West Virginia Passes Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act

On Monday, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice signed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act into law. The bill is similar to a federal senate bill that failed to reach the 60 votes required to be called to a vote. The law mandates that babies born alive during an attempted abortion be provided "the same degree" of medical care that would be provided “to any other child born alive at the same gestational age.”

According to the Associated Press, Gov. Justice said it was, “unbelievable, to tell you the truth, that we have to do such a thing. So today we’re going to put a stake in the sand that says for us, for us at least we stand for life and we stand for the right stuff.”

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CNN Refers to Abortion Survivor as "fetus that was born"

Credit: Josh Hallett / Flickr

When CNN reported on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, the news organization clearly showed its pro-abortion bias through its nonsensical word choice. CNN reported that the legislation would “require abortion providers to work to ‘preserve the life and health’ of a fetus that was born following an attempted abortion as they would for a newborn baby.”

No medical professional would refer to a baby who was born despite an attempted abortion as a fetus. This language would only ever be chosen to sterilize the idea of refusing medical care to a child. It is purposefully confusing to trick readers into rationalizing infanticide.

“The bill we’re voting on doesn’t change anyone’s access to abortion […] It is about babies that are already born,” Senator Ben Sasse said on the Senate floor after citing CNN's article. “Newsflash, CNN: if you’re a baby and you’ve been born and you’re outside a momma, nobody calls that a fetus. You just want to call it a fetus because you don’t want to cover the actual story that’s being voted on in the U.S. Senate today.”

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New Indiana Bill Requires Abortion Clinics to Tell Women Considering Abortions about Humane Disposition Law

In the aftermath of the discovery of the late Ulrich Klopfer's hoard of over 2,000 aborted children at his home, the Indiana state government enacted a law requiring abortion clinics to treat the remains of aborted children with respect. In many cases, aborted children are seen by abortion clinics and hospitals as "medical waste," but the Indiana law requires abortion clinics to have the bodies of aborted children cremated or buried.

Now, a new bill has been sent to Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb which would require abortion clinics to provide women considering abortions complete information about the humane final disposition law. Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter gave this statement:

“Indiana’s current humane final disposition law, as upheld by the Supreme Court, contains grey areas we believe abortion clinics use to keep women in the dark, especially when it comes to drug-induced abortions. This bill addresses these areas and makes sure women get all the facts, including the reality that a drug-induced abortion will result in an aborted baby. We will continue working for a day when no child is aborted in Indiana. Until that day comes, this bill will make sure these children are never again treated like common medical waste in our state.”

The law would also require abortion clinics, crematoriums, and funeral homes to keep accurate logs of aborted bodies as they are sent from place to place and respectfully set to rest. These logs will make bodies easier to track and prevent people like Klopfer from being able to get away with taking and hiding bodies.

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Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act Votes Fail in Senate

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D)
Credit: Charles Edward Miller / Flickr

On Tuesday, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act failed to reach the number of votes required to end debate and bring the two bills to a full vote.

The cloture vote (the vote to end debate) ended 53-44 for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and 56-41 on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. A minimum of 60 votes was required to end the democrat-led filibuster. The votes were mostly along party lines, with notable Illinois Democrats Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth siding to block final votes.

These bills, while unlikely to pass the House of Representatives, would be crucial legislation to protect unborn life in the United States. It is disappointing that partisan politics divides politicians too much to even call these bills to a vote. The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act does not even limit abortions. It simply ensures that children born alive despite an attempted abortion will receive the same level of medical care as babies born under normal circumstances.

While it is more predictable that pro-abortion advocates would block the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, that does not make it any less acceptable that they would do so. Pro-lifers need to ensure that pro-life politicians are sent to Washington in the upcoming election and hold them accountable so that they make the protection of ALL life a priority.

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CA Attorney General to HHS: “California will take no ‘corrective action.’” CA will Continue to Force Churches to Cover Abortion

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra
Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra wrote in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that the State has no plans to stop forcing private employers, including churches and religious organizations, to fund health insurance plans with abortion coverage.

The HHS Department’s Office for Civil Rights issued a Notice of Violation to the state of California in January. The Notice declared that California's law forcing employers to cover abortion was a violation of the Weldon Amendment. The amendment allows the federal government to withhold funding from states which discriminate against “any institutional or individual healthcare entity” because they don't “provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.”

The HHS Office for Civil Rights stated that if California fails to comply with federal law, it may face “limitations on continued receipt of certain HHS funds.”

California will not back down with its violations, however. “California will take no ‘corrective action,’” said Xavier Becerra. He argued that the Obama administration found no problems with the California requirement, which began in 2014.

It could easily be argued that pro-abortion bias may have affected the Obama administration's enforcement of the Weldon Amendment.

