Commentary

The Idaho House voted 55-14 to approve HB 154, legislation we brought forward with Right to Life to ban “tele-med” abortions in Idaho. The legislation also includes several specific safety measures regarding the dispensation of RU-486.

Chemical abortions have become an increasing problem for Idaho, with about 40% of Idaho babies now being destroyed with deadly drugs which deprive the baby of food, water and oxygen in the early stages of a pregnancy. And those numbers are expected to climb as Planned Parenthood continues to seek ways to expand the envelope of its operations, operating well beyond the scope of FDA regulations governing the use of RU-486.

Planned Parenthood operatives across the nation are engaged in a highly sophisticated campaign to not only “normalize” RU-486 by calling it “medication” – but to expand its use. They see it as a cheap way to expand access to abortion and are happy to cut as many corners as possible to achieve that goal.

Democrats on the House floor unanimously opposed the legislation, arguing that it had nothing to do with protecting a woman’s health.

They remain willfully incognizant of the dangers posed to women by the abuse of RU-486. In the name of a woman’s “right to choose”, they seem quite willing to look the other way as women and girls suffer emotional and physical damage.

Fortunately, Planned Parenthood is running into strong opposition from the mainstream medical community. 

After conducting wide scale experiments on women and girls in Iowa, medical professionals asked the Iowa Board of Medicine to review Planned Parenthood’s “tele-med” abortion program in that state. In a highly unusual action, the Board voted 8-2 to ban the procedure outright in Iowa. Planned Parenthood is, of course, challenging that ruling in court. 

18 states now prohibit the Planned Parenthood “remote control” abortion program, with Idaho on the way to becoming the next.

HB154 now heads to the Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee for a hearing.

Following the House hearing on our legislation to regulate chemical abortions in Idaho, headlines went out across America that a legislator on the panel needed instruction about female anatomy from a witness for Planned Parenthood. Ridicule ensued.

This became the public narrative of the 3-hour hearing – not the demeaning and sleazy practices of Planned Parenthood in treating sometimes-desperate women and girls who come to them for help.

Rep. Vito Barbieri certainly did not need lessons in biology from the witness. What he needed, what he was after, was an admission that killing a preborn child was not in any way similar to the various “tele-med” procedures the witness described to the panel in dismissing our concerns.

The witness evaded Rep. Barbieri’s question by offering a sarcastic response.

And suddenly the Left had the narrative they were after: A story largely concocted by the liberal feminists covering Idaho politics and driven by their desire to protect the Abortion Industry at all costs.

These activist-reporters do not want you to know what we learned in the hearing: That RU-486 kills the baby in the first stages of life by depriving it of food, water and oxygen.

These “news” outlets do not want you to know that women have died at the hands of abortionists who refuse to follow the protocols established by the FDA because they might be inconvenient or more expensive.

And they don’t want your neighbors to learn that many women and girls suffer profound trauma when they find their dead baby on the bathroom floor after being told that the life growing inside them was not really human, not really a baby.  It is so much better to distract readers by creating a narrative which allows them to bully righteous legislators like Rep. Barbieri into silence. Their story carries a warning to other leaders: mess with the Abortion Industry at your own peril.

The battle with Planned Parenthood and its allies in the state media is nasty business. We ask for your prayers on behalf of those courageous leaders, like Vito Barbieri, who choose to use their public office to defend the innocent.

The Idaho House State Affairs Committee voted overwhelmingly to place common-sense restrictions on the Abortion Industry when dispensing chemicals like RU-486.

 Planned Parenthood and friends like the League of Women Voters fought hard to persuade legislators that women and girls don’t need to be protected from substandard medical care – but they rebuffed.

Legislators heard from people like Ms. Susan Thayer, a woman who worked as a Clinic Director for Planned Parenthood in Iowa. She was fired by Planned Parenthood after she raised concerns about their plan to turn every one of their killing centers into a “webcam” abortion facility:

“For Planned Parenthood, it was a solution to the shortage of doctors willing to travel the state doing surgical abortions,” Ms. Thayer told legislators on Monday. “With no doctor, nurse or any medical staff on site, transvaginal ultrasounds are done by entry-level and non-medical staff.”

Thayer testified that “tele-med” abortions are a big money maker for Planned Parenthood because of the minimal overhead in pushing women and girls through the turnstyle.

That is the kind of shabby treatment of women we are fighting to outlaw here in Idaho. What is convenient and profitable for Planned Parenthood is not necessarily good for women and girls. 

After extensive investigations, the Iowa Board of Medicine determined that Planned Parenthood’s “remote control” abortion system in that state should be stopped because it is “unsafe” for their female clientele.

The legislation now awaits action by the full House of Representatives.

Democrat Congressman Tim Ryan (Ohio) publicly announced this week that he is “repenting” of his former pro-Life views to embrace a woman’s right to kill her own baby. At one time, this man served on the Board of Democrats for Life; but he has not cast a single pro-Life vote since 2009.

