IN THIS ISSUE Pg 1, 5–7
Pro-Life Women’s Caucus formed SBA List extends its campaign to Reclaim the Human Center of the Abortion Debate to all 50 states Pg 2
Letter from Marjorie Including a special prayer request Pg 3
The Global Life Challenge Prestigious CLI Panel presents the on-going worldwide challenges facing pro-life advocates Pg 4
Gosnell Guilty; Pro-Life Summit now an annual event Pg 8-9
Project LifeLine SBA List creates valuable training resource to better prepare pro-life candidates Pg 10
Annual Summit features key pro-life leaders
SBA List launches first ever National Pro-Life Women’s Caucus
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Reclaiming the Human Center of the Abortion Debate
Opinion of Note Cal Thomas writes Kermit Gosnell is just tip of the iceberg
By Billy Valentine
Back Page
Pro-Life Profile VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s strong pro-life stance www.sba-list.org
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SusanBAnthonyList
SBA List Policy & Programs Director
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ne of the most exciting new programs launched in 2013 by SBA List is the formation of a new National Pro-Life Women’s Caucus, a groundbreaking effort to organize pro-life women lawmakers throughout the country. The goals of this nationwide Caucus are to: • Foster a sense of community among women lawmakers across the country who are dedicated to advancing the pro-life, pro-woman cause • Highlight the leadership of women lawmakers who are leading the charge to protect innocent unborn human life and protect women from the violence of abortion >> P5
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Never before has the opportunity to advance the pro-life cause been more evident. Each and every one of our successes has been achieved because of your on-going faith, support, and prayers! My grateful thanks to each of you for that support and your continued investments in our work. We anticipate much success this year as we engage all Americans with the call to return to the HUMAN center of the abortion debate. Please know that you are appreciated!
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Dear Friend, As the nation grapples with the horrific details from the Kermit Gosnell trial and we see more evidence of other “Gosnell” type abortionists across the country – such as Douglas Karpen in Texas – we are forced to have a conversation once again on the execrable brutality of late-term abortion and infanticide. The abortion industry has been pushing for so long for taxpayer funded abortion on demand at any stage of pregnancy and it is time we draw the line. Pennsylvania State Representative Margo Davidson, who lost her cousin after an abortion at Gosnell’s facility, said it best: “The institution [of abortion has become] more important than the individual lives.” It is time that we refocus the national debate on the human center of abortion and the lives of women and unborn children that it forever changes. Compassion must lead us to draw a firm line to protect these women and children from practices that are devastating to them and searing to our consciences. The Susan B. Anthony List is leading the fight in Washington, D.C. by working with Congress and building a coalition necessary to pass life-saving legislation to ban late-term abortions. When made aware of fetal pain, even the hardest of hearts can be moved to act, so we’ve been working on a bill to make abortions illegal past 20 weeks gestation. The National Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is the most historic piece of pro-life legislation in decades, and it is vital that we act now to protect future generations. We have also launched Lifeline, our candidate training program, and the National Pro-Life Women’s Caucus, which will help to shape our federal and state pro-life leadership going forward. It is with these up-and-coming leaders that our movement will be able to bring the human center of abortion to the forefront of our national conscience. Thank you for continuing to stand with us in this tipping point moment in the movement. I am so grateful for you and to have you by our side in this fight. This is our time. The momentum and the truth is on our side. Together we can begin to remake America as it was originally intended: to be a protector of life and the most vulnerable. God Bless,
P.S. This is at once fulfilling and brutal work. The horrific reality of the Gosnell and Karpen stories is a moment like no other I have seen, so I’m adding a prayer request for our SBA List team. They are researching every fact, have seen every picture, and so suffer each detail. That is because they ALL have generous and tender hearts, thus the painful daily stories and images of inhumanity sear those hearts. Most of our staff are young (compared to me!). They are the best generals and soldiers you and I could ever find. Because of their courage, they aggressively advance rather than retreat. Every time. Your prayers and words of encouragement to them are a blessing.
