ACLJ Urges Supreme Court to Take Case to End Abortion Based on Sex, Race, Disability

“Indiana can properly respond to at least two very worldly concerns: failure to anticipate the parental capacity to love children regardless of disabilities, and downright erroneous prenatal diagnoses.”

By Sarah Curlee, Crosswalk.com
Christian News Network

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has filed a friend-of-the-court brief pushing the Supreme Court to review an abortion case out of Indiana.

The case, Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK), deals with two provisions of Indiana law that were overturned by the lower federal courts. Humane disposal of the remains of aborted babies is called for in one provision, while the second provision bans abortions that are based on the sex, race, or disability of the unborn baby. 

The ACLJ filed the amicus brief on behalf of itself and parents from 44 families who gave birth to “children born with various disorders including Down Syndrome, Noonan Syndrome, Patau Syndrome, Turner Syndrome, Edwards Syndrome, Meckel-Gruber Syndrome, Potter Syndrome, spina bifida, and congenital heart disease, among others.”

The brief emphasizes the love each family felt for their unborn child, regardless of the diagnosis: “learning of these prenatal diagnoses did not change the love these parents felt for their children. Though many of these families ultimately lost their children, these parents do not consider that to have diminished the importance of the children’s lives. Indiana’s law protects children like theirs and recognizes that unborn children deserve protection from invidious discrimination.”

The state of Indiana is requesting that the Supreme Court hear the case. The federal district court in Indiana and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit insisted the disputed provisions were unconstitutional and contradictory to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling which declared a right to abortion. 

The ACLJ brief, however, disagrees: 

“The Constitution does not compel states to treat the bodies of dead unborn children as just so much “medical trash.” . . . Nor does the Constitution force states to allow abortion for any reason at all, no matter how pernicious.”

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When You Vote, Remember How Democrats Even Opposed Protecting Babies Who Survive Abortions

By Father Frank Pavone
Life News

The following is excerpted from Father Pavone’s recent NewsMax column:

President Trump, in the stirring rallies he has been holding across the country to show voters the tremendous progress we have all made under Republican leadership and the dangers we face from the Democratic Party, has called this an election of common sense. And he names this as his reason for embracing the policies he has been advancing.

There appear to me five immediate ways that common sense would lead us to vote Republican in the midterms of 2018.

3. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. 

This bedrock principle of our legal system, and of civilized society, was thrown out the window by the Senate Democrats and their allies during the recent Kavanaugh hearings. The lesson here for the midterms is that this was not an aberration, but rather has now become the modus operandi of Democratic opposition to the progress the Republicans are making in transforming the courts. I looked and listened in vain to hear a simple, straightforward answer from the opponents of Kavanaugh to the question, “Isn’t he to be presumed innocent until proven guilty?” but, sadly, their answers lacked the requisite simplicity and common sense.

4. You don’t give matches to an arsonist, and you don’t give political power to an angry mob. 

This has been one of the president’s best quotes in his rallies, referring to the very disturbing behavior of Democrat-supported left wing groups who pounded and clawed at the doors of the Supreme Court recently, and, following the advice of Democratic members of Congress like Maxine Waters and Cory Booker, got in the face of Trump supporters and drove them out of restaurants. Neither should voters lose sight of the “logic” of Hillary Clinton. She recently declared that you cannot be civil with a political party that opposes what you stand for, and that civility will return only when the Democrats return to power. 

This means either that what Republicans stand for doesn’t matter, and therefore can be destroyed by Democrats without any reaction, or it is an unintended compliment that Republicans and their allies know how to disagree peacefully, and use the processes America provides for making peaceful change rather than resorting to mob rule. In any case, commonsense dictates not to give matches to arsonists.

5. You don’t kill babies.

The arena of my own fulltime advocacy is that of calling for the protection of children in the first nine months of their existence. I never cease to be amazed at the blind spot that the Democratic Party has to the children in the womb. The fact that they are human is common sense. And the duty of any civilized society to protect its youngest children is self-evident. 

If you analyze the roll call of the all the abortion-related votes in the current 115th Congress as well as in the 114th Congress, you will see that every one of them broke down along party lines. Whether it was about direct protection of the babies in the womb, or the financing of abortion, the Republicans always voted in favor of protecting these children and the Democrats always voted in favor of abortion. 

