Life Advocacy Briefing

Breaking

OUR EDITORIAL/PRODUCTION TEAM will be traveling next week, so do not expect a Life Advocacy Briefing. We expect to be back in your “mailbox” by Labor Day with “news you can use in the cause of Life.” And we continue to be grateful to our paying subscribers and support team members who keep us going.

Where the Babies Are Welcomed

THE TEXAS HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION HAS REPORTED, according to a report by S.A. McCarthy in The Washington Stand, that their surveillance of the number of abortions committed in Texas during the past two years shows “none.” Hallelujah!

“In the months preceding the Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs decision,” writes Mr. McCarthy, “elective abortions in Texas exceeded 2,000 per month. January 2022 saw 2,531 elective abortions, February saw 2,513, March and April each saw over 3,000, and May and June each saw in excess of 2,500. Following the Supreme Court’s ruling at the end of June, elective abortions dropped off steeply – to only 67 in July of 2022. Beginning in August of 2022, as Texas’s ‘Human Life Protection Act’ went into effect, absolutely zero elective abortions have been reported. …

“‘What’s going on in pro-life states like Texas is enormously consequential,’ FRC Action Director Matt Carpenter told The Washington Stand,’” writes Mr. McCarthy. “‘The pro-life movement has been talking about building a culture of life for years, and now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, we’re seeing the result of pro-life laws and the emergence of that culture of life.’ He continued, ‘Candidates who hope to court the pro-life, pro-family vote should point to this and draw a contrast with states like New York, California, Illinois, Minnesota and others, that legalized abortion through every stage of pregnancy, and even went so far as to remove crucial life-saving protections for infants that survive abortions.’

“Carpenter added,’” writes Mr. McCarthy, “‘When voters understand that contrast, they will want that culture of life.’”

Another Referendum Coming on Abortion

ARIZONA VOTERS WILL FACE AN ABORTION REFERENDUM on the November ballot this year, thanks to a petition drive for a constitutional amendment to put the lives of unborn children in jeopardy.

“The proposed amendment would allow abortions,” reports Rio Yamat for the Associated Press (AP), “until a fetus could survive outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks, with exceptions to save the mother’s life or to protect her physical or mental health” – a Mack-truck loophole. “It would restrict the state from adopting or enforcing any law that would prohibit access to the procedure.”

An 1864 law in Arizona “permit[ted] abortions only to save the mother’s life,” reports AP. (Wow – AP used the term “mother”!) Its upholding by the Arizona Supreme Court startled the political class and abortion cartel in Arizona last April and touched off a hasty repeal by the legislature and Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), as well as the petition drive to seek to cement human abortion into the state constitution.

Organizers of the petition drive, notes AP, “said they initially submitted 823,685 signatures, more than double the 383,923 required from registered voters.”

Abortion Fanatic Hijacking Taxpayers

SOME STATES ARE OUTLAWING ABORTION or adding restrictions in response to the Supreme Court’s gracious grant of permission in the 2023 overturning of the onerous 1973 Roe v. Wade edict. Others – depending on which politicians have been empowered – are fighting to win the prize as the deadliest state in the union.

Joining such states as Illinois, Michigan and Ohio is New Mexico, whose governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, a former Democratic Member of Congress, is hijacking state taxpayer funds to lure former abortionists in neighboring Texas – where babies are protected in law – to her state to set up their chop shops.

Spending $400,000 on full-page Texas ads targeted specifically to abortionists, Gov. Grisham states in the ads, according to a report by Matt Lamb for LifeSiteNews: “‘It must be distressing that a draconian abortion ban has restricted your right to practice and turned it into a political weapon. … I certainly respect those of you who remain committed to caring for [sic] patients [sic] in Texas, but I also invite those of you who can no longer tolerate these restrictions to consider practicing next door in New Mexico. … We’re fiercely committed to protecting medical freedoms here, and we’re taking steps to ensure that what happened in Texas never happens in New Mexico.’”

The ads are directed to nurses, resident physicians, physician assistants and doctors, reports Mr. Lamb, and they are joined, he notes, by “‘billboards around the Houston Medical Center,’ according to CNN,” which notes, writes Mr. Lamb, “‘Abortion is legal without restrictions on pregnancy length in New Mexico, and the state has a shield law that protects its abortion providers caring for [sic] out-of-state residents.’”

As offensive as the Grisham invasion of Texas territory is, it is just the next stage in what appears to be an obsession for the second-term governor, who is ineligible to seek re-election in 2026, when US Sen. Ben Lujan (D) is expected to seek re-election.

“In September 2022,” writes Mr. Lamb, “the governor set aside $10 million to build an abortion facility near the Texas border” – at the expense of New Mexico taxpayers!

“‘The executive order also,’” reports Mr. Lamb, quoting a report by Live Action, “‘directs the Dept. of Health to develop a detailed plan to leverage resources to expand abortion access in rural and underserved parts of the state, work to make abortion medications available in state public health clinics and to reduce wait times and increase access statewide.’”

