National Right to Life Reaffirms Commitment to Fight for Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, today reaffirmed its commitment to the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and vowed to continue seeking the bill’s passage in the 114th Congress.

National Right to Life President Carol Tobias said, “The House of Representatives did not pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act this week because certain lawmakers who voted for the same language in 2013, and who had promised their pro-life constituents that they would do so again, instead worked to weaken the bill or to prevent it from coming to the floor.”

“While we are profoundly disappointed that the vote on the bill was delayed, we much prefer delaying the vote to passing a greatly weakened bill,” Tobias said. “We thank the House Republican leadership for quickly facilitating passage of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 7) which is another National Right to Life legislative priority.” The House passed H.R. 7 today by a vote of 242-179.

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 36) would generally protect unborn children from abortion beginning at 20 weeks fetal age, based on medical evidence that by that point, if not earlier, the unborn child experiences pain when subjected to dismemberment or other late abortion methods.

“Pro-life citizens across the nation are sharply disappointed with those lawmakers who violated commitments to constituents and derailed a bill to protect babies in the sixth month and later, a bill with broad popular support,” Tobias said. “In some cases these actions were apparently dictated mainly by inordinate concern with political correctness and garnering favorable coverage from the mainstream news media. Some of these lawmakers may ultimately conclude that they were ill advised to sacrifice the trust of their pro-life constituents so egregiously.”

Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) played the most visible public role in the successful campaign to stymie action on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act – even though she voted to pass exactly the same bill language on June 18, 2013. In an interview with National Journal (Jan. 16), Ellmers suggested that voting on the bill would turn off millennials (even though some polls show particularly strong support for the ban in that age cohort). A Jan. 21 interview in Business Weekquoted Ellmers as saying, “We should not be looking back in history, we should be looking forward.” On Jan. 20, Ellmers personally went to the House floor to withdraw her cosponsorship of the bill. Yet on Jan. 22 she told The Weekly Standard that she would vote to pass the bill with or without language that she preferred, noting, “I have a very pro-life district…”

Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) also withdrew her cosponsorship on January 20, yet continued to affirm to constituents that she would vote to pass the bill (as she had in 2013).

National Journal reported (Jan. 21): “Tellingly, Rep. Marsha Blackburn [(R-Tenn.)]. . . gave an impassioned speech in [the House Republican] conference, noting that because of the rape clause, the GOP was again fumbling over this sensitive subject instead of talking about other issues, according to sources in the meeting.” Yet in April 2014, Blackburn said in writing on a signed questionnaire submitted to National Right to Life that she supported virtually identical language pertaining to the reporting of sexual crimes – applied throughout pregnancy.

As introduced in the 114th Congress, the operative text of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 36) was identical to H.R.1797, which the House approved on June 18, 2013, by a vote of 228-196. Both the 2013 and 2015 bills contained identical language, allowing abortions after 20 weeks fetal age (about the beginning of the sixth month) in situations of life endangerment, or if “the pregnancy is the result of rape, or the result of incest against a minor, if the rape has been reported at any time prior to the abortion to an appropriate law enforcement agency, or if the incest against a minor has been reported at any time prior to the abortion to an appropriate law enforcement agency or to a government agency legally authorized to act on reports of child abuse or neglect.”

“National Right to Life remains committed to working for real protections for unborn babies and to passage of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” said Tobias.

By Luis Zaffirini, NRL News Today

Illinois Inspections for tanning salons but not abortion clinics -- really?

The following is an op-ed by CCI Executive Director Robert Gilligan. It was published today in the Rockford Register Star.

Every Jan. 22, millions of people march to call attention to the devastating impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. Because of this ruling millions of innocent infants have not been born.

Discussing abortion can bring sharp disagreement, but whether one identifies as "pro-life" or "pro-choice" there is an area in which all should agree.

A report recently released from Illinois Right to Life provides a ray of hope for Democrats and Republicans to come together on this topic. One would think after reading this report lawmakers would enact a law that would require every abortion facility to be inspected at least once a year.

Among the more startling revelations in the report is that 54 percent of abortion facilities are not licensed by the state of Illinois -- they have never received a health and safety inspection. The state Department of Public Health has no authority over unlicensed abortion facilities even if they perform surgical abortions. The remaining 46 percent of facilities that are licensed by the state of Illinois went 9-13 years without an inspection between 2000-2014.

It is hard to imagine how lawmakers can turn a blind eye to inspecting abortion facilities every year when lawmakers have recognized the need to require regular inspections of tanning salons, restaurants, nursing homes and other places where one's health and safety are at risk. Even barber shops and cosmetologists require registration with the state.

Regulations under the Tanning Permit Act require a tanning facility to be inspected at least once a year and the rules are quite specific. They specify that sunlamps shall incorporate a timing device with multiple settings and that protective eyewear is required. Interesting, unlike the parental notification of abortion law where there are exceptions and a parent may consent to their child's abortion, this is not the case when it comes to tanning salons. The law clearly states that a person under age 18 may not be allowed to use a tanning salon even if the minor has the permission of a parent.

How can the state justify regularly inspecting a tanning salon and not an abortion facility? Without oversight, what assurance is there that instruments are properly sterilized? Is medical waste being disposed of properly, and more importantly, what happens to the human remains after an abortion? If something goes wrong, what alternative does a woman have?

That is the question many asked surrounding the death of 24-year old Tonya Reaves, who died after a botched second trimester abortion in July 2012. Reaves had an abortion at an unlicensed abortion facility owned by Planned Parenthood in Chicago and died 12 hours later as a result of what happened at that facility.

In 2011, the nation was shocked to learn about the horrors occurring in the abortion facility operated by Kermit Gosnell. That facility had not been inspected since 1993. Gosnell is now serving a term of life without parole after he was convicted of three counts of murder that occurred at the abortion facility he owned in Philadelphia. Media reports stated that furniture and blankets were stained with blood, freely roaming cats deposited their feces wherever they pleased, and that non-sterilized equipment was used and reused on patients.

In Illinois we know that tanning salons are safe, but without proper state oversight and inspection we do not know what is happening in abortion facilities. Those who are pro-choice should support legislation requiring abortion facilities to be inspected annually. Those who are pro-life recognize that abortion is the taking of an innocent unborn child, and protecting the life of all mothers is one-step towards protecting the unborn as well.

Where have all the babies gone? Illinois' shrinking birth rate adds to state's decline

In 2000, the U.S. Census showed Illinois with 12,419,293 residents. Ten years later, the number of Illinois residents had grown by 411,339 to 12,830,632. The latest estimate for July 2014 is 12,880,580 - four years, and the amount of growth dropped to a little under 50,000. That means instead of growing by 400,000 in the 2010 to 2020 decade, Illinois may grow by little more than 100,000 - perhaps a generous 150,000.

