Commentary

As we launch into a new year, it is always important to spend some time looking back on the victories and blessings of the one just expired. The exercise builds gratitude and strength for the battles ahead.

There were substantial pro-Life victories in 2018. At the top of the list is passage of the Abortion Complications Reporting Law, adopted by the 2018 Legislature and signed into law by Governor Butch Otter.  This law promises to shine the light into the practices of the Abortion Industry in Idaho – and to provide comprehensive information for women and policy makers on the real risks of abortion.  Planned Parenthood has fought hard to protect their stranglehold on this data, preferring to keep women and the public in the dark.  In fact, they are now suing the state in hopes of getting the federal courts to safeguard their monopoly.  They lost in district court, and are now appealing to the 9^th Circuit.

We are grateful for the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. While his first vote on an abortion-related case raises some concern, we remain hopeful that he will be a critical vote in advancing the rights of states to defend their preborn citizens.

We are grateful for the election of a pro-Life governor in Idaho. The general election made it abundantly clear that Democrat Paulette Jordan would have pursued an aggressive abortion agenda, driven by her allies at Planned Parenthood.  We take this opportunity to offer our prayers for Governor Brad Little, and ask the Lord to bless his time in office and to provide him with genuine wisdom in helping to build a better Idaho.

We are grateful for the release of the movie detailing the heinous practices of Kermit Gosnell. This film has helped expose the dark reality of the Abortion Industry.

We are grateful that the Trump Administration has moved on a number of pro-Life policies this year: The Administration has just published a call for the FDA to find morally-acceptable alternatives to using aborted baby parts and tissue in medical research it is currently funding. The Administration also further strengthened conscience protections for employers who object to paying for the Obama Mandate on abortion-causing drugs.

We are grateful for the volunteers, prayer warriors and donors who help make this work possible. They must be the most kind-hearted, generous people on earth.

There are serious battles looming, to be sure. But let us take a moment to give thanks to the Lord for the progress we’ve made, looking forward with hope and anticipation to the blessings He will bestow in 2019.

Christmas carols and lights. Santas at the Mall.  Shopping lists and wrapping parties; Christmas cookies brought into the break room.  The wonderment of the Season is building, as is the rush to get everything done.  Many people of faith worry that such busyness means a loss of the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place.  Perhaps that anxiety is overblown.

Somehow, the Spirit of Christ transcends in the sounds and smells of Christmas, even for people who have little conscious regard for the coming of our Savior. We live in a secular world, a largely secular America.  We live in a time of heightened social and political conflict.  Yet the shopping, the lights, the Christmas cards brings a healing.  This is a time when one can’t but help be drawn toward helping others, thanking those who have been with us, doing a little act of kindness for the gal at the Post Office.

Even for those who don’t know why… exactly … there is the Spirit of Christ dominating our society in these precious days before Christmas.

Isn’t it rather amazing that a secular music group produces their version of “Holy Night”? They might not truly appreciate the power of the words they sing so beautifully … but they are nevertheless helping to make a joyful noise unto the Lord.  Those given such talents by the Maker of the Universe are somehow brought to a place where those talents are used to proclaim the Gift of the Savior –  not unlike the Magi or the shepherds, men who were compelled to see the miracle of Jesus laying in a manger.

Let us enjoy the precious days of Christmas and draw comfort from the display of Christian values by personages like Santa Claus – even if many of the secular symbols of the Season don’t explicitly proclaim the Name of Christ. The virtues of hope, kindness and giving nevertheless point to Him.

For us, this is the most special holiday of the year. There is something so powerful about Christmas and the fight to protect the vulnerable new lives threatened by the darkness of abortion. The birth of Jesus, the miracle of Jesus, is heralded by each new life in the womb.

Join with us in giving thanks for all the miracles of this Christmas Season – including the opportunity to defend all of God’s innocents.

Blessings to you and your family.

Former President Bush lies in state today at the nation’s capital, following a long life built almost entirely around public service. There can be no doubt that he was a hero, having bravely served his nation in World War II.

