Commentary

The Left was on grand display in the auditorium of Meridian Middle School last night in a town hall meeting sponsored by Idaho’s Congressman, Raul Labrador. IEA teachers, environmentalists, Planned Parenthood activists, Medicaid recipients and miscellaneous other dependents of government largesse descended to confront the conservative lawmaker and set him straight about why socialism was the cure for what ails us.

For over three hours, Labrador took questions. Well, not really questions.  The event was more like a speech-a-thon in which everyone from college students to old hippies offered soliloquies about the state of the world, hoping to make an appearance on television and embarrass Labrador.

They did not succeed – at least in diminishing Raul Labrador.

Despite the fact that socialists outnumbered conservatives in the auditorium by at least 4-to-1, Labrador patiently waited for some kind of question. He easily handled over a hundred people at the microphone.  Liberal blogger Betsy Russell characterized the meeting as “feisty” – but the crowd was more often rude, arrogant and belligerent.  They supported one another with cat calls, boos and construction paper, likely the inspiration of IEA teachers:  Green ones for agreement, red ones for strong disagreement.  Like some kind of gathering in Pyongyang, hundreds of green squares went up.  At another comment, hundreds of red papers went up.  Red signs.  Green signs.  Red signs.  Very Creepy.

Over and again, Labrador masterfully waited them out, holding breath for the next bombastic speech – something like being held prisoner at a Democrat National Platform Committee meeting.

But the most remarkable thing about Wednesday night was the scientifically-verifiable evidence that “Trump Deranged Syndrome” is very real – even way out here in the West.

Many of those taking microphones hostage demanded that Labrador “do something” about Donald Trump. They clamored for an investigation of Russia, his weekends at Mar-a-Lago, his marriage to Melania, his daughter working in the White House for free.  The crowd clamored for an investigation into the President’s tax returns, his megalomania, his actions in Syria, his budget proposals and his racist plans to overthrow the Constitutional right to immigrate into the United States.

It was clear that this crowd drinks daily from Rachel Maddow’s punch bowl.

There were times when one wished Congressman Labrador offered a more vigorous defense of President Trump or free market principles. But that is probably too much to ask in such a forum.  Reason and facts were not generally well received.

Congressman Labrador acquitted himself well with humor, patience and just plain guts.

But we left the room with real anxiety over the future of our Republic. Those crazy conservative prophets of an earlier generation who warned about the long-term consequences of allowing the NEA free reign in our classrooms are, sadly, vindicated by the display we witnessed last night.

The battle is now pitched in Washington over whether and how to repeal ObamaCare. The whole question of repealing and replacing this disastrous take-over of health care is a vital pro-Life matter.  From the beginning of life, to how we deal with Americans facing end-of-life medical questions, the legislative battle is marbled with profound issues.

As the political struggle over numbers and special interests rage, it is important to remember that this fight is about more. It is a reflection on how we view and value human life.

Those central value questions are highlighted by the Congressional Budget Office’s scoring of the proposed Ryan replacement bill. In the midst of its numbers and charts, the CBO takes notes of the bill’s provision to end (at least temporarily) taxpayer subsidy of Planned Parenthood – America’s largest abortion provider.

The number crunchers “warn” Congress that eliminating tax funding of Planned Parenthood will most likely lead to thousands of additional births across the nation each year. This shocking confession is buried in paragraphs about federal budget issues – but the reality is that this official, non-partisan analysis lays bare the nation’s great scandal:

Congressional funding of Planned Parenthood leads directly to the deaths of thousands of innocent babies each year. This horrific reality exists despite the Hyde Amendment and so-called “protections” against direct payment for elective abortion.

The first duty of government is to protect the lives and well-being of its citizens – not destroy us. That must be a central focus of this Congressional action on restoring America’s health care system.  The measure to defund Planned Parenthood is, therefore, not a tangential issue – but a core principle which must be included in any repeal legislation.

