While advocates of legal abortion talk about “choice,” the sad fact of the matter is that many women are not exercising their own choice when they undergo an abortion. Research shows that, most of the time, they may be forced into it by a parent, boyfriend, husband, or someone else in their life who is not looking out for their best interests. Please read our new brochure on Forced Abortions and share it with members of your congregations. We need to get the word out that forcing a woman to have an abortion is, in fact, illegal. You’ll find the informative fact sheet here.
Education Director Maria Vitale has written a column for LifeNews.com making the case that there’s a link between the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade and the 2005 death of euthanasia victim Terri Schiavo. You’ll find the column at http://lifenews.com/bio3076.html . Let us never forget the lessons Terri Schiavo taught us.
Please take a moment and sign our new petition to stop Washington’s pro-abortion agenda. The petition states that you oppose taxpayer funding of abortion and that you favor life-affirming alternatives to abortion for pregnant women and their babies. You can find the petition at http://www.paprolife.org/foca/foca4.htm . Thank you for standing up for the cause of life!
From a Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation news release:
Harrisburg, PA –The health care reform plan passed by the U.S. House of Representatives could result in the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade. And President Barack Obama’s Executive Order on the subject of health care reform will not solve the abortion funding problems in the legislation, according to a leading pro-life member of Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation.
“From a pro-life perspective, I find absolutely no comfort in this executive order. This puts the fate of the unborn in the hands of the most pro-abortion President in history,” said Congressman Joe Pitts (PA-16).
“This is a career-defining vote on the life issue. Any member of either party who votes for this bill will never again be able to claim they have always stood for the most important and fundamental of all human rights,” Congressman Pitts added. An executive order issued by the President cannot trump a law passed by Congress—and the health care reform law would clearly result in taxpayer funding of abortion.
“Public opinion polls have shown consistently that the vast majority of Americans do not want their tax dollars spent on abortion,” said Susan Rogacs, President of the Board of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, the state affiliate of National Right to Life. “Taxpayer funding of abortion inevitably leads to more abortions, which means more tragedy and heartache for women,” Rogacs added.
The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation commends Democratic Congressmen Tim Holden (PA-17) and Jason Altmire (PA-4) in particular for standing up against heavy pressure from pro-abortion Speaker Nancy Pelosi and for voting against the health care reform bill.
Pro-life advocates say that those Congressional Representatives who voted for passage of the pro-abortion legislation will be held accountable.
“Pro-life Democrats have been deceived if they truly think that pregnant women and their babies will be well-served by this legislation,” said Charlene Bashore, Legislative/PAC Director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation. “Pro-life voters, however, have had their eyes opened by this arduous debate. They are disappointed, but not disheartened. Most importantly, these voters will not be deceived in November.”
From a Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation press release
Harrisburg, PA –If a Pennsylvania Congressional Representative is truly pro-life, he or she will vote against the controversial pro-abortion health care reform plan promoted by President Barack Obama and pro-abortion Democratic Congressional leaders.
“Make no mistake about it, any member of Congress who casts a vote in favor of the Senate-passed healthcare bill is voting to force their constituents to pay for elective abortions through their hard-earned tax dollars,” said Charlene Bashore, Legislative Director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, the state affiliate of National Right to Life.
The legislation fails to include the Stupak Amendment, which had barred federal funding of abortion under the House version of health care reform.
“The Stupak amendment which overwhelmingly passed the House in November, clearly and completely protected the public from paying for these services. Countless polls have demonstrated that the vast majority of the public does not want to pay for other people’s abortions, so they certainly don’t want their Congressmen to authorize it for them. It’s hard to imagine how anyone who does could describe himself as ‘pro-life’ on the issue of abortion,” Bashore added.
The legislation includes numerous pro-abortion provisions, including providing tax subsidies to Americans to purchase private health plans that could cover abortion on demand. The bill also provides $7 billion to community health centers which could be used to fund abortions. (Please see http://www.nrlc.org/AHC/NRLCToHouseOnHealthBill.pdf for a thorough explanation of the abortion provisions of the health care reform plan.)
As a result of the pro-abortion provisions, this tragically flawed health care reform plan could result in the largest expansion of abortion since the Roe v. Wade case which legalized abortion for any reason during all nine months of pregnancy.
“When all of the pro-abortion provisions are considered in total, the Senate bill is the most pro-abortion single piece of legislation that has ever come to the House floor for a vote, since Roe v. Wade,” said Douglas Johnson, Legislative Director of National Right to Life.
“Any House member who votes for the Senate health bill is casting a career-defining pro-abortion vote. A House member who votes for the Senate bill would forfeit a plausible claim to pro-life credentials. No House member who votes for the Senate bill will be regarded, in the future, as having a record against federal funding of abortion,” Johnson added.
Showdown vote in U.S. House on Obama health bill — too close to call!
Tell lawmakers that you oppose the massive Obama-backed health bills
URGENT CALL ALERT!
WASHINGTON (Updated March 13, 2010, 7 AM EST) - The long-awaited final showdown on President Obama’s massive “health care reform” bill will occur on the floor of the House of Representatives within days — most likely, on or about Saturday, March 20.
