Trump Will Promote Life in State of the Union After Democrats Push Abortion Up to Birth, Infanticide

By Steven Ertelt
Life News

President Donald Trump is expected to include a pro-life message in the State of the Union address next Tuesday. Such a message would come after Democrats have been pushing abortion up to birth and infanticide.

Trump has governed as a pro-life president and wasted no time during his first week in office defunding the International Planned Parenthood abortion business. Since that time he has worked on defunding Planned Parenthood domestically, he has defunded the UNFPA which promotes abortion, he has promoted abstinence education, and he’s pressed the pro-life view at the United Nations.

That is a stark contrast to Democrats who recently have been promoting legislation in various states to legalize abortions up to birth. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently signed into law legislation in his state allowing abortions up to birth and revoking protections even for babies who survived failed abortions.

This week, pro-abortion Virginia governor Ralph Northam came under heavy fire after promoting infanticide and saying it’s okay if doctors and parents have a discussion allowing babies to die after birth who are severely disabled.

With that in mind, Politico reports that Trump will reportedly include a pro-life message in his National address next Tuesday:

President Donald Trump is telling conservative allies he wants to incorporate firm anti-abortion language into his State of the Union address Tuesday, and potentially include an anti-abortion figure among his list of invitees, according to four sources familiar with his plans.

Trump sees an opening to energize his evangelical supporters and capture moderate voters who administration officials believe may be turned off by widespreadcoverage of New York’s newest abortion law, which allows for termination of some pregnancies after the 24-week mark for health reasons.

Abortion has crested as an issue for conservative legal activists in recent days after New York’s Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, signed the late-term abortion bill last Tuesday. Trump has discussed the issue with prominent conservative Christians, including on a phone call this week with Faith & Freedom Coalition President Ralph Reed, a White House official confirmed to POLITICO.

“The president wants to reaffirm his commitment to pro-life things,” said the Republican close to the White House, adding that Trump doesn’t want his third appearance before a joint session of Congress to be “all fire and brimstone.”

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Trump Issues Final Rules Protecting Religious Groups Like Little Sisters of the Poor From Funding Abortions

“Today President Trump and HHS Secretary Azar delivered a huge victory for conscience rights and religious liberty in America” 

By Steven Ertelt
Life News

The Trump administration today issued final rules that will protect pro-life and religious groups like Little Sisters of the Poor from being forced to pay for abortions.

The final rules that the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor issued Wednesday guarantee protections from the Obama abortion-pill mandate for organizations with pro-life religious or moral convictions. That mandate had forced many employers, regardless of those beliefs, to provide abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception under threat of heavy penalties by the Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies if the mandate’s requirements weren’t met.

“Freedom is not a gift from government. It is a gift from God,” Trump said in signing the order last year, which was finalized today. “We are here to defend the rights of all Americans.”

A leading pro-life attorney associated with Alliance Defending Freedom told LifeNews that the new rules are good news for its clients and others who have fought attempts by the Obama administration to force Christian groups and businesses to pay for abortion-causing drugs.

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor said, “The beliefs that inspire Christian colleges and universities, as well as groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor, to serve their communities should be protected. Through these regulations, President Trump kept his promise that people of faith wouldn’t be bullied on his watch.”

Contrary to claims by the Planned Parenthood abortion business, Baylor told LifeNews that non-abortion contraception will remain available.

“At the same time, contraceptives will remain readily available to those who wish to use them. Additionally, we commend the administration for protecting organizations like March for Life, an organization that bases its pro-life beliefs on science and philosophy, and hosts the largest pro-life gathering in the world every year in Washington, D.C. These final rules affirm the principle that all Americans should be free to peacefully live and work according to their faith and conscience without threat of government punishment,” he said.''

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Trump Admin Creates Religious Liberty Task Force to Protect Pro-Life Christians

By Steven Ertelt
Life News

The Trump administration has created a Religious Liberty Task Force, led by pro-life Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in order to protect and promote religious liberty.

The new task force is important for pro-life Americas as it will work to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals who don’t want to be forced to promote or perform abortions. Pro-life groups have also faced discrimination because of their Christian views and pastors have been unable to fully engage pro-life election issues in the pulpit for fear of reprisal from the government.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said, “A dangerous movement, undetected by many, is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom. There can be no doubt. This is no little matter. It must be confronted and defeated. This election, and much that has flowed from it, gives us a rare opportunity to arrest these trends. Such a reversal will not just be done with electoral victories, but by intellectual victories.”

“We have gotten to the point where courts have held that morality cannot be a basis for law; where ministers are fearful to affirm, as they understand it, holy writ from the pulpit; and where one group can actively target religious groups by labeling them a “hate group” on the basis of their sincerely held religious beliefs,” he added.

Leading pro-life advocates applauded the creation of the Religious Liberty Task Force.

Liberty Counsel’s Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, 

“The establishment of a Religious Liberty Task Force is an historic and positive step by the Trump administration to protect religious freedom and the rights of conscience. Today’s announcement by the Department of Justice is encouraging, and the Trump administration is to be commended for making this 180-degree turn from the past administration which used the federal government to violate religious freedom and conscience rather than protecting our first freedom. This task force sends a strong message that there is a commitment to protecting religious freedom.”

