Posted on 01/22/2015 1:56:34 PM PST by RKBA Democrat
Today marks the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court legalizing abortion on demand throughout pregnancy. The pro-life movement commemorates this day with marches, worship services and lobbying for bills to protect unborn children. Pro-lifers were promised by the Republican leaders they just helped elect and re-elect that the House of Representatives would pass a bill today banning most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a point after which infants can feel pain and survive if born prematurely.
The legislation has been passed by the House in the previous Congress and is extremely popular in national polling. “One of the clearest messages from Gallup trends,” the polling firm reported, “is that Americans oppose late-term abortion.” A Washington Post/ABC survey showed that 64 percent of Americans favor limiting abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy or earlier. When just women were asked, the figure jumped to 71 percent. Such measures are popular among independents and Americans of various income levels.
Quinnipiac even asked detailed questions about the bill last go-around:
As you may know, in 2013 the House of Representatives approved legislation that would ban virtually all abortions nationwide after 20 weeks of pregnancy, except in cases of rape and incest that are reported to authorities. Would you support or oppose such legislation?
Sixty percent of voters said they would support it, while 33 percent said they were opposed. Even Democrats were evenly divided (46 percent to 47 percent) on the question. We’re one of just a small handful of countries, including notorious human rights violators North Korea and China, that allow late-term abortion.
And yet somehow the Republicans managed to make a disaster of passing the bill. Instead of passing the legislation and sending it to the Republican-controlled Senate, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act was pulled at the last minute and replaced with a bill that bans taxpayer funding of abortion.
What in the h-e-double-hockey-sticks just happened? It takes a special combination of incompetence and cowardice to miss an easy lay-up like this, but apparently the new Republican Congress has it in spades.
Even if you’re not one of the majority of Americans who want to protect these children in the womb, this debacle should concern you. Here are a few reasons why.
They don’t have the cojones to fight.
If Republicans can’t pass wildly popular legislation protecting innocent unborn children, what’s going to happen when they face difficult legislative battles? It’s best to view this as a very simple test for House Republicans. A test they failed miserably.
In an essay at National Affairs, Michael Needham looks at the contrast between the grassroots and party establishment. He talks about the fight over the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, a fund for corporate welfare. The establishment fought against the grassroots tooth and nail in order to keep the bank. There have been similar fights over agriculture subsidies and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s influence in the housing market. The moneyed interests fight against the conservative insurgents — and the donor class usually wins. Needham asks:
"Given the enormous challenges facing the nation, why bother with "small" issues like corporate welfare and concomitant insider politics? Why pick these fights with the donor base?
As the Tea Party sees it, if conservatives can't stand up for sound policy on "easy" fights like these — despite their relative insignificance compared to issues like entitlement reform — the Republican Party is unlikely to have the fortitude to take on the greatest challenges the country faces. More importantly, any party that contemplates cutting back welfare for needy individuals and families but embraces corporate welfare for the powerful lacks the moral authority to urge sacrifice of any sort."
Exactly. How will the Republicans lead the battle to fight against Obamacare if they’re not willing to go against the insurance lobby on even a small issue? Whether the issue is a legitimate campaign against the dehumanization of the unborn, higher education reform or an actual attempt to thwart the growth of the administrative state, a Republican Party unable to accomplish an easy task is a Republican Party that will be completely incompetent and worse than useless in a big battle.
Sabotaging entire movements for nothing
Two of the representatives who caused the biggest stink about the bill were Rep. Renee Ellmers of North Carolina and Jackie Walorski of Indiana. Last week, Ellmers said she didn’t think it was a good idea to vote on the legislation so early in the session (an argument that makes no sense, but let’s put that aside). Yesterday the women pulled their sponsorship of the bill over what they said were concerns over the rape reporting requirement. And yet here are both women speaking in favor of this exact same legislation two years ago:
(embedded videos at link)
These women are claiming to all of a sudden be concerned about the reporting requirement — the requirement that has nearly two-to-one support among voters and the one they had no problem with just a couple of years ago. This reporting requirement would keep late-term abortion doctors like Kermit Gosnell or Leroy Carhart from simply checking a box before going ahead with the procedure. Besides, it’s one thing to seek an exception to abortion laws for victims of rape, and entirely another to think that exception must be extended until the baby exits the birth canal. This bill wouldn’t have a reporting requirement for abortions in the first five months of pregnancy.
In fact, even Democrats who think late-term abortion should be legal with no restrictions didn’t make an issue of the reporting requirement in the last two elections. Last year, support for late-term abortion hurt Democratic candidates. But now Ellmers created a controversy where non existed, hereby handing Democrats a way to fight a broadly popular bill.
