BY BEN JOHNSON

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 20, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Sources tell LifeSiteNews.com that several Senate Democrats, some of them facing tough re-election campaigns in 2014, may consider signing on to a national bill to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks. And pro-life groups in six states are demanding the senators take a public stand – or face the consequences.

Some of the group of six senators campaigned as “pro-life Democrats.” While others, facing a pro-life electorate and a rising backlash against the president's health care reforms, may seek political cover by supporting the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which passed the House in June and was introduced in the Senate this month.

LifeSiteNews.com contacted all six Senators: Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania. None responded after a period of several days.

But while the six have not yet taken a public position on the bill, state pro-life organizations believe some of them could be persuaded to co-sponsor or vote for pro-life protections. Here is how they break down:

Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia

Manchin, who campaigned as a pro-life Democrat, is considered a likely yes vote. Wanda Franz, president of West Virginia for Life, says that sources told her Manchin is not linclined to co-sponsor the bill, but Franz believes he would vote for the bill if it comes to the floor for a vote.

“As far as I'm concerned, that's a problem,” Franz told LifeSiteNews.com “That is not pro-life leadership, and we expect pro-life leadership from him.”

Manchin has seen his popularity slip by 20 percent since 2011, according to the Democrat-leaning firm Public Policy Polling.

Mark Pryor, D-Arkansas

Two-term Senator Mark Pryor is considered vulnerable in his bid for a third term in 2014. Polls show the incumbent in a dead heat, or slightly trailing, Republican Congressman Tom Cotton.

“Senator Pryor is in a very difficult campaign for re-election and Arkansans will certainly be watching his vote on this important issue, which not only protects unborn children from an excruciatingly painful death by abortion but educates the public of the humanity of the child,” Arkansas Right to Life Executive Director Rose Mimms told LifeSiteNews.

She confirmed that Pryor's office said he has not yet taken a position on the bill.

Pryor's voting record – 66 percent pro-life in this Congress – “gave the pro-life movement in Arkansas a reason for hope, but it never materialized into any significant support for the protection of the unborn.”

“I do not feel that he will support S. 1670,” she said.

That could pose a problem for him. A February poll showed 60 percent of Arkansas residents supported banning abortion after 12 weeks.

Whatever his position on the bill, Mimms said it will not be his biggest liability next fall.

“Senator Pryor's vote on ObamaCare is the pro-abortion, pro-rationing anti-life vote that will be hardest for him to overcome in this election,” she said. “Regardless of his first pro-life or the ones that have followed, he voted in support of government funding of abortion on demand, and rationing of life-saving treatment in the ACA. That is one anti-life vote that he will be held accountable for the most in the 2014 election.”

Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana

Joe Donnelly scored a surprise victory in 2012 after Republican candidate Richard Mourdock made a comment about abortion and rape. Since Donnelly told Hoosier voters he, too, was pro-life, Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter told LifeSiteNews.com that they were “highly disappointed that Sen. Donnelly's name was missing” from the list of co-sponsors 20 week ban.

“Hoosiers are eager to see Sen. Donnelly stand up for 20-week preborn babies capable of feeling pain during horrific late-term abortions,” Fichter said. “We urge him to do so immediately.” The state has already passed a law protecting babies capable of feeling pain.

“Co-sponsoring should be an easy decision,” Fichter said. “Explaining to his constituents the absence of his name on the list of co-sponsors won't be so easy.”

“If Senator Donnelly is unwilling to support the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, he will have to answer to his constituents,” he said.

Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana

The incumbent is seeking a fourth term in the Senate, but polls show Landrieu trailing Bill Cassidy and tied with Elbert Guillory. Observers say supporting the bill – which is already state law in Louisiana – would bolster her chances.

“It is imperative for the passage of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act that Senator Landrieu not only vote for the legislation, but co-sponsor as well,” Benjamin Clapper, executive director of the Louisiana Right to Life Federation, told LifeSiteNews.com. “Since Louisiana is a pro-life state, it would only make sense for our senior Senator to work for the passage of this common-sense legislation.”

“Unfortunately, since her re-election, Senator Landrieu has voted against the pro-life cause at every instance,” Clapper said. “Her record does not make us too optimistic.”

The group held a series of press conferences outside Landrieu's offices in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lake Charles on November 7, demanding that she take a public position on the bill.

“We still hold a hope that that Senator Landrieu will listen to the desires of her constituents and help us protect babies from feeling pain,” Clapper told LifeSiteNews.

Kay Hagan, D-North Carolina

Kay Hagan is considered among the most vulnerable Democratic Senators in 2014. In September, Hagan led state House Speaker Thom Tillis by 15 points. Despite the aid of a Democratic SuperPAC, Public Policy Polling (PPP) now shows her in a statistical dead heat with both Tillis and Greg Bannon.

