There are, of course, many unnamed victims of the attack at Fort Hood.  Spouses, parents, children, siblings, friends.  Each left to suffer and question why, on American soil, their loved one’s life was violently ended.

But there was another victim that has been frequently overlooked: the unborn child of soldier Francheska Velez.  When Hasan took Velez’s life, he took the life of her unborn baby as well.

As the country looks for justice to be served in this horrendous tragedy, we cannot forget that Hasan can and should be charged with the death of Baby Velez as well. 

The Uniform Code of Military Justice was modified when President George W. Bush signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (UBVV) in 2004.  Also known as “Laci and Conner’s Law,” the federal UBVV law applies only to federal crimes and federal jurisdictions, such as military installations.  That is why AUL pushes so vehemently for states to enact their own versions of the federal UBVV law.

As AUL explained in Defending Life 2009:

“Thus, the biggest impact of Laci and Conner’s law may be in its revisions to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Military prosecutors can now pursue charges against military personnel stationed anywhere in the world if their actions cause the death of an unborn child; previously, they were limited to filing such charges only in those states with laws protecting unborn victims of violence.  A case such as that of Airman Gregory L. Roberts, who in 1996 savagely beat his pregnant wife, rupturing her uterus and killing their unborn daughter, resulted in manslaughter charges only because Ohio, where he was stationed, had a fetal homicide law on its books. Had Roberts been stationed in Colorado or North Carolina—states with a significant military presence, but no laws protecting an unborn child from violence—he could not have been charged with his daughter’s death and would have faced prosecution only for the assault on his wife.”

You can read the entire article here.

Because the UBVV law was signed in 2004 and is incorporated in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, justice can be sought for Baby Velez.

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found a Pittsburg ordinance restricting access to public areas around abortion clinics unconstitutional.  More specifically, the court held the ordinance to be “insufficiently tailored” because it “burdens substantially more speech than necessary” to achieve the City’s stated interest—to prevent “harassment and obstruction of entrances” to hospitals and medical clinics. 

The Pittsburg ordinance combined a “bubble zone” and a “buffer zone.”  The bubble zone extended 100 feet from the entrance of any hospital, medical office or clinic—including public sidewalks—and prohibited anyone from approaching another person within 8 feet without consent to pass a leaflet or handbill, display a sign or engage in oral protest.  The buffer zone essentially cordoned off a 15-foot zone from the entrance of a hospital or health care facility prohibiting anyone to congregate, patrol, picket or demonstrate. 

The Court of Appeals found the zones to be constitutional when considered independent of each other, but when the ordinance combined both zones it overburdened protected speech.  It remanded the case for the City to decide which zone it preferred and directed the District Court to enjoin enforcement of the other zone. 

In making its ruling, the Third Circuit relied on the Supreme Court’s decision involving a similar Colorado Statute, as well as, the First Circuit’s decisions involving bubble zone ordinances around Reproductive Health Care Facilities in Massachusetts.

In 2000, the Supreme Court upheld a similar 100-ft bubble zone in Colorado finding the statute a permissible content-neutral time, place and manner regulation—making it significantly easier for governments to simply forbid free speech in select public areas.  In doing so, the Court failed to call a spade a spade—or in this case a content-based regulation content-based.

Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics have lobbied local and state governments to pass these “bubble zone” ordinances under the governments’ public safety interest.  Asserting an interest in safe access to “healthcare” (meaning safe access to abortions), these ordinances attempt to restrict the presence of pro-life advocates and all communicative efforts by them around abortion clinics.

These ordinances criminalize any discussion of abortion outside abortion clinics.  They prohibit peaceful demonstrations and they eliminate any effective means to discuss the harms of abortion at the location these harms occur.  In application, they prevent effective sidewalk counseling and significantly hinder the communication of abortion alternatives to women who need and want the information the most.  These laws permit only one viewpoint to reach women entering abortion clinics—the pro-abortion position and those enacting them know it.

Abortion advocates simply cannot win on the merits of their arguments, so they employ tactics to prohibit or restrict the expression of views opposing abortion.  And unfortunately, they are finding some success in pursuing these  “bubble zone” ordinances across the country and in the courts. 

The courts have refused to see these ordinances for what they are—an attempt to silence opposing viewpoints and prohibit the expression of dissent to abortion. Until the courts are willing to recognize the content and viewpoint discrimination occurring through bubble zone ordinances, abortion advocates will continue to employ this new weapon of choice to unconstitutionally silence opposition to abortion.  

