Obamacare, the Supreme Court and the March for Life

 

Last week, I wrote the first in a series of blogs for women’s history month: “Women of the Pro-life Movement,” and highlighted the dedication of an inspirational woman, Dr. Mildred Jefferson. Today I want to highlight the pro-life stalwart and founder of the largest and longest running pro-life demonstration in the world: Nellie Gray.

Nellie was born in Texas and served in World War II in the Women’s Army Corps, following that she went on to work for the State Department in  Germany.  When Nellie Gray heard about the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade /Doe v. Bolton decision to invalidate all state abortion laws, she was working as a lawyer for the federal government in Washington, D.C.

Fearing that January 22 would come and go with no recognition by the public, Nellie and a group of pro-life advocates gathered at her home in Washington to discuss ways to commemorate the anniversary of Roe v. Wade and the thousands of lives lost that year. In hopes that the decision would soon be overturned, they organized a one-time march around the U.S. Capitol, which drew an estimated 20,000 people. When it was clear that Roe v. Wade was not going to be easily overturned, the March for Life was incorporated as a non-profit, non-sectarian organization, committed to the “Life Principles”. Nellie quit her job to work as the full time volunteer president of the organization and principal organizer of the event.

Apart from organizing the annual March for Life, Nellie and the early March for Life Committee, lobbied on behalf of the unborn on Capitol Hill, advocating for a “Human Life Amendment”. They organized “mini-marches” encouraging citizen lobbying, as well as marches in cities around the country from New York to Washington State. Sometimes referred to as the “Joan of Arc of the pro-life movement,” Nellie was known for her unwavering commitment to life and would accept “no exceptions, no compromise” on the taking of innocent human life. Nellie was committed to protecting life regardless of the circumstances.

For 41 years, thanks to the dedication of Nellie Gray, who passed away in August of 2012, the March for Life has taken place in Washington, D.C. every January, even in several feet of snow. As Nellie once said “We will be here until we overturn Roe v. Wade, and believe me, we are going to overturn Roe v. Wade.”  Today, the March for Life, draws hundreds of thousands, young and old alike, to Washington D.C. to protest abortion in America, and to celebrate the right to life.

Watch this inspiring video about the legacy which Nellie built at the March for Life:

 

C-Span celebrates 35 years this year. C-Span first broadcast on March 19, 1979 and the first U.S. Representative to speak on the House floor was then-congressman Al Gore. It wasn’t until 1986 that the U.S. Senate was also broadcast (otherwise Chuck “never met a TV camera he didn’t like” Schumer might never have become a Senator.)

C-Span has 97 million potential viewers and at least 39 million of them watch at least once or twice a week. The viewing audience is split evenly between male and female and is a politically active bunch, with over 80 percent saying they voted in the last election. My favorite statistic, (and PBS please take note) is that C-Span has taken no federal taxpayer dollars to bring the invaluable service into your home.

Members of Congress should take heed of the viewing numbers. The fact that at any given time you could be addressing millions of people on C-Span has been used successfully by both parties. If there is one thing being in the Minority teaches it is that parliamentary procedure can be successfully utilized to further your goals. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga) learned that prior to the Republicans gaining control of Congress in 1994 and current Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) knew that before the Democrats took back control ten years later. These leaders would instruct their Members to give both one-minute speeches (speeches given at the start of the legislative day) and special order speeches (given at the end of the day, normally lasting an hour) on subjects that show THEIR party is the party that should be in control. While doing little to immediately get passage of legislation these speeches contribute greatly to the debate on the issues and introduce these ideas to millions of people. 

Special orders are a great way to motivate the base as well – they have been used to highlight the atrocities of abortionist Kermit Gosnell, the importance of conscience rights, the problem of abortion funding in Obamacare as well as a host of other pro-life issues.

I’ve appeared on C-SPAN’s National Journal morning show a few times and have always loved it, especially the phone calls.  On October 7, 1980, just 18 months into its history, C-SPAN inaugurated television’s first-ever, regularly scheduled national viewer call-in program from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., following a speech by then- FCC Chair Charles Ferris. C-SPAN’s first caller was from Yankton, South Dakota. See the video of that first phone call here.

 

Apparently all the pro-life efforts to protect women and children in Texas is creating a new off shoot of the abortion industry in the Lone Star State – “abortion tourism.”  The Daily Caller has the details:

A 20-year-old student at the University of Texas at Austin has started a nonprofit organization to skirt a new state law that bans abortion after 20 weeks and requires abortion doctors to have hospital-admitting privileges within 30 miles of the abortion facility.

The student is Lenzi Sheible, reports The Texas Tribune. Her nonprofit is called Fund Texas Women. Notably, Sheible is seven months pregnant.

The new law, House Bill 2, went into effect Nov. 1.

In response to the law, Fund Texas Women pays travel expenses for women – and minor girls – to get to the abortion clinics which still exist in The Lone Star State. For women who have decided to get abortions after they are 20 weeks pregnant, the nonprofit pays to ship them to other states, including New Mexico and Colorado.

While trying to skirt one law Ms. Sheible is most likely skirting another as well.