Last Thursday the Susan B. Anthony List, the North Carolina Family Policy Council and the North Carolina Values Coalition issued a statement asking her to align her vote with the views of her mostly pro-life constituents.

Family Policy Council President John L. Rustin said, “North Carolina citizens want to know where Senator Hagan comes down on this most pressing issue that impacts the weakest and most vulnerable among us.” A recent Elon University poll shows a plurality of state voters support restrictions that would make abortion more difficult to obtain.

In the past Hagan has called herself “a strong supporter of a woman’s right to choose,” making her support doubtful. But with her poll numbers slipping and Americans for Prosperity buying $1.5 million in negative ads, she may have a change of heart.

Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania

Bob Casey's father, the late Governor Robert P. Casey, was not simply a pro-life Democrat; he wasthe pro-life Democrat. Bill Clinton barred Robert Casey from delivering a pro-life speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention. That year, he told the DNC platform committee that, at a minimum, abortions should be restricted to the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.

But Pennsylvania's pro-life movement says, despite his name and pedigree, Senator Bob Casey Jr. has sometimes been aloof since his election in 2006.

“It took two years to get a meeting with him,” said Helen Gohsler of the Pennsylvanians for Human Life chapter in Scranton, Casey's hometown.

While he has supported restrictions for abortion, such as parental notification, Casey has yet to declare a position on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

Gohsler told LifeSiteNews she wanted Casey to speak up, “just to get his rationale for what he will or will not support.”

Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation Executive Director Michael Ciccocioppo and Legislative Director Maria Vitale Gallagher did not respond to LSN requests for comment.

Senate contact information:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

BY KIRSTEN ANDERSEN

ALBUQUERQUE, NM, November 19, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Tuesday’s municipal election in Albuquerque is a historic first: It will be the first time in U.S. history that voters in a city will get the chance to weigh in directly on whether late-term abortions should be legal in their town.

On the ballot in Tuesday’s election is the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance, which would ban virtually all abortions in Albuquerque after 20 weeks of pregnancy, when medical expertssay unborn children can feel pain.  The bill makes only one exception, and that is to save the life of the mother.

Albuquerque is one of only a few cities in the United States where late-term abortions are legally performed.  Two out of the four abortionists in the nation who publicly admit to performing late-term abortions practice in the city, which has become known as the “abortion capital of the Southwest” because women travel from all over the region to end their babies’ lives there at the Southwestern Women’s Optionsclinic. 

If the ordinance passes, the facility will be forced to either stop performing late-term abortions, or relocate – no easy feat for a business that makes its money killing nearly full-term infants. 

The referendum was launched by petition after pro-life leaders tried and failed to pass restrictions on abortion in the state legislature, which is controlled by pro-abortion Democrats.  Those bills were all killed in committee, so pro-life activists decided to put the issue to the people, collecting 27,000 signatures in just a few weeks’ time to force the issue onto the municipal ballot.

Democratic Sen. Cisco McSorely told the Albuquerque Journal he sees the referendum as a dangerous attempt to bypass the elected legislature.

“It sets a really bad precedent,” McSorley, told the Journal. “The people that vote for this have got to understand that if this is the way things are going to be done by special interests in the future, we are opening the floodgates to every special interest in the country to come in here and write things into our City Charter that will make it impossible to govern Albuquerque.”

But Sen. Bill Sharer told the Journal he sees the referendum as a “perfect approach” for concerned citizens who are tired of being stonewalled by elected officials.

“A relatively small group of people in Albuquerque clearly made the decision that the Legislature’s absolute refusal to protect human beings was unacceptable and we will find another way to do it,” Sharer told the Journal. “I think they viewed all of us as failures and decided they were going to do it themselves.”

The ordinance’s supporters and critics alike agree that the results of the vote could have national impact. If the measure succeeds, it will not only send a powerful message to federal legislators, but pro-life activists may use it as a model to pass similar bans in cities throughout the nation. 

“[Tuesday’s] vote is historic,” said Mark Harrington, Executive Director of Created Equal, a pro-life group. “Residents of Albuquerque are standing up to defend their own children. We must stand with and learn from their bold example.”

“From a political standpoint, there are national implications to this campaign,” said Cheryl Sullenger, senior policy adviser for Operation Rescue. “If the ordinance can win in this blue-state community, it will send a strong message to Washington that the people want and need a similar ban on late-term abortions at the Federal level.”

Said Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, “This vote, along with other local initiatives, is just another clear example of how the pro-life movement will overturn Roe v. Wade. That is grassroots efforts chipping away at Roe's foundations until there is nothing left. The new 'template' for ending abortion is moving away from Washington, D.C. and federal solutions and focusing on local efforts where our strength and support has always been strongest.”

