Life Advocacy Briefing

Miss Us?

SORRY ABOUT HAVING MISSED last week’s Life Advocacy Briefing (without warning). Our editor became ill at just the wrong time of the week, so we had to delay until this week. It’s good to be back.

The Biden Abortion Obsession

IN ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF ITS ‘WHOLE-OF-GOVERNMENT’ APPROACH to abortion policy – engaging every federal agency in one aspect or another in promoting the killing of unborn babies – the Biden Regime on Oct. 4, reports LifeSiteNews (LSN), “announc[ed] new actions to expand abortion access.”

In a meeting of the Regime’s “Reproductive Rights Task Force,” notes LSN, both Pres. Biden and Vice Pres. Kamala Harris “met with administration officials to discuss the pro-life legislation enacted throughout the country since the reversal of Roe and [to] announce guidance and funding to promote abortion. Federal initiatives aimed at broadening abortion access nationwide,” reports the pro-life news service, “include a $6 million grant allocated by the US Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS).”

It is not enough that HHS is offering a grant for “abortion access” despite decades of Congressional action barring tax funding of abortion. Next popped up Education Secretary Miguel Cardona with an announcement that his department, reports LSN, “has sent guidance reminding US universities that they must ‘protect their students from discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, including pregnancy termination’ under Title IX (9).”

No doubt to impress the White House duo in his audience, Mr. “Cardona claimed,” reports LSN, “that abortion is necessary for the success of American students.” He next “slamm[ed] the University of Idaho” for adhering to its own state law by “shutting down birth control access and telling employees they cannot promote abortions under state law.” Abortion accessibility, claimed Mr. Cardona, “‘is critical to the wellbeing and success of our nation’s students’ … [who] need abortion ‘to thrive in school and in life.’”

Not to be outdone as a flack for the abortion cartel, Pres. Biden, reports LSN, “urged colleges and universities not to cut back on abortion or contraception availability. ‘My message to any other colleges enacting policies like this: Don’t. Please don’t,’ he said. ‘Folks, what century are we in? What are we doing? I respect everyone’s view on this, personal decisions they make, but my Lord*, we’re talking about contraception here,’ Biden, a self-professed Catholic said,” reports LSN. “‘It shouldn’t be that controversial, but this is what it looks like when you start to take away the right of privacy.’”

The President also used the occasion, reports LSN, for overt politics, “calling on voters to support pro-abortion candidates in the November midterms. “

And, of course, V.P. Harris chimed in, “condemn[ing] ‘extremist’ pro-life politicians for allegedly ‘attacking the freedom and liberty of millions of women at a state level,’ by passing legislation banning abortion.”

*Life Advocacy Briefing editor’s note: We regret using the Lord’s name this way in our publication; we thought our readers should know just what the President said.

Modeling Fanaticism

U.S. REP. JACKIE SPEIER (D-CA) DEMONSTRATED during a House floor speech just how extreme an abortion-backing Member of Congress can be. Calling attention to the introduction on Sept. 20 of “The Access to Reproductive Care for Servicemembers Act” by Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) and herself, Ms. Speier – who is set to retire at the end of this term in January – urged, reports Bridget Sielicki for Live Action, “that the government move 128 military bases, simply because they are located in states that have laws protecting preborn children from abortion.

“During her speech,” writes Ms. Sielicki, “[Ms.] Speier referenced a color-coded map, with states that have passed laws protecting preborn children following the overturn of Roe v. Wade in red. ‘We have 128 military bases in red states that ban abortion,’ she said. ‘Maybe we should just move these bases.’ She continued, ‘Now that’s highly unlikely because we’ve invested so much, but it just begs the question about what are we really all about if we’re going to treat these servicewomen so poorly?’”

The bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Crow, “promoted the bill,” reports Ms. Sielicki, “by calling abortion ‘essential’ and a ‘moral thing. … That’s [abortion is] essential to the trust that’s necessary in the military,’ [Rep.] Crow said” in the Live Action report “‘It’s essential for our national security [!] and of course, it’s the most moral thing [!!], and the military needs to be the standard bearer of our values for our country.’” Well, yes; that is one reason HR-8916 must not pass.

Co-Sponsors of Military Abortions Access Bill

HR-8916, chiefly sponsored by Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), which is the topic of our news item “Modeling Fanaticism,” is co-sponsored by the following Democrats (and no Republican Members): Representatives Raul Grijalva (AZ); Julia Brownley, Tony Cardenas, Judy Chu, Sara Jacobs, Barbara Lee, Grace Napolitano, Katie Porter, Adam Schiff & Norma Torres (CA); Diana DeGette & Jose Neguse (CO); Kathy Castor & Lois Frankel (FL); Chuy Garcia (IL); Anthony Brown (MD); Jake Auchincloss, James McGovern & Seth Moulton (MA); Dina Titus (NV); Chris Pappas (NH); Andy Kim, Tom Malinowski, Mikie Sherrill & Albio Sires (NJ); Carolyn Maloney & Jerold Nadler (NY); Kathy Manning (NC); Earl Blumenauer (OR); Madeleine Dean & Dwight Evans (PA); Veronica Escobar (TX); Gerald Connolly & Donald McEachin (VA); Rick Larsen & Marilyn Strickland (WA); and Gwen Moore & Mark Pocan (WI).