As of January 2006 Texas requires parental consent before a woman under 18 years of age can obtain an abortion. A parent or legal guardian, with government ID, must accompany the minor patient to the office and sign a parental consent form prior to an abortion.  Abortion-giant Planned Parenthood already works to skirt that law by trying to teach young girls, some as young as 12 years old, how to skirt the law.

By taking minors across state lines Ms. Sheible and Planned Parenthood are avoiding Texas law which requires both parental consent as well as notification.  One destination of the law avoiders is New Mexico where parents have no rights under law when it comes to abortion of their young daughters the other is Colorado where only notice is necessary, not consent.

Texas legislators, representing the wishes of the large majority of citizens of that state, passed parental consent and notification laws to help ensure that a young girl in a difficult situation has the support she needs.  (New Mexico tried the same thing however abortion-profiteer Planned Parenthood tied the legislation up in the courts.)  Unfortunately efforts at the national level has either been stopped by a pro-abortion majority in Congress or ignored by a Republican majority.  As leading Democrats talk about a false war on women they continue their very real war on parents.  Parental rights are a very popular issue but routinely ignored by Congress – the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act should be a major piece of legislation being pushed by pro-life forces in Congress. 

The avenue the 113^th Congress needs to pursue is passing legislation requiring parental notification. The problem is that many abortion clinics lure young girls from their home states that have parental notice laws to states where they can get abortions without their parents knowing. Often the man who gets a young girl pregnant takes her to the clinic. To counter this type of human trafficking they should reintroduce the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act.

A ruling by the Kentucky Court of Appeals highlights why this legislation is necessary.  In a 2-1 ruling in two Kentucky judges decided that young girls from other states may ask Kentucky judges to give them permission to have abortions without their parents’ knowledge or consent.  This means if a young girl in Indiana wants to avoid getting her parents permission, which is required by law in that state, they can go judge shopping in Kansas for a judge who will allow her to abort her unborn child and her parents need never know.  It is clearly in the role of the U.S. Congress to make sure that one state does not move to undermine the laws and parental rights of another state.

The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA) makes it a federal offense to transport a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion in circumvention of parental involvement laws in the minor’s home state. The bill would also require parental notification before an abortion is conducted on a minor from another state. The last time the House voted on this bill in 2006, it passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 264 to 153.

There is little doubt that if the bill passed it would be vetoed.  In 1996 Obama responded “No,” on a candidate questionnaire asking “Do you support parental consent/notification for minors seeking abortions?”  As state senator Obama voted “present” in 2001 on two parental notification bills. As U.S. Senator Obama voted “No” in 2006 on a bill requiring parents to be notified before their minor daughter got an out-of-state abortion, and he voted “No” in 2008 on a bill prohibiting the trafficking of minors from states with parental involvement laws to states without them.

However just because President Obama has little regard for the rights of states to pass laws that protect parents and children doesn’t mean Congress shouldn’t move to protect them.  That the Republicans failed to pass this common sense legislation the years they were in charge of both chambers of Congress and the Presidency speaks a lot to how they squandered those years.  If they are given a second chance, will they go for it and do the right thing or take the easier path and do nothing?

 

The month of March is a turning point. It’s the Lenten season for many Christians.  Less seriously, it’s the end of the regular season for college basketball fans and the beginning of “March Madness.”  It’s also a month of unpredictable weather, such as the 30 degree temperature swings we’ve been experiencing in DC lately, as we say goodbye to winter and wait for spring.

March is also recognized by the U.S. Government as “Women’s History Month.” According to womenshistorymonth.gov, we “join in paying tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society”.  There are countless women who have dedicated themselves to making the world a better place and to ushering in a turning point in history, so it’s fitting that we should honor and celebrate them this month.

Throughout this month, I want to highlight three women who were some of the early leaders and catalysts of the pro-life movement. While the chances that you will read about them in your history book are slim, their dedication to the dignity of all women, and human life is worth noting and worthy of our recognition.

Dr. Mildred Jefferson, was the first African American woman to be accepted to Harvard Medical School. According to the Boston Globe she “broke many race and gender barriers in her long career as a doctor”, but most notable is her work and dedication to the pro-life movement. As a young doctor she became concerned with efforts within Massachusetts to change abortion laws. This led her to become a co-founder of Massachusetts Citizens Concerned for Life. She was a founding member of the National Right to Life Committee, and served as the president of the organization three times. Dr. Jefferson was known for her eloquence at expressing, and defending the right to life, and traveled around the country using this gift to change hearts and minds. She is even credited with influencing Ronald Reagan’s conversion from pro-abortion to pro-life.

Dr. Jefferson eloquently explained her pro-life convictions and how they worked hand in hand with her medical expertise:

“I became a physician in order to help save lives. I am at once a physician, a citizen, and a woman, and I am not willing to stand aside and allow the concept of expendable human lives to turn this great land of ours into just another exclusive reservation where only the perfect, the privileged, and the planned have the right to live.” –Mildred Jefferson, M.D. (2003, American Feminist magazine)

Her beliefs and actions were most certainly a turning point in the pro-life movement.  She is an inspiration to young women today who continue her fight for a society where every human has the right to life and is valued by society.

Watch this video from The National Right to Life Committee on Dr. Jefferson’s life and contributions to the pro-life movement: