Life Advocacy Briefing

There He Goes Again

LAST MONTH WE REPORTED ON AN EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE of first-term Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) in confronting an “expert witness” from a university over her preferred method of abortion, describing various lethal methods in a way that not only handcuffed the witness (figuratively) but also enlightened the public.

Last Tuesday, he did it again, this time in a Judiciary Committee hearing about the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is under indictment from the Justice Dept. for alleged payments to alleged white supremacists, supposedly as undercover agents – something which government is authorized to do but which is highly questionable on the part of a non-profit, non-governmental organization. Testifying before the committee was interim SPLC president Bryan Fair, whose testimony and the questions it provoked chiefly centered on issues involved in the indictment.

But Rep. Gill used the opportunity to probe the SPLC’s involvement in promoting abortion and, in so doing, not only left the witness speechless but again educated the public as to the reality of abortion, this time based on racial disparity in the business.

We transcribed that segment of the hearing and offer it to our readers near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing in the belief our readers will find it both informative and entertaining. It should be noted, the talented young lawmaker did turn from the SPLC witness toward the end of his questioning, calling instead on a fellow witness, Alveda King, niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King and in her own right a champion for the cause of Life. We trust and hope that our readers will enjoy our transcript of this outstanding Congressional performance on “the abortion issue.”

Another Good Judicial Pick

THE SENATE HAS VOTED TO CONFIRM a judicial nominee for the District of Kansas. Anthony was vigorously opposed by the Alliance for Justice for various reasons, including “emphasizing in his [2022 GOP primary] campaign his pro-life viewpoints.”  Mr. Mattivi lost that primary contest to now-Attorney General Kris Kobach.

We publish the cloture motion and confirmation voting records near the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing, just after our transcript of Rep. Gill’s brilliant ambush of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s interim president.

Please Revert

A CONGRESSIONAL LETTER dated May 28, urges Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to “swiftly propose and finalize” a program integrity rule “commonly known as the ‘Protect Life Rule’ to restore crucial safeguards to the Title X [Ten] Family Planning Program.” The letter notes that the language of the Public Health Service Act, enacted by Congress in 1970, “clearly intended to prohibit federal funds from being spent in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.”

The letter, signed by 120 House Members and 41 Senators – all Republicans – asks the HHS department “to correct the misguided actions of the previous [Biden] Administration and reimplement the Protect Life Rule to ensure taxpayer dollars are not used to subsidize the abortion industry.”

Notes the letter: “During Pres. Trump’s first administration, the Protect Life Rule successfully fulfilled the spirit and letter of this decades-old law by firmly separating abortion from family planning. The rule appropriately eliminated the egregious abortion referral mandate, which protected the conscience rights of healthcare providers and increased the potential for diversity among program applicants.

“Furthermore, it stipulated,” wrote the signers, “that Title X projects had to be organized with complete physical and financial separation between a grantee’s Title X activities and abortion activities. This much-needed reform ended the practice of ‘co-location,’ which had made federal funds vulnerable to misuse and implied that abortion was a method of family planning. The Protect Life Rule,” the letter noted, “also implemented a stronger focus on protecting women and children from being victimized by abuse, rape, incest and trafficking by bolstering oversight of grantee compliance with state abuse reporting requirements.”

Here are the signers: Senators Britt & Tuberville/AL, Sullivan/AK, Boozman & Cotton/AR, Moody & Scott/FL, Crapo & Risch/ID, Banks & Young/IN, Ernst & Grassley/IA, Marshall & Moran/KS, Paul/KY, Cassidy/LA, Hyde-Smith & Wicker/MS, Hawley & Schmitt/MO, Daines/MT, Fischer & Ricketts/NE, Budd/NC, Cramer & Hoeven/ND, Armstrong & Lankford/OK, Graham & Scott/SC, Rounds/SD, Blackburn/TN, Cornyn & Cruz/TX, Lee/UT, Justice/WV, Johnson/WI, Barrasso & Lummis/WY and Majority Leader John Thune/SD.

