Life Advocacy Briefing

Really?

THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN APPEARS TO US to be ducking and dancing more on the abortion issue than any other. The candidate himself appears proud to have rescued America from Roe v. Wade – which his opponent continues to champion as though the Supreme Court’s tragic 1973 ruling was somehow symbolic of a society which actually had never embraced the killing of its progeny – but has weakened the GOP platform on the issue and continually insists protection of human life is no longer an issue to concern the federal government.

Of one thing American pro-life citizens can be certain: Mr. Trump is right about Ms. Harris. She is so radical on the issue of abortion that her record already demonstrates she will carry on the Biden-Harris Regime’s sustained assault on pro-life citizens and go to extremes to promote abortion at our expense and at the expense of future Americans yet unborn.

We publish at the close of this Life Advocacy Briefing a LifeSiteNews commentary by a DC attorney which reminds Americans of the Donald Trump who served as President – as a pro-life President – from 2017-2021, while regretting the campaign’s apparent embrace of the former First Lady’s advocacy of abortion. At the same time, we note that no First Lady since before Roe has declared pro-life inclinations. So, although we find Mrs. Trump’s embrace of abortion painful, we do not fear that she will exercise influence. We have no doubt whatsoever about what a Harris Presidency would achieve across a broad range of issues.

One Step Ahead in Florida Ballot Question

A FLORIDA JUDGE HAS THWARTED an attempt by the leftwing ACLU, reports Calvin Freiburger for LifeSiteNews, “to get the DeSantis Administration to stop informing the public of inconvenient details about a pending ballot initiative to embed abortion-on-demand in the Florida constitution.”

The petition-posted ballot proposition is titled “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion,” certainly a biased title straight off! As has occurred in other states, where voters have cemented abortion into their constitutions, the wording of the proposition is tilted toward a “yes” vote, focusing on “patient’s health” and “patient’s healthcare provider.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) “has worked against the amendment on a variety of fronts,” notes Mr. Freiburger, “including a website by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration laying out comprehensive information about Florida’s current abortion law, services available to pregnant women and a thorough analysis of Amendment 4’s harms, including how its effects differ from how its supporters present it.”

It was that truth-telling that the ACLU went to court to block, “but on Sept. 30, the 2^nd Judicial Circuit Court rebuked the organization, Liberty Counsel reports,” writes Mr. Freiburger.

Ruled Judge Jonathan Stafford, quoted by LifeSiteNews: “‘In an election campaign under these circumstances the political power reserved to the people in … the Florida Constitution means that it is not for the courts to intervene in this referendum campaign to decide what the people will be permitted to consider. … The constitution does not suggest a basis for the courts to intervene in the campaign by deciding which arguments for and against the proposal are meritorious or misleading.’

“[Judge] Stafford further found ‘no evidence’ of the state misleading voters,” writes Mr. Freiburger. “‘More damage would likely be done to the public interest were the courts to intervene, unfettered by meaningful evidence, in the final weeks of a contentious election on matters of great public interest and controversy,’ he wrote. ‘The judiciary must trust the people to decide what information is important to them.’”

Underlining the importance of this court ruling, Mr. Freiburger notes, “The abortion lobby has had great success using false claims that pro-life laws are dangerous to stoke fear about the issue among the general public, most visibly in the area of state constitutional amendments declaring ‘rights’ to abortion immune from future legislation.” Mr. Freiburger also notes, in contrast to several other states where misleading amendment propositions have passed in the wake of the Dobbs ruling, the threshold for voter ratification of a constitutional amendment proposal in Florida is a 60% “yes” vote.

“The outcome may come down,” Mr. Freiburger speculates, “to how well pro-lifers can disseminate the actual fact of what Amendment 4 does. Polling by public opinion firm NextGen Polling found that while 57% supported the amendment overall, 64% of Republican respondents, 34% of Democrats and 43% of independents were less likely to support it when informed it could relax standards of who actually commits the procedure to [include] non-physicians.”

As for Gov. DeSantis, Mr. Freiburger notes he has “taken multiple steps to work against the amendment, including the aforementioned [health department] campaign, the launch of a political committee dedicated to defeating it, lobbying other Florida Republicans to speak up, investigating potential fraudulent petition signatures used to advance it and a recent statewide day of prayer for Florida’s pro-life protections.”

Texas Challenging Biden Regime Secrecy Rule

TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL KEN PAXTON (R) IS GOING AFTER a Biden Regime rule, reports Laura Nicole for Live Action, by filing a lawsuit in federal court in Lubbock “against a Biden Administration rule that would hide information regarding abortion or other ‘reproductive health’ from criminal investigations – a [rule] which disingenuously purports to protect women but instead could end up harming them.”

