Life Advocacy Briefing

Question of the Week

IF A KENNEDY CAN OPENLY QUESTION THE CLAIM that legalized abortion is a “great public health achievement” of the 20^th century, could not pro-life citizens – and politicians – challenge the lies of the abortion cartel in our own advocacy of the truth?

A Compelling Point

SOMETIMES A PRO-LIFE COMMUNICATOR COMES UP with an effective image to aid a questioning or even disinterested person in grasping the impact of abortion on America.

Such a moment of clarity came to Life Advocacy Briefing’s editor many years ago when she was addressing a crowd of pro-life teens and developed a quick means for them to grab the attention of their apathetic or questioning or even somewhat hostile classmates.*

And now Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America and SFL Action, has come up with the same rhetorical tactic. We counsel our readers to read this and think about it and then adopt it as a persuasive tactic to open minds and move hearts in one quick minute.

“Count every single person you see or interact with today,” writes Mrs. Hawkins. “For every four people you count, there is one more person missing – a person killed by abortion before they ever even had a chance to be born.”

She goes on to note: “That means, as most schools kick off the 2025-26 school year this August, ONE in FIVE desks will be empty.” Think about that. Ponder the effect you can have in pointing it out.

*In the case of our editor, she arranged for eight chairs to be left vacant in the front row of an audience which was to include about 32 teens, teens who had been born after Jan. 22, 1973. Risking the possibility that no one would listen to the balance of her speech, she started, after greeting them, with a question: Does anybody know why these chairs are empty? And then gave the answer after a pause: Your classmates who should have been here did not make it to birth. They were aborted before they could be your friend. (Of course, each one thought, That could’ve been me.) It was a tool these pro-life teens could use with others, just as Kristan Hawkins has given her readers a tool for opening the minds of acquaintances even now.

Surprise!

NO WONDER THE LEFT IS DENOUNCING the Secretary of Health & Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He is questioning some of their most dearly held idols of control over the American people – first, mandatory vaccines and now even abortion.

In late August, Secretary Kennedy – that’s right, Kennedy – criticized the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), reports Emily Mangiaracina for LifeSiteNews, “for suggesting that abortion is among the 20^th century’s ‘great public health achievements.’”

In an appearance on Fox News, notes Ms. Mangiaracina, Secretary Kennedy declared: “‘Today on the CDC’s website right now they list the 10 greatest advances in medical science, and one of them is abortion.’” Secy. Kennedy, the reporter continues, was “referring to its recognition of ‘family planning’ services, under which it includes abortion.

“‘Another is fluoridation and another is vaccines,’ he continued.” Secretary Kennedy is known to be a major challenger of mass water fluoridation and of vaccine mandates, but he has always, in political arenas, supported abortion legalization. But on Aug. 28, he commented, “‘So we need to look at the priorities of the agency. There’s really a deeply embedded, I would say malaise at the agency.’”

The Fox News interview followed the Secretary’s firing of the newly confirmed CDC chief, which prompted resignations of several chief officers within the rogue agency. In the interview, he declined to comment on “personnel issues, but,” writes Ms. Mangiaracina, said “that he and his team are working on ‘fixing’ the agency. ‘And it may be,’” said Secretary Kennedy, “‘that some people should not be working there anymore.’”

More specifically, Secy. Kennedy stood his ground before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, in a hearing which amply demonstrated the Left’s resentment of his leadership of one of their favorite bureaucracies, where so many of the policies impacting abortion originate. A report on the Judiciary Committee Democrats’ grilling in The Guardian was headlined “RFK Jr. Hints Access to Key Abortion Drug Could Be Cut Back: Health Secretary Claims Biden Officials ‘Twisted the Data’ Despite Research Showing Mifepristone is Safe and Effective.”

We ask our readers: Did you ever expect to see a prominent Kennedy criticize an agency for boasting about abortion as a major achievement? Or questioning the safety and efficacy of RU-486? Please join with us in thanking God.

Judicial Nomination Pending

THE APPOINTMENT OF MARIA LANAHAN to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri is pending confirmation in the Senate after a cloture motion to advance her passed the Senate last week. We expect to publish the voting record on that motion in next week’s Life Advocacy Briefing, as well as the confirmation roll call, if voted in the interim.

We urge our readers to call home-state Senators to seek an “aye” vote on the confirmation of Ms. Lanahan, who is opposed by the left-wing Alliance for Justice, which declared in their write-up: “She fought to overturn access to mifepristone, a safe [sic] and common abortion medication,” along with other complaints. (Capitol switchboard: 202/224-3121)

Abortion Votes Matter

STUDENTS FOR LIFE ACTION HAS LAUNCHED a campaign “to ensure eight targeted vulnerable Democrat House Members and two targeted Senate candidates pay the price for their radical votes” against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, a bill in House (HR-21) and Senate (S-6) “which,” SFLA president Kristan Hawkins noted in an electronic message, would have required “medical care for babies who survive botched abortions, little boys and girls across America fac[ing] slow, excruciating deaths … before their tiny bodies are trashed like worthless medical waste.”

