Commentary

Boehner Appoints Special Panel

Posted on October 25, 2015 by David Ripley

On Friday, Speaker John Boehner announced the Republican members of a special select committee charged with investigating Planned Parenthood. The panel will have unique powers to collect documents and subpoena witnesses as it searches for answers to the scandalous trafficking in baby organs and tissue.

The panel will be chaired by Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. Boehner offered an accompanying statement:

“Recent videos exposing the abortion-for-baby parts business have shocked the nation, and demanded action. At my request, three House committees have been investigating the abortion business, but we still don’t have the full truth. Chairman Blackburn and our members will have the resources and the subpoena power to get to the bottom of these horrific practices, and build upon our work to protect the sanctity of all human life.”

In accepting the leadership post, Rep. Blackburn argued that, “No issue is more deserving of our undivided attention than protecting the dignity of human life. This will be a broad based- information gathering – fact finding mission – to answer questions about how we treat and protect life in this country. This is a discussion that this country must have. This is a discussion we should not shy away from.”

Among the numerous questions the panel is charged to investigate is the issue of federal funding for tissue and organ procurement. In addition, the committee will look into profit margins, abortion procedures and whether Planned Parenthood is harvesting organs from babies born alive.

In addition to Blackburn, other Republican members of the panel are Joe Pitts (PA), Diane Black (TN), Larry Bucshon (IN), Sean Duffy (WI), Andy Harris (MD), Vicki Hartzler (MO) and Mia Love (UT).

This is extraordinarily important work, and we are hopeful it will produce meaningful reforms at the federal level. In addition to severing our partnership with Planned Parenthood, Congress must overhaul the law and regulations governing tissue donation and harvesting.

It is obvious that we need to recover sound moral standards to govern medical research, particularly when human beings are the subject. Legalized abortion has degraded the sensitivities and collective conscience of this society and a battle must be waged to re-establish proper standards of conduct. Human beings cannot be treated like so much waste product, to be scrounged through for valuable parts and profit.

Hopefully Congress can help lead the way back through the work of this panel.

Congress Makes Historic Vote

Posted on October 24, 2015 by David Ripley

The U.S. House of Representatives again voted yesterday to defund Planned Parenthood. This is something like the fourth time the House has voted to cut funds this year. While previous efforts have foundered on the Democrat Abortion Phalanx in the Senate, this bill stands a very good chance of getting to President Obama’s desk.

The House passed HR 3762 by a vote of 240-189. One lone Democrat voted with Republicans to place a one-year moratorium on any federal funds going to Planned Parenthood. Both Idaho congressmen supported the measure, which could cost America’s leading abortion chain over $550 million in government funding.

What makes this effort unique is the parliamentary procedure being used. HR 3762 is positioned under the rules as a budget reconciliation measure; this means that Democrat cheerleaders of abortion in the Senate cannot hide behind the filibuster rules of the Senate to block a vote.

We are very hopeful that the Senate will consider the measure next week, which can be sent to Obama’s desk with a simple majority.

Of course, Obama will once again come through for his pals at Planned Parenthood.

But that doesn’t diminish the significance of what the Congress will have accomplished by the vote. The fact is, for the first time in history, a majority of both houses will have rejected the notion that Planned Parenthood is somehow entitled to public welfare; or that women’s health care needs can only be provided through a discredited abortion chain. That hasn’t happened in over forty years.

It seems that all we need is a modestly righteous occupant of the White House in 2017 to finally put an end to our sordid partnership with Planned Parenthood. The end of public funding for this organization will be a serious body blow to their operations.

Congress created this evil behemoth by allowing Planned Parenthood to mainline directly into the U.S. Treasury for massive, reliable funding year in and year out. And only Congress can end this evil arrangement.

New Abortion Industry Videos Emerge

Posted on October 23, 2015 by David Ripley

Despite the best efforts of federal courts and the Abortion Industry, free speech lives in America. More video files have emerged this week documenting the callous and unethical practices of Planned Parenthood and other abortionists. Among other horrible revelations, it is indisputable from the new videos that the Abortion Industry is profiting handsomely from the sale of baby organs and tissue.

Hours and hours of video tapes were reportedly recorded at a national convention of abortionists sponsored by the National Abortion Federation this past summer. Numerous conversations were recorded about baby parts trafficking. Realizing that the whole industry was about to be exposed, the organization sought a court order from a federal judge to prohibit the Center for Medical Progress from publicly releasing the recordings. And, despite the First Amendment, a federal judge has happily slapped a gag order on the Center for Medical Progress.

However, several committees in Congress have obtained copies of those video recordings. Someone on the staff apparently made those censored videos available to various websites. Now the public has a chance to witness how deeply integrated organ trafficking has become with the practice of abortion.

You can watch the new videos for yourself:

Hillary Joins Planned Parenthood Party

Posted on October 18, 2015 by David Ripley

Hillary Clinton was among those celebrating Planned Parenthood’s 99^th Birthday celebration this weekend. In comments tweeted from her account, Clinton wrote:

“On October 16, 1916, Planned Parenthood opened their first health center and changed life women in America. Here’s to the next 99 years!”

