By Tom Quiner
“What is this?”
I held in my hand a model of a 12 week old preborn human being, also known as a fetus, or also known as a “blob” of cells if you work for Planned Parenthood.
I was working a shift for Iowans for Life at the Iowa State Fair.
People poured by.
We engaged a generally friendly crowd on life issues. The focal point of our booth were the life sized models of the preborn at different stages of development, from 12 to 26 weeks.
Little kids loved the models. I made it a point to take the 12 week fetus and show it to kids who were four or five years old.
“What is this?” I would ask them.
The response EVERY time was, “A baby!”
Kids are smart
Something struck me. Either these kids are smarter than so-called ‘pro choice’ politicians, or simply more honest. Kids at that age are without guile. Pro choice politicians are defined by it.
The public policies they promote allow abortion. The public policies they oppose are those that attempt to regulate the brutal business of Big Abortion.
In a single year, abortion kills nearly a million of the little guys pictured above. They have no rights, because these politicians and the judges they appoint won’t allow it.
At the least, each human abortion affects three people:
- The baby, who is dead.
- The mother who has either made the decision to kill her child, or was coerced into doing it.
- The father, who sometimes is the one who pressured the mom to kill her child.
This doesn’t count siblings, grandparents, friends, and the entire community who have been deprived of the gifts of a unique human person.
How are parents affected? Many, perhaps most, experience life-eroding guilt. They know in their heart they killed their child to make their own lives more convenient.
What is love? Love is willing the good of the other, or in other words, to love your neighbor as yourself.
Human abortion kills the good in the other.
Love civilizes man and gives meaning to our lives.
Human abortion turns man into barbarians, stripping away any semblance of meaning to our existence.
Many of my friends on the Left maintain that there are issues other than human abortion that are just as important in this highly-charged political environment. No, there aren’t. None dehumanize the United States of America more than the issue that breeds death and contempt for human dignity.
The reality of human abortion is this: it makes man less dignified than an animal.
We’re so much better than that.
[This blogpost was published on August 14th, 2016, at www.QuinersDiner.com. Thanks to Tom Quiner for permission to republish it. The piece generated epic pushback. Check back tomorrow for an intense exchange between Mr. Quiner and his ‘fans’.]
By Tom Quiner
“Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord.”
The psalmist might allude to drowning in the depths of dark, frigid water.
Or he might allude to life’s addictions and sins that separate us from God. Whatever the depth of our suffering, our soul is hardwired by God Himself to cry out to Him, our Creator and Savior, in times of distress.
Contrition and mercy
When our heart is sincerely contrite, our Lord is ridiculously merciful. Christ Jesus gave us His Church and a beautiful sacrament, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which cleanses us of our sin, restoring us to the fullness of redemption.
It is as if the sin never occurred in God’s eyes.
The culture mocks virtue
There’s a problem with our modern culture. The culture is increasingly trying to twist sin and transform it into something virtuous. Perhaps the most brazen example is Planned Parenthood’s “shout your abortion” campaign, which encourages women to proudly and publicly proclaim their abortions. They profess that “abortion is normal.”
How this must wound God, in whose image we were created.
The hope of salvation
Our hope of salvation is predicated on God’s forgiveness, which begins with His Son, and ends with our contrition. Psalm 130 beautifully expresses this recognition of our need for forgiveness:
“If You, O Lord, never forgave us, who could survive?”
The answer: not a one. But He does, and the psalmist tells us to sing it out:
“But you forgive us, yes, you forgive us, and for that we revere you.”
Psalm 130 is one of a set of psalms called “Psalms of ascent.” Faithful Jews sang it as they traveled to Jerusalem for religious feast days, which occurred three times a year. The temple was the highest point in the land, thus the ‘ascent.’
They were going up, rising, so to speak, as they approached Yahweh. Let Psalm 130 lift your soul. Catholic liturgy builds the Psalm around this uplifting response:
“With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.”
Sing it as you approach church for Mass. You are about to receive God’s lavish mercy and fullness of redemption. Thank-you, Abba Father, our merciful Lord!
We have some good legislative news for you. Thanks to the leadership of Senator Jake Chapman, the wording of a pending piece of legislation was changed from “human pregnancy” to “unborn person.”
