Commentary

In the wake of the most recent Supreme Court ruling, some in media have suggested that the political, social and legal fight for preborn is all but over. Of course, wishful thinking is not a measure of reality.

In recent days, it has become clear that the pro-Life community is more resolute than ever to end the tyranny of legalized abortion.

For example, just yesterday the House Appropriations Committee voted on a key funding bill for the State Department and foreign aid programs. In it, Republicans fought to defend pro-Life values by denying funds for the UN’s Population Control programs – so long as they continue to aid China in forcing women there to submit to abortions.  In addition, Republicans included language which would codify the “Mexico City Policy” – long a battle ground with Planned Parenthood and their Democrat advocates.  Started under President Reagan, the policy prohibits U.S. tax dollars from going to international organizations who perform abortions in foreign countries.  (In other words, Planned Parenthood International).

Since Obama destroyed the Mexico City Policy upon taking office back in 2009, the House measure obviously sets up a confrontation with Senate Democrats and Obama later this year.

We also saw a meeting of the Platform Committee yesterday preparing for the Republican National Convention. Reports indicate that they are recommending to the convention the strongest pro-Life platform in history.  The Platform will call for an end to taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, as well as a ban on the use of aborted baby parts for medical research.  Another section condemns the recent Supreme Court edict (Whole Woman’s Health) which prioritizes Planned Parenthood profits over the health and safety of women and girls.

The Republican platform stands in complete contrast to the upcoming Democrat statement on abortion, which apparently is becoming ever more radical. News reports indicate that Hillary will demand that taxpayers pay for all abortions if a woman or girl can’t pay the gangland slayers at Planned Parenthood.

Thus sets up an historic election. No genuine pro-Lifer can afford to be caught on the sidelines this fall.

As we celebrate fatherhood this weekend, we should note the marvel of God’s ordered universe. His gift of Life to mankind, the power to participate with Him in the actual creation of Life, is a wonder and power to be revered.  Too often in our culture, fatherhood is portrayed as a great burden to be escaped; more often fatherhood is belittled.  Yet the actual experience of humanity is that fatherhood is among God’s greatest gifts.

Children are the secret agents which help us to grow into real adulthood. From the outside, it appears that fatherhood is a matter of giving and sacrifice.  Certainly there is truth there.  But the more profound reality is that God uses children to lead us into a deeper life experience in which we are given opportunities to escape the bondage and limitations of self.

So, this weekend, let us celebrate what children give us – acknowledging that we owe them more than we can ever repay.

And let us pray for those fathers who have been denied the fruits of God’s gift because of abortion and all the false promises made by a deceived culture. May our heavenly Father bring those men healing.

Democrat Hillary Clinton will pay an official visit to Planned Parenthood as one of her first political acts following her seizure of the presidential nomination. She will address the organization’s political action committee leadership in Washington, D.C.

She will thank the nation’s largest abortion chain for funding her presidential campaign, and plead for even greater help in beating Donald Trump this November.

Following her formal remarks, it is expected that Ms. Clinton will join Cecile Richards and other Planned Parenthood officials in hoisting a few champagne toasts to congratulate one another on the 30 or 40 million babies destroyed at Planned Parenthood facilities during their long and sordid partnership.

Socialization: A process by which the Left creates new standards of moral order.

Opponents of the common core agenda, which includes a nationalization of public education, have long feared that a major component of the elite’s agenda to “reform” education had nothing to do with developing basic intellectual skills. A good part of that concern is the result of the tremendous secrecy which surrounds the common core testing – to point where parents and even teachers are prohibited from seeing questions.  Such an approach to testing defies the logic of testing.

Yet here we are, in a land where private contractors working for bureaucrats in Washington are redefining “education” and “learning” without public oversight.