The crossover votes in each case were either non-existent or could be counted on one hand. There was even a vote on whether to protect babies born alive after a failed abortion, and the Democrats opposed that too. To lack common sense on something as basic as the protection of children is the most disturbing point of all.

The president is right.

The midterms of 2018 really don’t require complex analysis of political trends or a highly nuanced understanding of the many issues confronting our nation and its leaders. It really is an election of common sense. And it is a moment to pray that common sense prevails.

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Celebrating 50 Years of Service This Week, Pro-life Pregnancy Centers Look Better Than Ever

The lives saved and changed through experiences at pregnancy centers are of immeasurable worth. 

By Moira Gaul
National Right to Life

Pregnancy centers were victorious at the Supreme Court earlier this summer, and that win is having a major ripple effect.

In NIFLA v. Becerra, the court ruled 5-4 that states cannot require pro-life pregnancy centers to post advertisements promoting abortion, holding that such laws would violate the free speech rights of those centers. The ruling struck down a 2015 California law that had done just that.

This ruling is already being felt in Hawaii, where just last month a district court judge issued a permanent injunction against a similar law, taking into account the legal precedent set in the NIFLA v. Becerradecision. The June Supreme Court ruling is also taking effect to unwind other legislative attacks, including those in San Francisco and Baltimore, designed to compel speech and undermine the mission of pro-life pregnancy centers.

In addition to protecting free speech, the NIFLA ruling protected the massive and positive contributions that pregnancy centers make on a daily basis across America—contributions that translate into real numbers and lives changed.

Exactly 50 years ago this week, the first pregnancy center in North America was launched, and such centers quickly became the go-to source for life-affirming alternatives to abortion, offering hope and support to women searching for help. Today, they offer a dramatically expanded spectrum of services to reach women, men, youth, and families with encouragement, vital health information, education, and healing.

A new report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute documents just how extensive the benefits of these centers have been. Surveying 2,600 out of an estimated 2,750 pregnancy centers, the report calculates that in 2017 alone:

• 7 in 10 centers offered free ultrasounds, with 400,100 ultrasounds performed.
• 295,000 moms and dads attended parenting courses.
• 1 in 4 locations offered STI/STD testing.
• 24,100 women and men received after-abortion support and recovery help.
• 97 percent of centers offered material aid.

Over 1 million youth attended community-based sexual risk avoidance presentations. In total, 2 million people received free services at pregnancy centers, saving communities an estimated $161 million each year. In addition, 67,400 volunteers—including 7,500 licensed medical professionals—gave their time at pregnancy centers.

While pregnancy testing was one of the earliest services offered by centers 50 years ago, it remains a trademark service that centers are known for.

A family nurse practitioner, who describes herself as pro-choice, was recently looking to help open “reproductive health teen clinics” in her California community. She interviewed local youth aged 14 to 24 to assess their needs, and reported being “floored” by their responses.

“I asked if they knew where they could get pregnancy testing,” she wrote. “Every single one of them, 85 to be exact, cited a crisis pregnancy center as the No. 1 place they go or have heard they can go.”

“Why?” she asked. “In their own words, ‘They offer it for free.’ ‘You can walk in.’ ‘You see the sign as you’re walking by/driving by/riding the bus.’”

This response is not surprising. Client exit surveys compiled by national pregnancy center networks consistently show high levels of satisfaction and strongly indicate the positive reputation that pregnancy centers have in their communities. The scope of pregnancy centers’ core services has exploded, but the hallmarks of compassionate, respectful, and free care continue to resonate as widely as ever.

The lives saved and changed through experiences at pregnancy centers are of immeasurable worth. The Lozier report illustrates these powerful life events by telling individual clients’ stories—stories of courageous moms and dads and sacrificial love.

National Right to Life report continues here

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.

In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

Pro-life Community Pleased Indiana Will Appeal “Dignity for the Unborn” Law to Supreme Court

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill

By Los Angeles Times
Christian Post

The Los Angeles Times has reported that the State of Indiana plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the 2016 Dignity for the Unborn Law. The law prohibits abortions for the sole reasons of the child’s race, sex, national origin or a potential disability, like Down syndrome.