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Lozier Institute Panel Probes Global Challenges to Life By Chuck Donovan President of the Charlotte Lozier Institute
ith abortion on demand still the law of many Western lands, and nation after nation experiencing severe financial stresses, new attention is being focused on a trend that is part of both the cause and cure of these problems: sharply declining birthrates. For four consecutive years, for the first time in its history, even the United States is seeing below replacement-level fertility – that is, the number of children per woman that must be born if a nation’s population is to remain stable over time. These trends were the focus of Charlotte Lozier Institute’s panel at the recent Susan B. Anthony List Summit in Washington, D.C. CLI hosted an extraordinary group of authors and analysts who shared the contents of their recent books on the issue of demo-
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Robert Zubrin
century leaders and organizations who view human beings as a form of “cancer upon the Earth, a species whose aspirations and appetites are endangering the natural order.” From this world view, Zubrin explains, top-down population control policies flowed around the globe, with the support of the democratic West. A deep despair about the human future gave license to eugenics and practices like forced sterilizations and abortions. Zubrin was followed by Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D., senior vice president for research at C-FAM, which works to promote life-and familyaffirming policies at the United Nations. In 2011 Dr. Yoshihara edited Population Decline and the Remaking of Great Power Politics, a searching collection of essays about the way in which pop-
Dr. Susan Yoshihara
graphic decline. The panel led off with Robert Zubrin, a former NASA engineer and exponent of space exploration, who shared information from his book The Merchants of Despair: Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudo-Scientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism. Zubrin traces the intellectual and political history of 20th
Jonathan Last
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ulation changes affect world peace and U.S. security. A Navy veteran, graduate of the Institute for World Politics and the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and lecturer at the Naval War College, Dr. Yoshihara is uniquely qualifed to provide a perspective on whether the West’s 40-year program of population control has >> P4
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GUILTY...!!
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made the globe safer. Her judgment: quite the reverse. Yoshihara told an audience of several hundred people at the Summit that Russian and Chinese demographics are
By Mallory Quigley SBA List Communications Director
At long last, a Philadelphia jury has found the now-infamous late-term abortionist, Kermit Gosnell, guilty of the murder of three newborns and negligent death of one patient. While the verdict comes as a relief, justice is not done. Kermit Gosnell is not alone – rather, the horrors revealed during his case are endemic to the entire abortion industry. The SBA List has compiled an extensive fact sheet documenting multi-state incidences of abortion industry negligence and brutality. While these accounts are difficult to take in, they have prompted a long overdue conversation in our country: Where do we step in to protect the rights of the most vulnerable? What does it mean to be pro-woman?
Dr. Susan Yoshihara address Summit attendees on the implications of population decline in the West.
grim, and the Western world stands in a perilous spot. America’s allies in Asia and Europe, she noted, are also in the grip of population decline. As their populations age and shrink, they are stepping back from their international commitments and turning inward, focusing on keeping their own economies afloat. The final speaker, Jonathan Last, sees less room for optimism than Dr. Yoshihara, who holds out hope for the United States and a revived West. Last, a senior writer at The Weekly Standard, has written a book that is both factfilled and witty. What to Expect When No One’s Expecting: America’s Coming Demographic Disaster cites the historical statistical evidence, as well as new trends like dog-grooming boutiques and summer camps, to underscore America’s turn away from children. The Summit offered a riveting message about our nation’s need to embrace children and family once again if we mean to solve our social, fiscal and foreign policy challenges.
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Commentators across various news outlets and ideologies including Kirsten Powers and Cal Thomas – even the pro-choice Frances Kissling – have agreed that a limit to late-term abortion is worth discussing. Compassion demands that we draw a firm line in order to protect women and babies from practices devastating to them and searing to our national conscience. The abortion industry has been exposed. In the words of Pennsylvania State Rep. Margo Davidson: for the “pro-choice” community, “the institution [of abortion]” has become “more important than individual lives.” SBA List fights on because we believe each individual child and each individual mother is important, precious, deserving of respect from our communities, and the protection of our government.
