#Marjorie Dannenfelser

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Oriana González at NOTUS:

Democrats thought having abortion rights on the ballot would put Republicans on the defensive, supercharge turnout and deliver victories like the ones they saw in 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Instead, Tuesday’s election results are empowering Republicans and anti-abortion activists to lean harder into an anti-abortion platform than they ever have before. Over the course of the campaign, Republicans repeatedly attempted to change their messaging: saying abortion is a state issue, trying to make a “pro-family” message and avoid talk of bans, claiming that there shouldn’t be a united GOP message, arguing that a personhood bill is not an abortion ban, focusing all of their reproductive health messaging on IVF and even borrowing terminology from the abortion rights movement.

But advocates hope that the election results empower Republicans. If the GOP gains control of the House, they’ll have a trifecta in Washington. It’s unclear exactly what would get through Congress, given the 60-vote threshold for legislation in the Senate and a likely narrow majority in the House, but the days of Republicans shying away from talking about abortion seem over. It’s unclear whether anti-abortion legislation would move up higher under the legislative priority, Speaker Mike Johnson’s office did not return a request for comment, but for longtime allies of the anti-abortion movement in Congress, they are happy their colleagues will be able to speak out more forcefully. GOP Rep. Mike Kelly, who has introduced a bill to federally ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy multiple times, told NOTUS that it is “absolutely” time for Republicans to be louder about their anti-abortion beliefs. “I don’t believe you should let a political, what some people think is a political advantage, be that way,” Kelly, who is not in a competitive district, said. “I am always going to vote for life.”

[...]

Data shows that abortion was not top of mind for most voters. Only 25% of voters said that abortion was the most important factor to their vote, with larger shares saying their biggest issues were the border (29%), free speech (31%), inflation (40%) and the future of democracy (50%), according to a KFF analysis of an Associated Press survey that polled over 115,000 voters nationally conducted between Oct. 28 and when the polls closed on Tuesday. Those numbers were even lower with independent voters, with 21% saying it was their most important issue. Democrats had hoped that abortion rights support would rally undecided voters to their side. Trump managed to neutralize the issue during the campaign. His most consistent abortion message this cycle was that it is up to the states, and Democratic strategists previously admitted to NOTUS that the president-elect’s messaging may have worked. At the same time, Trump managed to keep the anti-abortion movement in his corner, with groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and Students for Life — both want to see a federal ban enacted — saying they made unprecedented investments in voter outreach efforts to turn people away from Kamala Harris.

[...] Anti-abortion advocates saw their biggest wins in years on Tuesday. Measures to protect abortion rights — in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota — failed for the first time since the Dobbs decision. Nebraska also became the first state to have an anti-abortion measure win at the ballot box since then.

“If the playing field is evened by pro-life elected officials fighting back, life wins. Abortion activists’ lies do not prevail when Republicans devote money and messaging to the truth,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. She said Republicans should follow Gov. Ron DeSantis’ example, saying that he “did not back down” and “traveled across the state” to speak with voters about his opposition to Florida’s abortion rights initiative (although most Florida voters supported the measure). She also thanked Sen. Pete Ricketts, who backed Nebraska’s anti-abortion measure, and Rep. Dusty Johnson in South Dakota, who “ran ads and sent mailers” to voters saying the abortion rights referendum went too far.

Abortion rights measures largely passed on Tuesday Night in several states; however, Donald Trump’s win, the GOP flipping the Senate, and the House likely narrowly staying GOP has emboldened anti-abortion activists.

[collapsedsquid]

Donald Trump says he’s ardently anti-abortion. But some of the most active anti-abortion groups are skeptical of his conversion and furiously lobbying for anyone but Trump. “He worries me a lot,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List, citing the billionaire’s comments that he might consider former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown as a running mate — or his sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, as a Supreme Court justice. Both Brown and Barry support abortion rights. “One has to question how deep it goes,” she said. Trump has been loath to speak at length about what drove his conversion — he previously backed abortion rights — or how he settled on his current position opposing abortion except in cases of rape, incest or to protect a woman’s life. That’s in stark contrast with the younger Republican candidates, such as Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, who frequently talk passionately about their opposition to abortion. On Tuesday, a group of 10 women who oppose abortion rights, including Dannenfelser, wrote an open letter to Iowa’s voters, urging them to support “anyone but Donald Trump.” “On the issue of defending unborn children and protecting women from the violence of abortion, Mr. Trump cannot be trusted and there is, thankfully, an abundance of alternative candidates with proven records of pro-life leadership whom pro-life voters can support,” they wrote.

