Concerned Women for America CEO and President, Penny Nance, joined AMAC’s Rebecca Weber for a discussion on the fight for life in America. From the show: “We have come so far because science has caught up with the lie of abortion.”
Listen to the full episode below or by streaming wherever you normally get your podcasts.
Concerned Women for America CEO and President, Penny Nance, joined the Bass sisters on their show Policy & Poundcake. The three sisters discuss the fight for life in America, their favorite foods, and their faith in Christ.
Listen to the full discussion below.
For Immediate Release
October 7, 2021
Contact: Jacklyn Washington
[email protected]
Washington, D.C. – Penny Nance, President and CEO of Concerned Women for America (CWA), the largest public policy organization for women in the nation, had this to say after U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman granted the Biden Administration’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking the Texas Heartbeat Act (S.B. 8):
“Pro-abortion judicial activists cannot help themselves. You can almost hear Gollum’s voice protecting his “precious” as Judge Pitman called this law, duly enacted by the democratic process with the support of the overwhelming majority of Texans, an ‘offensive deprivation of such an important right.’ So, he does what even the United States Supreme Court refused to do and frustrates the will of ‘we the people’ to force his preferred policy views unto the people of Texas.
“What is lost in all the legal jargon is that Judge Pitman’s blinding hubris will result in the death of the more than 100 babies a day that were being saved by this law. We think of the thousands of women who will experience that “grief more anguished and sorrow more profound,” which Justice Kennedy acknowledges in Carhart is experienced by women who regret their abortion.
“That is what motivates CWA activists and the greater pro-life community. It is hard for pro-abortion radicals to comprehend, but we are fighting to save lives and protect women from a great evil. We will not be deterred.
“The days of callous, unrestricted abortion promotion in America are over. The millions that supported the Texas Heartbeat bill, from both sides of the aisle, will continue to fight. Most Americans want to ban late-term abortions and place considerable restrictions on them during the first trimester.
“The science is on our side, and no pro-abortion judicial activist can stand in the way of it. The future is pro-life.”
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Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization with a rich history of over 40 years.
For Immediate Release
October 6, 2021
Contact: Jacklyn Washington
[email protected]
Biden’s “Unity” Administration Again Props Up Abortion Industry
Washington D.C. – The Biden Administration has overturned regulations for the Title X family planning program finalized in 2019 that realigned the program with a prohibition in law against abortion as a method of family planning. When the rule took effect, Planned Parenthood chose to pull out of the program rather than comply with the requirement that abortion services be physically and financially separate. Under the Biden rule, the abortion industry will no longer be prohibited from comingling its funds and promoting abortion as a Title X grantee.
Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee had this to say:
“Pro-life women are disgusted by the rabid abortion agenda promoted by the Biden Administration. From Day One, President Biden has prioritized aborting the unborn over protecting birthmothers and their babies. Repealing the pro-life protections that were built into Title X by law is another tragic action that has one goal, putting the abortion industry back in business. Biden’s new rule earmarks the abortion industry for federal funding that the vast majority of Americans oppose. Women are being deceived about the real harm of abortion and the eugenic history of Planned Parenthood. It’s time to unmask the truth about abortion.”
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Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization with a rich history of over 40 years.
For Immediate Release
September 22, 2021
Contact: Jacklyn Washington
[email protected]
Nance: “Democrats exalt aborting babies as the ultimate empowerment of a self-made life. God weeps.”
Washington D.C., – The U.S. House of Representatives will vote this week on a bill Democrats are calling the Women’s Health Protection Safety Act (H.R. 3755). This deceptive bill does nothing less than advance a culture of death by abortion in America. It aims to codify and expand Roe v. Wade, invalidating nearly every state restriction on protecting pregnant women and unborn children from abortion nationwide.
Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, expressed outrage at the Democrat’s push for abortion on demand until birth:
“With this bill, the Democrat party has rejected every restraint on abortion. For them, aborting unborn children is nothing more than just another medical procedure. It’s a sick perspective that reflects the moral bankruptcy of their party, and it is infecting our country. Democrats exalt aborting babies as the ultimate empowerment of a self-made life. God weeps.
“Supporters of this tragic legislation want young women to believe having a baby is a cold calculation of convenience and capacity, not a unique life to be cared for and cherished. They are leading our culture to certain destruction.
“Concerned Women for America’s mighty prayer warriors are on our knees against the evil of abortion. We firmly believe in the power of prayer and action. You can rest assured that we will not only remain prayerful, but we will also hold our legislators accountable for this vote.”
Today, Concerned Women for America LAC sent a letter to Congress in strong opposition to the bill. Text of the letter can be viewed HERE. A fact sheet on H.R. 3755 can be found HERE.
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Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization with a rich history of over 40 years.
The new Texas Heartbeat Bill has dominated the news cycle for the past few weeks. If you’re still confused by what it does and doesn’t do, this episode is for you! Penny is joined by Concerned Women for America’s Legal Counsel, Mario Diaz, to discuss what this bill does and additionally, what the Supreme Court didn’t do.
They’ll also preview the upcoming Supreme Court case that will decide the fate of abortion across the country on December 1st. Listen below!
An abortionist in Texas admitted in an op ed in the Washington Post that he performed an abortion earlier this month in violation of Texas’s new Heartbeat Bill. Concerned Women for America’s Vice President of Government Relations, Doreen Denny, joined NTD News to react.
Watch the full video below:
Texas Doctor Admits to Performing Abortion in Violation of State Law from Concerned Women for America on Vimeo.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 2, 2021
Contact: Jacklyn Washington
202-748-3501
[email protected]
Conservative Women Celebrate Saving Babies in Texas
Washington, D.C. – Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America (CWA), the largest public policy organization for women in the nation, had this to say on the news of the United States Supreme Court’s denial of attempts to stop the Texas Heartbeat Law:
“It is telling to see the abortion industry’s angry reaction to the Supreme Court’s refusal to play interference between the Left’s radical ideas and the American people. Texas’ heartbeat law was properly debated and passed with bi-partisan support. Texas women want this law.
“CWA of Texas worked hard to see it passed. The other side had ample opportunity to convince the public of their views. But they lost. It is as simple as that.
“Now, as usual, they seek for judicial activists to do for them what they couldn’t do through the proper legislative process. Since 1973 the militant left has used the courts to impose their fringe views of abortion at any time, for any reason, any number, and all paid for by the taxpayers of America. Those days are over. We are thankful for a Supreme Court that knows its role and refuses to be manipulated in this way, letting the democratic process continue instead.
“Bottom line, babies are being saved in Texas today. We know that makes for a rainy day for the Left, but most Americans rejoice. That’s the headline.”
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Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization with a rich history of over 40 years.
The radical left and its media enablers are going berserk over the United States Supreme Court’s denial of an application for injunctive relief to stop Texas’s Heartbeat Law from going into effect. The Court simply refused to act in an activist manner and allowed the process to work as it was constitutionally envisioned.
Anyone seeking the Court to take such an extreme action that would frustrate the democratic process in this manner needs a “strong showing” that they are “likely to succeed on the merits” of the case. The pro-abortion side failed to meet that heavy burden.
Though they are fixated on Roe v. Wade, this case presents “complex and novel antecedent procedural questions on which they have not carried their burden.”
To put it simply, the Texas law is not being enforced by state officials, which the pro-abortion side is used to suing in their official capacity, given the fact that they are usually charged with enforcing the law. Not here. This law does not charge any agency or official with its enforcement. Instead, it gives private citizens the right to sue if the law is violated in the future.
The Court then, making no judgment on merits of the case, has refused to enjoin the law (meaning stopping it from going into effect) until there is an actual case or controversy with a proper defendant in order for the courts to assess it in the proper context.
The Court concluded: “This order is not based on any conclusion about the constitutionality of Texas’s law, and in no way limits other procedurally proper challenges to the Texas law, including in Texas state courts.”
Such limited action shows the Court is acting under the sort of judicial restraint envisioned by the constitutional structure, instead of as a super legislature constantly interfering and frustrating the democratic process.
It is discouraging that Chief Justice Roberts joined Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan to dissent from the decision. The Chief Justice recognizes the complex nature of the procedural question presented, saying, “We are at this point asked to resolve these novel questions—at least preliminarily—in the first instance, in the course of two days, without the benefit of consideration by the District Court or Court of Appeals.” But he would actually enjoin the law, frustrating the will of the millions of Texans who helped enact it. This fits a pattern we have seen from the Chief Justice before, where he seems to worry about public opinion in an unhealthy way, taking steps in every major case to protect what he perceives as the “legitimacy” and independence of the Court.
Not surprisingly, the liberal side of the Court, Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, wrote separately, eager to project that they are ready to act on behalf of the pro-abortion side. No need for them to worry about the legitimacy of the Court. That seems to always cut one way.
We are thankful for Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett for their unwavering commitment to the law and showing the proper judicial restraint in such a politically charged area of law. That’s where it counts.
Rep. Chip Roy (Republican) serves the 21st District of Texas. At the end of July, Rep. Roy introduced the Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2021 alongside Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) and Rep. Mary Miller (R-Illinois).
The Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2021 would prohibit the federal government from funding “any institution of higher education that hosts or is affiliated with any school-based service site that provides abortion drugs or abortions to students of the institution or to employees of the institution or site.”
We are grateful to Rep. Roy for taking a firm stand for life and excited to have him join our YWA Leader’s Call on September 13.
Date: Monday, September 13
Time: 5:30 p.m. Eastern (4:30 p.m. Central; 3:30 p.m. Mountain; 2:30 p.m. Pacific)
Register here, and please feel free to share the link with like-minded friends and family! An email with the link for the call and information will follow upon registration.
Best,
Annabelle Rutledge
National Director, Young Women for America
I saw a video posted by the New York Times of an Afghan woman named Crystal Bayat. On August 19th she helped organize a protest to celebrate Afghanistan independence. At great risk to her life, she and six other women marched through the streets of Afghanistan raising their country’s flag in defiance of the Taliban. She grew up in the freedom Afghanistan has experienced these last twenty years. This month was her first time ever coming face to face with the Taliban. They told her she had twenty days of freedom. Her response was, “Til they shoot me, I will strive, and I will seek my goals. I will not let them deprive me of my fundamental rights. I’m raising the voice of a million women.”
It brought me to tears. In Crystal, I see the same spirit of our Young Women for America leaders. As the Director of Young Women for America, I have the privilege and honor of working with young women across this country, from high schoolers to young professionals, who have this same bold spirit. They are strong, kind, smart, motivated, Christ-honoring individuals in diverse career paths who are using their gifts and talents to impact the world. I’m amazed at how they spend their time and the ways they are impacting their communities even now. As I consider their paths with endless opportunities in front of them, I can’t help but contrast it with the plight of women in Afghanistan at this moment. We must acknowledge what is happening to women in Afghanistan now and what we know will only continue to get worse. There is no future in the public square for women under Sharia law. They cannot safely leave their homes; they cannot leave their homes at all unless they have permission from men; their bodies must be covered head to toe; they cannot hold any positions of power; they cannot have jobs; they cannot drive. Images of women are being removed from public places. They are being beaten in the streets. Women in Afghanistan face a future of subjugation, rape, persecution, and even stonings. Women are dying and will continue to die.
The feminists are silent, but we will not be. At this very moment, across the country, Young Women for America leaders are joining you in prayer. From California to Pennsylvania and Alabama and beyond, YWA leaders are gathering their chapter members and friends or bowing their heads privately to come before the throne of God in unity. We can’t physically show up in Afghanistan, but right now, we are putting on the armor of God and engaging in spiritual battle. We are going to war against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places on behalf of our Afghan sisters.
And we trust in our God. We serve an awesome, all-powerful, all knowing, loving, and present God. He is among us. He hears us.
Concerned Women for America‘s CEO and President, Penny Nance, joined CBN News to respond to a recent ruling by a federal judge in Indiana striking down some of the state’s pro-life laws. “She [the judge] may have been appointed by President Reagan, but she is not a constitutionalist,” Nance said. “She has set back the state of Indiana and their legal restrictions on abortion.”
Federal Judge Rules Against Pro-Life Laws, Penny Nance Responds from Concerned Women for America on Vimeo.
Last week, the Democrat House Majority rammed through a federal budget stripped of all longstanding pro-life protections, including the Hyde Amendment. This tone-deaf political ploy effectively wrote a blank check to the abortion industry at home and abroad, leaving American taxpayers with the tab. Since the poisonous package is likely unpalatable in the Senate, the upper chamber is left to its own devices to avert a fiscal cliff and government shutdown.
H.R. 4502, a seven-bill package for FY 2022 appropriations, included the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations (LHHS) Act and Financial Services and General Government Appropriations (FSGG) Act. LHHS blatantly excluded Hyde, a prohibition on taxpayer funding of elective abortion through Medicaid and Medicare disability, and the Weldon Amendment, a conscience protection prohibiting government discrimination against healthcare entities that refuse to provide or pay for abortions. To justify the Democrats’ position, House Appropriations Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut) condemned the last 45 years of bipartisan agreement to include Hyde as “a mistake.” FSGG repealed other members of the family of protections: the Dornan Amendment, a ban on the use of local and federal funds for abortion services in Washington, D.C., and the Smith Amendment, a ban on funding for elective abortions through the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program.
During House floor debate, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) offered a motion to recommit (MTR) H.R. 4502 that would have restored the Hyde, Weldon, Dornan, and Smith Amendments—all of which were removed from the underlying bill in committee. The measure failed by a vote of 208-217. You may view the MTR roll call here to see if your member stood strong for life. H.R. 4502 eventually passed the House on a party-line vote of 219-208. Learn how your representative voted here. CWALAC scored votes against the package.
H.R. 4373, the FY 2022 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Act, aimed to make abortion our nation’s top export overseas. The bill eliminated the Helms Amendment, a ban on international aid from funding abortion as a family planning method. The legislation also weakened application of the Kemp-Kasten Amendment, a prohibition of federal funding to organizations or programs that, as determined by the President, support or participate in a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization. Furthermore, CWALAC opposed drastic increases in funding for the United Nation’s Population Fund, a known supporter of China’s forced abortion and sterilization regime, and International Family Planning, a slush fund for Planned Parenthood after recission of the Mexico City Policy. H.R. 4373 passed the House by a vote of 217-212, with four Democrats joining Republicans against. You may view the roll call here. CWALAC scored against the bill and in favor of two amendments to eliminate new pro-abortion funding, both of which failed.
Now, we turn to the Senate to preserve decades of bipartisan consensus to protect the sanctity of life and Americans’ right not to fund its destruction. We must remind members that they have been sent to Congress to represent their constituents and not the abortion lobby. Visit our Action Center here. CWALAC will continue to advocate for the most vulnerable among us and work tirelessly to prevent the passage of legislation that uses taxpayer dollars to finance the abortion industry and destroy innocent human life.
Penny Nance, talks abortion and racism on Fox News @ Night with Shannon Bream. Among other things, Penny had this to say, “The true racism in this picture is to look at Planned Parenthood and its founder Margaret Sanger who called minorities ‘human weeds’, who worked to usher in forced sterilization. Pro-life women want to love them and care for them. The other side wants to exterminate them.”
Watch Penny’s full interview below, or click here.
We are proud to let you know that today, Concerned Women for America (CWA) submitted its amicus brief before the United States Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case challenging the constitutionality of a Mississippi state law that places strict limits on abortions after 15 weeks.
CWA cherishes the opportunity to address the nation’s highest court on such an important topic that has caused so much pain to women, the more than 62 million babies lost to abortion since Roe v. Wade, and to the country.
We asked the Court to take an honest look at its abortion jurisprudence. It is time for the Justices to come clean and acknowledge what we all know: that the Court-created right to abortion has no basis in the Constitution, and states should be free to enact reasonable legislation that reflects the values of its citizens and the full range of interests at play when it comes to abortion.
We asked the Court to reclaim its impartiality as jurists. When it comes to abortion, many judges, like Judge Reeves at the district level in this case, have become advocates for a particular group of women, those who are pro-abortion—ignoring the majority of women who are for strict restrictions on abortion.
In this case, the lower court would not even allow the state to offer evidence of its compelling interest in women’s health. It declared it irrelevant. Our brief makes clear that women’s health should never be irrelevant in the abortion context, no matter the stage of pregnancy.
I think that is something all women—all Americans—believe.
The bottom line is CWA’s brief affirms the dignity of every woman’s life, including unborn women. That’s something we are proud to stand for; pro-life is pro-woman!
Here is a quote from our brief:
“The hundreds of thousands of women amicus represent want to stress that women do not need abortion as a measure of equality. Women have intrinsic dignity and value, regardless of abortion public policy. The fact that men do not give birth is not something they see as a flaw but a feature of the beautiful way women are created—the imago Dei. Being mothers is not to women’s detriment, despite its many challenges. Women celebrate the diversity of our Creator and therefore affirm our dignity, aside from abortion. Amicus affirms the dignity of every woman, including unborn women.”
We ask the Court to restore the dignity of women and the unborn, and concluded saying plainly, “the Court’s fundamental problems in this area of law go all the way back to Roe and Doe. To fully vindicate the constitutional principles involved requires reversal.”
Click here to read our filing in full.
On July 21, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) introduced the “Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2021” with Rep. Mary Miller (R-Illinois) as the House co-lead; Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) introduced the legislation in the Senate.
The Protecting Life on College Campus Act (H.R. 4607) would prohibit federal funds from going to any institution of higher education that has a student-based service site that provides abortions or abortion drugs to students of that institution. This legislation is in response to California’s chemical abortion pill mandate on college campuses that will take effect in 2023.
In a press conference introducing the bill, Rep. Roy said, “A college dorm room is no place to have a do-it-yourself abortion, and the American taxpayer should not be paying for the destruction of innocent human life on our college campuses. But, as we already know, what the abortion industry really cares about are profits—not the welfare of mothers or the integrity of higher learning.”
Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) is proud to support this bill that stands for life in the womb and on college campuses. Our Young Women for America leaders across the country are grateful for federal action on this issue. Abortion services have no place on college campuses.
In a letter endorsing the legislation, CEO and President Penny Nance said, “Having the chemical abortion pill readily available on college campuses is detrimental to the safety, health, and well-being of students. As Concerned Women for America has Young Women for America chapters on college campuses across the country, this issue is critically important to us and our college leaders. Out of care and compassion for the young women on college campuses, we applaud you for introducing the Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2021.”
More about the introduction of this bill can be found here. CWALAC’s letter of support for this pro-life bill can be read here.
By Hayden Sledge, CWA Communications Intern
In early 2020, 13 states participated in an at-home, mail-in chemical abortion pilot program called TelAbortion. And because of COVID-19 and the rise of telemedicine, the push for and the attempt to normalize unsupervised chemical abortions was felt across the nation.
The staunch repercussions of COVID-19 are real. There has been loss of life, business closures, and continued closures of schools. Nevertheless, abortion accessibility is easier due to the normalization of telemedicine during a global pandemic. Telemedicine is a way for patients to interact with a healthcare provider without in-person contact. Its sole purpose is to allow for more efficient medical responses, a way for people to receive “care” faster. This could be helpful for small concerns, like a cold. However, telemedicine can be incredibly dangerous, especially in the context of chemical abortions. The TelAbortion project should have been used as a rubric to study the devastating impact on mother and child when abortion-inducing drugs are allowed to be self-administered. Chemical abortions are violent, dangerous, and should not be happening, let alone without the presence of a medical professional.
The whole point of chemical abortion via telemedicine is to make abortion easier. Self-administered chemical abortions allow women to end their pregnancy without being in a physical office, like in the context of their own home or dorm room. A woman can abort her child at home by taking two pills. During this process, the mother will have a virtual meeting with a healthcare provider but never has to see her medical provider in person. The mother may do a few tests at a lab, but she does not have to physically interact with a licensed professional.
Obstetrics & Gynecology claim that telemedicine for abortion “Is noninferior to in-person provision with regard to clinically significant adverse events.” It is illogical to think that in-person care with a doctor is equitable to that of an online appointment. Even those who are supportive of abortion access must recognize this flawed process. Former advisor to the director of the Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Patrina Mosley, notes, “Pretending for ideological reasons that chemical abortion can be done remotely or even as a do-it-yourself, is extremely dangerous and negligent.’”
Many pro-abortion advocates claim that they are supporting the mother through abortion accessibility; however, there is no care given. Distressed mothers are sent home with chemical cocktails to end the life of their unborn children. To fully recognize the dangers of abortion via telemedicine, it is important to understand the chemical abortion process.
For the mother to end her pregnancy, she takes Mifepristone (RU-486). This pill blocks progesterone, which inevitably cuts off food from the baby and ends its life. A day or two later, she then takes the second pill Misoprostol. This triggers blood flow so that she passes the baby. Women will experience a series of symptoms, like abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and even death.[1] She could be bleeding for about 9-16 days. However, there is no healthcare provider overseeing the process. If the woman suffers a complication, there is no guarantee that another person is caring for her. It is highly likely that she is enduring the hard and depressing process alone.
Many women will have to watch as their child’s remains fall into a toilet. This is horrific and significantly takes a toll on the woman’s mental well-being. Abortion increases womens’ chances of struggling with mental health issues and substance abuse. Women who have abortions are “34% more likely to develop an anxiety disorder, 37% more likely to experience depression, 110% more likely to abuse alcohol, 155% more likely to commit suicide, 220% more likely to abuse marijuana.”[2]
Although there are a series of factors that affects a person’s mental health, it is simply false to claim that abortion does not significantly contribute to a woman’s mental well-being. Witnessing the loss of one’s child could be deeply traumatizing. However, the American Psychiatric Association claims just that, that these mental health concerns are due to other factors, somehow arguing that they are not due to abortion.
It should also be noted that the research on chemical abortion is not reliable. DANCO, the company that produces Mifepristone and Misoprostol, is one of the leading contributors for chemical abortion research, which is clearly a conflict of interest. Furthermore, it is important to question abortion affirming research. It is also important to recognize that abortion has become exasperated due to increased telemedicine during a global pandemic.
Because of telemedicine, chemical abortion has become available in new areas. Many abortion providers used COVID as an excuse to encourage more abortion access.
It is important to be cognizant of the deceptive language used by providers, claiming that their pro-abortion agenda is simply a COVID-19 accommodation as “modified medication abortion procedures to minimize travel and potential COVID-19 exposure for patients and staff.” Abortion clinics also claim that they are too far away from college campuses. And now college campuses are starting to provide chemical abortions. California has already passed legislation to enforce public colleges to administer chemical abortions. It should be noted that almost $10.2 million in private funds are helping prepare and facilitate these chemical abortions.
The push to normalize at-home chemical abortions has become more concerning under the Biden Administration. We cannot forget that Biden’s Administration is planning to give 19 times more to abortion and abortion businesses than the Obama Administration.
As businesses and schools reopen and life begins to return to normal, a question arises, “How do we protect mothers and save lives by curbing at-home chemical abortions?”
Click here to learn more.
[1] Dr. Levatino and Live Action, “Abortion Procedures,” Abortion Procedures, a project of Live Action, https://www.abortionprocedures.com/aspiration/#1466797067815-ef6545f9-db0b.
[2] Editorial Staff, “How does abortion affect mental health,” Laguna Treatment Hospital, last updated May 27, 2020, https://lagunatreatment.com/support-for-women/mental-health-abortion/.
FOX News highlights a letter spearheaded by conservative leaders to encourage legislators to block federal funding of abortion. In the letter, Concerned Women for America CEO and President Penny Nance and other conservatives leaders call on lawmakers to defend life at all stages. Currently, pro-choice advocates seek to remove Hyde, which would allow our taxpayer money to fund abortions.