That's a dramatic decline from growing by 400,000 in the 21st Century's first decade to 150,000 in the second. In statistics circles, it's called "negative growth."

Sunday, the Bloomington Pantagraph's editorial board was very concerned about Illinois losing population:

While the state has lost jobs over the last decade, this is the first year that the state has lost actual population since 1987-1988. A lot of figures go into the population loss: people moving, deaths, births and immigration from other countries.

The biggest reason the state is losing population is a greater number of people moving to other states. In state-to-state migration last year, the state had a net loss of almost 95,000 people, the highest rate in decades. That sort of loss has a devastating impact on tax revenue for state government and local governments.

Illinois' population dwindling is a "clear symbol of a state in decline and that trend needs to be reversed as quickly as possible," the Pantagraph said.

While Illinois had a net loss of nearly 95,000 people, there's another negative population trend neither the Pantagraph or the Chicago Tribune cited: the dramatic decline of Illinois live births over the last decade.

In a chart recently published by the Illinois Department of Public Health, the agency showed that in 1990, 196,000 babies were born in Illinois. That proved to be the high mark for Illinois in the past 24 years.

For seven years, the state's live birth numbers fell consistently until 1997, when it hit 180,000. The numbers huddled around that mark for eleven years, and then when the 2008 recession hit, not only did people leave Illinois seeking jobs, they took their babies and future babies with them. Live births in Illinois began to fall precipituously. 

Illinois live births quickly fell from 180,000 in 2007 to just over 170,000 in 2009 and two years later, by another 10,000 to 160,000. All indications point to the latest official 2013 live birth stats hitting a new low - 155,000.

A consistent decline of live births indicates a dying state, says Rockford-based Howard Center's Allan Carlson.

"A declining number of live births is a sign the state is downtrodden and destroying its human capital," Carlson told Illinois Review. "Illinois politicians have dug a hole. Any smart young person would look at those numbers and leave Illinois."

Carlson said up until the 1990s, Americans were having enough babies to just about replace themselves - the average woman's total fertility was a little of 2.1 in 2000 and now it's at 1.7 levels.
"Weve not seen a child-rich culture since between the 1940s and 1970s," Carlson said.

All the while, state governments, like Illinois, are spending funds extravagantly, expecting the next generation to pay the bills, while the numbers of future taxpayers dwindles.

"Across the U.S., the culture is anti-natal, anti-child," Carlson said. "The focus is on personal gratification  and deconstructing natural marriage. The price is being paid."

While politicians will say they demonstrate the value of children by investing billions in public education, those funds are really not for the children, Carlson said.

"Those funds go more to feed bloated teacher unions and school administrators' demands," Carlson said. "Overall, the economy and the tax policy is anti-child."

However, there are some peripheral segments of society that are doing their part to populate the next generation, he said.

The old order of the Amish are having children, as are American Mormons and conservative Catholics and some Protestants, Carlson said. "We need to protect those groups' religious liberties and parental rights. They're key to the future."

Source: Illinois Review

“The State of Abortion in the United States”

Today, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, released its second annual report examining “The State of Abortion in America.” The report summarizes key legislative developments at the state and federal level, finds that the annual number of abortions continues to decline, and shows that a majority continue to oppose the vast majority of abortions allowed under the doctrine of Roe v. Wade.

“While recent reports show a significant decrease in the annual number of abortions, tragically, nearly 3,000 unborn children are still killed every day in the United States,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “As we prepare to observe the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade and its companion case, Doe v. Bolton, the pro-life movement stands ready to make tremendous gains in 2015 on behalf of mothers and their unborn children.”

As detailed in the National Right to Life report, studies released last year by the Guttmacher Institute (originally founded as a special research arm of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) show that not only have annual abortion numbers dropped to lows not seen since the 1970s, but so too have the abortion rate and abortion ratio.

Guttmacher found that in 2011, the annual number of abortions dropped to 1.058 million – more than half a million off the peak of 1.6 million in 1990.

The National Right to Life report looks at the possible causes for this significant drop in the annual number of abortions, including pro-life educational and legislative efforts at the state and federal level that have raised awareness about the humanity of the unborn child These laws not only encourage life-affirming alternatives to abortion, they also seek to inform and empower women facing unexpected pregnancy.

“Proposals like the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, and the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act, have the dual effect of protecting unborn children from painful abortions and educating the public about the humanity of the unborn child,” observed Tobias.

The report discusses two of National Right to Life’s major legislative priorities: the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act.

Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

The right-to-life movement’s top congressional priority for the new 114th Congress is the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. This bill is based on NRLC-originated model legislation that has been enacted in 10 states. It would generally protect unborn children from abortion beginning at 20 weeks fetal age (the start of the sixth month), based on their capacity by that point, if not earlier, to experience excruciating pain.

The legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013, by a vote of 228-196, but did not receive a vote in the Senate during 2013-2014. It was reintroduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 36 on January 6, 2015, by Reps. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). It is expected that the House will take up the bill tomorrow (the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Companion legislation will soon be reintroduced in the Senate by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). The new Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), has vowed that the Senate will take up the bill at some point during the Congress.

“In the new Congress, every member of the House and Senate will go on record on whether to permit the continued killing of pain-capable unborn children,” said National Right to Life Federal Legislative Director Douglas Johnson.

Some of the extensive evidence that unborn children have the capacity to experience pain, at least by 20 weeks fetal age, is available on the NRLC website and also here: www.doctorsonfetalpain.com.

Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act

Introduced in Kansas on January 14, 2015, by state Sen. Garrett Love (R-Montezuma), the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act would protect unborn children from the brutality of dismemberment abortion.

“Dismemberment abortion kills a baby by tearing her apart limb from limb,” said National Right to Life Director of State Legislation Mary Spaulding Balch, J.D. “Before the first trimester ends, the unborn child has a beating heart, brain waves, and every organ system in place. Dismemberment abortions occur after the baby has reached these milestones.”

D&E dismemberment abortions are as brutal as the partial-birth abortion method, which is now illegal in the United States.

