The following is a statement from Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life:

National Right to Life thanks the House Appropriations Committee for their work fighting back against the radical abortion agenda of the Biden Administration.  The Committee voted to block the Biden Administration from funding elective abortions at Veterans Affairs medical centers with taxpayer dollars.  The Committee also included a provision to stop the illegal actions of the FDA in regards to mailing chemical abortion drugs.  In addition, the 2024 Defense Appropriations bill would block the Department of Defense from paying for abortion travel in violation of the long-standing policy against funding elective abortion with taxpayer money.  The Biden Administration is using every lever of power at its disposal to promote abortion with no thought of the innocent unborn children who would die.  National Right to Life is grateful to House appropriators for their work, and strongly supports these provisions becoming law.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON – In a newly updated document, 1 to 1000: How to ensure the health and flourishing of women, children, and society, National Right to Life and Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life Global Outreach (MCCL GO) released new findings during the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland.

As noted in 1 to 1000, “the first 1,000 days in the life of a human being—from conception to the second birthday—dramatically shape the rest of a child’s life. They are also critical to the well-being of mothers. Prioritizing this window of time will save lives, improve health, and contribute substantially to sustainable development.”

“Research has shown that the first 1,000 days are critical for both mother and child,” stated MCCL GO President Scott Fischbach. “Quality health care for mothers and babies needs to be prioritized before and during pregnancy, childbirth, and for two years afterward.”

This year’s theme at the World Health Assembly was “health for all” but, as the document notes, health care is elusive for millions of children and their mothers.

According to the report, worldwide it is “estimated 2.4 million children died within the first month of life in 2020, and most of those deaths were preventable.”

The document also draws attention to the tragic number of maternal deaths, estimated at 287,000 in 2020, with

“[M]ost of them in the developing world and especially in sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia. These deaths can be prevented with basic care before, during and after childbirth—including antenatal care and nutrition, skilled birth attendants, emergency obstetric care, sanitation and clean water.”

“When the focus is on clean water, sanitation, nutrition, and access to good medical care, mothers and their children thrive,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.

The document, produced by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life Global Outreach (MCCL GO), a U.N.-accredited non-governmental organization, was released jointly with the National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund, a U.N.-accredited non-governmental organization.

The document is available in English and in Spanish.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON – On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In the Court’s judgment, elected representatives—not the courts—can enact abortion-related policies. These policies include protecting both preborn children and their mothers.

In the President’s Column for the June issue of NRLNews, National Right to Life President Carol Tobias outlines the “unique and transformative role” the federal government has on the abortion issue.

“Most pro-life laws and policies are being enacted at the state level,” writes Tobias. “However, the federal government, from the executive branch to the U.S. Congress, is uniquely positioned, and has both the opportunity and the responsibility, to protect the most vulnerable members of the human family.”

Tobias continues, “[W]e urge all lawmakers, as well as candidates for Congress and the presidency, to embrace the unique and transformative role the federal government has in advancing life-affirming policy in the United States.”

The article includes several ways the federal government can work to protect preborn babies and their mothers, including:

• Ensuring that no taxpayer dollars are used to pay for abortion or subsidize health plans that cover or promote abortion, either in the U.S. or in other countries, and eliminating to the extent possible taxpayer funding of abortion providers.

• Requiring the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to collect meaningful data and publish reports on abortion in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, (e.g., the number of abortions performed, the age of the mother and preborn child, complications and deaths arising from such procedures.)

• Protecting the conscience rights of health care personnel and entities who do not wish to perform or participate in any part of the abortion process.

The complete article can be found here.

Reporters interested in speaking with Carol Tobias or another spokesperson on this or other issues, please contact the Communications staff at mediarelations@nrlc.org.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON – On Friday, June 23rd, National Right to Life’s 52nd convention begins at the Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During the 2-day convention, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from dozens of speakers in a variety of workshops and general sessions. The convention opens with a prayer breakfast and closes with a banquet.