In blog postings, Ryan claims that his reversal on the fundamental question of our time was brought about by conversations with women who had chosen abortion: “These women gave me a better understanding of how complex and difficult certain situations can become. And while there are people of good conscience on both sides of this argument, one thing has become abundantly clear to me – the heavy hand of government must not make this decision for women and families.”

Pro-Life leaders in Ohio have a slightly different view of Ryan’s flip-flop. They believe he is preparing to challenge Republican Senator Rob Portman. To mount such challenge, he will need the backing of the Washington, D.C. power brokers. That means being a loyal soldier for the Death Merchants at Planned Parenthood and the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee. 

Such bold self-seeking is nothing new for politicians, of course. Remember the sickening display by former Florida governor Charlie Crist?

And what of Democrat ‘leader’ Harry Reid? As a member of the LDS Church, Reid has often claimed that he is “pro-Life”. Yet he is now busily raising money for his leadership PAC with a letter describing Congressman Franks’ legislation to ban abortions after 20 weeks “our worst nightmare”.

He declares Trent Franks to be a “Republican extremist”, and his late term abortion ban as nothing more than “an attack on life-saving women’s care”. (Don’t try confusing Reid with the fact that Frank’s legislation includes exceptions to save a mother’s life if threatened by a pregnancy).

What is on national display is not just a callous disregard for the most vulnerable among us. We are looking at shameless, self-centered people clawing for power and personal prestige – without a care in the world for the lives they would gladly forfeit in exchange. It is truly revolting.

Today marks the 42^nd anniversary of legalized abortion in the United States, following an edict by a Supreme Court corrupted by a “progressive” ideology. So how much progress have we made over the last generation?

The closest “official” toll of destroyed lives comes from the Guttmacher Institute – an arm of Planned Parenthood. They report annual figures which the government is too lazy or embarrassed to collect. Based upon the Abortion Industry’s numbers, 57,762,169 babies have been destroyed in the womb.

All those commas add up to something close to 58 million deaths.

But that staggering figure grossly underestimates the piles and mounds of the dead. It does not include the millions destroyed via chemicals – like RU-486 or the “Morning After Pill” or Ella. The truth is, we don’t know really know how many lives have been snuffed out in the Roe era.   Only the Maker of mankind has a true count, and you may be sure that He knows the name and promise of each one of those little ones.

You may also be sure that a reckoning will come for this nation. In fact, there are signs all around us of God’s increasing judgment stemming from this great national sin.

It would take a large book to catalog the entire price tag we are paying to support abortion. But we’ll take a moment to consider some of the more obvious ones 

America is experiencing a declining economic strength, based upon an aging population and smaller workforce. We are witnessing the destruction of the nuclear family and catastrophic divorce rates. We are seeing a clergy compromised by accommodations with abortion. And we are being ruled by a class of national political leaders with considerably less stature and wisdom than in previous generations.

But it is the pain of abortion on an individual, personal basis which is the hardest to measure or even fully discuss: The women who spend a lifetime trying to convince themselves that the grief is not real; the children who will know no siblings. The men who have been deprived of fatherhood. And what of the elderly with homes empty of grandchildren?

Yes, there is much to ponder and weep over as we pass yet another mile marker.

May God bring us to repentance.

 The story of Martin Pistorious is not particularly miraculous, but it carries profound warnings for a society moving so quickly to dispatch people at the first signs of serious trouble. As a young boy, Martin suffered from an attack of meningitis. Doctors declared that he had become a “vegetable” based upon his inability to speak, make eye contact or otherwise move. He slipped into a coma. They sent him home to die. 

But for 12 years, he refused to die.

His parents cared for him, despite the apparent lack of progress. His father would bathe him and bring him to a care center during the day while he worked. The nurses at the facility would sit him in front of a VCR to watch an endless loop of Barney episodes.

The problem was that Martin was totally aware of his surroundings – but unable to do anything about it.

“After two years, I began to wake up. I was aware of everything, just like any normal person. Everyone was so used to me not being there that they didn’t notice when I began to be present again. The stark reality hit me that I was going to spend the rest of my life like that – totally alone.”

Martin is now 39 years old and married. 

What if some compassionate person had decided to simply starve this poor young boy to death? Can you imagine how miserable and painful that would have been? Could it be denied that, if things had taken such a course, young Martin would have been miserably murdered?

Nor is Martin’s case singular.

Kate Allat, a young mother of 39, suffered a stroke and fell into a coma. For ten days she was unable to communicate, move or even breathe on her own. But she was aware. Painfully aware that she would be unable to defend herself should some Samaritan decide to “relieve her suffering” by taking her off life support systems.

Such stories ought to inspire us all – particularly those in the medical professions and positions of power – to a place of humility. It is strikingly obvious that there is much we don’t understand about the human brain, about life itself. From a place of humility and respect for life, we should turn away from the drive to so casually discard people who need care.

The plight of modern Japan is a very sad spectacle. Each year the country gentrifies as it blindly pursues a path of rampant materialism. While their historical values are not Christian, they are venerable. Those values produced one of the greatest civilizations in history, being built around family. Today, those values have largely been abandoned as the nation continues to destroy its own future through abortion.