This sabotage of the pro-life movement over what may have been a power struggle happens at a time when many pro-life activists have grown weary of being used by the GOP for electoral victory only to be forgotten weeks later when it’s time to vote.
Pro-lifers aren’t unfamiliar with such betrayals but as more and more grassroots voters are learning that the Republican Party is loyal to corporate interests when it counts while giving weak lipservice to the base when it doesn’t, the rift widens.
They have zero public relations skills.
It’s not news to anyone that our media are supportive of abortion rights and biased against those who support the rights of the unborn. The media carry quite a bit of water for the pro-choice movement. So, for example, we didn’t see any articles about how radical and extreme — relative to popular opinion — opposition to the bill is. But as soon as Ellmers pulled her stunt, here were the headlines:
National Journal: GOP Leaders Pull Abortion Bill After Revolt by Women, Moderates
Washington Post: Abortion bill dropped amid concerns of female GOP lawmakers
MSNBC: GOP women reject abortion bill, end debate
CNN: House GOP leaders cave on abortion bill
Politico: GOP stumbles over abortion bill
Huffington Post: GOP Congresswomen Get Cold Feet On Anti-Abortion Bill
As the kids used to say, “Smooth move, Ex-Lax. What are you going to do for an encore? Gargle peanut butter?” (NB: This made us laugh in the 1980s. I can’t explain.)
But seriously, it’s one thing to have to fight a hostile media that loves abortion. It’s entirely another to score a deciding own goal against a weak opponent.
Only Republicans could take a bill with two-to-one support and manufacture headlines about it being controversial and opposed by women.
As a bonus, these stories include reports that Ellmers was worried about how the bill would play among women and millennials.
Newsflash to the geniuses in her policy shop: there are few issues the Republicans can have with as much support, much less as much passionate support. If you’re cowering in fear on popular stuff, what are you going to do when the going gets tough?
They have no strategy for everything that needs to be accomplished.
It’s hard to tell exactly what caused the breakdown but it’s easy to see the leadership had no coherent strategy for passing this legislation. I don’t care if the folks who fought the bill at the last minute were inventing excuses, had completely legitimate grievances, or were just bored. At some point, it’s the job of leadership to not have hugely embarrassing debacles that destroy goodwill between key constituents and lawmakers. At some point leadership shouldn’t reveal to the world that it couldn’t organize a shoe closet.
The job of leadership is to make sure disasters like this don’t happen. If they let it happen on easy legislation that is broadly popular (outside of American newsrooms, at least), what are they going to do when they need to really whip a vote on something unpopular in member districts?
If leadership isn’t giving female legislators the authority and influence they seek on this issue, rectify that. But everyone needs to get their act together and to get it together quickly. If this really was just a completely botched power play at the expense of unborn children and their supporters, the people responsible should pay consequences. Names should top a short list of incompetent politicians who should be kindly asked not to run for any office ever again. Those on the short list should be given the full understanding that failure to heed this warning will result in a vigorous primary fight.
The leadership needs to fix their internal and external communications and do some remedial training for members who need basic advice such as, “do not shoot yourself in the foot,” and “do not needlessly anger the one group of Americans not livid with us at the moment.” Maybe even, “learn how to do a power play that doesn’t take down your whole party with you.”
As my colleague David Harsanyi has noted, we have a Republican Congress that doesn’t believe it’s competent enough to make a case against infanticide. That’s bad news for unborn children and their mothers. And it’s bad for everyone else, too.
Exceptional article. Only I disagree on whether we should be terrified or not. Disgusted, certainly.
Tis not a Federal issue.
Tis a STATE issue.
If the Feds do it, they will screw it up.
We do not need to be giving the Feds more power.
We do not need the Feds to be enforcing this law.
We need to get the Fed Judiciary back in its banks.
We need them to issue a Resolution stating that the Feds do not have the power to revise Marriage thru the courts.
We need them to issue a Resolution getting the Feds out of Roe-V-Wade.
“How will the Republicans lead the battle to fight against Obamacare if they’re not willing to go against the insurance lobby on even a small issue?”
See tagline
GOP - Dead Party Walking
I can think of two explanations:
1. The GOPe leadership is incapable of thinking strategically.
2. The GOPe leadership is capable of thinking strategically, and is doing so towards an unstated and possibly malicious end.
(Yes, that’s a lot of words to say “Are they stupid or are they evil?”)
Both. Probably.
Unfortunately Roe v Wade made it a Federal matter. As recent actions so painfully indicate, the chances of the gop faction of the uniparty actually doing something to change that are zero.
So, I'm concerned about a bill that seeks to put Republicans on the record that abortion is a federal issue.
Surely a number of states where Republicans are in the majority would pass this bill.
