Commentary

As we come into the third year of the “COVID CRISIS”, it is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid the conclusion that we have not been well served by the expert class which has assumed control over so much of government.  The strategies of lock-downs, shut downs and imperious mandates seem to be having little impact on the virus.  The tiny creatures just keep doing what viruses do.  We have paid a steep price, an unknown price at this point – yet the virus produces yet another surge. 

The solution? The expert class triples down on doing more of the same, only faster.

The economic, educational, social and health costs we have amassed during these two-plus years of too-much-government will take many years to count.  But we just ran across a very disturbing figure from 2020 which ought give everyone pause:

An insurance executive has just publicly revealed that the total death rate in the United States jumped a whopping 40% in 2020, among Americans aged 18-64.

No doubt the reader will immediately leap to the thought that this must be the impact of the Chinese Virus.  Not so.  Here’s a quote from an article in the Gateway Pundit (01.04.22):

“Working aged Americans have been dying at an unprecedented pace ever since the beginning of the manufactured COVID-19 pandemic, according to one of the largest insurance companies – but, somehow, the dreaded China-virus … has little to do with the catastrophic increase.

“Scott Davison, CEO of OneAmerica, presented data at a conference in December in which he showed that the death rate among Americans aged 18-64 has skyrocketed by a jaw-dropping 40% compared to pre-pandemic levels.  Davison stressed that he was talking about ‘huge, huge numbers’ … which are the highest in the history of the [life insurance] business.”

There have been occasional stories about higher suicide rates, deaths from drug and alcohol abuse during these past couple years.  While all the focus from our “leaders” and “experts” has been C19 – the simple truth is that the number one killer remains heart disease, followed by any number of other traditional causes of death ranking well ahead of C19.

One can only surmise that things have gotten so far out of perspective that we have lost sight of the basics of health care.  One wonders what impact hospital management and radical changes to health care delivery have had on the overall health of America.  From the data collected by the insurance industry, it certainly can’t be good.

Aside from 2020 being an extraordinarily lethal year – we must also note the tremendous long-term economic cost of losing so many productive Americans from THE critical demographic group in our economy. 

It is time for a great reset in our approach to the pandemic, beginning with a thorough review of the health care industry’s decision to push other health care threats to the back of the bus … while refusing to develop effective treatment protocols for patients in the early stages of COVID. 

The Left has begun to tumble to the real possibility that the US Supreme Court is on the verge of overturning Roe. Their agents in the MSM have begun publishing articles ranging from the grossly ill-informed to the mildly propagandistic in quality.

We join many in the pro-Life community in nurturing hope that justice for preborn children, at least for those living in pro-Life states, may be on the horizon. We say that, knowing that conservatives have been repeatedly disappointed with the Court. Attorneys we have consulted over the past year are largely in agreement that there is little reason for the Court to have accepted the Dobbs case unless it planned decisive action in defense of preborn children.  Our hopes are not, then, without foundation.

The stakes could not be bigger, and pro-Lifers need to take our duty to pray for the members of the Court very seriously.

But we have been here before. There was increasing tension back in 1992 when the Court last considered the fundamental issues involved in creating a “constitutional right” to kill one’s preborn child. Sandra Day O’Connor was once seen as the crucial pro-Life addition to the Court; hopes rose that the Casey decision would restore basic decency to American society. But, alas, the justices blinked. Rumors and books have circulated since that momentous day describing the deliberations and cold-blooded poker being played within the Court’s chambers. O’Connor was persuaded to craft a “compromise” opinion in which the Court would restructure Roe and allow greater authority to the states.  And, indeed, we did gain some latitude to work.  Just not enough.  And certainly, the raw injustice of slaughtering preborn children remains O’Connor’s legacy.

Our hope, therefore, is constrained by that history.

Yet hope remains. The Court has made it clear that it has taken up just one central question in the Dobbs case: whether “viability” is a workable legal concept. This is the evil lynch pin of the legal reasoning behind legalized abortion. This idea involves the arbitrary division of human beings into those worthy of care, worthy of recognition … and those who are not. Going back to the days of Roe, the Court has declared that those people who have not reached the point of “viability” can be killed without limitation or need of excuse.  They have not yet earned their claim to belong to the human family.  Those preborn babies in the womb after the magical moment of “viability” can also be killed; but our status as a “civilized society” requires that we offer some kind of excuse. Admittedly, that is a crude way to explain Supreme Court edicts over the years, but it captures the sophistry this institution has indulged in to protect its image while foisting murderous barbarity upon America.

A deep study of the Supreme Court rulings on abortion reveals not just sophistry … but great cynicism.

When the Court first announced that it had discovered a “right” to kill one’s baby in 1973, it no doubt feared that most Americans would be scandalized. To mitigate that shock, to assuage the conscience, it fabricated the notion that it would allow some protections for babies post-viability.  Not all babies would be slaughtered, the Court cynically assured: We are not, after all, a nation of barbarians.