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Federal Appeals Court Upholds Title X "Protect Life Rule"

Credit: www.weisspaarz.com

On Monday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 7-4 in favor of the Trump administration's "Protect Life Rule" which prevents organizations that provide abortions or refer patients to abortions from receiving Title X funding for their family-planning services from the government.

Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote in the majority opinion that the Supreme Court approved similar regulations in 1991 with Rust v. Sullivan and that the Protect Life Rule is “less restrictive in at least one important respect.” In the majority opinion, she stated “a counselor providing nondirective pregnancy counseling ‘may discuss abortion’ so long as ‘the counselor neither refers for, nor encourages, abortion,’” wrote Ikuta.

Planned Parenthood has called upon Congress to reverse the Protect Life Rule, which it calls a "gag rule."

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Daleiden and Merrit Charges Heard in San Fransisco Superior Court

David Daleiden at Pro-Life Summit 2020
Credit: American Life League / Flickr

David Daleiden and Sandra Merrit, undercover journalists who exposed Planned Parenthood for harvesting and illegally trafficking body parts from babies, are facing charges of illegal recording under California privacy law. Their defense team appealed the original guilty verdict to San Fransisco Superior Court and hope to get all charges dropped to protect the field of undercover journalism.

"David and Susan face 10 years- a decade- in San Quentin Penitentiary if those felony counts were to be upheld," said Peter Breen, senior counsel for the Thomas Moore Society representing the undercover journalists. "[This is] the first time and only time undercover journalists have ever been charged with that illegal taping law in California. And again, all of these tapes were taken in public exhibit halls and public restaurants. There was nothing done wrong by David and his team."

Breen says that his team is prepared to appeal this case all the way to the Supreme Court.

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Florida Governor to Sign Parental Consent Bill

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

In his state of the state address, pro-life Florida governor Ron DeSantis asked the Florida House of Representatives to pass a parental consent bill which would require a minor's parents to be involved in their daughter's decision to have an abortion. His request has now been answered.

On February 20, the Florida House of Representatives passed HB 265 with a majority of 75 to 43. When the bill reaches Governor DeSantis's desk, he is expected to sign it and pass it into law.

Sen. Kelli Stargel, a sponsor of the original bill that passed the Senate, said her legislation is “not a pro-choice or pro-life bill.” Stargel added, “This is about whether or not you’re going to have adults involved in difficult decisions with children.”

Polling showed 73% bipartisan support for the parental consent bill among Floridians.

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California Lawmakers Receive Valentines Bags from Planned Parenthood with Message: "Don't F*** with us."

California lawmakers reportedly received "goody bags" last week with a message from Planned Parenthood. They included condoms with the words "Don't F*** with us. Don't F*** without us." The bags also included a piece of paper with a short poem:

"Roses are red 

Violets are blue 

Planned Parenthood promotes safe sex 

Now your office can too!"

The idea apparently being that legislators could distribute these condoms to workers in their legislative offices. Senate Republican leader Shannon Grove went to Facebook to express her disappointment on Valentine's day:

“We confirmed several offices received this ‘gift’ from Planned Parenthood, including mine. Really???? This is how PP communicates with members of the state legislature. Good thing I stopped a group of kids from seeing in my office…… #Crass #disgusting #Vulgar.”

Of course, Planned Parenthood's business model is not built on promoting safe sex. It is built on promoting abortion and profiting off vulnerable women who don't feel like they have any better options.

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Supreme Court to Begin Hearings on Louisiana's "Unsafe Abortion Act" Next Month

Credit: Glenn Beltz / Flickr

On March 4, the United States Supreme Court will begin hearings in June Medical Services v. Phillips, a case deciding the constitutionality of a Louisiana law requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges to a nearby hospital.

"The Unsafe Abortion Act" requires abortionists to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the facility. The requirement is designed to keep women safe in cases when women are injured during abortion procedures. This would also have the side-effect of ensuring only qualified physicians perform abortions since hospitals review a doctor's experience before granting admitting privileges.

The state of Louisiana originally lost its case in District Court before winning in the Fifth Court of Appeals. It will be the first abortion-related case to be heard by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

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Former Editor of Harvard Journal Argues Preborn Children are Entitled to Equal Protection Under the Constitution

Pro-life organization Live Action released a new video in its series titled “Pro-Life Replies” on Wednesday. In this video, former editor in chief of Harvard Journal of Law Josh Craddock argues that the landmark case Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided, and preborn children should have constitutional protection under the 14th amendment.


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HHS Seeking Nominations for Board to Decide Ethics of Tax-Funded Research on Aborted Babies

Credit: Michel / Flickr

The Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that it is seeking nominations for the National Institute of Health Research Ethics Advisory Board. Part of this board's duties will include deciding the ethics of using aborted babies in medical research.

