Pro-Life Candidate Survey Program Designed to Nail Down Politicians

Transcription

1 LifeLine Spring Spring 2016 Newsletter of the National Pro-Life Alliance Pro-Life Candidate Survey Program Designed to Nail Down Politicians NPLA Members Pour on the Heat on Candidates Who Try to Duck Pro-Life Issue With national attention focused on the Presidential primaries, the fact of the matter is that the President s current job rating and Hillary Clinton s strong negative rating mean there is a decent chance that a pro-life Republican will replace Obama. A change in the White House would open up the opportunity for an all-out attack to repeal not only taxpayer funding of abortion, but even the underlying judicial holdings that sustain abortion-ondemand itself. However that can only happen if prolifers pick up active pro-life support in Congress, particularly in the Senate where a slim pro-life majority hangs in the balance and pro-abortion Senators impede pro-life bills through the threat of filibuster. National Pro-Life Alliance members are in the forefront of the battle to end Roe v. Wade by urging every candidate to publicly support the Life at Conception Act before he or she is safely in office. NPLA Lobbies Candidates for Congress While They Are Seeking Votes That s why the National Pro-Life Alliance is in full swing with its 2016 Pro-Life Congressional Candidate Survey and Mobilization Program. Heeding the priorities of NPLA members, the National Pro-Life Alliance will continue to put its major focus on both building pro-life support in Congress for passing a Life at Conception Act and ending taxpayer funding of abortion. NPLA will do this by lobbying not only the incumbents -- but most importantly their election year challengers -- to take a strong pro-life position. In fact, this campaign to mobilize member pressure on Congressional candidates is well underway in the 31 states whose Congressional filing deadlines have passed. And it has already paid pro-life dividends in dozens of races. Between now and the November general elections, the National Pro-Life Alliance will be putting every candidate in every U.S. Senate and House primary on the record on ten specific pro-life proposals, such as the Life at Conception Act, the Parental Notification and Intervention Act and taxpayer funding of abortion. NPLA Member Action Puts Politicians on Record State by State At the same time, National Pro-Life Alliance members receive a complete list of Congressional candidates in their state, along with postcards for them to fill out to lobby their candidates. The postcards urge them to return their candidate surveys and pledge 100% See Questionnaire Puts Candidates on Record... page 2

2 NPLA Questionnaire Puts Candidates on Record Before They Face the Voters... continued from page 1 support for the unborn. National Pro-Life Alliance Executive Director Jenni Harris encourages NPLA members to take action when they receive their postcards and candidate list that will be sent prior to each primary. It will give NPLA members the opportunity to insist their candidates come out 100% pro-life. The fact is that candidates are much more responsive to pro-life pressure when they re looking for votes than after they are safely in office. Pro-Life Candidate Survey and Member Lobbying Means Pro-Life Success When flooded with postcards from NPLA members who are also voters, each politician is faced with a stark choice: stop the dodging and come out against abortion-on-demand or pay the political consequences. In the last election, at the culmination of its Pro-Life Candidate Survey program, NPLA produced a series of targeted survey results mailings into target states and Congressional Districts. As a result, NPLA members and other pro-lifers played a major role in the 2014 election of 28 new Life at Conception Act pledged supporters to the United States House of Representatives. This includes Congressman Alex Mooney of West Virginia who took the reins in the pro-life movement and became the primary House Sponsor of the Life at Conception Act in the 114th Congress. Member Pressure Is Critical for Pro-Life Senate Majority In the Senate, 2014 voters, informed and mobilized by the NPLA survey program, voted in eight new pro-life Senators, giving the Senate a long awaited pro-life majority. However, while there is a chance to pick up some Senate seats this election year, there is also a real danger of losing the pro-life majority. To maintain and build on the majority, NPLA s Executive Director Harris is especially urging members in 2016 to focus their pressure on swing U.S. Senate elections. Harris believes that pro-lifers are in an excellent position to pick up new pro-life Senators in Colorado, Nevada, and Florida. NPLA to Increase Budget for Pro-Life Mobilization With high stakes for the unborn hanging on the outcome of the Senate elections, the National Pro-Life Alliance has already increased its survey and citizen mobilization program budget and aims to spend as much as $1.2 million to pressure House and Senate candidates to commit to a pro-life platform or pay the political price. All told, 23 self-described pro-life Senate seats will be up for reelection in 2016, and NPLA mailings are targeting two swing pro-abortion seats. NPLA members are waging a promising battle in Colorado where proabortion Senator Michael Bennet is facing fierce opposition from pro-life voters. And in Nevada, staunchly pro-abortion Senator Harry Reid, who has rammed his pro-abortion agenda in the Senate for decades, is retiring rather than facing the wrath of angry pro-life voters. NPLA Congressional Victories Pay Off with New Cosponsors of Life at Conception Act Political fortunes may wax and wane in Congress, but the number of pro-life Congressmen signing on as cosponsors for the Life at Conception Act is steadily building and pro-life support has reached an all-time record in both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Pro-life Senators Mike Rounds (SD) and David Perdue (GA) benefited from NPLA member mobilization efforts in the last election. Both came from behind to defeat frontrunners, who ignored the Life at Conception Act, supported taxpayer funding of abortion, and were soundly defeated. In fact, pro-abortion candidates have much to fear from the grass-roots tidal wave of pro-life postcard mailings which proved to turn the tide in targeted 2014 elections. See Strong Pro-Life Position on NPLA Survey Is Good Politics... page 3 2 Newsletter of the National Pro-Life Alliance / Spring 2016