Senate bill SF 523 makes the penalty for causing the “non consensual … death to an unborn person” the same as the penalty for causing the death of a “born” person. It passed the Senate with this new language included.
Iowans for LIFE applauds the clarity of this language and the morality of this bill.
Another critical piece of legislative business was delayed, unfortunately.
Life Amendment SJR 21 will not clear the April 5th funnel deadline. The Coalition of Pro Life Leaders, of which IFL is a member, know the language of the Amendment has to be perfect. It has to withstand the test of time.
The Coalition is at work refining this language. The delay won’t hurt as long as we get this key Amendment passed in either the 2019 OR 2020 session. With it’s passage, the people of Iowa will have the opportunity to vote it into our State Constitution, a vote we’re confident we’ll win!
Here’s what you can do: follow this blog for updates; stick close to your legislator; and pray.
One more thing: share this blogpost and use this hashtag on social media: #SayLifeIowa.
Iowans for LIFE doesn’t typically get involved with Medicare discussions. Now it’s necessary to comment in light of a growing swath of left-leaning politicians calling for Medicare for All.
The proposed legislation is shocking.
Mandated taxpayer funded abortions
The language of the law, which is sponsored by Representative Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.), states:
“Individuals enrolled for benefits under this Act are entitled to have payment made by the Secretary to an eligible provider for . . . comprehensive reproductive, maternity, and newborn care,”
‘Comprehensive reproductive’ care are code words for human abortion. Medicare for all is being championed by Democratic torchbearers Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Kirsten Gillibrand. When Democrats retook the levers of power in 2008 with filibuster-proof majorities, the first thing they did was pass Obamacare and impose HSA mandates on the country.
If they retake control in 2020, Medicare for All will be at the top of their bucket list.
The end of abortion regulation at the state level
As recently as the 1990s, Democrats espoused that abortion should be “safe, legal, but rare.” That has been replaced with “shout your abortion.” Medicare for All would end all abortion restrictions, as you can see in the language of the bill:
“Any other provision of law in effect on the date of enactment of this Act restricting the use of Federal funds for any reproductive health service shall not apply to monies in the Trust Fund.”
Abortion has been on the decline for years, thanks to the yeoman efforts of the pro life movement. Medicare for all would ensure the end of this trend.
Catholic doctors and hospitals lose their conscience protections
The language of the bill is intolerant of those who oppose abortion on moral grounds:
“Items and services to eligible persons shall be furnished by the provider without discrimination.”
Medicare for all is a partisan abomination.
For secular pro lifers who embrace scientific proof that a unique human life begins at fertilization, Medicare for All violates the norms of decency.
For Protestant pro lifers who believe God made us in His image in a spirit of sonship, Medicare for All violates the Commandment, “Thou shall not commit murder.”
For Roman Catholics, Medicare for All is a demonic prescription for a spread of mortal sin.
The Medicare for All debate comes on the heals of the 19th rejection of Born Alive legislation by House Democrats.
Let’s be honest: Democrats aren’t pro life, they are pro death. Medicare for All would transform America into a mecca for evil.
[Support a culture of life in Iowa. Donate to IFL today.]
Pro-Life Twitter Picket: #AWomansRightToBeBorn
By David Krouse
For twelve years I have been a registered Republican. I have voted in two presidential elections (2008, 2016) in two different states (Ohio and California). On March 1st, 2019, I began a daily Twitter Retweet Protest asking “How Long Must We Wait for a ProLife Democrat to Run for President?” using a hashtag campaign: #AWomansRightToBeBorn.
I have been joined by Kirsten Day, Executive Director of Democrats for Life of America and now other Twitters spontaneously responding. In the first ten days, the protest travelled to Michigan, New Hampshire, Kansas, Southern & Northern California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Washington DC, New York, New Jersey and Iowa.
My goal is to raise awareness that abortion is undermining American Democracy by creating political monopolies and opportunism, while the right to live is still denied. The Republican strategy of hyped elections followed by non-action has weakened our Democracy; first by Pro- Life voter fatigue and second creating political ambivalence among American voters in general.
Republican history
From 2002 – 2006, Republicans held Congress and the White House. The majority of states passed constitutional amendments banning same sex marriage and a federal amendment was seriously considered by Congress. During this time not a single state ratified a human life amendment.