While some of his public record remains controversial, there can also be no doubt that he carried forward the pro-Life policies of President Reagan. We appreciate our friends at Life News for recapping some of the moral leadership President Bush provided while president (1989-1993):

• He defended Reagan’s “Mexico City” Policy – which prohibited federal aid dollars from going to organizations that perform or promote abortion in foreign nations;
• Bush prohibited the importation of RU-486;
• The Bush Administration filed amicus briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court, urging the high court to reverse its position in Roe v. Wade;
• President George H.W. Bush vetoed ten different bills passed by a pro-abortion Congress which would have expanded abortion “rights” – including four pieces of legislation which would have provided taxpayer funding of abortion;
• Bush also issued an Executive Order to the military, prohibiting the performance of an abortion on U.S. military bases except in cases where an abortion was deemed necessary to save a mother’s life.

We pray that the Lord of Mercies comforts the Bush Family during this time of grief. And we commend President Bush for his service to America and our most important values.

Boise’s District 15 is one of the central battlefields of the 2018 election.

Idaho is blessed to have three strong pro-Life incumbents running again: Sen. Fred Martin, Rep. Pat McDonald and Rep. Lynn Luker. All three have made substantial contributions to the defense of preborn babies during their years at the Idaho Legislature.  And all three are under intense attack from the Abortion Lobby.

Sen. Fred Martin, for example, was the lead sponsor this past session of one of the most important pieces of legislation ever considered in Idaho: For the first time, there will be an independent and comprehensive reporting system, managed by the State of Idaho, on the complications women and girls suffer after an abortion. No longer will we be totally dependent on the manipulated data produced by Planned Parenthood. The Abortion Industry is terrified by what the public might learn about abortion in coming years.

Martin is being challenged by a leftist Democrat, Jim Bratnober, who is proudly campaigning as a candidate endorsed by NOW. The National Organization for Women is, perhaps, even more radical on abortion rights than Planned Parenthood.  They are part of the Abortion Lobby we encounter every time we bring pro-Life legislation to the fore.  He has raised over $57,000 and has been doorknocking the district for months.

In fact, every Democrat challenger is loaded with money and hungry to claim the last Republican district in Boise.

Rep. Pat McDonald has a 100% pro-Life record, built during his three terms of public service in the Idaho House. We are proud to support his re-election.

He is being challenged by Democrat Jake Ellis. While we are impressed with his years as a Boise firefighter, it is important to understand that Mr. Ellis is a full-throated leftist.  He, too, is backed by NOW.  In fact, he goes even further in expressing his public support for Planned Parenthood and abortion-on-demand:

The last big race in District 15 involves Rep. Lynn Luker. He faces, for the fourth time, Democrat Steve Berch.  This guy is as obsessed with being elected to the Legislature as Hillary Clinton is with being president: Berch just won’t take ‘NO’ for an answer.

But this time around, he has raised over $100,000 – apparently figuring that overwhelming Luker with money is the only strategy left to him.

And Berch is getting plenty of assistance from Planned Parenthood: A consortium of leftist groups have banded together under the name “Stronger Idaho PAC” – mostly to disguise the financing by Planned Parenthood, the Idaho Conservation League and the state’s teacher union. They just spent thousands of dollars in independent expenditures attacking Lynn Luker.

We need pro-Life voters in District 15 to turn-out next week. This district has proven there is a close divide and these critical races could be determined by just a handful of voters.  If you care about women; if you care about the slaughter of the innocent; if you care about protecting the sanctity of the family – then you must get out and vote for Martin, McDonald and Luker.  Make sure that your vote is the one that settles the matter.  Your vote is the only defense left for babies in the womb.

We now have Justice Kavanaugh. The nation has survived yet another bruising, nasty confirmation vote for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

It is difficult, at this point, to make a reasonable guess as to whether the nation will be stronger for having gone through this sordid process – or whether the glue that holds the body politic together in a republic has been made so brittle as to threaten civilized self-government in the decades ahead. But we know that the nation has been through worse, and survived.

We also know that the street brawl forced upon the nation over the past month or so had nothing to do with the immature social behavior of minors in high school. It was all about the possible threat to legalized abortion-on-demand. The Left concocted a plan to execute the character of Justice Kavanaugh because they determined that they could not possibly win by attacking his qualifications or judicial philosophy.

Despite the ugly tactics of the Soros-Planned Parenthood Lobby, we have much to be grateful for.

We can give thanks for the strength and character of President Trump. He is an extraordinary person.  Most Republicans in his position would have found a way to dump Kavanaugh at the first sign of serious trouble.  (Remember W’s pick of Harriet Miers?).  His strength in exposing the Left and staring them down is truly remarkable.  And let’s not forget the most fundamental fact: Thank the Lord we have a President Trump making these nominations to the high court, rather than Empress Hillary!