Sessions added: 

“This President and this Department of Justice are determined to protect and even advance this magnificent heritage. Freedom of religious is indeed our “first freedom”—being the first listed right of our First Amendment. This has been a core American principle from the beginning. It is one of the reasons that this country was settled in the first place.”

“But in recent years, the cultural climate in this country—and in the West more generally—has become less hospitable to people of faith. Many Americans have felt that their freedom to practice their faith has been under attack. And it’s easy to see why. We’ve seen nuns ordered to buy contraceptives,” he added.

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President Donald Trump: Unborn Babies Have a “Basic and Fundamental Human Right, the Right to Life”

By Steven Ertelt
Life News

President Donald Trump today issued a letter to the National to Life Committee as hundreds of pro-life advocates gather to open its national convention today in Kansas City.

In his letter to the pro-life advocates, President Trump made it clear that he believes unborn children have a fundamental right to life.

“We all have a duty to defend the most basic and fundamental human right — the right to life. As President I am dedicated to protecting the lives of every American including the unborn,” Trump wrote.

The President also defended his pro-life record talking about the accomplishments he has made sense being elected president. Some of those accomplishments include defunding the international Planned Parenthood abortion business as well as signing legislation to make it easier for states to defund the abortion giant. He has also redirected taxpayer funds from the abortion company’s sex-ed programs to legitimate women’s health centers.

“Since my first day in office I have taken concrete actions to defend the right to life. One of the first actions I took as President was to reinstate the Mexico City policy to ensure the taxpayer dollars are not used to fund organizations that perform abortions in foreign countries. I also signed into law legislation that allows states to prioritize how they spend their family planning grant money, giving States the choice to withhold taxpayer funding from organizations that perform abortions. 

Further, last month my Administration proposed updates to the regulations governing the Title X Family Planning program in order to improve Women’s Health and ensure that federal funds are not used to fund the abortion industry in violation of law.”

The president concluded by thanking the hundreds of pro-life advocates gathered at the National Right to Life convention for their efforts protecting babies from abortion.

He wrote: 

 “The National Right to Life Committee’s work is critical to protecting our nation’s most vulnerable. Since 1968 you have provided a voice to the voiceless. Each day you help spread compassion and promote the dignity of every human person. I am truly grateful for your efforts and I remain committed to continue working with you as we cultivate a world that values and regards every human life.”

Website: Life News

Nation’s Most Liberal Courts Won’t Be So Liberal After President Trump’s Nominees are Confirmed

By Fred Lucas
Life News

President Donald Trump is completing a strong week, and is set to kick off a strong next week, in his push to reshape the federal courts, with Senate Republicans forcing votes on six more of his judicial nominees.

Despite the Democrat minority in the Senate using procedures to delay many confirmation votes, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, have prioritized pushing through appeals court judges, and 2017 was a record year for confirmations.

“This week, the Senate will consider another slate of extremely well-qualified nominees for seats on the federal bench,” McConnell said in a statement Monday. “A thoughtful, independent, and expert judiciary is a cornerstone of our constitutional order. It’s been the case since the very beginning.”

Moreover, six of the 16 of the Trump-nominated circuit court judges confirmed have replaced Democrat appointees, Axios reported.

That’s important because circuit courts are the final stop for a case before it reaches the Supreme Court. In cases the high court declines to hear, the circuit courts are the last word.

Several of the nominees to be voted on this week have has distinguished careers, including working for the White House or for one-time independent counsel Kenneth Starr in the 1990s. Others were federal prosecutors or lower court judges.

“The president is having a particularly significant impact on the 7th Circuit,” Carrie Severino, chief counsel for the Judicial Crisis Network, told The Daily Signal, referring to the Chicago-based federal appeals court. “He’ll almost have a Trump class of appointees on that court.”

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals hears cases arising in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

“Only one circuit, the 3rd Circuit, is shifting the balance of power” from a Democrat majority to a Republican majority, Severino said, referring to the Philadelphia-based appeals court, which handles cases from Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Still, Severino noted that other circuits are seeing considerable movement.

For example, the New York-based 2nd Circuit, currently with a 7-4 Democrat appointee advantage would move to a 7-6 Democrat edge if all of Trump’s nominees are confirmed, she said. The 2nd Circuit covers Connecticut and Vermont, as well as New York.

The famously liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, could go from a 16-6 Democrat advantage to a 16-13 Democrat edge if all of Trump’s nominees are confirmed, Severino said.

The 9th Circuit has jurisdiction over cases arising from not just California, but also Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

Here are the six judicial nominees expected to be confirmed by the end of the week.

Life News article continues here

Trump Administration Tells UN Abortion is Not a “Human Right”

By Austin Ruse
Life News

A coalition of 197 groups from around the world have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson thanking him for expected changes in the annual State Department report on human rights.

The letter thanks Tillerson “…for supporting a proper understanding of international human rights in the forthcoming State Department’s annual Human Rights Report. By rejecting attempts to include abortion and other contentious issues, which are not universally agreed-upon human rights, you are returning the United States to its leadership role in promoting the right to life and protecting the family.”