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Author and Journalist Jonathan Last visits with Summitt attendees following his presentation on emerging demographic trends. >4<
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National Pro-Life Women’s Caucus
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regulates abortion clinics in wake of Kermit Gosnell’s “House of Horrors.” For obvious reasons, the abortion lobby came after Rep. McClurkin, but our pro-life members in Alabama – in conjunction with our friends at Alabama Citizens for Life – held a rally at the State Capitol in support of the bill. It passed both Houses and was signed into law by the governor. Beyond passing pro-life legislation at the state level, the Caucus will also help connect state legislators to our brave pro-life women in Congress, and encourage them to run for Congress themselves. Having made the leap, Marilyn Musgrave will be able to recruit and encourage these women to run, and give them the strategic advice they need to win. We’ll also lead the effort to introduce them to other organizations that can help them raise funds and mobilize their activists behind them. It’s important to note that the Caucus won’t be exclusively about SBA List. Instead, we’ll work as a “point guard” for these women, doing whatever it takes to get them what they need to lead. Should they need model legislation that we don’t have, we’ll point them to another trustworthy prolife organization that does. If they need help defending a bill from a legal standpoint, we’ll connect them with a legal prolife group. If they need to be connected to a post-abortive woman to testify in support of a bill or to speak at a rally, we’ll contact our friends at Silent No More. We’ll gladly help connect these women to all the resources that the pro-life movement has to offer. So what are the next steps? Once we’re done recruiting for the Leadership Team, we’ll start recruiting pro-life women legislators to join as members. In 2013, there are over 600 Republican women serving in office, with the vast majority of them identifying as pro-life. We’ll also seek out any pro-life Democratic women that we can find, like Sen. Sharon Weston Broome. It is our hope that through SBA List’s leadership and that of the Leadership Team, we will help the members of the Caucus rise to a new level of leadership and join the charge to defend unborn children and their mothers. Please pray for the success of the Caucus, and if you know of any pro-life women legislators who should be a part of the Leadership Team or would like to join at the general membership level, please let us know and we’ll be sure to connect with them! >> P6
• Connect women lawmakers with the resources they need to pass laws that save lives, such as research, talking points, and media promotion • Encourage women to run for higher office and connect them with the resources they need to run winning campaigns Directing the Caucus is the SBA List’s very own Marilyn Musgrave, a former Congresswoman and state legislator herself. Marilyn understands first-hand what it’s like being a pro-life woman legislator, and the much-needed resources that SBA List can help provide. Marilyn will bring invaluable experience and a unique perspective in running the operations of the Caucus. The first step in building the Caucus has been to recruit a Leadership Team to guide the Caucus and provide critical feedback as we get it off the ground. To find women legislators who are already leading the charge for unborn babies and women, we have reached out to our network of state partners across the country, including many Right to Life chapters and Family Policy Councils. Because they are active every single day in their respective state capitols, they know who the true leaders are in the fight for Life. They’ve been very generous in identifying women leaders with us, and are excited to partner with us in forming the Caucus. With their help, we’ve recruited 22 state legislators to form the Leadership Team, in addition to seven statewide office holders. Some of the women on the Leadership Team we’ve worked with before. Delegate Kathy Byron bravely led the ultrasound battle in Virginia, and Sen. Kimberly Yee of Arizona, worked to defund Planned Parenthood in her state. Others are completely new to SBA List. Sen. Sharon Weston Broome of Louisiana, a passionately pro-life African American Democrat, has led the charge for an informed consent law signed by Gov. Bobby Jindal that requires a woman to hear the heartbeat of her child and see an ultrasound image before an abortion could be performed. We were so thrilled when our friends at Louisiana Right to Life connected us with her. And then there’s Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin of Alabama, who sponsored the “Women’s Health and Safety Act” which >5<
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Senator Margaret Dayton
Fought to defund Planned Parenthood in Arizona. She championed our bill in the Senate, and co-signed an oped in the Arizona Republic with Marjorie Dannenfelser when Planned Parenthood attacked Gov. Brewer for signing our model legislation into law. She began in politics by praying outside abortion clinics.