Get in the time machine we're traveling to January 2016

[progressivepower]

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, has a new political strategy to get Republicans out of their defensive crouch and to start winning again on the abortion issue. http://ow.ly/4ngW104ZeJK

[cheerfullycatholic]

Former President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign angered leading pro-life voices this week by reportedly deemphasizing abortion in private comments, then appearing to disavow national action on abortion by leaving it for the states to decide. On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that Trump is privately “telling advisers that he believes [the abortion issue] is a difficult one for Republicans and not something he should focus his time on,” and that pro-life leaders were frustrated by Trump’s failure to raise the subject at all during a recent donor retreat. “His silence spoke very loudly to the pro-life movement,” Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins told the Post. “We were pretty disappointed.” In response, Trump 2024 spokesman Steven Cheung declined to answer whether the former president supports the 6-week abortion ban recently signed by his chief rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, instead issuing a statement that “President Donald J. Trump believes that the Supreme Court, led by the three Justices which he supported, got it right when they ruled this is an issue that should be decided at the State level.” The statement also took credit for Trump’s appointment of three of the justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade last summer. “He will continue these policies when reelected to the White House,” Cheung added. “Like President Reagan before him, President Trump supports exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.” (In fact, Ronald Reagan, who backed a constitutional amendment to ban abortion nationwide, did not support rape or incest exceptions.) The answer drew reactions from various pro-life leaders, groups, and figures. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America president Marjorie Dannenfelser called Trump’s “states-only” position “morally indefensible” and vowed to “oppose any presidential candidate who refuses to embrace at a minimum a 15-week national standard.” Americans United for Life, without mentioning Trump, advocated “hold[ing] presidential hopefuls to the standard of supporting a national Pain Capable Abortion Ban.” Live Action president Lila Rose declared that Trump “has DISQUALIFIED himself from the nomination of our nation’s pro-life political party.”

[christianpureofficial]

Republicans remove ‘right to life’ plank from party platform

Source Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, praised the platform, saying it demonstrates that the Republican Party “remains strongly pro-life at the national level.” / Credit: Screenshot/EWTN News in Depth Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 8, 2024 / 16:50 pm (CNA). The 2024 Republican National Convention’s platform committee voted on Monday to adopt new language…

[dankusner]

Trump: Rules on abortion should be issue for states

Former president, GOP candidate declines to endorse national ban

NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump said Monday he believes abortion limits should be left to the states, outlining his position in a video in which he declined to endorse a national ban after months of mixed messages and speculation.

“Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights,” Trump said in the video posted on his Truth Social site.

“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state.”

Trump, in the video, did not say when in pregnancy he believes abortion should be banned — declining to endorse a national cutoff that would have been used as a cudgel by Democrats ahead of the November election.

But his endorsement of the patchwork approach leaves him open to being attached to the strictest proposed state legislation, which

President Joe Biden and his reelection campaign have already been working to do.

Anti-abortion activists expressed keen disappointment that Trump didn’t go further.

In the video, he again took credit for the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to end Roe v. Wade, saying that he was “proudly the person responsible for the ending” of the constitutional right to an abortion and thanking the conservative justices who overturned it by name.

While Trump again articulated his support for three exceptions — in cases of rape, incest and when the life of the mother is at risk — he went on to describe the current legal landscape, in which different states have different restrictions following the court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling on June 24, 2022, which upended the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

“Many states will be different. Many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others, and that’s what they will be,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s all about will of the people.”

Trump had long argued that the Supreme Court’s decision gave those who oppose abortion rights “tremendous power to negotiate,” leverage he said he wanted to use to strike a deal that he hoped would “make both sides happy” and bring the country together — even though the issue is one of the most contentious in American politics, with some opponents viewing abortion as murder and proponents seeing it as a fundamental women’s right.

The announcement drew immediate condemnation from SBA Pro-Life America, one of the country’s most prominent groups opposed to abortion rights.

“We are deeply disappointed in President Trump’s position,” said the group’s president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, in a statement. “Unborn children and their mothers deserve national protections and national advocacy from the brutality of the abortion industry. The Dobbs decision clearly allows both states and Congress to act.”

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s congressional backers and supporter of a 15-week national ban, said he “respectfully” disagreed with Trump over abortion being an issue for the states.

