Life Advocacy Briefing

Question of the Week

HAS A SINGLE U.S. ATTORNEY – anywhere in the nation – prosecuted a single killer under the 2003 federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act? Sub-question: Why not?

Manhattan Planned Parenthood Abortuary Gone for Good

PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER NEW YORK ANNOUNCED this month it would sell its Manhattan building, shutting down its abortuary and, reports Patrick Delaney for LifeSiteNews, “leav[ing] the borough of Manhattan free from Planned Parenthood’s preborn child killing activity.

“In PPGNY’s press release,” writes Mr. Delaney, “the organization’s president Wendy Stark claimed the decision was made due to ‘the gap between inflation and stagnant (Medicaid/insurance) reimbursement rates,’ along with the abortuary being housed in a ‘building that requires more and more expensive maintenance.’”

The LifeSiteNews report quotes a lengthy verbal celebration by Will Goodman, one of the pro-life prayer warriors recently pardoned by President Trump after 17 months in federal prison, concluding, “‘There is no way to overstate the magnitude of this glorious spiritual victory, a victory which should embolden us with the grace of Christ to work even harder to abolish ‘planned parenthood’ and abolish all child sacrifice in our nation and in the world.’”

Using ‘FACE’ Act to Protect Life Centers

FOUR PRO-ABORTION RADICALS HAVE BEEN CONVICTED – three through guilty pleas and one by trial – of vandalizing a pro-life pregnancy center in Florida, reports Calvin Freiburger for LifeSiteNews. Civil charges were brought by the state of Florida and criminal charges by the US Dept. of Justice, he reports, “both under the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. …

“The Daily Wire reports,” writes Mr. Freiburger, “that state and federal prosecutors took action against the activists, members of Antifa and Jane’s Revenge, for ‘unlawfully threaten[ing] employees of a Florida pregnancy resource facility.’”

Said Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R), quoted by Mr. Freiburger, “‘As a result of our civil action, the federal court enjoined the defendants from coming within 100 feet of the seven pregnancy resource centers at issue in our lawsuit for the next 10 years, entered a judgment for each defendant to pay fines ranging from $1,100 to $13,000, and directed them to apologize to the crisis pregnancy facilities for their wrongful acts.

“‘We in Florida will not sit idly by when thugs attempt to threaten, intimidate and harass pro-life facilities who offer life-saving healthcare free of charge to Florida women,’ he added. ‘As the state’s chief legal officer, I will ensure that pro-abortion bullies who violate the law will be held accountable.’”

The LifeSiteNews report concludes, “While the Florida example illustrates that the FACE Act can be applied to actual crimes to protect legitimate life-affirming services, and [Pres.] Trump has instructed [the] Dept. of Justice to abide by strict new limits on when the FACE Act should be invoked, many pro-lifers believe the FACE Act must still be repealed entirely, arguing that localities can handle local crime on their own and that the danger of a future pro-abortion President abusing the law again” – as clearly happened under the Biden Regime – “is too great.

“US Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) has reintroduced legislation to repeal the FACE Act in the House of Representatives,” notes Mr. Freiburger, “and says he is prepared to force a vote on it if necessary.”

That bill is HR-589, which has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee and has 33 co-sponsors: GOP Representatives Barry Moore (AL); Andy Biggs, Eli Crane & Paul Gosar (AZ); Doug LaMalfa (CA); Lauren Boebert (CO); Anna Paulina Luna, John Rutherford, & Daniel Webster (FL); Marjorie Green (GA); Russ Fulcher (ID); Mary Miller (IL); Clay Higgins (LA); Andy Harris (MD); Pete Stauber (MN); Eric Burlison (MO); Troy Downing (MT); Adrian Smith (NE); Nicholas Langworthy (NY); Pat Harrigan & Mark Harris (NC); Warren Davidson (OH); Josh Brecheen (OK); Charles Fleischmann, Mark Green & Andrew Ogles (TN); Michael Cloud, Dan Crenshaw, Brandon Gill & Randy Weber (TX); Burgess Owens (UT); Ben Cline (VA); and Harriet Hageman (WY).

Victory in Minneapolis

THE ATTORNEYS FOR PRO-LIFE SIDEWALK COUNSELORS in Minnesota were the winners earlier this month in a court proceeding in Minneapolis, with the city of Minneapolis agreeing, reports LifeSiteNews, “to pay $450,000 in attorney fees for a pro-life group who was unconstitutionally barred from carrying out sidewalk counseling near a Planned Parenthood abortion mill in 2023.”

The fees will be paid to the Thomas More Society, which represented Pro-Life Action Ministries. “The payout comes,” notes LSN, “after a court ruled in favor of” the sidewalk counseling group “in late 2024. The pro-lifers had sued the city in 2023 when they were prohibited from carrying out their sidewalk activism near a Planned Parenthood because of a 2022 city ordinance that had implemented so-called ‘buffer zones’ around abortion mills to prevent pro-life demonstrations.”