Once again the law surrounding abortion seems to require special exceptions to protect the abortion industry from thoughtful and full debate of the harms it causes to women and their unborn children.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, DC — Americans United for Life (AUL) today held a Capitol Hill briefing in conjunction with the release of their annually-updated legal guide, Defending Life 2009: Proven Strategies for a Pro-Life America.
 
“Defending Life 2009 offers specific, achievable opportunities to advance a pro-life agenda in individual states and in Congress.  In addition, it provides essential insight and analysis on issues across the life spectrum,” said Dr. Charmaine Yoest, AUL’s President & CEO.

Representatives Eric Cantor (R-VA, Minority Whip), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), and Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) served as honorary co-hosts of today’s Capitol Hill event, which was attended by members of Congress and their staffers. 

Presenters at the briefing included Charmaine Yoest, Ph.D., AUL President & CEO; Clarke D. Forsythe, AUL Senior Counsel; and Daniel S. McConchie, AUL Vice President for Government Affairs.  Copies of Defending Life 2009 were distributed to those in attendance.

Now in its fourth edition, Defending Life 2009 includes:
• In-depth discussions of key life issues and legislative opportunities;
• Model pro-life legislation developed by AUL experts; and
• Specific information on each of the 50 states, including an overall ranking of the states.

“Defending Life emphasizes the importance of life-affirming legislation and contains the necessary building blocks to move us closer to the day when every person is welcomed in life and protected in law,” said Denise Burke, AUL’s Vice-President of Legal Affairs and editor-in-chief of Defending Life 2009.

Defending Life 2009 is available online at http://dl.aul.org, and is available for purchase at Amazon.com.

About Defending Life 2009
AUL’s annual publication, Defending Life 2009: Proven Strategies for a Pro-Life America, is the definitive legal guide to abortion, bioethics, healthcare freedom of conscience, and the end of life.  Cutting through the murky cloud of media chatter and controversy, Defending Life provides comprehensive, timely, and thought-provoking information to anyone who wants to understand key pro-life issues and utilize proven strategies to address them.  Defending Life 2009 is available online at http://dl.aul.org, and is available for purchase at Amazon.com.

About Americans United for Life
Americans United for Life (AUL) is a nonprofit, public-interest law and policy organization whose vision is a nation in which everyone is welcomed in life and protected in law.  The first national pro-life organization in America, AUL has been committed to defending human life through vigorous judicial, legislative, and educational efforts at both the federal and state levels since 1971.  The Wall Street Journal has profiled AUL, and PBS’ Frontline program chronicled AUL’s successful efforts in Mississippi.

Defending Life 2009 is now available for order from Amazon.com.  The Amazon page says it is out of stock, but my sources tell me the shipment has just arrived at the warehouse.  Place your order today and you’ll receive it soon.

Of course all of the content is available online as well: http://dl.aul.org/.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chicago, Illinois — Americans United for Life (AUL) today released its sixth annual ranking of the most and least pro-life states.  Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and South Dakota top the ranking, while California, Hawaii, and Vermont ranked lowest.

“AUL’s annual ranking highlights the significant progress we are making each year toward a more pro-life America,” said Dr. Charmaine Yoest, AUL President & CEO.  “There is every reason for optimism even in the face of new challenges.  Since the election, we have seen a huge outpouring of grassroots support for our work opposing the radically pro-abortion Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) as well as hundreds of inquiries about life-affirming legislation.”

While AUL’s criteria covers states’ treatment of all life issues, final rankings depend largely on each state’s enactment of prudent and well-supported laws.  Such laws fence in the abortion license granted by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade.  Among the laws AUL looks for are informed consent, parental involvement for minors, medically-supported regulation of abortion providers, and limitations on the use of taxpayer dollars for abortion.

“We are making progress — state by state and law by law — to build a culture of life in America,” said Denise Burke, AUL’s Vice President of Legal Affairs.  “In states that have passed common-sense limitations on abortion, abortion rates have declined by nearly 20% over the past 10 years.  These laws also underscore the growing and irrefutable evidence of the negative impact of abortion on women.”

The complete state rankings are available at http://dl.aul.org/your-state and will be featured in the soon-to-be-released Defending Life 2009.

