Texas Gov. Signs Trigger Law Banning Abortion if Roe v. Wade is Overturned

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R)

Last Thursday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a bill banning all abortions if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that legalized abortion nationwide, each state will have the ability to decide whether abortion is legal within its borders.

HB 1280, otherwise known as The Human Life Protection Act, would make Texas one of the first states to outlaw abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. That could happen soon, since the Supreme Court agreed last month that it will hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. That case concerns a Mississippi law that bans abortion at 15 weeks gestation.

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, Texas HB 1280 comes into effect 30 days later. All abortions in the state will become illegal to the extent that the new court ruling allows. The law does have exceptions for when a mother's life is at risk.

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Pro-Life Group Files Complaint over Planned Parenthood PPP Loan

photo credit: American Life League / Flickr

Pressure continues to mount on the Small Business Administration regarding enormous loans they continue to send to Planned Parenthood affiliates even though they are ineligible. New Hampshire Right to Life filed a complaint last week regarding a $2,717,300 loan issued to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

The Paycheck Protection Program was set up in March 2020 to provide small businesses with less than 500 employees the ability to pay their employees during government lockdowns. Despite the fact that Planned Parenthood is an enormous business with far more than 500 employees, the corporation took advantage of the program to take millions of dollars meant for small businesses.

“The SBA has already determined that the Planned Parenthood affiliate structure is such that it was unlawful to apply for the PPP funds; therefore, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England should return the taxpayer funds,” said Jason Hennessy, president of New Hampshire Right to Life.

Just last month, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said that the SBA had not responded to the Senate Small Business Committee's inquiry as to why Planned Parenthood affiliates continue to receive PPP loans. Affiliates have received over $90 million in loans so far.

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Sen. Hyde-Smith Questions FDA Commissioner on Abortion Pill Regulations

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)

On June 10, U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) criticized the FDA for its regulatory inconsistencies regarding abortion pills, and pushed the agency to conduct a review of the risks mifepristone has to women's health.

Mifepristone is the first part of the two-pill chemical abortion regimen. It starves and asphyxiated an unborn child by blocking the pregnancy hormone progesterone, which facilitates the transfer of oxygen and nutrients to the child. This year, the Biden administration had the FDA "temporarily" stop enforcing REMS regulations governing the distribution of mifepristone for the remaining duration of the pandemic. Since then, the administration predictably announced that it is considering whether it will end those regulations altogether.

Sen. Hyde-Smith questioned Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting commissioner of the FDA, during a Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to voice her concerns about this potential change in FDA policy.

“The FDA decision is alarming because this drug is dangerous. The limited data we do have shows unacceptable rates of complications for women and girls,” Hyde-Smith said.

“I am particularly struck by the inconsistency of FDA’s actions. For instance, the FDA and CDC imposed a pause on the Johnson and Johnson COVID vaccine after reports of blood clots in some women.  At the same time, FDA is expanding the approval for chemical abortion pills that have much, much higher risks of blood clots than the J&J vaccine,” she said.

Hyde-Smith also pointed out that 20% of reported complications from mifepristone were life-threatening or resulted in death.

Hyde-Smith asked Woodcock to "mandate the collection of complete and accurate information of all adverse events related to this drug... so that the FDA has complete and accurate data for its review for this abortion pill."

In response, Woodcock grinned and gave a snide remark: “I will have to look at the conditions of the REMS. All serious events need to be reported to the FDA.  So let me look into that, but it may well be that if a person has a headache after using this drug that that may not have to be reported because it’s a non-serious, self-limited event.”

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Uyghur Refugees Describe Forced Abortion by Chinese Government

The Associated Press recently spoke with survivors of the Uyghur genocide in China who fled to Turkey. They told disturbing stories of the horrible experience Uyghur Muslims face at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, including forced abortions and torture.

Bumeryem Rozi is one of these survivors. The mother of four told the AP that authorities took her and other pregnant women to get forced abortions in 2007. She was pregnant with her fifth child at the time, but she said she complied because she feared how the government might retaliate against her family.

