Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act introduced in the U.S. Senate

On Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)  introduced of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in the U.S. Senate.  The legislation has previously passed the U.S. House of Representatives and has garnered a majority of votes in the U.S. Senate.

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act continues to be one of the right-to-life movement’s top congressional priorities for the 116th Congress. Like the state bills, the proposed federal law would generally extend legal protect to unborn humans beginning at 20 weeks fetal age (22 weeks of pregnancy), based on congressional findings that by that point (and even earlier) the unborn child has the capacity to experience great pain during an abortion.

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Pro-Abortion Democrats Block Effort to Enact Permanent, Government-Wide Hyde Amendment

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate held a vote to advance the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (S. 109), but on a near party-line vote, a minority of pro-abortion Democrats blocked consideration of the bill. Forty-eight senators voted to take the bill up for debate, but 60 votes were required.

“It is estimated that over two million Americans are alive today because of the Hyde Amendment,” said Carol Tobias, National Right to Life president. “Americans should be outraged that extremist pro-abortion Senate Democrats voted to block the legislation and those senators will be firmly marked as supporters of federal funding for elective abortion. We applaud Senate Majority Leader McConnell and chief sponsor Sen. Roger Wicker for their leadership on this issue.”

S. 109 would codify the principles of the Hyde Amendment on a permanent, government-wide basis, applicable to both longstanding federal health programs and to the programs created by Obamacare. Currently, under Obamacare, the federal taxpayer is subsidizing the purchase of abortion-covering plans on a massive scale. Under the bill, health plans that cover elective abortions would not qualify for federal subsidies, although such plans could still be sold to those who wish to purchase them with personal funds.

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Letters urge Trump to Veto Bills that weaken existing Pro-Life Policies

In an effort led by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J. pictured) and Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), 169 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 49 members of the U.S. Senate today sent President Trump letters urging him to veto bills that weaken existing pro-life policies, and indicating that they will vote to sustain such vetoes. Those numbers exceed the number required to sustain a veto in either house.

The letters come as congressional appropriators continue to work on funding bills to reopen the government. Many important pro-life policies are kept in place by provisions of such appropriations bills, sometimes called “riders.” This includes the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortion (except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest).

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NRLC urges Senators to support “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2019”

In anticipation of a possible Thursday vote, National Right to Life today sent a letter to members of the United States Senate, urging them to vote yes on a vote to proceed (to “invoke closure”) on the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2019.

NRLC informed senators that they will include the roll call vote in NRLC’s scorecard of key right-to-life roll calls of the 116th Congress.

Among many other important considerations, S.109 “would codify the principles of the Hyde Amendment to federal health programs on a permanent, government-wide basis, including Medicaid, SCHIP, FEHB, and many others.”

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Chicago March for Life sets new record in 2019

Chicago's annual March for Life was held last Sunday, and despite a snowstorm blanketing the region hours before, organizers say this year's gathering set a new record for participation - in excess of 8000 people.

The Chicago March for Life has become a full weekend of events. It started with the Rose Dinner on Saturday night, sponsored by Speak Out Chicago. It featured a roundtable discussion between three dynamic leaders in the pro-life movement: Jeanne Mancini, president of the National March for Life Education and Defense Fund, Eva Muntean, coordinator of the West Coast Walk for Life and Dawn Fitzpatrick, president of the March for Life Chicago.

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Speak Out Illinois 2019

Abortion worker says parents often unlawfully coerce daughters to abort

Even though abortion is called a woman’s “choice,” many women feel pressured or coerced to abort — by parents, loved ones, employers, or others. Former abortion worker Tonya explains what she saw when parents of minors tried to force their daughters to abort:

[T]eens, young adults, and minors who are still living at home with their parents or legal guardians, are sometimes being forced to have an abortion or even feeling like they’re being pressured into having an abortion by that parent or legal guardian. This happens a lot of times to minors and young adults…

On the day of the appointment, you can usually tell the minor who does not want to be there just by their facial expression. Being upset and very emotional. When this is noticed, I’ll pull that patient to a private room to have a one-on-one talk with them without the parent being present, and sometimes the patient will say, “Yes, I am being forced to do this, and if I don’t, my parents will put me out or send me away.” And in other words, just turn their backs on them. You have parents who try to convince their child….

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Little Sisters of the Poor suffer legal setbacks in two courts

Well, nobody said it would be easy. When last we reported on the Little Sisters of the Poor, they had apparently finally won a five-year long battle against an Obama-era requirement that required them to provide services that violate their religious conscience, a battle that had gone all the way to the Supreme Court.

