When the other side gets nervous, we know we are doing something right. In mid-January, the House voted to repeal the health care reform bill in part because it lacked language barring the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortions.
At a recent press conference, Speaker Boehner spoke of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act and the Protect Life Act as “commonsense legislation reflect[ing] the will of the people” and “one of the highest legislative priorities” designating it H.R. 3.
The bill would codify the Hyde Amendment preventing taxpayer funding of abortions for good. Under current law, the Hyde Amendment has to be reapproved with every budget; and the health care bill is not covered under it. H.R. 3 would permanently end federal funding of abortion, even abortions covered by the health care reform bill.
“This is a very serious threat,” Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards told Politico in an interview. “These folks have just taken office and this is what they’re focusing on…Based on what we’re seeing, just a few days after the start of Congress, we’re absolutely ready for a very serious fight.”
…A fight they are going to lose. Members of Congress, in particular the leadership, are living up to their campaign promises of making Life a priority. Jobs and the economy have been at the forefront of policy debates. But the pro-life leadership has proven they can walk and chew gum at the same time by tackling the Life issue head on. The House has a solid pro-life majority and the Senate, though still mostly pro-abortion, lacks a filibuster-proof majority.
“The Senate is moderate and has the opportunity to put the brakes on an anti-choice agenda,” NARAL president Nancy Keenan told POLITICO in an interview. “We’ll be working with them but we don’t take anything for granted.”
They’re nervous. And that means we are effective. America is trending pro-life. The numbers keep getting better. A poll released on the day of the March for Life showed 50% of respondents self-identified as pro-life as opposed to only 40% pro-choice. The other side doesn’t know what to do with this information. They are perplexed that young people, especially young women, don’t buy into the notion that abortion is liberating. But the truth doesn’t lie.
One of the greatest tools the pro-life movement has is the sonogram. We can prove it’s not just a blob of tissue. The last three words in that last sentence make my skin crawl and my heart ache. It’s reactions like that and knowledge of the truth of the matter that fuel the pro-life movement. Debating about rights and ownership of one’s body pale in comparison to the visual reality of an ultrasound where the truth stares back at you.
These bills don’t deny access to abortion. They don’t outlaw any procedure. They don’t throw abortionists in jail for murder. They don’t force information on unwilling recipients. All they do is say we’re not going to pay for it. You have to find the money yourself and give it to the doctor who will take the life of your unborn child upon payment. It’s perfectly reasonable to demand that my money doesn’t help do that.
Go here and to tell your legislators how you think they should vote on H.R. 3.