“I was 6 1/2 months pregnant,” Rozi, 55, told the AP. “The police came, one Uyghur and two Chinese. They put me and eight other pregnant women in cars and took us to the hospital. They first gave me a pill and said to take it. So I did. I didn’t know what it was. Half an hour later, they put a needle in my belly. And sometime after that I lost my child.”

The AP also spoke with Semsinur Gafur, a former obstetrician-gynecologist who worked at a village hospital in Xinjiang during the 1990s. She said that she and several other female clinicians would travel from house to house with a mobile ultrasound machine to check if any women were pregnant.

“If a household had more births than allowed, they would raze the home,” Gafur said. “They would flatten the house, destroy it. This was my life there. It was very distressing. And because I worked in a state hospital, people didn’t trust me. The Uyghur people saw me as a Chinese traitor.”

China continues to deny that it is committing genocide against the Uyghur people. Through its one-child policy, which has since increased to a three-child policy, the Chinese Communist Party additionally requires the deaths of unborn children of all races.

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Woman Raising Funds to Buy Closed Abortion Business to Heal Post-Abortive Women

When she was only 13 years old, Serena Dyksen was taken to abort her baby conceived during a sexual assault. Dr. Ulrich Klopfer, the man who aborted her baby, passed away in 2019, after which it was discovered that he had hoarded the remains of over 2,000 aborted children at his home in Will County, Illinois. Dyksen hopes to turn his closed workplace into “a place of healing for women who have been hurt by abortion.”

Klopfer commuted to South Bend, Indiana where he worked at an abortion business called "The Women's Pavilion." The facility has since closed and is now available for sale.

Dyksen is the founder of the pro-life organization She Found His Grace. Through a recovery program that includes Bible studies and Christian counseling, She Found His Grace helps women recover from past abortions through a program that includes Bible studies and Christian counseling. If she hopes to purchase the closed abortion business so she can do more:

"The women would be able to use this space as safe haven. The goal is to help them find their healed voices so they can help other women choose life. We know when women find their healed voices after abortion, abortion minded women are 85% more likely to keep their babies because they are hearing the truth first hand of how abortion has devasted their lives. We would offer weekly abortion recovery classes. This space would also offer a place for the community to come heal around our prayer garden and remembrance wall."

Dyksen has started a crowdfunding campaign to help raise the $200,000 needed to buy the building.

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Kentucky AG Files Brief with Supreme Court to Defend Dismemberment Abortion Ban

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron

On Monday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed a brief with the US Supreme Court arguing that he must be allowed to defend Kentucky's House Bill 454. This 2018 law bans dismemberment abortions, but the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction blocking its enforcement.

After the Sixth Circuit made its decision, pro-abortion Kentucky Gov. Andrew Beshear refused to defend HB 454, which was passed under the previous administration. Cameron attempted to intervene and defend the law, but the Sixth Circuit denied him the ability to do so.

A coalition of 20 state attorneys general filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in December, defending Cameron's right to defend his state's law. Part of that brief reads,

"The Sixth Circuit panel majority deprived the Commonwealth of Kentucky from seeking complete appellate review of the District Court’s injunction invalidating one of its duly enacted laws. And it did so on purely procedural grounds, holding that the Kentucky Attorney General could not intervene to vindicate state law on appeal because a single state officer had decided to abandon defense of a law passed by both houses of its Legislature and signed into law by its [previous] Governor."

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Senate Passes NIH Funding Bill Enabling Human-Animal Chimera Research

On June 9, the US Senate passed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), also known as the "Endless Frontier Act," by a vote of 68-32. The bill grants billions of dollars to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) but does not ban the use of aborted baby cells to create human-animal hybrid embryos. Since the NIH is expected to end its moratorium on this research, and American universities are already conducting it, some federal tax dollars could go directly to this disturbing research.

