Life Advocacy Briefing

Polishing his Image?

IS THERE ANYTHING ILLINOIS GOV. J.B. PRITZKER IS LEAVING OUT when it comes to his campaign to land the backing of the death lobby in his drive for the 2028 Democratic Presidential nomination?

Having already eliminated several pro-life laws which Illinois had enacted before he became governor in 2019, Gov. Pritzker has lately “announced a new initiative to subsidize abortions,” writes Calvin Freiburger for LifeSiteNews, “in what is already the nation’s top state for abortion tourism.

“On Jan. 28,” reports Mr. Freiburger, Gov. “Pritzker announced the state was partnering with the Michael Reese Health Trust to form the Prairie State Access Fund, which will ‘sustain and strengthen the [so-called] reproductive health ecosystem across Illinois to ensure continued access for both residents of Illinois and those from across the country seeking’ abortions and ‘help fortify Illinois’ status as a haven for reproductive health’ (i.e., abortion-on-demand) by connecting donors with groups that offer abortion.” Catholic Conference of Illinois executive director Robert Gilligan, notes Mr. Freiburger, declared to OSV News, “‘Most states, many places, entice people to come to their states for various cultural activities, the weather, many other things. And here we are, trying to provide abortion-related services, so people can end the life of their unborn child. It’s so macabre.’”

But wait – there’s more. One of the state’s taxpayer-funded higher education institutions, the University of Illinois Chicago’s College of Nursing, popped into public view with the designation of Feb. 6 as “‘Abortion Care Skills Day,’” reports Mr. Freiburger. “Sponsored by the ‘Reproductive Advocacy & Diversity in Advanced Nursing Training (RADIANT) Fellowship,’ the event at UIC’s College of Nursing Simulation Lab was billed as ‘to give generations of nurse practitioners at UIC an immersive experience led by UIC faculty clinician-experts to understand the importance of providing comprehensive and accurate [so-called] reproductive health-related guidance to their patients, as well as to learn the foundations of [so-called] abortion care.’”

Is this really something to be proud of, Mr. Governor? And we are sure you won’t want Americans to forget your groundbreaking action in signing an abetted suicide law last December. Who is doing more to drive down the citizen population of his own state?

Competing with Gov. Pritzker

Feb. 6, 2026, The Washington Stand commentary by S.A. McCarthy of Family Research Council

             California’s pro-abortion governor is lashing out online in an escalating legal battle over the abortion drug. “Louisiana plans to sue me because I won’t extradite a doctor for providing an abortion,” Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) shared in a social-media post late Thursday. Addressing Louisiana Atty. Gen. Liz Murrill [R], Newsom said, “Go f— yourself. California will never help you criminalize health care.”

             “Bless your heart,” Murrill responded to the Golden State governor. “Killing Louisiana babies isn’t health care, nor is shielding California drug dealers. The sovereign State of Louisiana will defend life. See ya soon.”

             California-based abortionist Remy Coeytaux and New York abortionist Margaret Carpenter were indicted last month on felony charges in Louisiana after mailing the abortion drug mifepristone across state lines into Louisiana, where stringent pro-life laws protect the unborn.

             “This is not health care; it’s drug dealing. Individuals who flagrantly and intentionally violate our laws by sending illegal abortion pills into our state placing women in danger,” Murrill said in a statement on the California abortionist’s indictment. “We’ve seen proof of that, with women showing up in emergency rooms after taking these pills and being coerced into abortions.”

             Newsom refused to cooperate when Louisiana requested that Coeytaux be extradited to face justice for violating the state’s laws, as did New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who protected Carpenter from prosecution. California and New York both have “shield laws” in place to keep abortionists from being prosecuted for violating other states’ pro-life laws. Murrill announced this week that she intends to take Newsom and Hochul to federal court in an effort to force Coeytaux’s and Carpenter’s extraditions. “They don’t agree with the laws of our state, and so they have this whole system set up to nullify our laws,” Murrill told a local media outlet. “I think that is an affront to the full faith and credit that our state is afforded under the US Constitution,” she added. “This conduct is unethical – medically unethical – in addition to being illegal.” …

Life Advocacy Briefing editor’s note: The refusal of California and New York officials to give Louisiana the cooperation needed to enforce Louisiana’s state laws illustrates the difficulty Americans face with the posture of Pres. Trump in his insistence that, post-Dobbs, abortion is now a matter for states to decide in patchwork fashion, not taking into effect the assurances of the 5^th and 14^th amendments to the US Constitution that every person in the United States has the right to life. Fifth amendment: “… nor [shall any person] be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Fourteenth amendment: “ … nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Here We Go Again at the U.N.