The letter “…welcomed news from spokeswoman Heather Nauert that the State Department will no longer attempt to dilute the seriousness of human rights and ‘will sharpen the focus of the report on abuses of internationally recognized human rights and the most egregious issues.’”

In recent years, under the Obama administration, the report became a grab-bag of issues that are not considered human rights but are considered important issues to the political left, most especially abortion, also LGBT issues.

The report is intended to shine a light on human rights abuses and concerns around the world. Traditionally understood, human rights are those found in agreed-upon human rights documents, like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; rights to vote, assemble, freedom of religion, political self-determination, and others.

Since the political left decamped to the United Nations several decades ago, attempts have been made to reinterpret human rights documents. These efforts, to make abortion a human right and to include special protections based on sexual practices, have consistently failed at the UN. But this has not stopped left wing governments from attempting to export them through reports like the one expected any day from the U.S. State Department.

In recent weeks, left wing staff members at the U.S. State Department leaked the impending changes to the online publication Politico which dutifully published two stories, neither of which presented the views of the pro-life and pro-family human rights community. Pro-abortion groups also sent a group letter of complaint to Secretary Tillerson.

The letter from pro-life human rights groups points out that UN human rights bodies have pressured 154 countries 479 times to liberalize their abortion laws based on their own personal views of human rights treaties. They point out that the U.S. will send a strong signal that this is unacceptable, and that the U.S. adheres to a proper understanding of human rights.

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President Trump Proposes Budget With Numerous Pro-Life Provisions

By Jennifer Popik 

J.D. Director of Federal Legislation
National Right to Life

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump proposed a budget request for fiscal year 2019 containing multiple pro-life provisions. Several key elements include defunding certain abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, as well as prohibiting funding to groups that support overseas programs that engage in coercive abortion.

While the President’s budget request is merely the first step in a lengthy process that will seldom contain all of a President’s targets, the pro-life nature of this budget request should hearten pro-lifers.

Defunding Certain Abortion Providers, Including Planned Parenthood

According to the recently released budget proposal, “The Budget includes provisions prohibiting certain abortion providers from receiving Federal funds from HHS, including those that receive funding under the Title X Family Planning program and Medicaid, among other HHS programs.”

The proposed budget would close the largest pipeline for federal funding of Planned Parenthood, Medicaid, and apply as well to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Title V and Title XX block grant programs.

These sources account for roughly 89% of all federal funds that currently flow to Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest provider of abortions – at least one-third of all abortions in the U.S. are performed at Planned Parenthood-affiliated facilities. According to their most recent annual report, Planned Parenthood received at least $528 million annually from the federal government or state and local governments.

Based on data from their own annual report from 2013-2014, nearly one in eight women walking through the door of a Planned Parenthood clinic has an abortion. A background memo from National Right to Life is available here.

Continuation of Prohibiting Funding to the UNFPA

After many long years under the Obama Administration’s funding of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Trump Administration ceased funding for the organization in April of 2017. The UNFPA does not currently receive funding from the U.S. government because of its extensive involvement in China’s population control program — which relies heavily upon coerced abortions. The budget proposal would continue to ensure that the UNFPA does not receive funding going forward.

Overturning DC’s discriminatory law against pro-life and other conservative groups that are based in the District

In 2014, the District Council enacted a local law, the so-called “Reproductive Health Nondiscrimination Act” (RHNDA). The RHNDA prohibits employers within the District from engaging in “discrimination” on the basis of “decisions” reached by employees, or potential employees, regarding “reproductive health” matters. It is not disputed that abortion is among the matters encompassed by the term “reproductive health” as used in the new law. The scope of the RHNDA is very broad, covering any “decisions” that are “related to the use . . . of a particular . . . medical service . . .”'

National Right to Life article continues here

President Trump’s Decision to Defund International Planned Parenthood Cost It $30 Million

By Lisa Correnti
Life News

(C-Fam) A State Department report released yesterday found wide acceptance of the expanded Mexico City Policy which blocks funding for foreign groups performing or promoting abortion overseas. The report surveyed organizations which receive U.S. funds to deliver health care to vulnerable populations overseas.

The expanded policy, called “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (PLGHA),” was instituted by President Donald Trump in January 2017 and extends the policy to the $8.8 billion in funds appropriated for global health assistance through Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Department of Defense (DoD).

Since the announcement last year, abortion advocates coalesced to attack the Trump administration with charges that health care delivery would flag and women’s health would be drastically reduced.

The State Department report contradicts these allegations, however, finding that as grants and contracts have come under review to renew funding nearly all prime partners have accepted the policy. Just four organizations refused to comply with the abortion ban out of 733 awardees.

Two of the non-compliance organizations are global abortion providers Marie Stopes International and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). Both organizations have bilateral USAID grants that would have gone through 2019 for approximately $30 million. USAID will direct the funds to other groups in the same areas, “transition[ing] the activities of those organizations that have not agreed to the PLGHA standard provision to other partners, while minimizing disruption of services.”

USAID also reported 12 sub-grantee recipients that refused to comply. IPPF reports to work in 170 countries with hundreds of affiliated organizations. Many of these foreign affiliates are sub-grantee recipients benefiting from the multimillion-dollar prime grants awarded to U.S. organizations like EngenderHealth, Pathfinder International, PAI, and Population Services International – all which have publicly opposed the institution of the Mexico City Policy.