Indiana Sen. Mike Braun introduced an amendment to the bill that would have banned the creation of human-animal embryos, but it failed by a vote of 49-48.

The problem that this legislation creates is amplified by the fact that Biden has reversed Trump policies which blocked research using tissue harvested from elective abortions.

“Currently the National Institutes of Health does not do this research and we need to keep it that way,” Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said, “Researchers who are attempting these horrific once-science-fiction experiments should focus on valuing the dignity of human life, not trying to genetically merge and manipulate humans and animals.”

If "The Endless Frontier Act" also passes the House of Representatives, billions of dollars will be available for NIH use in immoral experiments.

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6 Ohio Pro-Life Activists Arrested at Abortion Clinic

Police arresting Father Fidelis Moschinki on June 4

Six Ohio pro-life activists were arrested on June 4 and 5 on charges of trespassing after they entered abortion businesses and counseled women against abortion.

Those arrested include a Catholic priest and an 18-year old.

The activists were participating in a Red Rose Rescue mission; inspired by Canadian pro-life activist Mary Wagner. She repeatedly enters abortion businesses and offered red roses to pregnant mothers inside. In this instance, the Red Rose Rescuers offered roses and cards with the phone numbers of local pregnancy centers. The card includes the message: “You were made to love and to be loved ... your goodness is greater than the difficulties of your situation. Circumstances in life change. A new life, however tiny, brings the promise of unrepeatable joy.”

Dr. Monica Migliorino Miller, who organized the Red Rose Rescue missions, was one of the people arrested during the event. She was held for five hours before being released by police. When describing the rescue missions, she said, “Our goal is to talk to moms one on one and give them a hope that they otherwise wouldn’t have. They’ve already gone past the sidewalk counselors on the sidewalk and so this is our last effort to reach them before they walk down a hallway to abort their baby.”

“They deserve a defense,” Miller said. “They deserve someone to stand up and witness for them. So that’s why we don’t leave them. We remain in solidarity with the victims of abortion. And that’s why we don’t leave. And that’s where the possibility of arrest is going to come in, because when the police order us to leave we very politely refuse and tell them why.”

Miller has a pretrial hearing set for June 22.

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C-Section Saves Five-Month Pregnant Woman and Child After Stabbing Attack

A five-month pregnant Georgia mother was walking on a nature trail with her three-year-old son when she was stabbed in the back by a stranger. Luckily, doctors were able to administer an emergency C-Section to save the lives of both the mother and her baby.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that the 34-year-old mother and her baby boy are both stable and expected to survive. The three-year-old was not injured. A suspect with a history of mental illness was arrested last Thursday.

"From everything we can tell, this is a completely unprovoked attack," Brookhaven Lt. David Snively told the Journal-Constitution. "I recognize that's probably the scariest of the possible explanations... We're very troubled by what led up to this because this is one of those cases where it appears the victim did everything right."

This horrifying attack clearly threatened the lives of both the mother and her child, but doctors were able to save both. This is because emergency C-sections are faster and more efficient at saving lives than abortions are. Doctors can attempt to save preterm children by bringing them to the NICU, and the mother can receive the treatment she needs immediately. Surgical abortions, on the other hand, require appointments over at least two days to complete. Emergency C-sections are also not done with the intent to kill an unborn child.

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TV Networks Reject Pro-Life Ad

Three major television networks recently rejected a 30-second pro-life ad created by the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List). The networks argued that the advertisement, which argues that unborn babies are valuable human lives, is "controversial" and "unacceptable."

CBS, CMT, and the Hallmark channel all rejected the spot.

SBA List created the ad as part of a $2 million ad campaign "highlighting the humanity of unborn children as the Supreme Court prepares to review a landmark abortion case," (referring to the Mississippi law banning abortion at 15 weeks).

Click here to view the advertisement if it does not appear below.

After the ad was rejected, the SBA list responded that the ad, “doesn’t issue any calls to action to Congress or attack any candidate or politician.”

