Commentary

We have been informed that Idaho Planned Parenthood took advantage of the Martin Luther King Holiday to organize teenagers to lobby their legislators at the State Capitol on Monday. The call it “Teen Lobby Day”.

We don’t yet have information about how many legislators actually held meetings with these young people, but our understanding is that it was a pretty aggressive effort.

We’re more interested in the underlying moral and social questions associated with using minors to push Planned Parenthood’s perverse sexual agenda. Let’s start with the proposition that it is illegal for young people under the age of 17 to engage in sexual conduct; by legal definition and long-standing social custom, such persons are not capable of giving valid consent to sexual activity – even with a peer.

Yet Planned Parenthood would present these children as authorities to Idaho’s policy makers on matters of sexual behavior and its consequences. They advocate for access to free contraception, STD testing and abortion services.  At a most basic level, this is an outrageous abuse of these young people.

This is but a most recent example of the pernicious affect Planned Parenthood is having on our culture and the lives of our children. By manipulating teenagers into becoming their free lobbyists, they send a powerful message to young people across Idaho which demeans the law and moral standards: Planned Parenthood makes it clear that they think teenagers have every right to engage in sexual activity – indeed, that such behavior is “normal” and should be accepted as such even by the icons of our state government.

And, furthermore, Planned Parenthood demeans those teenagers by taking advantage of them to enculturate them into a dangerous lifestyle and ensnaring them in the work of a most evil organization. Looks like grooming and victimization to us.

And how ironic that Planned Parenthood should engage in such a shameful practice on the day set aside to mark King’s fight for a better social order.

Guest Opinion by Casey Mattox

There is a 48-year-old woman, born in Texas, who should be dead right now. In fact, she should have never been born. Forty-three years ago, the Supreme Court decided that the Texas law that prevented Jane Roe from ending the life of her unborn daughter was unconstitutional. But by the time the Supreme Court issued its decision in 1973, she had already been born and adopted by a family—likely not knowing that all that ink spilled in Roe v. Wade was about her.

Norma McCorvey was “Jane Roe.” She claimed then that her pregnancy was the result of a rape, although she became outspokenly pro-life and publicly admitted that this, and virtually every fact on which her case was built, was a lie. Both McCorvey and Sandra Cano, the Doe of Doe v. Bolton—Roe’s companion case from Georgia decided the same day—became outspoken pro-life advocates who swore that their cases were built on lies.

But before the Supreme Court could decide whether McCorvey did have a constitutional right to end her unborn daughter’s life, it had to overcome a procedural obstacle that slowed down the process—a delay that factored into whether her daughter would ever have a family.

Because of that delay, McCorvey had already had the child by the time the Supreme Court issued its decision in January 1973. She had been adopted into a Texas home, perhaps somewhere in the Dallas area where McCorvey lived. The court nevertheless said that McCorvey’s case was not moot since her circumstances were “capable of repetition” because courts would never be able to decide the question during the time of a woman’s pregnancy.

Procedural history is never the exciting part of a lawsuit. But for McCorvey’s unborn daughter, the dry complexity of legal procedure is the reason she exists today. Fortunately for a three-year old girl, “the wheels of justice grind slowly,” and by the time the court issued its decision, a Texas family had adopted her. If the courts could have moved more quickly, she (and her family) would have never had that chance.

It is unknown to me whether the adoptive family ever even knew that their daughter was the supposedly unwanted child who was the subject of Roe. As far as we know, they raised her not knowing who she was and certainly never telling her.

This week many are talking about the more than 60 million people whose lives have been brutally ended by abortion. And rightly so. The numbers are staggering. Imagine the average attendance at every NFL, NBA, and NHL game – gone. Eliminated. The population of the 18 states in the area from Arkansas and Wisconsin in the East to Idaho and Nevada in the west: gone. More than either the Hispanic or the African American population of the U.S.

It’s horrific. But it’s also personal. And today somewhere, maybe still in Texas, there lives a 48-year-old woman, perhaps with a family and a career of her own, with beautiful children that she loves dearly. Perhaps with a husband and family that can’t imagine life without her. The 58 million other babies deserved that same chance at life. Like McCorvey’s daughter, they were all created in the image of a loving God and would have been loved and wanted by someone. That’s why we fight. That’s #WhyWeMarch.

LifeNews Note:  Casey Mattox is an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom. Follow him on Twitter @CaseyMattox

Ever wonder what America can look like if we allow Planned Parenthood and the rest of the Radical Left to define our legal and cultural norms?

Our sophisticated friends in Canada are putting on just such a show for our educational benefit. The socialist Prime Minister has banned government funds going to any project or group which does not endorse his abortion-on-demand politics.  The particular flash point is a program which provides grants to various entities that offer summer youth jobs.  And this is likely only a pilot effort in a plan to leverage all government money to force ideological conformity.

Churches or private charities which hold or teach pro-Life values are no longer eligible to receive government grants for the jobs program.

After some push-back, Prime Minister Trudeau stood his ground this past week, declaring that “women’s reproductive rights [is] where we draw the line as a country”.