According to the report, the Department of State, USAID, HHS, and DoD “have taken multiple steps to implement the PLGHA policy.” A standard provision was developed which is being included in grants and cooperative agreements for global health assistance including for PEPFAR, the Bush-era HIVAIDs initiative. Training to ensure compliance is ongoing for all stakeholders including interagency government personnel, U.S. Mission staff, and non-government organizations.

Website: Life News

President Donald Trump’s Defunding International Planned Parenthood Has Hurt the Global Abortion Agenda

“It’s not irrational, the behavior that the Mexico City Policy has caused,” concluded Gillespie, “and I would say, yeah, unfortunately, it does work.”

By Rebecca Oas, Ph.D.
Life News

Some of President Donald J. Trump’s harshest critics admit that his reinstatement and expansion of the pro-life Mexico City Policy has been highly effective in advancing the United States’ moral influence to curb the international abortion lobby.

The policy has been implemented by Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan, blocking U.S. funding for foreign organizations that provide or advocate for abortions. Direct U.S. funding for overseas abortions is already prohibited in law by the Helms Amendment in 1973.

Despite the deeply entrenched political divide around abortion, the policy’s critics hope to sway pro-life stakeholders by arguing that the policy causes harm through its unintended consequences. They claim that it results in the denial of basic health services to women whose providers choose not to comply with the policy, lose U.S. funding, and therefore reduce their offerings or close their doors altogether.

Marie Stopes International and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, two of the largest international family planning providers—who also perform abortions—have notably refused to accept the terms of the reinstated policy. Instead, they have chosen to forego U.S. funding, even if it means cutting back their delivery of less controversial services or closing clinics entirely.

Because the Mexico City Policy involves U.S. aid work in foreign countries, the politics of abortion on the ground vary between locations, depending on local law, culture, and other donor organizations and countries. Nevertheless, there is clear evidence of the policy’s impact, often published by its critics. 

A 2010 report on the policy’s effects in Ethiopia cited erosion of trust in the legitimacy of abortion providers and quoted people as asking, “[I]f abortion is a positive development for Ethiopian women’s health, then why does the U.S. government not support it?”

Several speakers at a Gates Institute-sponsored seminar earlier this year spoke against the policy. Elisha Dunn-Georgiou of Population Action International pointed out that while the policy does not reduce U.S. funding for health or family planning, it takes it away from those she described as “the most competent providers of ‘sexual and reproductive health and rights’,” a term understood in international circles as including not only abortion, but also sexual orientation, gender identity, and a variety of other controversial elements.

When asked directly about the efficacy of the policy on abortion, Duff Gillespie, current Gates fellow and former head of USAID’s population and reproductive health division, said the policy “has set back, in a very dramatic way, even a discussion about the consequences of unsafe abortion.” 

Earlier, Gillespie acknowledged that it was impossible to frame such a discussion as anything other than advocacy for abortion. Dunn-Georgiou agreed that the policy had a “huge, huge chilling effect” on pro-abortion activism in countries receiving U.S. aid.

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One Year of Trump: A Look at the President’s Pro-Life Victories

By Nancy Flanders
Live Action News

It’s been a year since Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States. While still on the campaign trail, Trump pledged to be a pro-life president, and while he hasn’t come through on all of his promises, he and his administration have made great strides in changing the way our government views preborn children and abortion. Here are four ways they’ve done that so far:

1. Halted Government Funding for Abortions Internationally

Within days of taking office, Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy, stopping federal dollars from funding non-government organizations that promote or commit abortions overseas. That includes the International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stopes International. If these organizations were to cut ties with abortion, they would once again receive federal funds. However, if they continue to commit and support abortion, they are no longer eligible to receive money from the United States government.

Then in May of 2017, Trump expanded on the Mexico City Policy with the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy. This pro-life policy allocated $8.8 million for international health programs that do not commit or promote abortion, including those for HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, malaria, global health security, and family planning and reproductive health.

In April 2017, the Trump Administration defunded the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), an agency that has promoted forced and coerced sterilizations and abortions in China. The forced abortions are known to occur through all nine months of pregnancy.

2. Nominated Pro-Life Judges

Trump also came through on his promise to nominate pro-life federal judges including Neil Gorsuch whom he nominated to the United States Supreme Court. Gorsuch came with a pro-life track record,including siding with Hobby Lobby when the company took on the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate. He also supported the Little Sisters of the Poor in their own battle over the mandate. He sided with the state of Utah when it defunded Planned Parenthood. Long after Trump’s presidency comes to a end, his pro-life pick in Gorsuch will affect the United States and hopefully, abortion.

3. Placed Pro-Lifers in HHS Leadership Positions

Trump also placed pro-lifers in positions within the Health and Human Services Department including Teresa Manning as deputy assistant secretary for population affairs overseeing the federal funding for family planning programs, and Charmaine Yoest, former president of Americans United for Life, as assistant secretary of public affairs. HHS announced it October 2017 that it would allow non-profit and for-profit organizations to qualify for moral and religious exemptions to the contraception mandate under the Affordable Care Act. In addition the HHS made noticeable changes to their strategic plan for 2018-2022 when it included the preborn as American people worthy of protection.