Mike Pence — a staunch abortion opponent who served as Trump’s vice president, challenged him for this year’s GOP nomination and has said he won’t endorse him — on X called the stance “a slap in the face to the millions of pro-life Americans” who have previously backed Trump.

Trump took to Truth Social later Monday to lash out at his critics, saying both Dannenfelser and Graham were “of absolutely no help as the Democrats staged rallies and won Elections they should never have won” after Dobbs.”

Biden’s campaign was quick to seize on the moment, with spokesperson Ammar Moussa posting on X that Trump was “endorsing every single abortion ban in the states, including abortion bans with no exceptions … and he’s bragging about his role in creating this hellscape.”

In a statement, Biden said Trump has played a part in being “responsible for creating the cruelty and the chaos that has enveloped America since the Dobbs decision,” a situation he said is reflected in women “being turned away from emergency rooms, forced to go to court to seek permission for the medical attention they need, and left to travel hundreds of miles for health care.”

In a statement, Jenny Lawson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, expressed confidence that the voters who “clearly rejected anti-abortion politics” in other post-Dobbs elections will “do the same with Donald Trump and his cronies in 2024.”

[trendingnewsmania]

SoCal Firms Accused|of Selling Fetal Tissue

SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) — In a civil complaint that's already sparked political fireworks, the Orange County district attorney says two medical products companies and the family that owns them made huge, illegal profits by selling fetal tissue to researchers from samples donated by Planned Parenthood.

Entering the politically charged area of embryonic stem cells and abortion, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas seeks civil penalties of $3 million or more from, DV Biologics and DaVinci Biosciences, and their owner-operators Andres Isaias, Estefano Isaias Sr. and Estefano Isaias Jr.

Planned Parenthood is not a party to the lawsuit, nor is it accused of wrongdoing.

Rackauckas said at a news conference that Planned Parenthood did nothing wrong and did not receive any money from the defendants. Donations of stem cells and tissues from aborted fetuses are legal, but "the sale of fetal tissue and cells for 'valuable consideration' is illegal under both California and federal law," Rackauckas says in the Oct. 11 complaint in Orange County Court.

He says the companies, which operate out of the same address in Yorba Linda and are jointly owned and managed by the Isaias family, "obtained aborted fetus donations from Planned Parenthood and turned those donations into a profit-driven business."

They sold vials of fetal tissue for as much as $700 — a 2,700 percent markup from the $26 it cost to produce, Rackauckas says.

"Defendants' conduct was knowing and intentional and in complete disregard of the law," the complaint states. "Indeed, rather than attempt to limit their income on sales to allowable amounts, defendants ignored their legal obligations entirely and affirmatively set forth, at the direction of the Isaias defendants, a business objective and plan to profit on their sales efforts."

An attorney for the defendants, Michael Tein, said in a statement that Rackauckas's office has the numbers all wrong — that they "do not reflect the full costs of developing each bio-sample."

Tein, with Lewis Tein in Coconut Grove, Fla., said his clients never turned a profit.

"This is a civil lawsuit over cost-accounting issues," Tein said. "We look forward to explaining the full story to the court."

The district attorney's lawsuit began from an anonymous, confidential complaint from a member of the public, according to Kelly Ernby, the deputy district attorney in charge of the case. She said the case is about enforcing the law, not politics.

"This case is not about whether it should be lawful to sell fetal parts or whether fetal tissue research is ethical or legal," Rackauckas said in a statement.

While there is a "right to conduct stem cell research" in the California Constitution, the defendants were "treating human parts as commodities instead of giving it the respect the law intended," Rackauckas said. "This lawsuit is aimed at taking the profit out of selling body parts."

Anti-abortion groups quickly trumpeted the lawsuit to bolster their accusations against the nationwide women's healthcare provider.

"This suit vindicates the brave whistleblowers of the Center for Medical Progress and every pro-life American who demanded the nation's largest abortion business, Planned Parenthood, and their partners in the harvest and sale of baby body parts be held accountable," Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement.

The Center for Medical Progress is the Irvine-based organization that secretly filmed Planned Parenthood representatives two years ago, allegedly discussing the sale of fetal parts. The videos the group released were heavily edited. A federal appellate panel heard arguments Tuesday about preventing the group from releasing additional secret videos.

The center's founder, David Daleiden, posted a statement on the company blog last week also calling for Planned Parenthood to be "held accountable."