The disgusting trafficking in human baby organs and tissue has done nothing to diminish Clinton’s enthusiasm for the nation’s largest Abortion Factory. In fact, she seems to be going out of her way recently to demonstrate her fealty to the criminal enterprise.

Clinton is right about one thing, though: Planned Parenthood has had an undeniable impact on American society. The cost of that transformation has, indeed, been unimaginably huge.

As Planned Parenthood throws itself another birthday party, we can’t help but grieve for the millions of babies who have been denied birthday celebrations of their own.

Has It Come to This?

Posted on October 13, 2015 by David Ripley

The Abortion Lobby is apparently quite serious about its “seek and destroy” mission. They have now gotten the government of the State of California to force pro-Life pregnancy centers to explain to every woman and girl entering their facility that “California has public programs … [including] … abortion”.

In fact, there is not only a mandate to orally communicate that free abortions may be available – but the pregnancy centers are required to post a sign in their facilities with a government phone number. And just to be sure that vulnerable women are pushed into abortions, pro-Lifers are required now to hand out fliers with a full paragraph and contact information for abortion services.

Of course, Christians across the state are outraged that Gov. Jerry Brown actually signed AB 775 into law. It is truly hard to believe that even California liberals would demonstrate such contempt for the fundamental religious liberties of pro-Life Californians. But such is the growing totalitarian impulse which animates today’s liberal political community.

Lawsuits have already been filed on behalf of two pregnancy centers by The Pacific Justice Institute.

“Forcing a religious pro-Life charity to proclaim a pro-abortion declaration is on its face an egregious violation of both the free speech and free exercises clauses of the First Amendment,” said Brad Dacus, president of the Institute.

We will monitor the progress of these suits, as it will say much about just how much trouble America is in.

California Expands Death Culture

Posted on October 9, 2015 by David Ripley

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law this week which would allow physicians to assist patients in committing suicide. Under the guise of offering “compassion”, California will speed folks to premature death by calling it medical care.

The legislation was opposed by numerous churches and groups like Americans United for Life.

California is now the 5^th state to offer legalized suicide. It joins Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont at the forefront of the Culture of Death. The issue is also now raging in New Mexico.

Fortunately, Idaho defeated the Death Lobby when they tried making a similar run here several years ago. Through the work of Idaho Chooses Life, Idaho passed a law in 2007 making assisted suicide illegal in the Gem State.

That work is proving crucial to safeguarding the lives of the vulnerable, particularly young people.

Research has just been published in the Southern Medical Journal showing that laws like the one Brown signed have a substantial impact on the general culture and increased suicide rates. They found that overall suicide rates increased by as much as 12% in those states where the government legitimized premature death as an acceptable option.

Congress Authorizes Select Committee to Investigate Planned Parenthood

Posted on October 8, 2015 by David Ripley

The full House of Representatives approved a resolution yesterday, creating a special Select Committee to investigate numerous issues surrounding the harvesting and trafficking in organs and tissue from babies killed by abortion.

The committee will have special powers to subpoena witnesses and records under oath – similar to the panel investigating the Obama Administration’s failures in Benghazi. The measure was approved on a vote of 242-184. Idaho’s Congressmen Simpson and Labrador voted to empanel the special investigation.

The 13 member panel has been given the charge of looking into 6 broad issues highlighted by the horrific videos released over this summer and fall by the Center for Medical Progress:

The medical and business practices used by entities involved in fetal tissue procurement;
Any other issues related to fetal tissue procurement;
Federal funding issues related to abortion providers;
Practices of the abortion industry which may encourage late term abortions and partial birth abortion procedures in order to obtain tissue from born-alive infants;
Whether abortion providers are violating the Born Alive Infants Protection Act;
Issue recommendations regarding changes in law or regulation.

While the wheels of justice grind ever slowly, this is a major step forward in the battle to hold Planned Parenthood accountable. The mandate and authority of this panel is pretty broad, and should allow members to dig deeply into the web of evil which is Planned Parenthood.

One of the more critical issues facing the panel is how and why American taxpayers have become coerced partners of the Abortion Mafia.

Planned Parenthood has long contended, for instance, that it follows federal law with respect to keeping its massive public funding separate from funds it uses to pay for abortion. This is required by the Hyde Amendment.

However, just today, a former Planned Parenthood director, Sue Thayer, has issued testimony before a Congressional Committee arguing that Planned Parenthood regularly engages in Medicaid fraud by bill Medicaid for some of the services related to performing abortions.

Thayer served as a center business manager for Planned Parenthood in Iowa for 17 years. She told the committee:

“Because I had access to the billing system for the whole affiliate, I also know that Planned Parenthood would bill Medicaid for abortion-related services – ultrasounds, office visits, blood tests, medications, and other services that were part of an abortion.”