We must also gratefully acknowledge the courage and character of Brett Kavanaugh. Many people would have understandably folded under the pressure – especially the battering of his family.  His finest moment may have come when he publicly declared that he would not be chased from the battlefield.

It remains to be seen how Kavanaugh will affect the Court. Honestly, it seems unlikely that we are on the verge of a new birth of protection for preborn Americans.  But it may well be that the Supreme Court will cede more power back to the states to reign-in a lawless abortion industry.  The foundations for over-turning Roe may be laid in the next few years.

Prayer for the president, the court and the nation are very much in order. The next great test of our Republic will come in November.  Will America choose to reward Schumer and Pelosi with greater power?  God forbid.

Idaho Chooses Life is sponsoring the annual Treasure Valley Life Chain this coming Sunday afternoon. October 7^th.  2-4 pm.

We’ll be meeting on Milwaukee, at the intersection of Westpark. (Across from the Boise Mall).

This annual event is a tremendous opportunity to bring the horror of abortion out from the shadows. Each year brings miracles as we gather to pray with friends and appeal to our neighbors for the lives of preborn children threatened by abortion.

Such events will be held all across America, in over 1700 communities.

We would be blessed to have you and your friends join hands with us. Call 208-344-8709 if you have any questions.

Planned Parenthood announced this week that it had picked a new national president. In an attempt to rebrand itself as a legitimate health care provider, the nation’s largest provider named Dr. Leana Wen as its new president.  She replaces Cecile Richards, a pure political hack.

The abortion chain is already playing on Wen’s Chinese background, as she and her family were granted asylum in the late 1990’s. Wen and her family became citizens in 2003.

During her years in medical school, Wen was a volunteer for Planned Parenthood.

The spin from Planned Parenthood ignores the fact that communist China is a gross example of what can happen to a society that embraces the wholesale destruction of innocent children through abortion. Dr. Wen herself has no record of opposing China’s horrific treatment of women and preborn children – especially baby girls.  And you can be sure that she and Planned Parenthood will continue to overlook the barbarous practices of that nation.

Instead, Dr. Wen will be paraded about on talk shows in a white jacket to perpetrate the con job that Planned Parenthood is all about protecting women’s health.

Already, she has appeared on the “View”, proclaiming that abortion is a relatively small part of what Planned Parenthood does. She was challenged on the show by at least one host.  And Planned Parenthood has been chided by liberal outlets like the Washington Post for attempting to deceive people into thinking that just 3% of their “services” involve abortion.  But facts should not be allowed to get in the way of good political spin.

Regardless of Dr. Wen’s credentials, the organization is the largest death merchant on the planet. Plain and simple.  It is outrageous that taxpayers continue to be held hostage by a dawdling Congress.  Even worse: Federal and state governments go on lending legitimacy to this nefariously political organization, thereby encouraging women and girls to seek medical care from an outfit that kills babies for profit.

American women deserve better.

A national organization tracking United Way activities across the country issued a report this past week, showing that various chapters of the United Way charity donated nearly 2.8 million to the country’s largest abortion chain in 2016. That is the last year for which public records are available.

A group called 2^nd Vote made its research public, identifying 62 chapters in 29 states that help sustain Planned Parenthood’s efforts to make abortion of no greater consequence than taking an aspirin for a headache.

United Way officials attempted to downplay the importance of their support for the Abortion Industry by claiming that Planned Parenthood does “a lot of good” – including providing “counseling services” and “family planning” to low income women.

Pro-Life leaders across the country expressed their outrage, and challenged the United Way to clean up its act.

Alveda King was quoted by LifeNews.com:

“On the surface, United Way appears to be a good source of charity. However, Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion provider, received donations from United Way.  You decide: don’t people need to know when their money is funding child-killing?”

The simple fact is that United Way’s $2.8 million donation effectively covered the cost of performing 2900 abortions.

We dug into the details of the 2^nd Vote report to find out whether United Way chapters in Idaho were among those funding Planned Parenthood.  The Twin Falls chapter of United Way was not included because 2^nd Vote could not find their public 1099 forms at the time of publication.  However, they did review the other Idaho chapters, and none reported giving money to Planned Parenthood.