From 2008-2010, Republican Party conservatives led campaigns to defeat Personhood Amendments on state ballots in the name of electing a “pro-life president” causing a schism in the Pro-Life Movement. In 2012, Mitt Romney was nominated. Pro-Lifers sat out the election.
In 2017, Republicans again controlled Congress and the White House. Not a single piece of significant pro-life legislation passed Congress; including the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act or the PreNatal Discrimination Ban.
Voter malaise
Positioning Republican and Democrat Parties as Pro-Life and Pro-Choice, has left American voters with no choice at all. Americans prioritizing the Right to Life are being forced to sacrifice healthcare, taxation, foreign policy, national defense, education and labor. While some consider this electoral choice, American Democracy CAN ONLY EXIST when all political parties support the Right to Life.
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson clearly established the moral foundation of government declaring;
“That to secure these [inalienable] rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form. . .”
More recently during the proliferation of “democratic people’s republics” in the 20th Century, Margaret Thatcher reminded that Democracy goes beyond voting;
“Democracy rests ultimately on morality. . . How could minority groups in a democracy be protected against the majority? Surely the 51 per cent might claim legitimacy for persecution of the 49 per cent? But democracy is about more than majorities. It is about the right of every individual to freedom and justice:”
After four years of Republican non-action under George W. Bush, I voted Anti-Republican in 2006. This was made easier by the fact that I was aware Democrats for Life and significant numbers of Pro-Life Democrats ran for office. Still voting for a party that supported abortion rights or more Republican non-action left me disenfranchised.
In 2008, I favored John Edwards for President, but was disgusted by his “Pro-Choice” stance. I decided to vote without taking abortion into consideration, recognizing that the driving factors of abortion are socio-economic. Edwards dropped out of the race before Ohio’s Primary. In November 2008, I voted for Sarah Palin to see a pro-lifer as the first female Vice-President.
Pro-Life Democrat History
Current Pro-Life Republican rhetoric ignores the real and censored existence of Pro-Life Democrats. In 1976, Ellen McCormack ran the first Right to Life President Campaign for the Democrat Party Nomination. McCormack’s inspiration came from a doctor trying to pressure her into a legalized abortion due to her heart condition. In her run, McCormack was supported by Dr. Mildred Jefferson; the first African-American woman to graduate Harvard Medical School and President of the National Right to Life Committee.
The two women appeared in national television ads [above] articulating a bold electoral strategy. McCormack became the first woman to raise enough money to qualify for federal matching funds and Secret Service Protection. She won 230,000 votes in 18 Primaries and 22 Delegates, sparring with Jimmy Carter over abortion during a debate. While a Pro-Life Housewife from New York campaigned against a Born Again Christian, Republicans re-nominated Pro-Choice President Gerald Ford. Yet the woman-centered Pro-Life Democrat campaign for President on the “woman’s issue” has been Command Deleted from history.
In 1990 Joan Finney, a Democrat, defeated two men (Democrat and Republican) to become the first female Governor in Kansas only to be dePlatformed by her party in a Senate bid. Democrat Mayor Sharon Weston of Baton Rouge, during her time in the Louisiana State legislature was one of the architects of “A Woman’s Right to Know Laws.” Currently three Pro-Life Democrat Senators have joined in bi-partisanship with the Republicans for the Born Alive Act, and Congressional number of Pro-Life Democrats are dwindling to a handful. Pro-Life Democrat women in particular are special targets for disenfranchisement by PAC like Emilys List.
Twitter protest
My Twitter Protest is designed to raise awareness of this lack of electoral competitiveness through a digital retweet picket line across one of the largest social platforms daily. The tactics are simple – we hold the parties in power responsible and amplify attention to their actions.
The end goal I hope to achieve is to take advantage of the Republican incumbency to draw Pro- Life Voters attention to Democrat Primaries and dePlatform Pro-Choice Democrat incumbents creating momentum for a Presidential election where A Pro-Life Democrat faces off against a Pro-Life Republican, dePlatforming Pro-Choice politicians altogether.
Chance for success
I believe this protest will create results. In 1916, Alice Paul led the original picket protest that resulted in the 19th Amendment’s ratification, showing how effective it is. Recently in 2008 and again in 2018, Twitter became one of the most important digital tools for protestors in Iran working to dePlatform the Supreme Leader. Due to Donald Trump’s revitalization of Twitter as the primary platform of political conversation, we believe this platform is extremely relevant to a social protest and inject our message into multiple conversations from our phones.