While the Biden Regime has been thwarted in legislative attempts by the GOP majority in the US House, the President and his officers have used administrative rulemaking prolifically in seeking to serve the abortion cartel. A current proposed rule is intended to fit that pattern, unless the Paxton lawsuit prevails to block its implementation.

The rule is proposed under the 1996 Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA), which is supposedly designed to safeguard personal health information privacy. The Act itself, as Ms. Nicole reports, give states “access to some information – for example, where it relates to public health like diseases, child abuse, births, deaths, injury, etc.,” but “the new rule would greatly inhibit or block their investigative ability to look it this information if it has anything to do with ‘reproductive health care.’”

The Texas attorney general issued a statement, quoted by Ms. Nicole, explaining, “‘This new rule undermines Congress’s clear statutory meaning when HIPAA was passed, and it reflects the Biden Administration’s disrespect for the law. The federal government,’” he said, “‘is attempting to undermine Texas’s law enforcement capabilities, and I will not allow this to happen.’

“According to the filing, the Texas AG is asserting,” reports Live Action, “that the 2024 rule was [promulgated] ‘in order to obstruct states’ ability to enforce their own laws on abortion and other laws that Health & Human Services deems to fall under the rubric of “reproductive health care,”’ and points out that the rule itself explicitly states that it exists as a response to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

“Under the Biden Administration rule, information that is in any way related to reproductive health care would be difficult to obtain or just simply blocked,” explains Ms. Nicole. “This would prevent states like Texas with pro-life laws from knowing about abortions, potentially preventing the state from prosecuting illegal abortions, medical malpractice, abortion or other kinds of criminal activity, effectively shielding dangerous abortionists.” Bingo.

Georgia Supreme Court Jumps In

ON MONDAY, OCT. 7, THE GEORGIA SUPREME COURT REINSTATED the state’s Living Infants Fairness & Equality Act (LIFE Act), just a week after it was struck down by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney. It is all part of a lengthy “back-and-forth battle,” notes Sarah Holliday for The Washington Stand, which is expected to continue. But for now, “the court’s ruling has allowed the pro-life law to remain ‘in place while an appeal is heard,’” reports The Daily Wire, quoted by Ms. Holliday.

Planned Parenthood “did not take to the news well,” writes Ms. Holliday, calling the Supreme Court’s ruling “‘devastating.’” Susan B. Anthony List weighed in with praise for Gov. Brian Kemp and the state’s attorney general Christopher Carr, and Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins posted on X (formerly Twitter): “‘Good news! Life is protected once again in Georgia!’”

As to the state supreme court response, Ms. Holliday quotes the New York Times: “‘Six of the justices agreed in full with the majority ruling [allowing the law to stand], and another only in part. One justice did not participate and another had been disqualified from participating in the case.’”

For now, the law is enforceable in Georgia. For the future, the legal battle is a good note to add to our readers’ prayer lists – beginning with thanks.

What Says the Veep Nominee?

Oct. 9, 2024, LifeSiteNews report by Stephen Kokx

             GOP US Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio surprised political observers this weekend after insinuating that if Donald Trump wins this year’s Presidential race, federal funding for abortion would be brought to an end.

             “On the question of defunding Planned Parenthood, look, I mean our view is we don’t think that taxpayers should fund late-term abortions,” Vance told reporters Saturday after Trump’s massive rally in Butler, PA. “That has been a consistent view of the Trump campaign the first time around. It will remain a consistent view.”

             Vance’s remarks have prompted both pro-lifers and pro-abortion groups to speak out.

             “I was thrilled by what Sen. Vance said,” Mary Szoch of the Family Research Council told Washington Watch, the group’s podcast. “I’m hopeful that that means that they’re committed to defunding Planned Parenthood completely.”

             Planned Parenthood receives roughly $592 million from US taxpayers in the form of Medicaid reimbursements, government grants and other programs each year. It performs on average more than 365,000 abortions annually, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, with less than 1% of them being “late-term abortions” at 21 weeks or later during pregnancy.

             While in office, Trump signed off on the “Protect Life Rule” for Title X [Ten] funding, which prohibited federal dollars from going to Planned Parenthood. However, the measure was overturned by Joe Biden in 2021.

             Trump also upheld the Hyde Amendment and restored the Mexico City Policy, which prohibit Medicaid and US foreign aid money from being used for abortions, respectively. A bill seeking to defund Planned Parenthood was proposed during the first Trump term but never made its way through Congress. He has not campaigned on defunding Planned Parenthood at all this election season.