In his dissent to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2000 Stenberg v. Carhart decision, Justice Kennedy observed that in D&E dismemberment abortions, “The fetus, in many cases, dies just as a human adult or child would: It bleeds to death as it is torn limb from limb. The fetus can be alive at the beginning of the dismemberment process and can survive for a time while its limbs are being torn off.” Justice Kennedy added in the Court’s 2007 opinion, Gonzales v. Carhart, which upheld the ban on partial-birth abortion, that D&E abortions are “laden with the power to devalue human life…”

Background materials on the bill are available on the National Right to Life website. Included in the background materials is the testimony of Anthony Levatino, M.D., before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice in May 2013, in which he described in great detail the D&E dismemberment abortions he once performed.

The report is available from the National Right to Life Communications Department.

National Right to Life experts, including President Carol Tobias, Director of Education and Research Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., Director of State Legislation Mary Spaulding Balch, J.D., and Federal Legislative Director Douglas Johnson are available to provide further information about the report and its insights.

Source: NRL News Today

Rauner picks Planned Parenthood Vice-Chair to head Healthcare and Family Services

New Director of DHFS Felicia Norwood (right) at Planned Parenthood's April 2014 fundraiser

Last week Governor Rauner announced a number of additional appointments, including those he wants to head the Department of Revenue, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Public Health and Illinois Commerce Commission.

One appointment raising social conservative's eyebrows is Felicia Norwood, who was named by the governor to be the new Director of Illinois' Department Healthcare and Family Services. Norwood, who will lead the state's agency focused on caring for Illinoisans' health, is also listed on Illinois Planned Parenthood's website as the current vice-chair of their board of directors.

Last week, a report on the conditions of Illinois abortions clinics found during Illinois Public Health Department inspections was made public, showing that none of Illinois Planned Parenthood clinics are licensed by the State Health Department, and none of them were visited during the 2011-2012 round of inspections. Of the other 14 clinics visited - some after not being inspected for nine years  - 193 safety and health violations were found.

"I'm very disappointed to hear of Governor Rauner's pick for the Department of Health and Family Services," said Illinois Family Institute's David Smith. "Let's hope Ms. Norwood uses her position to encourage healthy families in Illinois. Let's also hope she supports changing the state's policy to include annually inspecting Planned Parenthood clinics."

Norwood could face a conflict of interests if lawmakers point out that the Planned Parenthood clinics, of which she vice-chairs the directors' board, are not licensed nor inspected by the state of Illinois. A call for routine clinic inspections is expected in the upcoming legislative session.

While Mrs. Rauner, the governor's wife, has been a longtime supporter of Planned Parenthood, Rauner avoided the abortion issue while campaigning for governor, and both he and Mrs. Rauner insisted the Republican had "no social agenda."

Despite Norwood's affiliation with Planned Parenthood, she has substantial experience in the health care insurance industry. She has spent the majority of her career working for Aetna. She began her career with the insurance giant as Government Relations Counsel, where she analyzed and drafted legislation related to health care insurance. She was also a Senior Policy Advisory on Health and Human Services to Governor Edgar, and served as a policy advisor to Governor Jim Thompson, where she developed and implemented policies on children and family services.

She earned her law degree from Yale Law School, a master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin, and her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Valdosta State University in Georgia.

Since 1994, Ms. Norwood has given over $6000 in political contributions to Planned Parenthood PAC, the Democrats' Act Blue Illinois, Democrats Art Turner and Joyce Washington, as well as Republican Jim Edgar, for whom she worked when he was governor:

Source: Illinois Review

Abortion facilities the only places Illinois lawmakers refuse to inspect

Every Jan. 22, millions of people march to call attention to the devastating impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. Because of this ruling millions of innocent infants have not been born.

Discussing abortion can bring sharp disagreement, but whether one identifies as “pro-life” or “pro-choice” there is an area in which all should agree.

A report released recently from Illinois Right to Life provides a ray of hope for Democrats and Republicans to come together on this topic. One would think after reading this report lawmakers would enact a law that would require every abortion facility to be inspected at least once a year.

Among the more startling revelations in the report is that 54 percent of abortion facilities are not licensed by the State of Illinois – they have never received a health and safety inspection. The State Department of Public Health has no authority over unlicensed abortion facilities even if they perform surgical abortions. The remaining 46 percent of facilities that are licensed by the State of Illinois went 9-13 years without an inspection between 2000-2014.

It is hard to imagine how lawmakers can turn a blind eye to inspecting abortion facilities every year when lawmakers have recognized the need to require regular inspections of tanning salons, restaurants, nursing homes and other places where one’s health and safety are at risk. Even barber shops and cosmetologists require registration with the state.

Regulations under the Tanning Permit Act require a tanning facility to be inspected at least once a year and the rules are quite specific. They specify that sunlamps shall incorporate a timing device with multiple settings and protective eyewear is required. Interesting, unlike the parental notification of abortion law where there are exceptions and a parent may consent to their child’s abortion, this is not the case when it comes to tanning salons. The law clearly states that a person under age18 may not be allowed to use a tanning salon even if the minor has the permission of a parent.

How can the state justify regularly inspecting a tanning salon and not an abortion facility?  Without oversight, what assurance is there that instruments are properly sterilized? Is medical waste being disposed of properly, and more importantly, what happens to the human remains after an abortion? If something goes wrong, what alternatives does a woman have?

That is the question many asked surrounding the death of 24-year old Tanya Reaves, who died after a botched second trimester abortion in July 2012. Ms. Reeves had an abortion at an unlicensed abortion facility owned by Planned Parenthood in Chicago and died 12 hours later as a result of what happened at that facility.

In 2011, the nation was shocked to learn about the horrors occurring in the abortion facility operated by Hermit Gosnell. That facility had not been inspected since 1993. Mr. Gosnell is now serving a term of life without parole after he was convicted of three counts of murder that occurred at the abortion facility he owned in Philadelphia. Media reports stated that furniture and blankets were stained with blood, freely roaming cats deposited their feces wherever they pleased, and that non-sterilized equipment was used and reused on patients.

In Illinois we know that tanning salons are safe, but without proper state oversight and inspection we do not know what is happening in abortion facilities. Those who are pro-choice should support legislation requiring abortion facilities to be inspected annually. Those who are pro-life recognize that abortion is the taking of an innocent unborn child, and protecting the life of all mothers is one-step towards protecting the unborn as well.

By Robert Gilligan of Catholic Conference of Illinois via Illinois Review

Robert Gilligan is Executive Director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois

Pro-life rally at Illinois capitol features "abortion abolitionist" Andy Moore

SPRINGFIELD, IL - Sunday afternoon at the Illinois State Capitol, Americans United for Life's Andy Moore started his keynote remarks explaining why he's pro-life:

"I was 14-years-old. I was in a van heading out into the countryside. My friend Josh lived an hour out from my hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand. Josh’s dad was driving. I was going to spend the weekend at their farm - go shooting, play at the river, and just catch up with my friend.