About Defending Life 2009
AUL’s annual publication, Defending Life 2009: Proven Strategies for a Pro-Life America, is the definitive legal guide to abortion, bioethics, healthcare freedom of conscience, and the end of life.  Cutting through the murky cloud of media chatter and controversy, Defending Life provides comprehensive, timely, and thought-provoking information to anyone who wants to understand key pro-life issues and utilize proven strategies to address them.

In a recent column, AUL Board member George Weigel writes of the late Pope John Paul II and how his view of America evolved during his life.  One particular observation of the beloved pontiff (from 1997) seems particular apropos as America inaugurates a new President:

No expression of today’s [American] commitment to liberty and justice for all can be more basic than the protection offered to those in society who are most vulnerable.  The United States of America was founded on the conviction that an inalienable right to life was a self-evident moral truth, fidelity to which was a primary criterion for social justice.  The moral history of [America] is the story of [its] people’s efforts to widen the circle of inclusion in society, so that all Americans might enjoy the protection of law, participate in the responsibilities of citizenship, and have the opportunity to make a contribution to the common good.  Whenever a certain category of people — the unborn or the sick and old — are excluded from that protection, a deadly anarchy subverts the original understanding of justice.  The credibility of the United States will depend more and more on its promotion of a genuine culture of life, and on a renewed commitment to building a world in which the weakest and most vulnerable are welcomed and protected.

Let’s pray the President Obama and his Administration take heed of this wisdom.

National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2009
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

 
All human life is a gift from our Creator that is sacred, unique, and worthy of protection. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world. We also underscore our dedication to heeding this message of conscience by speaking up for the weak and voiceless among us.

The most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent. My Administration has been committed to building a culture of life by vigorously promoting adoption and parental notification laws, opposing Federal funding for abortions overseas, encouraging teen abstinence, and funding crisis pregnancy programs. In 2002, I was honored to sign into law the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which extends legal protection to children who survive an abortion attempt. I signed legislation in 2003 to ban the cruel practice of partial-birth abortion, and that law represents our commitment to building a culture of life in America.

Also, I was proud to sign the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004, which allows authorities to charge a person who causes death or injury to a child in the womb with a separate offense in addition to any charges relating to the mother.

America is a caring Nation, and our values should guide us as we harness the gifts of science. In our zeal for new treatments and cures, we must never abandon our fundamental morals. We can achieve the great breakthroughs we all seek with reverence for the gift of life.

The sanctity of life is written in the hearts of all men and women. On this day and throughout the year, we aspire to build a society in which every child is welcome in life and protected in law. We also encourage more of our fellow Americans to join our just and noble cause. History tells us that with a cause rooted in our deepest principles and appealing to the best instincts of our citizens, we will prevail.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 18, 2009, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Americans United for Life (AUL) mourns the loss of advisory board member and former governing board member Father Richard John Neuhaus. Fr. Neuhaus passed away this morning in New York City.

Throughout his adult life, Fr. Neuhaus engaged the most pressing issues of civil rights and social justice facing the nation and world. He consistently defended the rights of the unborn, the handicapped infant, and the terminally ill against the terrible realities and threats of abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.

His numerous books, including The Catholic Moment, The Naked Public Square (1996), Doing Well and Doing Good: The Challenge to the Christian Capitalist, Death on a Friday Afternoon (2001), and As I Lay Dying (2002), were major contributions to the understanding of religion in public life. As founder and editor in chief of the journal First Things, Fr. Neuhaus promoted public dialogue and understanding on the religious, philosophical, and political dimensions of democracy and culture.

“Father Richard Neuhaus consistently worked to encourage religious leaders to understand the centrality of the sanctity of human life as an issue of civil rights, and to put aside denominational differences and work together for the common good of protecting the unborn. He never wavered on the centrality of the life issue as a matter of human rights and social justice,” said his close friend and AUL Board member, George Weigel.

“As a former board member and generous supporter of the work of Americans United for Life, Father Neuhaus inspired us and a generation of pro-life leaders, and we will strive to carry on this work with unwavering determination.” said Dr. Charmaine Yoest, AUL President & CEO.

AUL’s Defending Life 2009 – a state-by-state legal guide to abortion, bioethics, and the end of life, which will be released this month — will be dedicated to Fr. Neuhaus in memory of his service to the life movement and AUL.

On January 7, 2009, the Arizona License Plate Commission unanimously approved the offering of “Choose Life” license plates to Arizona motorists.  The decision followed years of litigation, where it was determined that the Commission had acted unconstitutionally in originally denying a petition for the “Choose Life” plates.