And Representatives Aderholt, Moore, Palmer, Rogers & Strong/AL; Biggs & Crane/AZ; Crawford/AR; Fong/CA; Boebert, Crank & Hurd/CO; Bean, Bilirakis, Cammack, Diaz-Balart, Dunn, Franklin, Haridopolos, Mills, Patronis, Rutherford, Steube & Webster/FL; Carter, Clyde, Collins, Jack, Loudermilk, McCormick & Scott/GA; Fulcher & Simpson/ID; Bost, LaHood & Miller/IL; Messmer, Stutzman & Yakim/IN; Feenstra & Hinson/IA; Estes, Mann & Schmidt/KS; Letlow & Scalise/LA; Harris/MD; Barrett, Huizenga, McClain, Moolenaar & Walberg/MI: Emmer, Finstad, Fischbach & Stauber/MN; Guest & Kelly/MS; Alford, Burlison, Onder, Smith & Wagner/MO; Downing/MT; Bacon, Flood & Smith/NE; Smith/NJ; Langworthy & Tenney/NY; Foxx, Harrigan, McDowell & Rouzer/NC; Fedorchak/ND; Balderson, Jordan, Latta & Rulli/OH; Bice, Biggs, Hern & Lucas/OK; Bentz/OR; Joyce, Kelly, Reschenthaler, Smucker & Thompson/PA; Norman/SC; Johnson/SD; Burchett, Fleischmann, Harshbarger, Ogles, Rose & VanEpps/TN; Babin, Cloud, Ellzey, Goldman, Jackson, Luttrell, Moran, Pfluger, Roy, Self, Sessions, Weber & Williams/TX; Kennedy, Moore & Owens/UT; Cline, Griffith & McGuire/VA; Moore/WV; Fitzgerald/WI; Hageman/WV and House Speaker Mike Johnson/LA.

Chasing Wild Geese

THE STATE OF ILLINOIS HAS COME UP EMPTY-HANDED in its probe of pregnancy centers operating within its borders. Despite a campaign against the pregnancy aid centers by Illinois’s most prominent politicians, “no complaints have been registered over services received at pregnancy resource centers in Illinois,” reports Matt Lamb for LifeSiteNews.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law three years ago, notes Mr. Lamb, “targeting life-saving pregnancy resource centers that provide free diapers, formula, counseling and other support for moms, dads and babies. The law targeted supposed ‘misinformation, deceptive practices or misrepresentation [by pregnancy centers] in order to interfere with access to abortion services or emergency contraception,’ according to a news release from the governor’s office,” writes Mr. Lamb.

The law itself has been enjoined via federal lawsuit, but, notes Mr. Lamb, “nothing prevents individuals from still filing complaints with the state. Yet, no one has in at least the past three-and-a-half years.” What is more, notes Mr. Lamb, “Illinois Right to Life told LifeSiteNews that there were no complaints against pregnancy centers in the lead-up to the 2023 bill.”

And it’s worth noting also that “similar results [were] obtained from Massachusetts,” whose Democrat Governor, Maura Healey had also “urged the state’s residents to file complaints against pregnancy centers.”

Marching for Life

THE NEXT STATE-LEVEL MARCH FOR LIFE is scheduled for June 20 in DesMoines, Iowa. Details are available at https://marchforlife.org/iowa.

Light at the End of the Tunnel?

June 5, 2026, report by Nathaniel Weixel for The Hill

             The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is moving ahead with a safety review of the abortion pill mifepristone, according to an Administration official. The move marks a victory for anti-abortion groups that could pave the way for the Trump Administration to restrict its use and how it can be distributed. The move marks a victory for anti-abortion groups that could pave the way for the Trump administration to restrict its use and how it can be distributed. The retrospective analysis of data is likely to take six months to complete, the official said, but initial results could be released earlier.

             The White House has been under pressure from anti-abortion lawmakers and activists to crack down on the availability of mifepristone, which can be sent through the mail even to states that limit or outright ban abortion.

             Some of the groups accused the FDA of slow-walking the review to avoid a political headache before the midterm elections, an allegation that the White House and Department of Health and Human Services leaders rejected. … An administration official said the study has been underway for months and disputed the idea that it was just starting. 