Feb. 20, 2026, commentary by Stefano Gennarini, JD, for Center for Family & Human Rights (C-Fam)

             The Trump Administration is set to clash yet again with the European Union [EU] at the UN Commission on the Status of Women [CSW]. This time, it will be about transgender issues, abortion and DEI in UN policy.

             Negotiations began this week on the agreement on women[’s] and girls’ “access to justice,” which is expected to be adopted by the commission in March. The EU delegation at the UN shows no signs of relenting on divisive culture war issues, and neither does the Trump Administration.

             Europeans say that access to justice for women includes giving men who identify as women access to women-only facilities like bathrooms, prisons, shelters and women’s sports. They also say it requires giving women access to abortion-on-demand and allowing governments to censor pro-life views on abortion. US diplomats and traditional countries are expected to push back on these notions.

             Pres. Trump’s executive orders on gender, DEI and censorship, as well as recently published State Dept. rules for foreign assistance, require the Administration to push back hard. Moreover, the President’s executive order on women’s sports requires the Secretary of State to work through the United Nations to protect women’s sports and women-only spaces, including shelters and prisons that will be specifically addressed in this year’s CSW agreement.

             Many conservatives in Europe were surprised last week when the EU Parliament requested EU diplomats to promote transgender ideologies in UN negotiations. But UN insiders know this has always been the position of the EU delegation at the UN, for decades. As in other years, European diplomats are asking the commission to place an emphasis on “sexual and reproductive health and rights” and to recognize “women in all their diversity” in the draft agreed conclusions, as the outcome of the commission is known.

             EU diplomats single out these issues as priorities in their interventions whenever possible. The idea is to wear down traditional nations or buy their silence. In the long run, they plan to impose abortion rights and gender ideology as binding obligations on all states under international law.

             New this year, the EU is supporting the creation of a broad category of “reproductive violence” in UN policy. Rather than referring to issues like sexual violence and government coercion in reproductive decisions, such as forced abortion and sterilization – as past UN agreements have done – this new category would include denial of abortion and transgender issues.

             UN publications and programs on access to justice, including those funded by the European Union, routinely promote abortion rights and other transgender issues. They say that opposition to transgender ideology is a crime against humanity and that denial of abortion or criminalizing abortion is a violation of international law. One UN manual “for the investigation of gender-related killings” in Latin America categorized “deaths due to unsafe or clandestine abortions” as “passive or indirect category of femicides.”

             The Commission meets annually and is expected to reach an agreement by the second week of March. While the agreement will not be binding, it will ensure that UN programs include abortion and transgender rights. The agreement will be used as a mandate for the UN system to promote any of the commitments in the agreement with governments, politicians and non-governmental groups across the world.

House Voting Record

Motion to Recommit* – HR-6945 – Supporting Pregnant & Parenting Women & Families Act – Failed 209-213 – Jan. 21, 2026 (Democrats in italics)

Voting “no” / pro-Life: Aderholt, Moore, Palmer, Rogers, Strong/AL; Begich/AK; Biggs, Ciscomani, Crane, Gosar, Hamadeh, Schweikert/AZ; Crawford, Hill, Westerman/AR; Calvert, Fong, Issa, Kiley, Kim, Obernolte, Valadao/CA; Boebert, Crank, Evans, Hurd/CO; Bean, Bilirakis, Buchanan, Cammack, Diaz-Balart, Donalds, Dunn, Fine, Franklin, Gimenez, Lee, Luna, Mast, Mills, Patronis, Rutherford, Salazar, Steube, Webster/FL; Allen, Carter, Clyde, Collins, Jack, Loudermilk, McCormick, Scott/GA; Fulcher, Simpson/ID; Bost, LaHood, Miller/IL; Baird, Houchin, Messmer, Shreve, Spartz, Stutzman, Yakym/IN; Feenstra, Hinson, Miller-Meeks, Nunn/IA; Estes, Mann, Schmidt/KA; Barr, Comer, Guthrie, Massie, Rogers/KY; Higgins, Letlow, Scalise/LA; Harris/MD; Barrett, Bergman, Huizenga, James, McClain, Moolenaar, Walberg/MI; Emmer, Finstad, Fischbach, Stauber/MN; Ezell, Guest, Kelly/MS; Alford, Burlison, Graves, Onder, Smith, Wagner/MO; Downing, Zinke/MT; Bacon, Flood, Smith/NE; Amodei/NV; Kean, Smith, VanDrew/NJ; Garbarino, LaLota, Langworthy, Lawler, Malliotakis, Tenney/NY; Edwards, Foxx, Harrigan, Harris, Hudson, Knott, McDowell, Moore, Murphy, Rouzer/NC; Fedorchak/ND; Balderson, Carey, Davidson, Jordan, Joyce, Latta, Miller, Rulli, Taylor, Turner/OH; Bice, Brecheen, Cole, Hern, Lucas/OK; Bentz/OR; Bresnahan, Fitzpatrick, Joyce, Kelly, MacKenzie, Meuser, Perry, Reschenthaler, Smucker, Thompson/PA; Biggs, Fry, Mace, Norman, Timmons, Wilson/SC;  Johnson/SD; Burchett, DesJarlais, Fleischmann, Harshbarger, Kustoff, Ogles, Rose, VanEpps/TN; Arrington, Babin, Carter, Cloud, Crenshaw, DeLaCruz, Ellzey, Fallon, Gill, Goldman, Gonzales, Gooden, Jackson, Luttrell, McCaul, Moran, Nehls, Pfluger, Roy, Self, Sessions, VanDuyne, Weber, Williams/TX; Kennedy, Maloy, Moore, Owens/UT; Cline, Griffith, Kiggans, McGuire, Wittman/VA; Baumgartner, Newhouse/WA; Miller, Moore/WV; Fitzgerald, Grothman, Steil, Tiffany, VanOrden, Wied/WI; Hageman/WY. And House Speaker Mike Johnson/LA.