I also believe that this protest on Twitter is more likely to draw attention not only because Twitter is now trending again among users, but because Twitter has recently taken to political censorship and suspending accounts, while testifying before Congress this was not the case. This pro-life censorship interference in political elections has been documented by Senator Marsha Blackburn and the Susan B. Anthony List. Should we face such censorship, the potential of having our case raised by members of Congress exists, making 21st Century digital disobedience extremely effective. I invite everyone to join me in making this daily Retweet campaign viral.
Follow my account
Follow either my account @Dgtkrouse or @NM4LIFE and daily search for the post hashtag #AWomansRightsToBeBorn and number. Then retweet to your followers, who will hopefully do the same, with the goal to draw attention.
[Thanks to David Krouse for submitting this guest blogpost.]
Sadly, the future of Roe v Wade doesn’t matter to Iowa considering the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision last year.
The Iowa Court concocted a right to abortion out of thin air. Watch the brief video clip with Tom Chapman, Executive Director of the Iowa Catholic Conference with Iowans for LIFE board president, Tom Quiner.
Chapman explains that even if Roe v Wade were to be overturned, abortion would be legal in Iowa, unless the Iowa Constitution is amended.
For that to happen, a proposed amendment to the Constitution has to pass both houses of the legislature two consecutive session. Then, a majority of Iowans must vote in favor of it.
How likely is that to happen? It’s doable. Our state Constitution has been amended 46 times, and as recently as 2010. So if the Iowa Constitution is amended to undo last year’s court decision, how likely is Roe v Wade to be struck down?
Again, it’s doable in light of the current composition of the Supreme Court. But there are impediments.
One impediment is public opinion. According to a NBC News/Wall Street Journal Survey last July, 71% of Americans oppose overturning Roe v Wade, a record high since they started asking the question three decades ago. That includes 52% of Republicans.
Of course, public opinion doesn’t preserve or overturn court decisions. That’s up to nine justices.
So what is the future of Roe v Wade?
The Director of Drake University’s Constitutional Law Center, Mark Kende, thinks the departure of Anthony Kennedy from the court bodes well for pro-life advocates:
Mark Kende
“I think that there is a strong possibility that the Supreme Court will gradually chip away at Roe and Casey by upholding various state restrictions that it might not uphold were Kennedy on the Court.
Specifically, the Court could easily use the undue burden test to start concluding there is no undue burden in cases where Kennedy might have viewed things differently. Over time, that would then enable the Court to approach the more fundamental question about whether there is a constitutional right to abortion at all, except perhaps in the rarest of cases.
Certainly the Iowa legislature has passed laws that could test the Court, if the Iowa litigation reaches the Court for a decision. Of course, there is restrictive legislation from other states as well that the Court could focus on.”
The last year has been defined by remarkable triumph and setback for the pro-life movement in Iowa.
Iowans for LIFE is pulling out the stops to fight back by thinking outside the box to promote a culture of life in Iowa.
We will never, ever give up the fight until the last vestige of human abortion has been eradicated.
[You can help in the fight by donating today to our pro-life billboard campaign. We need to raise $50,000; $20,000 has already been raised! Thanks to those who have already supported the project. Please, don’t sit on the sidelines, we can’t reach our goal without YOUR help!]
Agapé Pregnancy Center, 2550 Martin Luther King Jr Pkwy, Des Moines, IA 50310
The Agapé Pregnancy Center is a pro-life goldmine in the heart of Des Moines, Iowa. How many times have you heard it said that pro-lifers don’t care about the child after she’s born? How about a zillion! You know it’s all nonsense. The compassionate people who operate the Agapé Pregnancy Center are but another example of an organization that respects the dignity of human life before AND after birth.
Critical pregnancy services
Agapé offers critical services beginning with pregnancy testing and ultrasounds. Executive Director, Steve Siemens, told Iowans for LIFE that 85% of women who have an ultrasound of their baby in the womb choose not to abort.
These services are all free, as is STD testing. This is another important benefit to our community in light of data from the Centers for Disease Control. According to the CDC, one in two sexually active persons will contract a sexually transmitted infection by age 25, but only 12% of these were tested. Agapé stands in the gap to aid these young people with free testing.