Japan was the first nation on earth to have more citizens over the age of 65 than under 15. And that was a quarter of a century ago. Data suggests that Japanese people are not only avoiding children through rampant abortion rates, they are now avoiding marriage as well.

In recent days, stories have appeared regarding strategies of major firms in Japan seeking to build a robotic society which helps compensate for the workers which have been destroyed in the womb. Stories abound of women and the elderly seeking emotional comfort from inanimate dolls, pets and computers.  (Sound at all familiar?) 

This week a story appeared in the Washington Post (of all papers), suggesting the possibility that Japan may consider a national ban on abortion as a strategy for obtaining a viable future. In fact, a Japanese legislator suggested this obvious notion two years ago, with little response. According to a report on Breitbart, there is virtually no pro-Life movement in the nation.

While there seems small reason for predicting a spiritual awakening in Japan, perhaps the sheer weight of a dismal economic future may lead that nation to re-evaluate the value of human life.

The picture of a noble society destroying itself is not pretty. But it should stand as a warning to other peoples around the world – particularly America. We are, after all, not far behind them on the death spiral.

Former Democratic governor Mario Cuomo passed away yesterday to meet the Great Theologian. Cuomo’s vaunted rhetorical skills probably won’t do him much good as he sits for a heavenly discussion over his role in legitimizing the slaughter of the innocents.

Undoubtedly his most significant historical and spiritual contribution to American culture, Gov. Cuomo launched a full-throated defense of a new theology in his 1984 address to students and faculty at Notre Dame University. In his Democrat Encyclical on Abortion, Cuomo laid claim to being a faithful Catholic while simultaneously being at war with Christianity over the matter of killing preborn children. He asserted for himself a moral ground in which he could personally be uncomfortable with abortion, while using his public power to defend the “right” of women to kill their own children in the womb.

His was a spellbinding speech that provided lesser Democrat politicians with the rhetoric necessary to support abortion rights while purporting to be decent, moral persons. It was a watershed moment for the Democrat Party and the nation. No longer did the likes of Ted Kennedy have to squirm around the need to maintain ties with progressives while claiming to be Christian.

He provided the intellectual framework which allowed the Democrat Party to become the pro-abortion institution it is today.

At the time, his challenge to the orthodoxy of Christian faith produced loud rumblings of disagreement from Catholic leadership. Cardinal John O’Connor reportedly considered ex-communicating the politician for his bold leadership in legitimizing abortion. But the decision was made to accommodate Cuomo and others like him – a political decision by the Catholic Church which is broadly applied to renegade public figures to this day.

Thinking about the death of Mario Cuomo, one wonders where the course of his own life – both here and eternally – and America’s embrace of abortion may have gone if Cardinal O’Connor and the Catholic Church had responded to Cuomo differently.

Christmas is a time of miracles. It is a time for celebrating God’s merciful intervention on behalf of men. No mortal could envision the impact this tiny baby would have upon the future of mankind when a sojourning couple sought shelter in a barn. Yet this vulnerable new life would grow to become the Captain of the Heavenly Host, the enduring Hope of mankind. 

How magically appropriate that the true hope of the pro-Life movement should come in the form of a humble newborn wrapped in swaddling clothes. Through the power of that love the pro-Life movement will persevere. And what is more, the pro-Life movement will prevail.

May the Lord richly bless your family with His presence as you celebrate the Miracle of Christ.  And let us all take a moment to pray for the smaller miracles of Heaven, huddling against the cold in a mother’s womb, hoping for their chance at life against the pervasive threat of abortion.  May the Lord touch their mothers’ heart to say YES, as Mary did many generations ago.

75 members of Congress issued a letter to the Obama Administration this week, urging the Department of Health & Human Services to quit playing games with consumers and taxpayers over abortion coverage in ObamaCare policies.

Led by Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), members of the U.S. House urged Secretary Sylvia Burwell to rewrite her proposed rule on “Benefit & Payment Parameters for 2016”. He was joined by Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona, our guest speaker at this year’s Christmas Dinner.

In a press release, Rep. Smith said,

“The Obama Administration’s cover up of abortion insurance plans on the exchange is unnecessary, unacceptable and absolutely unconscionable….President Obama’s solemn promise to not fund abortion continues to be broken with impunity. For 2014, the GAO found that over 1000 ObamaCare plans included coverage for abortion on demand. Research by ObamaCareAbortion.com has found that for 2015, abortion coverage continues, and once again, health consumers are left almost clueless as to which plans fund abortion on demand and which do not.”

Readers will quickly recognize that this is not the only example of Obama’s cavalier attitude toward the law; but it is among the most egregious. His stubborn actions compromise the moral integrity of millions of American taxpayers by implicating us in the slaughter of the innocent. And it is particularly outrageous given the many promises he made back in 2010 to get his scandalous overhaul of America’s health care system through the Democrat Congress.

Perhaps the new Congress will find the strategy to force Obama into complying with well-established restrictions on taxpayer-funded abortion.

Idaho’s two congressmen were not signatories to the letter.