             Pro-abortion groups pounced on Vance’s remarks. “J.D. Vance Forgets to Stick to the Script, Admits He and Donald Trump Will Defund Planned Parenthood in a Second Term,” a headline from a Vanity Fair article read.

             Vance’s “chilling” remarks “fly in the face of how other Republicans, including Trump, have tried to present more moderate views on abortion,” a story for The New Republic says.

             Vance exposed Kamala Harris’s running-mate Tim Walz during their first and only debate last week. Vance brought up how Walz signed legislation that guarantees a “fundamental right” to effectively unlimited abortion. He also explained that Walz approved an omnibus bill that repealed most of Minnesota’s born-alive protections for babies that survive abortion attempts.

             “That is fundamentally barbaric. Do you want to force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions against their will?” Vance asked.

             It will be interesting to see how the Trump campaign responds to Vance’s comment, as Trump announced during the Vice Presidential debate via social media that he would veto a federal abortion ban because abortion is now “up to the states.” …

[Life Advocacy Briefing editor’s note: Mr. Trump can easily pledge to veto something that has no chance of arriving at his desk, given the likely makeup of the US Senate, where legislation requires a 3/5 majority to pass. His mantra about the Dobbs ruling having “sent” abortion policy to the states is an entirely separate question from policies related to abuse of taxpayer funds.]

Lest We Forget

Oct. 7, 2024, LifeSiteNews commentary by retired DC attorney R. Timothy McCrum

             Readers were no doubt dismayed to discover the pro-abortion views of Melania Trump, expected to be published in her upcoming autobiography. According to the memoir excerpts, first leaked by the UK’s Guardian, Melania has held strong pro-abortion views throughout her “entire adult life,” and she believes that it is a “fundamental right” of a woman to “terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.” But is this evidence Donald Trump himself was never pro-life?

             A quick review of the bold actions of Pres. Donald J. Trump demonstrates that Melania’s views on the issue of abortion are not his views. Melania said as much herself in a recent interview. After defending her pro-abortion views, Melania insisted that her husband “has different beliefs.”

             Indeed, with the unexpected release of Melania’s apparently long-standing abortion boosterism, it is more remarkable that Pres. Trump’s courageous actions in office so greatly advanced the pro-life cause, establishing him as the most pro-life President in US history. [Life Advocacy Briefing editor’s note: We disagree; that honor goes to Pres. Ronald Reagan.] Yes, readers may have also been disturbed by some of Trump’s recent statements, but they must be seen in the context of what he has done for the unborn.

             Pres. Trump campaigned openly as a pro-life Presidential candidate in 2016. In his debate with Hillary Clinton, he unflinchingly declared that the gruesome practices of late-term, partial-birth abortion were “not OK” with him, whereas Hillary passionately defended women’s so-called “right” to obtain abortions without any government restrictions.

             After his election, Pres. Trump became the first US President to make a special appearance and speak during the March for Life in the nation’s capital. Yes, that is correct: President Reagan never did so in his eight years in office, nor did Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush in their combined 12 years in office. And the national March for Life had taken place every January since 1973.

             When Pres. Trump participated in the 2020 March for Life, he spoke about the “eternal truth” that “every child is a precious and sacred gift from God.” He added that “unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House.” He strongly opposed the Democrat views supporting “taxpayer-funded abortion all the way up until the moment of birth.” Finally, he declared, “Every human life, born and unborn, is made in the holy image of Almighty God.”

             Most importantly, in the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump promised to select any future Supreme Court appointments from a list of prominent judges with a track record of following the US Constitution from an originalist perspective, following the plain text and historical context of the Constitution. Notably, the word abortion is not mentioned in the Constitution, though the murderous practice has existed as far back as antiquity. Then, during his Presidential term, he filled three successive Supreme Court vacancies with the more originalist Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, who have largely shown fidelity to our Constitution, as Pres. Trump had promised.

             These bold actions by Pres. Trump resulted in the US Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022 – an event most pro-lifers wondered if they would ever see in their lifetimes. Thank you, Pres. Trump! Thank you, Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett. [And Chief Justice Roberts]

             The abortion issue now can be decided by the people at the level of our states, and our church pastors and pro-life organizations are free to actively persuade the people to follow the truths of the pro-life positions. We can even hope to persuade Melania Trump! But that conservative majority in the US Supreme Court is truly on the line in this 2024 election, along with the rest of the future judicial vacancies in the lower federal courts. …

             It’s true that it has never been more important than it is now to pray for Donald and Melania Trump, and we also shouldn’t forget to be thankful for the many actions Pres. Trump took to defend unborn children.