Americans Want Limits on Abortion

Feb. 11, 2022, Illinois Pro-Life News Update from Illinois Federation for Right to Life

             A Marist poll released last month found that 71% of respondents support significant restrictions on abortion.

             When asked to choose between statements that reflect their opinions on abortion, 71% responded that abortion should be limited to either the first three months of pregnancy, cases of rape and incest, to save the life of the mother, or prohibited entirely.

             The poll also found that 73% oppose using tax dollars to fund abortion abroad, 63% opposed mail-order prescriptions for abortion pills. 54% said that organizations with religious objections to abortion should not be required to provide insurance coverage for abortions.

             “When it comes to the direction of government policy, there has been consistency and consensus in American public opinion on the issue of abortion over the decades,” explained Dr. Barbara Carvalho, director of the Marist Poll.

[Life Advocacy Briefing editor’s note: Such poll results are not simply of interest; they ought to be instructive to pro-life front-liners as the 2022 political campaigns develop. Clearly, they show that voters are with our candidates when our candidates take the time and trouble to demonstrate to voters the clear contrast between the average pro-life candidate and those candidates who hide behind a deceptive label. Advocating for protective reforms is a wise choice, particularly when competing candidates are on different sides in the painful controversies over respect for the lives of the littlest among us. One side is extreme; they have earned that label yet seldom have to defend their radical views. Let our candidates tell the truth without fear.]

Bracing for the Fight in Colorado

Feb. 7, 2022, Live Action report by Amanda Vicinanzo

             Ahead of a US Supreme Court decision that could strike down Roe v. Wade, there are rumblings that Colorado lawmakers may attempt to cement abortion access into the state constitution as early as 2024 – a move that would require a constitutional amendment and the support of 55% of voters.

             Right now, Colorado lawmakers are slated to introduce the Reproductive Health Equity Act or RHEA, to the Colorado General Assembly, which would enshrine the “right” to abortion into state law. The prime sponsors are State Sen. Julie Gonzales and State Rep. Meg Froelich, along with Colorado House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar.

             Pro-abortion lawmakers intend to use the RHEA to set the stage for a constitutional amendment on abortion. However, the law could be repealed if the GOP were to take back control of the statehouse, though it wouldn’t be easy. Knowing this, abortion activists are pushing to codify abortion access into the state constitution.

             For now, members of the GOP have vowed to continue to move forward with legislation that would significantly limit abortion and require abortionists to report information about their patients to the state. Colorado GOP Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown told the Colorado Sun, “The Republican Party will always work to protect every child in love and in law.”

             If Colorado ultimately codifies abortion access into the constitution, the GOP would no longer be able to ban or place restrictions on abortion without amending the ST constitution.

             Karen Middleton, president of the Colorado abortion rights group Cobalt, said the ultimate focus of her group will be on lifting the ban on state funding of abortion and that a constitutional amendment on abortion would help make that happen. However, polling has consistently found that Americans do not support taxpayer-funded abortion.

             The timing of this push by abortion activists is no coincidence. This year, there is a strong possibility that Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states, will be overturned. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is a pending Supreme Court case in which Mississippi’s sole abortion provider is challenging a law that limits abortion to before 15 weeks gestation. A decision is expected around June 2022.

             Sadly, however, Colorado has a long pro-abortion history. In 1967 Colorado became the first state to decriminalize abortion. More recently, while many states temporarily suspended non-urgent and elective medical procedures, including abortion, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Colorado continued to allow abortion procedures.

             If the Supreme Court does reconsider Roe v. Wade, states will be free to set their own abortion laws. But some states, like Texas, have enacted “trigger” laws that would ban abortion if Roe is overturned. Women in states that protect the lives of preborn children may travel to more permissive states, like Colorado, to obtain abortions. This serves as an important reminder that even if Roe is struck down, the pro-life fight will not be over.

Taking Stock

Feb. 15, 2022, End-of-Day Memo by Gary Bauer

             I am often asked why our society has become so coarse. Why are so many obscene things now acceptable in the popular culture? How can musicians sing about “popping people” (killing them) and refer to women and minorities in such derogatory terms? The list goes on and on.

             As I have pointed out my entire career, liberty has become unmoored from virtue. And the farther we get from our Judeo-Christian foundation, the more the hounds of hell are unleashed.

             Our country was built on the idea that our rights come from God, not government. That’s what the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

             But in 1973, the highest court in our land said something very different. It said preborn children have no rights we are obligated to respect. Instead of preborn children having any rights, the court declared that killing preborn children was a fundamental right.

             The Supreme Court reaffirmed that decision in 1992, declaring that liberty was “each person defining their own meaning.”

             Well, people can define their own meaning in all sorts of horrible ways, and they often do. Many of those people are locked up in prison because their definition of liberty negatively affected someone else, just as abortion negatively affects (kills) a baby.

             But with those two decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Supreme Court planted the seeds for a culture of death. We’ve destroyed millions of innocent preborn lives in the years since. We’ve gone from a society where abortion was only whispered about because it was shameful, to today when the Left says, “Shout it, and be proud of it.”

