Tag Archives: Marsha Blackburn

News

House Republicans create Select Committee to investigate Planned Parenthood

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Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn
Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn

So, last week we got some real answers from Hillary Clinton about Benghzi, namely, that she lied about the cause of the attack to the American people in order to avoid losing re-election in 2012.

What I would really like to see is a similar Select Committee on Planned Parenthood, and I would like to see it led by my favorite Congresswoman (since Michele Bachmann retired) Marsha Blackburn.

Well, guess what?

Life News has great news for pro-lifers.

Several top pro-life members of Congress have been named to a new committee that will take the lead in investigating Planned Parenthood’s sale of body parts from aborted babies. The new panel is the same kind of select committee that has been investigating the terrorist attack in Beghazi, Libya responsible for killing an American ambassador and security personnel.

[…]The following are the Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s new Select Investigative Panel. The panel incudes a number of pro-life women, pro-life champion Joe Pitts, and pro-life physician Andy Harris.

  • Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Chairman (R-TN)
  • Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA)
  • Rep. Diane Black (R-TN)
  • Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN)
  • Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI)
  • Rep.  Andy Harris (R-MD)
  • Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO)
  • Rep. Mia Love (R-UT)

Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler of Missouri told LifeNews.com she is proud to have been named ot the investigate committee.

“I am proud to be appointed to the Select Investigative Panel and I thank the Speaker for asking me to serve,” Hartzler said.  “Much has been said on either side of this issue, and Americans are eager to uncover the truth regarding the trafficking of fetal body parts.  I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle as we seek the facts of this issue.”

“Ten videos were released since July showing high-level officials at organizations such as Planned Parenthood, Stem Express, and Advanced BioResources discussing actions that would potentially violate federal law. Moreover, their discussions imply that these criminal actions are widespread. This panel will be tasked with discovery as to the prevalence of these practices,” she added.

Rep. Diane Black, a nurse of more than 40 years and member of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, said the new committee will engage in a “relentless pursuit of the facts.”

“I am grateful for the opportunity to bring my health care expertise to the critical work of this panel,” she told LifeNews. “It is no secret that I am passionately pro-life and have long opposed the federal funding of Planned Parenthood, but every American deserves to know that our laws are followed and that taxpayer dollars are spent with integrity. This panel will help ensure that is the case. We will be relentless in the pursuit of the facts, we will bring the truth out into the light of day, and we will hold responsible parties accountable. This panel has an obligation to taxpayers to conduct a thorough investigation that produces real answers. I am ready to get to work.”.

I had not heard of Vicki Hartzler before, but from this article, it looks like she will be a good addition to the team. She has a BS and MS, and she is an evangelical Christian. Former teacher.

So, I want to make a general point about these Select Committees. I think that these investigations are important. They allow us to find the facts that form the basis of our laws and policies. We have to know why terrorist attacks that kill our people happened, so that we can prevent it from happening again. We have to know whether the taxpayer money we give to certain organizations are being used appropriately, or whether they are being used in violation of American values. If we rely on the mainstream media to find these out, we’ll be waiting forever.

News

House Republicans pass legislation to ban post-viability abortions

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The Weekly Standard reports on some good news: House Republicans have passed a bill that bans abortions after 20 weeks.

Excerpt:

The House of Representatives voted 228 to 196 on Tuesday evening to pass a bill that prohibits most abortions later than 22 weeks in pregnancy (20 weeks after conception), the point by which some infants can survive long-term if born and the point by which medical science indicates they can feel pain. The bill contains exceptions for late-term abortions in the cases of rape, incest, or when a physical health condition puts the life of the mother at risk.

It was mostly a party-line vote, with six Democrats voting for the bill and six Republicans voting against it. The White House issued a veto threat against the bill on Monday night. Though the bill stands no chance of becoming law so long as President Obama is in the White House, advocates see it as an important first step to reining in late-term abortions.

The vote comes in response to the trial of Philadelphia doctor Kermit Gosnell, who was convicted of murder for severing the spines of three infants moments after they were born.

Here’s another Democrat trying to explain why infanticide is OK with them:

Life News had some interesting comments about the bill:

Rep. Chris Smith, the head of the pro-life caucus in the House, spoke eloquently from the House floor.

“The brutality of severing the spines of defenseless babies—euphemistically called “snipping” by Gosnell—has finally peeled away the benign façade of the billion dollar abortion industry” he said.

“Like Gosnell, abortionists all over America decapitate, dismember and chemically poison babies to death each and every day. That’s what they do. Americans are connecting the dots and asking whether what Gosnell did is really any different than what other abortionists do. A D&E abortion—a common method after 14 weeks—is a gruesome, pain-filled act that literally rips and tears to pieces the body parts of a child,” he added. “The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act is a modest but necessary attempt to at least protect babies who are 20 weeks old—and pain-capable—from having to suffer and die from abortion.”

One leading expert in the field of fetal pain, Dr. Kanwaljeet S. Anand at the University of Tennessee, stated in his expert report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice, “It is my opinion that the human fetus possesses the ability to experience pain from 20 weeks of gestation, if not earlier, and the pain perceived by a fetus is possibly more intense than that perceived by term newborns or older children.”

“Surgeons entering the womb to perform corrective procedures on unborn children have seen those babies flinch, jerk and recoil from sharp objects and incisions. Ultrasound technology shows unborn babies at 20 weeks post-fertilization and earlier react physically to outside stimuli such as sound, light and touch,” Smith continued. “Surgeons routinely administer anesthesia to unborn children in the womb before performing lifesaving surgeries, and this has been associated with a decrease in the baby’s stress hormone levels during the medical procedure.”

