Late-Term Abortion: A Tough Fact to Follow
Seventy-two percent of Americans don’t believe the media — and based on the reporting about New York’s abortion law, there’s no reason to start now.
Seventy-two percent of Americans don’t believe the media — and based on the reporting about New York’s abortion law, there’s no reason to start now. “Fake news” doesn’t begin to describe the massive misinformation campaign launched by the far-Left to keep a lid on the truth about the barbarity and inhumanity of the procedure the president blasted Tuesday night.
NBC, the Washington Post, and New York Times are some of the worst offenders, using their supposed “fact-checkers” to buy them credibility on an issue they’re brazenly misrepresenting. “Mr. Trump said that lawmakers in New York cheered the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth.” The New York Times rated this as “misleading.”
The Times argues that the law “does not broadly allow abortions until shortly before birth, as Mr. Trump suggested. Instead, it will allow for an abortion after 24 weeks to protect the mother’s health or if the fetus is not viable. Under the prior law, abortions were allowed after 24 weeks only if the woman’s life was in jeopardy.” False! As experts across America have pointed out since last month, the “health” exemption is a joke. Until last month, late-term abortions were only allowed in New York if the life of the mother was in jeopardy. Now, as even doctors point out, abortionists can define “health of the mother” as anything they want — including something as simple as depression. It’s a loophole so massive you could drive a garbage truck through it. “It is why,” Denny Burk points out, “the current law of the land allows for abortion through all nine months of pregnancy up to the point of birth.”
Maternal health, as decided by the Supreme Court, includes “all factors — physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age — relevant to the wellbeing of the patient.” Even the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute points out that most of the abortions that occur after 20 weeks have nothing to do with medical emergencies. “…[M]ost women seeking later terminations are not doing so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment.” Instead, Alexandra Desanctis points out, it found that “these women tended to be young, poor, or both, and often delayed their abortion because they had to find money to travel to and pay for the procedure.”
Consider this testimony from Omar Hamada: “I want to clear something up so that there is absolutely no doubt. I’m a Board Certified OB/GYN who has delivered over 2,500 babies. There’s not a single fetal or maternal condition that requires third trimester abortion. Not one. Delivery, yes. Abortion, no.” Former abortionist Anthony Levatino echoed that sentiment in his testimony to Congress. “During my time at Albany Medical Center, I managed hundreds of [high-risk] cases by ‘terminating’ pregnancies to save mother’s lives. In all those hundreds of cases, the number of unborn children that I had to deliberately kill was zero.”
The “health of the mother” exception is a convenient — but phony — barrier to abortion. A money-hungry Planned Parenthood clinic isn’t going to have a sudden attack of conscience when a woman comes in requesting a third-trimester abortion. It will use whatever means available, including its own definition of necessity, to make a sale.
When President Trump talked about ripping a baby out of the mother’s womb, he wasn’t exaggerating. “That’s important,” John O'Sullivan writes for National Review, “because… one of the reasons for the survival of such an extraordinarily permissive legal abortion regime as the U.S. has enjoyed since Roe v. Wade is that most people have no idea of just how permissive it is. Much effort on the Democratic side goes into keeping the public ignorant on that point, because, as the ‘pro-choice party,’ they benefit from the voters’ unawareness of what exactly it is that they support.”
Democrats are desperate to keep the public ignorant on the barbarism that finances their PACs and powers their reelections. And they have plenty of friends in the media who are willing to keep up this charade that dismembering innocent children is a civilized practice. The abortion industry has been grateful for the cover. After all, if there’s anything they’ve learned over the years, it’s that truth — especially this variety — is very bad for business.
For the latest from Congress on what Senate Democrats are doing to expand abortion to full-blown infanticide, don’t miss my interview with Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.).
Originally published here.
Bowing for Breakfast
In the 67 years of the National Prayer Breakfast, the first Thursday of every February has come and gone during some tumultuous times in our country. It’s spanned the arc of war, segregation, scandal, and national tragedy. So it was no accident that today, three weeks into New York’s late-term abortion bloodbath, our leaders were drawn into a room with a single purpose: Prayer. Because if there was ever a nation that needed it, it’s ours.
In the midst of a great struggle, God picked today to bring together men and women of different backgrounds and political ideologies to hear truth. It struck me, looking around a crowd of so many powerful people, that He could choose this moment to prick the conscience of those whose hearts have been hardened. That He could use this time to do a work in the hearts of a city that holds life and death in its hands. Even in the presence of men and women who reject his own creations, God promises, “My word will not return to me empty.”
That much was clear to millions of Bible-believing Americans, who had the privilege of watching one of their greatest answers to their pro-life prayers — President Trump — take the podium and insist, to a thunderous standing ovation, “Every life is sacred.” To House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and dozens of Democrats standing in the way of human dignity, he said, “All children are made in the holy image of God… and every soul is a precious gift from heaven.” On that and so many other things, the president promised, “I will never let you down.”
And in the two years that Americans have watched this administration, they know — he means it. This is not a president who simply says, “I will always cherish, honor and protect the believers who uplift our communities and sustain our nation.” This is a president who is proving it — by continuing the fight for religious freedom, the unborn, American greatness, and goodness.
When the media attacks people of faith, this White House doesn’t join in. It fights back. Americans noticed that this morning when the president took the opportunity to fire back at critics for shaming “our incredible second lady.” “By the way, I’ve gotten to know Karen so well. She is a Marine Corps mom, a tremendous woman, a proud supporter of military families and she just recently went back to teaching art classes at a Christian school. Thank you. Thank you, Karen,” he said.
“America is a nation that believes in redemption,” Trump told the audience. And there is no better time to be reminded of that than now. As Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) made clear, “One event won’t heal all our divisions overnight, but if we invest ourselves in what this day is about — remembering that we are one and that we rise and fall together — the impact can be transformative.” Join them, and FRC, in praying for our nation and its leaders. May the seeds that were sown this morning grow into an opportunity for real reflection on who we are and what we value as Americans.
Originally published here.
So Help Me Nadler
They kicked God out of their platform, so is it really a surprise that Democrats are trying to boot Him from our oaths? In one of their first acts as the majority party, one House committee talked about striking the words “so help me God” from the swearing-in process. The blowback they received caused them to publicly step back, — but that doesn’t mean they gave up.
Yesterday morning, during a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee, new Chair Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) “forgot” to include the traditional oath in his witness oath. “We welcome all of our distinguished witnesses and thank them for participating in today’s hearing,” he said to the group. Please rise, and I will begin by swearing you in. Raise your right hands. Do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony you’re about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information and belief? Thank you. Let the record show the witnesses answered in the affirmative.“
Fortunately, our good friend Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) noticed the omission and asked to be recognized immediately. "Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman,” interrupted Johnson (R-La.). “Point of parliamentary inquiry.” Nadler seemed confused and asked who was speaking. Johnson identified himself and said, “We had a conversation on the floor last week, and I just noted you left out ‘So help me God.’” “Sorry,” Nadler said. “Do you want me to repeat the whole — I will repeat–” he asked. “I would love that. Thank you,” Johnson responded.
To his credit, Nadler corrected himself, asking the witnesses to stand again. They took their oath a second time, ending in “so help me God.” Thank goodness for men and women in Congress, who refuse to stand by and let extremists scrub God from our most important traditions. If you, like us, are outraged by the Democrats’ blatant efforts to ignore America’s Judeo-Christian heritage, join us in calling on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to resist the urge to ignore — or attack — our nation’s spiritual traditions. Click here to sign the petition!
Originally published here.
This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC Action senior writers.
