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Panel Concludes "Probably
Cause" That Pro-Life PAC Violated Ohio Law
Part Four of Four By Dave Andrusko
In "Hamlet," Shakespeare's protagonist laments, "Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all." Did the prospect of losing his seat because he bailed out at the last minute on ObamaCare induce a cowardly suit against a pro-life PAC for saying that Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio) "voted for taxpayer-funded abortion" when he voted to enact the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Obama health care law? Last week we wrote about the complaint brought against the Susan B. Anthony List ("SBA List"), a pro-life political action committee, to the Ohio Elections Commission by Rep. Driehaus, locked in a tough re-election contest, "utilized a peculiar Ohio statute under which it is a violation to make 'a false statement concerning the voting record of a candidate or public official,' or to 'post, publish, circulate, distribute, or otherwise disseminate a false statement concerning a candidate, either knowing the same to be false or with reckless disregard of whether it is false or not . . .'" www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/Oct10/nv101310part3.html According to Cincinnati Enquirer's "Politics Extra, " a three-member commission panel "found 'probable cause' that SBA List violated Ohio law by making false statements in an elections campaign. The decision means that another hearing will be held to determine whether the group broke the law. A date has not been set. If SBA List is found in violation of the law, the commission can recommend a public reprimand or prosecution, which can result in up to six months in jail and/or a fine of up to $5,000." (emphasis added). In one sense, using the courts to stifle opposition is of a piece with the mounting effort of Democrats to squelch not just criticism but any effort to factually lay out what they have done. But in other sense this suit really is really ratcheting up the assault on the First Amendment. NRLC produced a 23-page affidavit for the panel which documented , chapter and verse, how Driehaus had voted for a measure that "contained multiple provisions that do in fact authorize (i.e., create legal authority for) taxpayer funding of abortion, and that predictably will result in such funding in the future -- unless the law itself is repealed, or unless the law is revised by a future Congress to include statutory language along the lines of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment." Beyond that the affidavit also dismantled the fall-back excuse used by Democrats who voted for ObamaCare at the llth hour: pro-abortion President Obama's Executive Order fig-leaf. The NRLC affidavit demonstrated that there are no directives in President Obama's Executive Order "that apply to all, or even to most, of the provisions of the PPACA. The operative provisions that are actually contained in the Order are extremely narrow and highly qualified. . . Executive Order 13535 has the hallmarks of a primarily political document." Deal Hudson, writing at insidecatholic.com, emphasized a particularly telling point NRLC had commented on previously. "Driehaus, by the way, had made essentially the same characterization of the healthcare legislation as made by Dannenfelser. On March 19, Driehaus was an original co-sponsor of H. Con.Res. 254 , an 'enrollment correction,' introduced by Rep. Bart Stupak .That resolution would have removed abortion funding from the Senate version of the healthcare bill. The language of the final healthcare bill – 'Patient Protection and Affordable Health Act' (PPACA) -- had not changed when both Stupak and Driehaus voted for it, and Obama signed it into law. Now, Driehaus is trying to send Marjorie Dannenfelser [President of SBA] to jail for precisely the same view of the healthcare bill as expressed in his support for H. Con. Res 254 -- that it authorizes federal tax dollars to be spent on abortion." See www.nrlc.org/AHC/DvSBA/HConRes254MoreEvidence.html We are two weeks and one day out from the November 2 mid-term elections. I hope this is the only last-minute attempt to gag opponents of ObamaCare, but I would not be surprised if it isn't. Please send your comments on Today's News & Views and National Right to Life News Today to daveandrusko@gmail.com. If you like, join those who are following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha. |
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