Many states took the Court seriously. They began passing legislation to restrict or even ban abortions after the point of “viability.”  But over the years, the Supreme Court rejected every such attempt. In fact, it resisted any attempt to create a hard legal definition of what it meant by “viability.” 

Thus, the concept of “viability” continues to be meaningless. The fact is, it is legal to kill any baby in America for any reason up to the point of live birth.  The first real prohibition on abortion came through litigation around Partial Birth Abortion. Finally, there was an end point.  Unfortunately, that was only a relief for those babies able to fight their way into the birth canal. The rest have been out of luck for forty-eight years.

We can now appreciate with greater clarity why this Dobbs case, and the Court’s reconsideration of the central tenet of “viability,” could be the great game changer for preborn babies.

Idaho Chooses Life is greatly humbled by the fact that the Lord created an opportunity for us to directly participate in this historic case.  In partnership with the Catholic Medical Association, the National Association of Catholic Nurses and the Texas Alliance for Life, we were able to retain the services of Ms. Maura Quinlan to represent us before the Supreme Court.  She has written and filed an amicus brief on our behalf which brilliantly dissects the poverty of the Court’s previous edicts on “viability”.  Her reasoning is sharp; her writing is powerful. It is hard to imagine how an intellectually honest jurist could read her brief and come to any conclusion other than that this absurd and arbitrary notion of “viability” must be scrapped. Roe itself must be abandoned; America must be freed to repent of this great national sin.

In its place we must again enshrine the simple fact that a person is a person, no matter how small.

But let us address the central challenge you, the reader, must accept:  This matter of abortion has never been about intellectual arguments or science.  It is a weak canard to hide behind the notion that “science” has led us to a deeper understanding of human development.  While that may be true, it has nothing to do with abortion.  Our ancestors were never confused about where babies came from, or the fact that they were human.

No, friend, this issue has always been spiritual in nature.  It is, obviously, a matter of the greatest evil. We must realize, therefore, that the spiritual warfare raging around these nine members of the Court is incredible.  This, we believe, is the real explanation for the Court’s failure of courage in 1992 – the last time legalized abortion was seriously considered.  Our job now is to be ceaseless in prayer on behalf of those justices with a conscience.  We all must beseech the Almighty to grant them clarity of mind and courage of heart to defend the helpless victims of abortion.  Only with His help can they face the storm.

This may be our last chance.

The annual Treasure Valley Life Chain will take place this afternoon, Sunday October 3rd. We will gather on Milwaukee across from the Olive Garden from 2-4 pm.

The Life Chain is part of a national effort to bring abortion out from the shadows – the “silent killer”. We will be joining with pro-Lifers in over 800 cities pleading for restoration of legal protections for preborn children. This year’s event will focus on prayer for the members of the U.S. Supreme Court, who begin their new term tomorrow.

During this term, the Supreme Court will render a decision in the Dobbs case – the most important abortion case to reach the high court in some 30 years.

Every year we witness miracles. Don’t miss out! Even if you can only stay for part of the time, we’d love to see you. Signs will be provided.

For the first time in history, the U.S. House has just voted to create a federal law allowing for the killing of preborn children.  The legislation was passed on a vote of 218-211, without a single Republican vote.  One brave Democrat opposed the bill.

This radical legislation would make it legal to abort a baby for any reason up until live birth.  Even more astonishing: it would supersede and supplant any and all state laws restricting abortion at any point in a pregnancy.  Thus, Idaho’s laws regarding informed consent or parental consent for girls would become null and void under the terms of Nancy’s vision for a new America.  Gone would be any understanding of states rights; gone, too, would be any legal duty to care for babies who somehow survive the chemical or surgical tortures of the abortion procedure.  Even the Ban on Partial Birth Abortions would be repealed by Nancy’s dark version of “social justice”.

The legislation is so radical that not even pro-abortion Republican Susan Collins (R-Maine) will support the bill once it gets to the U.S. Senate.  It is unclear how the Democrat Joe Manchin will vote once it gets to the floor.

With the lopsided House vote, there can no longer be any serious argument regarding the Democrat Party’s embrace of child sacrifice as the central tenet of their political faith. They have officially become the party of death.

Planned Parenthood has cashed-in its marker with Democrat politicians, demanding that they use their slim hold on congressional power to codify Roe v. Wade in federal law.  Up until this week, Planned Parenthood has relied upon their extraordinary influence in the federal judiciary to protect their death empire.  But the threat of a reversal of Roe coming in this next term of the U.S. Supreme Court has caused the Abortion Industry to hit the panic button.