It is important to ponder that this move does not strictly involve pro-Life actions by grantees. Now, in order to participate in the program, these churches and charities must affirm that they, too, believe in a woman’s right to terminate her baby’s life in order to put kids to work in the summer.  It is a thought- police kind of action completely unrelated to the program itself.

Such totalitarian impulses have surfaced in America. Planned Parenthood has actually passed legislation in a couple of states requiring pro-Life pregnancy centers provide information about where women can abortions.  Even here in Idaho, Democrat legislators have publicly expressed the view that medical personnel should not be able to work in health care if they have objections to assisting with abortion or assisted suicide.

We may take comfort from the fact that we have greater personal liberties here in America because of the Constitution than our northern neighbors – but that would be a big mistake. Our educational system is depriving too many students of a proper understanding of the Constitution and our republican form of government.  Even our history.  Too many of those students go on to careers in the law or public service.  Those rights, bestowed upon us through tremendous sacrifice, are only as good as our ability and willingness to defend them.

President Trump was given Operation Rescue’s “Malachi Award” earlier this week for his leadership in moving the pro-Life agenda forward. The organization makes the award each year to the person they identify as making the greatest contribution to the cause.

“Since [President] Trump took office, he has accomplished more for the pro-Life agenda than any other president,” said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, in a press release.

The organization highlighted eight major accomplishments in Trump’s first year. Among them was the placement of Justice Neil Gorsuch on the nation’s high court.

Operation Rescue also commended the President for his decision to cut off funding for international abortion organizations and his support for the DOJ investigation into Planned Parenthood’s trafficking in aborted baby parts.

We’ve just heard news that a Planned Parenthood abortuary has closed in Iowa, after some twenty years of destroying countless lives. The move comes because the Iowa Legislature has redirected public health care dollars away from the nation’s largest abortion chain to bona fide health care providers.

This is just the latest in many pro-Life victories this year.

The assumption of the presidency by Donald Trump leads the list. Not only is he on pace to become the greatest pro-Life president in history – we must always judge his actions and leadership in the context of what might have been: President Hillary Clinton.

Our president has made substantial gains in defending Life: He has ended taxpayer funding for international abortions. He has created a policy at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services which officially acknowledges that human life begins at conception.

President Trump, in cooperation with the Republican Congress, has repealed the mandate forcing Americans to purchase health insurance – with its many Planned Parenthood subsidies.

We have also seen the President restore religious liberty protections by revising the rules imposed by Obama on private employers to pay for abortion causing drugs.

And toward the top of our gratitude list has to be the appointment and confirmation of conservative federal judges, which ought to provide some living space for conservative causes – most importantly, the pro-Life cause – for years to come.

There is much reason to give thanks to a Creator who still intervenes in the affairs of mankind.

With that grateful heart, we pray the Lord richly blesses you and your family in 2018. And may He lead us to even greater pro-Life victories in the year ahead.  It promises to be among the most challenging we have ever faced.

There is no more “pro-Life” event than the celebration of the Lord’s birth.  It is important, as we finish plans for presents and meals and visits, that we are celebrating the most mysterious and momentous event in world history.  The Creator of the Universe humbled himself to become man.  That humility is highlighted by the lowly station He assumed as He shed His glory to become a helpless newborn.  Born in a stable, straw in His crib.  At that moment Jesus became every man.  And it is so important to appreciate that He also became every precious baby.  He did not become the Savior at his birth… but became the Son of Man at His holy conception.

The heart of the pro-Life movement is a fight to honor that seminal moment in human history.  That precious baby Jesus is the reason for the season.  And He is the true energy and power behind the pro-Life movement. Hallelujah!

We pray that the Lord of the Universe richly blesses you and your family this Christmas Season.  We hope that your singing, and feasting and gift-giving and fellowship is full of His love.

And we want you to know how grateful we are that you are partnered with us in this great cause.  Thank you.  And Merry Christmas!

We are thrilled to report that the annual ICL Christmas Dinner & Auction was the best yet. We were blessed with a full room, terrific auction items and a host of wonderful volunteers who made this event truly special.

State Treasurer Ron Crane provided a powerful address to the crowd about his life-long commitment to the values which brought everyone together. And it was heartwarming to see so many of his family in attendance as he was honored for his leadership on pro-Life issues.

We were also blessed to have KIDO’s Kevin Miller serve as the Master of Ceremonies for the event. It is awesome to see Kevin outside the studio and fighting for the values which make him a statewide treasure.

To make the evening even more special, folks were graced by the beautiful voice of Christian recording artist Jaime Thietten. She performed a number of pieces from her new Christmas album and it helped set the mood for this wonderful Christmas Season.

Pro-Life patriots in the room had a chance to meet all three of the GOP candidates running for governor, and it was an honor to have congressional candidates Russ Fulcher and Michael Snyder host tables at the event. Former Lt. Governor Dave LeRoy was also there.  And two of the candidates for Lt. Governor in next year’s GOP Primary – Steve Yates and Rep. Bob Nonini – helped support the dinner and spent the evening meeting pro-Lifers from across the Treasure Valley.

This event involves a lot of hard work by a lot of people – but it is always a special evening. It helps to bring into focus the heartbeat of the Christmas Season.

Thanks again to everyone who came, the candidates and officials who honored the pro-Life movement and the folks who generously support this work.