4. Instituted Pro-Life Measures, Promised to Sign Pro-Life Legislation, and More

Another pro-life win brought about by President Trump was allowing states to remove Title X fundingfrom Planned Parenthood due to its commitment to abortion. This allows each state to defund the abortion corporation.

Recently, Trump vowed to sign the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act which passed in the House. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the act by the end of January 2018.

 

On January 19, 2018, Trump became the first sitting president to address the annual March for Life live, on camera, from the White House, vowing to “always defend the first right in the Declaration of Independence, and that is the right to life.”

Then on January 22, 2018, the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Trump announced that from now on, January 22 would be known as National Sanctity of Human Life Day, cementing his commitment to reborn humans. He stated:

"Today, we focus our attention on the love and protection each person, born and unborn, deserves regardless of disability, gender, appearance, or ethnicity. Much of the greatest suffering in our Nation’s history — and, indeed, our planet’s history — has been the result of disgracefully misguided attempts to dehumanize whole classes of people based on these immutable characteristics."

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President Trump Will Protect Doctors Who Don’t Want To Do Abortions

“To be forced under pain of losing one’s job

 is just outrageous,” Rep. Chris Smith 

By Steven Ertelt
Life News

President Donald Trump is reportedly considering issuing new protections for doctors who don’t want to perform abortions.

President George W Bush first issued conscience protections for pro-life doctors and other medical workers who did not want to participate in abortions. But President Barack Obama rescinded those protections and created a situation where pro-life medical workers and others who don’t want to be involved in abortions are pressured to do so.

Full details have not been released about the potential guidelines but online reports indicate the White House is reviewing the proposal from the Department of Health and Human Services to protect doctors and healthcare workers from being forced or pressured to perform abortions. Language will reportedly protect anyone who has a “moral objection” to involvement in an abortion because it kills an unborn child before birth.

Here is more on what President Trump is considering. As always, abortion activist threaten to sue to force doctors and nurses to participate in or perform abortions:

Under a proposed rule — which has been closely guarded at HHS and is now under review by the White House — the HHS office in charge of civil rights would be empowered to further shield these workers and punish organizations that don’t allow them to express their moral objections, according to sources on and off the Hill.

HHS did not respond to multiple requests for comment. However, HHS’ leaders have repeatedly criticized the Obama administration for rolling back regulations dating to the George W. Bush administration that legally insulated health care workers while affirming their religious freedoms.

Roger Severino, the Trump administration appointee who now leads the HHS civil rights office, has repeatedly stressed that strengthening conscience protections for health care workers is a top priority for his office.

The pending rule, which could be released as soon as this week, has been described to POLITICO as establishing a new “division” of the HHS civil rights office that would conduct compliance reviews, audits and other enforcement actions to ensure that health care providers are allowing workers to opt out of procedures when they have religious or moral objections.

The office would also conduct outreach and technical support to help others who are seeking to strengthen protections for these workers.

Life News article continues here

President Donald Trump Will Address March for Life, First President to Speak Via Live Video Feed

By Steven Ertelt
Life News

President Donald Trump will address the March for Life on Friday in live remarks to hundreds of thousands of pro-life people attending the event from across the country. Trump is keeping a tradition alive that’s seen previous presidents taking a pro-life position making similar phone calls to encourage pro-life advocates to continue fighting against abortion.

President Trump will become the first president to speak to the March for Life via a live video feed. Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and George W Bush all addressed the March for Life as well with pro-life remarks. There remarks were typically pre-taped or they were aired via a live phone call to March for Life participants. With better technology available today, a live video stream is more easily accomplished.

President Trump was supposed to send remarks to the March for Life last year but did not do so because ice President Mike Pence and Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway were slated to speak at the event to represent the White House.

Last year Trump called out the mainstream media for essentially ignoring the March for Life.

From LifeNews’ report then:

Wednesday night was a major first for Donald Trump as ABC aired his very first interview as the president of the United States. The interview questions ranged from immigration policy to what carpet he chose for the Oval Office (Ronald Reagan’s), but things got awkward for interviewer David Muir when he tried to stick Trump with questions about the Women’s March on Saturday, “Let me just ask you while we’re standing outside, could you hear the voices from the Women’s March here in Washington.”

“No, I couldn’t hear them. The crowds were large, but you will have a large crowd on Friday, too, which is mostly pro-life people,” Trump informed Muir before hammering him for the media’s long history of blatantly ignoring the annual March for Life in Washington, DC:

"You’re going to have a lot of people coming on Friday. And I will say this, and I didn’t realize this. But I was told. You will have a very large crowd of people. I don’t know as large or larger. Some people said it will be larger. Pro-life people and they say the press doesn’t cover them."

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President Trump Proclaims Religious Freedom Day: “Don’t Force Americans to Choose Between Their Faith and the Law”

By Steven Ertelt
Life News

President Donald Trump proclaimed January 16th as Religious Freedom Day in the United States. Now every year the president will declare January 16th as Religious Freedom Day, a day set aside to celebrate religious faith in America.

