Life Advocacy Briefing

Let Us Celebrate!

TODAY – JUNE 24 – IS THE 2^nd ANNIVERSARY of the Dobbs decision acknowledging that the 1973 Roe v. Wade edict was a wrong-headed ruling by the Supreme Court, outside the provisions of the US Constitution.

No one expected the aftermath would be easy, but the opportunity is henceforth before us to thwart the abortion cartel and restore to the American conscience and law a respect for the right to life of every person, born and yet unborn.

We thank our Lord, Maker of the universe, Creator of all that is, and Author of our liberty and justice for all.

Resolutions Coming

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL) HAS SIGNALED he will file a Senate resolution commending the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision, and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) is expected to file such a resolution in the House. Both officials filed similar resolutions a year ago to celebrate the first anniversary, defying those in the media who claim the Dobbs ruling had touched off a third-rail political risk for those in office who cherish the right to life clause of our Declaration of Independence. The 2023 resolutions were not considered by the respective Judiciary committees to which they were referred a year ago.

‘Hyde Light’ Applied to Military

THE CAUSE OF LIFE SCORED A VICTORY in the US House on June 13 with the adoption of a Hyde-echoing amendment offered by Rep. Beth VanDuyne (R-TX), reports Joshua Arnold for The Washington Stand, to “prohibit the Secretary of Defense from paying for or reimbursing expenses relating to abortion services.”

The Biden Pentagon has been using our tax dollars to fund abortion travel taken by servicemembers and their dependents, despite the expectation of the American people that their tax dollars are sheltered from such atrocious spending. (After the Supreme Court graciously allowed states to outlaw or limit abortions, interstate travel is sometimes an additional expense in achieving the death of an unborn child.)

The VanDuyne Amendment was attached to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which, notes Mr. Arnold, “is an annual, must-pass bill that authorizes appropriations for the US Dept. of Defense and sets DoD policies.

“Due to its must-pass, pro-military nature,” writes Mr. Arnold, “progressives in Congress have used the NDAA to advance their policy agenda by attaching left-wing riders to a bill they know many Republicans will support. Since retaking control of the House of Representatives, where all such spending bills must originate. Republicans have sought to reverse the progressive Left’s social engineering of the USA military by disentangling it from abortion, LGBT ideology and DEI practices.”

We publish the voting record on this amendment at the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing. It shows just one Democratic Member voting “yes.” And it shows that two Republicans broke with their party’s commitment to Life – and specifically to the party’s opposition to spending tax dollars for abortion.

Anybody Surprised?

PLANNED PARENTHOOD RECENTLY POSTED A ‘MEME’ on the X website, notes American Life League’s Susan Ciancio, published by LifeSiteNews, asking “‘Where does it hurt?’

“The images underneath the question show three human bodies,” Ms. Ciancio explains. “The first image has the caption ‘headache’ and depicts a red spot over the head. The second image has a red circle in the stomach and is captioned ‘stomachache.’ The third image,” she writes, “shows the entire body painted red and has the caption ‘hearing someone say abortion isn’t health care’ – implying, of course, that this statement hurts a person’s entire body to the core.”

But such an outrage does not stand for long. “Apparently,” writes Ms. Ciancio, “so many pro-lifers commented with the undeniable truth illuminating the absurdity of this post that Planned Parenthood had to shut down replies. … And so it silences those who dare to speak out and tell the truth.” No surprise there!

Inching Forward in Italy

June 18, 2024, report by Ben Johnson for The Washington Stand

             A conservative leader prevented the world’s largest economies from using their clout to promote abortion and perhaps also the LGBTQIA+ agenda, saying it is “profoundly wrong” to promote anti-family ideologies for political reasons.

             At last week’s G-7 summit, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni successfully overcame pressure from Pres. Joe Biden to include a promise for the nations to promote abortion-on-demand as part of “sexual and reproductive health.”

             “I believe it I profoundly wrong, in difficult times like these, to campaign using a precious forum like the G-7,” objected Meloni on Thursday evening.

             Last year’s statement from the G-7 summit – held in Hiroshima, Japan – stated: “We reaffirm our full commitment to achieving comprehensive SRHR [Sexual & Reproductive Health & Rights] for all, including by addressing access to safe and legal abortion and post-abortion care.” Thanks to Meloni’s objections, this year’s statement includes no reference to abortion whatever, although it does “reiterate our commitments in the Hiroshima Leaders’ Communique to universal access to adequate, affordable and quality health services for women, including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.”

