In an exclusive interview with the Washington Post’s Sarah Kliff released tonight, NARAL President Nancy Keenan announced that she would be stepping down from her post at the end of the year.
Kliff writes in her story:
“In recent years, Keenan has worried about an ‘intensity gap’ on abortion rights among millennials, which the group considers to be the generation of Americans born between 1980 and 1991. While most young, antiabortion voters see abortion as a crucial political issue, NARAL’s own internal research does not find similar passion among abortion-rights supporters.”
In other words, Nancy Keenan’s conclusion is something we have known for years: the post-Roe generations are pro-life – and more passionately so than their parents’ generations and their pro-abortion, post-Roe counterparts.
We know from Gallup that 61% of the country believes abortion should be illegal in all circumstances or legal only in a few circumstances. We know from Gallup that 45% of the country self-identifies as pro-life. We know from Gallup that 51% of Americans believe abortion is morally wrong. And we know that when those questions are asked of the post¬-Roe generation, the numbers tend to skew higher.
More important, I know that none of this would even be possible without you and the work you do with National Right to Life and our nationwide network of state affiliates and local chapters. Every day you are educating your communities, touching hearts and changing minds. Every day, you are helping us make a difference for the most defenseless members of our society.
Look back to 2003 when the New York Times Magazine quoted David J. Garrow, a hard-core pro-abortion “legal historian” at Emory University, as stating, “There’s been so much media attention over the last seven to eight years on partial-birth abortion, we shouldn’t be surprised that some of it has had an effect on 12-to-14-year-olds, and it is a public relations coup for the National Right to Life Committee.”
The other side has noticed. And they’re “worried.”
Keep up the great work. Together we will win…for their lives.
Carol Tobias, President, National Right to Life Committee
The most pro-abortion administration ever has released rules on registering, for security purposes, “a baby that has not yet been born.” What irony. The Director of the White House Visitor’s Office, Ellie Shafer, sent an email to a number of recipients including the Members of Congress detailing how to register such a child who is present for a White House tour. “Crazy as it may sound, you MUST include the baby in the overall count of guests in the tour,” says Shafer. Crazy — yes — for an administration that has yet to contemplate an abortion it would prohibit.
Shafer explains further that “the baby’s security information should be entered” in the the White House system, including details such as “GENDER: if the parents know put that gender down, if not, you can enter either M or F as we’ll ask you to update it at the time of birth.” The information should be updated “once the baby is born,” the instructions say.
Doug Johnson, Legislative Director of National Right to Life says: “Notably, the newsletter provides no guidance on what the staff should do if an unborn baby is first registered for security purposes, but then aborted.” Registration of a baby — Yes. Abortion of a baby– OK. Another example of the administration’s hypocrisy on abortion.
Abortion Funding: As an Assembly Representative, Walker voted against taxpayer funding of abortions for public employees. As Governor, Walker signed into law a state budget with a provision to prohibit the UW Hospital Authority from being involved in performing abortions and from using taxpayer dollars to pay medical students to learn to perform abortions. Also as Governor, Walker signed into law legislation allowing Wisconsin to opt‐out of taxpayer‐funded abortion coverage under ObamaCare.
Funding Abortion Providers: As an Assembly Representative Walker voted to prohibit taxpayer dollars from going to organizations that provide or promote abortions. As Governor, Walker signed into law a state budget with a provision to prohibit Title V taxpayer dollars from going to organizations that perform abortions. Also as Governor, Walker steered Wisconsin Well Woman funds to local counties instead of Planned Parenthood.
Protecting Unborn Children: As an Assembly Representative, Walker voted to recognize an unborn child as a separate victim of a criminal act against the pregnant mother, to prohibit partial-birth abortions, and to protect unborn children at risk due to drug or alcohol use by the mother.
Protecting Families: As an Assembly Representative, Walker voted to strengthen Wisconsin’s law requiring parental consent before a minor’s abortion. As Governor, Walker signed into law legislation returning sex education curriculum to local control and allowing abstinence‐only programs.
Protecting Women: As an Assembly Representative, Walker voted for the Woman’s Right to Know Act which requires that women be given full
information prior to an abortion and establishes a 24‐hour waiting period. As Governor, Walker signed into law legislation to protect women from
coerced abortions and to prohibit unsafe RU 486 chemical web cam abortions designed to expand abortions into local communities.
Alternatives to Abortion: As an Assembly Representative, Walker voted for tax exemptions related to adoption expenses, to improve adoption laws, to expand funding for adoption assistance for children at risk of developing disabilities, and for a provision to allow a woman and her unborn child to be considered as a family eligible for BadgerCare.
Conscience Protections: As an Assembly Representative, Walker authored legislation to strengthen conscience protections for medical professionals and institutions.