Although President Obama, who is a radical on abortion, has promised to veto the bill, I believe that this vote had value. First, it shows that Republicans are solidly for protecting the lives of unborn children. Second, we learned that the Democrat position on abortion in the House of Representatives is virtually identical to that of Kermit Gosnell. And when this goes up for a vote in the Senate, we’ll find out how many of them take the Kermit Gosnell position on abortion. Finally, we learned what people who voted for Democrats believe about abortion. It is absolutely certain that if you meet a person who votes for Democrats in any election, that they support aborting children after 20 weeks when they can feel pain. That is the Democrat position, and now we all know it for certain.

News

Marsha Blackburn will lead floor debate on House bill that bans abortions after 20 weeks

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Representative Marsha Blackburn
Representative Marsha Blackburn

From the Weekly Standard.

Excerpt:

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, told THE WEEKLY STANDARD Friday afternoon that she will manage the floor debate on a bill that would prohibit most abortions during the final four months of pregnancy. The bill has been revised to include exceptions for when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. The bill already included an exception for when a physical health condition puts the life of the mother at risk.

“I think the reason that leadership asked me to handle the bill is the amount of pro-life work that I’ve done throughout my years in Congress,” said Blackburn, a co-sponsor of the bill.

[…]Blackburn said on Friday that Nancy Pelosi’s recent comments on late-term abortion were “absolutely abhorrent.” At a press conference, Pelosi was unable to explain the difference between the killings of Kermit Gosnell and late-term abortions and called the issue “sacred ground.”

“The war on women is these crimes committed by Kermit Gosnell and some of these abortion clinics,” Blackburn told me.

“I think the American people are with us on this,” Blackburn said. “Sixty percent of all Americans say abortion should not be allowed in the second trimester and over 80 percent say they shouldn’t be allowed in the third-trimester.”

The bill will be amended through a self-executing rule to include an exception for abortions later than 22 weeks of pregnancy (20 weeks after conception) in the case of rape or incest. Unlike the Democratic amendment for an exception in the case of rape that was voted down on Wednesday, there will be a reporting requirement in the bill.

Though the bill’s authors originally found such an exception unnecessary, given how late in pregnancy the restriction would begin, Democrats would have had an opportunity to force the issue to the forefront through a motion to re-commit.

The bill’s supporters believe the reporting requirement is necessary so the exception will not turn into a loophole.

My second favorite Congresswoman is Marsha Blackburn. And she’s going to be my most favorite as soon as Michele Bachmann retires at the end of her current term. I’m glad we have Marsha Blackburn to advocate for conservative policies.

News

Abortion provider Planned Parenthood receives record amount of taxpayer funding

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Dad sent this disturbing article from Fox News.

Excerpt:

Planned Parenthood reported receiving a record $542 million in taxpayer support in fiscal 2012, marking a steady increase in government funding despite Republican-led efforts at the state and federal levels to cut off that stream.

The funding figures were included in the abortion provider’s annual report released Monday. The numbers showed roughly 45 percent of Planned Parenthood’s budget now comes from taxpayer dollars.

Pro-life groups quickly seized on the report to renew their calls for Congress to “defund” Planned Parenthood.

“Americans are sick and tired of underwriting the nation’s largest abortion business,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List.

Republican Tennessee Rep. Diane Black said the report “underscores the pressing need to cut off all federal funding for Planned Parenthood.”

The Republican-controlled House voted in the last session to strip federal funding for the organization But the measure did not advance.

Separate efforts at the state level to yank funding have been blocked by the courts. Mostly recently, a federal appeals court in October blocked Indiana from carrying out a law to cut Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood.

My other favorite Congresswoman, Marsha Blackburn, has already introduced the first pro-life bill of the new session of Congress. It’s up to the Republicans to protect innocent unborn children from the ravages of selfish, irresponsible adults. The Democrats are profiting from the killing, because right after Planned Parenthood collects all that taxpayer money, they turn around and make massive donations to the Democrat party. It’s all about the money for the Democrats. My other favorite Congresswoman, Michele Bachmann recently introduced a bill to repeal Obamacare, which forces businesses to offer abortion drugs as part of their health care plans.

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Commentary

Democrat writer exposes Al Gore’s greed and hypocrisy

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Registered Democrat and Obama supporter Walter Russell Mead assesses Al Gore’s suitability to lead the global warming movement. (H/T Newsbusters)

Excerpt:

You can be a leading environmentalist and fail to pay all of your taxes.  You can be a leading environmentalist and be unkind to your aged mother.  You can be a leading environmentalist and squeeze the toothpaste tube from the middle, park in the handicapped spots at the mall or scribble angry marginal notes in library books.

But you cannot be a leading environmentalist who hopes to lead the general public into a long and difficult struggle for sacrifice and fundamental change if your own conduct is so flagrantly inconsistent with the green gospel you profess.  If the heart of your message is that the peril of climate change is so imminent and so overwhelming that the entire political and social system of the world must change, now, you cannot fly on private jets.  You cannot own multiple mansions.  You cannot even become enormously rich investing in companies that will profit if the policies you advocate are put into place.

It is not enough to buy carbon offsets (aka “indulgences”) with your vast wealth, not enough to power your luxurious mansions with exotic low impact energy sources the average person could not afford, not enough to argue that you only needed the jet so that you could promote your earth-saving film.

You are asking billions of people, the overwhelming majority of whom lack many of the basic life amenities you take for granted, people who can’t afford Whole Foods environmentalism, to slash their meager living standards.  You may well be right, and those changes may be necessary — the more shame on you that with your superior insight and knowledge you refuse to live a modest life.  There’s a gospel hymn some people in Tennessee still sing that makes the point:  “You can’t be a beacon if your light don’t shine.”

This old story from the UK Telegraph has more on Al Gore’s demagoguery and profiteering.