Week in Review – National and State Legislation Plus PP Transgender Services
It is the beginning of the new 117th Congress (2021-2022). All the bills that existed in the 116th Congress have been closed. Every two years, the Congress starts fresh. Right now, pro-life members of Congress (House and Senate) are busy introducing “pro-life” bills. Unfortunately, almost every one of the proposed bills to end abortion has exceptions for things like rape, incest, and life of the mother. This effectively means they are NOT 100% pro-life and are, at best, abortion regulation laws. We will monitor bills as they are introduced and bring you details of any bills that do not contain exceptions.
There is currently a major fight in Congress to maintain the Hyde Amendment, which is added to a lot of legislation to prohibit federal funds from paying for most (but not all) abortions. The Biden Administration is trying to remove that amendment from various legislation and those who do not want the federal government to have a blank check to pay for every abortion in the nation with taxpayer money are fighting furiously to keep the restriction in place.
In regards to taxpayer money being used to pay for abortions, the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that as of September 1, 2020, there are currently 16 states that use their own state funds to pay for elective abortions and similar services. These states include Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. We encourage residents of those states to work to stop funding for abortion with state money.
State legislatures across the nation are in session and have been active in passing laws restricting abortion. As with federal legislation, most contain exceptions and are, therefore, not endorsed by American Life League.
An interesting bill making its way through the Tennessee legislature seeks to allow the biological father of a preborn child to prevent the abortion of his child. According to published reports, the bill has no exceptions for rape or incest. Wording in the bill can change as it is considered. Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, citing the 1992 Planned Parenthood v Casey SCOTUS decision, called the bill “unconstitutional, insulting, and dangerous. Period.”
Major news concerning Planned Parenthood this week included much attention to its “Informed Consent Model” of providing transgender hormone treatments to young people. American Life League’s STOPP International program published detailed information on this activity, which basically allows girls to start the hormone treatment by having a simple blood test and signing a sheet of paper that lists the possible side effects of the hormone treatment. Planned Parenthood currently claims to be the second largest provider of transgender hormone treatments in the nation. Since transgender individuals must keep taking the hormones for the rest of their lives, many believe this will become a “cash cow” business for the abortion giant. You can read the STOPP document here.
ALL in the News – New STOPP Report Has Potential to Destroy Planned Parenthood; ALL Executives interviewed by One News Now
This week, Jim Sedlak, American Life League executive director and founder of STOPP International, released a new STOPP report detailing Planned Parenthood’s latest grisly endeavor. The report details the unethical and disturbing nature of Planned Parenthood’s “gender-affirming services.” The report was sent out on Wednesday to a list of thousands of pro-life advocates who seek to shut down deadly Planned Parenthood. The report was also sent out in a press statement early Thursday morning to American Life League’s expansive media list containing outlets such as Fox News, Breitbart, and The Federalist. American Life League and STOPP firmly believe it is thanks to the Marian Blue Wave (MBW) program that the sordid and disturbing details about Planned Parenthood’s gender services are coming to light. MBW is a program of American Life League that asks Catholics to pray one Rosary a week for the end of Planned Parenthood, all abortion facilities and all types of abortion. To learn more about MBW, click here. To join, click here.
Sedlak was interviewed by One News Now on Planned Parenthood’s transgender services; the interview can be found here.
Hugh Brown, American Life League executive vice president, was also interviewed by One News Now this week. Brown discussed President Biden’s “Catholicism,” and called on US bishops to stand up against him.
Every Friday afternoon, the American Life League social media team, Dwain Currier and Katie Brown, host the Friday Live Show on Instagram Live. The show regularly discusses current events and provides young adults a platform where they can have their culture of life questions answered. Replays of the show can be found on Facebook.
Twice a week, Judie Brown’s commentaries are distributed to an expansive media list. The list contains over 100 media outlets such as Fox News, The Federalist, Breitbart, and The Daily Caller, among others. Judie’s Tuesday commentary, Bishops and Babies, was featured on the front page of ALL.org. The commentary was also reprinted by CNS News. Each commentary is also featured as a part of Judie’s recurring column on Renew America.
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).
Video of the Week – For those who know and believe, Christ is truly present in the Eucharist
For those who know and believe, Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. The devil is attacking not only the truth about the Eucharist but the bishops who are obliged to defend Christ from sacrilege committed by pro-abortion politicians who claim to be Catholic.
Action Item of the Week – Help Stop Becerra!
Biden has nominated Xavier Becerra, a pro-abortion zealot with no discernable health experience, to become the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. If he is confirmed by the United States Senate, it will be Planned Parenthood making all national medical decisions.
There is a major effort by pro-life groups across the country to have people in every state contact their two senators and tell them NOT to approve Becerra.
TODAY, WE ARE ASKING YOU TO ADD YOUR VOICE TO THIS EFFORT.