When the petition filed by Arizona Life Coalition was denied six years ago, the group filed suit in the federal district court for Arizona.  Arizona Life Coalition had abided by all state requirements, but the Commission inappropriately denied the plate based upon its pro-life message.  However, the district court sided with the Commission, and the case proceeded to the Ninth Circuit.

The Ninth Circuit, however, quickly saw through the Commission’s unconstitutional actions and reversed the district court’s decision and ruled in favor of Arizona Life Coalition.  When the U.S. Supreme Court denied the Commission’s request to review the appeal, the lower court instructed the state of Arizona to issue the license plates.

AUL has been continually active in this case, Arizona Life Coalition v. Stanton, as well as in other “Choose Life” cases.  In the Arizona case, AUL represented pregnancy care centers that stand to benefit from the funds derived from the “Choose Life” plates.  That amicus brief is available at http://www.aul.org/xm_client/client_documents/briefs/ArizonaLifeCoalitionvStanton.pdf.

AUL has also filed amicus briefs supporting the plates in Missouri and Illinois.  The case in Missouri, Roach v. Vincent, is currently pending before the Eight Circuit.  The lower court has already ruled that the state acted unconstitutionally in denying the issuance of the plates.  AUL’s amicus brief, filed on behalf of pregnancy care centers in Missouri, is available at http://www.aul.org/xm_client/client_documents/briefs/RoachvVincent.pdf.

The Seventh Circuit, however, has diverged from the decisions in the Ninth Circuit and the Western District of Missouri, ruling instead that the state of Illinois has not acted unconstitutionally in denying the “Choose Life” license plates to its motorists.  Attorneys for Choose Life Illinois have stated that they plan to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.  AUL’s amicus brief in that case, Choose Life Illinois v. White, is available at http://www.aul.org/xm_client/client_documents/briefs/ChooseLifeILvWhite.pdf.

By finally approving the plates on Wednesday, Arizona became the 18th state to offer the “Choose Life” license plates to its residents.  The other states offering the plates include Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Tennessee.

“[R]ecognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”  Preamble, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

On December 10, 1948, in the immediate aftermath of the horror and carnage of World War II, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a document affirming the dignity and rights of all human beings.  What has been described by some as a “Magna Carta for all humanity” has been translated into more than 200 languages and remains one of the best known and most often cited human rights documents in the world.

The UDHR was drafted by the Commission on Human Rights of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations, chaired by social activist and former American First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt.  Its 30 enumerated articles detail the civil, social, cultural, economic, and political rights of all human beings.

To read the entire article, please click here.

As life-affirming laws in Michigan increase, the abortion rates in Michigan continue to plummet. Michigan state health officials announced last week that the abortion rate in the state have dropped to a record low since record-keeping began in 1979. The current abortion rate shows a 50% drop since the peak in 1987, and a 3.7% drop from 2006. The Michigan Department of Community Health reported that in 1987 there were 350 abortions for every 1,000 live births. In 2007, the number of abortions dropped to 200 abortions for every 1,000 live births.

The drastic drop in the Michigan abortion rate in 2007 is no surprise. Americans United for Life (AUL) ranked Michigan as the #1 pro-life state for 2007. AUL bases its rankings on the number of pro-life laws being enforced in a state, and the breadth of protection provided by each law.

Michigan currently has a number of women’s health and safety laws in effect, including:

• a comprehensive informed consent for abortion statute;
• a statute providing an option for women to view an ultrasound image of the unborn child;
• parental consent statute for abortions performed on minors;
• minimum health and safety requirements for abortion facilities;
• and a prohibition of the use of public funds and school health coverage plans for abortions.

Michigan law also contains provisions that specifically protect the health and safety of the unborn and the newly born. Michigan law defines the killing of an unborn child as a form of homicide, and defines non-fatal assaults on an unborn child as a crime. In addition, Michigan law requires that infants who survive an abortion and are born alive must be given immediate and appropriate care.

In terms of bioethics, Michigan law bans human cloning, for both reproductive and research purposes. Michigan also bans fetal experimentation and non-therapeutic research on a live human embryo, fetus, or neonate. As for end-of-life issues, Michigan treats physician-assisted suicide as a felony.