             “The FDA has been actively working on a science-based safety review of the mifepristone REMS for months, as the agency has stated publicly and in court filings,” the agency said in a statement. “Any reporting suggesting otherwise, including that a study is just being started, is either false or based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how complex scientific safety studies work.”

             The review was kicked into high gear partly because of a change in the health agency’s leadership, the official said. Marty Makary was ousted as FDA chief last month and replaced by acting Commissioner Kyle Diamantis, who has been in regular communication with anti-abortion movement leaders. The FDA is also facing an October deadline set by a federal judge as part of an ongoing lawsuit by the state of Louisiana.

             Anti-abortion advocates want the agency to revoke Biden-era rules that allow people to order mifepristone through the mail and physicians to prescribe it through telehealth. …

             Medication abortion is the most common pregnancy termination method. Mail-order pharmacies, combined with blue-state “shield laws” protecting clinicians from prosecution, have helped women maintain access even as conservative states have banned or severely limited access to abortion clinics. As a result, abortions have increased despite there no longer being a constitutional right to abortion.

             After Roe v. Wade was overturned, the Biden administration in 2023 permanently ended the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone. The Trump Administration has left those Biden-era regulations in place, keeping the issue out of the political spotlight but angering anti-abortion lawmakers and advocates.

A Superb Example of Leadership for Life

IN A HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARING last Tuesday on the Southern Poverty Law Center and its alleged involvement with white supremacist organizations, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) took advantage of the opportunity to go off script with SPLC interim CEO Bryan Fair and cast light on the abortion issue before a watching public. Here is our transcript; we should note: at the close of this exchange, Rep. Gill turns his questioning toward a more friendly witness, pro-life champion Alveda King; readers will find that postscript at the close of this transcript.

After asking Mr. Fair about his attitude toward Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner (D), Rep. Gill said, “Shifting gears a little bit.” And here he goes:

Mr. Gill: Your organization said that restricting and banning abortion is a tool that the far right uses to maintain white supremacy. Do you believe that, that pro-lifers are white supremacists?

Mr. Fair: Umm, I believe that reproductive liberty is …

Mr. Gill, interrupting: No, do you believe that pro-lifers are white supremacists?

Mr. Fair: I’ll tell you what I believe. If you’re asking …

Mr. Gill, again interrupting: Just answer yes or no. I don’t think that pro-lifers are white supremacists. Do you?

Mr. Fair: What I think is that reproductive liberty is a right that every woman should enjoy.

Mr. Gill: How many babies in the United States that are aborted are black? [silence] About 40% of abortions nationwide are of black babies; blacks represent about 13% of the population; does that sound like something a white supremacist would oppose?

Mr. Fair: What I would say again is that SPLC supports reproductive liberty.

Mr. Gill: Calling somebody a white supremacist is a pretty serious charge, isn’t it? I mean, I would think you would be able to defend that if your organization says that. You clearly seem unable to.

Mr. Fair: Mr. Gill, I’m not sure why you would think I’m able to do anything.

Mr. Gill: Because you’re the president of the SPLC, which labels pro-lifers as racists. Well, but does your organization just throw around epithets like that without any justification?

Mr. Fair: Mr. Gill, what we do … . [He is interrupted by a lengthy, distracting interruption by ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and then back to Rep. Gill.]

Mr. Gill: All right, I’ll give my last question to Dr. King. Doctor King, are pro-lifers white supremacists?

Dr. Alveda King: Pro-lifers cannot be white supremacists. Pro-lifers believe in life from the womb to the tomb and beyond. Pro-lifers fight for every baby in the womb regardless of skin color. We have been aborted as blacks in America disproportionately. And so the white supremacists are Planned Parenthood, who admitted that they do have racist underpinning with an agenda to reduce the black population by abortion.

Mr. Gill: That’s right. Thank you, Doctor King.

Dr. King, smiling: Thank you.

Mr. Gill: Thank you.