The 2016 Dignity for the Unborn Law, signed by then-Governor Mike Pence, was blocked by a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

“Indiana last week told the high court that the state plans to appeal the lower court’s decision while asking for additional time to file its petition,” according to Jennifer Haberkorn.

Judge Tonya Walton Pratt

The Dignity for the Unborn Law deals with more than just discriminatory abortions. The law prohibits abortion businesses from treating the remains of unborn child as common medical waste. It also contains a provision that gives a woman seeking an abortion the opportunity to view an ultrasound of her unborn child at least 18 hours prior to an abortion. These portions of the law were also blocked by lawsuits brought by PPINK and the ACLU. The law was first struck by U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.

“On behalf of unborn children and women, we extend our thanks to Attorney General Curtis Hill and the State of Indiana for bringing the Dignity for the Unborn Law all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. 

“We urge the Supreme Court to take up this case. We cannot fathom that the high court will agree with Planned Parenthood’s arguments that it is constitutional to target unborn children for abortion because of their sex, race or a Down syndrome diagnosis.”

Website:National Right to Life

Voices for Life is an e-publication dedicated to informing and educating the public on pro-life and pro-family issues. To read our Mission Statement, use this link.  Follow us on Facebook, Google, and Pinterest.  Help us spread the pro-life message by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks.

Pregnant, need help or know someone who does?  

National Hotline: Call 1-800-712-HELP or Text 'HELPLINE' to 313131.
In Southeast Penna:  Call the Community Women's Center at  215-826-8090

If you or someone you know is suffering after abortion, confidential non-judgmental help is available.  Call Project Rachel's national toll-free number 888-456-HOPE (4673) or visit hopeafterabortion.org.  

Never Give Up

Most of us are familiar with the 1997 blockbuster hit Titanic.  The story fictionalizes a supposed love affair between two of the ship’s passengers as the mighty RMS Titanic plows through the ice-laden Atlantic Ocean on its maiden transatlantic voyage to New York.  Of course, we all know the fateful end for that majestic vessel on April 15, 1912.  Over 1,500 mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends and crew were washed away or frozen to death as the unsinkable ship proved everyone wrong and met her untimely demise on the floor of the Atlantic.

No one can take a tragedy and make it into a moneymaker like Hollywood.  A few big name stars, lavish costumes and a music theme that follows you everywhere you go guarantees a box office success.  So, though our characters Jack and Rose were not necessarily real people taking this amorous trek to America, it’s a nice packaged love story that makes the historic drama more palatable for moviegoers.

And as hokey as it might seem now that we can look at it through the 20-year prism since its release, there was actually a powerful message in that movie that all of us could take to heart.  It is one of never giving up and holding on tight to a goal, a purpose.  The Pro Life movement has been holding on and plowing forward for decade upon decade because they know exactly what they are fighting for and know it is worth the effort.  Every child who is saved spurs the fight on for the next child, and then the next child.  For every child that is lost though a greater determined effort is put forth.  That is not the time to give up, let go or surrender.  If anything, it is the time to hold tighter, to clasp our beliefs to our heart and vow to never give up.

The tide finally seems to be with us with a new administration and hope of a more balanced Supreme Court.  However, our voices still need to be heard over the cacophony of special interest groups which seem to be splintering off at alarming rates.   We must hold onto our message and promise to see it through and not be sidetracked by political stigmas and name calling.    As Jack demanded of Rose as he slowly drifted out of consciousness into the icy arms of the sea, “You must promise me that you’ll survive…..that you won’t give up…promise me now...and never let go of that promise.”  And Rose’s simple response, “I promise…I’ll never let go”, is also our response to our unborn children as we wade through the vitriol of our opponents.

Supreme Court Ruling on Texas Abortion Law

Regulations: What Happened and What Now?

by Thomas M. Messner, J.D.
Charlotte Lozier Institute

 

On October 14, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order in a federal case involving challenges to abortion-related laws enacted by the State of Texas.

The order comes in a case called Whole Woman’s Health v. Lakey.

In a nutshell, what did the Supreme Court do?

The Supreme Court issued an order that will stop certain abortion laws in Texas from being enforced until the federal courts decide whether those regulations are constitutional.

The Supreme Court did not say whether those laws are constitutional.

What abortion provisions are at issue in this case?