“It simply praises the modern miracles of medicine and health care tech which have increased opportunities for every generation in the last 50 years, except for the unborn because the U.S. allows abortion on-demand through birth.”

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Appeals Court Upholds Injunction Against “Missouri Stands For the Unborn Act”

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt

On Wednesday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district judge's injunction against the "Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act." Among other things, this law bans discriminatory abortions, requires Missouri doctors who refer patients out-of-state for abortions to still fulfill the state's informed consent requirements, and has tiered abortion bans at 8, 14, and 18 weeks. It is written this way so that a ban might still exist if a court blocks one or two of them.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt responded to the 8th Circuit's decision by vowing to challenge it before the Supreme Court. Schmitt said in a statement, “While we’re disappointed in the Eighth Circuit’s decision, their decision does provide an avenue for this case to be heard by the Supreme Court, and we plan to seek review in the Supreme Court. I have never and will never stop fighting to ensure that all life is protected.”

The three-judge panel from the 8th Circuit voted 2-1 to maintain District Judge Howard F. Sachs’s injunction.

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Congress Introduces Bill to Allow Abortion through Birth and Get Rid of Pro-Life Protections

photo credit: John Brighenti / Flickr

On Tuesday, pro-abortion Congress members re-introduced legislation that would allow abortion up to birth for any reason, require taxpayers to pay for abortions, and wipe out nearly all pro-life protections throughout the country.

The Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA) would ensure that women can have an abortion at all points in pregnancy for any reason, and it has the potential to destroy conscience protections, parental notification laws, and informed consent laws.

If pro-abortion politicians pass the WHPA into law, states will no longer be able to enforce even simple protections such as mandatory waiting periods, abortion counseling, or ultrasounds. Mandatory ultrasounds mainly exist to protect women by ensuring that pregnancies are correctly dated and diagnosed for conditions such as ectopic pregnancy. By doing this, abortionists can pick abortion methods that correspond with these conditions. If these things are assumed incorrectly, then the mother can be at risk of severe complications.

Illinois pro-lifers should make sure to follow this law closely, as it could easily accomplish the same goal as legislation in the General Assembly that would repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act. If federal legislation renders parental notification unenforceable, then abortion businesses will no longer be required to tell a minor's guardian(s) when she has scheduled an abortion. This one pro-life protection in Illinois not only allows parents to talk to their daughters about a life-changing decision, but it also helps protect young girls from sexual abuse and trafficking.

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New IDPH Stats Show 10% Abortion Increase from 2018 to 2019

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) recently released data showing that abortions increased by 10% from 2018 to 2019.

According to the Chicago Tribune, About 42,400 babies were aborted in 2018, while over 46,500 were aborted in 2019. The number of women coming to Illinois from other states to have abortions also increased. 13% of women who had abortions in 2018 (about 5,500) came from out of state. This increased to 16% (about 7,500) in 2019.

The passage of the 2019 Reproductive Health Act cemented Illinois's image as an "abortion haven" in the midst of other midwestern states that take action to regulate abortion. The law ended a variety of abortion restrictions and made abortion a right under state law. As other nearby states continually work to save lives, Illinois lawmakers and abortion businesses are undercutting their efforts.

Two major Planned Parenthood clinics have opened since then as well. In late 2019, Planned Parenthood opened its "mega-clinic" that it had secretly constructed in Fairview Heights by using a shell company. A major purpose for this clinic was to offer abortion to Missouri women, since Planned Parenthood's St. Louis clinic faced the threat of closure due to health violations. Planned Parenthood also opened a major clinic in Waukegan just last year.

If Illinois continues to pass pro-abortion legislation and repeal pro-life protections, the number of children killed by abortion only stands to increase even more.

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New Online Pharmacies Sell Abortion Pills for Mail Delivery

When the Biden administration announced that it would stop enforcing FDA rules requiring abortion pills to be distributed in person by certified physicians, online abortion pill pharmacies started popping up across the nation.

