National Right to Life congratulates the House of Representatives for its vote in support of “Making the Hyde Amendment Permanent and Government-Wide No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.” H.R 7 passed by a vote of 238-183, and now goes to the Senate for its consideration.
But didn’t such a measure to permanently prevent taxpayer subsidies for abortion-covering health plans, both in Obamacare and in other federal health benefits programs already pass at least once? It did, indeed, in June 2015.
Significant majorities of Americans oppose the use of tax dollars to fund abortions and want the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of abortion restrictions, according to a new Marist Poll sponsored by the Knights of Columbus.
Americans overwhelmingly oppose the use of tax dollars to support abortion in other countries (83 percent). More than six in 10 Americans (61 percent) also oppose the use of tax dollars to fund abortions in the United States. This includes almost nine in 10 Trump supporters (87 percent) and even nearly four in 10 Clinton supporters (39 percent).
The poll demonstrates that there is a clear bi-partisan consensus on limiting abortion to – at most – the first trimester, with a majority of Clinton supporters (55 percent) and more than nine in 10 Trump supporters (91 percent) saying they support such limits.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning the use of federal funds to promote abortion overseas.
The executive order reinstates the “Mexico City policy” that was first adopted by President Reagan, blocking the flow of taxpayer money to organizations that use the funds for abortions. The policy was rescinded by President Clinton, reinstated by President Bush, and rescinded again by President Obama—all by executive orders issued soon after they took office.
Trump’s action fulfills a campaign promise to pro-life supporters. The executive order does not yet fulfill Trump’s promise to cut off all federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
Donald Trump takes the Presidential Oath of Office
If you did not hear President Trump's inaugural speech, go to YouTube and watch. The reasons President Trump won are there is bold relief.
Looking forward, single-issue pro-lifers are ecstatic. Here’s why.
Let’s start with something that simply is not given the importance it deserves. No major pro-life candidate for President has ever been as bold, as straightforward, and as unambiguous about his pro-life credentials as President Trump
Over the course of the campaign, Mr. Trump made a series of very explicit promises to the pro-life community. It begins with the aforementioned promise to nominate only pro-life justices to the Supreme Court. In his first press conference after the election, then President-elect Trump said that would make his first nomination (to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia) “within two weeks” of his inauguration.
Mr. Trump also vowed to sign into law the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would end painful late-term abortions nationwide, defund Planned Parenthood as long as they continue to perform abortions, and reallocate their funding to community health centers that provide comprehensive health care for women.
The speech was brief and vintage Trump. There were few rhetorical flourishes –but they were very good–and many, many promises to keep faith with the American people. Most specifically that “The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.”
And no one has been more forgotten, more neglected, or treated more unfairly than the unborn child.
"Men need to accept responsibility for the fact that it is our gender that actually promoted and pushed abortion in America," Brian Fisher, CEO and president of Human Coalition tells OneNewsNow, "and we are still the ones that 'profit from it,' in that sexually explicit men can sleep with whomever they want and then leave that relationship unencumbered by the responsibilities of the child."
Abortion - Ultimate Exploitation (book cover)Human Coalition works with thousands of women in several major cities each year, and most of them have been impregnated and deserted by the father. Fisher believes that trend can be reversed. He addresses the issue at length in his book, Abortion: The Ultimate Exploitation of Women.
"It takes character to step up and be a man and fight the culture on this," he says, "because obviously the culture believes that this is primarily a women's issue."
Pro-lifers are nothing if not creative. Over the decades, they have produced thousands upon thousands of “visual aids,” from the simplest black and white one-sheeter to full-blown movies—and everything in-between.
Congressional plans to strip Planned Parenthood of federal dollars have gained considerable media attention in recent weeks, leading to speculation about the impact that such a move would have on women’s health.
Both the House and the Senate have passed measures to set up a vote to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funds, which mostly come in the form of Medicaid reimbursements. According to its FY 2014-15 report, the organization and its affiliates received almost $554 million in taxpayer dollars, 43 percent of its total revenue.
The measures have been hailed as a victory by pro-life groups, and lamented as an attack on women’s health care by those who support abortion. But beneath the hype, what exactly would happen if federal funding were pulled from Planned Parenthood?
A video celebrating the legacy of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s number one abortion purveyor, and its founder Margaret Sanger was released yesterday featuring a slew of voice-overs by Hollywood stars, with none other than Star Wars Director J.J. Abrams serving as Executive Producer. It’s unfortunate that so many cultural elites don’t seem to care that the organization they care about so passionately just happens to sell the body parts of discarded unborn babies for profit, as well as aid and abet child sex traffickers.