3 Strong Pro-Life Position on NPLA Candidate Survey Is Both Good Politics and Good Policy... continued from page 2 In the 2014 elections, pro-life candidates who publicly pledged to cosponsor the Life at Conception Act were elected in 66 of the 71 targeted races, yielding a 93% success rate. NPLA Candidate Survey Program Key to 2014 Victories For example, in Georgia, pro-abortion candidate Michelle Nunn led in virtually every poll just two weeks before election day in the Senate race. After the last three NPLA member mailings, pledged Life at Conception Act cosponsor David Perdue leaped ahead and trounced Michelle Nunn 53% 45% to win the Senate seat. And in South Dakota, pro-abortion candidate Larry Pressler looked unbeatable until NPLA, in a late September surge, mailed over 10,000 pro-life households a total of four times to alert the voters to Pressler s true pro-abortion position. Pro-life candidate Mike Rounds, another pledged Life at Conception Act cosponsor, won the lead in a hotly contested three way contest. NPLA Member Pressure Key to Keeping Life at Conception Act a Top Campaign Issue Given the political power of the prolife issue, Executive Director Jenni Harris has made NPLA s Pro-Life Candidate Survey Program and the Alliance s Political Action Committee top priorities in this crossroads election year. By continuing to crank up the heat when we re so close to winning real protection for the unborn in Congress, said Harris, pro-lifers can reap the fruits of many years of sacrificial labor. ª NPLA Members Push for Recorded Vote on Life at Conception Act Election Season Provides Perfect Opportunity to Strike While Iron Is Hot As readers of LifeLine know, the National Pro-Life Alliance has always been in the forefront of the grass-roots movement to legislatively establish that life begins at the moment of conception and thereby overturn Roe v. Wade. The Life at Conception Act, sponsored in this Congress by Senator Rand Paul (KY) and Congressman Alex Mooney (WV), would accomplish exactly that. The fact is, the 14th Amendment couldn t be clearer:... nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law. Furthermore, the 14th Amendment says: Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Supreme Court s Own Words Become Foundation to Legislatively Overturn Roe v. Wade By legislatively establishing the personhood of the unborn, the Life at Conception Act turns the Roe v. Wade decision against itself. As Justice Blackmun stated in writing the Roe v. Wade decision, If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant s case, [i.e. Roe who sought an abortion] of course, collapses, for the fetus right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment... Life at Conception Act Vote Would Expose Pro-Life Imposters Before Elections Now with elections approaching, National Pro-Life Alliance members are pushing for a recorded vote to clearly expose who is pro-life and who is a wolf in sheep s clothing to concerned voters. And the best tool to convince Congressional Republican Majority leadership to schedule a vote on the Life at Conception Act, says National Pro-Life See Life at Conception Act Uses Supreme Court s Own Words... page 4 The Life at Conception Act would legislatively overturn Roe v. Wade, ultimately saving millions of unborn babies from brutal deaths by abortionists. Spring 2016 / Newsletter of the National Pro-Life Alliance 3

4 Life at Conception Act Uses Supreme Court s Own Words to Overturn Roe v. Wade... continued from page 3 Alliance President Martin Fox, is to have an overwhelming number of cosponsors. NPLA Members Smash Cosponsor Goal In order to get leadership s attention, the National Pro-Life Alliance earlier this year organized a nationwide cosponsor blitz with a goal of bringing the total number of cosponsors in the House and Senate to as many as one hundred forty-five. So by mail, , social media, advertisements and member referrals, NPLA members generated a massive outpouring of grass-roots support for the Life at Conception Act resulting in the delivery of literally tens of thousands of postcards, letters, petitions and s to Members of Congress. When the dust settled, NPLA members had far overshot the cosponsor blitz s goal, bringing the new total to one hundred fifty-three. Senator Rand Paul (KY), leading the battle in the Senate for a Life at Conception Act, is working with NPLA members and staff to push for a vote on the bill. Challenges From Candidates Who Support the Life at Conception Act Buck Up Wavering Incumbents According to Fox, Repeatedly, incumbents feel the heat when faced with challengers who support the Life at Conception Act. National Pro-Life Alliance members have already sent tens of thousands of postcards to candidates for Congress urging them to pledge to support the Life at Conception Act on NPLA s Pro-Life Candidate Survey. And many of the new cosponsors this year came from incumbents facing a prolife challenger in their Republican primary. Tidal Waves of Petitions Yield Results In addition to waves of postcards to candidates, NPLA members have flooded Congressional offices with hundreds of thousands of petitions urging them to support the Life at Conception Act. Fox says, You can see our members huge impact when, at the end of a presentation explaining the Life at Conception Act, we pile their stacks of petitions on the table. Congressmen are stunned by the stacks and stacks of support members have generated. Elections Certain to Bring Even More Support Now President Fox predicts that the pressure will continue to grow as elections approach. In early March, NPLA members saw an example of their influence in a special election primary held last month in Ohio s Eighth Congressional District. In this strong Republican District, fifteen Republicans vied to fill the early vacancy left by the resignation of former House Speaker John Boehner. But only one of the frontrunners, Warren Davidson, had publicly pledged to cosponsor the Life at Conception Act on the NPLA Pro-Life Candidate Survey. Then, as the special election approached, National Pro-Life Alliance did a series of mobilization letters, e- mails, and phone calls to 12,800 pro-life house-holds in the district laying out the difference between the candidates. In a significant pro-life victory, informed Ohio voters chose Warren Davidson as their Republican nominee. NPLA Pushing for a Recorded Vote on the Life at Conception Act With the constant growth in public and Congressional support, Fox is urging a recorded vote on the Life at Conception Act. Fox is encouraging members to contact their Congressman and Senators to urge a vote on the Life at Conception Act before the 2016 elections. ª 4 Newsletter of the National Pro-Life Alliance / Spring 2016

5 NPLA Pushes for Senate Vote to End Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Grass-Roots Pressure Continues to Build Following successful passage of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act in the House of Representatives, the National Pro-Life Alliance has ramped up pressure for a recorded vote in the Senate that would put every U.S. Senator on record in this crucial election year. But the stalling tactics and filibuster threat of the radical pro-abortion minority have thus far prevented new Senate action on the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (S. 582). That s why members of the National Pro-Life Alliance continue to build pressure at both the state and federal level to terminate tax funding of all abortion providers. Rather than passively wait for the Senate to act, National Pro-Life Alliance members have been building momentum to end taxpayer funding of abortion in their state legislatures. According to NPLA President Martin Fox, The U.S. Senate should take a lesson from state legislatures, which have been cutting taxpayer funding of abortion providers at an accelerating rate over the past months. NPLA Members Celebrate State Legislative Victories Slashing Abortion Funding the swelling ranks of states that have severed government subsidies to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. NPLA Pursues Multi-Prong Battle to Shut Off Taxpayer Pipeline Funding Abortion Mills Yet even with recent victories on the state level, the top priority for the National Pro-Life Alliance continues to be passage of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. This bill, sponsored by Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), would end all federal funding to any abortion provider -- both dollars used directly for abortion and indirectly to pay for abortion providers overhead. Grass-roots pressure by NPLA members and other pro-lifers through s, letters, and petitions successfully pushed the bill through the House of Representatives earlier this Congress. Now through a nationwide, grass-roots petition blitz, NPLA members are pressuring their Senators and Senate leadership for a recorded vote -- putting every Senator on record for or against taxpayer funding for abortion providers. The National Pro-Life Alliance is also making full use of another important source of pressure on the politicians this year -- the 2016 election. Politicians Feel Election Year Heat to Vote to End Tax Dollars to Abortion Providers In each state s primary, NPLA members are lobbying their candidates for Congress to make a firm public commitment on the Pro-Life Candidate Survey in favor of ending all taxpayer funding for abortion. In that way NPLA s candidate survey program uses political pressure from campaign challengers to buck up the prolife positions of vacillating incumbents. Yet as the political pressure grows, it is See ALL Tax Dollars to Planned Parenthood Ultimately Fund Abortion... page 6 Most recently in March, NPLA members and other pro-lifers helped pass a bill in the Florida state legislature to cut all taxpayer funding to all clinics that perform abortions. It also blocked Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. And since the last issue of LifeLine, state legislatures in Ohio and Wisconsin have also cut funds to Planned Parenthood, slashing millions of dollars of taxpayer funding for the abortion giant. Bills to defund abortion providers may soon add Arizona, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania to Lisa Benson Editorial Cartoon used with the permission of Lisa Benson, the Washington Post Writers Group and the Cartoonist. All rights reserved. State legislatures have been cutting taxpayer funding of abortion, as has the House of Representatives, and it is high time for the Senate to do so. Spring 2016 / Newsletter of the National Pro-Life Alliance 5

6 ALL Tax Dollars to Planned Parenthood Ultimately Fund Abortion...continued from page 5 no surprise to find politicians seeking ways to merely appear to support ending tax dollars for abortion. NPLA Pushes for Senator Wicker s Bill as the Most Effective Way to End Abortionists Gravy Train In the Senate, NPLA is fighting for Senator Wicker s No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act which would cut off all tax dollars to abortion providers, no matter how they claim they will use it. Without this clear language abortion providers are experienced in getting around the prohibition on tax dollars being used to directly provide abortions. One common way is to simply misrepresent how the tax money is spent. Just last month, the Nebraska State Auditor found that Planned Parenthood of the Heartland illegally used tax dollars from a family planning program by submitting miscoded reports. Another common subterfuge is to use the tax dollars to pay the abortion clinic s light bill, rent, salaries and overhead. By ending all tax dollars for all facilities that provide abortions, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act would end these deceptions. Planned Parenthood alone has strongarmed Congress into increasing their taxpayer subsidy by 58% over the past seven years, raising the total amount they have leeched from the government dole to nearly eight billion dollars. NPLA President Fox Urges Members to Hold Politicians Accountable During just the past ten years, their campaign contributions to pro-abortion politicians has rocketed 560%. With huge pressure to reduce federal spending, Fox is calling on members to double down the pressure and strike while the iron is hot. Fox is urging members to contact their Senators at and encourage them to cosponsor S. 582, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. ª NPLA Bill Would End Judicial Tyranny that Keeps Abortion-on-Demand Afloat Sanctity of Life Act Would Strip Federal Court Jurisdiction Over Abortion Should federal judges be allowed to force nuns, like the Little Sisters of the Poor, to pay for abortion drugs? Should federal courts create special protections for abortion mills to make them untouchable by state law? Both in public opinion polls and at the voting booth, Americans have overwhelmingly said of course not! Yet activist, pro-abortion judges continue to support abortion-on-demand policies. That s why Congressman Walter Jones has introduced the Sanctity of Life Act (H.R. 2761) into the 114th Congress to combat judicial tyranny and end abortionon-demand. While federal courts are notorious for striking down pro-life legislation, this bill would establish that both state and national government have the authority to protect lives of unborn children. As National Pro-Life Alliance President Martin Fox points out, unelected federal judges have struck down scores of popular attempts to protect unborn life for over 40 years, and continue to do so. Enter the Sanctity of Life Act, which would prohibit any judicial review by the Supreme Court or lower federal courts of state or federal laws which regulate or prohibit abortion, abortion providers, or tax-funding of abortion. President Fox declared, Congress has always had the constitutional authority to Pro-abortion federal judges are forcing the Little Sisters of the Poor to pay for abortion coverage. See Sanctity of Life Act Would Halt Judicial Dictatorship... page 7 6 Newsletter of the National Pro-Life Alliance / Spring 2016

