Commentary

Our friend, Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona, spoke with the media yesterday about his legislation to outlaw late-term abortions in America.

“We’re going to protect unborn children once they’ve reached the beginning of the sixth month, because that’s clearly at a time when there’s no real medical authority that would say they don’t feel pain. They do indeed feel pain at that age,” Franks said in an interview the Daily Caller.

He emphasized during the interview that the U.S. was one of only 7 nations that allows elective abortion after six months into a pregnancy. As we’ve reported before – America is in a Club of Horrors that includes countries like Vietnam, North Korea and China.

He is encouraged by Sen. McConnell’s commitment to hold a vote on the Graham-Crapo bill, but worried that Democrats will use the filibuster rule to defeat the bill.

Franks called upon McConnell to dump the filibuster rule:

“It’s a bad rule. It means that the American people don’t get a debate and it’s something that has to be changed.”

In fact, Congressman Franks went so far as to say that if McConnell lets the filibuster rule defeat this legislation to protect innocent babies, “he should find something else to do because he’s lost his way.”

Idaho’s Mike Crapo has signed on to be an original co-sponsor of the Pain-Capable Child Protection Act in the U.S. Senate.

This legislation, similar to a bill passed by the Idaho Legislature in 2011, would ban abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation. It is based upon medical research demonstrating that preborn children experience profound pain during an abortion, particularly when the standard “dismemberment” procedure is used.

This barbaric practice of pulling the baby apart limb-by-limb, if used to kill barnyard animals, would result in felony convictions for cruelty to animals. But in modern America, it is a practice performed by Planned Parenthood on defenseless babies and shielded by their allies on the federal bench.

Senator Crapo has been a champion of the pro-Life cause throughout his public career, going all the way back to his heroic efforts in the Idaho Senate in the 1990 session.

Idaho’s House members, Raul Labrador and Mike Simpson, voted for the House version of this legislation earlier this week. It remains to be seen whether Senate Majority Leader will schedule a floor vote on the bill.

The Senate approved SJR13 this week, repealing rules Obama pushed through before leaving office. His actions were designed to handcuff state legislators from eliminating funding of Planned Parenthood.  This finalizes congressional action on striking down the HHS rule, and the measure goes to President Trump.

All Democrats and 2 Republicans locked arms to protect the nation’s largest abortion chain – even as new videos surfaced this week of their barbarous treatment of preborn children. The close vote required Vice President Pence to break the tie.

Idaho’s two senators, Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, both voted to overturn the rule.

This measure is a vital step in dissolving the sordid partnership between Planned Parenthood and America’s taxpayers – but it is not the big one.

The Congressional measure to defund Planned Parenthood is wrapped up in the whole ObamaCare repeal fiasco still percolating in Washington. Republican leaders had planned to use the Reconciliation process to cut Planned Parenthood funding.  We can only pray that Republicans come together to get legislation to the president’s desk.

In the meantime, we can be grateful for this important step forward.

UDPATE:

After posting, we ran across a side story on this important vote.  Turns out there is an unsung hero in this historic battle: Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson.  He managed to make the Senate vote while recovering from two different back surgeries in recent weeks.  He has been unable to cast a vote since February 17th, but made a courageous appearance on the Senate floor, using a walker, to cast the 50th vote.  This allowed the Vice President to break the tie.  Lord bless him.

Idaho Chooses Life announced today that its Board has voted to support the re-election of Sen. Mike Crapo to the United States Senate.

“We are proud to once again endorse Sen. Crapo,” said ICL Executive Director David Ripley in a prepared statement. “He has worked hard during his entire public career to defend preborn children and their mothers from the scourge of abortion.”

“We are especially gratified by the leadership Sen. Crapo has taken this past year to end the taxpayer subsidies of Planned Parenthood,” Ripley added. “It is long past time for women and girls to receive quality health care and for Congress to end its partnership with America’s largest abortion chain.”

Idaho Chooses Life honored Sen. Crapo in 2008 for his stellar voting record on pro-Life issues by giving him its “Friend for Life” Award.

