March 22 marked two months since the House was supposed to vote on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act but didn’t.
All agree the word “debacle” would aptly describe the chain of events surrounding the GOP leadership’s last-minute decision to pull the 20-week abortion ban.
The first object of my wrath was one of the debacle’s ringleaders, Rep. Renee Ellmers, whose locked office I and others protested the day the glorious vote had been scheduled – January 22, the anniversary of Roe v Wade….
After that, I, for the most part, kept my silence, waiting… and waiting… and waiting for the GOP House leadership to circle back and fix their mess.
This was admirable on my part, I must say. Planned Parenthood certainly would not have stood by quietly had Democrats dared to pull a stunt like that.
Although Democrats would never dare to pull a stunt like that.
Wherein lies one of the pro-life movement’s problems. We’re obviously not respected or feared enough to have had someone(s) in the political party that is supposed to uphold our interests carefully shepherd the 20-week abortion ban through the process like it was truly a Big Deal.
To get an idea of the contrast, read Mollie Hemingway’s, “Human trafficking filibuster proves abortion lobby controls Democrats.” Now that’s respect.
The GOP must have mistaken our silence for indifference – when really it was a grand display of unmerited patience – because after January 22 the House leadership went silent itself about the 20-week ban.
So finally a small group of us said enough and organized a protest for March 25, at 11:00 a.m., at Speaker Boehner’s office, at whose door the buck stops.
Again, this protest comes a full two months after the 20-week ban was supposed to have been voted on.
If you live anywhere near the area I hope you’ll join us and/or publicize our event on Facebook and Twitter (hashtag #freetheban, @SpeakerBoehner).
Click “like” if you are PRO-LIFE!
Meanwhile, suddenly, last Wednesday – a week before our protest – Speaker Boehner felt compelled to issue a statement of assurance to the pro-life community:
I’m proud to lead a pro-life bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is the most significant pro-life legislation to come before Congress since enactment of the ban on partial-birth abortions, and it remains an important priority for our majority. We have a moral obligation to defend the defenseless, and we will continue to fight to ensure our nation’s laws respect the sanctity of unborn human life.
Words, words.
Helping organize this protest has not been some grand-standing Sharptonesque endeavor on my part. I have carefully thought and prayed it through.
For me, it always comes back to the 21-week abortion survivor I held until he died. That sweetheart would be alive today had a 20-week abortion ban been in place.
I have determined this Wednesday will be a fitting time to remind politicians, and even we in the pro-life community, about that little guy and others like him, and attempt to restore a sense of urgency on saving these babies from an agonizing, tortured death.
Reprinted with permission from Jill Stanek.