Most Pro-life House Ever?

Christianity Today's Alicia Cohn reports that prolifers will be busy on Capitol Hill and in the state legislatures in 2011.


Pro-life Efforts to Watch in 2011

by Alicia Cohn
Christianity Today

Although November’s mid-term elections halved the number of pro-life Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, there are hopeful signs for pro-life legislation in the New Year.

January will mark the beginning of the arguably most pro-life House ever,” according to a statement released by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), co-chairman of the bi-partisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus. Incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) has stated that “he wants to be the most pro-life Speaker ever” and Americans United for Life chose Boehner for an award.

The House will likely tackle the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (HR 5939) in the upcoming legislative session. Introduced by Smith and Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) in July, Smith said the bill is designed to protect conscience clauses in health care nation-wide. Protecting existing conscience rights remains a high priority in 2011. The Alliance Defense Fund says that the Obama administration “wants to dismantle” a rule passed by the Bush administration in 2008 that prohibited recipients of federal money from discriminating against healthcare professionals refusing to participate in procedures, such as abortion, for reasons of conscience.

Prohibiting the use of federal money to support abortion providers, such as Planned Parenthood, will also appear on the legislative agenda. The Title 10 Abortion Provider Prohibition Act (HR 614), co-sponsored by Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), would prohibit all federal assistance to organizations performing abortions during the period of assistance. Pence said that the act would close the loopholes in the Hyde Amendment, which allows federally-funded organizations to perform abortions if such procedures are separately funded. In June,the Government Accountability Office found that over $1 billion in taxpayer money went to pro-abortion organizations in the past 8 years.

Various states are also expected to tackle pro-life issues in 2011. According to an unreleased NARAL Pro-Choice America analysispreviewed to Politico, the number of anti-abortion governors rose from 21 to 29 in the November election, and the number of states with governments where the governor and the majority legislature are both considered anti-abortion increased from 10 to 15.

In states ranging from Iowa to Tennessee, where anti-abortion legislation has often stalled in committee, anticipation is building that a change in leadership could change the prospects for pro-life legislation as well. Kansas provides one example, where current Democratic Governor Mark Parkinson vetoed a measure preventing the re-establishment of a late-term abortion clinic in the state (following the death of George Tiller and the subsequent closure of his clinic in Wichita). However, Parkinson’s replacement, Governor-elect Republican Sam Brownback, told supporters he would sign any pro-life bill that made it to his desk.

Following Nebraska’s lead — the state passed a late-term abortion ban this year based on the concept of fetal pain — pro-life organizations expect more states to challenge abortion laws by proposing restrictions related to fetus age. Several states, including Kansas, New Jersey, and South Carolina, considered bans on post-viability abortion (abortion past the age a fetus is considered able to live outside the womb) in 2010, according to Americans United for Life. Typically, the “post-viability” age is considered to be between 21 to 28 weeks (Roe v. Wade established viability as “about” 28 weeks); Nebraska’s ban sets the restriction back to 20 weeks. “[F]rom our perspective, if we aren't bucking up against Roe, we're not doing our job,” said Nebraska Right to Life Executive Director Julie Schmit-Albin. "So we did our job in Nebraska and now it's time for the other states to do their job."

Other possible state legislation proposing abortion restrictions will likely include laws requiring an ultrasound to be shown to the patient prior to an abortion--such as the one passed by Oklahoma this year--and measures responding to this year’s federal health care reform that would ban insurance coverage of abortion at the state level.

Midwestern Congressman Calls for Defunding of Planned Parenthood Federation

It is unlikely that Congressman Mike Pence's proposal to stop underwriting America's number one abortion provider with tax money will go anywhere. It's not the first time it's been proposed, and it has never passed before, even at the Republican Revolution's high tide in the mid-90's. Far more likely is that the Reid/Pelosi/Obama government will enact, by sly piecemeal amendments to budget measures and other unrelated legislation, the Freedom of Choice Act.

However, Pence's press release is worth reproducing below because it lays out the pro-lifers' case for defunding Planned Parenthood, and we may see it again if the current Democratic/RINO vice grip begins to shudder and slip. The URL for a one-page background paper provided by the Congressman's staff is provided at the bottom of this page.

PENCE SEEKS TO DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD
"The Time Has Come To Deny Any And All Federal Funding To Planned Parenthood"

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence gave the following speech from the floor of the U.S. House, announcing that he had filed an amendment to deny federal funding through Title X Family Planning to Planned Parenthood:

Remarks As Prepared For Delivery:

"The time has come to deny any and all federal funding to Planned Parenthood of America. The largest abortion provider in America should not also be the largest recipient of federal funds under Title X.

"Today I filed an amendment to block any funds under Title X in the Labor-HHS Appropriations Act from going to Planned Parenthood. This same amendment was supported by 189 bipartisan Members in 2007. I am confident it will be widely supported again this Congress and urge the Members of the Rules Committee to make the Pence Amendment in order.

"The Pence Amendment would simply prevent any funds under Title X from going to Planned Parenthood. It would not reduce the total amount of funds available for family planning. Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services. There are a number of federally funded clinics across the nation that offer beneficial services including patient counseling, breast cancer screenings, HIV prevention education, and many more. According to their last annual report, Title X funds helped over 4.7 million women prevent pregnancy by a variety of ethical methods such as abstinence education and birth control. There are many clinics funded by Title X that offer ethical family planning services - without providing abortions.

"Last year alone, according to Planned Parenthood's own annual report, it received nearly $350 million in revenue from government grants and contracts. This same annual report acknowledged that Planned Parenthood also performed more than 305,000 abortions - a 5.3% increase from the previous year. The nation's leading abortion provider is also currently under investigation in multiple states including Indiana, California, Alabama, and Tennessee for allegations of fraudulent use of Title X funding. Additionally, many Planned Parenthood centers have been caught violating state sexual assault and child abuse reporting laws, and even encouraging young girls to lie about their ages to circumvent state reporting laws.

"When Title X money goes to organizations that provide both abortions and family planning services, even though the money cannot directly fund abortions, it can be used to offset operational costs, freeing up money to promote and provide abortions. Again I say, the time has come to deny any and all federal funding to Planned Parenthood of America. The largest abortion provider in America should not also be the largest recipient of federal funds under Title X. It's time to pass the Pence Amendment to keep taxpayer money out of the hands of Planned Parenthood."

SEE ONE-PAGE "BACKGROUNDER" AT:
http://www.mikepence.house.gov/images/stories/pence_amendment_one-pager.pdf