I was aware that Mark, Josh’s dad, had been active in the pro-life movement in the 80s and 90s. He would protest outside the abortion facility in Christchurch and had been arrested for peaceful civil disobedience on multiple occasions.

Suddenly Mark pointed to the left. "See that building?"

He told me, “That’s the crematorium where they burn the bodies of the babies killed by abortion.”

Up until this point, I had been only vaguely aware of abortion. I knew very little about it though. Mark was the only person I knew who had ever done anything to try to stop it.

But now the victim had become real and tangible to me. It struck me in that moment that - if they have to burn the bodies -- that must mean there are actual little bodies, right? Broken bodies of the babies killed by abortion.

Until this time abortion had been an abstract term for me. But it wasn’t until I was able to grasp the humanity of the victim of abortion that I finally woke up to a realization of what was going on.
Good afternoon. My name is Andy Moore, and I am an abortion abolitionist."

Moore, who lives in Washington D.C. with his wife and two sons, is nationally-renowed prolife blogger Jill Stanek's son-in-law. He was the guest of Springfield's Right to Life group at an event commemorating the 42nd anniversary of Roe vs Wade decision legalizing abortion in America.

Reflections on “Sanctity of Human Life Day” in light of the challenges of 2015

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated Sunday, January 22nd as Sanctity of Human Life Day. In his proclamation, Reagan called on Americans “to gather on that day in homes and places of worship to give thanks for the gift of life, and to reaffirm our commitment to the dignity of every human being and the sanctity of each human life.”

The world has changed greatly in the 31 years since Ronald Reagan instituted Sanctity of Human Life Day. The pro-life movement has gained ground. Abortion rates are declining, states are enacting record numbers of meaningful protections for unborn children and their mothers, and public opinion polls show more and more Americans identifying themselves as pro-life.

But tragically, abortion continues to take the lives of more than one million unborn children every year.
As Reagan reflected on the toll of abortion just 11 years after the fateful Roe v. Wade decision, he observed, “We are poorer not simply for lives not led and for contributions not made, but also for the erosion of our sense of the worth and dignity of every individual.”

After nearly 42 years of abortion on demand in the United States, many have become callous to the brutal reality of abortion. Many refuse to acknowledge the unborn child is indeed a living member of the human family. Many have closed their hearts to pregnant mothers seeking life-affirming solutions. Some have even come to believe that ending the life of an unborn baby is paramount to equality for women.

Even 42 years later, many Americans are still unaware of the brutal ways in which unborn children are killed in abortion.

One such way is through dismemberment abortion, a common and brutal type of dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion, which kills a living unborn child.

In a dismemberment abortion, sharp-edged instruments are used to grasp, twist and tear the baby’s body into pieces. Justice Anthony Kennedy described this procedure saying, “The fetus, in many cases, dies just as a human adult or child would: It bleeds to death as it is torn limb from limb.”
Last week, Sen. Garrett Love introduced a bill in the Kansas state Senate, which puts this horrific abortion method at the forefront of the debate. In a civilized country, it’s unfathomable that we continue to subject the youngest members of the human family to such brutal cruelty.

The violence of abortion continues through apathy and even willful ignorance. Through advances in science and medicine, we know without any doubt that life does not begin when a baby leaves the birth canal. And yet, there are places in the United States where abortion is legal essentially through all nine months of pregnancy.

There is work to be done. In the coming year, we will have opportunities to educate, enact life-saving legislation and reach out to pregnant mothers in need. All of this work begins, as Reagan noted, by “reaffirming our commitment to the dignity of every human being and sanctity of each human life.”

By Andrew Bair, NRL News Today

10th Annual March for Life Chicago Draws Record Breaking Thousands

Congressmen, Bears Owner and Archbishop Proclaim Sanctity of Life

An estimated crowd of over 4,000 people marched through Chicago's Loop on Sunday, January 18, proclaiming the sanctity of human life and calling for the overturn of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States. The 10th annual March for Life Chicago drew pro-life citizens of all ages to participate in the rallies at Federal Plaza and the James R. Thompson Center. Participants heard from Archbishop Blase Cupich, Congressmen Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and Peter Roskam (R-IL), Bears co-owner Pat McCaskey, former Planned Parenthood manager Abby Johnson and others.

Under a cloud of yellow balloons imprinted with the word, LIFE, this year's event bore strong representation from college students and young adults, whom Students for Life of Illinois leader, Katie Melody, lamented "have never known a world without abortion."

As the new Archbishop of Chicago, Blase Cupich was firm in his support stating, "We are here to do everything possible to make sure that the right to life is preserved."

At Federal Plaza, Reverend Erwin Lutzer, senior pastor of Chicago's iconic Moody Church, emphasized the importance of being there to help women who realized too late the negative impact of their abortions. Later, at the Thompson Center, Chanel Moore affirmed that, sharing her own abortion story and the grief that followed.

Congressman Peter Roskam shared how his daughter's social media posts from last year's March for Life caused her college friend to seek help and choose life for her unplanned baby, while Congressman Dan Lipinski promised a ban on abortions after 20 weeks gestation.

Former Planned Parenthood abortion director Abby Johnson reached out to the approximately 30 protesters that stood on the perimeter opposing the pro-life supporters. She told them, "We are fighting for your right to life" and assured them that this is "not just about the babies, but about everyone – everyone has a right to live and breathe. All life matters."

The crowd was delighted by Bears co-owner Pat McCaskey's pro-life adaption of Tennyson's classic poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade."

At each of the two rally points, the enthusiastic crowd was addressed by multi-generational families of pro-life activists. Eric Scheidler, Executive Director of the Pro-Life Action League, spoke with his father Joe Scheidler (known as the Godfather of the pro-life movement) and his son, pro-life blogger Sam Scheidler. Sandy Hiltebrand addressed the gathering, thanking them for their faithfulness, along with her daughter Julie Cooper, and granddaughter, Mary Cooper.

Mary-Louise Hengesbaugh, former Respect Life Director of the Archdiocese of Chicago and 1999 Miss Wisconsin, emceed the event which drew huge Catholic participation from across the Midwest. The crowd, however, was decidedly multi-denominational, and addressed by Orthodox church leaders, the Right Reverend Anthony, Bishop of Toledo, and the Right Reverend Paul, Bishop of Chicago and the Midwest, as well as Pastor Mark Jobe, founder of New Life Centers.