We must be in prayer for our national leadership as they wrestle with the exceedingly complex questions presented by trying to replace ObamaCare with a life-affirming, affordable health care system.

In the closing months of 2016, much is happening in the country’s abortion wars.

The President, in a bold attempt to protect his pals at Planned Parenthood, has pushed through a new rule which seeks to ensure public funding of the nefarious organization into the future. Obama’s HHS rule, which takes effect on January 18, outlaws any efforts by the states to deny taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood affiliates operating within their borders.  Adding to the moral outrage of using our tax money to fund the Abortion Industry – Obama has now reached new heights of federal coercion.  For him and most liberals, the 10^th Amendment simply does no exist.  The States are simply an organizational step of the Great Central Government.

But, in a strange way, this outrage may actually help us end the abuse of taxpayers altogether in the new Congress. Obama’s strong-arm tactics may add fuel to the effort to stop Congressional funding of Planned Parenthood altogether: It would be the simplest way to make his new rule irrelevant.

On another front, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee issued a formal report on its year-long investigation of the sordid aborted-baby-parts-industry. The report, signed by Chairman Chuck Grassley, includes a formal referral to the U.S. Justice Department, recommending criminal investigation and prosecution of four different Planned Parenthood affiliates.  The referral also recommends charges against three organ procurement companies.

This is no small matter, as the committee investigation points to a potential RICO investigation of Planned Parenthood.

The actions by the Senate committee complement the work of the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, chaired by Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). That panel has just issued a separate report and also made recommendations to the U.S. Justice Department that criminal prosecutions be pursued.

“Speaking as a woman, I am deeply troubled by what we have learned about the mistreatment of patients at a particularly difficult and vulnerable time in their lives. They are being treated with a disregard for their best interests and their rights as patients,” Rep. Blackburn said in a press statement.  “Women deserve better than this. … We’ve seen instances in which profit-driven procurement businesses acting in conjunction with [abortion] clinics violate women’s privacy rights under HIPPA.”

While there is no chance that our corrupt AG Lynch will take action on the Congressional recommendations, we are hopeful that the new Justice Department under Jeff Sessions might. And, in any event, the investigations provide even greater cause for Congress to sever their partnership with the Death Industry.

Reports surfaced yesterday that Macy’s will no longer contribute corporate funds to Planned Parenthood.  The decision was reached quietly following revelations last year regarding Planned Parenthood’s trafficking in aborted baby parts.

As one news report put it, this is another “Miracle on 34th Street”, and another brick removed from Planned Parenthood’s wall of legitimacy.

We encourage pro-Lifers who might shop at Macy’s yet this Christmas Season to say “thank you” for the decision to store personnel.

LABRADOR DISGUSTED BY PLANNED PARENTHOOD ACTIONS AND COMMENTS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Raúl Labrador, R-Idaho, issued this statement after watching videos showing Planned Parenthood officials negotiating the sale of fetal organs:

“I am sickened and disgusted by the inhumane attitude Planned Parenthood officials displayed as they discussed the sale of aborted fetuses over lunch. Their attitude towards human life should be condemned. I believe that all life is sacred, and should not be for sale. The fact that these officials view aborted fetuses as mere commodities is a sad commentary on our society.

“As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, I will participate in a vigorous investigation into whether Planned Parenthood is illegally profiting from the sale of organs and body parts from aborted babies. Nothing is more sacred than human life. Indifference to these grotesque practices demeans every American, regardless of their view on abortion.

“These videos pull back the curtain on the horrors of the abortion industry. Today I am joining as a cosponsor of a new bill, the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, to place a one-year moratorium on any federal funding of Planned Parenthood. I also urge the Senate to schedule a vote on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which passed the House with bipartisan support in May.”

Our friend Congressman Trent Franks has announced that his legislation to protect preborn children after 20 weeks’ gestation will finally be before the U.S. House next week.

This is the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” which was almost considered by the Congress in January. Last minute objections were raised then about how the issue of rape was being handled in the legislation – despite the fact that an identical bill was approved by the U.S. House two years ago.