The day is important for pro-life Americans because Christians are being forced around the country to promote or fund abortions. The administration of former president Barack Obama forced Christian businesses like Hobby Lobby and even Catholic nuns like Little Sisters of the Poor to pay for abortion-causing drugs in their health care plans.

In comments associated with the proclamation, President Trump made it clear that no American should be forced to choose between their religious faith and the law and specifically mentioned those Christians who have been forced to promote or pay for abortions.

“Faith is embedded in the history, spirit, and soul of our Nation. On Religious Freedom Day, we celebrate the many faiths that make up our country,” Trump said. “Our Constitution and laws guarantee Americans the right not just to believe as they see fit, but to freely exercise their religion.”

“No American — whether a nun, nurse, baker, or business owner — should be forced to choose between the tenants of faith or adherence to the law,” Trump said. “The free exercise of religion is a source of personal and national stability, and its preservation is essential to protecting human dignity. Religious diversity strengthens our communities and promotes tolerance, respect, understanding, and equality. Faith breathes life and hope into our world. We must diligently guard, preserve, and cherish this unalienable right.”

The full proclamation reads:

Faith is embedded in the history, spirit, and soul of our Nation. On Religious Freedom Day, we celebrate the many faiths that make up our country, and we commemorate the 232nd anniversary of the passing of a State law that has shaped and secured our cherished legacy of religious liberty.

Our forefathers, seeking refuge from religious persecution, believed in the eternal truth that freedom is not a gift from the government, but a sacred right from Almighty God. On the coattails of the American Revolution, on January 16, 1786, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. 

This seminal bill, penned by Thomas Jefferson, states that, “all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.” Five years later, these principles served as the inspiration for the First Amendment, which affirms our right to choose and exercise faith without government coercion or reprisal.

Life News: President's Proclamation continues here

Trump's Top 8 Pro-Life Victories Listed as Operation Rescue Names Him 'Pro-Life Person of the Year'

By Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post

Pro-life activist group Operation Rescue announced last week that U.S. President Donald Trump has won its 2017 Pro-Life Person of the Year Malachi Award for his work in "protecting the pre-born."

"Operation Rescue is grateful Pres. Trump for having the courage to keep promises made during the campaign that provide greater protections for the pre-born and deny Federal funds from those who commit abortions," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman in the press release.

"He has proven to be the most pro-life president we have had in modern history and has backed up his pro-life rhetoric with action like no other before him."

The group listed eight of his main accomplishments since taking office, starting with his appointment of conservative, pro-life Justice Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"He has effectively denied public money to those who commit and promote abortions around the world," Operation Rescue said of Trump's second accomplishment.

"The Trump Administration Department of Justice has launched a formal investigation into Planned Parenthood's illegal baby parts trafficking scheme," it continued.

Another victory for pro-lifers was identified in Trump's support for pro-life legislation, such as the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which is aiming to ban late-term abortions nationwide.

For the 5th accomplishment, the group listed Trump's removal of a former President Barack Obama-era mandate that forced states to continue funding Planned Parenthood despite their wishes.

Next, the activists said that Trump has "worked to fill his administration with pro-life people and put them in places where they can do the most good."

"Trump's administration has taken active steps within the Health and Human Services and other agencies to establish pro-life policies that protect the pre-born," noted the 7th item on the list.

Finally, Operation Rescue positioned that Trump has fought to provide protections for people with religious and moral objections to paying for abortifacient drugs through Obamacare.

"We are proud of President Trump and his bold willingness to advance the cause of life. There are more battles ahead, but under the Trump administration, we can now finally see progress within our government toward restoring the sanctity of life and the protections of personhood to the pre-born," Newman stated.

Other pro-life groups, such as the Washington-based Susan B. Anthony List, have also said that Trump has been fulfilling promises in this area.

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President Trump May Name Top Pro-Life Advocate as Global Women’s Issues Ambassador

By Micaiah Bilger
Life News

Pro-life conservative leader Penny Young Nance may be President Donald Trump’s next ambassador at large for global women’s issues.

Nance, the president of Concerned Women for America, is a strong pro-life advocate who would continue to fight to protect women and girls, from the moment of conception, in the new role.

Two congressional aids recently said Trump is considering Nance for the position, Politico reports. The position through the Department of State involves overseeing programs to fight violence against women and girls, and promote educational and economic opportunities for them.

If nominated, she would add to the growing list of pro-life advocates who Trump has appointed to his administration. Teresa Manning and Charmaine Yoest, both of whom previously worked for prominent pro-life groups, are among the others.

Nance has been a bold and compassionate advocate for unborn babies and moms through her conservative Christian organization.

“We are told that abortion is not a big deal; that it’s a humane choice for the unborn baby; and that to be anti-abortion is to be anti-women. Guess what? None of this is true. And it’s time we got the facts straight,” she wrote in 2016.

“It is with compassion that we must share the facts and speak our minds,” Nance continued. “This is not about winning a theoretical argument; it is about the suffering of women, the loss of children, and the need to find compassionate, effective answers to a terrible national stain.”

Another one of Nance’s priorities has been to promote economic success for women and their children through expanded child tax credits.