A service called "Hey Jane" offers abortion pills to women in New York and Washington for $199, which is roughly $300 less than what clinics normally charge to initiate a chemical abortion in person. Hey Jane delivers abortion pills are delivered within three days in an unmarked box, but it does so at significantly increased risk to the pregnant mother.

Women who purchase abortion pills online will rarely have an ultrasound beforehand. If they date their pregnancy inaccurately or have an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy, taking the abortion pill regimen could pose significant health risks and even lead to death through severe hemorrhaging. Hey Jane even notes this on its website, but mainly argues that its service offers savings and convenience compared to in-person abortion businesses.

Some states are enacting laws that prevent abortion pill distributors from sending abortion pills to customers through the mail, but these are very recent (and certainly don't apply to Illinois).

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National Right to Life Convention Extends Early Registration Through June 21

National Right to Life announced Tuesday that early registration for the 2021 National Right to Life Convention in Herndon, Virginia has been extended to June 21! Registration prices will increase after that point, so register early if you plan to attend!

The June 25-26 event will feature a variety of workshops to teach pro-lifers how they can help advance the pro-life cause, an opening prayer breakfast, a showing of the pro-life play Viable: The Truth in One Act a teens for life convention, and a closing banquet.

To learn more and register for this year's convention, visit nrlconvention.com.

General Assembly Passes Pro-Abortion Sex Education Bill

On Friday, May 28, Illinois lawmakers passed legislation mandating comprehensive sex education aligning with "National Sex Education Standards." That legislation has been sent to Gov. Pritzker's desk for signature.

SB 818 passed the House by a vote of 60-48, and it passed the Senate by a vote of 37-18. The bill mandates that schools teach "comprehensive personal health and safety education" in grades K-5 and "comprehensive sexual health education" in grades 6-12. That description misrepresents the scope of what this legislation can do to public school sex education, however.

SB 818 requires the new curriculum to align with the National Sex Education Standards set forth by the Future of Sex Education (FoSE) and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS).

The National Sex Education Standards require 2nd graders to list "medically accurate names for body parts, including the genitals." The standards describe abortion as a "pregnancy option," and tells students that "sexual intercourse may mean different things to different people, but could include behaviors such as vaginal sex, oral sex, or anal sex."

Jennifer Welch, the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, issued a press release praising pro-abortion legislators for passing this legislation.

“Because of their hard work and dedication, public and charter schools will have clear guidelines and standards for providing medically accurate and age-appropriate personal health and safety education in grades K through five and comprehensive sexual health education in grades six through 12,” Welch said.

Opponents to the bill argue that age-inappropriate information will be taught to children, and that the curriculum will paint abortion and pre-marital sex in a favorable light.

The Illinois Family Institute harshly criticized the bill on its website, writing that the National Sex Education Standards "indoctrinate children with leftist sexuality dogma."

The bill does allow parents, guardians, or entire school districts to opt their children out of the state's sex education curriculum. If a school district does this, however, they would not be allowed to teach anything about personal health and sexuality at all.

US Senate Votes Down Legislation Banning Creation of Experimental Human/Animal Hybrid Embryos

On May 27, the US Senate voted down pro-life legislation that would have banned experiments designed to create human-animal hybrid embryos.

Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) introduced the legislation as an amendment to the Endless Frontier Act. It was co-sponsored by Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK). The amendment failed after a 49-48 vote.

This amendment to the Endless Frontier Act would have banned the creation of human-animal chimeras (organisms that contain both human cells and cells from an animal). If the amendment was written into law, researchers attempting to make human-animal chimeras, transfer a nonhuman embryo into a human womb, or transfer a human embryo into a non-human womb could have faced up to 10 years in jail and/or a fine of at least one million dollars.

“Human life is distinct and sacred, and research that creates an animal-human hybrid or transfers a human embryo into an animal womb or vice versa should be completely prohibited, and engaging in such unethical experiments should be a crime,” said Senator Braun in a statement.

National Right to Life and many other pro-life organizations endorsed the proposed amendment.