“Following the 2016 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court and an Executive Order, HHS issued a new rule that finally protects the Little Sisters and other religious non-profits,” according to the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty. In State of California v. HHS and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Trump, the order of Catholic Nuns asked two separate federal courts to protect that hard-won liberty against challenges from by two state attorneys general.

On Sunday and then again on Monday, the courts ruled otherwise.

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Millennials want more abortion restrictions, right to vote on abortion: Students for Life poll

Millennials in the United States are considerably more hostile to abortion than is often assumed, according to a new survey from The Polling Company, Inc./WomanTrend commissioned by Students for Life of America (SFLA).

Released Monday, the survey of Americans aged 18-34 found that while a majority rejected identifying with either party and they were evenly divided among “pro-life” and “pro-choice” labels at 39 percent each, they also consistently backed a rightward shift on abortion-related policy questions.  Seventy percent of respondents favored some form of limits on abortion, with 42 percent directly against legal abortion and another 28 percent backing greater restrictions than are consistently on the books today, such as requiring parental notification and banning late-term abortion and taxpayer funding of abortion.

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6,000 unite at Chicago March for Life, dwarfing pro-abortion counter-protest

As pro-lifers from across the nation prepare to gather in Washington, D.C. this week to stand against abortion, thousands already gathered this weekend to demonstrate their support for life in the Windy City.  Approximately 6,000 pro-lifers march the Chicago Loop starting and eventually returning to Federal Plaza, WGN 9 reported.

Photos of the turnout show packed streets with enthusiastic men and women of all ages bundled up and bearing signs proclaiming “right to be born,” “abortion takes a human life,” “a person’s a person no matter how small,” and more.

Tons of energy and a ginormous crowd for #March4LifeChi.#ProLife pic.twitter.com/tXSpsU6siz

— Andrew Willis (@AndrewWillis101) January 13, 2019

An honor to be in Chicago with @jeannemfl for #March4LifeChi @ChicagoMarch! The #prolife movement is vibrant all across the country! #WhyWeMarch pic.twitter.com/KY9fkUCMjW

— Bethany Peck (@bethany102785) January 14, 2019

#prolife is for ALL life, even those who work in the abortion industry. We pray for you and help is at https://t.co/4ESdS7vtcs! #March4LifeChi #MarchForLife #Feminism #WomensWave #reprorights #pink #PlannedParenthood #love #pray pic.twitter.com/Pk49NCdic3

— Lizzy (@lizzery3) January 13, 2019

At the #march4lifechi, @CardinalBCupich addressed the younger crowd @ Federal Plaza: “You, young people, give us hope & encourage us as we know that year after year as we march into the future, there will be others who will continue this effort to protect human life and dignity.” pic.twitter.com/RFHfwb3soB

— Archdiocese Chicago (@archchicago) January 13, 2019

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Judge blocks employer birth control coverage options in Illinois, 12 other states

Sunday, U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam temporarily blocked Trump administration rules allowing employers to refuse to provide free birth control from taking effect Monday in 13 states - and because Madigan signed onto the lawsuit, Illinois is one of the states to which the ruling applies.

While plaintiffs argued employers should not interfere with women's healthcare, they insisted employers should be forced to provide free health insurance coverage for employees that includes birth control - some methods of which  can cause abortions. 

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Pro-life Democrat Charles C. Camosy on why language matters in the abortion debate

“The struggle in the abortion debate is, in many ways, a struggle over language,” wrote Charles C. Camosy (pictured), who serves on the advisory board for pro-life group Democrats for Life and is an associate professor at Fordham University. 

“For example, I am pro-life. I strongly support rights and protections for mothers and children, including prenatal children, and other vulnerable populations. I want to see the laws of this country protect these people as well. In my view, this makes me pro-life. That’s why I use the phrase ‘prenatal child’ where other people would say ‘fetus,’” he said.

However, in the view of pro-choice people and of many mainstream media outlets, “I am not pro-life; I am anti-abortion. This language allows critics to dismiss me and fellow pro-lifers as single-issue obsessives, which we are not.”

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Brittany Rejected Abortion for Baby Noah. Now She’s Headed to Capitol Hill with a Pro-life Message.

When Brittany found out she was pregnant almost three years ago, her first impulse was to have an abortion. A college student in a perilous relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Brittany did not see how she could possibly raise a baby.

But because she chose life instead, this week she and her two-year-old son Noah are headed to Washington D.C. as part of Heartbeat International’s Babies Go to Congress. Once there, Brittany will share her story with lawmakers to promote the work of the pro-life pregnancy help center that empowered her along the way.

Click here for more from Pregnancy Help News.