It’s Not Over, By a Long Shot

THE SUPREME COURT APPEARS TO THINK THEY’ve DONE THEIR DUTY by opening the once-closed issue of abortion for state action. Just in case anyone believes the Court has settled the abortion controversy that has raged in America for 49 years, the Court last Tuesday declined to hear a case filed by Catholics for Life, “along with two expectant mothers representing their unborn babies,” reports LifeSiteNews reporter Calvin Freiburger, “challenging Rhode Island’s 2019 Reproductive Privacy Act, which codified the ‘right to abortion’ as defined in Roe and deprived their babies of their personhood by repealing the state’s pre-Roe abortion ban, which had expressly recognized that ‘human life commences at the moment of conception,’ and an unborn baby is ‘a person within the language and meaning of the 14^th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.’ …

“On Tuesday, the Court released an order list confirming,” writes Mr. Freiburger, “that their petition had been denied, without elaboration as to the reasons why or which Justices would have heard the case. Four votes would have sufficed to take the case, meaning that only three or fewer Justices were willing to consider the matter.”

We refuse to speculate on how the votes lined up. But apparently, the Supreme Court meant it when they left it to each of the states to define when life begins and how public policy should reflect the answer to that question.

It was a nice try, on the part of last week’s plaintiffs, to nudge the Court further toward acknowledging the right to life that is within the 5^th and 14^th Amendments to the Constitution. But clearly a greater public consensus in America will need to develop before those in black robes acknowledge the injustice of abortion in a dispositive way. Let us persist. And may justice return to America. Such injustice reflects poorly indeed on the land of the free.

Warning to Parents

LIVE ACTION IS WARNING PARENTS about a website which LA reporter Bettina DiFiore writes is “backed by Planned Parenthood” and “filled with cartoon ‘sex-ed’ videos designed to sell sex to children as young as 10.” The website is called AMAZE, and Ms. DiFiore characterizes it as “semi-pornographic,” including “heavy promotion of contraception and white-washing of abortion, as well as tacit endorsement of sex between adults and children.”

Now the website has posted a new video, notes Ms. DiFiore, titled “Abortion with Pills: What Is It?” In that video, she writes, “a giant purple blob named Sam acts as the narrator, dispensing a sanitized depiction of chemical abortion, as well as telling kids how to get abortion pills – without a doctor or parental involvement. Speaking to ‘a trusted adult’ is only mentioned as an afterthought; parents specifically are never mentioned.”

And, not surprisingly, the video, reports Live Action, “inaccurately depicts a preborn child as a tiny red dot and euphemistically refers to the developing baby as merely ‘the contents of the uterus’ or ‘the pregnancy.’ …

“AMAZE misinforms its young audience on everything,” warns Ms. DiFiore, “except how to get the abortion pill. For that, they provide numerous links, including to a website that distributes the abortion pill. This is analogous,” the Live Action writer declares, “to giving children car keys without first teaching them how to drive. Both situations can only lead to disaster.”

We at Life Advocacy encourage our readers to check on whether the AMAZE website is offered – or even promoted – in their local public schools (especially middle schools) and/or public libraries. Make no assumptions.

Little by Little

ANOTHER ABORTUARY HAS CLOSED ITS DOORS – this time in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The shop was closed Sept. 16 without warning, according to Cassy Fiano-Chesser, reporter for Live Action.

Notification of the closing came to customers “in the mail,” notes Mrs. Chesser. “Staffers were allegedly told they would be losing their jobs just a week prior,” she writes.

The abortuary was operated by Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, “one of the abortion giant’s more controversial affiliates,” comments Mrs. Chesser. And “Planned Parenthood officials initially denied the facility would be closing, even telling the Steamboat Pilot & Today it would remain open as late as the day before it closed. It wasn’t until several days later,” reports LA, “that they admitted the facility had closed for good.”

African Nations Stand for Life

WHEN THE ABORTION FANATICS PULLED OFF THEIR RECENT VICTORY at the United Nations in their never-ending campaign to establish abortion as an international goal, they should have expected resistance from the continent of Africa, most of whose nations have steadfastly refused to go along with the international abortion cartel. As of Oct. 1, LifeSiteNews is reporting the resistance has come, led by Uganda.

Reports LSN writer Mary Zwicker, Uganda “has publicly rejected the United Nations’ (UN) recent proclamation of abortion as a ‘human right.’

