A pro-life law firm representing thousands of pregnancy resource centers across America told Senator Elizabeth Warren and other abortion-supporting senators not to “use the power of their office to harass private citizens” in response to a letter the senators sent demanding information from the pro-life pregnancy centers.

The senators sent a letter to Heartbeat International, a pro-life organization that represents thousands of pregnancy resource centers, in September demanding that the organization respond to a laundry list of questions the senators have about the pro-life centers.

In the letter, the senators said they were concerned about the privacy of patient data but used the opportunity to accuse Heartbeat International and its affiliate pregnancy resource centers of “misleading” women, “luring pregnant people” and “using a variety of false and misleading tactics” to get health information.

Then the senators suggested that these pro-life organizations that exist to love and support women during their pregnancy and beyond are potentially reporting women to authorities.

The senators demanded a response from Heartbeat International by October 3rd.

Well, they received a letter back on October 3rd, but it probably wasn’t the response they were expecting.

First Liberty, a nonprofit, public interest law firm that defends religious liberty and is currently representing Heartbeat International in this matter, responded to the senators.

In the response letter, first obtained by Fox News, First Liberty and Heartbeat International clapped back at Senator Warren and the other abortion-supporting senators. The letter called the senators’ actions “an unwarranted effort to investigate a private organization that holds to a religious and ideological opinion with which you [the senators] disagree.”

The letter stated, “…we are aware of no law or legal instrument that would authorize you to conduct an investigation of this private, religious nonprofit, much less compel them to answer your questions.”

The letter continued, “United States Senators should not use the power of their office to harass private citizens in hopes of creating conflict for legislative solutions otherwise wanting for a problem to solve. Your questions are neither appropriate, nor germane.”

The letter points out the inciting statements Senator Warren made about pregnancy resource centers just prior to the outbreak of vandalism at many life-affirming pregnancy centers across America. The letter claims, “Your calculated rhetoric encouraged vandals who have unleashed their criminal activity across the country, including against Heartbeat International affiliates, in an effort to obstruct, injure, intimidate, or otherwise interfere with women making reproductive health decisions at life-affirming reproductive health facilities.”

Finally, First Liberty issued its own request for a response to the senators and a twenty-day deadline. Some of the questions posited by First Liberty include:

  • “Have you issued any public statement repudiating the numerous criminal acts designed to obstruct, injure, intimidate, or interfere with access to pro-life reproductive health facilities?
  • “Have you requested the President of the United States, U.S. Attorney General, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and/or Homeland Security to investigate the crimes perpetrated against these pro-life reproductive health facilities?
  • “What legislation have you introduced that would protect life-affirming reproductive health facilities from further physical and/or cyber-attacks?
  • “What resources of the federal government is your office presently marshaling to ensure a woman’s right to choose to seek counseling, resources, and/or reproductive health care at life-affirming reproductive health facilities remains undiminished by activists, vandals, and/or politicians?”

No politician should ever “use the power of their office to harass private citizens” or engage in “an unwarranted effort to investigate a private organization that holds to a[n] [opposing] religious and ideological opinion….” And yet, on the issue of abortion especially, we see politicians concerned about protecting the so-called “right” to abortion above all else. For the sake of religious freedom, it is important that we insist that elected officials not use their power to unfairly target religious, private organizations or citizens as is alleged in the First Liberty letter.

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