Speaker Boehner promised back in January that the legislation was being delayed for a matter of “days”, but that has turned into months. We were beginning to wonder if Franks’ bill would ever see the light of day again.

We are grateful that the bill will be considered – and likely passed – by the House of Representatives. The bill will force Americans to at least briefly reflect on the suffering and cruelty of killing preborn children later in pregnancy.

We congratulate Trent Franks – and Idaho’s Mike Crapo, a Senate sponsor of the bill – for his tenacity and commitment to protecting the most vulnerable among us. Hopefully this legislation will soon land on Barack’s Obama’s desk, where the nation will once again witness Obama’s depth of resolve in defending the Abortion Industry in all cases from the cries of the innocent.

An article appeared last week of a controversial medical experiment underway at the University of Hawaii, funded at least in part by “The Society of Family Planning”.

The Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children (would that be only “dead children?) is conducting a clinical research project to study the effects of the drug oxytocin in reducing a mother’s bleeding during second trimester abortions.

The Center is asking women and girls who are between 18 and 24 weeks pregnant to come on in and submit to a little medical experimentation. Girls must be at least 14 years of age to participate. (And, given Hawaii’s casual attitude toward abortion, we don’t believe these girls will need a parent’s consent to either undergo the abortion or participate in the experiment.)

Apparently they will use only the D&E abortion procedure. (That is the really neat abortion procedure whereby the baby is torn apart limb-by-limb until it bleeds to death in the womb; a horribly cruel attack on preborn children which has just been outlawed in Kansas).

The outfit funding these medical experiments calls itself “The Society of Family Planning”. A number of doctors from around the country serve as Board members – but a review of its website does not give any hint as to how it acquires the money to finance these dark art practices.

Presumably, the 166 test subjects will be given free abortions, since the experiment is not without risks.

One of the goals of the study is to find out what happens to women who don’t get the drug oxytocin.

Pro-Life leader Troy Newman of Operation Rescue has publicly denounced the macabre experimentation upon women and their babies: “This study is reminiscent of Nazi concentration camp experiments. I pity the poor women who are being treated like lab rats, especially those are denied the drug to reduce the risk of hemorrhaging.”

Just a week after the Idaho Legislature approved a partnership with the Obama Administration to impose ObamaCare upon the people of Idaho, Secretary of HHS Sebelius issued a 58-page order to the states requiring them to certify Planned Parenthood as a legitimate health care provider. This status as an “essential community provider” means that private insurance companies like Blue Cross of Idaho must pay insurance claims to Planned Parenthood for non-abortion services if they are to sell “qualified health plans” on the state insurance exchange.

What does this mean for Idaho families and preborn babies at risk in the womb?

It means that the federal regime under Sebelius and Obama has created an entirely new revenue stream for Planned Parenthood operations all across the nation. While these dollars will not go directly to pay for abortions – they greatly subsidize Murder, Inc. by helping to cover operating and staff costs. This indirectly finances Planned Parenthood’s organization and its reach into our communities.

It also means that Planned Parenthood will be treated by the feds as a legitimate “health care provider” on a par with St. Alphonsus or Eastern Idaho’s Regional Medical Center. Semi-private companies like Blue Cross will be forced into a partnership with Planned Parenthood.

The order from Sebelius is dated April 5th, but has only recently come to light through the work of the Family Research Council and Tony Perkins. In a recent email to pro-Life activists across the nation, Perkins wrote,

“Unfortunately for Americans, Sebelius – not Congress – decides what belongs in state insurance exchanges. And if her past relationships are any indication, taxpayers are in for even more surprises when ObamaCare goes into effect January 1.”

And, we must emphasize, the new Board of the Idaho Insurance Exchange is equally powerless in this matter. Yet they are nevertheless morally compromised because they will serve as the intermediaries enforcing Sebelius’ various edicts upon companies like Blue Cross and Blue Shield. This is the awful new reality created by the Idaho Legislature and Governor Otter.