The worst fears were confirmed this last week when a student taking a biology exam sent a photo of the question home to his parents over his smartphone. The question was a blatant attempt to normalize abortion:

“John and his sister Brittany are high school students in a small town. Their mother Jill is 40 years old and has learned that she is pregnant with a child.  Genetic testing has indicated that the child has Down’s Syndrome.  Their family doctor has recommended that Jill have an abortion.  John and Brittany’s mother and father have called the family together to discuss their options.  Which of the following statements describes how the family should make this decision?”

The high school biology students were presented with four multiple choice answers – none of which included the option of choosing to give this preborn child life.

The student’s parents were outraged, of course, and contacted school officials. And they, of course, pled ignorance as to the content of the test questions.

It is important to note that this exam was not in Stockton or Newark. It took place in neighboring Utah – a well known bastion of conservative religious values.

Here is the original story from the Salt Lake Tribune:

The House Select Investigative Committee released more findings of its research into the gruesome partnership between Planned Parenthood and companies trafficking in aborted baby parts.

Led by Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, the Congressional committee announced this week that it had uncovered serious violations of patient privacy and collusion to deceive women undergoing abortions at Planned Parenthood clinics. Given the sordid nature of the business, it is impossible for women and girls to avoid being treated like a commodity as organ harvesting companies hunt to buy valuable organs and tissue for resale.

The committee found that companies like Stem Express gain illegal access to patient files as they look for the best candidates to fill orders from their partners in universities and the pharmaceutical industry. Medical history, blood type, economic status and genetic information can all add special value to the tissue harvested from aborted babies.  Such violation of privacy is illegal under HIPPA, and a gross abuse of those vulnerable women ensnared by Planned Parenthood.

But it gets worse as Stem Express goes in for the sale on the woman sitting in the lobby. The committee also found evidence of manipulation and even coercion of those mothers by the trolls looking for quick cash from the resale of their dead babies.  And, as we have long suspected, the consent process used by these companies and Planned Parenthood is wholly inadequate and misleading.

We commend the work of Blackburn and her colleagues. It is imperative that they resist the politics of congressional Democrats – who have been turning up the heat to end the investigation into this national scandal.  They must continue to move through this sewer and bring their findings before the full Congress for appropriate action: We must make harvesting and trafficking in aborted baby parts illegal in America.

Gov. Nikki Haley signed legislation this week that would ban abortions after 20 weeks in that state unless the pregnancy threatened the mother’s life. In addition, South Carolina allows for an abortion in cases when a doctor determines that the baby has a fatal defect and could not survive outside of the womb.

The legislation is based upon scientific research demonstrating that babies in the womb experience intense pain as a result of abortions.

16 states and the U.S. House have passed similar legislation. Idaho is one of those, but is also one of three in which federal courts have insisted that laws to protect late-term babies are “unconstitutional”.  South Carolina’s action helps to keep the national pressure building for the movement to end the destruction of innocent life after viability.

While the Abortion Industry and some lackeys on the federal bench continue to insist that late term babies do not experience tortuous pain during abortion, the scientific evidence of their suffering continues to mount. Dr. Steven Zielinski, of Oregon, has testified before the U.S. Congress that his research proves that babies can begin to experience pain as early as 8 ½ weeks into a pregnancy.

On a related point – LifeNews is highlighting a new study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association that advances in science have now produced an amazing 71% survival rate for premature babies born at 22 weeks. This new data set will almost certainly mean that the U.S. Supreme Court will have to reevaluate its treatment of late term abortion cases, even if they reject the science of the baby’s painful suffering.

The Board of Idaho Chooses Life has voted to endorse Tammy Nichols for the Idaho Legislature in District 11 (Nampa).

This race is an open contest to replace Rep. Gayle Batt. Gayle has been a tremendous voice for preborn babies at the Legislature, and it is a real blow to lose her in the Idaho House of Representatives.  However, we are confident that Tammy will continue to advance Gayle’s pro-Life agenda at the Statehouse.

Not only did Mrs. Nichols provide us with a great questionnaire, she has a proven pro-Life history.

By contrast, none of the other Republicans running in this district bothered to respond to our candidate survey. That is very troubling.

