WASHINGTON, D.C., June 14, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – U.S. taxpayers are underwriting the leading figures attacking Congressman Trent Franks for trying to prevent late-term abortions nationwide, said the Congressman today.
“NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and the taxpayer-funded abortion lobby is attacking me for one reason — I’m 100 percent unapologetically pro-life and I won’t back down,” the Arizona Republican said in a fundraising e-mail, attempting to turn the late controversy over his statements into a campaign war chest.
“Now they will spend whatever it takes to destroy me, remove me from Congress, and stop me from protecting any more unborn children,” he added.
He also addressed the media feeding frenzy he has endured during a two-minute speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition “Road to Majority” conference conference on Thursday night. “I’ve been through a spin dryer here in the last 48 hours,” he said, “and I wish I hadn’t assisted them so much to that end.”
During discussions about his bill to ban late-term abortions on Wednesday, Franks explained that his bill did not require a rape exception, telling New York Democrat Jerrold Nadler, “The incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.”
He quickly clarified, explaining, “The incidences where pregnancy results from rape that results in abortion at the six month or after are very rare.” His bill would not affect early abortions.
Factually, he was correct, as the Guttmacher Institute reports less than 1.5 percent of all abortions are due to rape and incest combined. The number of abortions after six months due to rape would be even considerably less, if not non-existent.
Seeing an opportunity to tie the advancing measure to a comment made last year by another Republican congressman, Planned Parenthood emphasized his verbal gaffe.
Planned Parenthood received a record amount of taxpayer funding in 2012, totaling nearly half-a-billion dollars, while performing a record number of abortions.
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards had already taken to the talk show circuit to mobilize feminists against Franks' bill when he made his statement.
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The group's political wing, Planned Parenthood Action, currently hosts an online e-mail campaign stating that women “shouldn't have to consult with Rep. Trent Franks, and he should NOT deny women the ability to” abort their children.
Another taxpayer-funded figure, White House Spokesman Jay Carney, said on Thursday that Franks' comments show an “alarming disregard for women.” However, Carney was less forthright when asked to state President Obama's position on late-term abortion, saying only that the president “has been absolutely clear about where he stands.”
The president refused to comment on the Gosnell trial while it was underway and has failed to speak about it since the abortionist's conviction.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi likewise declined to state her views on the difference between third-trimester abortions inside the womb and the infanticide Dr. Kermit Gosnell practiced in the minutes following live births.
Surprisingly, a few prominent liberal writers have defended Franks. David Weigel of Slate wrote, “Not every comment about rape and abortion is a 'Todd Akin' comment.”
“That's where the pummelling of Franks goes wrong,” he added.
Jonathan Chait of New York magazine agreed.
Yet mainstream media outlets continue to pick apart his remarks, with a new analysis appearing in The Washington Post on Friday.
The Arizona Democratic Party is using his remarks to smear others who have appeared on stage with him.
For many, his remarks are too tempting a target, begging to be compared to those made by former Missouri Congressman Todd Akin about “legitimate rape.” Similarly dubious media claims ensnared Richard Mourdock and Rep. Steve King, R-IA, last year.
It is unclear that the efforts have gained much traction against the measure itself, which was inspired by the revelations in the Gosnell “house of horrors” trial.
Franks' bill, which would ban all abortions nationwide after the 20-week mark, passed the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice on a party line vote, 6-4 last week. The House Judiciary Committee passed his “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” (H.R. 1797), by a vote of 20-12 on Wednesday.
The full U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the legislation, which is intended to protect unborn children capable of feeling pain, next week.