The House passed HR-21 on Jan. 23 of this year by a vote of 217-204, with one voting “present.” The Senate has not advanced the House-passed measure and, on its own S-6, failed to advance the bill to a vote; the cloture motion to end debate in the Senate failed 52-47, needing 60 “yes” votes. Now those votes will be brought to the attention of the public, declares Mrs. Hawkins, whose organization pledges to alert voters in contests as follows, quoting the SFLA e-mail:

“Two Senate races: Georgia, where pro-abortion first-term Democrat Jon Ossoff is in the political fight of his life after winning by just 1.2% of the vote in his 2021 runoff … ; and North Carolina, where Gov. Roy Cooper is one of the abortion lobby’s best hopes for picking up a US Senate seat in 2026 after the retirement of GOP Sen. Thom Tillis. As Governor,” notes SFLA, “Roy Cooper actually vetoed the Tarheel State’s abortion prevention law that would have protected babies 12 weeks or older from abortion violence.

“Eight US House races: California CD-13, where Democrat incumbent Adam Gray – who is on record against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act – won his 2024 election by just 187 votes; California CD-45, where Democrat incumbent Derek Tran – who voted against Born-Alive – is facing a bruising re-election battle in a district he last won by just 653 votes; Maine CD-2, where late-term abortion apologist and Democrat incumbent Jared Golden won his 2024 race by only 0.6% of the vote in a state that’s been roiled by late-term abortion battles in recent years; New Mexico CD-2, where Democrat incumbent Gabe Vasquez is embroiled in a Cook Political Report ‘toss-up’ race after voting against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act earlier this year.”

Also: “North Carolina CD-1, where Democrat incumbent Don Davis – another supporter of late-term abortion – is in the political fight of his life in a race Cook Political Report has rated as a ‘toss-up; Ohio CD-9, where Democrat Marcy Kaptur – who is on record opposing Born Alive – is facing another hard-fought battle in a race Cook Political Report rates as a ‘toss-up;’ … Ohio CD-13, where Democrat Emilia Sykes – yet another Democrat who has chosen to side with abortionists over the American people – won her 2024 race by just 2.2%, making this race another Cook Political Report ‘toss-up;’ and Texas CD-34, where Democrat incumbent Vicente Gonzalez is doing whatever he can to run to his Right politically after Texas’s recent redistricting. Just this January, Rep. Gonzalez refused to vote to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.” (Rep. Gonzalez was the one House Member who voted “present,” refusing to take a position, but had voted “yes” on his party’s motion to block the bill from passage by sending it back to committee.)

Abortion a Hot Topic in Virginia

ABORTION IS HEATING UP AS AN ISSUE IN THE VIRGINIA GOVERNOR’s RACE, with pro-life Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle Sears (R) facing Abigail Spanberger (D) in the November match-up. Popular Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) is ineligible to run for re-election according to the laws of the Commonwealth, but he is in full support of Mrs. Sears.

Though many pundits have expected Rep. Spanberger to win based on early polling, the abortion issue is proving to be a downer for the former Democratic Congresswoman, who amassed a 100% pro-abortion voting record during her three terms in DC.

“At the heart of the [current] controversy,” writes Suzanne Bowdey for The Washington Stand, “is a bombshell story that one of America’s largest school districts [in Fairfax County, VA] arranged secret, taxpayer-funded abortions for at least two pregnant students without informing parents.”

Most news outlets are now willing to report: Polls are tightening in the midst of the controversy, with Mrs. Spanberger scoring under 50% and just five points ahead of Mrs. Sears as the campaigns kick into post-Labor Day high gear.

Reform Coming to Alaska?

THE ALASKA STATE MEDICAL BOARD HAS VOTED UNANIMOUSLY, reports Calvin Freiburger for LifeSiteNews, “to urge the legislature to prohibit late-term abortion.” It’s a start.

The resolution came at the same meeting in which the board voted unanimously also, notes Mr. Freiburger, “to deem it ‘unprofessional conduct’ to ‘transition’ gender-confused minors.”

The abortion resolution is non-binding, reports LifeSiteNews. Quoting Live Action, Mr. Freiburger reports, “‘Alaska is one of only a handful of states to have virtually no restrictions on abortion; in this case, it’s due to the state’s activist Supreme Court. The court has repeatedly ruled in favor of abortion, to the applause of the abortion industry, even as state legislators and voters feel differently.’”

But that could be changing. Roe v. Wade has been overturned, and four of the five current Supreme Court justices were appointed by GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who has openly advocated the right to life of unborn Alaskans. It is not known whether Gov. Dunleavy explored the justices’ position on Life when making the appointments. Supreme Court justices are appointed in Alaska by the governor when a vacancy occurs; voters have no direct say in selection of the justices.

Making Illinois Taxpayers Complicit

LAST WEEK, WE REPORTED that Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker had signed a new law, filed as HB-3709, which, we wrote, quoting Calvin Freiburger of LifeSiteNews, “makes abortion and contraception pills available on Illinois college campuses.” But we have now learned more details about this legislation; it is actually somewhat worse. Taxpayers will apparently be on the hook for these instruments of death and despair.