Introduced our model legislation to defund Planned Parenthood in Utah in 2012. In 2013, Sen. Dayton championed abortion reporting legislation that was signed into law by the Governor. In that battle, she relied on the abortion reporting white paper done by Chuck Donovan at the Lozier Institute.
UTAH
Senator Nancy Barto
Senator Judy Emmons
We endorsed Senator Bledsoe for Congress in 2010, but she narrowly lost in the primary. She is now the chairwoman of the Senate Health Committee in Arkansas. This year, she championed the Obamacare abortion exchange opt-out that was signed into law by the Democratic Governor.
Co-chairs the legislature’s Pro-Life Caucus. She is passionate about ending human trafficking and has introduced legislation to increase penalties of facilitators. Once the Lozier Institute has its research completed Sen. Emmons will be instrumental in applying its findings in law.
MICHIGAN
Senator Cecile Bledsoe
Representative Ellie Espling
The very first woman we asked to be a part of the PLWC Leadership Team, and was recommended to us by the Virginia Family Foundation. She championed the ultrasound bill in Virginia, standing strong despite a flood of lies and attacks by the pro-abortion lobby and the media.
Sponsored an Informed Consent bill requiring doctors to provide a brochure written by the state that outlines the risks and alternatives to abortion. “Our hearts break,” Rep. Espling said at a 2012 pro-life rally, “for the countless women who have felt trapped by a culture that continues to push abortion as a solution...”
MAINE
Delegate Kathy Byron
Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande
Senator Anitere Flores
Outspoken in defense of Gov. Christie when he directed family planning funding away from abortion providers. She was quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer saying that the funding would instead go to "legitimate clinics that perform actual health services.”
Sponsored bills to ban late-term abortions, an ultrasound bill, a 24-hour waiting period bill, and a bill that would require that physicians own abortion clinics operating in the state. This year, Sen. Flores has sponsored an infant born-alive act (similar to the one that President Obama voted against when he was in the IL State Senate).
FLORIDA
NEW JERSEY
VIRGINIA
ARKANSAS
ARIZONA
The Leadership Team of SBA List’s National Pro-Life Women’s Caucus provides a solid foundation of state legislators willing and able to both articluate a pro-life vision and pass meaningful pro-life legislation.
Representative Bette Grande N. DAKOTA
An outspoken advocate for the Clinic Regulations bill signed into law this year and sponsored by fellow Leadership Team member Rep. Sue McClurkin. Beyond voting pro-life, Rep. Collins also volunteers and raises funding for a pregnancy resource center in her hometown of Decatur.
Was the whistleblower on a secret grant to Planned Parenthood aided by a state university (she successfully stopped it); championed a bill that became law that bans abortions at 6 weeks if a heartbeat is detectable; and championed a bill that bans sex-selective abortions and in cases of fetal abnormality.
Representative Jane Cormier
Representative Sue McClurkin
Sponsored the Abortion Information Act in 2013 which requires that prior to an abortion a woman receive information about what happens to the mother and baby during the abortion. Teh pregnant woman also receives information on medical care during pregnancy, paternal support laws, and on her right to change her mind.
Is championing this year a clinic regulations bill that would require physicians at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at local hospitals; require clinics to follow ambulatory clinic building codes; and make it a felony for a nurse, nurse practitioner or physician assistant to dispense abortion-inducing medications.
ALABAMA
N. HAMPSHIRE
ALABAMA
Representative Terri Collins
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Assemblywoman Allison McHose
Senator Kimberly Yee
The lead sponsor of legislation that would opt New Jersey out of abortion funding in the state exchange under Obamacare. Assemblywoman McHose has also worked to curb taxpayer funding of abortion and has also consistently worked to expose Planned Parenthood.
Helped to ensure the successful passage of our model legislation to defund Planned Parenthood as a member of the AZ House. At the same time then-Rep. Yee was the sponsor of a 20-week ban on abortions in the state. The bill also put new restrictions on chemical abortions, and increased the waiting period before an abortion from one hour to 24 hours.
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NEW JERSEY
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A leading co-sponsor and outspoken proponent of the 2012 Women’s Right to Know Act, saying on the floor that it was a “pro-educational” bill and that, “education is key to making an informed decision.” Rep. Peterson also sponsored legislation in 2013 that would protect babies with detectable heartbeats.
Representative Kathy Rapp We are already working with Rep. Rapp on ultrasound legislation that she introduced last year, and is trying to get off the ground this year. When asked by a media outlet why she is sponsoring pro-life legislation and not just focusing on the economy, she said, “We multitask. We don’t handle one issue at a time.”
S. CAROLINA
Not only is she the only pro-life woman in the Senate – she’s the only woman in the Senate period. Her campaign website stated: “Katrina Shealy will protect the right to life from conception through natural death. She believes that all human life, born and unborn, has intrinsic value.”
Representative Patricia Strachota A leading sponsor of the Coercive Abortion Prevention Act. Rep. Strachota has boldly defended a slew of pro-life initiatives that have successfully passed in Wisconsin since Republicans completely took over the state in 2010, led by Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch.
INDIANA
Representative Lenette Peterson
OKLAHOMA
Is sponsoring legislation that would opt PA out of abortion coverage under the Obamacare exchange: “Pro-life, prochoice, undecided or indifferent, the vast majority of PA taxpayers do not support their tax dollars being used to further the practice of abortion on demand…”
ALABAMA
Representative Donna Oberlander
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LOUISIANA
Governor Jan Brewer In 2012, signed into law a model bill drafted by the SBA List and Alliance Defending Freedom that ends taxpayer funding of abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood, and re-distributes the funding to entities that promote women’s health but do not perform abortions. On top of that, she signed into law a bill that bans abortions in the state at 20 weeks. Lieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann An active member of Vanderburgh County Right to Life before entering politics. Quickly established herself as a pro-life leader in the state legislature, working to eliminate Planned Parenthood funding in the state’s Medicaid program. With support of SBA List and pro-lifers across Indiana, Ellspermann was elected with pro-life Governor Mike Pence in November 2012. Governor Mary Fallin Has served as state representative, Lt. Governor, Member of Congress, and now Governor of Oklahoma. In Congress, Fallin consistently defended life and fought the huge expansion of abortion in Obamacare. With our support, she was elected Oklahoma’s first woman Governor in 2010 and recently signed an abortion reporting bill and legislation defunding Planned Parenthood. Lieutenant Governor Kay Ivey This Alabama pro-life leader was elected Lt. Governor in 2010, defeating a 3-term incumbent with support of the SBA List Candidate Fund. Lt. Gov. Ivey has played a crucial role in better abortion clinic regulation by strongly supporting the Women’s Health and Safety Act.
Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch Entered politics in 2010 and won election as Lieutenant Governor. She and running mate Governor Scott Walker were such successful pro-life leaders that they were targeted in a Planned Parenthood-supported recall election in June 2012, which they won with more support than before. Earlier this year, Kleefisch was awarded the SBA’s Distinguished Leader Award at our Gala. Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds Joined SBA List for a 2011 Values Voters Bus Tour through Iowa and helped us rally support for pro-life Congressman Steve King, who defeated pro-abortion congressional candidate Christie Vilsack last year. Before becoming Lt. Governor, Reynolds served in the Iowa State Senate, and was a vocal supporter of pro-life legislation.