Over 100 prominent leaders signed the letter, but the next few weeks will be an uphill battle since Democrats maintain the majority in the House and Senate.
Click here to read more.
As Congress drafts appropriations bills for the new fiscal year, pro-life advocates are fighting to preserve longstanding prohibitions on the use of taxpayer dollars for abortions, both at home and abroad. Despite pleas for reason from their colleagues and the American people, the Democrat Majority is unyielding in its quest to bankroll the destruction of innocent human life.
The House Appropriations Committee recently passed the FY 2022 State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS) and FY 2022 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations bills on party line votes. The SFOPS bill removes the Helms Amendment, a prohibition on taxpayer funding of abortions overseas, and weakens the Kemp-Kasten Amendment, a provision allowing the President to discontinue funds to organizations that support or manage coercive abortion programs. The legislation also permanently repeals the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Policy (a.k.a. Mexico City Policy), which requires foreign NGOs to agree, as a condition of receiving U.S. dollars, not to promote or perform abortions. Furthermore, the bill drastically increases funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), a known supporter of China’s forced abortion and sterilization regime, and for international family planning, a slush fund for Planned Parenthood and related organizations.
During committee markups, Reps. Kay Granger (R-Texas), Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), and Dr. Andy Harris (R-Maryland) offered amendments to restore these safeguards and remove funding for unchecked, pro-abortion programming. Unfortunately, all attempts were defeated. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) was the only Democrat member to vote in support of Helms, Kemp-Kasten, and the Mexico City Policy.
The FSGG bill removes the Smith Amendment, a prohibition on funding for abortions through the Federal Health Benefits (FEHB) program, and the Dornan Amendment, a ban on the use of local and federal funds for abortion services in Washington, D.C., Once again, Rep. Hinson offered amendments to reinstate these provisions, but both items were defeated. Rep. Cuellar voted with Republicans to protect Smith.
This week, the Committee marked up FY 2022 funding for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education. This appropriations bill is the legislative vehicle for the Hyde Amendment, a longstanding prohibition on federal funding of elective abortion through Medicaid, Medicare disability, and other programming. Lawmakers have agreed to its inclusion in the federal budget for the last four decades, yet Democrats have stripped the life-saving language from this year’s bill. The Weldon Amendment, a prohibition on government discrimination against healthcare entities that refuse to cover or pay for abortions, has also been removed. This is unacceptable.
Members will have another chance to stand for life as these bills move to full consideration on the House floor and on to the Senate. Please visit our Action Center today and tell your U.S. Representative and Senators to hold the line on Hyde and related protections.
We applaud those who have already risen to challenge this affront to the sanctity of human life. On July 1, 2021, the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus and the Republican Study Committee joined forces on a letter to President Biden opposing his FY 2022 budget request and the blatant disregard for American taxpayers’ conscience rights. That same day, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) led a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra requesting follow-up on his refusal to acknowledge the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act as federal law. His troubling testimony only underscores the gravity of this fight.
Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee will continue to serve as a voice for the precious unborn as well as millions of Americans who object to their tax dollars financing abortion on demand. Stay tuned for additional updates on FY 2022 Appropriations and our fight to hold the line on Hyde.
Concerned Women for America Vice President of International Affairs Neydy Casillas, Esq. highlights the Biden administration’s distorted rhetoric in defending a pro-abortion agenda in her latest Townhall article, “Biden Administration Masks Abortion Agenda as ‘Gender Equality.’” The Biden administration uses phrases like “gender equality,” “reproductive health and rights,” and “women’s health” to mask their efforts to increase abortion accessibility. Under the veil of women’s health, the Biden administration revoked the Mexico City policy, which forbids federal funding for abortions abroad. The U.S. is now funding the UN agency, UNFPA, again, which encourages abortion. Casillas reveals that this is all done under the veil of healthcare.
Casillas states, “Let’s just say it: abortion is not healthcare. An unborn baby who lives inside her mother’s womb is not an illness to be handled.” A child is a gift, not a problem. It is deeply concerning that the United States is contributing to abortion accessibility. We must fight for unborn lives in the U.S. and abroad.
Read the full piece here.