The House will vote on whether to approve a bill (H.R. 3590) that already passed the Senate last December. A March 5 statement from National Right to Life, posted here, said regarding this bill: “The Senate health bill is a 2,407-page labyrinth strewn with the legislative equivalents of improvised explosive devices – disguised provisions that will result in federal pro-abortion mandates and federal subsidies for abortion. The so-called abortion limits that are in the Senate bill are all very narrow, riddled with loopholes, or booby-trapped to expire. . . . When all of the pro-abortion provisions are considered in total, the Senate bill is the most pro-abortion single piece of legislation that has ever come to the House floor for a vote, since Roe v. Wade. Any House member who votes for the Senate health bill is casting a career-defining pro-abortion vote. A House member who votes for the Senate bill would forfeit a plausible claim to pro-life credentials. No House member who votes for the Senate bill will be regarded, in the future, as having a record against federal funding of abortion.”
In recent weeks, Obama Administration officials and House Democratic leaders had made public statements indicating that they would try to negotiate an agreement with pro-life Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mi.), who has said he will vote against the bill unless language is added similar to the Stupak-Pitts Amendment that the House attached to a different health care bill on November 7, 2009. (That bill was not approved by the Senate.) However, on March 11, Democratic leaders announced that they would allow no changes to the abortion language in the Senate-passed bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) told reporters, “The fact is that once we pass it in the House, it’s going to be the law of the land.”
According to a March 12 report in National Review Online, Stupak said that pro-life Democrats in the House “are coming under ‘enormous” political pressure” from the White House and Pelosi. “I am a definite ‘no’ vote,” he says. “I didn’t cave. The others are having both of their arms twisted, and we’re all getting pounded by our traditional Democratic supporters, like unions.”
The vote is too close to call. All House Republicans oppose H.R. 3590. The outcome will be determined by whether undecided Democrat lawmakers recognize sufficient opposition among their constituents to convince them to vote against the urgings of the President and their party leaders. Each House Democrat is ultimately accountable to his or her constituents — not to the Speaker, who represents part of San Francisco.
It is especially important that House Democrats who voted for the pro-life Stupak-Pitts Amendment on November 7, 2009, hear from their constituents in opposition to the Senate bill. The House Pennsylvania House Democrats who voted for the pro-life amendment in November are: Congressman Altmire (202) 225-2565, Congressman Carney (202) 225-3731, Congresswoman Dahlkemper (202) 225-5406, Congressman Doyle (202) 225-2135, Congressman Holden (202) 225-5546, and Congressman Kanjorski (202)225-6511. Of these, only Congressman Holden has publicly and unequivocally stated he will be a definite “no” on the Senate bill.
Most political observers agree that if Speaker Pelosi does not succeed in passing the Senate bill in the House by the time Congress goes into recess for Easter on March 26, the bill is likely to die. For background info, visit http://www.nrlactioncenter.com/ .
The latest edition of the PA Pro-Life Online News is up and ready for viewing at http://www.paprolife.org/resources/e_news.html . There, you’ll find an urgent message about contacting your Congressional Representative about abortion in health care reform. You’ll also learn of an exciting opportunity to celebrate life, and you’ll discover what Mother Teresa, Ronald Reagan, and Sean Hannity had in common. Happy reading!
You’ll find the latest Pro-Life Notes radio commentaries at http://www.paprolife.org/news/commentaries.html . There, you’ll learn the latest news on health care reform, about a Fox News commentator coming to Harrisburg, and about what Mother Teresa and Ronald Reagan had in common. Happy listening!
Despite the Obama Administration’s claims, the Senate health care reform plan does, indeed, include public funding of abortion. National Right to Life’s Legislative Director, Douglas Johnson, has written an insightful article which sets the record straight:
Fox News is reporting that the Blue Dog Democratic coalition is prepared to vote no on health care reform because of the controversial issue of federal funding of abortion:
Blue Dog Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak says he’s counted 11 lawmakers plus himself willing to kill President Obama’s health care overhaul over abortion language.
Stupak, of Michigan, sponsored a provision in the House of Representative’s health care bill that passed last fall that clearly prohibits the use of federal money to pay for abortions. That language did not make it into the Senate bill, the model Obama is using to craft the plan he is expected to send to Congress shortly.
Please call your Congressional Representative and urge him or her to vote against the pro-abortion Senate health care reform bill. You can reach your Representative through the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121. For the latest updates on abortion in health care reform, visit http://www.nrlactioncenter.com/ .
The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation would like to thank all those junior high and senior high students who entered our annual essay contest. The essays have been inspiring. They demonstrate that many, many young people in the Commonwealth are committed to the pro-life cause. We’ve received hundreds of essays from throughout Pennsylvania and, because of the caliber of the essays, judging has been difficult. Winners of the contest will be notified by May. In the meantime, high school juniors and seniors who are interested in entering our oratory contest should contact Education Director Maria Vitale at vitale@paprolife.org. Students must deliver a five to seven minute pro-life talk on abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, or stem cell research. The top two winners in each regional contest will compete in the statewide contest April 25th in Harrisburg.