Senator Sharon Weston Broome A pro-life Democrat and past recipient of Louisana Right to Life’s Defender of Life Award. In 2012 Sen. Weston Broome championed a bill signed into law by Gov. Jindal requiring women to listen to the fetal heartbeat before having an abortion, and to see an ultrasound. Her bill passed the State Senate 33-3.
Attorney General Pam Bondi A consistent defender of life, Bondi was the lead Attorney General who challenged the pro-abortion Obamacare law, and she took the case all the way to the US Supreme Court. Bondi has advocated for Florida pro-life legislation, including the recent bill that will protect infants born alive after failed abortions.
WISCONSIN
Lead sponsor of Women’s Right to Know Act in 2012, ensuring women in NH have a 24-hour wait period before abortion. She said publicly, “I have always been pro-life. I saw pictures of aborted babies when I was in the fifth grade. I don’t know if that was what made me pro-life or if I would have been anyway.”
ARIZONA
Representative Jeanine Notter
Senator Katrina Shealy
WISCONSIN
FLORIDA
Sponsored as a freshman a successful 24-hour wait period before an abortion. A political blog in the state described the debate on the bill as “fireworks going off,” but said Rep. Nanney stood strong during cross-examination by proabortion legislators.
IOWA
PENNSYLVANIA
N. HAMPSHIRE
PENNSYLVANIA
N. HAMPSHIRE
S. CAROLINA
Representative Wendy Nanney
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By Laura Bennett SBA List Political Coordinator
Great actors, athletes and musicians all know that the secret to a great performance ...is good preparation.
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he 2012 election cycle was proof, if any pro-life candidates was held in conjunction was needed, that pro-life candidates with The Family Foundation of Virginia at must never approach a podium or camera the Greater Richmond Convention Center. unprepared. That’s why the Susan B. AnThe training attracted statewide candidates, thony List is offering candidates a new “Lifecandidates of the House of Delegates, and line” through our Project Lifeline training. incumbent Delegates alike – with a total of Our goal is to help candidates clearly 18 candidates in attendance. communicate their position on abortion in House Majority Caucus Chairman Tim ways that will win votes and confound their Hugo led off with a warm welcome to Richopponents. We know that pro-abortion mond and an introduction to Project Lifegiants like Planned Parenthood are prepared line. His office played an integral part in to attack pro-life candidates on any and ensuring that Delegates in Virginia underVA Delegate Kathy Byron with SBA List’s every issue possible – and the media often stood the importance of candidate training Mary Powers and Laura Bennett. helps perpetuate their lies. As a candidate, and the power of the pro-life position. would you be prepared to answer? Citing Kermit Gosnell’s “House of Horrors” in Pennsylvania On Friday, May 17th, the first Project Lifeline training for and Gosnell’s partners in infanticide in Texas, Delegate Hugo
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As Kellyanne Conway wrapped up her presentation, Delegate Kathy Byron took to the podium with Chris Freund of The Family Foundation to discuss pro-life legislation in Virginia. Together, Delegate Byron and Chris Freund outlined the two pieces of pro-life legislation that are active in Virginia this year: clinic regulations and the ultrasound bill. In 2012, Delegate Kathy Byron championed the ultrasound bill in Virginia and stood strong despite a flood of lies and attacks by the pro-abortion lobby and the media. As a leader on the Life issue, she was encouraged to be “surrounded by so many of her peers” at the Project Lifeline training as 80% of those in attendance were incumbent Delegates. Delegate Byron has joined the Susan B. Anthony List’s National Pro-life Women’s Caucus Leadership Team for her service in the Virginia House of Delegates. Wrapping up, Bob Heckman and Carlyle Gregory (both members of the Susan B. Anthony List’s political team) guided candidates through the Project Lifeline Manual. The manual is one of the largest components of the training program and is given to candidates who attend a training session. The manual is broken up in 4 chapters: “What America thinks About Abortion;” “Crafting Your Statement on Abortion;” “The Abortion Attack – Strategy & Statistic;” and “Winning the Abortion Debate.” Candidates were then able to watch real life examples of elected officials handling debate questions and interview attacks with acumen and knowledge before meeting with Bob and Carlyle to talk about their statements and questions oneon-one. Candidates and Delegates alike were appreciative that SBA List had taken the initiative to provide such training to pro-life candidates and were excited to share their newly gained knowledge of the various pro-life issues discussed.