Reports Sarah Holliday for The Washington Stand: Gov. Pritzker has “signed a new law ordering public colleges and universities to keep the abortion pill in stock,” saying, she writes, the governor, “upon signing HB-3709 into law, said he was ‘very proud’ of forcing public academic institutions to provide – for free – the controversial abortion pill. …

“If a college has a health center,” notes Ms. Holliday, “they are required to have abortion drugs on hand. If the school does not have a health center, they’re mandated to prescribe abortion pills that students can get off-campus or through telehealth.”

This mandate comes, no doubt, at the expense of taxpayers as well as tuition paying families. And in his news release announcing his action, the governor doubles down. As Ms. Holliday reports, “Pritzker added that while he’s ‘proud to be taking these steps,’ this is only the beginning. ‘I will not rest on this, because we know that anti-choice extremists won’t,’” he declared in the news release quoted by The Washington Stand. “‘We will continue to activate and protest and march and deliver until every woman in this state gets the health care [sic] she deserves.’”

Illinois Right to Life reacted in a comment to Champaign’s WCIA News, quoted by Ms. Holliday: “‘This [law] places the health and safety of young women at risk and turns institutions of higher learning into abortion facilities.’”

Students for Life of America’s Kristan Hawkins was also quoted by Ms. Holliday, calling it “‘outrageous that the abortion radicals are forcing today’s students to subsidize ending the lives of the next generation. Pregnancy is not a disease cured by abortion.’ She added, ‘This isn’t about health care. It’s about political payoffs to Planned Parenthood and abortion industry interests, sacrificing young women’s safety for an extremist agenda. Students shouldn’t have to pay for pills that kill.’”

And a senior research associate with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, Tessa Longbons, commented to The Washington Stand, noting “how ‘a recent study found that more than a third of women who used abortion drugs were unprepared for the level of pain and bleeding they encountered. Now these dangerous drugs will be readily accessible to young women who may be left to suffer alone in their dorm rooms. … Women and their unborn babies deserve real help and support, not abortion drugs.’”

Rest In Peace, Thou Good & Faithful Servant

WE REPORT WITH SADNESS the passing of Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and a hero to millions of Americans in his advocacy for valuing Life and the family. He was 89 years old as he passed into heaven in late August.

We quote here from Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council: “Few people have had the positive, Christ-honoring impact upon the family as Dr. Jim Dobson. … Dr. Dobson will be greatly missed, but like other influential Christian leaders of his era, he raised up many more in his wake. In every sphere in which he engaged – as an author, psychologist, teacher, policy expert and national leader – he served the cause of Christ and proclaimed God’s faithfulness to His people. He brought to public policy a new focus on the timelessness of family.”

And we add, he was a never-swerving champion for the right to Life. We cherish his memory.

Regrettably, Colorado’s radical Governor, Jared Polis – formerly a consistently pro-abortion Member of Congress – could not pass up the opportunity to bash the distinguished champion of Life and family on the occasion of his passing. We will not quote the lengthy diatribe issued by Gov. Polis, for it does not deserve distribution. But we will remember the poor taste (to put it mildly) of this radical and counsel our readers to remember as well.

Documenting the Pain

Aug. 28, 2025, Christian Post report by Michael Gryboski, editor

             Last month, the Journal of Psychiatric Research published a study by researchers with the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre, University of Sherbrooke and McGill University, titled “Induced Abortion & Implications for Long-term Mental Health: A Cohort Study of 1.2 Million Pregnancies.” Researchers oversaw a retrospective cohort study of 28,721 induced abortions and approximately 1.22 million births at hospitals in Quebec, Canada, between 2006 and 2022.

             They followed up with women after their pregnancies to identify any mental health-related hospitalizations to see if there was a link between induced abortion and hospitalization. According to the study, “Abortion is associated with an increased risk of mental health-related hospitalization in the long term, but the association weakens with time.”

             “Rates of mental health-related hospitalization were higher following induced abortions than other pregnancies,” noted the report, adding that women who had abortions experienced higher rates of “substance use disorders” and “suicide attempts” when “compared with other pregnancies.”

             “The associations were greater for patients who had pre-existing mental illness,” or were younger than 25 at the time of their abortion. …

             In 2023, BMC Psychiatry, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal, published an analysis of 15 papers that found, overall, 34.5% of women worldwide who had an abortion-experienced depression. “In conclusion, the occurrence of post-abortion depression has been observed to be widespread globally,” stated the 2023 study. “Healthcare providers should prioritize the provision of post-abortion counseling, care and emotional support to women.”

Wisdom from the Great Communicator

EXCERPT #18 from Abortion & the Conscience of the Nation, 1983 treatise by then-President Ronald Reagan, published in Human Life Review, then as a hardcover book from Thomas Nelson Publishers

             He [Abraham Lincoln] warned also of the danger we would face if we closed our eyes to the value of life in any category of human beings: “I should like to know if taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle and making exceptions to it, where will it stop. If one man says it does not mean a Negro, why not another say it does not mean some other man?”