Politico reports:

She has worked behind-the-scenes with Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and adviser, to help her find support for one of her causes: expanding the child tax credit. Concerned Women for America has long supported the credit dating back to the mid-1990s.

In early October, Nance told POLITICO that she and Ivanka Trump “agreed to work together to again increase the child tax credit in order to allow families to keep more of their own money and to free up their ability to invest in their children.”

Abortion activists already are groaning about her potential nomination.

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Media Forced to Admit Trump is Right About Horrific U.S. Abortion Laws

By Fr. Mark Hodges
National Right to Life

The mainstream media pounced on President Donald Trump after he stated in announcing his support for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act on October 2:

“The United States is currently out of the mainstream in the family of nations, in which only 7 out of 198 nations allow elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.”

The House approved the protective legislation the next day, but Trump was questioned about his charge that the U.S. is legislatively as abortion-permissive as China.

The Washington Post decided to fact check the president. Their conclusion? He is “backed by data.”

The infamous Roe v Wade Supreme Court decree arbitrarily segregated pregnancy into three 13-week “trimesters” based on the earliest gestational “viability” of the baby at about 26 weeks (the third “trimester”).

The nation’s highest court declared that only after “viability” did states have the right to limit abortions, unless the mother’s “health” was in jeopardy. However, Roe’s accompanying decision, Doe v Bolton, defined “health” in such broad terms that abortion-on-demand was effectively legalized throughout all nine months of pregnancy.

The Charlotte Lozier Institute issued a report in 2014 that analyzed abortion laws in 198 countries and independent regions with populations of at least one million people.

More than 25 percent (59 countries) have legalized unrestricted abortion-on-demand, and almost three-fourths (139) require a stated reason from the mother for killing her child, such as poverty, or wanting to finish school.

Of the countries that have legalized elective abortion, only seven allow late-term abortions. Besides the United States, nations that permit the growing child to be aborted after 20 weeks are Canada, China, Netherlands, North Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam. The Post checked these stats with another pro-abortion group’s stats and concluded Trump was right.

The president’s “statistic seemed dubious at first … But upon further digging, the data back up the claim,” the Post acknowledged[]. “Research from both sides of the reproductive rights debate confirm this figure.”

The U.S., along with Canada, China, North Korea, and Vietnam, have no national gestation limit to abortion but allow a baby to be terminated up to the day of birth.

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President Trump Will Roll Back Obamacare Mandate Forcing Christians to Fund Abortions

By Steven Ertelt
Life News

President Donald Trump today is set to roll back the Obamacare birth control mandate that forces Christians to pay for abortion causing drugs for their employees in their health care plan.

The controversial mandate has twice made it to the Supreme Court where the nation’s highest court sided with both Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor and their attempts to not be forced to pay for abortion causing drugs in violation of their consciences.

The court ruled that Hobby Lobby and other similar businesses were protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, which states that an individual’s religious expression shouldn’t be “substantially burdened” by a law unless there is a “compelling government interest.”

In the Hobby Lobby ruling, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the ACA’s contraception rule “would put these merchants to a difficult choice: either give up the right to seek judicial protection of their religious liberty or forgo the benefits, available to their competitors, of operating as corporations.”

The Trump administration says the new rules are motivated by “our desire to bring to a close the more than five years of litigation” over the pro-abortion mandate.

The new rules argue that the Affordable Cart Act does not mandate coverage of birth control, which could mean hundreds of thousands of women would no longer have access to the contraceptive without a copay.

The action, according to a Republican briefed Thursday on the regulation, will allow a much broader group of employers and insurers to exempt themselves from covering contraceptives such as birth control pills on religious or moral grounds. It represents the latest twist in a seesawing legal and ideological fight that has surrounded this aspect of the 2010 health-care law nearly from the start.

The rule change, first reported by the New York Times, will be among the recent moves by President Trump to dismantle initiatives enacted under the Obama administration. It will fulfill a crucial promise Trump made as a candidate to appeal to social conservatives and in May when he signed an executive order in the Rose Garden to expand religious liberty. (WaPo)

According to TownHall, the new rules provide significantly expanded religious exemptions the Obama administration refused to offer.

One of the new rules, according to the Times, provides an exemption to employers or insurers that object to covering birth control “based on its sincerely held religious beliefs,” while another rule gives an exemption to employers with “moral convictions” against covering birth control.

The new rules state that since all religious objections to the contraceptive coverage mandate cannot be satisfied, “it is necessary and appropriate to provide the expanded exemptions.”

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President Trump: People of All Ages With Down Syndrome Have ‘Inherent Dignity’ and ‘Unique and Special Gifts’

By Kelli
Live Action News

October has been designated as “World Down Syndrome Awareness Month,” a month which the National Down Syndrome society says is a time to “celebrate people with Down syndrome and make people aware of our abilities and accomplishments. It’s not about celebrating disabilities, it’s about celebrating abilities.”

On October 1, 2017, President Donald Trump released a statement regarding this special month, stating that people with Down syndrome make “significant contributions… to their communities, and to our Nation.” He went on to speak highly of not only those with Down syndrome, but of the supportive community surrounding these individuals:

We also salute the family members, caregivers, medical professionals, and advocates who have dedicated themselves to ensuring that these extraordinary people enjoy lives filled with love and increasing opportunity. As a result of these remarkable efforts, people with Down syndrome are living longer, more enriching lives than ever before.