Voting “yes” / anti-Life: Figures, Sewell/AL; Ansari, Grijalva, Stanton/AZ; Aguilar, Barragan, Bera, Brownley, Carbajal, Chu, Cisneros, Correa, Costa, DeSaulnier, Friedman, Garamendi, Garcia, Gomez, Gray, Harder, Huffman, Jacobs, Kamlager-Dove, Khanna, Levin, Liccardo, Lieu, Lofgren, Matsui, Min, Mullin, Panetta, Pelosi, Peters, Rivas, Ruiz, Sanchez, Sherman, Simon, Takano, Thompson, Torres, Tran, Vargas, Waters, Whitesides/CA; Crow, DeGette, Neguse, Pettersen/CO; Courtney, DeLauro, Hayes, Himes, Larson/CT; McBride/DE; Castor, Cherfilus-McCormick, Frankel, Frost, Moskowitz, Soto, Wasserman-Schultz, Wilson/FL; Bishop, Johnson, McBath, 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, Fields/LA; Golden, Pingree/ME; Elfreth, Hoyer, Ivey, McClain-Delaney, Mfume, Olszewski, Raskin/MD; Auchincloss, Clark, Keating, Lynch, McGovern, Moulton, Neal, Pressley, Trahan/MA; Dingell, McDonald-Rivet, Scholten, Stevens, Thanedar, Tlaib/MI; Craig, McCollum, Morrison, Omar/MN; Thompson/MS; Bell, Cleaver/MO; Horsford, Lee, Titus/NV; Goodlander, Pappas/NH; Conaway, Gottheimer, McIver, Menendez, Norcross, Pallone, Pou, Watson-Coleman/NJ; Leger-Fernandez, Stansbury, Vasquez/NM; Clarke, Espaillat, Gillen, Goldman, Jeffries, Kennedy, Latimer, Mannion, Meeks, Meng, Morelle, Nadler, Ocasio-Cortez, Riley, Ryan, Suozzi, Tonko, Velazquez/NY; Adams, Davis, Foushee, Ross/NC; Beatty, Brown, Kaptur, Landsman, Sykes/OH; Bonamici, Bynum, Dexter, Hoyle, Salinas/OR; Boyle, Dean, Deluzio, Evans, Hoolehan, Lee, Scanlon/PA; Amo, Magaziner/RI; Clyburn/SC; Cohen/TN; Castro, Crockett, Cuellar, Doggett, Escobar, Fletcher, Garcia, Gonzalez, Green, Johnson, Veasey/TX; Balint/VT; Beyer, McClellan, Scott, Subramanyam, Vindman, Walkinshaw/VA; DelBene, Jayapal, Larsen, Perez, Randall, Schrier, Smith, Strickland/WA; Moore, Pocan/WI.

Not voting: Womack (AR), Garamendi, McClintock & Swalwell (CA), Haridopolos (FL), Stefanik & Torres (NY), Casar & Hunt (TX).

*A motion to recommit is a procedural motion by which opponents to a measure seek to send it back to committee rather than advancing it for a vote.

