Week in Review – Missouri, Alabama, and Louisiana on the front lines this week
A battle is raging in the state of Missouri over Planned Parenthood’s license—which is set to expire today—to do abortions. The state says that it has not made a decision on renewal because Planned Parenthood has had a number of violations that have not been corrected and, therefore, extension of the license is not warranted. Planned Parenthood has, of course, framed the whole situation as a “political battle” and has filed a lawsuit asking a judge to, in effect, force the state to renew its license. Surrounding this battle is the additional fact that Troy Newman and Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue have identified this particular Planned Parenthood abortion facility as the most dangerous abortion facility in the country. Through accessing public records, Operation Rescue has documented that 74 women have been sent to the hospital after suffering significant problems during abortions at this mill. They have called on the state to enforce the regulations and the state is apparently trying to do just that.
At the time we were writing this newsletter, late Thursday afternoon, we received the following update from the Associated Press: “A St. Louis judge is deciding whether to grant an order that would allow Missouri’s only abortion clinic to keep its license to perform abortions past Friday. Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer heard an hour of arguments Thursday on Planned Parenthood’s request for a temporary restraining order that would prohibit the state from allowing the St. Louis clinic’s license to lapse. It isn’t clear when Stelzer will rule.”
Much attention has been given this week to the Alabama law banning most abortions in the state. The law, while being widely praised by pro-lifers, has some good aspects, but also some bad. The law does not include any exceptions for rape or incest. This is a good thing. American Life League has always maintained that we need no-exceptions legislation and this law excludes two of the most widely used exceptions. That fact has started the political discussion of why any exceptions are needed. We have seen some “pro-life” elected officials who are stunned that exceptions for rape and incest are not in the bill. They seemingly don’t honestly understand why. We need to have a national discussion on why exceptions are not necessary, and to the extent that the Alabama law contributes to these discussions, it is a step in the right direction.
On the other side, the Alabama law continues to include the “life of the mother” exception. Years ago, American Life League invited medical professionals to sign a statement that said abortion is never necessary to save a mother’s life. In a short period of time, 500 medical professionals signed the statement. Historically, even Dr. Alan Guttmacher confirmed that abortion is never necessary to save a woman’s life. In addition to the LOM exception, the Alabama law defines some killing of human beings in the womb as “not an abortion.” Among the killing so designated by the law is the termination of “the pregnancy of a woman when the unborn child has a lethal anomaly,” and then it defines LETHAL ANOMALY as “A condition from which an unborn child would die after birth or shortly thereafter or be stillborn.” We can give you no explanation as to why this is defined this way in the law, but it is in Section 3, paragraphs 1 and 3.
There is another law you will be hearing about, once the governor of Louisiana signs it. It is a law banning most abortions after six weeks, with no rape or incest exception. The significant development of how this law was passed is that it was introduced in the senate by a Democrat, supported by a majority of the senate Democrats, and is expected to be signed into law by a Democratic governor! Louisiana has pro-life Democrats and they are not afraid to vote their beliefs. This needs to spread to the other 49 states and then to Congress. We believe, absent the political pressure from Democrats-in-charge, that a great many congressional Democrats would protect the lives of preborn babies. The lesson from Louisiana—you can be a Democrat and be pro-life.
ALL in the News – Judie Mentioned in Mother Jones; 20-Year-Old ALL Newsletter Resurfaces
This week, Judie Brown and American Life League were mentioned in several media outlets.
In a Mother Jones article about the reasons some conservatives don’t stand behind the Alabama law, Mary Ziegler, a law professor and author, described why Judie, in particular, is not overly enthused by the Alabama law.
“And so [American Life League founder] Judie Brown was saying, “Yes, this may be great PR. Yes, this is going to get passed. Yes, the GOP loves this. But so what?”—essentially, this is a waste of resources.”
The article also appeared here.
A 20-year-old ALL newsletter resurfaced online this week in a Slate article entitled, Why Everyone Thought Aladdin Had a Secret Sex Message. This newsletter, which is two decades old, highlighted sexual undertones in several Disney cartoon movies.
“The writer of that piece told Bannon he had first seen the rumors about not just Aladdin but also The Lion King and The Little Mermaid in a Virginia anti-abortion newsletter from the American Life League.”
