The Biggest Pro-Life Goal for 2017 is Halting U.S. Taxpayers’ Funding of Abortion
It’s been a whirlwind of activity since the inauguration, giving hope to pro-life advocates that our persevering prayers to end abortion will soon be answered. Now that a Constitutional champion has been nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, we consider other key goals.
Halting government funding for abortion is a vital part of our strategy. When people pray outside abortion centers, we call it a Silent Siege. And when an army sieges a city, victory is only achieved when the supply lines of the enemy are cut off.
There are three major initiatives underway to get taxpayers out of the abortion business: restoring the Mexico City Policy, defunding abortion providers and making the Hyde Amendment permanent. Let’s consider each one—starting with one already realized!
More than 300,000 pro-life advocates made their voices heard at March for Life 2017 (Photo: Aaron Bernstein / Twitter)
President Trump made a significant stride in fulfilling his pro-life campaign promises when he reinstated the Mexico City Policy on his first Monday in office. This one executive order will halt $600 million U.S. tax dollars, over the next four years, from funding organizations overseas that promote and provide abortions.
President Ronald Reagan first signed the Mexico City Policy in 1984. Since then, Democratic presidents have repealed it soon after taking office—while Republicans have reinstated it as President Trump did. Yet success is always met with opposition.
Eight nations are now vowing to raise their own funding so there is no “gap” in providing and promoting abortion worldwide. The primary beneficiary of this funding will be the International Planned Parenthood Council, currently chaired by Alexander Sanger; he is the grandson of racist eugenicist Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood.
Globally, pro-abortion groups are also turning to wealthy philanthropists. Bill and Melinda Gates, whose foundation does remarkable work stopping the spread of disease and educating underprivileged communities, have nonetheless been approached to fund “family planning”—including abortifacient forms of birth control.
Bill Gates seems to support the pro-abortion cause in a recent interview, saying, “When government leaves an area like [family planning], it can’t be offset, there isn’t a real alternative. This expansion of this policy, depending on how it’s implemented, could create a void that even a foundation like ours can’t fill.”
Perhaps his foundation should change its slogan to All Lives Have Equal Value (except in the womb). It’s tragic that pro-abortion philanthropists refuse to see their humanity. Clearly this issue of global abortion funding will continue to animate pro-choice activists.
Bound4LIFE team members pray silently at the Supreme Court, with the U.S. Capitol behind them (Photo via Bound4LIFE)
A second aspect of the President’s pro-life platform is to defund abortion providers. Current policies prevent the U.S. government from directly funding abortion services; however, by funding abortion providers, tax money continues to prop up its business.
The nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, currently receives $553 million dollars every year from U.S. taxpayers. Dr. Brent Boles, a practicing OB-GYN in Tennessee, has spent years scrutinizing Planned Parenthood and their practices after having to save young women from botched abortions in his medical office.
“The group plays an enormously profitable shell game with their finances,” Dr. Boles states in a recent post. “Planned Parenthood uses funds at least partially derived from U.S. taxpayers to promote, protect and advance their radical abortion agenda.”
If new legislation passes, groups taking innocent lives would no longer receive federal funding. But it will take more than one bill to achieve this goal.
President Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan and Vice President Mike Pence meet on Capitol Hill (Photo: Caleb Smith / Wikimedia)
This week, the U.S. House released its budget reconciliation bill—designed to fund federal government operations, which currently expire at the end of April. This bill has been paired with certain provisions to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Family Research Council provides an overview: “Congressional leaders agree with the importance of making sure this bill has rock solid pro-life protections. However, there is still a pro-life concern in the bill because it could allow funds from the refundable credits to pay for abortions in health savings accounts.”
Essentially, the reconciliation bill will halt 75 percent of public funding to abortion providers for one year. By tying the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the defunding of Planned Parenthood to this “must pass” bill, Republican congressional leadership hopes both have a greater chance of passing despite opposition.
Reconciliation bills only need a simple majority of Senators to pass, versus the usual three-fifths majority—and they are not subject to filibusters. The move eases their chances of passing the defunding measure, since Republicans have a 52-48 majority in the new Senate.
Planned Parenthood currently receives over $553 million in taxpayer funding every year (Photo: Wikimedia)
What about the other 25 percent of funding to abortion providers? It will take state-level efforts to halt those dollars. Since the release of investigative videos revealing Planned Parenthood practices, 24 states have attempted to halt Title X funding for the group—thus far, 15 have prevailed.