In addition to agreeing to cover the legal fees, notes LSN, the city agreed to “change the wording of the ordinance to allow for pro-life activism.”

Coast Guard Withdraws from Baby Killing

THE U.S. COAST GUARD HAS ANNOUNCED, reports Cassy Cooke for Live Action, “it will no longer be funding abortion-related travel or leave, as the military looks to reverse a Biden-era policy requiring the Dept. of Defense to pay for service members to have abortions. Just last week,” she writes, “the Navy made a similar announcement.”

Biden Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had claimed, notes Ms. Cooke, that the overturning of Roe and subsequent actions by states to protect the innocent lives of unborn babies “would affect ‘readiness, recruiting and retention implications’ for the US military. Therefore, service members and their dependents would be reimbursed for expenses incurred when seeking induced abortions to intentionally end the lives of their preborn children.” No more.

The Navy announced early this month it was shutting the door to the Biden-Austin policy. “Now, in a memo,” writes Ms. Cooke, “the Coast Guard has also confirmed that abortion travel expenses will not be reimbursed, and Coast Guardsmen will not be granted administrative leave for abortion.”

How – and When – Did This Happen?

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (N.I.H.) HAS AWARDED a $495,307 grant to a Planned Parenthood executive for a study on “‘power and oppression’ and ‘reproductive health services,’” according to a post by Mike LaChance on the website The College Fix, operated by the Student Free Press Assn., which the website calls “a nonprofit organization run by veteran journalists to help beginning journalists.”

The study is prospectively titled “Enhancing Policy Impact for Reproductive Health Equity,” notes Mr. LaChance. It is expected to “look at [how] ‘societal dynamics of power and oppression’ can affect access to sexual and reproductive health services. The study,” he writes, “runs through August, 2026.”

The study’s prospective author is Elizabeth Janiak, a Harvard professor, notes Mr. LaChance, “whose research ‘explores how government and institutional policies create inequities in access to and quality of sexual and reproductive health … care,’ according to her faculty bio. Janiak also serves,” he reports, “as director of social science research at the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.”

Wonder whether DOGE has caught wind of this one!

Stateside

• MARYLAND’s SENATE voted 29-15 in mid-March, reports Calvin Freiburger for LifeSiteNews, “to create an abortion fund using money collected through the federal Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), opening up $25 million to perpetuate abortions in the first program of its kind nationwide. SB-848 would create a ‘Public Health Abortion Grant Program,’ which would use money collected from ACA health insurance surcharges to guarantee so-called ‘equitable access to abortion care [sic] clinical services for individuals without sufficient resources.’ Those funds would then be administered to abortion facilities as grants. A companion version of the bill was approved last week in the House of Delegates, but differences in the details between the two versions must be resolved before it can be signed into law … . If successful, it would go into effect July 1.”

• MINNESOTA’s HOUSE has rejected a bill, reports Doug Mainwaring for LifeSiteNews, “that would have protected the lives of babies who survive botched abortions …, with every Democrat voting against the measure. Known as the ‘Born Alive Rollback,’ bill HF-24 called for ‘born alive’ infants to be ‘fully recognized as a human person’ and aimed to mandate that medical professionals provide immediate and appropriate care to preserve the life and health of these infants, ensuring they receive the same legal recognition and medical treatment as any other newborn. ‘This is not controversial. This shouldn’t even be up for debate,’ said the bill’s author, Rep. Krista Knudsen (R), during her closing speech. … ‘We are not debating abortion today. The choice has already been made. The baby survives by the grace of God, and now we’re asking to protect that baby.’”

• MISSOURI ATTORNEY GENERAL ANDREW BAILEY (R) directed Planned Parenthood—Great Rivers,” reports Ryan Foley for The Washington Stand, “that it was ‘hereby ordered under penalty of law not to perform any chemical abortions in Missouri’ because it wasn’t in compliance with a state law requiring abortion clinics to have ‘a valid plan to treat complications from chemically induced abortions.’ Bailey cited statistics,” notes Mr. Foley, “finding that ‘up to 4.6% of women who receive chemical abortions are forced to seek medical attention.’” Atty. Gen. Bailey “asserted,” reports TWS, “that ‘Planned Parenthood has established an uncontroverted track record of violating the law in Missouri in recent years. … These violations include repeated and knowing failures to comply with reporting requirements, to comply with informed consent laws and to sterilize instruments.’”

• G.O.P. LAWMAKERS IN NEW JERSEY, reports Bridget Sielicki for Live Action, have filed “articles of impeachment against the state’s attorney general, Matthew Platkin, in part due to Platkin’s attack on the state’s pregnancy resource centers (PRCs). Platkin has been in a long legal battle with First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, which has five PRCs in the state,” notes Ms. Sielicki, “targeting its facilities by demanding its documents and records – including the names of its staff and donors. … As Live Action News previously reported, ‘Though there had been no complaints against First Choice, Platkin demanded 10 years’ worth of documentation and records in an apparent “fishing expedition,”’” writes Ms. Sielicki, who goes on to quote Erin Hawley, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom: “‘New Jersey’s Attorney General is targeting First Choice Women’s Resource Centers – a ministry that provides free ultrasounds, baby clothes and more to its community – simply because of its pro-life views. … The US Constitution protects First Choice and its donors from unjustified demands for their identities, and First Choice is entitled to vindicate those rights in federal court.’” Atty. Gen. Platkin retorted, reports Ms. Sielicki, “he will not ‘respond to partisan political attacks.’”

