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In addition to Governor Bob McDonnell’s amendment to HB 2434, which would restrict Virginia’s health insurance exchanges under ObamaCare from covering abortion services, Governor McDonnell also added an amendment to reinsert abstinence funding in the Virginia budget. This funding was included in the House of Delegates budget, but budget conferees left it out of the final budget which the General Assembly approved and sent to the governor. Such funding was a regular line item in the budget until then-Governor Tim Kaine abruptly stripped it out in November 2007 as a political IOU to Planned Parenthood.

Tomorrow, the General Assembly reconvenes for its annual “Veto Session,” when it reconsiders gubernatorial vetoes and amendments to bills, and will have the opportunity to include this provision back into the budget. While it is likely the House will accept this amendment, the Senate will be an uphill climb. Please contact your senator today and urge support for Governor McDonnell’s abstinence funding amendment to the budget.

Planned Parenthood, and its ally NARAL, have made it their national agenda to stop abstinence education. Both groups consistently assail abstinence programs as being ineffective. One legislator, who works closely with Planned Parenthood and NARAL, said, “The reality is with teenagers, their hormones come into play, and abstinence-only doesn’t always work.” Work for who? The more teens postpone sexual activity, the less profit the abortion industry makes.

The pro-abortion lobby also asserts that “abstinence education doesn’t work,” “parents don’t support abstinence education,” and “it’s naive to think that teenagers can be abstinent.” None of those arguments, though, are correct according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In fact, an October 2010 study paid for by the federal Department of Heath and Human Services found that abstinence education is highly effective and it is widely supported by parents and teenagers.

The HHS survey found that 70 percent of parents agreed that it is “against [their] values for [their] adolescents to have sexual intercourse before marriage” and that “having sexual intercourse is something only married people should do.” Adolescent beliefs, according to the survey, were similar. In fact, there are federal abstinence education funds that Governor McDonnell has applied for that Mr. Kaine refused. So, even the Obama administration realizes it works.

Clearly, abstinence education is not only effective, but it is widely supported among both parents and teens. So, please contact your senator today and urge support of the governor’s amendment to reinstate abstinence funding in the budget.

Click here if you know your senator and need his or her phone number.

Click here if you don’t know who your senator is.

The day after last week’s historic pro-life victory in the General Assembly (see Richmond Times-Dispatch), Planned Parenthood and its abortion industry allies rallied in Richmond to decry the government’s “attack on women.” Those senators who voted in favor of abortion center safety regulations, and Lt. Governor Bill Bolling who broke the tie in the Virginia Senate, now are likely targets of their action.

We need to make sure that those who stood for life and safety receive the thanks they deserve. So please contact Lt. Governor Bolling and the senators who voted in favor of improving the health and safety standards at Virginia’s abortion centers (SB 924) and thank them for their vote (see below)! These elected officials deserve our gratitude for their action and political courage for voting to regulate abortion centers after years of stiff resistance and pressure by liberal and pro-abortion groups such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL. 

Before too long, after more than two decades of hiding behind a veil of secrecy, Virginia’s abortion centers will have to meet basic sanitary and safety standards. While the media is framing the legislation as “forcing abortion clinics to become hospitals,” the facts are entirely different. Virginia has several categories of hospitals (inpatient, psychiatric, rehabilitation, outpatient surgical, etc.). These categories of hospitals are subject to different regulations. They are not required to meet the standards of general hospitals. Instead, they are regulated according to their specialty. Likewise, abortion centers now will be categorized as a type of hospital and the Board of Health will create regulations that are appropriate.

We hope that you are savoring last week’s victory. At our weekly General Assembly session devotion Friday, we were reminded that God is sovereign and directs those in power. While we know that a lot of hard work went into this legislative victory, and many legislators and elected officials took a brave stand, we are well aware that our God is deserving of all the praise for this historic vote!

We also acknowledge our good friends at the Virginia Catholic Conference and the Virginia Assembly of Independent Baptists for their help in getting this legislation passed. Both organizations worked tirelessly on this and a host of other issues this session. Their partnership is vital to our, and the pro-life movement’s, success.

To thank your senator who voted for SB 924 and Lt. Governor Bill Bolling for breaking the tie vote, click here!