In 2013 the State of Texas enacted legislation known as H.B. 2. The federal court of appeals, Fifth Circuit, has explained that two provisions of H.B. 2 are at issue in this case.

The first provision is known as the admitting privileges provision. This provision “requires any physician performing an abortion to have active admitting privileges at a hospital within thirty miles of the location where the abortion is performed.”

The second provision is known as the ambulatory surgical centers provision. This provision “requires that all abortion clinics existing on or after September 1, 2014, comply with the same minimum standards required of ambulatory surgical centers.”

“The regulatory standards for ambulatory surgical centers contain two main categories: (1) physical plant . . . and (2) operations . . . .” Physical plant “includes architectural, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC requirements” and operations includes “requirements for medical records systems, training, staffing, and cleanliness.”

continue reading at https://www.lozierinstitute.org/

The goal of the Charlotte Lozier Institute is to promote deeper public understanding of the value of human life, motherhood, and fatherhood, and to identify policies and practices that will protect life and serve both women’s health and family well-being.  Our profound conviction is that the insights available through the best science, sociology and psychology cannot help but demonstrate that each and every human is not only “fearfully and wonderfully made” but blessed to be born at this time in human history.

Use this link for more information on the Charlotte Lozier Institute or to make a donation. 

Americans defend life by hundreds of thousands

This week marked 40 years since the Supreme Court legalized abortion through the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions. On Friday, hundreds of thousands of pro-life activists descended upon Washington to announce they are still working to overturn the decisions and spread the message that all human life is to be cherished and defended.
Fr. Frank Pavone is president at Priests for Life and an active leader in the pro-life movement and at the March for Life. He told WND the massive crowd on a snowy, blustery day sends a clear message.
“Just to give some perspective, the rally ended just after 1 p.m., and the march began and we still see no end to the crowd,” said Pavone, nearly three hours after the march began.
Once the march reached the Supreme Court, some 70 women who had abortions began sharing their testimonies of regret for having terminated their pregnancies.
As for the pro-life agenda in the coming year, Pavone said one major goal is to explain to Americans what Roe v. Wade is and what it isn’t.
“A lot of people think they support Roe v. Wade because they think it only allows abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy or only in certain extreme circumstances,” Pavone said. “But once we let them know two things, then things begin to change. No. 1, that Roe v. Wade allows abortions under any and all circumstances throughout all nine months of pregnancy. And No. 2, what an abortion actually is. The medical textbooks call it decapitation and dismemberment, very disturbing words that don’t come from pro-life people but come from the actual practitioners of abortion.”
Pavone admitted passing pro-life legislation in Washington will be next to impossible as long as President Obama is in the White House and Democrats control the U.S. Senate. He said pro-life Americans should continue encouraging House Republicans to stand strong against efforts to advance further pro-choice laws.
On the other hand, Pavone said pro-life governors and state legislatures are in place in at least half of U.S. states, and real progress could be seen at that level.
“We’ve got 33 pro-life governors across America, and we’ve got half of the states that have legislatures that are completely pro-life, which means that the leeway the courts have given to the states in passing reasonable measures like parental involvement, more informed consent clinic regulations,” said Pavone. “In some states, now, abortion is banned after 20 weeks on the state level because of the fact that children in the womb can feel pain. These kinds of measures, even in the current climate, have a lot of hope of passing in this particular year.”
The 2012 campaign focused more than usual on abortion, as the Obama campaign made it a centerpiece of its efforts to attract women, along with the federal mandate that employers cover all costs for contraception. Opponents of that agenda were accused of waging a war on women. Pavone said it’s exactly the opposite.
“The war on women, first of all, is when you tear them apart in the womb. Secondly, those who are standing here next to me are women who bought this product of abortion thinking it would be helpful to them, and they experienced exactly the opposite,” he said. “That’s the sad thing about the ideology we hear coming from the Democratic Party. They don’t listen to the women who have had abortions. They certainly don’t want to describe what an abortion is.
“So the war on women is a war that is making them believe the lie that abortion is something good. There’s no disease abortion cures. There’s no medical benefit to the procedure, but when women believe that there is, they end up standing here, as so many are right now, saying, ‘I regret my abortion.’”
Pavone said other reasons for pro-life optimism include the movement getting younger and younger, and he said he’s confident that 40 years from now, the unborn will once again be fully protected by law.

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