“The Board will be composed of 15 individuals who are not federal employees,” the announcement says. The board will include at least one attorney, ethicist, practicing physician, and theologian. Furthermore, at least one half of the appointments must be “scientists with substantial accomplishments in biomedical or behavioral research.”

“The Ethics Board will advise, consult with, and make recommendations to, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) regarding the ethics of research involving human fetal tissue (HFT) proposed in NIH grant and cooperative agreement applications and R&D contract Proposals,” the announcement continues. “Recommendations will address whether the Secretary should withhold funds or not withhold funds from a proposed project because of ethical considerations. In providing advice and recommendations on these matters, the Ethics Board will consider, among other things, the use of alternative models, and review and verify the core ethical principles and procedures used in the process to obtain written voluntary informed consent for the donation of the tissue.”

Directions and necessary materials for nominations are included in the announcement. Nominations must be received within the next 30 days.

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Judge Rules Against Title X Abortion Funding Restrictions in Maryland

On February 18, a U.S. district judge ruled in favor of the state of Maryland against the Trump administration's Title X rule restricting taxpayer funding of abortion.

The Protect Life Rule prevents taxpayer funding from going towards family planning facilities that provide abortions, share a location with an abortion provider, or refer patients to abortions. U.S. district court judge Richard Bennett sided with the state of Maryland against the Protect Life Rule, calling it, “arbitrary and capricious, being inadequately justified and objectively unreasonable.”

“The administrative record reflects that literally every major medical organization in the United States has opposed implementation of this rule,” he wrote. “There is almost no professional support for its implementation.”

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia are also suing against the Protect Life Rule, so even more federal court decisions regarding the Trump administration's ability to restrict taxpayer funding of abortion in this way will come.

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Illinois Abortions Increased by 3,000 in First Year of Taxpayer-Funding

Credit: Matt Turner / Flickr

Late in January, the Illinois Department of Public Health released abortion statistics for 2018, the first full year since Republican Governor Bruce Rauner signed a bill requiring Medicaid and state insurers to provide abortion coverage. According to these new statistics, over 3,000 more abortions occurred in 2018 than in 2017.

“We knew that abortions would continue to increase as taxpayer funding of abortions took hold, but seeing an increase of nearly 4,000 more Illinois babies aborted is shocking,” Thomas Moore Society Vice President Peter Breen told the National Review.

Pro-life advocates are afraid that these numbers will only increase as Illinois becomes an "abortion hub" for nearby states. As Illinois removes restrictions on abortion and nearby states enact new restrictions, both politicians and abortion providers have stated that they want to provide abortions to women from bordering states.

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Canadian Judge Rejected Refugee Because She Kept a Child Conceived in Rape

Credit: ccpixs.com

A member of Canada's refugee board doubted a woman's rape claim and rejected her application to live in Canada because she didn't believe a woman who had been raped would ever choose not to abort.

“(I am) sensitive to the subject of rape, but the claimant’s explanation does not make sense as to why she would keep a child who would remind her of being raped, unless that is not the case,” wrote Sarwanjit Randhawa.

In the applicant's hearing, Randhawa asked her if she ever considered having an abortion, to which she responded that she opposed abortion. She knew it wasn't the child's fault that they were conceived in abortion, and she knew what it was like to live without parents.

None of these explanations were good enough for Randhawa, who has been taught by pro-abortion advocates that abortion isn't just a choice for women who have been raped. To her, it is the appropriate response in all cases.

After reports about the judge's decision spread, the decision was reversed in an appeal.

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House of Representatives Passes Measure to Resurrect Expired Equal Rights Amendment

A measure to add the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed from Congress to the states by the 92nd Congress in 1972. Now, after a strange vote in Virginia to ratify the expired amendment, the House of Representatives voted to retroactively change the ratification deadline.

The House of Representatives voted 232-183 on Thursday to remove the original deadline. The measure is unlikely to get any farther than that, however. Senate leadership, the Department of Justice, and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg have all stated that the Equal Rights Amendment is dead legislation. Any effort o ratify an amendment like it would need to start from the beginning of the process. Even if the Republican majority in the senate were to support this time-traveling bill, the ERA would be contested heavily in federal courts.

During House debate, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “This [ERA] has nothing to do with the abortion issue.” Douglas D. Johnson, the senior policy advisor for National Right to Life, strongly disagreed. “Pelosi says the ERA has nothing to do with abortion, but her friends at Planned Parenthood, NARAL, NOW, and the National Women’s Law Center have been shouting from the rooftops that it has a great deal to do with abortion.” The Associated Press's David Crary even reported on Jan. 21 that “… Abortion-rights supporters are eager to nullify the [ERA ratification] deadline and get the amendment ratified so it could be used to overturn state laws restricting abortion.”