WHAT:

52nd Annual National Right to Life Convention

WHERE:

Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport Hotel
1111 Airport Blvd.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15231

WHEN:

Friday, June 23 – Saturday, June 24, 2023

WHO:

Featured speakers include:

Seth Dillon, The Babylon Bee CEO
Erik Rosales, EWTN News Nightly Capitol Hill Correspondent
Benjamin Watson, Former NFL tight end, pro-life speaker and author
National Right to Life President Carol Tobias
Olivia Gans Turner, co-founder of Women Exploited by Abortion and former director of American Victims of Abortion (A.V.A.)
Alex Schadenberg, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition President
Writer, author, and bioethics expert Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Discovery Institute & Humanize Podcast Host
Tom Glessner J.D., National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) Founder and President
Lauren Eden, Abortion Survivors Network
Amy Ford, Embrace Grace President

Reporters who intend to cover the convention MUST have credentials* to attend the convention. To register for credentials, please visit http://www.nrlc.org/communications/pressreg/ or contact Andrew Bair in the NRLC Communications Department at (202) 626-8825 or email mediarelations@nrlc.org.

*Reporters can check in and pick up their credentials in room Allegheny A at the hotel where the NRLC press room for the convention will be located.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON – Today, pro-life Governor Henry McMaster signed South Carolina’s Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act.

“We thank and praise pro-life Governor McMaster for signing the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “South Carolina’s new law will save hundreds of lives each month. We also praise our South Carolina affiliate, South Carolina Citizens for Life, for their hard work and diligence in seeing this bill pass and become law.”

On Tuesday, by a vote of 27-19, the South Carolina Senate approved the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act (S474). Tuesday’s vote was the final legislative action needed to protect unborn children in South Carolina when the fetal heartbeat can be detected. On May 16, the South Carolina House passed the law by a vote of 82-33.

“We applaud Governor Henry McMaster, a long-time pro-life supporter for signing into law the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act,” said Lisa Van Riper, president of South Carolina Citizens for Life. “This act not only protects unborn children with a detectable heartbeat from abortion on demand, but also signals that the child in the womb is a welcome member of our society.”

Representative John McCravy (R-Greenwood), Chairman of the House Family Caucus, said it is anticipated that the abortion industry will file an immediate legal challenge to the new law.

According to the South Carolina State Department of Health and Environmental Control, there are approximately 1,000 abortions per month—largely due to out-of-state abortion traffic. Enactment of the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act is expected to reduce the number of abortions occurring in South Carolina to 200-250 per month.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, by a vote of 27-19 the South Carolina Senate approved the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act (S474). The bill now goes to Governor Henry McMaster for his signature.

Tuesday’s vote was the final legislative action needed to protect unborn children in South Carolina when the fetal heartbeat can be detected. On May 16, the South Carolina House passed the law by a vote of 82-33.

“South Carolina’s law will protect hundreds of lives each month,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Our South Carolina affiliate, South Carolina Citizens for Life, was at the forefront in seeing this bill pass the legislature. We congratulate them on their diligence, hard work, and a job well done.”

Representative John McCravy (R-Greenwood), Chairman of the House Family Caucus, said the bill could be signed as early as Wednesday or Thursday. He said it is anticipated that the abortion industry will file an immediate legal challenge.

According to the South Carolina State Department of Health and Environmental Control, there are approximately 1,000 abortions per month—largely due to out-of-state abortion traffic. Enactment of the Fetal Heartbeat Act would reduce the number of abortions occurring in South Carolina to 200-250 per month.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON – On Friday, June 23^rd, National Right to Life’s 52^nd convention begins at the Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During the 2-day convention, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from dozens of speakers in a variety of workshops and general sessions. The convention opens with a prayer breakfast and closes with a banquet.

WHAT:     

52^nd Annual National Right to Life Convention

WHERE:

Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport Hotel

1111 Airport Blvd.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15231

WHEN:

Friday, June 23 – Saturday, June 24, 2023

WHO:

Featured speakers include:

Seth Dillon, The Babylon Bee CEO

Erik Rosales, EWTN News Nightly Capitol Hill Correspondent

Benjamin Watson, Former NFL tight end, pro-life speaker and author

National Right to Life President Carol Tobias

Olivia Gans Turner, co-founder of Women Exploited by Abortion and former director of American Victims of Abortion (A.V.A.)