Lastly, Michigan law protects the rights of conscience of healthcare providers in the abortion context. Under Michigan law, healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities who object on grounds of conscience may not be forced to participate in the performance of an abortion, and may refrain from participation.

It is no coincidence that the abortion rate in Michigan has dropped to its all-time low, and that Michigan has the best pro-life, incremental legislation in place. Research shows that incremental protections are effective means of lowering the number of abortions performed. Michigan is a concrete example of this conclusion. The effectiveness and importance of passing life-affirming, incremental legislation in the states has been made clear enough. For those interested in making abortion rare, Michigan stands out as a model.

To go to National Right to Life’s article elaborating on congruent abortion data click here.

In our introduction to Defending Life 2008, we argue that “[I]t is in the states where we are winning the battle to create a culture of life and to protect all human life from its earliest stages until its natural end.  Each year, we are making progress incrementally – state by state and law by law.”  State-by-state building blocks for a culture of life has been AUL’s focus for decades, even more so in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Gonzales v. Carhart, upholding the federal ban on partial-birth abortion and opening the door to more state legislation that protects women and their children from the negative consequences of abortion.

AUL’s focus on the states is driven by our belief that there is where we, in partnership with pro-life Americans, legislators, and policy-makers, are truly making a difference.  Information just released by State Net, a group that actively monitors all legislative activity in the 50 states, confirms our analysis and validates our focus.  According to State Net, abortion is one of most debated topics in 2008, along with illegal immigration and the housing crisis.

Moreover, abortion-related legislation is being actively considered in nearly 80% of the state capitols.  AUL’s independent analysis shows that pro-life measures far exceed pro-abortion measures and that the states continue to make measurable progress toward a culture of life.

This morning, President George Bush formally welcomed Pope Benedict XVI to the United States during a ceremony on the South Lawn at the White House.  In a short speech, the President praised the Pope’s promotion and defense of a culture of life, stating:

“In a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred and that each of us is willed, each of us is loved, and each of us is necessary.”

This comment drew sustained applause from the crowd of 13,000 gathered to welcome the pontiff.  We wholeheartedly agree.

On April 3, 2008, Congressional Representatives Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) and Doug Lamborn (R-CO) hosted AUL on Capitol Hill as we distributed our landmark legal guide, Defending Life 2008.

Copies were distributed directly to key Senators, Congressmen, and their pro-life staffers; through the Senate and House Values Action Teams; and at Grover Norquist’s weekly coalition meeting.

With Defending Life 2008, AUL continues to provide cutting-edge resources for the pro-life movement. This comprehensive guide makes AUL’s unique legal expertise and incremental strategy even more widely available.

A crowd of nearly 50 congressional staffers, members of Congress, and other interested Washingtonians gathered in room 2105 of the Rayburn House Office Building to hear AUL Vice President & Executive Director Daniel McConchie and AUL Staff Counsel Maggie Datiles talk about AUL’s work and about Defending Life 2008.

In addition, Rep. Lamborn spoke to the group briefly, stopping by on his way back from a vote on the House floor.

The luncheon concluded with a brief question and answer session with AUL experts.

Many thanks to the offices of Rep. Lipinski and Rep. Lamborn (and others) for all of their help with arrangements.

To see all of the photos from the release event, please visit our Flickr page.

This event was conducted within the current guidelines of the House of Representatives as AUL does not employ or retain federal lobbyists.

As the 2008 Presidential Election approaches, we find ourselves struggling to determine which presidential candidate will best serve our country and hold fast to the principles and values we hold dear. One factor of increasing importance in this determination is a candidate’s position on abortion and life issues. How important is it for the pro-life cause to elect a pro-life President? What impact will the next President of the United States have on the pro-life agenda? Does it really matter what the next President’s position on life issues is? The answer is simple: Yes, it does matter. The President of the United States plays a crucial role in advancing the pro-life cause in America, and the election of a pro-life President will guarantee a political environment that is supportive of pro-life legislation and policies.

To read the entire article click here.

SAVE THE DATE!

Congressional Representatives Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) and Doug Lamborn (R-CO) will be hosting AUL as we distribute copies of our landmark legal guide Defending Life 2008 on Capitol Hill.

WHAT: Defending Life 2008 Luncheon
WHEN: April 3, 2008, 12:30 – 1:30pm
WHERE: 2105 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC

RSVP is required. Call 312-492-7234 if you’d like to attend.

Defending Life 2008: Proven Strategies for a Pro-Life America is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and hardback.