Pollster Kellyanne Conway presenting current pro-life polling data to Virginia Delegates in attendance at the Lifeline training.
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stressed that Life is indeed a winning issue. As an elected official representing Virginia’s notoriously “purple” Fairfax County, he proves that all candidates should be able to articulate their pro-life views in ways that are appealing to voters across both sides of the aisle. Delegate Hugo invited Kellyanne Conway of the polling company™/WomanTrend, Inc. to join him at the podium to begin the training. Kellyanne is one of the most quoted and notable pollsters having provided commentary on over 1,200 television shows on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, HBO, Fox News, and a number of radio shows and print stories. Kellyanne’s presentation focused on the pro-life movement by the numbers through pro-life facts, figures, and polling on the national and statewide level. Her expertise in pro-life politics was on display as she encouraged candidates to “get out of the fetal position on abortion” and speak out! With twenty-two examples in polling, Kellyanne showed those in attendance the distinct difference between what Americans believe and what the media portrays, reminding candidates that we are in fact a pro-life nation.
SBA List political team member Bob Heckman expanding on key points in the Project Lifeline training manual.
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Cruz, Jordan, and Walorski highlight the 2013 SBA List Campaign for Life Summit Each year, members from across the country travel to Washington D.C. for the Susan B. Anthony List Gala and Summit to meet the SBA List team and top leaders in the pro-life movement. This year was no different. By Bryant Conger SBA List Major Gifts Officer
Summit attendee Scott Michael and SBA List staff member Billy Cody.
L) Joseph Backholm of Washington State and SBA List’s Marilyn Musgrave. R) Charlotte Lozier Institute President Chuck Donovan.
Senator Ted Cruz, Congressman Jim Jordan, and newly elected Congresswoman Jacki Walorski were those who met with Susan B. Anthony List members at the Summit. This intimate two-day gathering is held in conjunction with the SBA List Gala and is designed to introduce members to key allies. Members attending the summit also had the opportunity to meet with columnists Fred Barnes, Erick Erickson, and Jonathan Last, the author of What to Expect When No One’s Expecting.
Topics discussed at the Summit were selected by SBA List leadership to highlight challenges the pro-life movement will face in the future. This year, members participated in discussions including the training and development of pro-life candidates, protecting conscience, and depopulation. The Campaign for Life Summit will now be an annual event held in conjunction with our Gala based on response to this year’s event. The Summit is open to all Susan B. Anthony List members and is highly recommended.
Dr. Susan Yoshihara speaking to the large Summit crowd.
SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser with Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan.
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Texas Senator Ted Cruz addresses the Summit.