Emily Zender, President of March for Life Chicago, was pleased with the turnout. "I'm so glad that thousands of people turned out to tell Chicago that life matters," she said. "Abortion tells us that we are essentially disposable. What a disservice – and insult – that is to every one of us. All of these people came here to firmly proclaim that each human being, from conception through natural death, is important and has the right to life."

See pictures from the January 18, 2015 March for Life Chicago here, photo credit Lori Solyom, TC Public Relations.

Contact: Tom Ciesielka of www.tcpr.net for www.MarchForLifeChicago.com,

“A Matter of Life” Live from the March for Life

Live from the March for Life

   National Right to Life President Carol Tobias

On Thursday, January 22, an immense crowd of pro-lifers will march in Washington, DC, to protest the nation’s Supreme Court-imposed law that allows the killing of innocent, unborn children. Many of you will be there.

For those who can’t attend, there are various ways to watch the events happen on your tv or computer. Beginning at 3:00 p.m. EST, River Song Productions (RSP) will provide a live-streaming broadcast, “A Matter of Life”, on YouTube with highlights from the march, followed by a three-hour show of interviews with pro-life leaders. You can watch it here. If you click on the link before Thursday, you will see “Please Stand By”, along with a countdown to the start of the show.

Last year, I had the pleasure of being one of the guests on the show. This year, I am honored to co-host the show with Maryann Lawhon, executive producer of the film, The Voice of John.

Maryann is a nurse who, in 1977, stumbled upon a live baby, the result of an abortion, who had been left to die on a cold metal table. She held the baby and baptized him before he died, telling him she would be his voice and let the world know what had happened to him.

Maryann and I will speak with many who are a voice for the voiceless. Guests appearing on the show include Donna Harrison, M.D., executive director of the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Jewels Green, a former abortion clinic worker, Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests of Life, Kelsey Hazzard, president of Secular Pro-Life, Dr. Alveda King of Silent No More, and many others.

If you can’t watch the show live, it will be available on YouTube for later viewing. Join me in this exciting event.

By Carol Tobias, President NRLC, via NRL News Today

Illinois health department report shows state abortion clinics dirty, uninspected

SPRINGFIELD, IL - The image of clean and safe healthcare centers where Illinois women and girls can get birth control and abortions was shattered with the publication of a report about the numerous health code violations the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) found while conducting inspections of the state's abortion clinics.

The report comes as legislators return to Springfield and prepare to introduce legislation that will improve the inspection schedule for the clinics, penalize violators, and require them to notify their patients of health code violations.

A report by llinois Right to Life reveals the findings of the IDPH, which was forced to inspect Illinois abortion facilities after the gruesome findings of Dr. Kermit Gosnell's Pennsylvania abortion clinic made national headlines.

The IDPH inspected 14 clinics that were licensed by the state of Illinois. They found 193 health code violations. Two abortion clinics (one in Rockford, Illinois and one in Chicago, Illinois) were shut down on an emergency basis because the health violations were so appalling.

Some of the health and sanitary violations included un-sterile surgical tools, TV dinners being stored in the same refrigerator as fetal tissue, failure to have a registered nurse on staff and failure to perform CPR on a female patient that died at one clinic.

The report also revealed that:

•63% of licensed Illinois abortion clinics open right now, have gone between two and three-and-a-half years without a health and sanitary inspection. 
•Between 2000 and 2010, 92% of all abortion clinics (licensed or unlicensed) received no health and sanitary inspections.
•66% of licensed abortion clinics went between 9 and 17 years without a health and sanitary inspection.
•54% of Illinois abortion clinics, are not licensed and therefore never receive health and sanitary inspections.
•Not a single Planned Parenthood (even if it performs surgical abortions) is licensed and therefore has not received a health and sanitary inspection since at least 2000.

Despite the IDPH findings, state law has not been changed to require regular annual inspections of the licensed abortion clinics. In comparison, tanning salons, nursing homes, and Chicago restaurants are inspected an average of once per year. Illinois abortion clinics are being inspected an average of once every nine years.

Illinois Right to Life's Executive Director Emily Zender wants that to change.

"If dirty operating rooms, rusty recovery beds, and un-sterile surgical equipment is the best we can offer the women of Illinois, then we have failed women," Zender said in an email. "No woman should leave an abortion clinic needing a tetanus shot, HIV testing, or emergency treatment at a hospital."

Pro-life advocates are working with legislators to make necessary changes. However, getting any women's health legislation through the Democrat-controlled General Assembly is difficult at best, and it is unclear if Governor Rauner would sign it.
Source: Illinois Review

The unique beat to Kelly Clarkson’s new song—the heartbeat of her unborn daughter slowed down

 

Kelly Clarkson’s “Heartbeat Song” is set to her baby’s prenatal heartbeat (Photo: Instagram)

River Rose

Bound4life.com who reported today that pop/country superstar Kelly Clarkson’s “Heartbeat Song,” first previewed on Twitter, was released in its entirety on Monday. Clarkson was, of course, American Idol’s” first winner and has gone onto tremendous popularity.

What’s unique, Clarkson told in a radio interview is “that the track’s beat is “actually River’s heartbeat slowed down from when she was in my tummy!”

Clarkson’s and husband Brandon Blackstock’s baby girl, River Rose, was born June 12, 2014.
If you watch Clarkson and River Rose, you’ll be left in stitches.

The premise is that the little girl is listening to “Heartbeat Song” and “dancing” along to the beat. A moment later, she is fiddling with the mixing board. It really is adorable.



A tip of the hat to Josh Shepherd

By Dave Andrusko, NRL News Today

Grammy-winning rapper Lecrae, John Piper, and John Ensor talk about abortion remorse and healing

Lecrae, John Piper, and John Ensor
 

I was surprised and grateful when I saw the latest video clip from Passion Life Ministries on Jan. 9. The video teaser is described as “A conversation with Lecrae, John Piper, and John Ensor on the story behind Good, Bad, Ugly, the remorse of abortion, and the healing of the gospel of Christ.”

In the video, Lecrae shares the meaning behind the lyrics of his song “Good, Bad and Ugly,” which shares his personal experience with abortion. Live Action wrote about this song when it was first released. Lecrae goes even deeper in this new video clip, sharing details of the pain he suffered years after the abortion of his child. Lecrae tells of the time he found a picture of his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his aborted child.

In a conversation with his wife, he realized that it was hard to throw the picture away. Thinking about throwing the picture out triggered hidden feelings of guilt, shame, and remorse related to the abortion. Lecrae said that moment was the beginning of the healing process for him.

