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Tough Battles Ahead on
Pro-Life Measures Part One of Four By Dave Andrusko Good evening and thanks for being part of the discussion. Part Two is encouraging news out of England--their high court said "no!" to a pro-abortion short-cut. Part Three is a delightful story about a new mobile ultrasound machine. Part Four borrows from the insights of George Will's latest Newsweek column. Over at National Right to Life News Today (www.nationalrighttolifenews.org), we provide you with a dazzlingly insightful piece written by NRLC State Legislation Director Mary Spaulding Balch. Please read and share with every pro-lifer you know. We also celebrate a very successful pro-life banquet in Kansas and lament the latest effort by the abortion establishment in England. Finally, perhaps t he most grim excerpt of all from the Grand Jury that investigated Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell. To do the best job possible I need your feedback on both Today's News & Views and National Right to Life News Today. Please send your comments to daveandrusko@gmail.com. If you like, join those who are following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha.
It's been a busy day--incredibly so--for the Federal Legislation Department of National Right to Life, but that's nothing new. A small staff they have taken on the giants of the Abortion Establishment for decades, winning battles that on the surface they had no chance at prevailing. Last week, initial steps were taken on several fronts. On Friday the House Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee approved the Protect Life Act on a 14-9 vote along party lines. NRLC Federal Legislative Director Douglas Johnson testified before the subcommittee (www.nrlc.org/AHC/ProtectLifeActDouglasJohnsonTestimony.pdf). The Act will accomplish many times, but in summary form H.R. 358 will "correct the new abortion-expanding provisions" of ObamaCare and protect the conscience rights of pro-life health-care workers and institutions. (For more about Mr. Johnson's testimony to a House subcommittee, go to http://www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/Feb11/nv021011.html.) After the subcommittee vote Rep. Joe Pitts (R.-Pa.), chairman of the Health Subcommittee and sponsor of the bill, said he was pleased the panel "gave voice to the American people." "According to various surveys, 60 to 70 percent of Americans oppose federal funding of abortion services," Pitts said. Tomorrow the full Energy and Commerce Committee takes up H.R. 358 and we can rest assured that pro-abortionists on the committee will paint the measure as "extremist" and offer any number of amendments intended to scuttle the law. Likewise, last Tuesday, testimony was taken on the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" (H.R. 3). Richard Doerflinger, the Associate Director of the USCCB's Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, explained that "H.R. 3 will write into permanent law a policy on which there has been strong popular and congressional agreement for over 35 years: The federal government should not use tax dollars to support or promote elective abortion." H.R. 3 would replace the patchwork of abortion-related limitations that have been applied to various federal programs over the past 35 years and more (such as the Hyde Amendment) with a permanent, government-wide prohibition on federal subsidies for abortion and for health plans that cover abortion (with narrow exceptions). In addition, there will be key battles to be fought over the Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government for the last seven months of the fiscal year. |