Two days before President Trump entered office, the Obama Administration instituted an administrative measure banning states from withholding federal dollars from groups that provide abortions. It’s a federal overreach that only makes sense in light of how the abortion industry funds Democratic candidates.
On February 16, 2017, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.J. Resolution 43 by a 230-188 vote to overturn this rule. Now the action on this bill goes to the Senate, which must pass S.J. Resolution 13 to reverse President Obama’s last-minute gift to Planned Parenthood.
States should have the freedom to exclude certain providers from receiving funding, especially in the case of Planned Parenthood when their unethical practices are actively under investigation.
Photo: American Life League / Flickr
The final aspect of preventing abortion funding gets a little technical, but it is nonetheless important: “codifying” or making permanent through legislation, the Hyde Amendment—a policy attached to every appropriations bill annually since 1976, ensuring that no taxpayer funds directly fund abortion services.
The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which already passed the U.S. House on January 24, would compel even future lawmakers to follow the path of life by making the Hyde Amendment permanent—instead of an annual renewal always debated.
Now the Senate version awaits a vote before President Trump can sign it into law. Pro-life leader Rep. Diane Black (R-Tennessee) provides an excellent explanation of why this policy matters in her speech on the House floor.
(Rep. Black Challenges Dems on Opposition to No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act)
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of pro-life advocacy group Susan B. Anthony List, recently said: “There’s never been a time, ever, when the muscle of the pro-life movement has been so strong.” Will that strength result in true pro-life policy change?
We must never let our successes be taken for granted, It’s paramount for all pro-life citizens to continue to fight and pray every step of the way. No voice should be silenced!
About Debby Efurd
Debby Efurd serves as president of Dallas-based Initiative 180 and its program of recovery, Peace After the Storm. She earned a bachelor’s degree in counseling from Dallas Baptist University. Debby is the author of Go Tell It! (which released in 2015) and a blogger for Bound4LIFE International, a grassroots movement to pray for the ending of abortion, carry the spirit of adoption, and believe for revival and reformation.
When Silence Becomes Lethal
Some months ago, I was counseling with a young woman suffering from emotional turmoil over a previous abortion. While we talked, I asked about her parents, whom she said had divorced when she was very young.
Raised by her mother, a career woman and staunchly pro-choice, she encouraged her daughter to abort once she learned she was pregnant.
Photo for illustration: Daniela Vladimirova / Flickr
I asked if she had ever told anyone she had had an abortion, to which she replied, “Only my mother knew, and she told me right after the abortion never to tell anyone.” Being a loving and obedient daughter, she did just that … never telling a soul. Now 13 years later, two husbands and three psychotherapists later, this young woman sat before me an emotional wreck. That’s when silence becomes lethal.
Silence is a killer. Ask any counselor and they will confirm it. Silence inhibits a person seeing and learning the truth about themselves and their interactions in society. We humans were created as emotional creatures with the need for human interaction, which is vital to process our feelings and thought processes. Remaining silent stifles that basic need.
As a lay counselor in post-abortion ministry in North Texas, I witness every week what silence does to those with a past abortion decision (the “post-abortive”). So afraid of being judged or condemned by others for their decision, the post-abortive silently encapsulate themselves from the world—thinking they are protecting themselves. Unfortunately, the exact opposite occurs, resulting in slow destruction from shame and guilt.
Photo for illustration: Sanofi Pasteur / Flickr
Some dig deeper into their pain, refusing to consider their past decision has any correlation with the agony they are experiencing. The inner turmoil, never addressed, can be agonizing. To many left behind living with the decision, symptoms of Post Abortion Stress start to appear.
This puts women and men at higher risk for developing a range of mental health problems, including depression, loss of self-esteem, self-destructive behavior, self-hatred, drug and alcohol abuse, sleep disorders, memory loss, sexual dysfunction, chronic problems with relationships, dramatic personality changes, anxiety attacks, guilt and remorse, difficulty grieving, increased tendency toward violence, chronic crying, difficulty concentrating, flashbacks, loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities and people, and difficulty bonding with later children. It is not uncommon that symptoms lay dormant until later in life, with many carrying their secret silently to their grave.
“The psychological and spiritual agony of abortion is silenced by society, ignored by the media, rebuffed by mental health professionals, and scorned by the women’s movement. Post-abortion trauma is a serious and devastating illness which has no celebrity spokeswoman, no made-for-television movie, and no platform for the talk show confessional,” says Theresa Burke, the founder of Rachel’s Vineyard, a ministry that helps men and women find healing after abortion.
