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Every child deserves care and protection

Yesterday marked the six-month anniversary of the introduction of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (H.R. 962) in the House by Rep. Ann Wagner. The bill aims to ensure that children born alive after an attempted abortion receive “the same degree of professional skill, care and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age.”

Over these six months, 80 pro-life Representatives have come to the House floor to call for a vote on the Born-Alive Act, and 80 times these Representatives have been blocked by Speaker Pelosi.

The care and protection of innocent new-born children should not be a controversial issue. According to polling by the Heritage Foundation, 76% of Americans support requiring doctors to provide medical care to infants that survive failed abortions.

To call attention to this disregard of human life and the importance of the Born Alive Act, the March for Life and others took to social media.

Thanks to all who joined us, and check out some of the highlights below!

https://twitter.com/USRepLong/status/1158404613021847553?s=20

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What’s the Protect Life Rule All About?

 

Last spring, in March of 2018, Congress passed an Omnibus spending bill that continued to fund the nation’s largest abortion provider, despite a pro-life majority in Congress. March for Life and March for Life Action, along with the pro-life grassroots, were extremely disappointed. March for Life Action activists sent 25,000 messages to Capitol Hill to share that sentiment.

But that did not stop us from pressing forward towards the important goal of defunding Planned Parenthood. We began petitioning HHS Secretary Alex Azar to take action; thousands of marchers lent their voice to this important cause. And the Administration heard our voice!

In May 2018, HHS announced the Protect Life Rule, which would disentangle taxpayer dollars from funding abortion, with the money redirected to comprehensive family health and planning centers that don’t perform abortions and understand that abortion is not healthcare. As March for Life President Jeanne Mancini wrote at the time, “For decades the March for Life and others have been working to reinstate Title X regulations that clearly separate abortion from healthcare  – abortion is not healthcare.”

March for Life activists continued to respond in support to the Protect Life Rule as it went through the public comment period at HHS, submitting over 13,000 comments in support of the rule. Overall, From March through July of 2018, March for Life advocates sent 89,000 messages to Congress about important pro-life policies related to defunding Planned Parenthood and the Title X rule.

The rule wound its way through the court system, with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, a bench that is not typically favorable to the pro-life cause, just last week upholding the rule. The March for Life welcomes the decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifting the injunctions on the Trump Administration’s Title X rule, and applauds the Trump Administration for letting the Protect Life Rule take effect immediately. Abortion is neither health care nor family planning and therefore should not be funded by the Title X program. Plus, a majority of Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion. This regulation helps to get taxpayers out of the abortion business, without cutting resources for those in need.

We must not lose sight of why our efforts and the Protect Life Rule are important. Four years ago this month, in July of 2015, the first videos from the Center for Medical Progress were released, revealing the barbaric fetal tissue trafficking practices happening in Planned Parenthood centers across the country. An organization that commits over 320,000 abortions each year, and has been caught illegally transferring fetal tissue, should not be receiving a dime of taxpayer money.

There is also a very important lesson in the story of the Protect Life Rule. Our efforts to impact laws and policies for the pro-life cause have been going on for decades. In an op-ed for The Hill last year, March for Life Action President Tom McClusky documented the history of the regulations dating back to the Reagan Administration. The Protect Life Rule still faces a court challenge and it’s quite possible that its fate will be in the hands in the U.S. Supreme Court.

But we must never lose heart as we seek to promote life-affirming laws and policies – the lives of the unborn and the health of women are at stake. Our voices matter, and we must continue to raise them – in the public square, with our lawmakers and policy makers, and with our friends and family. Your voice matters – you can make a difference.

 

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Anniversary: Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act Upheld by the Supreme Court

(WARNING: this blog post and video include a medical description of partial-birth abortion.)

On April 18, 2007, the Supreme Court officially upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act in Gonzales v Carhart. With this decision, the law went into effect and partial-birth abortion was ban across the entire country.

The campaign to end partial-birth abortion began in 1992. That year Dr. Martin Haskell presented a paper to the National Abortion Federation on a form of late-term abortion called intact dilation and extraction or D&X. D&X is a gruesome form of abortion that involves removing the baby from the uterus feet first until only his/her head remains inside of the mother. Then his/her skull is punctured and using a catheter, his/her brain is sucked out, then the rest of the baby is removed.

The National Right to Life Committee obtained Dr. Haskell’s paper and began to publicize it in 1993. Shock and disgust over the procedure galvanized Americans to put a stop to the barbaric practice. From this moment until 2007, pro-life activists fought tirelessly to make the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act into law.

Two years later in 1995, Representative Charles Canady (R-FL) introduces a bill in the House of Representatives called the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act to prohibit D&X, partial birth abortion, from being committed. After a long and difficult battle, the Act was signed into law by President Bush in 2003 and finally went into effect after the Supreme Court upheld the law in 2007.