In January of this year, Sen. Crapo became a co-sponsor of legislation brought forward by Sen. Rand Paul to recognize the personhood of preborn children from conception. The “Life at Conception Act” would explicitly extend the protections of the 14^th Amendment to babies in the womb.

“That is the kind of leadership we have come to expect from Sen. Crapo,” Ripley concluded. “His integrity and vigorous defense of our values should make every Idahoan proud.”

The vote yesterday in the United States Senate to end our public partnership with Planned Parenthood was truly historic.  We believe it is the first time since President Nixon championed the notion of taxpayer funding for birth control that the U.S. Congress has voted to sever that multi-million subsidy of the Abortion Industry.

Obviously the president will veto the measure.  But that, too, is historic.  The American people will be the judge between the evil espoused by Obama and the new social justice demanded by most Republicans.  Let Obama defend the idea that American taxpayers should be forced to transfer their wealth to an organization that not only kills innocent babies – but harvests their organs for resale in the back room.  Let Obama defend a value system which says it is okay to trade baby parts for Lamborghinis.

We are grateful for the leadership of Idaho’s congressional delegation in this matter, particularly from our two U.S. Senators.  They have been engaged and inspired in helping to bring this vote to fruition, and we are proud that Idaho is served by such men in Washington, D.C.

Many conservatives are angry with the Congress and GOP leadership. Frustrated may be a better word. We sense a profound disconnect between the conservative principles and platforms which motivate many to donate, volunteer and support Republican candidates. On many levels, that frustration is justified.

However, it is also important not to miss what is happening in the nation’s capital. We are in the midst of an unprecedented battle for Life which has fairly raged for months. No doubt the scandalous videos released by the Center for Medical Progress are providing much of the jet fuel for this multi-faceted debate – but it is important to appreciate that we are blessed with a genuinely pro-Life Congress.

The Congress continues to take up pro-Life legislation at an amazing clip. The House has passed a Ban on Late Term Abortions, and voted to defund Planned Parenthood. The House has conducted multiple investigations into Planned Parenthood. It has approved legislation to add criminal penalties for violating the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. And it just passed a bill to empower states to deny Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood.

Now there is serious talk about appointing a Select Committee to delve deeper into the criminal enterprise which is Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The U.S. Senate has also been very active on the Life issue. It has voted twice to deny public funding for Planned Parenthood. It has also considered legislation to end most abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation. Of course, passage of pro-Life legislation in the Senate is more problematic because Democrats have stood as a disciplined Legion of Death to filibuster each pro-Life bill brought to the floor for consideration. While that is frustrating, the effort and time devoted by a majority of the Senate to protecting Life must be acknowledged.

We are especially appreciative of the work and leadership being provided by Idaho’s delegation. From the jump, Congressman Labrador has staked out an aggressive position in support of ending our dark partnership with Planned Parenthood. But Congressman Simpson has been engaged as well, becoming a co-sponsor of the separate bill to defund Planned Parenthood.

Idaho’s two senators, Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, have been stellar. Just the other night, they were among the 17 brave souls who opposed a Continuing Resolution that would protect “business as usual”. They are standing tall on principle.

While there have been set-backs, the fight to defund Planned Parenthood is not over.

We are praying that a way can be found to use the Reconciliation process to get around the Senate Democrats’ fake filibuster; we would count it as a major victory to force the first Obama Veto of the new Republican Majority. That moment would help educate America about the dark radicalism of our current president.

If we have any complaints, it is with the Republican messaging over Planned Parenthood funding. This is a perpetual weakness in the Congressional Republican effort to help lead America to a better place. Of course, this fight to end our partnership with Planned Parenthood is about the evil they practice. But it is also about women’s health. We believe that a major theme in GOP messaging should be the disservice being done to women by encouraging them to seek their care from such an ideologically-driven organization. The money spent on reproductive health care should be spent at real health care facilities, where real doctors are present to offer a range of needed services to low income women. Women deserve better. And Congressional Republicans should be talking loudly about improving access to quality health care, and offering to increase funding for such programs.

But we don’t want our suggestions to get in the way of our deep gratitude for the energy and courage on display these past few weeks. May the Lord richly bless these men and women, particularly our Idaho delegation, for their kindness and leadership.