Lowey Champions Planned Parenthood at Rally

Screen Shot 2015-09-28 at 4.00.23 PMA rally in support of Planned Parenthood was held in White Plains Sunday. Among the attendees were several local lawmakers and Nita Lowey, who represents Rockland and parts of Westchester counties in the House of Representatives.

Two weeks ago, Lowey voted against defunding PP and also against a bill to protect infants who survive abortions. These two measures passed the House.

Among the pro-life protestors who lined the streets during the rally was Judith Anderson of the Hudson Valley Coalition for Life who said the Planned Parenthood videos which sparked the current defunding debate only “confirm what we know and have known about Planned Parenthood for 40 years.”

You can watch the News 12 Hudson Valley coverage here.

Planned Parenthood Defunding Blocked in Senate

By a vote of 52-47, the Senate blocked legislation yesterday that would have kept the government running through Dec. 11. The bill contained a provision to strip Planned Parenthood of government funding for a year while its practices are being investigated.

New York senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand voted to block the bill.

Following the defeat, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), the Senate Majority leader, filed a new bill to fund federal agencies. This bill does not contain the Planned Parenthood defunding measure. The vote on this bill could come Monday.

At the moment the Republicans are divided as to how to proceed. “We can win if we take the case to the American people,” Sen. Ted Cruz wrote in an op-ed published Wednesday in Politico. “Show the Planned Parenthood videos. Stand united. If Obama follows through on his threat to veto funding for the federal government, we should force him to defend that radical position.”

Bill to Protect Babies 20 Weeks and Older Blocked in Senate

votesagainsst3reWith 60 votes needed to proceed, the vote on the Pain-Capable Unborn Children Protection Act was 52-42. That means the bill will not advance even though a majority of the Senate voted FOR the bill.

Unfortunately, it was a group of pro-abortion Democrats who couldn’t see their way to recognizing what all but seven countries in the world have acknowledged: that it is morally wrong to inflict pain on an innocent, vulnerable human being.

And take a look at the list that accompanies this story. Yep, there are the names of our two senators from New York, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand — among the 42 senators who voted against protecting babies from excruciating abortions.

Read the story Majority of U.S. Senate votes to advance Pain-Capable Child Protection Act, but Democrats block consideration from the National Right to Life News.

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Senate Will Vote to Ban Abortions After 5 Months on Tuesday

Since the return of Congress from its summer recess three weeks ago, the House of Representatives has already held committee investigations of abortion practices and has passed profile bills to defund Planned Parenthood and extend federal protection to babies who are born alive during abortions.

This week the action turns to the U.S. Senate, which will debate and vote on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 36) on Tuesday.

This legislation would ban abortion nationwide after 20 weeks fetal age, based on the recognition that at this point in development, if not earlier, the unborn child is capable of experiencing pain during an abortion.

H.R. 36 already passed the House of Representatives on May 13 by a vote of 242-184.

Your voice is needed to urge the Senators who represent us in New York, Chuck Schumer and Kristin Gillibrand to vote FOR this bill. We will provide contact links soon.

House of Reps Votes Twice for Babies

35043134housepassagereALBANY, NY — The U.S. House of Representatives  approved two long overdue measures Friday : One to strip federal funds from the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, and the other to strengthen legal protections for infants born-alive during attempted abortions.

The Defund Planned Parenthood Act passed by a vote of 241-187.

The Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act passed by a vote of 248-177.

Nita Lowey, who represents Rockland County as well as parts of Westchester in the House, voted against these two bills.

The votes passed largely along party lines. Special condemnation is due to New York Rep. Richard Hanna (R-22), who was one of only three Republicans in the nation to vote against the defunding bill. Hanna was the recipient of Planned Parenthood’s Barry Goldwater Award in 2012. While Hanna did support the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which makes it a crime to kill survivors of abortion, the congressman unfortunately chose to continue funding his abortion lobby backers.

