Life Advocacy Briefing

Prayers Appreciated!

WE WILL WELCOME THE PRAYERS of our readers for our editorial team, fighting illness as we prepare this edition. We hope it will be informative and timely despite our struggle.

Kudos to Students for Life of America

A POWERFUL TELEVISION AD began airing last week in a limited number of states, developed and sponsored by Students for Life of America Action (SFLA/A). The ad reminds us of a radio ad in Iowa which took down the re-election prospects of then-Sen. John Culver, which powerfully aired the sound of the heartbeat of an unborn child and abruptly cut it off, highlighting the one-term Democrat’s support for legalized abortion.

The SFLA/A ad opens with a black screen, onto which words are typed for the viewer to read and contemplate, some in white, some in red, some in lowercase, some in uppercase. Here is the text of the ad:

“As Governor, Tim Walz signed legislation removing the requirement that babies who are born after botched abortions receive medical care.

“During his tenure, at least eight babies were born alive during abortions, and died gasping for air.

“As Senator, Kamala voted against protecting these infants twice. As President, she will ensure this happens in your state.”

Factual, straightforward, shocking. And to enhance its impact, behind the words on the screen is the sound of a tiny baby’s gasps for air … and then nothing.

The ad can be viewed on the internet at studentsforlifeaction.org/tv. Donations to keep it on the air are solicited at https://secure.studentsforlifeaction.org/expose-kamala-ad, where it can also be viewed.

As with the 1980 beating-heart ad (which long preceded the effective Heartbeat Abortion bills being proposed in many states before the Dobbs ruling made total abortion criminalization legally feasible), the ad not only targets radical politicians but pointedly and effectively reaches hearts and minds – and consciences – of Americans for whom abortion law has been someone else’s “cause.” Its effectiveness is demonstrated already by those who have viewed the ad on YouTube and typed comments in response.

Piercing the Fog of Lies

THOUGH FORMER VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE HAS LARGELY AVOIDED participation in the 2024 Presidential contest, a think-tank he founded – Advancing American Freedom (AAF) – has published an extensive memo “expos[ing] Democrat Presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s lie,” reports Doug Mainwaring for LifeSiteNews, “that ‘nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion.’”

The memo “offers irrefutable evidence,” writes Mr. Mainwaring, “that ‘Democrats and the media continue to lie to the American people about late-term abortions,’ even during a Presidential debate.

Debate moderator Linsey Davis “lied to the American people,” notes Mr. Mainwaring, “when she stated that there ‘is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it is born.’” He goes on to quote the AAF memo: “‘Meanwhile Harris claimed that it’s “not true” that abortions could be performed in the third trimester of pregnancy.’”

“‘Late-term abortions happen all the time,’ continues the AAF statement,” quoted by LifeSiteNews. “‘Anyone saying otherwise is misinformed or lying. We must stand for life and confront the dark reality of abortion.’

“The memo cites the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) research showing that .9% of abortions – about one out of every 100 abortions – occur after 21 weeks, when a child is viable outside his or her mother’s womb, making late-term abortion ‘the second greatest cause of death among minors.’ …

“The government’s own statistics tell the gruesome story,” writes Mr. Mainwaring. “‘The CDC tabulated 625,978 legal induced abortions in the 48 states that report them,’ noted a report by the Daily Signal’s Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell. ‘That means abortionists killed at least 5,600 babies who were at or beyond 21 weeks’ gestation that year.’

“Moreover, nine states and Washington, DC,” notes Mr. Mainwaring, “place no time limit on abortion. ‘A quick Google search turns up clinics here in DC that provide abortions up to 36 and 32 weeks,’ explained Reason reporter Emma Camp in a recent X post.

“The world was shocked to learn in 2022,” Mr. Mainwaring continues, “that pro-life activists discovered ‘over 115 aborted children,’ including five aborted children who were ‘extremely late term’ and appeared to be ‘viable, premature people’ being discarded as medical waste at a Washington, DC, abortion mill.” Few politicians in our nation’s capital have noted the scandalous discovery.

Unexpected Victory

DELAWARE’s OUTGOING GOV. JOHN CARNEY (D) HAS VETOED a bill which would have legalized abetted suicide, which had passed the state senate by a one-vote margin after a tie vote on the first attempt.

The death lobby is expected to seek to revive the legislation next year, but for now, doctors will not be authorized to administer death on request in America’s “First State.” (Delaware drew that nickname on Dec. 7, 1787, by becoming the first state to ratify the US Constitution.)

Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition credits “the many people who committed their time and energy to oppose” the deadly proposal. Those who wish to thank the governor may do so by electronic mail at [email protected]. A rare opportunity!