             The deletion came over the US President’s objections. “When told of Ms. Meloni’s position, American officials say, Pres. Biden pushed back, wanting an explicit reference to reproductive rights and at least a reaffirmation of support for abortion rights from last year’s communique,” reported the New York Times. Since the G-7 adopts statements by the consensus of all leaders, Meloni’s stand kept abortion out of this year’s document.

             … French President Emmanuel Macron complained openly of the abortion removal. “France has a vision of equality between women and men, but it’s not a vision shared by all the political spectrum,” he told the media. …

             Meloni has earned a global reputation as a pro-family leader. The prime minister promised not to repeal Law 194, the 1978 statute that legalized abortion in Italy, but also vowed to give women “the right to not have an abortion.” In April, Italian parliament passed an amendment Meloni’s party attached to a critical relief bill that allows trained pro-life advocates “with a qualified experience supporting motherhood” to counsel abortion-minded women inside Italian abortion facilities.

             “I believe that to make a free choice, you need to have all the necessary information,” said Meloni, Italy’s first female prime minister. Meloni has made good on her 2022 campaign pledge to “give the right to make a different decision to women who think abortion is the only solution.”

             Meloni also aims to boost Italy’s sagging birthrate to at least 500,000 babies a year. (Italy currently has less than 400,000 live births annually, and its birthrate of 1.25 ranks among the lowest in the world.) She established a Ministry for Family & Birth to help Italians “rediscover the beauty of parenting.” … Meloni is riding high in Italy, as her party … gained six additional seats in the elections for European Parliament earlier this month and largely displaced Matteo Salvini’s Lega as the dominant party on the Italian Right. …

Senate Victory

June 13, 2024, report by Joshua Arnold for The Washington Stand

             US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) forced a vote on Thursday on the so-called “Right to IVF (in vitro fertilization) Act” (S-4445), sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), which failed 48-47.

             “It’s like an iceberg,” Family Research Council president Tony Perkins declared on Washington Watch Wednesday. They’re talking about the tip of this, to protect reproductive rights. It goes way beyond that, and you’ve got to look beneath the surface. They are misleading – I would be as bold to say that they’re lying – about what this really does.”

             Conservative objections to the bill are not focused on IVF but on everything else it would allow. “This is actually a very expansive bill. It’s over 60 pages long, and there’s a lot of mischief hung up in it in the name of protecting IVF,” assented Quena Gonzalez, senior director of Government Affairs at Family Research Council. “Every person, regardless of their circumstance of their conception, is inherently valuable and created in the image of God, and … the millions of children who have been born through IVF are precious and of inestimable value. But this bill goes far beyond that. …

             “In the name of protecting IVF, this bill could legalize human cloning, gene editing and the creation of three-parent embryos, the creation of animal-human hybrids called chimeras, commercial gestational surrogacy … [and] the buying, selling and destruction of human embryos nationwide,” Gonzalez explained. The bill also poses a “danger to religious employers.” In other words, this bill “gives a green light to taking us into, quite frankly, a very scary place,” Perkins concluded.

             Yet even these horrible consequences are not a comprehensive list, he added, because the bill “would leave open the door for more practices to be added, at the whim of the Secretary of Health & Human Services.”

             This is not the first time Senate Democrats have attempted to undermine the sanctity of human life by threatening to smear Republicans as opponents of IVF. In February, Senate Democrats opportunistically maneuvered an opinion by the Alabama Supreme Court to try and ram through the so-called “Access to Family Building Act” (S-3612), also sponsored by Duckworth. S-4445 differs from S-3612 by being much longer, but it serves the same purpose.

             “It is destructive of human life,” Gonzalez complained. “The way this bill is worded, it would get rid of or push back against federal and state protections for human life.” Furthermore, “it ignores the fact that the best studies show that more than 90% of those embryonic children will never be born.”

             This underscores “one of the problems that many pro-lifers have” not with IVF per se but with the unregulated way in which it is practiced, said Perkins. “There is an excess number of embryos often created in these fertilization clinics, typically. And what happens to them?” Pro-lifers are concerned to ensure that IVF does not lead to “the destruction of a human embryo” and that “they’re not used for other purposes.”

             Under S-4445, such life-preserving safeguards for IVF would “be beyond regulation,” Perkins declared. He compared the bill to “the Women’s Health Protection Act … that Nancy Pelosi pushed through the [House] chamber back when she was Speaker, in that it “would eliminate state pro-life laws.” Gonzalez agreed. “States could not step in … if this bill were to become law, and protect those embryos.”