In a shocking revelation, the nefarious activities of the Food & Drug Administration have recently exposed. CNS News and Operation Rescue discovered that the FDA has proffered a public contract to Advanced Bioscience Resources (ABR) based in San Francisco to purchase “fresh human fetal tissue”.  The tissue will be grafted into mice to create “chimeric animals that have a human immune system”.

Let’s set aside the profound moral question of creating “chimeric animals” in the first place.

The first outrage is the simple fact that a federal agency has signed a purchase agreement with ABR to buy fetal tissue from elective abortions. That is our federal government.  Supported by our tax dollars.

The national scandal exposed several years ago demonstrated a strong business partnership between Planned Parenthood and Advanced Bioscience Resources.

Pro-Life groups have been issuing statements over the past week, urging the Trump Administration to intervene and halt the trafficking in aborted baby parts. As of this writing, we are unaware of a public response by President Trump or lesser lights in the Executive Branch.

LifeNews reports that one of those expressing outrage is Dr. David Prentice, Research Director at the Charlotte Lozier Institute:

“It is outrageous that the FDA would aid in the trafficking of aborted baby parts and fetal tissue. High-quality, modern scientific research has no need for unethical, tainted practices and grisly sources.  Our government should lead in ethics and in science, and should rescind any contracts for or use of aborted fetal tissue.”

Idaho Chooses Life led efforts in the Idaho Legislature to ban such practices at Idaho’s public universities, following revelations of Planned Parenthood’s dark money-making scheme.

It is time for our congressional delegation to join the public call for the President to personally intervene with the FDA.

This organization is very tainted by the people appointed by Barack Obama. They continue to shield the Abortion Industry from public scrutiny by suppressing data about the complications arising from the use of RU-486.  And they have accommodated every demand by Planned Parenthood to loosen protocols and safety restrictions on chemical abortions.

“The Swamp” is clearly not limited to the Department of Justice or Federal Bureau of Investigation. No doubt it will take time for the president to clean house in this agency.  But he must move quickly to stop this outrage.  We cannot let this trafficking agreement stand.

The street brawl is on. President Trump kept his promise to nominate a justice for the Supreme Court from his published list.  That is a unique event in history.  One could make the argument that Trump’s handling of his campaign and his transparency in telling the citizenry, beforehand, exactly who he would send to the Court gives him something of a public mandate here.

Of course, that makes little difference to the unhinged Left. Particularly its core Abortion Rights constituency.

We were hoping for a different nominee, to be honest. But the early reviews from national pro-Life groups indicate that Brett Kavanaugh is a very solid choice.  The Family Research Council, Americans United for Life and Operation Rescue have all sent very strong signals of support in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s announcement.  We have been in touch with one of the most respected pro-Life attorneys in the nation, Mr. Paul Linton, and he believes that Kavanaugh is likely to help form a new majority on the high court, one more sympathetic with the plight of preborn Americans.  He also believes that Judge Kavanaugh will be difficult to defeat in the U.S. Senate.

We hope that at least a few Democrats will be willing to support Kavanaugh, because the numbers look a bit difficult. Republicans have a bare majority, given the continued refusal of John McCain to resign his Senate seat.  And there are the two remaining pro-abort Republicans in the Senate – Collins and Murkowski to worry about.

Of course, Judge Kavanaugh has been confirmed by the Senate in a previous administration. It is hard to argue that a sitting appellate court judge is suddenly “unqualified” to be a justice on the high court.  But, again, logic and reason are no obstacles to the NY Times or Planned Parenthood.  They smell trouble and they will fight like cornered convicts in a prison riot gone bad.

Which brings us to an important topic – worthy of additional commentaries in the future: It would be a big mistake for the pro-Life community to leap to the conclusion that Kavanaugh’s confirmation will be the end of Roe. That may, for the first time, be a real possibility in coming years.  But we will likely have to await another appointment.  And the right case.  We think it is much more reasonable to see the addition of a conservative to the court as opening up new possibilities for the states to become more aggressive in protecting the lives of preborn children.  Important groundwork will have to be laid with the generations of Americans who have been taught to believe that killing a baby in the womb is a “right” – of no greater moral consequence than having a tumor removed.

We all must be in prayer for this nominee and his family.  The pressure on him will certainly be immense.