by Bill Fancher and Jody Brown
Thompson excited pro-life advocates recently with several proposals he and President Bush developed to help the movement. The first was to increase funding for abstinence-only education to $135 million, fulfilling a campaign promise. “And we're not stopping there,” Thompson said. “Under the State Children's Health Insurance Program, we provide prenatal care to the mothers of unborn children. We want to extend quality medical care to needy women at a critical time.”
Thompson then attempted to solidify the wooing effort by telling pro-lifers this: “Just to be clear, the regulatory language we are proposing defines a child as an individual under the age of 19, including the period from conception to birth,” he said.
Some pro-life groups are praising the announcements and have vowed to help get the proposals through Congress. But the largest pro-life group in the United States is warning pro-lifers not to get overly excited about Thompson's announcement.
Judie Brown of the American Life League says the announcement on federal funding for prenatal care should not be considered a major pro-life victory. Brown, a harsh critic of the Bush Administration's stance on several pro-life issues, points out the program that would be affected by the proposed change only addresses women who have already rejected abortion — and that the proposed wording change may be only symbolic.
The pro-life movement, according to Brown, has again been “mesmerized by the schizophrenic Bush Administration” in its eagerness to laud any proposal that might be construed as positive for pro-lifers. She says if the Bush Administration is really concerned about protecting unborn babies, it would order a review of the RU-486 abortion pill or cut federal funding to programs that promote abortion.
Confident Congressman
Meanwhile, Ohio Republican Representative Steve Chabot knows this Congress will be tough when it comes to pro-life issues, but he remains optimistic. He believes the pro-life message will prevail by the time the session ends.
“We will defend the lives of the unborn,” Chabot says. “Those innocent, helpless little babies cannot fight for themselves — so we must defend them from those who see them as nothing more than an inconvenience. We cannot let up, we can never surrender.”
Chabot expects several pro-life bills will eventually make it through Congress and to the President's desk for Bush's signature. Which ones make it will depend on how hard pro-lifers are willing to fight.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press.)