The dark legacy of Margaret Sanger’s group has been well-catalogued by FRC and many other organizations, including her eugenicist and racist views. Surprisingly, the new Planned Parenthood video actually acknowledges that she “aligned herself with eugenicists.” It then conveniently justifies this unfortunate fact by concluding: “While there’s no question that Margaret left behind a conflicting legacy, it’s also true that she was a champion of progress.” So according to Planned Parenthood, the ends of committing abortions and distributing abortifacient drugs justifies the means of promoting eugenics and racism (back when it was popular) in order to gain legitimacy. In other words, you have to crack a few eggs in order to make an omelet.
The video also laments the passage of the Hyde Amendment, highlighting the tragedy of Rosie Jimenez’s death at the hands of an illegal abortionist as “the first woman to die because of the Hyde Amendment.” To claim that a woman’s tragic decision to let an illegal abortionist kill her unborn child, and in the process kill her, was a direct result of a piece of legislation is a bit of a stretch, to put it mildly. What isn’t a stretch is that the Hyde Amendment has helped save the lives of an estimated 2 million babies who resulted from unplanned pregnancies.
A sketch poking fun at the disparity between women today and their feminist forebears on the most recent Saturday Night Live (SNL) also inadvertently conveyed an effective pro-life message.
Many don’t know that as a rule the first feminists were pro-life, and according to data from Feminists for Life, most held that abortion is a form of oppression and violence against women and their children.
A new report released by the Guttmacher Institute found that in 2014, for the first time since 1975, the annual number of abortions dropped below one million.
“Abortion Incidence and Service Availability in the United States, 2014” is the result of the Guttmacher Institute’s latest survey of 1,671 abortion clinics, hospitals, and private physicians.
The report found that the number of abortions performed in the U.S. in 2014 dropped to 926,190, the lowest figure in thirty years, and was the first time the total has dropped below million a year since 1975. Click here for more from National Right to Life.
Attorney Thomas Olp of the Thomas More Society says a 2009 law passed in Chicago prohibits sidewalk counselors from getting close to abortion-minded women by creating an eight-foot bubble zone around each woman approaching the entrance to an abortion clinic.
"Within 50 feet of that entrance that bubble zone appears," Olp tells OneNewsNow, "and a pro-life counselor cannot knowingly, without permission, enter into that eight-foot bubble."
According to the attorney, the ordinance has resulted in confusion that has extended to police.
"Over the course of seven years there have been many instances in which the police have misinterpreted the law," he says. "We believe that the law is applied only to pro-life counselors and not to the escorts that are often times there at the abortion clinics to try to get between the pro-life counselors and the clients of the abortion clinic."
Thousands of pro-life activists marched Sunday in Chicago to celebrate life and protest abortion in America. The march is held annually at this time of year in response to the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion 44 years on January 22, 1973, commonly called Roe V. Wade. There are estimates that 55 million babies have been legally killed (some say murdered) in that time.
Cardinal Blase Cupich spoke to the enthusiastic crowd before the march saying a simple message, "Life wins." He was joined on stage by Congressmen Darin LaHood, Peter Roskam, and Dan Lipinski. Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran was the master of ceremonies. A moving story was told by abortion survivor Gianna Jessen.
Others attending the march included Illinois state representatives Jeanne Ives and Tom Morrison, State Senator Dan McConchie, Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Dan Patlak, and WLS 890-AM radio host Stephanie Trussell. Also seen were prolife activists Joe Scheidler, Eric Scheidler, Bonnie Quirke, Sandy Weir, Babette Holder, and Chris Iverson.
On Friday, Iowa Rep. Steve King introduced a bill to prohibit abortions when a pre-born baby's heartbeat can be detected.
The Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017 (H.R. 490) mandates that abortionists check for a fetal heartbeat before committing abortions. They may not commit an abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected. Pre-born babies' hearts begin to beat as early as 21 days after fertilization. Click here for more from LifeSiteNews.com
Just one day after the Senate took a similar action, the House of Representatives today passed a budget resolution which established a framework for repealing and replacing the “Affordable Health Care Act”–Obamacare.
The House vote was 227-198. The Senate vote, which occurred early Thursday morning, was 51-48.
The House action took place exactly one week before the inauguration of pro-life Donald Trump who has called Obamacare the “unaffordable care act.”
For pro-lifers, there are multiple highly objectionable provisions in Obamacare including provisions for tax-based subsidies to about 1,000 health plans that cover elective abortions and which impose government-imposed rationing of lifesaving medical care.
Judge: Pro-lifers can sue Chicago over law that keeps them from abortion clinics
Chicago area pro-life advocates achieved a victory last week when a judge denied the City of Chicago’s motion to dismiss a federal complaint challenging Chicago’s abortion-protective “bubble zone.”
The ruling by United States District Judge Amy J. St. Eve was in response to the Thomas More Society’s challenge, on behalf of the Pro-Life Action League, Live Pro-Life Group and several individual pro-life counselors, that the ordinance denies life advocates their First Amendments rights and impedes their ability to share life-affirming alternatives with women seeking abortions.
Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is coming this weekend, when churches are asked to focus on two issues of the life movement.
Life Matters Worldwide is the primary sponsor for the annual event, and LMW president Tom Lothamer says it's a call for the church to pray to end the termination of preborn babies, estimated to be 60 million since abortion was legalized in 1973.
"Some churches unfortunately don't even bring it up but many, many churches do," he says. "And it's through a message, maybe special music, a special testimony - that kind of thing - where they really want to highlight the sanctity of human life as children in the womb are image bearers of God."
Activists - encouraged by signals that the incoming presidential administration and Republican majority in Congress will tilt federal policy back towards protecting human life - will once again brave the cold in Chicago and Springfield to show their support later this month.
The annual March for Life Chicago will start at 2:00 PM at Chicago's Federal Plaza. After a rally, the attendees will march on a planned one-mile route, returning to the Plaza.
Another March for Life will be held in Springfield Friday the 20th, starting at St Katharine Drexel Parish House on 12th Avenue at 1:30 PM.
Starting at 2 PM on January 22, a Re-commitment to Life rally will be held at the State Capitol.
The marches are held annually near the anniversary Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States in 1973.
HB 40 - State Abortion Insurance / Public Aid Act - ACTION ALERT
Status: Passed the House and Senate, now goes to the Governor
Summary: This bill has the potential to reverse almost every pro-life effort made in Illinois and will protect abortion if regulated, defunded or outlawed federally. Amends the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971.
-Removes a provision prohibiting the non-contributory portion of a program of health-benefits from including the expenses of obtaining an abortion. (If passed, the State Employee's Insurance would cover the expenses of an abortion.).
Amends the Illinois Public Aid Code.
-Removes a provision excluding abortions or induced miscarriages or premature births from the list of services provided under the State's medical assistance program. (If passed, public aid would cover abortions or "induced miscarriages".)
-Removes language providing for the adoption of rules to prohibit a physician from providing medical assistance to anyone eligible for medical assistance benefits if the physician has been found guilty of willfully and wantonly performing an abortion procedure upon a woman who was not pregnant at the time of the procedure. (If passed, a doctor would not be stopped from performing medical services including an abortion even if he/she had been found guilty of performing an unwanted abortion procedure.)
-Removes other provisions concerning abortion restrictions. (If passed, this would remove the requirement for a physician statement the procedure used for an abortion when requesting reimbursement for the abortion, "induced miscarriages" or premature births. This also removes the need to include the physicians opinion regarding the abortion.)
Amends the Problem Pregnancy Health Services and Care Act.
-Removes language prohibiting the Department of Human Services from making grants to nonprofit agencies and organizations that use such grants to refer or counsel for, or perform, abortions. (If passed, the Department of Human Services would be allowed to provide money or grants to organizations or companies that perform abortions.)
Amends the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975.
-Provides that it is the intention of the General Assembly to reasonably regulate abortion in conformance with the legal standards set forth in the decisions of the United States Supreme Court of January 22, 1973. (If passed, this would keep abortion legal if the Roe Vs. Wade Decision is reversed)
-Removes language concerning the General Assembly's declaration that the unborn child is a human being from the time of conception and is, therefore, a legal person for purposes of the unborn child's right to life. (If passed, this means that an unborn child would NOT be considered a human being and so the unborn child does NOT have the right to life.)
Action:
Contact Governor Rauner, thank him for his promise to VETO HB40. Please affirm that he still intends to do so.
The biomedical company accused of contracting with Planned Parenthood to harvest and sell aborted baby body parts has dropped its lawsuit against the pro-life undercover investigators at the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), and are walking away with nothing.
CMP's exposure of Planned Parenthood's baby body parts business via its undercover journalism showed that the company, StemExpress, was intimately involved with collecting aborted babies. In September, the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives voted to hold StemExpress in contempt of Congress for stonewalling its investigation into the baby body parts scandal.
Here’s what the President-elect said on Wednesday when asked about making an appointment to the Supreme Court. (The High Court is currently short one member due to the untimely death of Justice Antonin Scalia.)
I’ll be making the decision on who we will put for justice of the United States Supreme Court, a replacement for the great, great justice Scalia, that will probably be within two weeks of the 20th. … I’ll be making that decision, and it’ll be a decision which I very strongly believe in, I think it’s one of the reasons I got elected, I think the people of this country did not want to see what was happening with the Supreme Court, so I think it was a very, very big decision as to why I was elected.
The importance of the Supreme Court to his victory is hard to exaggerate. The electorate knew where Mr. Trump and pro-abortion Hillary Clinton stood on abortion, particularly because of what Mr. Trump said at the third debate and his pledges to the pro-life community, and because the political arms of the Abortion Movement trumpeted Clinton’s absolutist position.