Senate Voting Records

Cloture on Nomination of Anthony Mattivi as US District Judge for Kansas – Adopted 49-42 – June 8, 2026 (Democrats in italics; “Independents” marked “I”)

Voting “yes” / pro-Life: Britt & Tuberville/AL, Murkowski & Sullivan/AK, Boozman & Cotton/AR, Moody & Scott/FL, Crapo/ID, Banks & Young/IN, Ernst & Grassley/IA, Marshall & Moran/KS, McConnell & Paul/KY, Cassidy & Kennedy/LA, Collins/ME, Hyde-Smith & Wicker/MS, Hawley & Schmitt/MO, Daines & Sheehy/MT, Fischer & Ricketts/NE, Budd/NC, Hoeven/ND, Husted & Moreno/OH, Armstrong & Lankford/OK, McCormick/PA, Scott/SC, Rounds & Thune/SD, Blackburn & Hagerty/TN, Cornyn & Cruz/TX, Curtis & Lee/UT, Capito & Justice/WV, Johnson/WI, Barrasso & Lummis/WY.

Voting “no” / anti-Life: Gallego & Kelly/AZ, Padilla & Schiff/CA, Hickenlooper/CO, Blumenthal & Murphy/CT, Blunt-Rochester & Coons/DE, Ossoff & Warner/GA, Hirono & Schatz/HI, Duckworth & Durbin/IL, King(I)/ME, Alsobrooks & VanHollen/MD, Markey & Warren/MA, Peters & Slotkin/MI, Smith/MN, Cortez-Masto & Rosen/NV, Hassan & Shaheen/NH, Kim/NJ, Heinrich & Lujan/NM, Gillibrand & Schumer/NY, Wyden/OR, Reed & Whitehouse/RI, Sanders(I) & Welch/VT, Kaine & Warner/VA, Cantwell & Murray/WA, Baldwin/WI.

Not voting: Bennet/CO, Risch/ID, Klobuchar/MN, Booker/NJ, Tillis/NC, Cramer/ND, Merkley/OR, Fetterman/PA, Graham/SC.

Confirmation of Anthony Mattivi as US District Judge for Kansas – Adopted 51-46 – June 9, 2026 (Democrats in italics; “Independents” marked “I”)

Voting “yes” / pro-Life: Britt & Tuberville/AL, Murkowski & Sullivan/AK, Boozman & Cotton/AR, Moody & Scott/FL, Crapo & Risch/ID, Banks & Young/IN, Ernst & Grassley/IA, Marshall & Moran/KS, McConnell & Paul/KY, Cassidy & Kennedy/LA, Collins/ME, Hyde-Smith & Wicker/MS, Hawley & Schmitt/MO, Daines & Sheehy/MT, Fischer & Ricketts/NE, Budd/NC, Cramer & Hoeven/ND, Husted & Moreno/OH, Armstrong & Lankford/OK, McCormick/PA, Scott/SC, Rounds & Thune/SD, Blackburn & Hagerty/TN, Cornyn & Cruz/TX, Curtis & Lee/UT, Capito & Justice/WV, Johnson/WI, Barrasso & Lummis/WY.

Voting “no” / anti-Life: Gallego & Kelly/AZ, Padilla & Schiff/CA, Hickenlooper/CO, Blumenthal & Murphy/CT, Blunt-Rochester & Coons/DE, Ossoff & Warner/GA, Hirono & Schatz/HI, Duckworth & Durbin/IL, King(I)/ME, Alsobrooks & VanHollen/MD, Markey & Warren/MA, Peters & Slotkin/MI, Klobuchar & Smith/MN, Cortez-Masto & Rosen/NV, Hassan & Shaheen/NH, Booker & Kim/NJ, Heinrich & Lujan/NM, Gillibrand & Schumer/NY, Merkley & Wyden/OR, Fetterman/PA, Reed & Whitehouse/RI, Sanders(I) & Welch/VT, Kaine & Warner/VA, Cantwell & Murray/WA, Baldwin/WI.

Not voting: Bennet/CO, Tillis/NC, Graham/SC.

A Correction 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.

             … A word about anesthesia. Advocates of partial-birth abortions tried to tell us the baby doesn’t feel pain; the mother’s anesthesia is transmitted to the baby. We took testimony from five of the country’s top anesthesiologists, and they said this was impossible. That result would take so much anesthesia it would kill the mother.