Not only does Agape have a registered nurse on staff, they are supported by an ‘army’ of trained volunteers who are well-versed on how to interact with their clientele.
You should ask them for a tour, because you’ll be struck by the compassionate atmosphere that so defines this humble clinic. In fact, if you’re interested in volunteering, they’d love to talk to you.
“Earn while you learn”
Agapé helps babies after they are born
Agapé is more than a pregnancy clinic. They offer “Earn While You Learn” courses that will help babies (and parents) after birth. These classes dispense critical information on how to care for a child. So many young women and men don’t know where to begin. For example, one young woman thought she was supposed to wake up her baby and feed her every hour on the hour at night.
She was exhausted and frustrated. Agape provided her with the training to right the ship.Those completing the courses earn ‘Agape bucks’ which they can spend at Agape for diapers, cribs, car seats, pack-n-plays and infant clothing.
An invaluable resource
Iowans for LIFE considers Agape an invaluable resource to the Des Moines area. Even their location is a blessing, as it is located on a bus line for easy access. Occasionally, if a client needs assistance to make it to class or an appointment, they will give them a bus token to help with transportation. If the bus isn’t convenient for a client, Agape will arrange a ride to their clinic so that transportation is never a barrier. Do you think Planned Parenthood offers these services? Agape sure does!
Their space is tight. Executive Director Siemens said a house became available for purchase immediately behind their clinic which could solve their space problems. If they could only find a way to purchase it, they could move office staff to the new property to expand clinic space.
The house is located at 2222 Bennett Street. So every day at 2:22PM, Steve Siemens called his staff together to pray to God to provide. He did.
Prayers answered
Agape Executive Director, Steve Siemens (left), shows off their new space to IFL Executive Director, Maggie DeWitte (center), along with Agapé Development Director, David Ortega
Miraculously, large donations flooded in from nowhere, allowing Agape to purchase the house. Renovations will begin soon to allow the expansion to become reality. When it’s done, Mr. Siemens said, “It will allow us to expand our Hispanic and men’s ministries which are top priorities.” He adds that the expansion will allow Agape to be a blessing to the neighborhood by making space available to the community and clients.
“We also provide adoption referrals because there are so many people who want babies.”
And yet human abortion not only kills a person, it kills a dream for couples begging to adopt. Adoption referrals assist women and couples who don’t feel they are equipped to raise a child at this point in their lives.
It’s all about faith
Faith underpins everything Agape does. As Mr. Siemens put it,
“God is great not just because nothing is too big for Him; God is also great because nothing is too small. The Sovereign One cares about every minute detail of our lives.
God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time, but it’s up to us to seize those opportunities that are all around us all the time. Keep praying and trusting!”
[Iowans for LIFE supports Agape’s mission. Agape Pregnancy Center is a member of the Coalition of Pro Life Leaders and a financial supporter of our pro life billboard campaign. We encourage you to support them.]
Re: Please Contact Iowa Legislators in Support of Regenerative Medicine Tax Credit Bill- House File 277 and Senate File 37Dear Friends:
We need your help! First, I would like to thank you for supporting ethical medical research in our state. Since 2006, the Institute has successfully generated one of the largest repositories of adult stem cells in the world.
Recently, JP2MRI co-published a research manuscript on a novel way to produce Induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells that do not require the use of viruses or oncogenes, thereby opening up a potentially safer clinical option for new therapies.
While recent research findings have caused a decline in embryonic stem cell research, sadly their use continues and remains well funded.
As you can imagine, it is very tough for a small, pro-life based non-profit such as ours to compete against larger academic institutions and private organizations that receive state and federal dollars and grants that primarily or solely support embryonic stem cell research. Most of our Institute’s funding comes from private individuals who follow a pro-life ethic and support ethical medical research.
JP2MRI is currently sponsoring an important Regenerative Medicine Tax Credit bill in both the Iowa House (HF277) and Senate (SF37) that will help level the playing field by supporting only adult stem cell research. The bi-partisan legislation we are proposing, which would greatly enable our organization to translate its laboratory research into a clinical setting, requests a 2 million dollar annual tax credit for our donors. If passed, this bill will support the state of Iowa through job creation, spur collaborations between our Institute and regent university researchers, put Iowa on the map as a biotechnology leader and most importantly, lead to better therapies and potential cures for various medical conditions that currently have no meaningful treatments. While other states have supported medical research legislation, sadly Iowa has not.