I’m a big fan of Lecrae. I’m inspired by his convictions, amazed by his creativity, and impressed by his skill as a rapper. Beyond all of that, I’m challenged by his love for Christ and proclamation of the gospel. Lecrae has a song on his new album Anomaly titled “Nuthin.” The song calls out rappers who make money releasing songs that lack meaningful significance.

I love the song because it expresses who Lecrae is as an artist. Lecrae is not ashamed to talk about things that matter. He’s not just trying to sell albums and get famous. He’s not rapping about “nuthin’,”; rather, he’s using his platform as an artist to uplift others. Lecrae wants to reach people with truth. His willingness to talk about abortion is further evidence that he’s committed to discussing important things.

Abortion is the #1 cause of death for African-Americans. As a black woman, I am thrilled to see Lecrae use rap music to address this issue. How many men can relate to taking their girlfriends to an abortion clinic? Countless thousands, if not millions. Out of the thousands that share that experience with Lecrae, how many are willing to admit that it hurt them? I’m sure the number is much smaller.

Abortion is too often labeled a women’s issue. Men are ridiculed or condemned for speaking out against it. The reality is that abortion affects everyone. As the post-abortive support group Silent No More says, “Men Regret Lost Fatherhood.” Men have feelings and emotions related to abortion. Sadly, they don’t always feel safe to express their grief, for fear of being ridiculed or having their pain dismissed. This is why Lecrae’s interview is so important.

Lecrae is seen by millions as a relevant leader with a voice worth listening to. John Piper and John Ensor are powerful leaders as well. Both Christian ministers have faithfully spoken out against abortion for years. I pray this interview will lead other men to be open about their abortion pain and receive healing. I pray it will reach men considering abortion, helping them to see it’s a choice that has lasting consequences. Thank you, Lecrae, for talking about something.

Editor’s note. This appeared at liveactionnews.org.

By Christina Martin, via NRL News Today

Pro-choice lawyer who drafted brief in Roe: “Abortion should eliminate the poor”

Ron Weddington, one of the attorneys who drafted the brief for abortion rights in Roe v. Wade, wrote a private letter to President-elect Bill Clinton arguing for the state to use abortion as population control. This letter was written in 1992:

“[Y]ou can start immediately to eliminate the barely educated, unhealthy and poor segment of our country. No, I’m not advocating some sort of mass extinction of these unfortunate people. Crime, drugs and disease are already doing that. The problem is that their numbers are not only replaced but increased by the birth of millions of babies to people who can’t afford to have babies. In 1989, 27% of all births were to unmarried mothers, a huge percentage of whom were teenagers. If current trends continue, soon a majority of the babies born will be born into poverty and one half of the country cannot support the other half, no matter how good our intentions. I am not proposing that you send federal agents armed with Depo-Provera dart guns to the ghetto. You should use persuasion rather than coercion. You and Hillary are a perfect example. Could either of you have gone to law school and achieved anything close to what you have if you had three or four more children before you were 20? No! You waited until you were established in your 30s to have one child. That is what sensible people do.… It’s time to officially recognize that people are going to have sex and what we need to do as a nation is prevent as much disease and as many poor babies as possible. Condoms alone won’t do it. Depo-Provera, Norplant and the new birth control injection being developed in India are not a complete answer… No, government is going to have to provide vasectomies, tubal ligations and abortions… RU-486 and conventional abortions. Even if we make birth control as ubiquitous as sneakers and junk food, there will still be unplanned pregnancies. There have been about 30 million abortions in this country since Roe v. Wade. Think of all the poverty, crime and misery… And then add 30 million unwanted babies to the scenario.”

Ron Weddington is the husband of Sarah Weddington, one of the two lawyers who argued for abortion in Roe v. Wade

Quoted in Taylor Carmichael, “The Seen and the Unseen: Abortion and the Supreme Court” (Amazon Digital Services, 2014).

Editor’s note. This appeared at clinicquotes.com.

By Sarah Terzo, via NRL News Today

Pro-choice author interviews abortion providers, reveals horror of abortion

Live Action contributor Lauren Enriquez wrote an article a week ago about pro-choice author Magda Denes. Denes, who survived Nazi Germany, held on to a pro-choice viewpoint even when confronted with the horrors of abortion while researching her book, In Necessity and Sorrow: Life and Death in an Abortion Hospital. Her book, though written many years ago, reveals some basic truths about abortion. Here are some quotes from the book that illustrate key points.

Abortion takes lives

Denes quotes three different abortion doctors.

One says:

When you do a D & C most of the tissue is removed by the Olden forceps or ring clamp and you actually get gross parts of the fetus out. So you can see a miniature person so to speak, and even now I occasionally feel a little peculiar about it because as a physician I’m trained to conserve life and here I am destroying life.

Another says:

In the beginning I was mixed up because I was taught by the Hippocratic Oath not to take a life.

And a third:

It [abortion] goes against all things which are natural. It’s a termination of a life, however you look at it.

“Babies” are killed

A clinic worker says:

A lot of people say they’re killing their baby. You get a lot of that. Some people afterwards get very upset and say ‘I killed my baby.’ Or even before, they say ‘My circumstances are such that I can’t keep it, but I’m killing my baby.’ They wouldn’t rather have the baby, and give it up for adoption either. If you go into that with them they will say that they could never do that…and yet they still consider it killing the baby…well, they are killing a baby. I mean, they are killing something that would develop into maturity…

Doctors know it’s murder

Denes was interviewed in a newspaper about her book and said:

There wasn’t a doctor, who at one time or another in the questioning did not say, “This is murder.” (Daily News [Chicago] October 22, 1976, Quoted in Abortion: The Silent Holocaust by John Powell, S.J. p 67)

Abortion is profitable

So Denes, although she was pro-choice, documented how abortion providers in one busy abortion clinic all acknowledge that they are in the business of taking lives. Why do they do it? One doctor gives a reason:

It’s not a purely altruistic …. The money that’s involved is also a big factor in why to do this. And I think that most doctors who do abortions also do them for the money’s sake. It’s a big motive, and certainly it’s nothing to be hypocritical about.

Another doctor says:

I practice medicine not to make a living and yet I like to make money at it. We made a lot of money in abortions. ….. For the first two or three months I didn’t do any of the abortions… Then I suddenly realized I had all the headaches because whenever they ran into trouble I got involved. I took over gradually and work two days a week and I found that I work very hard, but it made an awful lot of money.