Speaking from her own experience she regrets, Debby Efurd counsels post-abortive women (Photo Courtesy of Author)
But there are other and bigger problems with remaining silent. Silence on the subject of abortion has helped perpetuate an American Holocaust for the estimated 60,000,000 (yes, million) babies aborted in the United States since 1973. As citizens in a civil society, we are each called to voice protest to injustice of any kind. Remaining silent about this American Holocaust can be deemed tacit approval of these acts.
You may think that staying silent keeps you from being involved in any conflict, but it’s quite the opposite. Silence is as much an active form of communication as talking. Many stay silent because they don’t want to do any harm by offending or criticizing someone—they want to be “politically correct.”
But when the injustice of abortion is allowed to continue for over a million women in this country every year, remaining silent perpetuates the evil. It allows future harm not only to the victims, but families, friends, communities and society.
The legislative chaos I witnessed in the Texas State Capitol in 2013 when the pro-life bill HB 2 was being fought over and ultimately passed turned the tide for me. All eyes were on Austin, Texas that summer. It was during that experience when I realized silence helps no one. I drew a line in the sand, stepped across and vowed to never be silenced again.
At the Texas Capitol on July 12, 2013, young women pray during the vote for pro-life law HB 2 (Photo: Beth Wilson / Flickr)
I believe Christians have a fundamental duty to work within the governmental/political system to limit evil and promote good. Shouldn’t social justice start in the womb? Here are but a few actions each of us can take:
Pray fervently for the ending of abortion in this country.
Pray specifically for the U.S. Supreme Court and those justices hearing upcoming cases (the first being on March 2, the case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt).
Learn the truth about what happens during and after an abortion.
Share what you learn and act on it.
Become a listening ear to someone you know who has experienced the pain of abortion and point them to an abortion recovery ministry locally.
Become active in your local, state and federal election process and learn about the candidates, including from such groups as Susan B. Anthony List.
Cast your ballot at primaries, caucuses and general elections for pro-life candidates who have proven records. Remember, you are voting for the character of the candidate—not party politics, words or promises made.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: prayer is the most powerful and vital tool available to us.
Speak up first in prayer and then in the public square, urges Debby Efurd (Photo: Geoff Meyer / Flickr)
In the nineteenth century, many remained silent about the horrors of slavery—until someone spoke up. In the twentieth century, many remained silent about the horrors of Nazism—until nations spoke out. Now, in the twenty-first century, many remain silent about the horrors of abortion—and, sadly, many Americans still sit idly by while the killing continues.
An incontrovertible fact remains. Whenever any of us sit passively silent about abortion, we are affirming what the media proclaims, what our government has condoned and what our culture believes: the child in the womb is less valuable than the rest of us.
In a representative democracy, we the people are responsible for which leaders we elect. I encourage you to pray, speak out and cast an informed vote—with a primary focus on the candidates’ real, tangible steps toward ending the injustice of abortion.
About Debby Efurd
Debby Efurd serves as president of Dallas-based Initiative 180 and its program of recovery, Peace After the Storm. She earned a bachelor’s degree in counseling from Dallas Baptist University. Debby is the author of Go Tell It! (which released in 2015) and a blogger for Bound4LIFE International, a grassroots movement to pray for the ending of abortion, carry the spirit of adoption, and believe for revival and reformation.
You Say You Know the Facts about the Abortion Pill… But RU Sure?
It has now been 15 years since the U.S. approved the abortion pill, popularly known as RU-486, for consumer use.
Available in this country since September 2000, The Guttmacher Institute reports medical abortions (or chemical abortions) have grown more common—from 6 percent of all U.S. abortions in 2001 to 23 percent by 2011.
Photo: American Life League / Flickr
This alone should give us pause; are some praising the decline of abortion centers, while forgetting this increasingly common means of ending a pre-born child’s life?
As one involved in post-abortive counseling, the facts about the abortion pill greatly alarm me: how it came to be approved, what it does and its potential harm to women.
First, what is RU-486? Mifepristone is the abortion drug developed in the early 1980’s by French company Roussel-Uclaf. The sole purpose of RU-486, for which its sponsor sought U.S. government approval, was to stop a pre-born baby’s beating heart.