They are not “clinics” as they are commonly called. Clinics are places you go to get well. Rather, they are abortion centers. Women do not get well at a Planned Parenthood abortion center. In fact, in Virginia, a woman’s health may be in danger at an abortion center, as the commonwealth enforces no safety regulations at such facilities. Recent news out of New Jersey and Maryland confirm the danger women face in these unregulated abortion centers.

On Wednesday, New Jersey suspended Dr. Steven Brigham’s medical license. Dr. Brigham is an abortionist who owns American Women’s Services Inc., headquartered in New Jersey, but also operates abortion centers in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Dr. Brigham’s manipulation of the system recently came to light (resulting in the suspension of his license) when the uterus and small intestine of one of his clients ruptured during an abortion.

This isn’t the first time Dr. Brigham’s license has been suspended or revoked. He was cited in two botched abortions in New York — resulting in the revocation of his New York license — and has shady standing in other states.

It was Dr. Brigham’s routine to begin third trimester abortions in New Jersey (where third trimester abortions must be done in a hospital) and then caravan with his clients to Maryland (where they can be done in so-called “clinics”) where he finished the procedure. In New Jersey, Dr. Brigham had no hospital admitting privileges, no OB/GYN training, and no medical permission to perform third trimester abortions (hence the get-away to Maryland).

However, Dr. Brigham was barred from practicing medicine in Maryland as the result of another botched procedure in the mid-1990s. But never mind about that. It wasn’t going to stop him. He simply listed George Shepard, Jr., an 88-year-old disabled physician, as the physician of record to cover for his proceedings in Maryland — a move that is a felony under Maryland law.

Dr. Brigham rationalized his actions, stating that he believed Dr. Shepard was in the office at the time of the abortions. However, Dr. Shepard suffered a stroke some time ago, leaving him incapable of assisting in case of an emergency during Dr. Brigham’s risky third trimester abortions. Medically responsible? Not at all.

According to records, Dr. Brigham’s clients were not even aware that they would have to travel to Maryland for the completion of their abortions. The abortion industry has proven to be quite profitable for people who, like Dr. Brigham, routinely perform abortions, which likely explains his “creativity.”

Is Dr. Brigham the only disreputable abortionist operating in Virginia and neighboring states? It’s hard to tell. However, since abortion center reporting and inspections are not required here, unlike at other surgical facilities, it’s virtually impossible to know for sure.

If Dr. Brigham had caravanned to Virginia instead of Maryland on this particular occasion, the chances that his client’s complications would have been linked to a botched abortion are slim to none. Additionally, no emergency equipment (defibrillator, hemorrhage equipment, etc.) is required at Virginia abortion centers and therefore a Virginia facility may not have had the ability to even save the woman’s life.

The health and safety of women demands the arraignment of men like Steven Brigham. Virginians must demand a higher level of professionalism and medical aptitude from abortion providers and facilities. To address this critical issue, The Family Foundation will continue to advocate for increased safety and regulation of abortion centers in Virginia in future General Assembly sessions.

The reaction to Tuesday’s announcement that Governor Bob McDonnell has applied for federal funds for abstinence-centered education has been intense (see Washinton Post Virginia Politics Blog). As you would suspect, Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia have opened rhetorical fire on the governor, as have several leftist blogs and commentators. If you read the comments at the end of newspaper articles (and unless you have a thick skin I wouldn’t) you would think the decision to help our teenagers delay sexual activity until marriage is a conspiracy to bring back chastity belts.

You may be running into some of the same misinformed rhetoric in your circles, much of it based on false claims or outright deception. Of course, those who profit from risky sexual behavior, Virginia’s abortion industry, are viscerally opposed to the idea that teenagers can control themselves. One legislator who works closely with Planned Parenthood and NARAL carried this message (see Norfolk Virginian-Pilot):

The reality is with teenagers their hormones come into play, and abstinence-only doesn’t always work.

Then again, if they can be taught effective ways of postponing sexual activity it cuts into the abortion industry’s profits.

But the primary argument has been that “abstinence education doesn’t work,” “parents don’t support abstinence education,” or “it’s naive to think that teenagers can be abstinent.” None of those arguments, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are correct. In fact, this year a study paid for by HHS, and its own recent survey, found that abstinence education is highly effective and widely supported by parents and teenagers (Washington Post).