             Soldiers who have seen a lot of death and horror often suffer in civilian life from PTSD. They have trouble staying grounded. Their life often goes off the rails. America has been in the middle of death and horror for 50 years, caused by abortion on demand.

             We all know what happens in those “clinics.” A child dies, and a woman is exploited. Yet, even in the middle of the pandemic, when we shut down our economy to save lives, the Left insisted that abortion centers were “essential” and allowed them to remain open.

             We are sitting on top of a mound of skulls of aborted babies. Perhaps we are suffering a national PTSD from the violence in the womb that destroys the most innocent among us. Pray for wisdom and courage at the Supreme Court as it reconsiders 50 years of abortion on demand. Amen.

Senate Voting Records

Cloture motion to close debate on Confirmation of Robert Califf as Commissioner, Food & Drug Administration – Feb. 14, 2022 – Adopted 49 to 45 (Democrats in italics; “Independent” marked “I”)

Voting “no” / pro-Life: Shelby & Tuberville/AL, Sullivan/AK, Boozman & Cotton/AR, Blumenthal/CT, Rubio & Scott/FL, Crapo & Risch/ID, Braun & Young/IN, Ernst & Grassley/IA, Marshall & Moran/KS, McConnell & Paul/KY, Cassidy/LA, Markey/MA, Hyde-Smith & Wicker/MS, Hawley/MO, Daines/MT, Fischer & Sasse/NE, Hassan/NH, Tillis/NC, Cramer/ND, Portman/OH, Inhofe & Lankford/OK, Scott/SC, Rounds & Thune/SD, Blackburn & Hagerty/TN, Cornyn & Cruz/TX, Lee/UT, Sanders/VT, Manchin/WV, Johnson/WI, Barrasso & Lummis/WY.

Voting “yes” / anti-Life: Murkowski/AK, Kelly & Sinema/AZ, Feinstein & Padilla/CA, Bennet & Hickenlooper/CO, Murphy/CT, Carper & Coons/DE, Ossoff & Warnock/GA, Hirono & Schatz/HI, Duckworth & Durbin/IL, Collins & King(I)/ME, Cardin & VanHollen/MD, Warren/MA, Peters & Stabenow/MI, Klobuchar & Smith/MN, Blunt/MO, Tester/MT, Cortez-Masto & Rosen/NV, Shaheen/NH, Booker & Menendez/NJ, Heinrich/NM, Gillibrand & Schumer/NY, Burr/NC, Brown/OH, Merkley & Wyden/OR, Casey/PA, Reed & Whitehouse/RI, Romney/UT, Leahy/VT, Kaine & Warner/VA, Cantwell & Murray/WA, Baldwin/WI.  

Not voting: Kennedy/LA, Lujan/NM, Hoeven/ND, Toomey/PA, Graham/SC, Capito/WV.

Confirmation of Robert McKinnon Califf as FDA Commissioner – Feb. 15, 2022 – Confirmed 50 to 46 (Democrats in italics; “Independent” marked “I”)

Voting “no” / pro-Life: Shelby & Tuberville/AL, Sullivan/AK, Boozman & Cotton/AR, Blumenthal/CT, Rubio & Scott/FL, Crapo & Risch/ID, Braun & Young/IN, Ernst & Grassley/IA, Marshall & Moran/KS, McConnell & Paul/KY, Cassidy & Kennedy/LA, Markey/MA, Hyde-Smith & Wicker/MS, Hawley/MO, Daines/MT, Fischer & Sasse/NE, Hassan/NH, Tillis/NC, Cramer & Hoeven/ND, Portman/OH, Inhofe & Lankford/OK, Scott/SC, Thune/SD, Blackburn & Hagerty/TN, Cornyn & Cruz/TX, Lee/UT, Sanders/VT, Manchin/WV, Johnson/WI, Barrasso & Lummis/WY.

Voting “yes” / anti-Life: Murkowski/AK, Kelly & Sinema/AZ, Feinstein & Padilla/CA, Bennet & Hickenlooper/CO, Murphy/CT, Carper & Coons/DE, Ossoff & Warnock/GA, Hirono & Schatz/HI, Duckworth & Durbin/IL, Collins & King(I)/ME, Cardin & VanHollen/MD, Warren/MA, Peters & Stabenow/MI, Klobuchar & Smith/MN, Blunt/MO, Tester/MT, Cortez-Masto & Rosen/NV, Shaheen/NH, Booker & Menendez/NJ, Heinrich/NM, Gillibrand & Schumer/NY, Burr/NC, Brown/OH, Merkley & Wyden/OR, Casey & Toomey/PA, Reed & Whitehouse/RI, Romney/UT, Leahy/VT, Kaine & Warner/VA, Cantwell & Murray/WA, Baldwin/WI.

Not voting: Lujan/NM, Graham/SC, Capito/WV.

Voting “present”: Rounds/SD.