President Trump also noted the “inherent dignity of all children and adults with Down syndrome,” along with a desire to “further empower those with Down syndrome to pursue the American Dream of independence, pride in work, and full participation in civil society” thanks to “sustained advancements in education, research, and advocacy.” He added:

The approximately 250,000 Americans with Down syndrome truly embody the great spirit of our Nation. They inspire joy, kindness, and wonder in our families, our workplaces, and our communities. We will always endeavor to make sure that their precious gifts are never maligned or taken for granted.

Of note was Trump’s stated intention to “increase public awareness regarding the true nature of this condition, and to dispel the stubborn myths about the degree to which it is disabling.”

Many parents of children with Down syndrome have expressed that upon receiving a prenatal diagnosis of Ds, they were given worst-case scenarios and were pressured to abort their babies. Sadly, these “stubborn myths” about the supposedly limited lives of those with Down syndrome persist, even among the medical community. President Trump decried this kind of discrimination in his statement:

Sadly, there remain too many people – both in the United States and throughout the world – that still see Down syndrome as an excuse to ignore or discard human life. This sentiment is and will always be tragically misguided. We must always be vigilant in defending and promoting the unique and special gifts of all citizens in need. We should not tolerate any discrimination against them, as all people have inherent dignity.

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President Donald Trump Cuts Planned Parenthood-Run Sex-Ed Programs, May Prepare for Abstinence Funding

By Micaih Bilger
LifeNews

President Donald Trump recently cut funding to a questionable teen pregnancy prevention program that has given millions of dollars to the abortion business Planned Parenthood.

The Hill reports pro-abortion President Barack Obama created the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program in 2010 to teach vulnerable populations of students about preventing pregnancy.

Participants in the program recently learned that their grant funding will end next year, two years sooner than expected, according to the report. Trump’s administration notified the 81 grant recipients that funding for the program is being cut by about $200 million and their grants will end on June 30, 2018, the report states.

Among the groups receiving grants to teach sex education are several Planned Parenthood affiliates. The program administrators awarded an annual $1 million grant to Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and Hawaiian Islands to target rural teens.

The abortion group said it uses the funds to “reduce teen pregnancy rates, increase use of contraceptives and delay initiation of sexual activity among ninth- to 12th-grade youth in rural Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Hawaii.”

Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, as well as Planned Parenthood of the Heartland also received grants of nearly $1 million each annually to promote their sex agenda to teens.  Health and Human Services Department spokesman Mark Vafiades told the New York Times that there is very little evidence that the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program is working.

Vafiades said the evidence of a positive impact is “very weak,” and the Trump administration wants to support a program that “provides youth with the information and skills they need to avoid the many risks associated with teen sex.”

Democrats and abortion activists are upset by the cuts, and are sending letters to HHS Secretary Tom Price in protest. Many speculate that the cuts could mean Trump’s administration will support abstinence-based programs instead.Life News continues

Here’s more from The Hill:

Valerie Huber, a prominent national abstinence education advocate, was recently named chief of staff to the assistant secretary for health, which oversees the office that manages the Teen Pregnancy Prevention program.

It’s not clear how much of a role Huber played in the decision to cut funding. But she has questioned its effectiveness in the past.

“The healthiest message for youth is one that gives youth the skills and information to avoid the risks of teen sex, not merely reduce them,” Huber wrote in an op-ed for The Hill.

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President Trump Expected to Sign Order Protecting Little Sisters of the Poor From Obama Abortion Mandate

By Steven Ertelt
Life News

President Donald Trump is expected to sign a religious liberty executive order as soon as Thursday. The order would protect Christian organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor from being forced to pay for abortions.

The expected religious liberty order will cover a number of issues but is of particular concern to pro-life advocates. Although the language of the order hasn’t been finalized, Thursday is the National Day of Prayer and the White House is planning to celebrate the occasion with Christian leaders and the executive order would be a nice compliment to that.

During the campaign, both President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence promised pro-life advocates that their religious liberties would be protected in the wake of the Obama Administration forcing businesses like Hobby Lobby and groups like Little Sisters of the Poor to pay for abortions for their employees.

Politico first reported on the potential of the executive order and has more on it:

President Donald Trump has invited conservative leaders to the White House on Thursday for what they expect will be the ceremonial signing of a long-awaited—and highly controversial—executive order on religious liberty, according to multiple people familiar with the situation.

Two senior administration officials confirmed the plan, though one cautioned that it hasn’t yet been finalized, and noted that lawyers are currently reviewing and fine-tuning the draft language.

Pence and a small team of conservative allies quickly began working behind the scenes to revise the language, and in recent weeks have ratcheted up the pressure on Trump to sign it. The new draft is being tightly held, but one influential conservative who saw the text said it hasn’t been dialed back much—if at all—since the February leak. “The language is very, very strong,” the source said.

Since taking office just over 100 days ago, President Donald Trump and his administration have provided the pro-life movement with several major victories.

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