The HHS survey released late last month (see here) found that 70 percent of parents agreed that it is “against [their] values for [their] adolescents to have sexual intercourse before marriage” and that “having sexual intercourse is something only married people should do.” Adolescent beliefs, according to the survey, were similar.

More interestingly, HHS buried the survey results and was forced to release it to the public only after a deluge of Freedom of Information Act requests (as reported by Mark Tapscott of the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential). Why, one must ask, would HHS not want people to know the results of taxpayer funded research — results that show Americans want and support abstinence before marriage?

Let’s face it, the battle over sex education is indeed a battle of worldviews and a battle for the hearts, minds, and bodies of our children. The fact is that abstinence centered programs do work and they are making a difference — science is showing that. It’s up to us to get the word out.

We hope that if you haven’t already, that you please thank Governor McDonnell for taking this strong stand on abstinence education funding by clicking here to e-mail his office. Abstinence opponents are well-funded and are on the attack. We have to show the governor that the families of Virginia appreciate his action. Please contact him today.

As we noted yesterday, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued an opinion Friday that clearly explains the legal basis on which the Commonwealth of Virginia can regulate abortion centers absent legislation by the General Assembly. While laws are more lasting, his advisory opinion —sought by Senator Ralph Smith (R-22, Roanoke) and Delegate Bob Marshall (R-13, Manassas) —  means that abortion centers operating in Virginia can be regulated by the executive branch through the state’s normal regulatory process.

Providing safety standards for Virginia’s abortion centers have been a legislative priority for The Family Foundation for many years. Until the mid-1980s, abortion centers in Virginia were regulated. Unfortunately, the administration of then-Governor Chuck Robb repealed those regulations due to constitutional concerns. Since that time, however, as the attorney general’s opinion notes, federal appeals courts have ruled that such regulations are constitutional. Yet, in Virginia, abortion centers continue to be regarded by the state as doctors’ offices, which require no emergency equipment for resuscitation or hemorrhage, despite the fact that abortion is a major invasive surgical procedure. 

The Family Foundation has worked for years in the General Assembly for common sense legislation to improve safety standards in abortion centers to equal those required for ambulatory (outpatient) surgery centers. Of course, the abortion industry in Virginia — Planned Parenthood and NARAL — fight with all their political muscle against these safety standards for women in their abortion centers. Each year its allies on the Committee of Death (Senate Education and Health Committee) reject simple requirements such as an annual inspection and having a defibrillator on site.

They argue that the abortion procedure is safe, despite the fact that the state doesn’t have any reporting requirements for complications due to abortion (also fought against by the abortion industry), so there is no way to really know. They also argue that abortion centers shouldn’t be “singled out” for regulation.

What they don’t say is that other outpatient surgery businesses are self-regulated through respected, national accreditation organizations that require significant safety measures for their seal of approval. No such respected accreditation group exists for abortionists.

The Attorney General’s opinion gives Governor Bob McDonnell’s administration the opportunity to create necessary regulations for abortion centers without approval from the General Assembly. Since state agencies such as the Board of Health already have the power to regulate medical facilities this is not a new policy or a policy change that should require legislation. Previous governors simply have not acted on this ability. This opinion now clears the legal path to such needed action.

Over the past several days many people have contacted us to find out how their elected officials voted on the pro-life budget amendment passed by the General Assembly during last month’s veto session in order to thank them if they voted favorably. The amendment prohibits taxpayer funding of low-income elective abortions. 

Despite deceptive efforts by the abortion industry and their advocates in the General Assembly, 64 delegates and 20 senators held firm and voted to protect the unborn. We are blessed that the House of Delegates regularly supports pro-life legislation, but sometimes, unfortunately, we may take that for granted. The Senate, on the other hand, is the chamber that is regularly hostile to pro-life legislation. So, when it does the right thing, it is very important to thank the senators who voted for life.

Below is the list of delegates and senators who voted yes. To see the complete recorded vote — those who voted yea and nay and not at all — click here for the House and here for the Senate.