             At the most fundamental level, the Democrats’ messaging bill “is not about protecting the ability of men and women to conceive and have children,” lamented Perkins. Rather, said Gonzalez, “it plays upon the hopes and fears and dreams of parents who hope to become pregnant” to advance a completely unrelated agenda. Even the Associated Press recognized the bill as “an election-year push on reproductive care.”

             Schumer set the tone on the Senate floor, asserting, “Not even IVF is safe in the aftermath of Roe. Today, women and families across America are rightfully worried that this basic service could be jeopardized, leaving them without an avenue to start a family.”

             “I’m not sure what they’re protecting IVF from,” Gonzalez responded. “There’s no attack,” Perkins exclaimed. There’s no effort to restrict this anywhere in the country. So this is a solution in search of a problem.” Gonzalez agreed. “It’s a cynical political ploy to change the channel and change the topic in an election year.”

Senate Voting Record

Cloture motion to end debate on S-4445 – Duckworth IVF Bill – June 13, 2024 – Failed 48-47 (Democrats in italics; “Independents” marked “I”)

Voting “no” / pro-Life: Britt & Tuberville/AL, Sullivan/AK, Boozman & Cotton/AR, Rubio & Scott/FL, Crapo & Risch/ID, Braun & Young/IN, Ernst & Grassley/IA, Marshall & Moran/KS, McConnell & Paul/KY, Cassidy & Kennedy/LA, Hyde-Smith & Wicker/MS, Hawley/MO, Daines/MT, Fischer & Ricketts/NE, Schumer*/NY, Budd & Tillis/NC, Cramer & Hoeven/ND, Vance/OH, Langford & Mullin/OK, Graham & Scott/SC, Rounds & Thune/SD, Blackburn & Hagerty/TN, Cornyn & Cruz/TX, Lee & Romney/UT, Capito/WV, Johnson/WI, Barrasso & Lummis/WY.

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

Not voting: Sinema(I)/AZ, Butler/CA, Schmitt/MO, Menendez/NJ, Sanders(I)/VT.

*Sen. Schumer, as Senate Majority Leader, cast a vote with the prevailing side in order to reserve an opportunity to move to reconsider the vote.

House Voting Records

VanDuyne Amendment – HR-8070 – Mini-‘Hyde’ Amendment to Military Appropriation – June 13, 2024 – Adopted 214-207 (Democrats in italics)

Voting Yes / pro-Life: Aderholt, Carl, Moore, Palmer, Rogers, Strong/AL; Biggs, Ciscomani, Crane, Gosar, Lesko, Schweikert/AZ; Crawford, Hill, Westerman, Womack/AR; Calvert, Fong, M.Garcia, Issa, Kiley, Kim, LaMalfa, McClintock, Obernolte, Steel, Valadao/CA; Boebert, Lamborn/CO; Bean, Bilirakis, Buchanan, Cammack, Diaz-Balart, Donalds, Dunn, Franklin, Gaetz, Gimenez, Lee, Luna, Mast, Mills, Posey, Rutherford, Salazar, Steube, Webster/FL; Allen, Carter, Clyde, Collins, Ferguson, Greene, Loudermilk, McCormick, A.Scott/GA; Fulcher, Simpson/ID; Bost, LaHood, Miller/IL; Baird, Banks, Bucshon, Houchin, Pence, Spartz, Yakym/IN; Feenstra, Hinson, Miller-Meeks, Nunn/IA; Estes, LaTurner, Mann/KS; Barr, Comer, Guthrie, Massie, Rogers/KY; Graves, Higgins, Johnson, Letlow, Scalise/LA; Harris/MD; Bergman, Huizenga, James, McClain, Moolenaar, Walberg/MI; Emmer, Finstad, Fischbach, Stauber/MN; Ezell, Guest, Kelly/MS; Alford, Burlison, Graves, Luetkemeyer, Smith, Wagner/MO; Rosendale, Zinke/MT; Bacon, Flood, Smith/NE; Amodei/NV; Kean, Smith, VanDrew/NJ; D’Esposito, Garbarino, LaLota, Langworthy, Lawler, Malliotakis, Molinaro, Stefanik, Tenney, Williams/NY; Edwards, Foxx, Hudson, Rouzer/NC; Armstrong/ND; Balderson, Carey, Davidson, Jordan, Joyce, Latta, Miller, Turner, Wenstrup/OH; Bice, Brecheen, Cole, Hern, Lucas/OK; Bentz, Chavez-DeRemer/OR; Joyce, Kelly, Meuser, Perry, Reschenthaler, Smucker, Thompson/PA; Duncan, Fry, Mace, Norman, Timmons, Wilson/SC; Johnson/SD; Burchett, DesJarlais, Fleischmann, Green, Harshbarger, Kustoff, Ogles, Rose/TN; Arrington, Babin, Burgess, Carter, Cloud, Crenshaw, Cuellar, Ellzey, Fallon, T.Gonzales, Gooden, Granger, Hunt, Jackson, Luttrell, McCaul, Moran, Nehls, Pfluger, Roy, Self, Sessions, VanDuyne, Weber, Williams/TX; Curtis, Maloy, Moore, Owens/UT; Cline, Good, Griffith, Kiggans, Wittman/VA; Newhouse, Rodgers/WA; Miller, Mooney/WV; Fitzgerald, Grothman, Steil, Tiffany, VanOrden/WI; Hageman/WY.

