Commentary

The U.S. Senate voted yesterday on legislation sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks (and co-sponsored by Idaho’s Senator Mike Crapo) to restrict abortions after 20 weeks in the United States.

We are grateful for their leadership and commitment to saving preborn children.

Unfortunately the legislation stalled on the rocky wall that has become the Democrat Party. While a majority of U.S. Senators voted to consider the legislation, 40 Democrats and 2 Republicans voted to sustain a filibuster of the measure. With only 54 votes, pro-Life forces will be unable to pass the measure already approved by the U.S. House under the current rules of the Senate.

Thus, President Obama is once again spared the public scrutiny of vetoing a measure supported by a majority of American voters.

Similar legislation was approved in Idaho several years ago, but has been blocked from enforcement because of an edict issued by Idaho’s pro-abort federal judge, Lynn Winmill.

We are also grateful to our friends at LifeNews for their excellent coverage of this vote and the underlying issues surrounding the barbaric treatment of babies in the womb. Scientific research has demonstrated that the neurology of preborn children at 20 weeks makes it highly likely that they experience intense pain as they are slain.

LifeNews also quotes Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) from yesterday’s floor debate, pointing out some alarming facts about the state of America’s moral health:

“One of the most successful cover-ups in legal and social history has misled Americans into believing either that abortion is not legal for any reason at any time in this country, or that this radical abortion regime is the norm around the world. Neither is true. Today, the United States is one of only seven nations in the entire world to allow elective abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Other members of that club include China and North Korea.”

We can only hope that Pope Francis makes some room in his Congressional address tomorrow to chastise the 42 Champions of Death who chose to keep America in such sordid company.

We ask for pro-Lifers across the state to engage in earnest prayer on behalf of our national leaders as they engage in various efforts to hold Planned Parenthood accountable for its heinous treatment of preborn children.

Investigative hearings will soon begin in the U.S. Senate, and 3 different House committees have already opened hearings into the barbaric organ harvesting practices of Planned Parenthood. (You can see a clip here of Rep. Raul Labrador participating in the House Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday).

We need our congressional leaders to take decisive action to defend the American people from this organization. Specifically, we need to enact a ban on abortions after 20 weeks – legislation that has long been championed by Rep. Trent Franks and co-sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Crapo.

Secondly, we need Congress to end our partnership with Planned Parenthood. Taxpayer subsidization of this evil organization must simply end. Congress is largely responsible for turning Planned Parenthood into the huge dragon they have become – with some 45 years’ worth of financial subsidies. And only Congress can slay this beast.

Like Tolkien’s Smaug, Planned Parenthood lays across the nation’s treasury, making an eternal claim upon our wealth and spiritual health.

Driving the dragon from our midst won’t be an easy proposition, particularly given the special relationship between President Obama and Planned Parenthood. But like the brave villagers of Dale, we must finally take a stand.  We urge you to contact our congressional delegation and urge them to do everything in their power to end public funding of Planned Parenthood.  We believe particular attention should be paid to Congressman Mike Simpson, who is especially well-positioned in the Appropriations Committee to force a clean vote on ending our partnership with this evil organization.  You can send Congressman Simpson an email by clicking here.

Our friend Congressman Trent Franks has announced that his legislation to protect preborn children after 20 weeks’ gestation will finally be before the U.S. House next week.

This is the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” which was almost considered by the Congress in January. Last minute objections were raised then about how the issue of rape was being handled in the legislation – despite the fact that an identical bill was approved by the U.S. House two years ago.

Speaker Boehner promised back in January that the legislation was being delayed for a matter of “days”, but that has turned into months. We were beginning to wonder if Franks’ bill would ever see the light of day again.

We are grateful that the bill will be considered – and likely passed – by the House of Representatives. The bill will force Americans to at least briefly reflect on the suffering and cruelty of killing preborn children later in pregnancy.

We congratulate Trent Franks – and Idaho’s Mike Crapo, a Senate sponsor of the bill – for his tenacity and commitment to protecting the most vulnerable among us. Hopefully this legislation will soon land on Barack’s Obama’s desk, where the nation will once again witness Obama’s depth of resolve in defending the Abortion Industry in all cases from the cries of the innocent.