More disturbingly, all Democratic representatives from New York who voted opposed protecting the lives of infants born alive during abortions. According to these representatives, these children are not entitled to medical care and it should be perfectly legal to overtly kill them.

Now the action moves to the Senate. The Senate will vote a second time to attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. The first effort was derailed by a Democratic filibuster in August.

Prolife Senator Ben Sass (R-Neb.) has announced he will offer a Senate version of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act on Monday.

He said: “If this isn’t the most non-controversial sentence in American politics, it’s time to check our national conscience: newborn babies must receive care and attention. Societies are judged by how we care for the vulnerable and surely anyone with a heart— regardless of where they stand on the abortion debate— should be able to agree that our laws should protect newborns. I’m grateful that a bipartisan majority of the House stood up for babies and I look forward to introducing companion legislation in the Senate next week.”

U.S. House and Senate to Vote on Major Prolife Bills This Month

U.S. Capitol Building

U.S. Capitol Building

Congress will take up several critical prolife bills in September. They are:

In the House of Representatives (Sept. 17 or 18)

  1. A bill to place a moratorium on federal funding to Planned Parenthood Federation of America
  2. “The Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act” for babies who survive abortions. There is evidence that some abortion providers do not treat such infants as legally protected persons, which, in theory, they are, under state homicide laws.

In the U.S. Senate

  1. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 1563). This bill prohibits abortion after 20 weeks — the age at which unborn children can feel pain. The House passed their version of this bill on May 13, by a vote of 242-184.

Highlights of First Congressional Meeting on Planned Parenthood

imagesThe first of several congressional committees investigating the abortion practices at Planned Parenthood was held Wednesday. At the House Judiciary Committee hearing:

  • General counsel for the National Right to Life Committee James Bopp, Jr. argued that Planned Parenthood had, in fact, violated federal law in its procurement and sale of fetal tissue.
  • Committee chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) described what happens in a dismemberment abortion when the baby is torn into pieces, and then asked pro-abortion advocate Priscilla Smith if she considers this humane.  Smith responded Yes, provided the fetus was nonviable.
  • Two survivors of late-term abortion shared their stories “to not only highlight the horror of abortion taking place at Planned Parenthood, but to give a voice to survivors  . . and to hundreds of thousands of children who will have their lives ended by Planned Parenthood this year alone.”

House Judiciary Committee Hears Testimony on Planned Parenthood’s “Horrific Abortion Practices (National Right to Life News Today 9/9/2015)

Abortion ‘Survivors’ Criticize Planned Parenthood on Capitol Hill  (Los Angeles Times 9/9/2015)

2,000 Democrats and the Planned Parenthood Videos

In anticipation of the congressional hearings on the defunding of Planned Parenthood next Wednesday, the Susan B. Anthony List recently invited 2,000 Democratic staffers in Washington to attend a screening of the Planned Parenthood videos.

Guess how many came.

The Susan B. Anthony List, and its connected political action committee, the SBA List Candidate Fund, are dedicated to electing candidates and pursuing policies that will reduce and ultimately end abortion. The organization focuses on the election, education, promotion, and mobilization of pro-life women.

Measure to Defund PP Fails in Senate

Senate sealA measure to move forward with legislation to defund Planned Parenthood was shot down in the Senate yesterday, as proponents failed by six votes to achieve the 60 votes necessary to continue.

The vote was 53 (in favor) versus 46 (against), mostly along party lines. Both New York senators, Chuck Schumer, and Kirstin Gillibrand voted against the measure.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who is running for president, was the only senator to miss the vote.

This vote marks the beginning of what will no doubt be a long congressional fight over the government funding of Planned Parenthood, following release of videos showing some of its executives callously discussing the sale of organs of aborted babies. The organization, which is also the nation’s largest abortion provider, receives $528 million annually from the federal government.

Here is a story from The Hill, which describes what took place yesterday.