House GOP = Senate GOP = Miserable failure
It’s no longer a state matter; was federalized in January 1973 with the full support of President Richard M. Nixon.
Doesn’t anybody remember the Clinton Admin and their 500 FBI files and all that dirt that they had on the Republican leadership??
Now in 2015 they have doubled/tripled/quadrupled down on their blackmail for practically EVERYBODY.
Nothing will be done by our RINOs anyway.
They ‘lost’ their way and the election.
Time for a new party.
Why are you making such a big deal?? Its only 57,000,000 dead babies. /s
Yeah, you’re right. A few million more dead kids. What does it matter?
(/Seething sarcasm)
The GOPES leadership (gop elite statists) learned nothing from 2012.They still seek approval from the media propaganda appar-rats which whey will never get. Believe winning political opposition strategy consists of their approach which is the use of “stand for status quo” “we can fix the bad stuff” with republican cum-by ya” will win in 2016. And not the defence of the constitution or of conservative values.
Do the GOPES actually believe they can attract disaffected dems and together we can continue on with big government merry way happily feeding off the government trough with a new UNI Party ? It seems that this is the direction they’re taking.
When what they should begin by asking the question why does the democrat (In name only, and GOPES fail to use many eamples to point that out) lie so much ? Is because they don’t believe in there is such a thing as sin because they can’t refer to God which they threw out in their 2012 convention. Hence any reference to the constitution which has that refence to HIM all over the place. Because it doesn’t fit their socialist collective agenda.
Articles such as this do nothing but create discord and divisiveness within the GOP and has been used by the Democraps and the MSM for over 35 years.
There is absolutely nothing the House or the Senate or the President can do to overturn Roe V. Wade . This is strictly a Supreme Court decision.......
How many Republican presidents have we had in office since RvW, how many years have we had a House controlled by Republicans and yet nothing was ever done to overturn Roe V. Wade?
The answer is simple, only the SCOTUS has that ability and considering we have the most conservative court in the past 65 years, it's unlikely Roe V. Wade will ever be overturned in not only mine buy my nieces and nephews' lifetimes......
Dear Renee, Before you send another bill to stop human trafficking you may want to wash and disinfect your blood covered hands.
I’m praying for you.
The GOP doesn’t WANT to end abortion. They just want everyone to think they do, so the donations keep coming.
“There is absolutely nothing the House or the Senate or the President can do to overturn Roe V. Wade . This is strictly a Supreme Court decision.......”
Balderdash. I can give you three possible avenues to achieve an end to legalized infanticide.
1. Legal definition of person defined by law to include the pre-born.
2. Jurisdiction of Federal courts over abortion removed.
3. Failing both of the above, introduction of a Constitutional Amendment.
The failure of the gop wing of the uniparty to even attempt to do ANY of the above when they have held power tells you all you need to know about them. They’re complicit. They cynically use the lives of the unborn to score political points and obtain power for themselves, yet never can actually do something when they’re in power. They’re practitioners of the lowest form of plantation politics.... and I’d better stop there. :)
“Articles such as this do nothing but create discord and divisiveness within the GOP...”
Really? You think so? Then I’m sorry I was only able to post this article once! A political faction that runs on a platform of ending infanticide and then does nothing to end the practice when in power deserves as much discord and divisiveness as can be mustered.
The GOP ladies got to D.C. and hired RINO staff and advisers, like Marco Rubio did. When GOP persons do such things it says to me they were never principled Conservatives to begin with, that their Conservative voice in the elections was on the advice of their handlers running their campaigns and not from persona conviction. Then they get to D.C. and unlike the election campaigns success in D.C. means “going along to get along” too much and too often.
They were simple, but profound, ideas, as summarized in their Declaration of Independence. That document affirmed the existence of a "Creator," the "Supreme Judge of the World," "Divine Providence," and the "laws of nature and of Nature's God."
In America, all our constitutional protections rest on the Founders' premise that all human beings are "endowed by their Creator" with rights to both life and the liberty to "pursue happiness." That is the sole reason those rights are deemed unalienable--because they are derived, not from another human being, not from a government, not even from the mother, but from God.
"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time: the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them." - Thomas Jefferson
That understanding underlies every other consideration embodied in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. It is the very basis of our rights to life, liberty, and laws to protect them.
Since the 1970's, technological advances have enabled us to observe God's tiniest creations in the womb. We no longer have an excuse for imagining that these are blobs of tissue labeled "fetuses." They are living babies who will have life and liberty if we do not "destroy" them.
At the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC on February 3, 1994, Mother Teresa stated: “And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?"
Indeed, if we cannot protect the life and liberty of these smallest versions of ourselves, even with their so-called "imperfections," then Mother Teresa's words take on significant meaning.
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