Voting No / anti-Life: Sewell/AL; Peltola/AK; Gallego, Stanton/AZ; Aguilar, Barragan, Bera, Brownley, Carbajal, Cardenas, Chu, Correa, Costa, DeSaulnier, Duarte, Eshoo, R.Garcia, Gomez, Harder, Huffman, Jacobs, Kamlager-Dove, Khanna, Lee, Levin, Lieu, Lofgren, Matsui, Mullin, Napolitano, Panetta, Pelosi, Peters, Porter, Ruiz, Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Swalwell, Takano, Thompson, Torres, Vargas, Waters/CA; Caraveo, Crow, DeGette, Neguse, Pettersen/CO; Courtney, DeLauro, Hayes, Himes, Larson/CT; Blunt-Rochester/DE; Castor, Cherfilus-McCormick, Frankel, Frost, Moskowitz, Soto, Wasserman–Schultz, Wilson/FL; Bishop, Johnson, McBath, D.Scott, Williams/GA; Case, Tokuda/HI; Budzinski, Casten, Davis, Foster, Garcia, Jackson, Kelly, Krishnamoorthi, Quigley, Ramirez, Schakowsky, Schneider, Sorensen, Underwood/IL; Carson, Mrvan/IN; Davids/KS; McGarvey/KY; Carter/LA; Golden, Pingree/ME; Hoyer, Ivey, Mfume, Raskin, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes, Trone/MD; Auchincloss, Clark, Keating, Lynch, McGovern, Moulton, Neal, Pressley, Trahan/MA; Kildee, Scholten, Slotkin, Stevens, Thanedar, Tlaib/MI; Craig, McCollum, Omar, Phillips/MN; Thompson/MS; Bush, Cleaver/MO; Horsford, Titus/NV; Kuster, Pappas/NH; Gottheimer, Kim, Menendez, Norcross, Pallone, Pascrell, Sherrill/NJ; Leger-Fernandez, Stansbury, Vasquez/NM; Clarke, Espaillat, Goldman, Jeffries, Kennedy, Meeks, Meng, Morelle, Nadler, Ocasio-Cortez, Ryan, Suozzi, Tonko, Torres, Velazquez/NY; Adams, Davis, Foushee, Jackson, Manning, Ross/NC; Beatty, Brown, Kaptur, Landsman, Sykes/OH; Blumenauer, Bonamici, Hoyle, Salinas/OR; Boyle, Cartwright, Dean, Deluzio, Fitzpatrick, Houlahan, Lee, Scanlon, Wild/PA; Amo, Magaziner/RI; Clyburn/SC; Cohen/TN; Allred, Casar, Castro, Crockett, Doggett, Escobar, Fletcher, Garcia, V.Gonzalez, Green, Veasey/TX; Balint/VT; Beyer, Connolly, McClellan, Scott, Spanberger, Wexton/VA; DelBene, Kilmer, Larsen, Perez, Schrier, Smith, Strickland/WA; Moore, Pocan/WI.

Not Voting: Grijalva/AZ; Garamendi/CA; Waltz/FL; Dingell/MI; Lee/NV; Watson-Coleman/NJ; Bowman/NY; Bishop, McHenry, Murphy, Nickel/NC; Evans/PA; DeLaCruz, Jackson-Lee/TX; Jayapal/WA.