And some abortionists think women aren’t deserving of respect

One doctor says:

The patients are subservient to us, and when they rebel it’s very simple: Go to somebody else….What better relationship can a man have with a woman? …

Clinic workers sometimes criticize the doctors:

I really feel that about several of the doctors. That there’s really pathological things and their involvement with abortion. Like Dr. Roderigo. [pseudonym] He is very sarcastic and he really, you know, like goes after people. Recently he had a horrendous fight with Rachel [another clinic worker]. It was absolutely, totally disgraceful. It happened right in the nurse’s station. He flew at her. Cursing, screaming out loud, yelling, you could hear it all over the whole floor. It was incredible, I mean, imagine the kind of feeling that gives the patients on the floor. He was just out after her and it had to do with her being a woman, in her position, kind of…”

And reveal a lack of concern about patient care:

Our surgeons have a technique, even though I shouldn’t really say this, where they don’t really scrub between cases. They’ll scrub once and they’ll do a case and they’ll go next door to the next room and put on a new gown and gloves. Without scrubbing between.

Clinic workers silence their consciences

Clinic workers describe how they have hardened themselves to the death of the babies:

I’m not one to see blood and mess and things like that. But I have since gotten so excited about it that I thought about going back to nursing school. When you think about it on a certain level, it’s a really interesting thing that is happening. It’s fascinating, when you can think about it clinically and not get involved in the people, or the babies. What happened when I was first working here was that I just thought about the baby and that was very upsetting. I’m very pro-abortion… several times I saw a really beautiful things happen, I mean it’s physically beautiful… Sometimes you can see the vagina opening up in the entire thing coming at once.
Another says:

[Abortion] hasn’t had any effect on me at all. …. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a male, but when I leave here I don’t feel worried, as if I’ve done something wrong. It’s like any other type of surgery, I just consider it a job. I once did say to myself, “Gee, suppose I’d one day have a dream and see thousands of fetuses running after me.” ….I feel funny sometimes taking on a fetus by D&C even, when you can see the heart beating. Even with D&C’s you get these feelings that you are doing something wrong. Especially when you see arms and legs coming out. It comes out in so many pieces. We had nurses that couldn’t adjust to this type of work. Many of them quit.”

Denes herself becomes hardened to the babies’ deaths.

She watches clinic workers looking through the remains of an aborted child for a lost ring, barely noticing the horror of it.

Sensibility is blunted through exposure. After weeks of trailing Holzman [an abortionist] from OR 1 to OR 2, my sense of meaning dulls. I begin to see “cases,” “cervical apertures,” “fetal tissue.”… One time the circulating nurse loses her wedding ring during surgery. She discovers the loss at the end of the operation as the orderly is about the fold the bloodied sheets on the floor. She takes the filled plastic bag from the wastebasket and empties it into the middle of the sheets. Both kneel and with their bare hands rummage frantically in the pile of placental tissue and blood and body parts. “It has to be here,” she says nearly in tears. “We’ll find it,” he reassures her. I am all for them. Is frightful to lose one’s wedding ring.… Hours later, when the scene reasserts itself in my mind, I do not recognize myself.

And eventually, Denes and the clinic workers just sit around joking about eating aborted babies.

… Several of us sit in the cafeteria around a luncheon table, eating overdone, tasteless stew. “What do you think this is made of?” Someone asks. “Venison,” I say. “Pigeon,” says Betsy. “Don’t be silly,” says one of the counselors “there is a hell of a lot cheaper meat to be found around here.” All of us laugh, guffaw, splutter, and slap each other on the arms. It is the funniest thing we have heard in years… “Get a hold of yourself, ladies,” Rachel says. “This is unseemly.” She is right, of course, but all of us laugh again. “I think it’s a Greek dish,” says Teresa, laughing so hard that tears begin to roll down her face and we can barely understand her. “It’s fetustu.” There is no containing any of us now. “There is mincemeat pie for dessert,” someone shouts. “And that isn’t tomato juice you’re drinking, ” adds somebody else. Most of us are doubled over. The air is filled with the shrieks, and gasps, and gurgles. My sides begin to ache.”

Denes has written a book that shows the horror of abortion. That it comes from a person who is dedicated to the pro-choice belief system is even more disturbing.

Editor’s note. This appeared at liveactionnews.org.

By Sarah Terzo, via NRL News Today

Loyola's MLK Celebration to Feature Speaker Who Thanked God for Abortion

CHICAGO - The Catholic Loyola University of Chicago, is hosting a pro-abortion journalist, who once thanked God for abortion on television, as the keynote speaker of the Jesuit university’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on January 21. The journalist/writer Touré will deliver a speech entitled “How Racism Functions Today.”

Two years ago - on the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade - Touré promoted his support for abortion rights on MSNBC where he recounted the story of a past girlfriend’s abortion and how it “saved [his] life.

Prior to the presidential election in November 2012, Touré sent out a retweet encouraging girls to get abortions immediately “in case the Republicans win.” In 2014, he was accused of anti-Semitism when he suggested that Jewish survivors of the Holocaust benefited from “the power of whiteness.”

h/t: Catholic Education Daily

Source: Illinois Review

U.S. House of Representatives to vote January 22 on Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act!

WASHINGTON (January 13, 2015) — The Republican leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives indicates that it intends to bring a major pro-life bill to the House floor for a vote on Thursday, January 22, 2015.

The bill is the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 36), which would extend general protection from abortion to unborn children nationwide beginning at 20 weeks fetal age, based on congressional recognition that by this point in development, if not earlier, the unborn child is capable of experiencing pain. H.R. 36, sponsored by Reps. Trent Franks (R-Az.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tn.), is based on model legislation developed by National Right to Life that has already been enacted in 10 states.

Please click here to visit the NRLC Legislative Action Center, where an easy-to-use tool will assist you in quickly sending an e-mail message to your representative in the U.S. House, urging him or her to cosponsor H.R. 36 and to vote to advance the bill on January 22.

To view an always-current list of House cosponsors of the bill, arranged by state, click here.

Note: In the U.S. Senate, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) plans to introduce the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act very soon. To send an email message to your two U.S. senators, urging them to sign on as original cosponsors of this vital legislation, please click here.

BREAKING: House to vote on 20-week abortion ban Jan 22: Roe anniversary, date of March for Life

From Politico this morning, in an article entitled, “GOP hopes it’s cracked the abortion code: Republicans unite around a push to ban the procedure after 20 weeks of pregnancy”:

… GOP leaders plan to vote on a federal 20-week abortion ban on Jan. 22. That’s the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade and falls on the same day as the March for Life….

In the House, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) opted to tie the upcoming vote to the March for Life event after meeting with leading anti-abortion groups and Republicans who have long been vocal opponents of abortion.