March for Life Address

Today’s Life Advocacy transcript from the Jan. 23, 2026, March for Life in Washington is the conclusion of a speech by Vice President J.D. Vance; we published the first two sections in Life Advocacy Briefing for Feb. 9 & 16. We expect to publish our transcript of another speaker next week.

             I read an article some time ago; it was about classic archaeology, of all things, and one particular piece of information has haunted me: that one of the telltale signs of an ancient brothel in the pagan world was that you’d always find a large number of baby skeletons nearby, a lot of baby skeletons; and those bones predominantly belonged to boys, because unlike little girls, those boys would be of no use to the future adults who were running those brothels.

             Now this is shocking to us, because we grew up in a Christian culture and were formed by religious values – even those of us who aren’t particularly faithful. It’s a shocking thing to hear. But we have to remember that in the ancient pagan world, discarding children was routine. From the skeletons in brothels to the child sacrifice of the Mayans, the mark of barbarism is that we treat babies like inconveniences to be discarded rather than the blessings to cherish that they are. But the inheritance of our civilization is something else – the fact that the scripture tells us each life is fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator. The March for Life, my friends, it’s not just about a political issue, as important as all this politics stuff is; it is about whether we will remain a civilization under God or whether we ultimately return to the paganism that dominated the past.

             Today, the far left in this country tells our young people that marriage and children are obstacles, that it’s irresponsible, even immoral, because of climate change or some other reason to encourage our young people to raise a family. They tell us that life itself is a burden. But we here at this March, we know that it’s a lie. We know that life is a gift. We know that babies are precious, because we know them and we love them and we see the way that they can transform our families. We know that family is not just the source of a great joy, but it’s part of God’s design for men and women, a design that extends outward from the family to our neighborhoods, to our communities and to the United States of America itself. And we know – we here know – that treating everyone with dignity isn’t always easy; it’s not always convenient, but it’s the right thing to do. We know that the people telling our young men and women that discarding family and children is a form of liberation –   we know that those people are telling a lie.

             And so, to our fellow Americans, we march in part to serve as a witness to our fellow Americans. We say, you’re never gonna find great meaning in a cubicle or in front of a computer screen, but you will find great meaning if you dedicate yourself to the creation and sustenance of human life.

             Now I must address an elephant in the room, and I’ve heard the guy over here talking about it: A fear, a fear that some of you have that not enough progress has been made, that not enough has happened in the political arena, that we’re not going fast enough, that our politics have failed to answer the clarion call to Life that this March represents and that all of us, I believe, hold in our hearts. And I want you to know that I hear you and that I understand. There will inevitably be debates within this movement – we love each other, but we’re going to have open conversations about how best to use our political system to advance life, how prudential we must be in the cause of advancing human life. I think these are good, honest and natural debates, and frankly they’re not just good for all of you; they help keep people like me honest, and that’s an important thing.

             But I think all of us also have to remember that we are commanded to let not our hearts be troubled, because I look at this crowd and I see young people for whom Dobbs is the only world they’ve ever known. And I see people with just a little bit more gray in their hair, who for 50 years toiled to live in a country where questions of life would be answered by we the people rather than tyrants in robes. All of us have heard their stories; they’ve heard of the movement betrayed, of taking one step forward and then two steps back and then three steps forward after that. They know stories of heartbreak and of triumph. Some of them I’ve known very personally from ballot issues that I fought very hard for, some of which have gone the right way and some of which have gone the wrong way. And I remember friends of mine who spent their entire lives fighting for the unborn without ever seeing the victories that have accumulated in recent years.

             My friends, I’d ask you to look where the fight for life stood just one decade ago, and now look where it stands today. We have made tremendous strides over the last year, and we’re going to continue to make strides over the next three years to come. But I’m a realist. I know that there is still much road ahead to travel together. Take heart, take heart in how far we’ve come, but don’t lose sight of why we march. And so long as you are out there marching for Life, I hope you know that the Vice President of the United States will march with you. God bless you all, and thanks for having me.

Wisdom from Mr. Hyde

Join us in reading a paragraph-by-paragraph reprinting of the Sept. 19, 1996, speech by Rep. Henry J. Hyde to the House of Representatives, in which he called for the House to override Pres. Clinton’s veto of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, HR-1833. Rep. Hyde has long been seen as one of America’s all-time leading orators and a model communicator in the cause of Life.

             … The justification for abortion has always been the claim that a woman can do with her own body what she will. Well, if you still believe that this four-fifths delivered little baby is a part of the woman’s body, then I’m afraid your ignorance is invincible.