A letter circulated by pro-life groups cited the following reasons why Becerra should not be confirmed.
- Becerra is an enemy to every pro-life policy and law and has demonstrated complete disregard for the religious and moral convictions of those opposed to the brutal act of abortion. His radical record in public office as California’s Attorney General and member of Congress lead our organizations to ask you to reject Mr. Becerra’s nomination.
- As Attorney General, Mr. Becerra went out of his way to attack pro-life policies and conscience protections. He led the charge against the Title X Protect Life Rule, which under the prior administration successfully defunded Planned Parenthood of $60 million.
- Despite the Supreme Court already siding with the Little Sisters of the Poor in an earlier case, Mr. Becerra took the nuns and similar groups to court to force them to violate their conscience.
- Mr. Becerra has argued in opposition to following an existing Federal law against forcing healthcare entities to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortion (the longstanding Weldon Amendment) calling the enforcement of such provisions “illegal”.
If confirmed, Mr. Becerra would be responsible for overseeing the Title X program; establishing the federal preventive service mandates that infringed on the conscience rights of the Little Sisters of the poor; and enforcing the Weldon amendment.
Pro-Life leaders are also concerned are also concerned about Mr. Becerra’s abuse of his statewide office to target pro-life health centers and journalists. This includes:
- Taking pregnancy centers to court to enforce California’s so-called Reproductive FACT Act, Mr. Becerra futilely sought to force government-compelled speech on pro-life individuals who refused to direct women to abortion centers.
- Furthermore, as the successor to Kamala Harris, Becerra sought to intimidate and prosecute investigative journalists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt after their reporting uncovered the unethical and likely illegal sale of aborted baby body parts by Planned Parenthood. Mr. Becerra sought 14 felony charges for recording 14 videos against these journalists, a move that the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board called “a disturbing overreach”.
- More recently, Mr. Becerra’s actions to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to expand abortion demonstrate that he will not let a crisis go to waste. As most Americans sought to direct resources to essential health services, Mr. Becerra led a letter of pro-abortion state Attorneys General who sought to use the public health emergency to lift federal restrictions on chemical abortion under the FDA Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) protocol. Such a change to the REMS would lead to mail order abortion without physician oversight, a situation which could have dire consequences for women and girls. If confirmed to head DHHS, he would have authority to make these changes.
These radical views are not new for Mr. Becerra, whose pro-abortion track record extends back to his earliest years in public office. While a member of Congress, he voted against numerous attempts to regulate abortion and even voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act which made it a crime to harm or kill an unborn child during the commission of a violent crime; 38 states, including California, currently have similar protections.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT EVERY PRO-LIFER IN AMERICA CONTACT HIS OR HER TWO US SENATORS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND TELL THEM NOT TO CONFIRM BECERRA.
You can contact them in Washington, DC, or through their local offices in your state.
Pro-life Social Media – ‘You are so dumb’: Planned Parenthood Says Abortion Limits Are ‘Unconstitutional’
Even though God provided us with His explicit commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” proponents for killing preborn children want Christians to believe that the bible says nothing about abortion. The fact that the US Constitution says absolutely nothing about abortion doesn’t prevent the largest, racist abortion chain from claiming that ill-conceived regulations on feticide are “unconstitutional.”
BREAKING: @PPFA and @ReproRights are suing to stop South Carolina’s unconstitutional 6-week abortion ban.
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) February 18, 2021
At a time when millions are struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, this reckless and irresponsible governing must not stand. South Carolinians deserve better. pic.twitter.com/OcwqziHKTO
Preborn South Carolinians struggling to survive Planned Parenthood’s vacuum aspirators deserve to not be killed, but that would deprive the racist organization of tens of millions of dollars.
“Unconstitutional” – oh that’s rich. Would you kindly point us to the text to which you are referring?
— Dr. Matthew Everhard (@matt_everhard) February 18, 2021
Imagine suing someone because you want to stop the beating heart of baby in the womb and imagining you’re the good guys lol
— Okweda Tiombe (@SuppleWrist) February 18, 2021
Man… true colors show when the cash cow gets cut off.
— Jenee Michelle (@jeneemichelle) February 18, 2021
Psst… Your greed is showing.
You guys are about 8 months early for Halloween. Ghouls should stay in the closet or under the bed until then.
— Steven F 🇺🇸🇮🇹🇻🇦 (@SFlipp) February 18, 2021
Imagine organizations fighting so hard to murder unborn babies …. Sad and pathetic world we live in .
— Flappywappy90210 (@Flappywappy9021) February 18, 2021
I’m so sorry babies being saved is happening to you.
— mingus (@mingusyoudingus) February 18, 2021
Because Outlawing Murder is UnConstitutional… pic.twitter.com/zwndNW6Umc
— Lee Fox (@LeeFoxRox) February 18, 2021