“Uganda, as well as several other African countries,” she writes, “has voiced its opposition to the Sept. 2 resolution passed by the UN titled ‘International Cooperation on Access to Justice, Remedies & Assistance for Survivors of Sexual Violence,’ which calls for each nation to ensure ‘access to safe abortion’ for its citizens while defining abortion as a ‘human right.’”

In an interview with Monitor News on Sept. 26, reports Ms. Zwicker, Dr. Jesca Nsungwa, Uganda Health Ministry’s commissioner for maternal & child health, declared, “‘We don’t promote or support abortion in Uganda. … We are pro-life, and therefore we oppose that definition. There are many things that are promoted as a “human right,” including homosexuality,’” she said, quoted by LSN, ‘but we do not support them given our laws, culture and morals.’

“Despite pressure from the UN,” notes Ms. Zwicker, “abortion remains entirely illegal in Uganda except in circumstances when the mother’s life is in jeopardy. In fact, abortion is explicitly condemned in Article 22(2) of Uganda’s constitution, which states: ‘No person has the right to terminate the life of an unborn child except as may be authorized by law.’” And Uganda has not, evidently, taken any steps to enact exceptions.

The LSN report goes on to quote a speech last April by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Taychwa, who “said he would continue to stand up for the right to life of every human being,” reports Ms. Zwicker, “and that Uganda must continue to fight for this right despite global pressure.

“‘I promise the Parliament and the people of Uganda that I will do things that will give respect to God,’ he said. ‘Personally, I have values that I believe in. We must respect the lives of every individual including the unborn. I’m pro-life.’

“In addition to Uganda,” notes Ms. Zwicker, “an additional 32 African nations have also opposed the UN’s definition of abortion as a ‘human right,’ with an official spokes[man] for the Nigerian government arguing that abortion ought to be dealt with at the national level as opposed to the international level. ‘Each country should decide its abortion laws at the national level without external interference,’ said the Nigerian delegate at the UN General Assembly in New York last month. ‘Countries should help women avoid abortion and provide mothers and their children with health care and social support.’” Yes, and abortion is not health care, no matter what the US Democratic National Platform and its various candidates claim.

Model Pro-Life Candidate Communication

Oct. 3, 2022, Report by Tyler Stone in RealClearPolitics

             Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake was asked if she supported Arizona’s abortion law; Lake responded with her policy and her Democrat opponent, Katie Hobbs’s, position:

             “I support saving as many lives as possible. What I really want to know, and I’ve been waiting – I tune into you guys all the time – I want to know where Katie Hobbs stands. I never hear you guys ask her that.

             “I’m pro-life. My plan would be that every woman that walks into an abortion clinic know that there are options out there, that they don’t have to choose that, there are families that would love to adopt a baby and right now the way it’s been going, they go in there and they only have one option. Nobody tells them that there are other options. We want to help our women; if they are afraid, we want to help them; we want to give women health care.

             “And I want to help people, but I really challenge you. And I’m happy to get back to you on this – if you find out where Katie Hobbs stands on this.

             “Let me tell you where she stands: She supports abortion right up until birth and after birth.

             “She supports that if a baby survives a botched abortion, that that baby die on a cold metal tray.

             “And none of you ever try to get her to talk about her stance. So, get back to me if you do. And tell her that I want to debate this topic on October 12, but she has to show up to that debate.”

Life Advocacy Briefing editor’s note: A major concern of Life Advocacy is strategic pro-life communication, particularly on the part of our front-liners, who are nearly always ill-advised by professional campaign consultants. We were struck by how forthright Kari Lake was in this retort to the media’s inquiry about her state’s newly upheld abortion prohibition. We have no doubt that the reporter who asked her the question about Arizona’s new law intended to put her on the spot, but she turned the tables on the reporter. Reading further reports about her, we believe she has since then stumbled, and we are sorry to see that. But her Oct. 4 stumble does not take away from the Oct. 3 model retort, which we have printed here from the RealClearPolitics report.

Cherishing the Little Ones

Oct. 13, 2022, BreakPoint commentary by John Stonestreet

             Recently, Joe Scarborough suggested that because abortion was common in the Roman world, and Jesus never said anything about it, He must have been pro-abortion. When that same reasoning is applied to any other moral issue, it is obvious how ridiculous it is. Jesus never said anything about slavery or torture or the sexual abuse of children, so He must have been for all of those things?

             The argument from silence doesn’t work, and it ignores historical facts. The Jews in Jesus’s day opposed abortion, as both the testimony of the Talmud and Roman critics of the Jews attest. Jesus did not address abortion, because it wasn’t an issue among Jews in the Holy Land.

             But from its earliest days, the Church did – starting with the Didache, one of the oldest surviving Christian documents outside of the New Testament. Wherever abortion was practiced, the Church condemned it and must continue to do so today.