Commentary

Idaho Chooses Life announced today that it has given Rep. Vito Barbieri (R-Dalton Gardens) its “Friend for Life Award”.

“This honor is given to Idahoans who have made significant contributions to the protection of our preborn children,” said ICL Executive Director David Ripley in a prepared statement.  “Vito has long been a champion of the defenseless.”

Barbieri has served on the powerful State Affairs Committee in the Idaho House of Representatives for over nine years of his eleven years in the Legislature. This is the committee that deals with pro-Life legislation. Rep. Barbieri also served for more than a decade on the board of Open Arms Pregnancy Care Center in Coeur d’Alene.

“As a senior member of this key committee, Vito has played a critical role in moving big bills forward – like last year’s Trigger Law and this year’s bill to prevent additional tax dollars from going to Planned Parenthood,” Ripley added.

“But we are particularly grateful for the courageous, and often lonely, work that Rep. Barbieri put in this year on the heartbeat bill,” Ripley said.  “He is a person of integrity and this public recognition is long overdue.”

Barbieri said “I want to thank Idaho Chooses Life for all of the work they do on behalf of the innocent in Idaho. It is an honor to be recognized in what’s really a collective effort to save preborn babies.”

Past recipients of the Award include Congressman Helen Chenoweth, Senator Mike Crapo, Frank Vander Sloot and Pastor Tim Remington.