And Mr. Lamb notes a June 2022 report by LifeSiteNews: “The pro-abortion governor signed an executive order barring state agencies from assisting in the prosecution of abortionists in other states as long as the abortionist did not break any New Mexico laws. … The state also,” writes Mr. Lamb, “will not extradite abortionists for committing illegal abortions or any other crime that is not illegal in New Mexico.”

Gov. Grisham has apparently succeeded thus far in her promotion of the killing of developing babies. “A scandal-plagued abortion facility opened in Albuquerque last year,” notes Mr. Lamb, “with the explicit goal of killing at least 75 babies per week. ‘The starting goal is to serve 75 patients a week,’ Axios reported last year,” writes Mr. Lamb. “‘Whole Woman’s Health of New Mexico will provide first- and second-trimester in-clinic abortion procedures up to 18 weeks of gestational age and has plans to expand care up to 24 weeks in the near future.’”

Though we have focused chiefly on Gov. Grisham’s fanaticism and on the abuse of New Mexico taxpayers in pursuit of the abortion trade, we will close this item with a brief focus on Whole Woman’s Health itself. The abortion business had been operating in Texas until the Dobbs ruling, shall we say, sent abortion policy back to the states. “While committing abortions there,” writes Mr. Lamb, “it was cited for a variety of health violations, according to reports obtained by pro-life leader Abby Johnson,” who has come out of the abortion industry itself to lead the ministry And Then There Were None for the purpose of welcoming others coming out of the trade.

“‘The reports show that from 2011 to 2017,’” Life Site News previously reported, writes Mr. Lamb, “‘the Whole Woman’s Health abortion conglomerate has violated health codes by using rusty equipment, examining aborted babies in the same room where contaminated instruments were being washed, and failing to properly disinfect and sterilize instruments used from woman to woman.’” And, of course, its principal business is the intentional destruction of developing unborn human babies.

Challenge to Utah Law Continues

THE UTAH SUPREME COURT VOTED on Aug. 1, reports Calvin Freiburger for LifeSiteNews, “to continue blocking a Utah law banning most abortions while the legal battle over the law’s constitutionality continues through the lower courts.” The vote on the court was 4 to 1.

The law curbing abortion was passed in 2020, triggered to take effect in the event Roe v. Wade was overturned, which occurred two years later in the Dobbs decision of the US Supreme Court. But the Utah law, notes Mr. Freiburger, “has been tied up in court ever since taking effect.”

The vote by the state’s high court on Aug. 1 “affirmed a lower court ruling that Planned Parenthood Assn. of Utah had established its standing to challenge the law,” writes Mr. Freiburger, citing Deseret News as source.

The Utah Governor, Republican Spencer Cox, and his Lieutenant Governor, Deidre Henderson, issued a joint statement, quoted by Mr. Freiburger: “‘We are disappointed by the Supreme Court’s ruling that will further delay implementation of laws designed to protect some of the most vulnerable members of our state. … We are hopeful that this decision will be a temporary setback and the laws will take effect following resolution of the case.’” Pending the outcome, Utah does have a law in effect restricting the abortion of babies who have reached 18 weeks of gestation.

Planned Parenthood Crying Wolf?

PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER NEW YORK HAS ANNOUNCED it will close four abortuaries in Goshen, Amsterdam, Cobleskill and Staten Island, reports Matt Lamb for LifeSiteNews, citing a news release from the outfit.

“These four centers only appear to offer the dangerous abortion pills,” writes Mr. Lamb, “and not so-called ‘surgical abortions,’ according to a LifeSiteNews review of Planned Parenthood’s website. There were more than 100,000 abortions committed in 2020 according to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. ‘In 2021, there were 59,616 abortions performed in New York on state residents,’ the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute reported.”

Mr. Lamb goes on to report an announcement from New York’s Planned Parenthood that “it will pause late-term abortions after 20 weeks due to the costs of ‘deep sedation pain management services.’

“The New York Times said late-term abortions amount to ‘less than 2%’ of abortions committed by Planned Parenthood of Greater New York,” writes Mr. Lamb. “‘A significant share of abortions in New York take place at Planned Parenthood clinics, which logged 30,000 abortion visits statewide last year,’ the Times reported, paraphrasing a spokesperson,” Mr. Lamb adds.

The New York Times story, opined conservative commentator Jordan Boyd, quoted by Mr. Lamb, “‘tried to reassure readers that abortions beyond the halfway mark of pregnancy are rare, making up “less than 2%” of the New York Planned Parenthood’s facilities,’ Boyd wrote at The Federalist,” quoted in LifeSiteNews. “‘Yet the article is clearly designed to gin up sympathy and an extra $13 million in taxpayer funding for New York Planned Parenthoods and the “30,000 abortion visits” those facilities complete annually,’ she added.

“‘The NYT willingness to admit that late-term abortions actually do occur strongly contrasts the corporate media’s track on record on second- and third-trimester abortions,’ Boyd wrote,” reports Mr. Lamb. “She cited statements by Planned Parenthood Action which claimed ‘late-term abortion’ is a ‘made-up phrase’ from pro-life activists. She also criticized talking points that claim late-term abortion is rare and only for ‘medically necessary’ reasons. ‘This lie is easily refuted not only by data showing tens of thousands of babies lose their lives to late-term abortion each and every year but also by corporate media’s favorable reporting on abortion facilities that execute babies up until birth,’ Boyd concluded,” quoted by LifeSiteNews.