House:

YEAS: Abbitt, Albo, Anderson, Athey, Bell, Richard P., Bell, Robert B., Bulova, Byron, Carrico, Cleaveland, Cline, Cole, Comstock, Cosgrove, Cox, J.A., Cox, M.K., Crockett-Stark, Edmunds, Garrett, Gear, Gilbert, Greason, Griffith, Hugo, Iaquinto, Ingram, Janis, Johnson, Jones, Kilgore, Knight, Landes, LeMunyon, Lewis, Lingamfelter, Loupassi, Marshall, D.W., Massie, May, Merricks, Miller, J.H., Miller, P.J., Morefield, Morrissey, Nutter, O’Bannon, Oder, Orrock, Peace, Phillips, Pogge, Poindexter, Pollard, Purkey, Rust, Scott, E.T., Sherwood, Stolle, Tata, Torian, Villanueva, Ware, R.L., Wright, Mr. Speaker (Howell, W.)—64.

NAYS: Abbott, Alexander, Armstrong, BaCote, Barlow, Brink, Carr, Dance, Ebbin, Englin, Filler-Corn, Herring, Hope, Howell, A.T., James, Joannou, Keam, Kory, McClellan, Plum, Scott, J.M., Shuler, Sickles, Spruill, Surovell, Toscano, Tyler, Ward, Ware, O., Watts—30.

ABSTENTIONS: Marshall, R.G.—1.

NOT VOTING: Lohr, McQuinn, Morgan, Putney—4.

Senate:

YEAS: Blevins, Colgan, Hanger, Hurt, Martin, McDougle, McWaters, Norment, Obenshain, Puckett, Quayle, Reynolds, Ruff, Smith, Stosch, Stuart, Vogel, Wagner, Wampler, Watkins—20.

NAYS: Barker, Deeds, Edwards, Herring, Houck, Howell, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, Marsh, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Northam, Petersen, Puller, Saslaw, Ticer, Whipple—19.

NOT VOTING: Newman—1.

To thank your delegate or senator (or both), click here for the House and here for the Senate to see the respective chambers’ directories. Scroll for your legislator(s), click on their names, and access their e-mail or office addresses. We hope you will take the time to make these two clicks and type a few sentences of gratitude to these hard working men and women for making possible, despite a great amount of pressure, Virginia’s most important pro-life advancement in in years.

If your delegagte or senator voted no, we recommend you write a respectful note expressing your grave disappointment in their vote to allow your tax dollars to be used to end unborn human life, and that he or she please re-examine the issue for next session. Finally, if you do not know who your senator or delegate is, click here first.

Courtesy of our friends at the Family Research Council, below are eight documented facts about the inclusion of abortion funding or mandates in the so-called health care “reform” bill. You can click here, as well, to get them in a PDF document.

Eight Reasons Abortion Is in the Health Care Overhaul

1. The legislation specifically includes it. The President’s bill to amend the Senate bill leaves several abortion provisions in place. In Section 1303 it allows tax credit subsidies for plans that include abortion and leaves the abortion surcharge in place. It maintains the proposal to create a multi-state plan that includes abortion in Sec. 1334. Even worse, it would increase the Senate bill funding from $7 billion to $11 billion for community health centers in Sec. 10503 without any abortion funding restrictions. (H.R. 3590, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.)

2. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has said it is. “And I would say that the Senate language, which was negotiated by Senators Barbara Boxer and Patty Murray, who are very strong defenders of women’s health services and choices for women, take a big step forward from where the House left it with the Stupak amendment, and I think do a good job making sure there are choices for women. … That would be an accounting procedure, but everybody in the exchange would do the same thing, whether you’re male or female, whether you’re 75 or 25, you would all set aside a portion of your premium that would go into a fund.” (HotAir.com: “Sebelius: Everyone will pay into abortion-coverage fund“.)

3. Senate Democrats refused to ban it. Instead of allowing for an up or down vote on a Senate amendment similar to the Stupak Amendment in the House which bans federal funding of abortion, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) “tabled” the amendment, effectively killing it. This was the only amendment dealt with in this way. (Vote No. 369 S.Amdt. 2962 to S.Amdt. 2786 to H.R. 3590.)

4. House Pro-life Democrats, who support a government takeover, say it is. “The Senate language is a significant departure from current law and is unacceptable.” (U.S. Representative Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), February 23, 2010, CBS News) … “I think abortion’s wrong. The problem is that I’ve lived too long. When they say they can keep this money separate, I just don’t believe it.” (U.S. Representative Marion Berry (D-Ark.), March 6, 2010, Arkansas News.)

5. House Pro-abortion Democrats say it is. “The good news is that the Senate bill does allow [abortion coverage],” (Chairwoman of the House pro-abortion caucus, Dianne DeGette (D-Colo.), March 5, 2010, Washington Post.)