This article was picked up by three other news outlets linked here, here, and here.
Judie’s commentary from May 24, 2019, was republished on the website CatholicismPure.
ALL was mentioned in a recent article from the Arlington Catholic Herald. Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic High School, a project of American Life League, recently gained diocesan recognition in the Arlington (VA) diocese. ALL helped found the school and continues to support its Catholic pro-life education.
Jim Sedlak’s Pro-Life Activism from Creation to Death is a weekly talk-radio program on the Radio Maria USA network. The show can be heard live every Friday at noon (Eastern Time) and is repeated on Saturdays (10 PM) and Mondays (10 PM).
Video of the Week – Instant family: parents bring home seven siblings in rare adoption
Imagine quadrupling the number of people in your home! That happened to a Texas couple who adopted seven children ranging in age from two to 11.
Action Item of the Week – Including pre-born children in the 2020 census
Next year, the United States will, once again, conduct a national census to determine, among other things, how many people reside in every municipality of every state in the nation. The data in the census is used for many things, including determining how many congressional districts will be in each state. That, of course, fixes the number of members of the House of Representatives each state will have.
At the present time, officials are determining exactly what questions will be on the census form and, as a result, who will get counted. One of the great omissions from previous census data is the number of pre-born human beings who are alive at the time of the census. These, of course, should be counted.
This year, the effort to get preborn children counted in next year’s census is being spearheaded by Chris O’Brien (cobrien7@hotmail.com). He points out that the census form must be defined by the end of June, so time is short.
Chris published the following fact sheet and is asking all of us to call our Members of Congress to let them know we want preborn people counted in the 2020 census.
Include Preborn People in the 2020 Census!
For the first portion of our nation’s history, America only counted slaves as 3/5ths of a person.
With the enactment of the 13th Amendment, millions of Americans were no longer treated as property and achieved legal full status. Today, children born prematurely at 25, 30 and 35 weeks are counted in the US Census, however others at the same age in utero are not.
The Census Bureau will count all people residing in the United States on April 1, 2020. The census occurs every ten years. In the past, several pregnant women have listed their unborn children as residents, but the Census Bureau declined to count them.
President Trump’s Legislative Counsel, Mr. Paul Teller has been made aware of this issue. We need you to contact your pro-life Congressman and US Senator to demonstrate more support. The Census form will be finalized in June of this year, so please contact your Congressman and Senator today. Sending an e-mail or making a phone call will only take 5 minutes of your time but make a huge difference in recognizing the dignity of human life.
Important Points to Consider:
- Today, a baby’s first photograph is often a sonogram.
- Surgery is performed in utero, and unborn babies are treated as a person receiving care by government and insurance agencies for that purpose.
- Premature infants are counted in the Census, but babies in utero at the same age are not.
- 35 states and the US Gov’t have fetal homicide statutes. Thus, most states treat unborn children not only as biological “persons,” but as legal “persons” if murdered by someone who is not a doctor.
- Babies are people no matter their age. The Census Bureau’s job is to count all people.
- While there are predictable political consequences (just as there were with the 3/5ths rule), the Census Bureau’s job is simple: Count everyone, regardless of politics.
- In his 1972 Roe v. Wade opinion, while reasoning that an unborn child is not a Constitutional “person”, Justice Harry Blackman wrote “We are not aware that in the taking of any census under this clause, a fetus has ever been counted.” (footnote 53)
- Since Roe, several pregnant women have listed their children on Census forms, but were denied.(Slattery v. Clinton)
Your prompt action may prompt President Trump to direct the Census Bureau to include preborn babies in the 2020 Census. Your Congressman needs to know that you want this to happen.
Please let Chris know if you receive any feedback as he coordinates efforts across our government. Chris can be contacted at cobrien7@hotmail.com.
Pro-life Social Media – Fifteen Instagram Pregnancy Announcements
There once was a time when pregnancy announcements were done over the phone or by postal service. Today, parents go to great lengths to share the news of their growing family by posting clever photos to their social media accounts.
We found 15 cute and clever announcements that might inspire you if you’re expecting.
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