Could Table Talk Help?

Aug. 3, 2024, commentary by Mary Szoch, The Washington Stand

             Over the past several weeks, every major news outlet has noticed – and reported extensively on – the absence of the topic of abortion from GOP candidates’ speeches. Across the country, Christians have been disappointed by the Republican Party’s failure to make the Life issue the hallmark of the Presidential campaign.

             Defending the most innocent, the most vulnerable among us, should be every candidate’s top priority, but the same is true of every Christian. And if most of us take an honest look at our lives, we must admit that we’re not doing a great job being a voice for the voiceless ourselves.

             A 2023 survey conducted by Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview reported that from June of 2022, when the Dobbs decision was handed down, to June 2023, less than 50% (44%) of churchgoers indicated that their church provided a sermon or teaching about abortion during a weekend worship service. Prior to that study, the latest Pew research found that in the spring of 2019, just 4% of sermons posted on a church’s website mentioned abortion.

             Despite the fact that 68% of Americans identify as Christians and that the Bible is clearly pro-life, in every pro-life ballot initiative since the Dobbs decision, pro-lifers have lost handily. These statistics suggests that Christians aren’t talking about abortion nearly enough. Pastors aren’t talking about it; parents aren’t talking about it; siblings aren’t talking about it; neighbors aren’t talking about it; friends aren’t talking about it.

             Why not? There could be many reasons.

             The topic of abortion is divisive. The truth that abortion intentionally and brutally ends an unborn child’s life is a hard one to speak [about] and an even harder one to hear.

             The Center for Biblical Worldview study also revealed that people don’t want their pastors to talk more about abortion, and if people don’t want their pastors to talk about abortion, they likely don’t want their mom, dad, brother, sister or friend to bring up the topic either, which makes it hard to do so.

             All of us want to be liked, and we live in a culture where – instead of pointing those we love toward goodness and truth – we strive to make sure everyone around us feels comfortable. Talking about what an abortion is makes people feel uncomfortable.

             Furthermore, many Christians have had or been a part of an abortion and don’t want to remember the tragic event or don’t want to appear hypocritical by condemning it.

             And perhaps there are those Christians who are rightly afraid that, if we speak out against the evil of abortion, the Biden/Harris Dept. of Justice will be weaponized against us.

             Whatever the reason, as Christians, if we’re entirely honest, most of us will admit that we are rarely having conversations about the need to stop the legalized killing of unborn babies with people who have a major influence on our daily lives. And so, it shouldn’t be surprising that the politicians campaigning to represent us aren’t making defending the unborn their main talking point. Politicians take cues from their constituency. If we’re not talking about it, why should they?

             If Christians want their elected officials to start talking about the evil of killing an innocent unborn child, we need to be willing to have the hard conversations with loved ones and friends who disagree with us about the dignity of the unborn child first. There is no magic formula to help these conversations go perfectly, but love, compassion and stories all help.

             As Christians, we are called to change the hearts and minds of those around us – to open people’s eyes to the truths that abortion kills an unrepeatable person, that there is hope and healing for those who have had or been involved with abortion, and that the right to life applies to all people without exception. Innocent lives are at stake. This is our job, and we can’t expect politicians to do it for us.

Life Advocacy Briefing editor’s note: To some extent, we can agree with Family Research Council’s Mary Szoch in the appeal she makes to ordinary pro-life citizens to model advocacy for the right to life and the emergence of America’s culture from the scourge of abortion tolerance. We can appreciate, though, that everyday conversations about what has become a contestable – and sometimes painful – topic holds a special challenge for those to whom civility and compassion are norms. And we would not like to see our readers take from her commentary any sense that our politicians should in any way be taken off the hook. The reality is, the Republican Party is drifting, and it is critical for pro-life citizens to call to account the near silence of the GOP – which is the only party which has embraced the cause of Life – and to expect better from the Christian clergy as well. We embrace the use of the abortion issue to expose the radicalism of those who favor what they euphemistically (and misleadingly) call “choice” and of those who hide behind “health care” as an excuse for the intentional killing of innocent human life.

We are confident that many – if not most – American citizens found uncomfortable the cause of freeing slaves and according the slaves of the 17^th and 18^th centuries the dignity of full citizenship, but Americans – led by conscientious public officials and persuasive orators and writers took up the cause and freed our nation from the deeply institutionalized wrong of legalized human slavery. The right to life of every unborn child is just as compellingly moral a cause. We agree with Ms. Szoch that all of us need to be engaged in it; we do not believe politicians who listen only to paid consultants and not to either their constituents or their God should be given leave to turn a blind eye.

Here is a conversation starter our readers might enjoy using as an icebreaker on the topic, one that doesn’t get too personal but does cut through the malarky:

• A mother has given birth to three children born blind, two born deaf and one born mentally retarded. Now she herself has syphilis, and she’s expecting another baby. Would you advise her to undergo an abortion? If the answer is yes, you just killed Beethoven.

(Of course, you might have to explain to your teenagers these days just who was Beethoven!)