The amendment simply states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” A similar amendment to the New Mexico Constitution has been ruled by the state's Supreme Court to require state funding of abortion, and many pro-abortion organizations believe this amendment will be interpreted the same way at the federal level.

The argument in favor of this interpretation is that regulating abortion affects only women because only women become pregnant. If abortion only affects women, then any legislation that restricts abortion is discriminatory. This is, of course, untrue, since both men and women are affected by abortion. Abortion affects children of both sexes as well as their fathers.

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Oklahoma Court Rules State can Ban Telemed Abortions and Require that Only Physicians Commit Abortions

Credit: mattza / Flickr

An Oklahoma judge ruled last week that the state could ban telemed abortions (at-home abortions using drugs ordered over the internet) and require that abortions only be done by qualified physicians.

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter argued the case with Trust Women Abortion Facility before Oklahoma District Court Judge Natalie Mai, who ruled in favor of existing restrictions.

The Attorney General was grateful for Judge Mai's decision, saying, “This is an extreme lawsuit, seeking to overthrow commonsense safety laws that have been on the books for half a century combined. We appreciate Judge Mai’s thoughtful review and decision, which stays faithful to the U.S. Supreme Court’s repeated assertion that there is ‘no doubt’ that these types of laws are reasonable and constitutional ‘to ensure the safety of the abortion procedure.’”

The Attorney General went on, “Abortion advocates used to say that abortion should be between a woman and her doctor, but now they are attempting to take the doctor out of the room, and out of the picture altogether,”  Hunter continued. “We look forward to our continued defense of these laws and others that have been enacted to protect Oklahoma women’s health and safety, as well as the dignity of the unborn.”

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Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act

Senator Ben Sasse (R-Neb.)

On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act to help draw the Democratic support that will be required for the bill to ever be called to a vote.

“This hearing is not about overturning Roe v. Wade,” said Senator Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) in his opening remarks. “In fact, this hearing is not actually about limiting access to abortion at all. This hearing isn’t a debate about third-trimester, or second-trimester, or first-trimester abortion. This hearing is about making sure that every newborn baby has a fighting chance—whether she’s born in a labor and delivery ward or whether she’s born in an abortion clinic.”

The need for federal protection of abortion survivors is becoming increasingly clear, with the governors of Virginia and New York supporting measures to take the right to medical care away from infants who survive abortions.


“Thanks to the governors of New York and Virginia, we now know that pro-abortion groups and legislators believe that it should be legal to kill unborn babies, for absolutely any reason, at any time up to and including the moment of their birth,” said Jennifer Popik, J.D., legislative director of National Right to Life. “Shockingly, they have also decided that the right to abortion extends to neglecting a living infant survivor of an abortion.”

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Ohio Couple Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter of Born-Alive Child During Alleged Botched In-Home Abortion

Kalina V.E. Gillum and Braden C. Mull
Credit: WCMH-TV

Kalina V.E. Gillum and Braden C. Mull were indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter after allegedly botching an in-home abortion via the use of Misoprostol tablets ordered from India.

According to an NBC4 report, Prosecuting Attorney William C. Hayes stated, “Gillum gave birth to a male child in the bathroom of the apartment she shared with Mull.”

“At no time did either one of them ever call 911 or seek emergency medical treatment for the child,” he elaborated in a press release.

The couple was arrested on Saturday and were in court on Monday. Gillum and Mull are both being held on a $150,000 cash bond.

According to WSYX/WTTE, they were complete charges include Involuntary Manslaughter, Child Endangering, Tampering with Evidence and Abuse of Corpse.

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Abortionist Ulrich Klopfer's Hoarded Bodies of 2,411 Aborted Children Buried Wednesday

Credit: Amy Aletheia Cahill / Flickr

After his death, abortionist Ulrich Klopfer was found to have hoarded the bodies of 2,411 aborted children in his Illinois home and one of his cars. While they were unable to be identified by Indiana officials, the bodies were buried Wednesday following a service in Southlawn Cemetery in South Bend, Indiana.

“My office continues to work diligently on the investigation of the circumstances leading to this discovery, and I intend to provide for a dignified burial of these remains in accordance with Indiana law so these remains may finally rest in peace,” said Attorney General Curtis Hill. Hill is scheduled to speak during the service today before these children aborted between the years 2000 and 2003 are finally laid to rest.

Before his license was revoked indefinitely, Klopfer committed abortions in South Bend, Indiana, the town where presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg used to be mayor. He failed to report abortions he performed on two 13-year-old girls to authorities and even performed an abortion on a 10-year-old Illinois girl who was raped by her uncle without reporting anything.

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