JULY 2002

 Enthusiastic Crowds Prove Unborn Have

"A Friend for Life"

 

NRLC President Wanda Franz, Ph.D., presents the first place trophy in the National Pro-Life Oratory Contest to Lael Galardi of Michigan. Finishing second was Paul Southwick from Oregon. The third place winner was Jennifer Starcevich from Indiana. Melissa Wilson from Minnesota finished fourth. Photo Credit: Bill Molitor

By Dave Andrusko

Over 1,200 pro-lifers from every part of the United States and beyond came together in Pitts-burgh, Pennsylvania, June 27-29 to enjoy National Right to Life's 30th annual convention. NRLC's annual three-day educational feast provided a superb setting for some of the Movement's very finest speakers who spoke to and interacted with an audience whose enthusiasm was palpable from the opening general session.

"Sometimes everything just gets off on the right foot and it's as if that momentum carries over," said Jacki Ragan, convention coordinator. "The atmosphere was electric that first morning and the attendees clearly were primed for a top-flight educational experience."

Even more than usual, these pro-life champions had a dazzling assortment to choose from. It would be hard to go wrong with the caliber of speakers who graciously agreed to be a part of the pro-life educational event of the year.

 

Speakers at the podium led the audience in a rousing reaffirmation of the Pledge of Allegiance at the NRLC Convention in Pittsburgh. Be sure to order convention tapes. Photo credit: Dave Andrusko

Pro-Life Lawmakers and NRLC Launch New Effort to Ban Partial- Birth Abortion

 

At a June 19 press conference outside the U.S. Capitol, Congressman Steve Chabot (R-Oh.) speaks to reporters about the new Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act that he introduced that day (H.R. 4965). Standing behind Mr. Chabot are some of the co-sponsors of the bill (left to right): Reps. Jim Barcia (D-Mi.), Sue Myrick (R-NC), Mark Kennedy (R-Mn.), Jim Ryun (R-Ks.), Jeff Flake (R-Az.), and Melissa Hart (R-Pa.). NRLC photo by Douglas Johnson.

By Douglas Johnson
NRLC Federal Legislative Director

WASHINGTON (July 7, 2002) - - Key federal lawmakers, with strong support from the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), have launched a new effort to ban partial-birth abortions nationwide.

President Bill Clinton twice blocked enactment of such a national ban with his veto - - but President George W. Bush supports a ban on partial-birth abortion.

On June 19, a new version of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (H.R. 4965) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Steve Chabot (pronounced "SHA-bit"), Republican of Ohio.

Mr. Chabot, joined by lawmakers from both parties at a press conference, explained that his bill is targeted at the abortion method "in which a physician delivers an unborn child's body until only the head remains inside the womb, punctures the back of the child's skull with a sharp instrument, and sucks the child's brains out before completing delivery of the dead infant."

[What follows is the text of a June 19 letter sent by NRLC to members of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of the new Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (H.R. 4965). For further information on the bill, see the story that begins on page 1, or visit the Legislative Action Center at the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org.]

• Reflections on a Great Convention
  
• Pro-Life News In Brief
  
• CONTINUING WHAT OUR FOUNDING FATHERS BEGAN
  
• Senate Democratic Leader Blocks Cloning Ban, Pushes for Approval of Clone-and-Kill Bill
  
  Are Human Clones Really "Human"?
  
• Urgent Congressional Alert:
  Pro-Cloning Forces Pushing
  U.S. Senate to Approve
  Clone-and-Kill Bill!
  
• High Court Holds Judicial Candidates May Address Issues
  
• Abortion and Breast Cancer:
  National Cancer Institute's Disinformation Halted
  
• Inviting Youth to Fundraise for Your Chapter
  Hot Fundraising in the Summertime
  
• But House and President Bush Support Ban
  Senate Votes to Repeal Ban on Abortion on Military Bases
  
• National Right to Life Convention 2002
  AUDIOTAPE ORDER FORM
  June 27-June 29, 2002 * Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  
• House Says No to Abortion on Military Bases
  
• Abortion of Girls on the Rise in Communist China
  
• North Korean Refugees Face Forced Abortion and Infanticide
  
• NRLC Launches Legislative Action Center
  
• Pro-Lifers Find Increasingly Receptive Audience in African American Community
  
• Conquering Bias, Including Our Own
  
• Aftereffects of 9/11 Still Affecting NRLC's Financial Position
  
  So Much Depends on Our Work
  So Much Depends on You!
  
  

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From the President

CONGRESS WILL ACT SOON ON THE PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION BAN ACT OF 2002

On June 19, Congressman Steve Chabot (R-Oh.) introduced the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2002 (H.R. 4965). There was a bipartisan group of initial cosponsors: James Barcia (D-Mi.), Henry Hyde (R-Il.), Ralph Hall (D-Tx.), Chris Smith (R-NJ), James Oberstar (D-Mn.), Sue Myrick (R-NC), Bart Stupak (D-Mi.), Melissa Hart (R-Pa.), Alan Mollohan (D-WV), Rob Portman (R-Oh.), and Nick Rahall (D-WV), and by NRL News deadline there were nearly 100 cosponsors. (The full text of the bill can be found on the web at http://thomas.loc.gov.)

Congress has twice approved national bans on partial-birth abortion--but neither became law, because they were successfully vetoed by Bill Clinton in 1996 and 1997. (This fact should be contemplated by those who refused to vote in the 1992 and 1996 elections or voted for third-party candidates because they deemed the Republican candidates "not pro-life enough.")

Twenty-seven states have also passed bans on partial-birth abortions. Many of these state laws were challenged in federal court. Of these challenges, the Nebraska case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which struck down the law in the Stenberg v. Carhart decision in June 2000. Nebraska's bill to ban partial-birth abortions was similar to the bills previously passed by Congress.