McCarthy met in November with a dozen conservative groups, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Susan B. Anthony List, and “reiterated his commitment to the pro-life movement and vowed to ensure that the House of Representatives would be in session and voting during the 2015 March for Life,” a GOP staffer said.

The Politico article notes, “60% of Americans support the 20-week ban, according to Quinnipiac, and Democrats are evenly divided on that specific proposal.”

So, battling a ban against abortion past 20 weeks is a loser for abortion proponents and Democrats. Even so, they’re absurdly trying, for instance, National Organization for Women President Terry O’Neill , who said, according to Politico:

“If you say ‘viability,’ that’s the time where a fetus can live independently outside of the womb. That’s 24 to 26 weeks. But most people don’t know that. So when you just say, ‘Oh, do you want to ban abortion at 20 weeks?’ People go ‘Yeah, that’s really late!’ No, it’s not. And most people don’t know that it’s not late.”

First, the American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics have established viability at either 23 weeks or 400 grams (14 ounces).  Politico could and should have corrected O’Neill’s obvious attempt to dehumanize 20-weekers.

Second, 5 months is “not late”? Does O’Neill really want to go there? Does she really want us to start talking about the advanced development of a 20-week-old preborn baby? I think not. Just goes to show the other side’s uphill path.

And the number of perfectly healthy babies aborted past 20 weeks amounts to over 18,000 annually, or 49 a day, counter to another of the other side’s claims that they are “rare.”

The pro-abortion American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists embarrasses itself by trying to claim, as quoted by Politico, that 20-week-old preborns do not feel pain, when even younger babies, 18-weekers, are now routinely anesthetized if undergoing surgery.

The abortion lobby is right about one thing. As Planned Parenthood indicated, a bill to ban abortion after 20 weeks is a “clear attempt to challenge Roe v. Wade.”
It does this two ways.

First, H. R. 36 redraws the line after which abortions would be restricted. At present, the line is viability, according to Roe.

Second, H. R. 36 severely narrows the broad health exception defined in Roe’s companion case, Doe v. Bolton, which was:

… in the light of all factors – physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age – relevant to the well-being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health.

This health exception has basically allowed abortion on demand throughout all 40 weeks of pregnancy since 1973. H. R. 36’s health definition is:

… substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including psychological or emotional conditions, of the pregnant woman.

The post BREAKING: House to vote on 20-week abortion ban Jan 22: Roe anniversary, date of March for Life appeared first on Jill Stanek.

Upbeat March for Life Chicago promo features Roskam, Lipinski in support of life

Congressmen Dan Lipinski and Peter Roskam are
feature in upbeat March for Life promo

Life will be celebrated in Chicago Sunday, January 18th, 2015 when thousands are expected to gather at Daley Plaza for the annual March for Life.

This year's promotional video feature last year's speakers, Congressmen Peter Roskam and Dan Lipinski - one a Republican, the other a Democrat.

"Life is not a partisan issue," Democrat Lipinski says in the video. "It is an issue for all of us to come together to protect our most sacred right, the right to life."

"Science is the friend of life," Roskam, a Republican, said. "The more people understand about what's going in the womb, what ends up happening? The more persuaded they are of the personhood of that baby in the womb."

This year's promotional was produced by Spirit Juice videos.



Contact: Illinois Review

Both houses of Congress are now under Pro-Life Leadership

Pro-life Speaker John Boehner received National Right to Life’s “Legislative Leadership Award” at NRL’s 2010 convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. John Boehner has been an outspoken supporter of the most vulnerable members of our society. Throughout the battle over President Obama’s health care bill, he worked tirelessly to defend the rights of unborn children, the elderly, and the medically dependent and disabled.

Have you heard? A wonderful thing happened Tuesday under the Capitol dome when the 114th Congress convened.

With pro-life Speaker John Boehner’s re-election to serve another term, and pro-life Senator Mitch McConnell’s election to serve as the U.S. Senate’s majority leader, both houses of Congress are now under pro-life leadership.

It was an honor to join with members of New York State Right to Life in the Capitol Visitor’s Center to celebrate and welcome three new pro-life members of New York’s congressional delegation to Washington, D.C.: Lee Zeldin (R), John Katko (R), and Elise Stefanik(R).

Both Lee Zeldin and John Katko defeated pro-abortion incumbent Democrat House members, while Elise Stefanik, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, won the open seat previously held by a pro-abortion Democrat. All three new members won in districts which voted for Obama in 2012.



Pro-life Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaking at a general session during National Right to Life's 2014 convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Mitch McConnell has been a key supporter of every major pro-life initiative to come before the U.S. Senate during his tenure.

Similar celebrations were being held elsewhere for other states in the halls of Congress. A total of 13 freshmen U.S. senators were sworn in, as were more than two dozen freshmen members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

National Right to Life’s political entities were actively involved in 74 federal races nationwide: 18 in the U.S. Senate and 56 in the U.S. House. We won 76% of those races!

Approximately 3.3 million identified voter households were contacted; 1.3 million pieces of literature were hand-distributed by NRL’s grassroots volunteers; and 33,000 radio ads were aired on more than 1,200 stations in crucial districts leading up to the election, exposing the vast difference on life issues between the candidates, including their positions on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the use of tax dollars to pay for abortion, and the pro-abortion, pro-rationing Obamacare law. These activities were conducted by NRL PAC and NRL Victory Fund independently of the candidates’ campaigns.

 

Newly sworn-in pro-life congresswoman from New York's 21st congressional district, Elise Stefanik (center) with Karen Cross, NRL political director, and Jessica Rodgers, New York State Right to Life.

Post-election polling (The Polling Company/Woman Trend, Nov. 4, 2014) revealed how important the abortion issue was in the 2014 election. Twenty-three percent of voters across the nation said that the abortion issue affected their vote and voted for candidates who oppose abortion. Just 16% said abortion affected their vote and voted for candidates who favor abortion. This 7% net gain for pro-life candidates made the difference in many races.

The poll also found that 28% of voters recalled receiving, hearing, or seeing information or advertising from National Right to Life. Voters also recalled other pro-life groups involved in the election: 17% recalled receiving information or hearing advertising from the National Right to Life affiliate in their state; 9% recalled hearing from Susan B. Anthony List; and10% recalled hearing from Americans United for Life.

Visitors to the U.S. Capitol see the outward signs of newness being prepared with scaffolding on the dome, while on the inside, under the new dome, today we watched with excited anticipation as new pro-life leaders were sworn in.

It’s a new day in Washington. And none of this could happen without your support: your involvement, your votes, and your prayers.

By Karen Cross, National Right to Life Political Director, NRL News Today