Sen. Vitter Introduces 4 Pro-Life Bills First Week

U.S. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana introduced four pro-life bills last Wednesday during the 114th Congress' first week. Those four bills came two days after House Republicans Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) reintroduced the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 36), which would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

H.R. 36 is expected to go to the floor for a vote on Thursday, Jan. 22, the 42nd anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision. The House previously passed that legislation, but it never came to the floor in the Senate under Democratic leadership. New Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is far more sympathic to the pro-life cause, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is expected to introduce the act very soon.

Vitter, an advocate for the sanctity of human life, wasted little time in bringing pro-life legislation to the Senate. Vitter's legislation includes:

• S. 51: Bars Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from receiving federal family planning funds.
• S.78: Requires all abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital.
• S.48: Bans abortions performed on the basis of gender (the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act).
• S. 50: Allows hospitals, doctors and nurses to refuse to provide or participate in abortion care for women, even in cases of emergency.

Tennessee Congresswoman Diane Black re-introduced the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act (H.R. 217), which would stop Title X federal grants from going to abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood. This is companion legislation to Vitter's bill.

"Our pro-life movement is growing, and it gains momentum every year," Vitter wrote on his webpage. "We're changing hearts and minds around Louisiana and across the country. But we still have a long way to go. With the persistent witness of pro-life advocates like you, I'm confident that we will be successful."

1,400 LA Students  

Going to March for Life

About 1,400 Louisiana students and a number of adults will travel to Washington, D.C., next week to participate in several pro-life events, including the annual March for Life marking the somber anniversary of the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision.

About 500 students from New Orleans, 465 from Baton Rouge, 120 from Houma/Thibodaux, and 300 from Lake Charles plan to make the trip.

The March for Life and rally is Thursday, Jan. 22, beginning at the National Mall and traveling to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, students will participate in "Geaux Forth," a Louisiana-specific pro-life rally hosted by Louisiana Right to Life. Speakers include Lila Rose of Live Action and Stephanie Gray, a former director of Canadian Bioethics Reform Fund who now travels internationally defending the humanity of the unborn in the classroom. She also regularly publicly debates abortion advocates.

Equipping young leaders with the skills and knowledge to carry the pro-life movement into the future is critical for long-term success. For this reason, National Right to Life created an innovative program called the National Right to Life Academy.

The National Right to Life Academy empowers young pro-life leaders through a dynamic five-week summer course held at National Right to Life headquarters in Washington. Students are challenged not only in learning the arguments but also effective communication skills and grassroots organizing. Topics covered include abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, healthcare, legislative strategy, history of the pro-life movement, medical ethics, development of the unborn and lobbying.

Through the National Right to Life Academy, students also have the opportunity to earn 3 college credits, which may be transferred to their university.

The National Right to Life Academy is currently accepting applications for its 2015 program, which runs July 9 to Aug. 14, 2015. For more information, click here or email [email protected]. 

"Insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result."  This definition (often attributed to Albert Einstein) comes to mind when reviewing Planned Parenthood Federation of America's newest annual report, released just last week.

Planned Parenthood has claimed for years that its goal is to reduce abortions through prevention, that anyone "who wants to decrease the number of abortion in the United States should join with Planned Parenthood in ensuring that women and families have access to family planning and birth control."

 Yet in 2013 alone Planned Parenthood contraception and family planning dropped by 4 percent,

Planned Parenthood prevention services drop every year as its abortions continue to rise, currently constituting 94 percent of its services to pregnant clients. Yet the group continues to assert that it is leading the way in reducing unplanned pregnancies and abortions themselves, with this year's report making the bold claim that Planned Parenthood has contributed to teenage abortion rates being at their lowest levels in 20 years.

Planned Parenthood doesn't want the public to notice that its abortion numbers have increased by 23 percent since 2005, even as abortions nationally have decreased by 13 percent in that same period of time. This, combined with the reduction in its preventative services, makes any attempt to take credit for reduced abortions insupportable.

Planned Parenthood continues to do the same thing every year - sell more abortion. Then, when positive change takes place, the organization ignores ignore the actual contributing factors. That's why Planned Parenthood and its research arm, the Guttmacher Institute, minimize the role that increased public debate and education regarding the humanity of the unborn has played in reducing abortion numbers. They minimize the large number of abortion facilities that have recently closed rather than meet basic health standards. (In Texas only eight of 36 facilities remain open.) They even go so far as to claim non-existent victories, such as the movie that they "worked on for years," Obvious Child, which was an utter failure at the box offices. Planned Parenthood's attempt to make abortion "edgy, hip, (and) funny" through this "abortion comedy" didn't work because, no matter how you look at it, abortion is not funny.

Also noticeably absent from Planned Parenthood's report: No mention of the regional abortion facility that it hoped to open in spring of 2014 here in New Orleans. This project has sat inactive since June of 2014, with no public explanation of the delay or discussion of the future of the project. And instead of reporting on the facilities that the group has shut down around the country, the report cites "they simply didn't have the clients needed to keep their clinics open," which former Planned Parenthood Director Abby Johnson largely attributes to the lack of basic services Planned Parenthood offers.

Planned Parenthood doesn't want to acknowledge any of this or that any of these factors might have played a role in reducing national abortion numbers. If it did, its leaders might need to change what they do, or worse, acknowledge the insanity of their current model.

So why do the same thing and expect different results? For an answer we need look no farther than Planned Parenthood's financial report. Given that abortions cost an average of $450, Planned Parenthood brought in approximately $147.5 million from the 327,653 abortions performed at its facilities in 2013. That is 48 percent of its Non-Government Health Services Revenue. The "non-profit" also reported $127 million in excess revenue and more than $1.4 billion in net assets during the 2013-2014 fiscal year and received more than $528 million in taxpayer funding ($1.4 million per day).

The fact is, Planned Parenthood's business model is inescapably abortion centered.

In the report's opening letter, the group's Chair Alexis Johnson and President Cecile Richards claim that "one thing is constant: people know they can always rely on Planned Parenthood." This is in a sense true. We can always rely on Planned Parenthood to sell abortions in record numbers. Its continued survival depends on it.

Planned Parenthood claims to "Care. No matter what." It's time we declared the truth. Planned Parenthood sells abortions. No matter what.

Jan. 17, 2015: Life March Shreveport 

Jan. 21: Geaux Forth Youth Rally, Washington DC  

Jan. 22: National March for Life 

Jan. 24: Life March Baton Rouge

June 28 - July 2: Joshua Leadership Institute 

July 9-11, 2015: Nat'l Right to Life Convention, NOLA