Early on, mifepristone was only 80 percent effective at inducing abortion, so a prostaglandin analog was added. It causes heavy bleeding, nausea, vomiting and painful uterine contractions. One of the major precautions before using this drug—listed clearly on its FDA warning label—is not to take it if you are over 7 weeks pregnant.
Photo: James Palinsad / Flickr
The pills do not work for approximately 5 percent of women who use RU-486, causing the women to return for surgical abortions—or, in some cases, to choose life for their child as occurred recently at a crisis pregnancy center. Promoters of the pill believe its use will help increase the number of doctors willing to perform abortions.
Which brings us to, how was this drug approved? The Clinton Administration overturned the ban on RU-486 in 1993 and the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) began an immediate fast track of the approval process.
The New York Times reported a complete history of the drug’s approval process in “Dangerous Medicine,” an investigation ending with serious concern over the drug’s uncontrolled clinical trials.
The FDA approved the drug using its “accelerated approval regulations,” created by Congress for drugs with higher risks that are better than current therapies for life-threatening illnesses like AIDS and cancer. Pregnancy, needless to say, is neither an illness nor inherently life-threatening.
Photo: Daniel Lobo / Flickr
Digging deeper into the details uncovers more misdeeds. The agency mandated a previously unapproved use for misoprostol, the second drug in the chemical abortion process—over the objections of the company that produced the drug. Further, the FDA approved RU-486 for use without safety directives, such as requiring an ultrasound to verify the age and location of the pregnancy.
Medical experts writing at the Elliot Institute review the flawed approval process in even greater depth, concluding: “RU-486 should be removed from the marketplace.”
But the abortion pill’s unsafe origin is not the whole story. What about the economics of RU-486 that cut against women’s health? Research has found that the abortion industry has often reduced the recommended dosage of mifepristone to 200 mg and dispensed the drug to women up to 9 weeks pregnant. Essentially: increase the volume of abortion procedures while decreasing standards of care.
Medical abortions are sold at twice the cost of a surgical abortion. Could this partly explain why Planned Parenthood abortion centers, starting in Iowa, are now using a “tele-med” process? This allows an off-site abortionist to prescribe the abortion pill to a female patient via a computer monitor.
For Sue Thayer, who worked at Planned Parenthood for 17 years, the introduction of webcam abortions was the last straw—causing her to leave the abortion giant and question their commitment to women’s health.
The determination to increase profits—or “excess revenues” to use the euphemism from Planned Parenthood annual reports—seems to be boundless.
Medical abortions are often presented as a less-invasive, more-natural procedure than surgical abortions. In truth, one cannot underestimate the emotional scarring. Women who abort medically experience the passage of their embryo firsthand and may see a recognizable body.
Though no long-term studies have yet been done, descriptions women give of encounters with their aborted children raise great concern. Women talk about seeing tiny fists, eyes—or seeing their aborted babies laying in the toilet bowl or swirling in the shower drain.
When symptoms of post-abortion trauma kick in, women who have had RU-486 abortions have more vivid memories and a greater sense of responsibility to deal with than those who underwent surgical abortions. In our own ministry, we have observed increased emotional trauma to those women who have had medical abortions.
Speaking from her own experience she regrets, Debby Efurd counsels post-abortive women (Photo Courtesy of Author)
What we know about RU-486 is disturbing, but what we don’t know is even more alarming. Women’s physical and emotional well-being are at risk. One of the principal precepts of medical intervention under a physician’s care is “First, do no harm.”
However, the very act of abortion, whether surgical or medical, is to do harm to the baby. For women undergoing such procedures, what we know of the side effects following an abortion—medical, emotional and psychological—only increases our misgivings about abortion as more research is conducted.
Those of us in the counseling and medical communities should not be alone in seeing chemical abortions as a threat to women’s health and safety. The truth is, what we don’t know can hurt us.
Note: If you have recently started the RU-486 process within the last 48 hours, there is an effective process for reversing the abortion. Medical professionals are standing by at (877) 558-0333 or find more information at AbortionPillReversal.com.
About Debby Efurd
Debby Efurd serves as president of Dallas-based Initiative 180 and its program of recovery, Peace After the Storm. She earned a bachelor’s degree in counseling from Dallas Baptist University. Debby is the author of Go Tell It! (which released in 2015) and a blogger for Bound4LIFE International, a grassroots movement to pray for the ending of abortion, carry the spirit of adoption, and believe for revival and reformation.