Pro-Life Group Urges Opposition to State Dept Bill Over Obama Abortion Agenda
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 5, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Funding a department of the federal government is not normally a pro-life issue, but when legislation authorizing the funds includes the pro-abortion agenda that changes things. The National Right to Life Committee wrote members of Congress today to ask them to reject such a bill.
The pro-life group is asking Congress to reject the State Department authorization bill (H.R. 2410), which is scheduled to receive a vote next week.
NRLC opposes the bill because it establishes the Office for Global Women’s Issues that President Barack Obama will use to promote abortion on an international scale.
The pro-life group points to a response from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a hearing by Foreign Affairs Committee members on April 22, where she admitted, “We are now an administration that will protect the rights of women, including their rights to reproductive health care,” and that “reproductive health includes access to abortion.”
She told Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, “you are entitled to advocate . . . anywhere in the world, and so are we.”
"NRLC urges you to vote against H.R. 2410, and intends to include the roll call on passage in our scorecard of key pro-life roll calls for the 111th Congress," the pro-life group told lawmakers in its letter, which LifeNews.com received.
During the committee consideration of the bill, the Foreign Affairs Committee rejected an amendment Smith offered to prevent the proposed new office from engaging in efforts to alter the laws of foreign nations governing abortion.
To stop the bill from creating a pro-abortion initiative, Smith plans to submit a similar amendment to the Rules Committee to see if House Democrats will allow a debate and vote on it.
NRLC told lawmakers it supports the amendment and will take no position on the State Department bill if it is adopted.
"But if the Smith amendment is not adopted, NRLC must oppose passage of H.R. 2410, because the bill will further empower the Obama Administration to pursue its agenda of undermining the pro-life laws of sovereign nations," the Right to Life letter said. "To the extent that the Administration succeeds in such efforts, it will greatly increase the number of abortions."
NRLC cited Stanley K. Henshaw, deputy director of research for the Alan Guttmacher Institute, who wrote in 1994 that "it is common after abortion is legalized for abortion rates to rise sharply for several years" after nations legalize abortion.
That, NRLC has said before, would go against President Obama’s so-called promise to reduce abortions as president.
ACTION: Contact your member of Congress by going to https://www.house.gov and urge support for the Smith amendment and opposition to H.R. 2410 if the Smith amendment is not adopted.
Related web sites:
National Right to Life – https://www.nrlc.org
Clinton’s comments to Smith – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gEA97EnxE4
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