6. The Abortion industry has sent out alerts in favor of it. The abortion giant Planned Parenthood sent out alerts on March 6, 2010: “President Obama’s health care reform proposal would make a real difference for the women and families who rely on Planned Parenthood. . . . and [the bill] significantly increase access to reproductive health care.” (Planned Parenthood alert, March 6, 2010.)

7. Candidate Obama said it would be included, and the Obama administration includes it in its definition of reproductive health care. Presidential candidate Barack Obama stated he “believes that reproductive health care is basic health care.” (Rhealitycheck.org questionnaire, 2008.) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed up on this in 2009: “Reproductive health care includes access to abortion.” (The Cloakroom Blog: “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, April 22, House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing.”)

8. House Democratic Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has indicated he wants to “fix” the abortion coverage problem in the Senate bill. “House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday that lawmakers could draft separate pieces of legislation with abortion language to earn the support of anti-abortion rights Democrats on healthcare reform legislation.” (March 4, 2010: The Briefing Room, The Hill’s blog.)

But if those eight facts aren’t enough to convince your “pro-life” friends who are convinced that anything out of “the annointed one’s” mouth is truth, or just can’t bring themselves to doubt such “moderate” and “Blue Dog Democrats” such as U.S. Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) or our own Mark Warner, here’s 12 more facts and reasons, courtesy of The Cloakroom.

Still not sure? Then check out FRC Action’s resource page: “Standing Against the Government Takeover of Health Care,” as well as why the Hyde Amendment does not apply to the current bill: “Q and A: Government Health Care and Abortion.” Please disseminate this information by using the share program, e-mailing this link to friends and/or posting it to your own social networking sites.

At the beginning of this year’s General Assembly session, pregnancy resource centers were in the crosshairs of the abortion industry. From a press conference releasing a now debunked report about PRCs, to legislation that would have burdened them with unnecessary regulations, Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia must have thought they were well on their way to putting their competition out of business.

What a difference a few weeks — and the truth — makes.

Yesterday, instead of finalizing anti-PRC legislation, the House (HJ 435) and Senate (SJ 265) passed identical resolutions honoring the work of pregnancy resource centers across the commonwealth. This took place despite a frantic effort by NARAL to derail the resolutions (Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog). The resolutions were introduced at the request of The Family Foundation.

Earlier this session, the anti-PRC legislation was defeated in House and Senate sub-committees, with the Senate patron, Dr. Ralph Northam (D-6, Norfolk), actually asking for his own bill (SB 188) to be defeated. This happened in a sub-committee meeting, that he chaired, where the truth about the work of PRCs was presented through personal testimonies from young women who received support from PRCs in their time of need.

The Family Foundation was honored to work with so many great PRC directors who serve women and families in crisis each and every day. (Click here to read more about the battle in this Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star op-ed.) We especially thank Senator Jill Vogel (R-27, Winchester) and Delegate Chris Stolle, MD (R-83, Virginia Beach) for introducing these commending resolutions on behalf of Virginia’s pregnancy resource centers.

Virginia’s PRCs are grateful, too. Below is a letter we received from one center after the news the two resolutions were passed:

Thank you so much for all your work on the front lines for family values in Virginia. We continue to thank God for you all. The help and guidance that you and the FF team provided to the Virginia Directors in mid January was deeply appreciated. Weren’t we all amazed by the miraculous ways in which God moved in the Health subcommittee on January 26, 2010. I truly will never forget that day!!!!

News from the Family Foundation this morning regarding the resolutions honoring the work of PRC’s across the Commonwealth, requested by the FF and passed in both House and Senate yesterday, has truly been humbling in light of all you have already done for us. Thank you so much for your partnership in standing for life in the Commonwealth of Virginia and for the tremendous work that you do both in session season and out. May God continue to bless you all.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

We just received an e-mail from Planned Parenthood. It’s oh, so heartwarming (not!) to see the abortion industry celebrate the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, as millions of people in Washington, D.C., today, and elsewhere, mourn the deplorable decision.

This is how they celebrate: They send an e-mail alert that lies about the content of HB 393, a bill passed on a bipartisan 16-6 vote yesterday in the House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee. It would add three simple, common sense provisions to unregulated abortion centers. The bill, patroned by Delegate Matt Lohr (R-26, Harrisonburg) goes to the House floor for an up or down vote Monday (contact your delegate).