Comedian Marcella Arguello's shock tweet reveals unintended truth about abortion

Los Angeles comedian Marcella Arguello (pictured) made some waves (as she likely intended) with a tweet that got some disgusted reactions on social media. But in her quest for shock value, Arguello also revealed a truth: that abortion takes the life of an actual human being — a “someone.”

She wrote on Twitter, “I hate when people tell me to have a kid because I look good holding a baby. B*tch I look good doing everything because I. Look. Good. In fact you should see me have an abortion – I am BREATHTAKING. Literally I am taking someone’s breath. It’s beautiful.”

Arguello is correct in that abortion is “literally taking someone’s breath.” But it’s not beautiful.

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Across the US, organizers prepare for pro-life marches

Thousands of pro-life advocates will rally this month in major cities throughout the country, marking the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that mandated legal abortion in the U.S.

March for Life Chicago will take place on Jan. 13, drawing numerous pro-lifers from Illinois and surrounding states, including Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Missouri. The event is expected to gather more than 6,000 attendees.

Click here for more from CNA/EWTN News.

Abortion statistics: United States Data and Trends

There are two basic sources on abortion incidence in the United States:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) publishes yearly, but relies on voluntary reports from state health departments (and New York City, Washington, DC) It has been missing data from California, New Hampshire, and at least one other state since 1998.

The Guttmacher Institute (GI) contacts abortion clinics directly for data but does not survey every year.

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Woman sues doctor, pharmacy for accidentally prescribing abortion pill that killed baby

A California woman is taking her doctor and pharmacy to court for allegedly writing and filling an accidental prescription for the abortion pill, which she unwittingly took without knowing it would kill her preborn baby.

According to a lawsuit filed Monday in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, Lorena Anderson went to see Dr. Maria Rasul at Bishop’s Peak Women’s Health on March 20, 2018, to confirm she was pregnant. Rasul then allegedly “carelessly and negligently” ordered a prescription for misoprostol – one half of a chemical abortion – without informing her of its “nature and effects.”

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Federal Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood Introduced

The Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2019 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) who leads the House Vales Action Team.

The introduction of the legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives is set out to defund abortion providers, including the nation’s largest abortion provider, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA).

“Most Democrats in Congress think Planned Parenthood can do no wrong,” said National Right to Life Legislative Director Jennifer Popik, J.D. “Congresswoman Hartzler knows better and we thank her for her leadership in working to defund America’s largest abortion provider.”

Under the newly introduced legislation, all funds that are no longer available to abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, are explicitly made available to other eligible entities to provide women’s health care services.

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So much for 3%: Planned Parenthood prez says abortion ‘our core mission’

On Twitter, Planned Parenthood’s new president Leana Wen took issue with a Buzzfeed headline that read, “Planned Parenthood’s new president wants to focus on nonabortion healthcare.” To the contrary, she said in response that abortion is not only going to remain a focus for Planned Parenthood, but it is the abortion corporation’s “core mission.” Remember that the next time you hear someone in the media repeat the repeatedly debunked claim that “abortion is only 3% of what Planned Parenthood does.” It appears that not even Planned Parenthood’s own president believes this misleading statistic.

Leana Wen tweets:

“First, our core mission is providing, protecting and expanding access to abortion and reproductive health care. We will never back down from that fight – it’s a fundamental human right and women’s lives are at stake,” Wen, an emergency room physician, wrote. But this statement flies in the face of the organization’s continued claim that abortion is only a tiny percentage of what they do. And interestingly, even when Planned Parenthood’s abortion numbers increase by the thousands, that 3% figure seems to stay the same. Even the Washington Post didn’t buy it.

Click here for more from Live Action News.

PBS Special Provides ‘Balanced’ Perspective on Abortion’s Black Genocide

Last month, normally progressive PBS provided a transparent portrayal of the devastation abortion inflicts on the African American community. The special, titled “Anti-Abortion Crusaders: Inside the African American Abortion Battle,” surprised conservative media critics by giving voice to the message that “the most dangerous place for an African American child is in the womb.”

Rev. Clenard H. Childress praised PBS for its “fair and balanced” report on the subject. Childress, the assistant national director of LEARN, America’s largest African American Evangelical pro-life committee, was featured in PBS’ program and was quite pleased with being able to get out his message, one almost never acknowledged by the mainstream media.

During the program Childress was able to hammer home the fact that abortion providers target black women for abortions, and that in New York, for example, “more black babies are aborted than are born.” The statistics demonstrate that across America, where the black community only constitutes 13% of the population, a massive 35% of the abortions are performed on black babies.

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