Other: As an Assembly Representative, Walker voted in favor of legislation to prohibit lawsuits based on the “wrongful” life of an unborn child, and to prohibit the sale of body parts of aborted babies.
Authorized and paid for by the Wisconsin Right to Life Political Action
Committee, Richard Fox, Treasurer. Not authorized by any candidate or
candidate’s committee. The committee is the sole source of this
communication and the committee did not act in cooperation or
consultation with, and in concert with, or at the request or suggestion
of any candidate or any agent or authorized committee of a candidate
who is supported or opposed by this communication
One had to feel a bit sorry for HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius over her totally inadequate responses under withering questioning by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) when she testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee on April 27. Because the subject was the President’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget, committee members were given wide latitude to ask questions. Gowdy used the opportunity to zero in on the horrendous HHS mandate which destroys religious liberty by forcing religious institutions to provide services that violate their conscience.
Sebelius stated that the mandate “strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.” Please note that this is the standard administration spin. Gowdy asked about how the “balance” was created and under what constitutional authority. He said there are: “only three balancing tests that I am aware of when it comes to matters of constitutional significance,” and added, “I am sure you can see that religious liberty is a fundamental right.”
Then, the direct questions: “which of these three constitutional balancing tests were you making reference to when you said you balanced things?” Sebelius punted, said she was not a constitutional authority and used the “this is above my pay grade” spin. It got worse for Sebelius.
Gowdy: “Do you agree with me that government cannot force certain religious beliefs on its citizens?”
Sebelius: “Yes, sir.”
Gowdy: “Why?”
Sebelius: “The separation of church and state.”
Gowdy: “Can the government decide which religious beliefs are acceptable and not acceptable.”
Sebelius: “No, sir.”
Gowdy asks if: “before this rule was promulgated did you read any of the Supreme Court cases on religious liberty?”
Sebelius: “I did not.”
Gowdy: “Was there a legal memo you relied on?”
Sebelius: She relied on “discussions.”
Sebelius was only saved by Rep. Gowdy’s time running out.
Kudos to Rep. Gowdy who trashed the administration spin and made Sebelius look foolish for trying to rely on it.
Taking steps to deflect growing public outcry and end what could have been an economically painful consumer boycott, soft drink giant PepsiCo has announced that it will not use research from a firm that used human fetal cells to develop new flavor enhancers.
PepsiCo, the world’s second largest soft drink manufacturer, also owns well known brands like Quaker Oats and Frito Lay, had revenues of nearly $58 billion in 2010.
In August of 2010, PepsiCo contracted with a company called Senomyx, intending “to focus on the discovery, development, and commercialization of sweet flavor enhancers and natural high-potency sweeteners with the intent to bring to the marketplace lower-calorie, great tasting PepsiCo beverages” (PepsiCo Release, 8/17/11)
However Senomyx, a San Diego flavor research and development firm, had developed a flavor testing system using cells derived from the kidney of an aborted child. The original cells came from the lab of a Dutch scientist Alex Van der Eb who first cultured the cell line from those cells in 1972.
Those cells, referred to a HEK293, for “Human Embryonic Kidney,” are widely available from most laboratory supply companies and are used by many research and development firms (blogs.miaminewtimes.com, 3/31/11).
Precisely how Senomyx used the fetal cells is not known. But Gwen Rosenberg, vice president of investor relations and corporate communications for Senomyx, described a sort of “robotic tasting system” to one blogger in which hundreds of rows of square plastic dishes are lined up with each dish containing hundreds of tiny indentations containing a protein.
Flavors are put into the indentations and the reaction of the proteins charted. If results are promising, the flavor is tested on living adult human beings (blogs.miaminewtimes.com, 3/31/11).
Presumably, the “proteins” in the plastic dishes would be the cells derived from the kidneys of the aborted child. All but seven of the company’s 77 patents refer to the use of HEK293 cells (www.snopes.com, 3/18/12, quoting CBS News).
Pepsi’s initial response to the outcry was to point people to its “Responsible Research Statement,” which claimed that “PepsiCo does not conduct or fund research that utilizes any human tissue or cell lines derived from human embryos,” but it remained unclear whether that applied to outside companies with whom PepsiCo contracted (www.snopes.com, 3/18/12).
PepsiCo’s latest communication is much more direct and definite. In a letter to Children of God for Life, which originally discovered and publicized the connection, Paul Boykas, PepsiCo’s vice president of global public policy declared that “Senomyx will not use HEK or any other tissues or cell lines derived from human embryos or fetuses for research performed on behalf of PepsiCo” (Christian Newswire, April 30, 2012).
![[Email]](http://www.wrtl.org/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
![[Facebook]](http://www.wrtl.org/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[MySpace]](http://www.wrtl.org/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Twitter]](http://www.wrtl.org/blog/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
