| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 17, 2019 |
CONTACT: Mallory Quigley [email protected] 202-223-8073 |
Dems’ Attacks on Trump’s Pro-life Policies Violate Bipartisan Agreement
Washington, D.C. – The national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) and pro-life coalition members today sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) urging them to reject the anti-life Shaheen amendment to the Senate State and Foreign Operations bill that would increase funding for domestic organizations that promote abortion overseas.
The Bipartisan Budget Agreement reached by congressional leaders and the Trump administration earlier this year stipulates: “There will be no poison pills, additional new riders…unless agreed to on a bipartisan basis by the four leaders with the approval of the President.”
The pro-life coalition letter reads in part:
“The Trump administration has made extraordinary progress in implementing pro-life policies internationally, specifically through Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (PLGHA), the modernized Mexico City Policy… However, domestic organizations that work overseas are not subject to PLGHA, and some receiving… funding under State and Foreign Operations (SFOPs) actively and unapologetically promote abortion. The Shaheen amendment is a highly controversial, partisan attack on pro-life foreign policy, and must be eliminated in any SFOPs bill going forward. Consistent with the bipartisan budget agreement, we ask that you reject the Shaheen amendment.”
Forty-four pro-life organizations backed the letter, including March for Life Action, Americans United for Life, National Right to Life Committee, The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Students for Life, among others.
SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser offered the following comment:
“Earlier this month in the Appropriations Committee, Senator Shaheen offered an amendment to add partisan controversial language to the Senate State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill. The Shaheen amendment was included in the bill reported out of Committee and if enacted would increase taxpayer funding to U.S.-based organizations that promote abortion overseas and would require one-sided targeting of the Trump administration’s pro-life policies. This is a nonstarter, and under the bipartisan budget agreement Republican leaders have the opportunity to insist the Shaheen amendment is dropped. We trust that President Trump, Senate Majority Leader McConnell and House Minority Leader McCarthy will continue to stand against efforts to weaken the extraordinary progress made by the Trump administration in implementing pro-life policies internationally by rejecting the Shaheen amendment.”
SBA List is a network of more than 837,000 pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders.
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