Life

Cruz, Smith Push Congress to Make June ‘Life Month’

Senator Ted Cruz (TX) and Congressman Chris Smith (NJ) introduced a Congressional resolution this week to make June “Life Month.”

The “Life Month Resolution” (H.J. Res. 98) would commemorate the fall of Roe v. Wade, which the Supreme Court overturned on June 24, 2022; honor those fighting to protect preborn babies; and reaffirm America’s commitment to defend life, Cruz and Smith explain.

 “Life is not an accident, and it’s not a coincidence,” Cruz addressed the Senate during the resolution’s introduction Thursday. “It’s a joy and a blessing from God, the foundation of every other right we hold dear.”

In an announcement released Tuesday, Smith expounded, “This resolution affirms that the cruel injustice of abortion need not be forever; Instead, we must defend the [pre]born and show love and compassion to both mother and child through meaningful assistance and support.”

H.J. Res. 98 calls for the creation of June “Life Month” in light of the following facts:

  • Every human life is equally valuable and protected under the law.
  • America’s founding documents explicitly affirm the equality of all people and their inalienable right to life.
  • American citizens and their representatives are responsible for protecting the rights of vulnerable people, including preborn babies.
  • The Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade restored citizens and elected leaders’ rightful ability to protect preborn life.
  • “Faith-based and community organizations, pregnancy resource centers, medical professionals and countless families across the United States” play essential roles in creating a culture of life.

In his remarks on the Senate floor, Cruz highlighted Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court decision that reversed Roe, as an important inflection point in America’s journey back to its founding, life-affirming values.

“[Roe] was a flawed decision that, for nearly fifty years, enshrined one of the most disturbing notions in our Constitutional history – that the Constitution somehow protects the right to end the life of an [pre]born child,” Cruz summarized.

He continued, “The fact is Roe had nothing to do with the Constitution. … It was the product of judicial activism. That dangerous path took decades to correct.”

Three years later, H.J. Res. 98 not only calls for the symbolic designation of “Life Month,” but for senators and representatives to:

  • “Recognize that every human life is a sacred gift from God, possessing inherent dignity and worth.
  • “Reaffirm the fundamental truth recognized in the Declaration of Independence that life is an unalienable right.
  • “Commend individuals, parents, families, faith-based organizations and communities who work to promote a culture of life.
  • “Urge policymakers to defend the sanctity of human life by enacting laws that protect the unborn and provide resources to empower women and families to choose life.”

The resolution’s language might anger leaders who characterize abortion as “health care,” or a “reproductive right.” But the goal isn’t to indulge the rhetorical games of a radical few. It’s to reaffirm America’s commitment to human dignity and reorient the government toward building a culture of life.

“Let June be the month that we reconnect with the American ideal that every single life has dignity,” Cruz exhorted. “That we are a nation, not of death, but of life — a nation that chooses life.”

Congress isn’t known for its strong stance on protecting life. But cultural renewal starts small.

Focus on the Family and myriad pro-life allies pray Congress will choose life by making June “Life Month.”

Additional Articles and Resources

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What Actually Happened in ‘Dobbs’? A Short Explanation.

RFK Jr. Announces ‘Complete Review’ of Abortion Pill After ‘Alarming’ New Study Reveals Dangers

The Food and Drug Administration will perform a ‘complete review’ of the abortion medication mifepristone, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday in a Senate health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing.

RFK Jr.’s announcement was in response to a line of questioning by Senator Josh Hawley.

Hawley asked the secretary if he was aware of the recently released study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center investigating the over 865,000 mifepristone chemical abortions between 2017 and 2023.

The study revealed that nearly 11% of women who take the pill experience very serious adverse effects including sepsis, hemorrhaging, infection, and emergency room visits.

The rate is 22 times higher than the FDA’s current label, which suggests the rate of adverse effects is only 0.5%.

Secretary Kennedy confirmed that he had seen the study and acknowledged the data was “alarming” and that, at the very least, the label should be updated to reflect its true danger to women.