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Opinion of Note N O TA B L E P R O - L I F E N E W S
Reprinted from The Washington Examiner
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Cal Thomas Commentary:
Gosnell trial should be turning point in abortion war by Cal Thomas, Syndicated Columnist
“Former clinic employees testified that Gosnell routinely performed illegal abortions past Pennsylvania’s 24-week limit,” writes the Huffington Post, “that he delivered babies who were still moving, whimpering or breathing, and that he and his assistants dispatched the newborns by ‘snipping’ their spines.” This sounds like something out of a Nazi death camp. Yet our views on abortion, apparently, hold firm. The Washington Post reports, “Views of abortion have remained steady for years, and a recent Gallup poll showed that the Gosnell trial has not altered them. About a quarter of Americans said abortion should be legal in all circumstances, according to a poll conducted at the height of the trial. Twenty percent said it should always be illegal, and just over half said it should be legal in some circumstances.” All circumstances? Gosnell snipped the spines of aborted babies, many born viable at 24 weeks. “Kermit Gosnell is the tip of the iceberg,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a nonprofit organization that seeks to eliminate abortion in the U.S., told The Washington Times. “There has been multi-state breakdown of oversight in the abortion industry, as well as the barbarism of abortions performed on children capable of feeling pain and surviving outside the womb.” Oversight, yes, but we also need a rollback on abortions, especially on late-term abortions. Viable lives should be saved. The Gosnell trial should be a turning point in the abortion wars. Pro-life members of Congress should introduce legislation restricting abortion in the final trimester in all states. Abortion should again be an issue in next year’s campaign for House and Senate seats. Tightly argued court cases should be brought before the courts so that the Supreme Court can begin to right the wrong of Roe v. Wade, a decision that even liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg now acknowledges could have benefited from some ”judicial restraint.” The time has come. More babies and women can and must be saved.
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It was the pictures and riveting testimony that convinced a Philadelphia jury that abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell was guilty of murdering three infants born alive following botched late-term abortions and also guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of Karnamaya Mongar, who overdosed on Demerol during an abortion at Gosnell’s clinic. How ironic that the Gosnell decision was delivered the day after Mother’s Day. The two-month trial has reignited the abortion debate. But while many states have managed to impose some restrictions on abortion clinics and establish informed-consent laws and in some cases require a woman to view a sonogram before aborting an unborn child, abortion on demand for almost any reason and at almost any stage of pregnancy remains legal in every state. Maybe you heard about the Gosnell trial, maybe you didn’t. Big media (except for Fox) certainly didn’t give it a lot of play. One big media outlet, ABC News, refused even to cover it until it was nearly over. According to the Media Research Center, “ABC went from March 18, 2013 (the trial’s start) through Monday afternoon with no coverage. Yet during the same time, the network devoted a staggering 187 minutes (or 70 segments) to other shocking criminal cases, such as Jodi Arias and Amanda Knox.” That’s 56 days of zero coverage. Why the blackout? Veterinary clinics appear better regulated than many abortion clinics in this country, but the cleanliness and age of the buildings and instruments isn’t the point. It’s the estimated 55 million children – and counting – who are denied their right to live. Some pagan cultures of old practiced child sacrifice to appease ancient deities. What happened at Gosnell’s clinic was a modern version of child sacrifice to our “god” of convenience and selfinterest. In this case, as in all other clinics and hospitals that perform abortions, the practice is also for the purpose of appeasing the abortion-on-demand “gods” who champion “a woman’s right to choose” rather than a child’s right to live. Choose what? Choose death over life, oneself over the life of an innocent? Why destroy a baby when there are thousands of loving parents out there willing to adopt a child? > 11 <
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SUSAN B. ANTHONY LIST
| LIFE IMPACT Quarterly
www.sba-list.org
VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli By Daniel McGiffin
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SBA List Development Associate
Ken Cuccinelli and his family.
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Living his pro-life views professionally as well as personally, Ken Cuccinelli fights for the unborn and their mothers on behalf of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As a state senator and as the current Virginia Attorney General, Ken advanced a number of bills to protect life including stricter licensing and regulation of abortion clinics requiring they follow similar guidelines as those of outpatient surgical hospitals. Growing up in McLean, Virginia, Ken lived three doors down from the girl he would eventually marry. Open to life in their twenty years of marriage, Ken and Teiro have been blessed with seven beautiful children. Balancing family life and his role in politics, Ken realizes, “When you take this job, you have to accept certain responsibilities. I work for the eight million citizens of Virginia.” A leader in the fight to protect women and unborn children, Ken takes his commitment to the people of Virginia, born and unborn, very seriously. With five daughters, he knows the difficulties young girls can face first hand and he has proven his commitment to the most vulnerable of society time and again. .