We need your help in contacting legislators in the Iowa House and Senate Ways and Means Committees to show support for HF277 and SF37. We especially need you to contact the chairpersons listed below in the Ways and Means Committee to bring the bill up for a vote:
Capital Phone Number: (515) 281-3221
Jacob Bossman (R, District 6) Vice Chair Jacob.Bossman@legis.iowa.gov
Dan Dawson (R, District 8), Vice Chair. dan.dawson@legis.iowa.gov
Pam Jochum (D, District 50), Ranking Member. pam.jochum@legis.iowa.gov
Abortion news hurtles at us at a frenetic pace. As the country becomes more pro life, left-leaning politicians have become shockingly more pro abortion, to the point of condoning infanticide and a frightening ‘disposability doctrine.’
We have reached the next phase in the natural progression of human abortion, a phase that accepts and promotes a second death sentence for babies who survive an abortion.
Roe v Wade introduced the disposability doctrine
Although Roe v Wade limited human abortion to the first trimester, the essence of the decision acknowledged that a person in the womb was disposable if inconvenient to the mother, father, or both. A companion decision, Doe v Bolton extended abortions rights to the third trimester.
With these decisions, the disposability doctrine was firmly established as a “Constitutional right.”
Things are happening fast
A quick recap of recent news reveals the volatility of abortion politics and the expansion of this disposability doctrine:
- In January, an Iowa judge overturned the Heartbeat Bill, which protected human life at the point a heartbeat was detected. It is only a matter of time until the Fetal Pain Bill is thrown out, which will turn Iowa into New York.
- Speaking of New York, the Empire State passed a law allowing human abortion right up to the birth of the baby. In doing so, they also struck section 4164 of the New York public health law that asserted that a child born alive (after surviving an abortion) enjoys the protection of New York laws. With the removal of section 4164, infanticide is now permissible in New York, a second death sentence, so to speak.
- Virginia attempted to pass a similar law earlier this month. Their Governor, Ralph Northum, a physician, let the infanticide cat out of the bag. He glibly stated that the child who survives an abortion would be kept “comfortable” while mom and doc decide whether or not to terminate her life.
- This week, Senate Democrats defeated the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act. The bill protects persons who survive an abortion attempt.
The language of the bill was straight forward:
“If an abortion results in the live birth of an infant, the infant is a legal person for all purposes under the laws of the United States, and entitled to all the protections of such laws.”
Only three Democrats supported the bill. Every Republican supported the bill. Every presidential hopeful opposed the bill, sanctioning a second death sentence for kids deemed disposable.
We’ve barely scratched the surface, but you get the idea.
“Is it OK to still have children?”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
As shocking as all of these developments are, the most chilling development was a statement recently made by the de facto leader of the Democratic Party, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:
“It is basically a scientific consensus that the lives of our children are going to be very difficult, and it does lead young people to have a legitimate question: is it OK to still have children?”
Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s statement is influenced by her faith in debatable claims that the world will end in 12 years if climate issues aren’t quickly addressed and her ‘Green New Deal’ implemented.
Are people a threat to Mother Earth?
If she believes as she does, her question will quickly morph into a statement, “it’s not okay to still have children.” After all, humanity and its carbon consumption, is a direct threat to Mother Earth, according to her creed.
The return of ‘The Population Bomb’
Her question is reminiscent of the concerns expressed by Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich in his best selling 1968 book, “The
Dr. Paul Ehrlich
Population Bomb.” Ehrlich called for coercive population control measures to save the planet from runaway pollution, mass starvation, and the destruction of civilization.
None of his prognostications came to pass, but he started a movement that thrives to this day.
The relevance of eugenics
The threat implicit in Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s question also brings to mind the chilling embrace of eugenics by Planned Parenthood founder, Margaret Sanger.
Ms. Sanger didn’t actually embrace a disposability doctrine. In fact, she surprisingly opposed abortion:
“… while there are cases where even the law recognizes an abortion as justifiable if recommended by a physician, I assert that the hundreds of thousands of abortions performed in America each year are a disgrace to civilization.”