7 Sanctity of Life Act Would Halt Judicial Dictatorship...continued from page 6 halt pro-abortion judicial activism, and the time to act is now. Congress Holds Authority to Check an Activist, Pro- Abortion Judiciary The basis for this authority is found in Article III, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which states: The Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as Congress shall make. Clearly, this allows for Congress to limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as it deems fit. And where the lower federal courts are concerned, the Constitution explicitly grants Congress full authority over them. As Article III, Section 1 states, the judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. Ironically, the Founding Fathers always intended the judiciary to be the weakest branch of government. They certainly did not design the judiciary with the current state of affairs in mind, where judges routinely legislate from the bench and enact policy as they see fit. Losing in Legislatures, Abortionists Rely on Judicial Edicts to Maintain Abortionon-Demand Yet activist judges have used the courtcreated precedent of Roe v. Wade to block enforcement of scores of pro-life protections passed by elected legislators. Even the so-called National Abortion Rights Action League had to admit that after their lobbying efforts had failed to win passage of any significant pro-abortion legislation; they had to rely on judicial edicts to block parental notification laws, Congressman Walter Jones (NC), who introduced the Sanctity of Life Act in the 114th Congress, meets with NPLA staff to strategize on building support to end court meddling on abortion. late-term abortion restrictions and seven women s right to know laws. Abortion Lobby s Reliance on Courts Demonstrates Lack of Popular Support for Abortion The fact is that even after making their case to the American people with the full support of the pro-abortion national media, the abortion lobby has never succeeded in passing legislation to legalize abortion. Instead, they relied on activist proabortion Supreme Court Justices to dictate abortion policy to the entire nation by inventing a right to privacy out of thin air, said Fox. The abortion lobby s reliance on the courts continues to this day, some 40 years after Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, with courts striking down nearly every attempt to protect the unborn, Fox continued. Their decisions are out of step with the will of the American people, the majority of whom oppose abortion-ondemand. Congress has a duty to represent pro-life Americans and put an end to this judicial rule-by-whim approach. That s why, in conjunction with our continued efforts to pass a Life at Conception Act to legislatively overturn Roe v. Wade by defining constitutionally protected life, the National Pro-Life Alliance is mobilizing a grass-roots effort to strip the courts of jurisdiction over abortion by passing a Sanctity of Life Act. NPLA Continues Grass- Roots Campaign to End Pro- Abortion Judicial Activism It is important that pro-lifers from coast to coast who are fed up with activist pro-abortion judges dictating the country s abortion policy bring maximum pressure to bear on Congress to assert its constitutional authority not only to pass a Life at Conception Act but also to rein in the courts once and for all. Fox is encouraging members to contact their Congressman at to urge them to cosponsor the Sanctity of Life Act to stop pro-abortion judicial activism. ª Spring 2016 / Newsletter of the National Pro-Life Alliance 7

8 Ultrasound Images Save Thousands of Unborn Babies NPLA Members Push to Require Abortionists Show Sonograms to Mothers Science has long shown that life begins at conception. But recent technological advances in sonogram imaging are saving lives by allowing us an even more vivid glimpse into the womb. The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) found that 78% of the 75,000 abortion-minded women they studied chose life after viewing an ultrasound image of their unborn child. The life-saving value of ultrasounds has reinforced the national push by NPLA to pass laws to require that a mother be shown an ultrasound image of her unborn baby prior to having an abortion. Ultrasound Informed Consent Act Would Protect Unborn Nationwide Noting the success of state ultrasound bills, NPLA Director of Legislation Mark Elsasser is advocating passing a tough national ultrasound bill as well as additional ultrasound laws at the state level. Already in states where these laws have been passed, pregnancy centers have reported a significant drop in abortion rates, says Elsasser. That s why NPLA members are working closely with Congressman Jeff Duncan (SC) to build Congressional LifeLine Abortion Stops a Beating Heart support for action on H.R. 492, the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act, to ensure that all women have an opportunity to see a sonogram image of their baby -- potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Already twenty-five states have some kind of ultrasound law in place. Six of those laws close loopholes that leave the abortion provider free to talk the expectant mother out of viewing the ultrasound image. Newsletter of the National Pro-Life Alliance 5211 Port Royal Road, Suite 500 Springfield, VA Voice: (703) Web address: Martin Fox, President Jenni Harris, Executive Director Mark Elsasser, Legislative Director The Ultrasound Informed Consent Act could save hundreds of thousands of lives. Studies show that 78% of abortion-minded mothers save the life of their unborn baby after viewing the sonogram of their unborn child. NPLA members are pushing to tighten existing laws at the state level and pass additional ultrasound laws across the country. NPLA Members Ramp Up Efforts to Pass State Level Ultrasound Laws The effectiveness of the ultrasound technology is not lost on the abortion lobby, which kicks into high gear whenever such measures are proposed. Truth is frequently the casualty of their no-holds-barred campaigns. Of course, abortion providers have to acknowledge the baby is more than a clump of cells when they start haggling over a price for particular body parts, said Elsasser. The life changing and saving power of ultrasound pictures explains why abortion advocates hate them so intensely, and why it s up to NPLA members to lead the way in the fight to require abortionists to show mothers an ultrasound image of their unborn child, said Elsasser. ª 8 Newsletter of the National Pro-Life Alliance / Spring 2016