This issue has become more important recently, as scientists recently created the first-ever human/monkey embryos. Additionally, the National Institutes of Health is considering whether it will dissolve a rule which bans scientists from keeping human embryos alive for lab testing for more than 14 days.

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Parental Notification is Safe for the Moment...

photo credit: John Kannenberg / Flickr

Illinois pro-lifers can breathe a brief sigh of relief, as bills repealing the Parental Notice of Abortion Act were not called to a vote before the end of the spring legislative session. Despite this, pro-life advocates still need to pay attention and be ready to fight against pro-abortion legislation. It could come back sooner than you might think.

Leaders in the General Assembly have suggested that they might call a special session in the coming weeks to consider bills that did not come to a vote before the end of the spring legislative session. If this happens, it is still possible that the General Assembly could vote on HB 1797 and SB 2091 to repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act.

The Illinois Federation for Right to Life will do its best to let you know if anything is happening with pro-abortion legislation. If you have subscribed to our newsletter, please add "mail@ifrl.org" to your contacts or make sure to check your spam box to find our updates. Subscribers have told us that much of our communication has ended up in spam recently, and we are currently researching solutions to this problem.

Appeals Court Reverses Decision Blocking New Yorkers from Gathering Outside Abortion Facility

On June 3, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated its own ruling which prevented pro-lifers from gathering outside an abortion business to counsel women.

13 pro-life advocates were targeted by former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in 2017 when he filed a legal case claiming that the pro-lifers were threatening and violent. Schneiderman hoped to establish a buffer zone, end a weekly pro-life vigil, and force the pro-lifers to pay financial penalties. Because Schneiderman had no evidence to support this accusation, the district court ruled in favor of the pro-lifers.

On March 10, 2021, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court's decision. In its opinion, it ruled that simple actions such as handing pamphlets to people outside a clinic could be viewed as a "use of force" and violate New York law.

The pro-life Thomas More Society, which represented the accused pro-lifers, responded to this ruling by calling on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to have an en banc hearing, but the court surprised many by reversing its own ruling.

“The petitions for rehearing are GRANTED,” the ruling reads. “The panel hereby VACATES its previous opinion. Accordingly, the decision of the district court remains in place.”

“It appears that even the judges in the majority on the panel found their original opinion indefensible,” said Thoms More Society Senior Counsel Stephen Crampton. “We are pleased that the fundamental First Amendment rights of our clients have been restored, and look forward to returning to the district court and finishing the case once and for all.”

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World Medical Association Proposal Would Require Conscientious Objectors to Refer Patients

The World Medical Association has proposed changes to the International Code of Medical Ethics (ICoME) which would undermine the conscientious objections of doctors who refuse to commit abortion or euthanasia. If doctors object, they would be required to refer their patients to doctors willing to complete the controversial procedures.

The current ICoME language reads:

"Physicians have an ethical obligation to minimise disruption to patient care. Conscientious objection must only be considered if the individual patient is not discriminated against or disadvantaged, the patient’s health is not endangered, and undelayed continuity of care is ensured."

But the proposal would significantly alter the code by adding the following phrase to the end of what is written above:

"[… is ensured] through effective and timely referral to another qualified physician."

UK Professor David Albert Jones of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre at Oxford decried the proposed changes in a press release. He argued that doctors have the duty to object to procedures that are "harmful, discriminatory, unjust or unethical," and the new language would completely undercut this duty. He also argued that conscientious objection does not conflict with patient care.

Jones wrote,

if a doctor objects in conscience to participation in torture or capital punishment or to force feeding of a prisoner who is on hunger strike, it would be unprincipled for them to find someone with fewer scruples to do the deed for them. To require a conscientious objector to facilitate delivery of the procedure to which they object is a direct attack on person’s conscience and moral integrity, and thus a serious harm to them. It would be much better to say nothing about conscientious objection than to undermine it by imposing a requirement for “effective and timely referral”. 

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