What Sanger advocated was the disposability of undesirable classes of our society. We quote:
Margaret Sanger
“To insure the country against future burdens of maintenance for numerous offspring as may be born to feeble-minded parents, the government would pension all persons with transmissible disease who voluntarily consent to sterilization.
Even more, the whole dysgenic population would have its choice of segregation or sterilization.
No more children should be born when the parents, though healthy themselves, find that their children are physically or mentally defective.
“By all means there should be no children when either mother or father suffers from such diseases as tuberculosis, gonorrhea, syphilis, cancer, epilepsy, insanity, drunkenness, mental disorders.”
No more children should be born to “morons, mental defectives, illiterates, paupers, unemployables, criminals, prostitutes, and dope fiends.”
Hear Margaret Sanger “in person this Sunday!
Speaking of Ms. Sanger, you can hear her “in person” at our final performance of A CLASH OF CREEDS this Sunday. It features a conversation between Ayn Rand, Margaret Sanger, and St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta in their own words.
The disposability doctrine takes may forms
As you can see, the disposability doctrine takes many forms. It is defined by coercion and the devaluation of unwanted and undesirable human beings.
It opposes the American Creed which proclaims an immutable right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The disposability doctrine opposes Christian teachings which define love as “willing the good of the other for the sake of the other.”
And it opposes science which acknowledges that human life begins at the instant of conception.
Most normal people oppose the disposability doctrine
Most normal people don’t embrace the disposability doctrine. This includes the millions of rank and file Democrats who support honorable economic and foreign policy positions on the left side of the political aisle. But these same people recoil at the thought of infanticide.
But the disposability doctrine is a reality, embraced and promoted by powerful politicians beholden to Big Abortion.
Iowans for LIFE and our allies in the Iowa Coalition of Pro Life Leaders are working on your behalf on a daily basis to oppose and block this powerful, inhumane movement.
[What can you do to help block the disposability doctrine? Support our Pro Life Billboard Campaign. Donate today!]
SJR 9 Language
Senate Joint Resolution 9 proposes a simple Amendment to the Iowa Constitution:
“No right to abortion or required funding of abortion: The Constitution of the State of Iowa does not secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.”
Here is Caitlyn Dixson’s testimony before a Senate subcommittee last week. Caitlyn appears on a new billboard that went up a few days ago, as you can see above. This is but one of our #SayLifeIowa billboard campaign.
Thanks to Caitlyn and our allies at Iowa Right to Life and the Iowa Coalition of Pro Life Leaders for joining IFL in funding this campaign.
Caitlyn Dixson testimony
My name is Caitlyn Dixson and I am the Executive Director of Iowa Right to Life. I’m here today to voice our support of Senate Joint Resolution 9.
“All men are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inalienable rights — among which are those of enjoying and defending life…” which is directly from Article I, Section I of the Iowa Constitution. It’s interesting to me that a document which starts by speaking about a person’s inalienable right to life also includes an unwritten ‘fundamental right to abortion’.
SJR 9 is a piece of legislation we shouldn’t need but do. It is a bill that gives the power of lawmaking back to the people of Iowa through their elected representatives in the legislature, instead of in the hands of unelected, activist judges. It reinforces the system of checks and balances between the three branches, the entire foundation on which the United States government was built.
Blatant judicial overreach
Iowa deserves to have laws that are able to change and evolve over time to reflect the thoughts of Iowans. The climate in Iowa today is pro-life. You can see that in the adoption of the Heartbeat Bill last year, eventually making its way to the Governor’s desk where it was signed into law. It took an act of blatant judicial overreach to overturn the law, going directly against what Iowans want.
Not supporting SJR 9 would be telling people like me, that our views don’t matter. As a mother, I hold close the call in our Constitution, the call to defend life. At sixteen years old, I was on the table at an abortion clinic where I was shown an ultrasound image of my son’s head. I have been questioned why I did not choose to have an abortion, and I have stood by my decision every single day. I have heard the talking points that women should not be held down by pregnancy, but I stand here and know that this is scare tactic employed. It couldn’t be farther from the truth. We should not scare women into choosing life, and we must not allow them to be scared into abortion because we say that children will never empower you, but it did for me.
I chose life then, I choose life now, I will continue choosing life, and I ask that you do the same. Thank you.