Just as during their committee testimony yesterday, the e-mail is full of lies about the bill. It’s a standard liberal tactic: The truth is whatever you say it is, no matter if what you say is no where to be found in the bill. For example, PP makes claims about “the architectural, procedural, staffing and equipment requirements of ambulatory surgery centers” which are not in the bill.

The bill mandates three simple things: licensure, an annual inspection and keeping defibrillators on premises. (There are three defibrillators in the General Assembly Building!) Nothing about building codes or staffing. In fact, in 2008, when this same bill came before the Senate Education and Health Committee, and Delegate Lohr offered the committee a substitute in full view of the committee room that specifically limited the bill to those three elements, the PP lobbyist read from her script, not deviating one second, using rote talking points about a bill 10 years old. It was the same yesterday in committee.  

So, thank you PP, for putting lies ahead of women’s safety. Below is the e-mail (apparently sent to non-Virginians as well) in which PP tells its followers how and what to say to lawmakers, word for word.

Dear xxxxx,

Today marks the 37th anniversary of Roe V. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States. Since this time, there have been numerous attempts to chip away at Roe on the local, state, and federal levels. One of the biggest threats to Roe today is decreased access to providers of first trimester abortions. In fact, 87% of counties in the United States do not have abortion providers.

Ironically, members of the Virginia House of Delegates will be voting on HB 393, Targeted Regulations for Abortion Providers, on Monday, January 25. This bill is a thinly disguised attempt to impose burdensome and unnecessary regulations on abortion providers so that the provision of services would become prohibitively expensive and thus out of reach for many women in Virginia. 

Please contact your legislator and ask him or her to OPPOSE HB 393.

Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):

Your Delegate (if you live in Virginia)

Below is the sample letter:

Subject: Please OPPOSE HB 393, Targeted Regulations for Abortion Providers

Dear [decision maker],

I am writing to ask that you OPPOSE HB 393, Targeted Regulations for Abortion Providers. This legislation has little to do with patient safety and is instead intended to decrease access to safe abortion services in Virginia. Abortion care is already provided safely in accordance with state and federal regulatory agencies. Furthermore, the architectural, procedural, staffing and equipment requirements of ambulatory surgery centers are unrelated to the safety of first trimester abortion procedures provided in medical offices.

Compliance with these unnecessary requirements would make abortion services prohibitively expensive to provide and thus unavailable for many women in Virginia.

Please protect women’s access to reproductive health care and OPPOSE HB 393.

If anything exposes the utter fallacy of the “pro-choice” (i.e., pro-abortion-on-demand) industry, it is its constant attack on pregnancy resource centers — places where women in a crisis pregnancy, or just considering all options, can go for advice and counsel. Instead of fostering information and “choice,” though, organizations such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL try to bully these very non-political, keep-to-themselves non-profits. It also reveals that the abortion industry is exactly that — a ruthless industry trying to snuff out competition. Liberals rail against unethical anti-competitive big business all the time. Where’s the outrage over these bullying tactics by the billion-dollar-plus abortion industry?

An outrage did occur today, but it wasn’t directed at the abortion industry. Rather, it was directed by the abortion industry against pregnancy resource centers at a capitol news conference. These non-profits do not engage in politics, do not endorse candidates, do not lobby the legislature. The abortion industry does all of that. Pregnancy resource centers simply try to help pregnant women make informed decisions — only to be demonized by national abortion-on-demand organizations backed by millions in big money elitists and liberal special interests.

My word! Have a baby? That’s one less abortion fee! An underage girl pregnant by a 30-year-old? No worries. We’ll take care of it (see videos at LiveAction).

In Richmond, today, an all-star cast of liberal lawmakers came out swinging, introducing legislation that would stifle pregnancy resource centers and issued a “report” impugning PRCs that is about as accurate as the typical Weekly World News. But it’s not the first time. In October, NARAL released a letter attacking PRCs — and they tried to capitalize on our response.

We have no doubt it will continue to these hard ball tactics. It truly reveals who they are and what they actually do. So, we have a message to the abortion industry. Pick on someone your own size.

The big abortion lobby lobbing grenades at pregnancy resource centers. What are they afraid of? Babies being born?