Nasty & Proud of It

PRO-LIFE PREGNANCY CENTERS ARE BEING TARGETED by a Minnesota abortion outfit, which, writes Clare Marie Merkowsky for LifeSiteNews, “is selling hoodies and t-shirts with the words ‘The Christian Right is Wrong’ along with a picture of a burning building labeled ‘Anti-Abortion Center.’ … The burning building on the merchandise appears to be a First Care pregnancy clinic, a Minnesota-based clinic that provides free support to pregnant mothers.”

The radical outfit is called the “Minnesota Abortion Action Committee” and early this month, reports Ms. Merkowsky, “protested outside a First Care pregnancy clinic, holding signs reading ‘First Care is a Fake Clinic,’ ‘First Care Hurts This Community,’ and ‘I Love Abortion.’”

Extremism in the Cause of Child Killing is No Virtue

Reprinted from the August, 2024, edition of Pro-Life Action News, published in St. Paul, MN

             The Administration of Pres. Joe Biden and Vice Pres. Kamala Harris has been extremely pro-abortion, pushing abortion and funding it at every opportunity while harshly punishing several pro-life activists engaged in peaceful civil disobedience. However, if Harris were to be elected President with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as Vice President, the lives of unborn children would be in even more danger.

Vice President Harris

• Wants no limits whatsoever on abortion throughout pregnancy;
• Supports taxpayer funding of abortion, which would lead to more babies killed;
• As a US Senator, co-sponsored the “Women’s Health Protection Act,” which would eliminate pro-life laws across the country;
• Voted against protections for unborn babies when they can feel pain and [against] proper medical care for newborns who survive abortion;
• As a US Senator, introduced a bill that would force pro-life healthcare workers to commit abortions;
• Had a 100% score from Planned Parenthood when she was in the Senate;
• As Attorney General of California, backed a law that tried to force pro-life pregnancy resource centers to inform women where they could get free abortions and to advertise abortion mills. (This law was struck down by the US Supreme Court.);
• Has stated she will only appoint judges who support a “right to abortion;”
• As a US Senator, opposed Judge Brian Buescher for the federal bench, in part because of his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men’s organization that strongly supports the pro-life position and helps pregnant women;
• After meeting with Planned Parenthood, had the California Dept. of Justice raid the home of journalist David Daleiden of the Center for Medical Progress, seizing evidence of PP officials admitting to the illegal retrieval and sale of aborted baby body parts, in essence going after the person who exposed this illegal activity, instead of the abortionist criminals.

Governor Tim Walz

• After the Dobbs decision, signed into Minnesota law the radical Protect Reproductive Options Act, which allows abortion on demand up to birth and prohibits any town, city or county from passing ordinances against abortion. He also signed the bills that removed all pro-life regulations in Minnesota, including the parental involvement laws for a minor’s abortion;
• Gutted the state’s abortion reporting law, making it easier for the abortion industry to hide the extent of its evil work from the public;
• Removed protections from babies who survive abortion and are born alive. This new law allows infanticide. From the time Walz became governor and when he signed the bill repealing the previous born-alive law, there were eight babies reported as having been born alive after abortion – all of whom died. But we believe the abortion mills killed other survivors and did not report them. … The new law eliminates any reporting of survivors;
• Took state funding away from pregnancy resource centers which assist babies and their parents;
• Increased Medicaid payments to abortion mills for killing the children of the poor;
• Signed into law the “safe haven for abortionists” law allowing abortionists accused or convicted of violating abortion laws in other states to hide in Minnesota from legal authorities;
• Has invited women from around the country to have abortions in Minnesota;
• Was a defendant in a lawsuit filed by the Thomas More Society on behalf of Pro-Life Action Ministries, pro-life healthcare providers and several Minnesota individuals during the Covid pandemic for allowing abortion facilities in Minnesota to stay open despite his shut-down of all other elective surgeries. The lawsuit aimed to shut down the abortion mills. Instead, on the day in late May 2020 when Walz was served papers in the lawsuit, he lifted the ban on other elective surgeries rather than stop the killing of unborn babies;
• Gave about $97,000 of federal Covid funds to SPIRAL Collective, an organization that provides “abortion doulas;”
• As a US Congressman from 2007-2019, consistently voted for taxpayer funding of abortion on demand. He also voted against protections for unborn babies when they can feel pain. He received a 0% score from National Right to Life;
• Signed an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court in support of mifepristone, the abortion pill;
• Shut down churches for two months during the pandemic, even after easing restrictions on other entities. He only relented after the Catholic bishops of Minnesota and leaders of the Lutheran Church/Missouri Synod said they were going to reopen churches without his permission.