A letter signed by leaders of more than 40 pro-life organizations has been sent to every Republican member of Congress, urging action on eight related bills.
“We write to urge you to exercise Congress’s constitutional authority to legislate abortion policy at the federal level and pursue a robust pro-life agenda,” reads the letter to House and Senate Republicans authored by organizations ranging from March for Life and Live Action to The Heritage Foundation. (The Daily Signal is Heritage’s multimedia news organization.)
The letter from pro-life leaders, sent Tuesday, outlines six policy actions that Congress should take to move toward what the letter calls the ultimate goal of every person being “protected and welcomed in both life and law, from conception.”
The authors call these policies “the floor, not the ceiling, of what we expect from a pro-life majority in the House of Representatives.”
Timothy Goeglein, vice president of government and external relations at Focus on the Family, one of the organizations that signed on to the letter, called it a message of “unflinching clarity.”
Goeglein called it “a kind of road map, setting out with our pro-life comrades and allies the major public policy priorities as the new Congress opens.”
Following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in its ruling last June in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Goeglein said, Focus on the Family is “keen to be part of moving the pro-life issue forward with measurable momentum in the year ahead.”
The organizations behind the letter to congressional Republicans include state pro-life groups such as the Minnesota Family Council and Family Policy Institute of Washington; policy organizations such as the Family Research Council and Heritage Action for America; and medical groups such as the Catholic Health Care Leadership Alliance and the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Their letter calls on Congress to pass the following pieces of legislation:
1. Heartbeat Protection Act
The Heartbeat Protection Act would ban abortions after a heartbeat is detected in an unborn baby, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy.
2. Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
Under the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, children born alive after batched abortions would be required to receive the same medical attention as any other child.
3. Protecting Individuals With Down Syndrome Act
Abortions based solely on a diagnosis of Down syndrome would be prohibited by the Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act.
4. SAVE Moms and Babies Act
The SAVE Moms and Babies Act would “limit the interstate flow of dangerous abortion drugs,” according to the letter, which it says is a necessary step given that chemical abortion pills “put women’s health and safety at risk.”
5. No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act
“Congress must end taxpayer funding for abortions—and the abortion industry, led by Planned Parenthood—once and for all,” the pro-life groups demand in the letter.
The three pieces of legislation, if passed, would prevent taxpayers’ money to be used to fund abortion, the groups say.
6. Conscience Protection Act
Doctors and other medical professionals who refuse to perform abortions would be given the legal authority to refuse to provide or assist with the procedure under the Conscience Protection Act. It also would ensure such medical professionals “have their day in court rather than being wholly at the mercy of bureaucrats in the federal government,” the letter explains.
“All of the public policy priorities are important to us,” Goeglein said, adding that “the born-alive legislation and the defunding of Planned Parenthood are particularly well-timed and relevant to the national debate fiscally and values-wise.”
Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action, said that “at a minimum, Congress should pass the Heartbeat Protection Act and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.”
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