By Kristan Hawkins – March 3, 2022
In case you missed it, earlier this week the Abortion Lobby’s crown jewel – the so-called “Women’s Health Protection Act” – which would codify abortion-on-demand nationwide up until the moment of birth went down in flames in the U.S. Senate.
Students for Life Action was outside the Capitol when this disastrous bill went down in flames in a 46-48 vote.
This was no small victory – especially ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson case.
Even the pro-abortion national media was forced to recognize defeat…and the fact that you and I were instrumental in pressuring our U.S. Senators to vote “NO!”
POLITICO even called Students for Life a “powerful conservative group.”
Normally, I wouldn’t take praise from any national media outlet, but it makes me chuckle when they have to admit the Pro-Life Generation is winning!
While this is good news, I’m still shocked that 46 U.S. Senators actually voted in favor of allowing nine-month-old preborn babies to be ripped from their mothers’ wombs.
It shows just how much work you and I have left to do.
Not only that, but we’re also gearing up for a critical U.S. Supreme Court confirmation showdown in the coming weeks.
As you know, President Joe Biden recently announced his Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer.
Federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson clerked for Justice Breyer as he struck down a Nebraska law banning horrifying partial birth abortions in a case known as Stenberg v. Carhart.
Donna, if you don’t understand the process of partial birth abortion, it is a gruesome late-term procedure in which a baby is delivered all but the head so that a child’s brains can be removed to deliver a dead baby.
Students for Life Action will continue to OPPOSE President Biden’s radical Supreme Court nominee and shed light on her pro-abortion past.
I know all eyes are focused on Washington, D.C. (and preparing for the critical Midterm elections), but I also wanted to give you a brief update on all the state-level legislative fights Students for Life Action has been mobilizing in.
After you read through the list of some of the battles we’ve taken on (and won!) and are still fighting, please prayerfully consider chipping in a contribution today to help us continue to pay for these efforts.
Students for Life Action legislative update:
>>> Students for Life Actions ramps up pressure in Alabama and positions themselves for pro-life victories: After more than a year since Rep. Andrew Sorrell’s Chemical Abortion Ban (HB 261) was introduced, it has now made it out of Alabama’s House Judiciary Committee and is now headed to the House Rules Committee.
Students for Life Action’s Public Relations and Policy Coordinator, Savanna Deretich, is headed back to Alabama this week to deliver more than 2,000 of your signed petitions, lock down additional support, and answer questions representatives may have about the bill.
Students for Life Action hopes for a strong pro-life victory with the passage of this bill.
>>> Arizona Republican-controlled House Rules and Judiciary Committee ignore pro-life bills: First, several members on the Republican-controlled House Rules and Judiciary Committee quietly killed our Life at Conception Bill (HB 2810) by refusing to bring it to the committee for a vote and missing key deadlines. Then, our bill to end Chemical Abortions (HB 2811) fell short in the state house when a handful of Republicans caved to the pro-abortion lobby and voted against our bill.
Students for Life Action thanks pro-life champion Rep. Jacqueline Parker (R-16) for introducing these bills and we will continue the fight to expose the “Republican” legislators for refusing to lift a finger to help save precious preborn babies in the coming months.
>>> We’re ramping up pressure on Nebraska’s LB 781, Adopt the Heartbeat Act with thousands of phone calls and petitions: in preparation for a post-Roe America, Students for Life Action is working to help protect women and children from abortion violence. If passed, this bill would effectively ban abortion once a child’s heartbeat can be detected.
Our Midwest Regional Coordinator, Jaylem, testified in front of the Judiciary Committee last Thursday, but we may have to overcome a filibuster to pass this life-saving bill.
>>> We’ve Mobilized in Support of New Hampshire’s Heartbeat Bill: Our student leaders delivered thousands of your signed petitions and testified for HB 1477, the Heartbeat Bill, at the Judiciary Committee hearing.
The committee voted against passing the bill, but Students for Life Action is working with our bill sponsor, Rep. Dave Testerman, to utilize a rule in New Hampshire that could allow the Heartbeat Bill to receive a floor vote regardless of how the Judiciary Committee votes. Efforts are also underway to hold House members accountable for gutting New Hampshire’s 24-week ban, and to lobby state senators to uphold the ban on late-term abortions.
>>> Students for Life Action is not giving up the fight in South Dakota: We’re working relentlessly in South Dakota to protect women and children from deadly Chemical Abortion Pills.
Last week in South Dakota, students helped ramp up the pressure to pass Rep. Steven Haugaard’s (R-10) House Bill 1208 to prohibit deadly Chemical Abortion drugs in South Dakota out of the House.
Sadly, the bill died in the Senate Human and Health Services Committee. But it’s clear our efforts to support a full ban on Chemical Abortions appears to have helped revive interest in Governor Kristi Noem’s (R) original bill to reduce Chemical Abortions by banning the online distribution of these dangerous pills.
Students for Life Action will continue to mobilize pressure on the state Senate in South Dakota to ban Chemical Abortion.
>>> The Wyoming state Senate is hearing arguments to pass bill prohibiting Chemical Abortions: For almost two weeks, Students for Life Action has been working in Wyoming to protect women and children from Chemical Abortion. In Wyoming, Senator Tim Salazar’s (R-26) Chemical Abortion Ban (SF0083) was heard and passed unanimously out of the state’s Labor and Health Committee.
The bill has now successfully passed through the Senate chamber and we anticipate is will soon be headed to the House for a full floor vote.
Students for Life Action was present to testify in favor of the protection and will continue mobilizing in support of Sen. Salazar’s strong legislation.
>>> Now the bad news. In Maryland, we’re mobilizing against an onslaught of pro-abortion bills: (HB 937, HB 1171, SB 890 and SB 669) aimed at removing protections from preborn children and pregnant women. Students for Life Action is testifying in opposition to the measures and will continue promoting the expansion of nonviolent abortion alternatives in the state.
Donna, there are so many more battles our team is facing in states across the nation.
None of the life-saving work would be possible without the continued prayers and support from pro-lifers like you.
With the U.S. Supreme Court set to release their ruling on the Dobbs v. Jackson case in June, the next few months will be some of the most critical in the history of the Pro-Life Movement.
So, we have to do more than ever before.
Kristan Hawkins is President of Students for Life Action