The national pro-abortion lobby has come to the aid of Albuquerque’s late-term abortionists, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to try and stop the measure.  Planned Parenthood spent $300,000 and the ACLU spent $200,000, according to campaign finance reports.  NARAL Pro-Choice America spent thousands, as well.  Organizing for Action, President Obama’s national network of local activists, has also been actively campaigning against the ordinance.

“What we will see [on] Election Day … is whether the abortion cartel’s big money will overrule the will of the people,” said Sullenger. “We know from recent polls that 54% of the people of Albuquerque want to end abortions after 20 weeks when the babies are known to feel pain.”

So far, turnout has been historic, with over 25,000 ballots having been cast by Nov. 12 via early voting.  Sullenger said that because early votes often trend conservative, that’s good news for Albuquerque’s late-term unborn children.

But pro-abortion forces won’t go down without a fight. 

“This has been seen as a threat to our city from the very beginning, and we’ve taken it very seriously since the beginning,” Rachael Maestas, of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance at the University of New Mexico, told the pro-abortion RH Reality Check blog. She said it didn’t matter that the ordinance targeted only late-term abortions.  “Any restriction on abortion is still a restriction on our rights.”

The ACLU has promised to sue to block the law’s enforcement if it passes. 

State Attorney General Gary King, a Democrat, called the measure “unconstitutional and unenforceable,” and says he believes it is likely to be overturned in court.  He said voters would have to decide whether it was worth it to them to “bear the protracted expense of litigation” just to make their voices heard on the issue of late-term abortion.

BY DUSTIN SIGGINS

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 15, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As the U.S. Senate considers a national 20-week ban on abortions, issues of life and family have remained in the forefront of state legislatures across the country, as well.

California

This week, California’s Secretary of State granted permission for pro-life activists to attempt to place a measure on the ballot to require abortionists to notify the parents of underage girls who wish to have an abortion.

If it became law, the proposed ballot measure would require a 48-hour waiting period after parents are notified by a medical professional. There would be exceptions for medical emergencies, parental waivers, or verification of parental abuse. Judges would also be granted flexibility to act in the girl’s best interest. The measure requires 807,615 signatures from registered voters to be submitted by April 14. California voters have turned down similar measures three times in the last decade.

Hawaii

A judge has upheld the state’s gay “marriage” law, citing a loophole in the state’s constitutional amendment against same-sex “marriage.” The language reads: "The legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples."

According to Circuit Court Judge Karl Sakamoto, the amendment allows the legislature a great deal of flexibility when it comes to who can and cannot wed. The amendment is at the center of a challenge by a Republican lawmaker against the law signed by governor Neil Abercrombie on Wednesday and passed in a special session of the Hawaiian legislature last week. Republican legislator Bob McDermott says the state’s citizens should be allowed a direct vote on the issue.

Hawaii Family Advocates president Jim Hochberg said that the new law will lead to organizations and individuals who support traditional marriage being accused of discrimination. He also said “the new law includes special protections for homosexual couples that opposite sex couples will not enjoy with respect to divorce, annulment, or legal separation.”

Wisconsin

After a bipartisan deal over the creation of a new procedure to authorize specialty license plates fell apart, the Wisconsin Assembly voted to create “Choose Life” license plates. Money from the plates will go to a pro-life corporation that sends money to adoption centers.

According to Pro-Life Wisconsin Director of Legislation Matt Sande in a public statement, if the new plates are allowed they “will provide a wonderful opportunity for Wisconsinites to express their pro-life beliefs and facilitate and encourage adoption as a positive, life-affirming choice for women with unplanned pregnancies.” Pro-Life Wisconsin reports 29 states have allowed “Choose Life” plates since 2000, and have raised $17 million for adoption centers.

Missouri

Governor Jay Nixon announced on Thursday he supports same-sex “marriage,” citing how he is “starting to see…and think differently about things like discrimination.” Shortly before this announcement, Nixon said the state would – by Executive Order – accept state tax returns jointly from same-sex couples “married” in other states. He said at the time the issue of tax returns was distinctly separate from his personal opinion on homosexual “marriage.”

Iowa

On Thursday, former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee thanked Iowa governor Terry Branstad for his attendance at the Informed Choices of Iowa fundraiser in Des Moines. Huckabee, who said he “got into politics because I’m pro-life,” reminded listeners that governors are able to accept a fraction of invitations they receive, and most do not participate in pro-life events. Because of this, Huckabee said “it matters” when a governor shows up to a pro-life event.

BY DUSTIN SIGGINS