DaVinci Biosciences began in 2008 as a biotechnology research laboratory. In 2009, its founders launched DV Biologics as "a revenue-driven unit" to sell "products derived from the cells and tissues they were already collecting," according to the lawsuit.

They realized that using small samples, such as fetal tissue donated by Planned Parenthood, they could grow many more cells and sell them to other researchers for almost any price, according to the complaint.

Using one fetus donation, plus "just a few hours of time, and very little cost … DV scientists created hundreds of vials of fetal stem cells, which they packaged separately for sale on a per vial basis," the complaint states.

As the company grew, it added marketing and sales staff and sold products across the globe, to Australia and China, Germany and Spain.

From 2012 through 2015, DV Biologics made many hundreds of sales, bringing in more than $1.5 million in revenue, according to the complaint, and turning a profit in every year but the first. At one point, DV had a combined inventory of "pre-natal" and "post-natal" cell products worth $4.4 million, the complaint states, citing company documents.

Prices were set high to allow profits while leaving room for negotiations and discounting. The lawsuit lists costs and prices for several of the company's top-selling products, such as one derived from fetal heart cells. Vials cost less than $26 to produce and sold for $350 to $700, depending on discount.

The California Health and Safety Code section that prohibits selling fetal tissue for more than cost "is a very specific statute right on point" in this case, Ernby said.

That constitutes unfair competition, the district attorney says. He seeks a court order preventing further violations and fines of up to $2,500 apiece for 503 illegal sales made since 2012.

The two companies also apparently have run afoul of California's income tax agency, the Franchise Tax Board. Rackauckas says the board forfeited DaVinci's "powers, rights and privileges" in 2014 and DV's last year. He seeks civil penalties of $2,500 for every day the companies operated in California since the forfeitures.

Andres Isaias is president of both companies. He is the brother of Estefano Isaias Jr. All three are founders and managers of the companies, according to the complaint.

[brijeshtiwaripune]

Democrats Gain Momentum with Abortion Victories: What It Means for the Election 2024