He then explained he has instructed the director of the FDA to do a “complete review” of the chemical abortion pill and report back to him with the findings.

Secretary Kennedy confirmed the review is a top priority, but didn’t have a deadline for when the work will be finished.

Senator Hawley also asked whether long-standing safety protocols, which were previously required when dispensing mifepristone (like doctor visits, in-person dispensing and screening for ectopic pregnancies), would be reinstated.

Secretary Kennedy clarified that HHS would make recommendations based on the data, but the ultimate decision would come from the White House.

According to Hawley, the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s study on mifepristone is the largest study ever performed on the abortion drug.

President of Focus on the Family, Jim Daly, called the results of the study “chilling” and lamented the abortion industry’s apparent lack of concern about the babies or the women they harm.

For more than half-a-century, the radical abortion industry has been diminishing and discounting the health risks to unsuspecting women whenever preborn life is taken. All those who claim to be advocates for women should be alarmed and convicted by this new research.
We know the abortion kills the girl or boy on the inside, and now research makes clear it also harms the woman on the outside.

A coalition of organizations in the pro-life community have issued a letter asking Secretary Kennedy to reinstate safety protections for women who are prescribed the abortion pill.

The Daily Citizen will continue to update you on this developing story.

Arkansas Allocates $2 Million to Pregnancy Help Organizations

Arkansas pro-life lawmakers allocated $2 million worth of grants to pregnancy help organizations in their appropriations process this legislative cycle.

The measure, H.B. 1202, was approved by Arkansas’s Joint Budget Committee, signed by the governor, and is now Act 1006.

The law describes a pregnancy help organization as an entity that “seeks to provide a range of services to individuals facing an unintended pregnancy to encourage pregnant women to give birth to their unborn children.”

The measure seeks to fund organizations that promote infant and maternal wellness through counseling, medical care options, social, emotional and/or material support and assistance with nutritional support.

The law also clearly prohibits any grants going to organizations that “perform, prescribe, provide referral for or encourage abortion.”

Arkansas’ Family Council praised the allocation of $2 million in grant money to pregnancy help organizations, reflecting, “We need to work to make abortion irrelevant and unthinkable as well. Supporting pregnancy resource centers is one way we can do that.”

The new grant allocations will be available to pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies and entities that help provide material support to pregnant women.

According to Arkansas Right to Life, the state has over 50 pregnancy resource centers.

In Arkansas, preborn human life is protected from the moment of conception.

Last November, Arkansas beat back an effort to amend its state constitution to include the so-called right to abortion.

For the fifth year in a row, Arkansas was named the “most pro-life state” in the nation by Americans United for Life. States are ranked according to their policies, including “abortion law, legal recognition of preborn children, bioethics, assisted suicide and end-of-life patient care, and healthcare rights of conscience.”

Click here to see some of the significant policies Arkansas is advancing to promote life-affirming policies in the state.

As reported by the Daily Citizen, there are approximately 2,750 pregnancy resource centers nationwide providing nearly $368 million in free services to clients every year.

The Choose Life Coalition tracks available grant money and tax credits for pregnancy help organizations at the state level. According to their website, 19 states now have funding opportunities available.

Arkansas Now Requires Schools to Teach Human Development in the Womb

Last week, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill requiring that public school students learn about human development in the womb.

This new law is part of a broader trend among more conservative states to include detailed fetal development into education standards and school curricula and it’s a positive move that’s reflective of the ongoing culture war over abortion.

SB 450 requires Arkansas Department of Education to change its academic standards to include discussions on human fetal growth and development.

The bill aims to educate students on the biological truths of human development from conception to birth.

The measure was passed with overwhelming support in the State House (vote of 81-13) and State Senate (vote of 26-6).

Key provisions require that the content include:

  • “A high-definition ultrasound that shows the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development”
  • “The process of fertilization and every stage of human development inside the uterus, including a discussion that notes significant markers in cell growth and organ development for every significant marker of pregnancy until birth.”