We had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Thayer this past winter when she came to Boise to testify in support of our legislation clamping down on Planned Parenthood’s use of RU-486 to perform chemical abortions. She is a soft-spoken woman demonstrating tremendous courage in going public about how Planned Parenthood actually operates.

For any member of Congress who isn’t owned by the Abortion Industry, her testimony about the flagrant abuse of taxpayer dollars should be enough to finally end our partnership with this criminal conspiracy.

The present move to defund Planned Parenthood is long overdue. While the energy for the effort stems largely from the horrific organ trafficking scandal – the truth is, there is a laundry list of abuses by Planned Parenthood, any one of which should be sufficient grounds to end their special taxpayer subsidies.

Life Chain a Great Success

Posted on October 5, 2015 by David Ripley

ICL Press Release; October 4, 2015

Hundreds of pro-Life citizens from across the Treasure Valley gathered this afternoon near the Boise Mall to pray for an end to abortion and to call upon government officials to end taxpayer involvement with Planned Parenthood.

“We’re gratified that so many people took time out on this beautiful Sunday afternoon to join us in defending babies and women threatened by abortion,” ICL Executive Director David Ripley said. “This 25^th anniversary of the Treasure Valley Life Chain comes at critical time in our nation’s history. The videos released over the summer and fall are like a mirror being held up to the nation. The horrible truth of what is happening to innocent babies on a daily basis is now revealed.

“We face a crucial question, one which can no longer be ignored: Is this the kind of people we wish to be? Trafficking in human baby organs and tissue for profit? Is this the kind of society we wish to bestow upon our children and grandchildren? I don’t believe that a majority of Idahoans, a majority of Americans, are prepared to accept this kind of barbarity as the new normal,” Ripley added.

“Idaho’s Congressional delegation has fought hard over the past several weeks to end taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood,” Ripley continued. “We are very grateful for their leadership. That effort must continue in Washington and in Boise until we completely sever our partnership with America’s largest abortion chain. Women deserve real health care, provided by professionals who are most concerned about their health and welfare – not some dark political agenda.”

The Treasure Valley Life Chain is part of a national effort held in conjunction with Sanctity of Life Sunday celebrations marked by many churches across the country. It is estimated that over 1500 Life Chains were held in American cities this afternoon. The first Life Chain in Boise was held back in 1990.

#30#

Historic Campaign for Life in Congress

Posted on September 30, 2015 by David Ripley

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.

The Peculiar Confession of Joe Biden

Posted on September 28, 2015 by David Ripley

Democrat Joe Biden conducted a media interview last week with Father Matt Malone in preparation of Pope Francis’ visit to the United States. During the course of their conversation, Vice President Biden confessed that he well understood life “begins at the moment of conception”.

For those of us who have followed Biden’s career in the U.S. Senate and as a central player in the most pro-abortion Administration in history – it was an extraordinary admission. Over the past couple of decades, Biden has morphed from reluctant abortion supporter to a loud proponent of abortion rights, while still claiming to be a faithful son of the Catholic Church. His statement came as something of a surprise, frankly.

So what are we to make of his confession?

On the one hand, it demonstrates that there is yet a flicker of conscience alive in the Vice President. He is able to still recognize the difference between right and wrong. That is an encouraging thing.

On the other hand, the fact that he can simultaneously understand that life begins at conception, while supporting the wanton destruction of millions of American babies each year is, to say the least, astonishing.

Father Malone pressed Biden on his apparent disobedience to Catholic teaching. Biden explained himself this way:

“I’m prepared to accept as a matter of faith, my wife and I, my family, the issue of abortion. But what I’m not prepared to do is to impose a rigid view, a precise view … rigid sounds pejorative … a precise view that is born out of my faith, on other people who are equally God-fearing, equally as committed to life, equally as committed to the sanctity of life.

“I’m prepare to accept that at the moment of conception there’s human life and being, but I’m not prepared to say that to other God-fearing, non-God-fearing people that have a different view.”

This explanation is essentially the alchemy first articulated by Mario Cuomo back in the 1980s. It allows people like Biden to live with themselves as “decent, God-fearing Christians”, while simultaneously promoting the destruction of millions. They can be “personally” opposed to abortion, while supporting its imposition on the nation. Folks like Biden can even go so far as to suggest that killing preborn children is “wrong”, but they won’t impose that view on others.

One wonders if Vice President Biden felt any discomfort as he sat behind Pope Francis last week in the House chamber, while the Pope made his oblique reference to abortion. One could guess not.

But the simple truth is that Biden’s paper-thin defense does not shield him from condemnation. Scripture makes it abundantly clear that we will be held accountable not for our ignorance, but for those matters of moral conscience which we understand. Biden’s succor of the Abortion Industry is akin to supporting slavery while refusing to own a black person personally; or helping to build the gas chambers while privately expressing disagreement with Nazi dogma that Jews aren’t really human beings.

The Vice President’s confession demonstrates that there is yet truth in him. We pray the Holy Spirit breathes upon that flicker so that it becomes a flame within him. There is still time for Biden to act.