That term of the Court will begin early next month, with oral arguments in the Dobbs case scheduled for December.  We must be in earnest prayer for the members of that Court.  We must clang the gates of Paradise, asking the Lord to grant those justices courage and integrity in the face of great spiritual oppression.

The Board of Idaho Chooses Life has adopted a Resolution, calling for the protection of the conscience rights of health care providers and other Idaho employees from being forced into choosing between their livelihood and submitting to a COVID vaccination.

Idaho Chooses Life has brought several pieces of legislation over the years to protect the conscience rights of health care providers.  Defending religious liberty and conscience rights have always been a core part of ICL’s mission.

“The Board is not taking a position on vaccination per se,” Executive Director David Ripley said in a prepared statement.  “Though there are a couple of vaccines out there that use aborted baby tissue and we are adamantly opposed to such heinous methods.  But we feel the need to rise in defense of all Idaho citizens to make an informed decision for themselves as to whether vaccination against COVID makes sense for them.  No one should be coerced into accepting medical treatment they do not want.”

Idaho Chooses Life has also been active in pressing for informed consent legislation over the years.  The key moral principle behind such legislation is that women must be informed of the risks associated with abortion.  And, in fact, ICL got legislation passed several years ago making it a crime to coerce a woman into getting an abortion.

“A person cannot give voluntary, informed consent to any medical procedure if they are being coerced,” Ripley added.  “And it is obvious that threats to lose one’s job constitute serious coercion.  We call on the Legislature to once again take a stand and provide protections for health care workers, as well as other employees, from this violation of our most fundamental rights as citizens and human beings.”

The U.S. House of Representatives, under the evil leadership of Nancy Pelosi, is working to open the floodgates of taxpayer funding for the Abortion Industry.

Yesterday, the House voted on seven different appropriations bills.  They are awash with new revenue streams for Planned Parenthood.  Pro-Life members of the House fought to protect long-standing restrictions, but were turned back by close votes – 219 – 208.

Perhaps the most significant development is the elimination of the Hyde Amendment.  Pelosi and Biden are making good on their promises to provide taxpayer-funded abortions.  That will certainly lead to higher abortion rates in coming years.  It also means that every single American taxpayer will be directly funding the destruction of preborn children.  This has been a bedrock of federal law since 1976.

Democrats also eliminated the Dornan Amendment, which prevents monies to fund the District of Columbia from being used to finance abortions.  That restriction has been in place since 1996.

In addition, the Pelosi’s Democrats voted to increase Title X Funding – one of the largest revenue streams for Planned Parenthood – to a whopping $400 million.  A separate program to “combat teenage pregnancy” will be given another $131 million.

These are difficult times to observe, to be sure.

We must be vigilant in prayer, beseeching the Lord to deliver us from such evil.  And we must make financial support available to pro-Life candidates across the nation seeking congressional seats next year.  This imperious speaker must be turned out of office.

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.

Reports have been circulating for some time that the Chinese government is promoting the macabre business of harvesting organs from living human beings for the purpose of transplanting them into persons for whom the Chinese Communists have higher regard.  Protest marches have been held.  Witnesses have exposed themselves to danger by smuggling information out of the communist nation. 

According to State Senator Angela Paxton (R-Texas), the evidence is more than rumor:

“We know this is true, we know it is wrong, and that it again goes to the very heart of destroying the dignity of every human being.” 

Her moral outrage led her to sponsor a resolution (since adopted by the Texas State Senate) condemning the practice.

An article in the Epoch Times reported that “prisoners of conscience – a majority of whom are adherents of the persecuted spiritual discipline of “Falun Gong”- are being killed on a “significant scale” for their organs”.  Apparently, the Chinese Communists then makes these organs available to desperate people at a huge profit.

The Texas Resolution calls upon the U.S. Government to do more to confront this barbarity.

That would be a great.  But the moral authority of the U.S. Government to challenge such horrendous practices in China has been greatly diminished by Joe Biden’s radical embrace of harvesting organs and tissue from aborted babies to pursue ghoulish medical experiments at taxpayer expense.  Honestly – what is the difference?

In both cases, the strong are destroying the weak in order to benefit the strong with the promise of prolonged life or cures to various maladies.  It is a kind of medical cannibalism.

We have written about this matter before.  Since the last posting, we have discovered that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a public statement condemning the Biden Administration for its new policy of partnering with Planned Parenthood in trafficking aborted baby parts:

“The bodies of children killed by abortion deserve the same respect as that of any other person.  Our government has no right to treat innocent abortion victims as a commodity that can be scavenged for body parts to be used in research.  It is unethical to promote and subsidize research that can lead to legitimizing the violence of abortion.”