Proponents of the measure, including Arkansas’ Family Council, celebrated the new law, saying this would give public school students a window into the womb and an opportunity to learn about preborn babies.

According to the bill’s language, the Department of Education will work with the Department of Health to determine age-appropriate material for discussions.

Six other states have passed similar legislation requiring academic standards be added to teach students about human development in the womb, including Iowa, Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Dakota and Kansas.

Four of those states passed legislation in the last few months.

All of these legislative efforts share common elements:

  • Requiring schools to teach about fetal development in the womb, often including visual materials.
  • Generally targeting students from 5th grade through 12th grade.

Not surprising, the ACLU of Arkansas opposed the bill, calling it “egregious” and suggested that it would threaten “reproductive rights.”

Under current law, Arkansas protects life in the womb beginning at conception with an exception to save the life of the mother. At present, there are no licensed abortion clinics in the state.

We applaud the state of Arkansas for its efforts to educate the next generation of mothers and fathers about the biological truth of human life in the womb.

It’s time to encourage lawmakers in every state to pass similar legislation.

Image from Getty.

New Abortion Pill Study Confirms Danger to Mothers

A new study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) confirms what many have been warning about for years. The abortion pill doesn’t just take the life of innocent preborn babies but also injures and puts mother’s lives in jeopardy.

“The Abortion Pill Harms Women,” the largest ever study of its kind, found that nearly 11% of all women who abort their child with mifepristone suffer from life-threatening conditions, including sepsis, infection or hemorrhaging.

Authored by Jamie Bryan Hall, EPPC’s Director of Data Analysis and EPPC president Ryan T. Anderson, the findings come just as the use of chemical (and often mail order) abortions are skyrocketing.

“This study is the statistical equivalent of a category 5 hurricane hitting the prevailing narrative of the abortion industry,” reflected Ryan T. Anderson.

“It reveals, based on real-world data, the shocking number of women who suffer serious medical consequences because of the abortion pill. The Trump FDA should take immediate action to protect the safety of American women by reinstating the safety regulations that the Obama and Biden Administrations removed.”

The study, conducted between 2017 and 2023, found that women are 22 times more likely to be harmed than previously suggested by the Food and Drug Administration.

In the simplest of terms, this new study confirms that the public has been consistently lied to or deceived about the so-called safety of the abortion pill.

In releasing the study, the EPPC is wisely calling for the FDA to reinstate “patient safety protocols” that were first promised when mifepristone was first released. Additional requests include:

  • Prescribing mifepristone and misoprostol for the termination of pregnancy should require at least three in-person office visits by the patient — as originally required by the FDA.
  • Mifepristone should be prescribed only by physicians — as originally required by the FDA — who have read and understood the prescribing information.
  • Mifepristone should be administered only in a clinic, medical office, or hospital, by or under the supervision of a physician, able to assess the gestational age of an embryo and to diagnose ectopic pregnancies — all of which was originally required by the FDA.
  • Physicians must be able to provide surgical intervention in cases of incomplete abortion or severe bleeding, or have made plans to provide such care through others, and be able to assure patient access to medical facilities equipped to provide blood transfusions and resuscitation, if necessary.
  • Healthcare providers should be required once again to report to the FDA (and manufacturers of mifepristone) all serious adverse events resulting from the use of mifepristone.
  • Mifepristone should only be prescribed to a woman who is confirmed by a physician to be in the first seven weeks of pregnancy — as originally required by the FDA.

Abortion pill sycophants often dismiss warnings about the deadly pill as being hyperbole, but in releasing the new study, the EPPC even provides tragic testimonies from women who have suffered from its use.

Sadly, there are many no longer alive to talk.

Public policy impacts real people in real time and nowhere is this truer than when it comes to the reckless and tragic distribution of the abortion pill.

The FDA is long overdue to study and re-investigate the abortion pill’s so-called safety. This landmark new study will hopefully trigger and expedite that process.