In a pivotal series of events, voters across the United States have thrown their support behind abortion rights, with Ohio, Virginia, and other states at the forefront of this historic movement. These wins have not only energized the Democratic Party but also provided them with a powerful platform to influence the political landscape in the upcoming Election 2024, including the race for the White House, Congress, and various other offices. Ohio's recent developments offer a compelling snapshot of the enduring relevance of the abortion issue, more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to end the nationwide right to abortion. In Ohio, voters, despite the state's increasingly Republican-leaning tendencies, overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the state constitution, safeguarding abortion access. Similarly, in Virginia, Democrats skillfully harnessed the abortion issue to regain control of the state's Legislature. The strategy paid off and was echoed in Kentucky, where Democratic Governor Andy Beshear secured a second term after making abortion rights a central pillar of his campaign in a deeply Republican state. Election night served as a catalyst for Democrats, who now see abortion rights as a pivotal factor that can drive voter turnout in the 2024 presidential election. The campaigning and results surrounding Ohio's abortion amendment, which was the only one of its kind on the ballot this year, serve as a precursor to similar measures expected to be put to a vote in several states in the coming year. Notably, states like Arizona and Nevada, with their pivotal roles in the White House race, will play a crucial part in this unfolding story. In addition to its influence in the 2024 elections, abortion is set to occupy the center stage in a series of state Supreme Court races in the same year. Conversely, the anti-abortion movement has faced a significant setback following the post-Roe defeat, which came as a result of their fragmented messaging that failed to resonate with voters. The scale of the victory for abortion access in Ohio suggests deep divisions within the Republican Party, as a substantial number of Republicans voted in favor of the amendment. Elisabeth Smith, the director of state policy and advocacy at the Center for Reproductive Rights, stated that the anti-abortion movement is now "on their heels" after resorting to misinformation and fearmongering during their campaign in Ohio. Furthermore, it has become evident that the majority of Americans support abortion rights and wish to see abortion remain legal and accessible. According to a nationwide survey conducted by AP VoteCast, over 63% of voters in the 2022 midterm elections believe that abortion should be legal in most or all cases. In contrast, about one-third of voters hold the view that it should be illegal in all or most cases. Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, acknowledged that Ohio's results should serve as a warning for the GOP as they approach the 2024 elections. She emphasized that the crucial lesson from the recent defeat is that Democrats are poised to prioritize the abortion issue in their 2024 campaigns. Dannenfelser also called on the GOP's consultant class to recognize the urgency and urged candidates to allocate resources toward countering the Democrats' narrative on this issue. The outcome of these events was significantly influenced by the substantial campaign donations poured into the Ohio race by abortion-rights supporters, including substantial contributions from out-of-state groups. The American Civil Liberties Union, a prominent advocate for abortion rights, allocated more than $9 million to races in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia this year, with over $6 million of that sum directed to Ohio, as confirmed by the group's chief political and advocacy officer, Deirdre Schifeling. The challenges facing anti-abortion groups go beyond their loss in Ohio. In Virginia, Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin's strategy to rally voters behind GOP legislative candidates by proposing a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape, incest, and situations where the mother's life is at risk, failed to gain traction. Despite the support of many GOP candidates in swing districts, this middle-ground approach did not resonate with voters. Furthermore, it raised questions among Democrats about the potential future actions of Youngkin and the Republican Party if they were to assume control of the governor's office and the Legislature. Ironically, Governor Youngkin's approach seemed to provide a playbook for Democrats on how to help voters connect the dots between candidates and their abortion policies. Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly known as NARAL Pro-Choice America, remarked that Youngkin's efforts to rally Republicans inadvertently ended up aiding Democrats in understanding the significance of abortion in voters' decision-making processes. Democrats have made their intentions clear: they plan to place the abortion issue at the core of their campaigns for the presidency and across the board in the 2024 elections. In a fresh sign of their commitment to link electoral prospects to the results, Vice President Kamala Harris made a rare appearance before reporters on the White House driveway, expressing confidence in securing victory. The Republican presidential primary has seen some candidates, such as South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, express support for a national abortion ban at 15 weeks. However, other candidates have offered vaguer responses. Former President Donald Trump, known for nominating three Supreme Court justices pivotal in overturning Roe vs. Wade, has refrained from confirming whether he would sign a national ban. He has also warned that the abortion issue can be politically challenging to campaign on. Trump has suggested he could "live with" the procedure being banned at the state level or nationwide through federal action. Following the Ohio vote, Republican presidential candidate and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy stressed that abortion opponents need to change their approach to gain broader support. While he supports states that have enacted six-week abortion bans, he has clarified that he would not back a federal abortion ban. Ramaswamy underscored the need for the pro-life movement to reframe the conversation, focusing on greater access to adoption, childcare, and promoting sexual responsibility for men. Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that Republicans need to be seen as the pro-life party rather than merely the anti-abortion party. Ohio's role in supporting ballot measures that protect abortion rights or reject measures aimed at limiting access is of significance. States where abortion may directly appear on the ballot in 2024 have been closely observing the Ohio election. Ohio has provided a valuable example for states like Arizona, offering insights into strategizing and building a statewide coalition of advocacy groups, as highlighted by Chris Love, senior adviser to Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona. In a glimpse of how abortion rights impact down-ballot races, Pennsylvania voters recently elected Democrat Dan McCaffery to an open state Supreme Court seat. McCaffery centered his campaign on the defense of abortion rights in his contest against Republican Carolyn Carluccio. Several anti-abortion groups have signaled that the way they respond to this string of losses will be one of the most critical political discussions for Republicans in the lead-up to the 2024 elections. One thing remains certain: they intend to leverage their influence within the party to ensure that the fight for abortion restrictions continues to be a top priority for their candidates. The message is clear: "the work for and against abortion rights continues, as the nation grapples with the complexities of this deeply divisive issue." Read the full article

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day:

When Donald Trump claims that Democrats support ‘post-birth’ abortion—a noxious and dangerous lie that he’s repeated countless times on the campaign trail—the assumption has largely been that this is just ‘Trump being Trump.’ After all, we’re used to seeing the disgraced former president make up extreme stories to sow disinformation and distract from his incompetence. But Trump’s horrific talking point that states are “executing babies” isn’t some wild off-the-cuff claim from a habitual liar. Instead, it’s a carefully crafted message fed to Trump by a powerful anti-abortion organization that positions itself as mainstream and credible. And Abortion, Every Day has the documents to prove it.