That is a fine statement.  We welcome it, and pray for a greater uprising among the nation’s clergy.  But it fails to fully anticipate the great threat posed by Biden’s new policy.  What happens when universities and Big Pharma discover that they need more tissue?  More organs?  What happens when they develop therapies dependent upon a fresh supply of baby tissue?  It seems inevitable that we are on the cusp of going beyond the horror of reaping tissue from the victims of abortion.  Soon we could see these same powerful interests paying women to “grow” babies for the purpose of harvesting organs to meet an insatiable demand for “miracle” cures. 

The people of Texas should be proud of Sen. Angela Paxton for her leadership in exposing the criminal regime controlling China.  But, as they say, love needs to begin at home.

Governor Brad Little has signed HB302 into Idaho law.  This legislation is the first-ever bill considered by the Legislature to address the epidemic of abortions among babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome.  Some studies have projected that as many as 90% of Downs babies are being killed in the womb.

The bill is truly about the very least among us.

HB302 seeks to slow this tragedy by requiring the Department of Health & Welfare to include specific information about Down Syndrome in the state’s Informed Consent Booklet.  This literature is provided to women and girls considering abortion as part of the mandatory 24-hour waiting period in Idaho law.

Hopefully churches, pregnancy centers and other ministries will reach out to the Department to get their contact information included in booklet. 

We are betting that this modest legislation will have an outsized impact on the destruction of Downs babies, because most women facing this diagnosis were not previously abortion-minded.  Under pressure, fear and misinformation, women are being led into believing that these special babies are an unbearable burden, with little chance for a meaningful life.

Not only do we wish to thank Governor Little for his support, but there are a few heroes who stepped-up big time this session to ensure that this legislation got done.  Reps. Randy Armstrong and Kevin Andrus were critical supporters as the legislation was being developed.  And Senator Kevin Cook took the lead in ensuring that the legislation passed the Idaho Senate.

There is much more work that needs to be done in this area.  But this is a solid beginning.

There are so many difficult and enraging things being promoted by the Biden Administration that it is difficult to keep up.  And those things we notice likely fill most Americans with anxiety over the nation’s future.  So it would not be surprising if you missed Biden’s most gruesome action yet: He has issued an executive order encouraging the federal government to purchase aborted baby parts and conduct medical experiments using those same baby parts and tissue.  If the corporate media have covered the story at all, they have clouded it into a larger narrative of Biden reversing President Trump’s policies.

Let’s spend a bit of time developing the context and evil meaning of Biden’s action.

Remember the public outrage of just a few years ago, when we learned that Planned Parenthood was harvesting and selling aborted baby parts?  Congress called for hearings.  Politicians and bishops issued press releases.  The public demanded that public funding be cut off for America’s largest death merchant.  Other officials, including Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi, used their public power to shield Planned Parenthood from deadly political scandal.

Years have passed.  The disgrace and story have faded from the public square.  Planned Parenthood escaped unscathed.  In fact, the only penalties being levied are against those – like David Daleiden- who publicized proof that Planned Parenthood was trafficking in aborted baby parts.

But, today, we have the federal government becoming a willing partner with Planned Parenthood in monetizing the destruction of preborn children.  This is a new level of evil.

For a generation, the federal government has forced American taxpayers to subsidize Planned Parenthood under the guise of “birth control” and “reproductive health services”.  It has created programs to pay for certain abortions in limited cases using tax dollars.  But it has largely stood aside, as a rather neutral party, enforcing a woman’s “right” to kill her preborn baby – while not being an actual promoter of abortion.

Biden’s decision to engage in medical experimentation with aborted baby parts changes all that.  He is now actively promoting the notion that it is a public policy “good” for aborted babies to be harvested like a commodity and used in government-funded medical experiments.  The federal government, our government, has become a willing participant in the greatest evil of our time. 

There is so much more to say about this.

Let us briefly mention, however, that it is very difficult to see a distinction between America’s new embrace of human medical experimentation and that of Germany’s under the notorious Hitler regime.  Doctors and political leaders were tried at Nuremberg for their role in using the prisoners of Auschwitz and other camps as tortured guinea pigs.  America led the world in holding those barbarians to account.  Out of the Nuremberg Medical Trials came a new international ethical standard forbidding human experimentation without the express, informed consent of those participating.  Again, it was America who led the world.

Where has that America gone? 

Today, we have a president actively promoting the destruction of innocent human beings to supply the medical industry with the raw materials it cravenly demands to create new drugs and profitable treatments.  We have an America paying for, and promoting, COVID-19 vaccines produced with aborted baby tissue.  We now have an administration paying Planned Parenthood for the body parts of the human beings it destroys.  Friends, this is shameful barbarity.

Where is the outcry from our churches?  Where is the public outrage from leaders of academia or the medical profession?  Where are the press releases from politicians mimicking the moral pain of their constituents? The story is but a passing headline, hardly noted even by pro-Life organizations.

America has sunk to a new level of spiritual and moral darkness.