We ask for your help in getting Tammy Nichols elected on Tuesday.

Idaho Chooses Life strongly endorses Bryan Zollinger for the Idaho House in District 33 (Idaho Falls).

This seat has opened up because of the retirement of Rep. Linden Bateman. The loss of Bateman is a tremendous blow to the pro-Life movement, as the good representative was one of the strongest, most determined champions of preborn children in public office.  It is unlikely he will ever be truly replaced.

That said, Bateman’s legacy is at stake in this race.

We sent both GOP candidates detailed surveys on their views regarding critical life issues. Only Mr. Zollinger responded.  His answers inspire confidence that we can trust to carry Linden’s mantle forward.

By contrast, David Smith did not bother to respond. While that means we have no specific information about this views – experience teaches us that Mr. Smith will likely be no defender of babies in the womb.  Even if he has vague pro-Life views, his failure to answer specific questions for voters in District 33 has to mean that the Life issue(s) holds no priority for him.

We urge the good people of Idaho Falls to send a strong pro-Life legislator to Boise: We ask for your support of Bryan Zollinger on Tuesday.

Rep. Mike Moyle has earned our endorsement for re-election to a 10^th term in the Idaho House.

Since his first days in the Legislature, Moyle has been a leader on questions of tax policy and economic development. That natural leadership was recognized by his colleagues early on, explaining his many terms as Majority Leader.  It is a heavy burden and no one works harder than Moyle to serve Idaho.

But it is his compassion and leadership on family issues – particularly the defense of preborn children – which has earned our highest respect and gratitude.  Regardless of the day or craziness of the legislative calendar, Moyle always makes time to help advance the cause of the Life.  It was this kind of leadership which led us to give him our “Friend for Life Award” in 2009.

Moyle is being challenged by a moderate Republican – Michael Greenway – in next week’s primary.

We have been told by voters in the District that Greenway has confessed to being “pro-choice” on abortion. That explains why he refused to respond to our questionnaire.  That value system disqualifies Greenway to serve in the Legislature.  Pure and simple.

We pray that the Republican voters of Star and Eagle see fit to return Mike Moyle to the Legislature. The simple fact is that we need him there.

With the release of candidate finance reports this week, we have learned a great deal about the race for the Supreme Court seat. The most startling fact is that the Idaho Trial Lawyers are engaged in a massive effort to place one of their own on the high court.

Robyn Brody, an unassuming attorney from Rupert, has shocked experienced political observers by amassing some $175,000 in her bid to win a seat on the high court. How could a first-time, unknown candidate for public office generate such a huge sum of money just weeks after announcing her candidacy?  The answer is found in the large number of law firms (29) investing money in her.

The speed with which Brody has raised and spent money strongly suggests that the Trial Lawyers have been planning this campaign for some time. In fact, it seems likely that they recruited Brody to run, a perfect unknown commodity who could sweep to a seat on the Idaho Supreme Court with the financial backing of dozens and dozens of criminal defense and plaintiff attorneys who desperately want, apparently, a friendly face on the highest court.  Their scheme hinges on a tidal wave of money to overwhelm voters before folks can figure out what is really going on.

We are also deeply troubled by the fact that Ms. Brody is being supported by a rather long list of liberal, pro-choice attorneys – like Rory Jones, lead attorney for Planned Parenthood in its current lawsuit against the state of Idaho.

Brody’s money pile also answers the question about the curious “rating” by members of the State Bar Association of the candidates. It is clearly implausible that attorneys from around the state would be in a position to offer objective ratings of the candidates based upon personal knowledge of them.  Now we know that it was the Trial Lawyers Assn. which Gerry-rigged the numbers that Ms. Brody is touting in her literature.

We don’t know what Ms. Brody’s values are, because candidates for the bench don’t answer such questions. But the list of her supporters should give Idahoans tremendous cause for concern.  And the biggest question we will have to answer next week is whether Idaho voters will allow the Trial Lawyers to buy a seat on the Supreme Court.