We all know that Trump is scared of abortion. He’s watched the GOP suffer massive political hits over the issue—from ballot measures to the midterms—and is desperate to spare his presidential campaign from the same fate. That’s why for the past few months, Trump has been publicly distancing himself from anti-abortion extremism. Whether it’s claiming that abortion is a states’ issue, saying he opposes Florida’s 6-week abortion ban, or playing coy over a national abortion ban—Trump thinks that if he can feign reasonableness on the issue, maybe, just maybe, he can avoid voters’ post-Roe fury.  What’s more, the anti-abortion movement has been playing along—feigning disappointment over Trump’s ‘betrayals,’ like the supposed watering down of the GOP platform on abortion rights. I’ve long argued that this is just a tactic: Conservatives want to make it seem as if anti-abortion groups and activists are upset with Trump in order to drive home the lie that he’s somehow softened on the issue. 

Now, documents obtained by True North Research and shared exclusively with Abortion, Every Day prove that prediction right. Far from truly distancing himself from the anti-abortion movement, Trump has been quietly taking marching orders from the country’s most powerful and radical anti-abortion activists. And despite pretending to be distressed over Trump’s abortion stance, groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA-PLA) are actually crafting near-everything that Trump says on the issue. That includes Trump’s most malignant abortion claim: that states allow “post-birth” abortions. That’s right, the lie that states are “executing babies” isn’t just another horrific Trumpism, but a talking point carefully crafted by America’s foremost anti-abortion organization.

One of the documents provided to AED, for example, is a memo from SBA-PLA president Marjorie Dannenfelser sent to GOP candidates, lawmakers and leaders. In it, Dannenfelser directs Republicans to say that Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz support “leaving [babies] to die.” Taking particular aim at Walz—who is a strong abortion rights supporter—the memo tells GOP leaders to claim that the vice presidential candidate allowed for the murder of children as governor and repealed certain laws in an effort to cover those deaths up.  It gets worse. Dannenfelser also encouraged Republicans to allege that Planned Parenthood doctors in Walz’s home state would “break the baby’s neck” if an abortion was unsuccessful.

[...] This isn’t the first presidential debate where Trump parroted extreme SBA-PLA talking points. In an October 2016 debate, Trump made headlines when he claimed that Hillary Clinton’s abortion policies meant that “in the ninth month, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby.” Once again, he hadn’t come up with this line on his own. The talking point came from Dannenfelser, who just a few weeks earlier had drafted a letter for Trump to sign—a letter that said Clinton supported “abortion until an hour before birth.” That letter wasn’t just messaging guidance; it marked the beginning of SBA-PLA’s outsized sway over Trump. Before Dannenfelser would agree to chair Trump’s 2016 anti-abortion coalition, she had Trump promise in writing to nominate anti-abortion Supreme Court justices, sign a national abortion ban into law, defund Planned Parenthood and make the Hyde Amendment permanent.

[...] Unfortunately, SBA PLA’s influence doesn’t begin and end with Trump. You can see their impact throughout the GOP. It was Dannenfelser and her organization that spearheaded the campaign to do away with the word ‘ban,’ for example—claiming that there are no abortion bans in America, just ‘restrictions’ and ‘standards.’ That tactic was embraced by politicians and candidates across the country, and now you’d be hard pressed to find a single Republican who will use the word. (It’s also a strategy that’s been wildly successful outside of GOP circles; SBA-PLA got mainstream media outlets to stop or limit their use of the term by insisting that it was “biased.”)

Jessica Valenti of Abortion, Every Day reports on anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s influence on Donald Trump and how he’s taking marching orders from anti-abortion extremists despite claiming to be “moderate” on the issue.

[m-ultraarticles]

Anti-abortion group meets with Trump, weeks after criticism - The Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — The leader of a major anti-abortion group met with former President Donald Trump on the issue, just weeks after raising questions about his commitment to restricting access to the procedure.Calling her meeting Monday with Trump “terrific,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America group, said in a statement that he “reiterated that any federal…

[andronetalks]

Kansas and Arizona Governors Veto Bills Prohibiting Infanticide

Real Clear Politics By Melissa Ohden & Marjorie Dannenfelser May 4, 2023 Every day across the country, scenes of stark disparity in who receives health care play out in a way that would shock most Americans. In one reality, in the neonatal intensive care unit, doctors are heroically working to save the tiniest, most fragile patients – premature babies – and their coworkers are striving to keep…

[freddie9115]

Former Vice President Mike Pence memoir set for 2023 release

Former Vice President Mike Pence memoir set for 2023 release

Former Vice President Mike Pence has a book deal By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer April 7, 2021, 9:57 PM • 4 min read Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this article NEW YORK — Former Vice President Mike Pence has a book deal. His autobiography, currently untitled, is scheduled to come out in 2023. “I am grateful to have the opportunity to tell the story of my life in public service to…