How Dare They Look the Other Way?

March 14, 2024, The Washington Stand commentary by Chuck Donovan, excerpted

(Life Advocacy Briefing editor’s note: The focus on late-term abortion is useful for highlighting injustice but should not, in our view, be employed to justify limiting abortion bans by gestational age of the victim. We concur, however, that at the very least, voters and public officials ought to acknowledge that aborting babies who can live outside the womb is horrific, and medical ethics ought to acknowledge that such babies could – and should – instead be delivered alive and then treated as urgent-care patients if their continued gestation presents a challenge. Pro-life candidates and vocal citizens can and should challenge advocates of “reproductive choice” – or whatever they are calling it in the next campaign – on their refusal to protect even late-term babies from the violence of abortion. The question should be asked in every pro-life campaign versus an abortion advocate: “Just Who Is Extreme on Abortion?” Most voters will agree: the one who refuses to condemn even late-term abortions.)

             … The mainstream media goes out of its way to obscure the reality that abortions done after 22 weeks are never medically necessary to save a mother’s life. Separations of the mother and the human being in her womb can be done by vaginal delivery or emergency c-section, under conditions which maximize the chances of survival of both. In fact, this highlights the ugly truth that abortion advocates want to hide: Late-term abortions are done for the primary purpose, and by methods designed, to ensure that the baby does not survive the separation but rather dies in the process. The point of an abortion done after 22 weeks is clearly the death of the human being in utero.

             What the media also omit is that abortion clinics sell the bodies of these tiny human beings for research, often to local universities. Disregard the fact that the utility of these organs underscores the humanity of the one from whom they were harvested. One university’s federal grant application maintained that its source clinic minimizes “warm ischemic time” for the collection of the bodies of well-developed unborn children. That means that the baby is alive until the body parts are collected, because ischemic time commences at the time of death. These truths about late-term abortion have not been found fit to print or broadcast. …

             There is no denying the accumulating proof that taking the lives of children up to the moment of birth continues to expand in the United States. Generally, states with all-term abortion laws are the primary sites for such expansion. Consider the new facility dubbed the Valley Abortion Group in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Its name is plain (no other services are provided to garland its offerings) and its website is straightforward: “We provide abortion care in all stages of pregnancy,” it reads. …

             New Mexico, with the highest abortion rate in the nation, is not the only locale for open embrace of legal abortion until birth. As a January, 2025, report by Tessa Cox and Dr. Ingrid Skop from the Charlotte Lozier Institute summarizes it, nine states and the District of Columbia have adopted policies that establish no limit on how late in pregnancy an abortion can be carried out. Several other states have approved state constitutional amendments that permit abortions until the end of pregnancy, with the only limit the practical one of a limited number of abortionists willing in some states to commit these gruesome acts. …

Lila Rose at March for Life

Jan. 24, 2025, address by Live Action founder Lila Rose, transcribed by Life Advocacy Briefing

             I am so blown away, seeing so many of you here. I am incredibly honored, and I am so excited. I want to tell you all a story.

             Last night I had a debate with a pro-abortion law professor at Georgetown. The room was full of students from both sides. Reflecting on my remarks on my way home, I wondered if I had made any impact on those future leaders. Hours later, I received a text. One of the pro-choice students had changed her mind and was now convinced of the humanity of the unborn child.

             My friends, this is half the battle: showing up! All of you here, all of you have the power to change minds – at the dinner table, on campuses, at soccer games – you can change minds. You, you are the voice for those who have no voice.

             Remember, the science is on our side; natural law is on our side; the truth is on our side. We must simply have the courage to speak the truth with love. Courage is contagious. One change of heart can save a life.

             We must also speak the truth to our elected officials. We can start by demanding that they de-fund Planned Parenthood. It’s time to give that $700 million to pregnancy resource centers instead. And most importantly, we must urge our elected officials to abolish abortion. Abolishing abortion is the most important human rights cause of our time. One million of our unborn brothers and sisters are killed every year by abortion.

             I am so inspired by the incredible love and heroism of Joan Bell, who I believe is here today, and all the other amazing pro-life activists who were granted their freedom yesterday, thanks to President Trump and J.D. Vance. Thank you, Vice President Vance and President Trump.

             We can usher in a new golden age for America when we protect every life from the moment of conception. This is our moment. I am so proud of all of you, and I’m so proud of what our nation is and will become by God’s grace. Make America Pro-Life Again. Thank you.