Twelve years later, on April 18, 2019, we spoke with the National Right to Life Committee Director of State Legislation, Ingrid Duran, about what it took to stop partial-birth abortion in the United States.

https://www.facebook.com/marchforlife/videos/2334900276797454/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARC_OLpVFBhTDmlpmCcQYkBZXWLAWKQQ6xOOBGDJFkh7EWYpzy-7nRr1liHCg1E2D6SsA2eninWvIK13Ad-fMA4SfjBg9kDJ6k-gFGQsEF4cRa6SWP_l9A3SCMIgGuPGu6vU44MKBQYgvBgdLs_ygv1yH3Qtg4WUyWqPHhhQ0FeHvf1Y5hWfzmK2SU4tmjNgAvnQdmbroxLUXjCX9K2_Zb_vGrFf75qUa0KV1WrRa1u34XwWWiqrVvg5RBnAqVdCyVZq3JpRPxj61IHklrzOYpSdpgldrN-AHMs-ZRfZOqtZl4GoHOuQnIMs-3A5aBSXnYRSEnF3xLvCrcmWOEcRLjq-43o5kFni-ykSTg&__tn__=-R

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6,500 – 7,000 Virginians March To Reject Abortion Extremism

On April 3rd, thousands of pro-life Virginians marched against abortion extremism in their state. And the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

A few months before, a video of Virginia Delegate Kathy Tran defended a bill that would allow for a pre-born baby to be killed during birth went viral. All eyes were on Virginia when Governor Ralph Northam in a live radio interview on Tran’s bill made comments strongly suggesting support for leaving a child to die after an abortion – in other words, infanticide.

Pro-life Americans across the entire country were outraged by Tran’s and Northam’s extremism. A huge majority of Americans reject birthday abortions. A recent Gallup Poll found that 87% of Americans do not support abortion in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. But we know that even one abortion is one too many.

In a column by Jeanne Mancini, March for Life President, she wrote:

Sadly, it’s no surprise that Tran and Northam are partnering with Planned Parenthood and the abortion lobby to advance an extreme pro-abortion agenda. Planned Parenthood committed $3 million to elect Northam and also gave funds to Tran’s political campaign, along with pro-abortion Emily’s List and NARAL. But that extreme agenda doesn’t reflect the views of most Virginians and our elected representatives shouldn’t be beholden to special interest groups, especially ones that fail to respect the inherent human dignity of every human person.

Pro-life Virginians knew something needed to be done.

April 3rd is Veto Day in Virginia, meaning every state politician must be present at the Richmond Capitol. While the capitol grounds are usually quiet on Veto Day, this year 6,500 – 7,000 Virginians rallied together to protest abortion extremism on the steps of the Richmond capitol building.

Marchers heard from National pro-life speakers, like abortion survivor Melissa Ohden and Radiance Foundation founder Ryan Bomberger, from the Virginia pro-life organization Virginia Catholic Conference, the Family Foundation, and the Virginia Society for Human Life, and from State Senator Bill Stanley and Delegate Brenda Pogge.

During the Rally, pro-life State Delegates, led by Kirk Cox, the Speaker of the House, and pro-life State Senators surprised the marchers by visiting the Rally to give their heartfelt support for life.

https://www.facebook.com/marchforlife/posts/2169610996451163?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDHlCjfBCSnvkMKA8pZ4cb5k4V4w5wfkHinEvXVZn47tNcsQWKgp2-09TsPfTxVY_goFm3sas9LwU8krp9JiRcEwSiYw_3c6SNJstisvtScSK3-ES6lqEmG3cAQQKI-9-RYU-EgLezGjPIiN_BuNwMG0ddUjwWfVx4yosFca-l86unYY_6VMpo7TSQKROBEXXALssai1CJ__omm7O5IWfCTjehll32X-om9KvJVAvkKj61i6N0H9YDFAziPtpvB-XOUY87P4DkQrIkk6g78mIwGYJ7ouzheX5LzshQOLeHDEuSs611DfS-79UxxFogJkBwYnMBNYnTqmCM4qzxECrr-XH5YalHFCSAp8bN5WeIvTQawA8vkdBT1z4HNva9EtbhMDjMyqsoqqlBPR1d25WPHiEkMZPlYtGSNottJWfNqOoc5KL5k89EPEnDjuhKvn3nZ_5Pqr9_DTeYk4u7-&__tn__=-R

 

When the Rally concluded, Virginian students carried the March for Life banner down the streets surrounding the capitol building followed by their fellow pro-life marchers. Chants were cheered and songs were sung all proclaiming the pro-life message that every human life must be protected from the first moment of fertilization. After marchers returned to the capitol grounds, many were equipped to advocate for pro-life policy with their state legislatures at a training season with local leaders call ‘Richmond 101’.

As pro-life Virginians head into the rest of 2019, it’s a sure bet that they will be more actively engaged than ever in the pro-life mission to end abortion and build a culture of life in their state and community.