Alex Schadenberg, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition President

Writer, author, and bioethics expert Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Discovery Institute & Humanize Podcast Host

Tom Glessner J.D., National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) Founder and President

Lauren Eden, Abortion Survivors Network

Amy Ford, Embrace Grace President

Reporters who intend to cover the convention MUST have credentials* to attend the convention. To register for credentials, please visit http://www.nrlc.org/communications/pressreg/ or contact Andrew Bair in the NRLC Communications Department at (202) 626-8825 or email mediarelations@nrlc.org.

*Reporters can check in and pick up their credentials in room Allegheny A at the hotel where the NRLC press room for the convention will be located.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, in an expedited hearing, will listen to arguments in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the drug mifepristone.

“Our hope is that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will see a drug that does not cure a disease or alleviate the symptoms of a disease,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Our hope is that they will see the drug for what it is—one that was developed to take the life of an unborn child and one that always has the potential to harm the mother.”

On April 21, the U.S. Supreme Court released a decision that stayed lower court rulings and returned the issue to the 5th Circuit.

Justice Alito dissented from the Court’s decision, writing about the original ruling of the three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit: “It would simply restore the circumstances that existed (and that the Government defended) from 2000 to 2016 under three Presidential administrations.”

The circumstances that existed from 2000 to 2016 were a series of protections meant to reduce the many dangers of chemical abortions.

In the lawsuit, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the plaintiffs argued that the FDA unlawfully fast-tracked the approval of mifepristone through a process intended for the treatment of life-threatening illnesses.

On April 13, a different three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit removed the 2016, 2021, and 2023 changes the FDA had made to the original safeguards it had applied to mifepristone. That three-judge panel left in place the original requirement that it be used only up to 7 weeks of pregnancy, the requirement of three physician visits, removed the ability for the drug to be mailed or dispensed by pharmacies, prevented non-physicians from prescribing the drug and reinstated the reporting requirements for non-fatal adverse events.

The 5th Circuit action followed a decision by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in the Northern District of Texas who issued a national injunction on the use of mifepristone in chemical abortions.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, the research organization affiliated with the abortion industry, approximately 54% of all abortions are done using chemical abortion methods like mifepristone and misoprostol.

Mifepristone is used in combination with misoprostol, a prostaglandin, to cause an abortion. Mifepristone blocks progesterone, leading to the death of the unborn baby, while the second drug, misoprostol, causes powerful, painful uterine contractions to expel the dead or dying baby.

The FDA recently weakened the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements for the drug to allow it to be dispensed and even mailed by pharmacies.

“When hundreds of thousands of women take these pills, even a couple of percentage points of women hemorrhaging, dealing with infections, or ectopic pregnancy, represents thousands of women desperately seeking treatment, which may or may not be nearby,” said Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., director of Education and Research for National Right to Life.

One of the common myths about the drug is that it is “safer than Tylenol” (or a similar argument is that it is safer than Advil/ibuprofen). Dr. O’Bannon recently addressed this:

What you have here is a not-so-clever statistical sleight of hand, where advocates try to get you to compare the number of deaths from a relatively lightly used product with one that is used billions of times by people every year.

We are told that about 150 Americans die from Tylenol use every year, usually by overdose or simply taking too much over an extended period of time. At the same time, the FDA tells us that there have been 28 deaths that we know of among American mifepristone patients since the drug was approved in 2000.

So, 28 deaths from mifepristone in twenty years against 150 deaths from Tylenol in just a single year’s time? Sounds like mifepristone is safer.

But wait. That’s 150 Tylenol deaths against a backdrop of 25 billion doses of Tylenol in a year. We’re told that there have been only 5.6 million total chemical abortions with mifepristone in the U.S. since that 2000 approval, less than a thousandth of the sales of Tylenol in a single year.

Note what this does to your risk factor.

Using the minimal figures provided by the FDA, your risk of dying from taking mifepristone is about 1 in 200,000. Not large, but not negligible. And remember that your risk of a complication putting you in the emergency room is closer to one in 10.

But your risk of death from Tylenol is actually something like one chance in 166.7 million, even including those who overdose and fail to follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

This means that your risk of dying from mifepristone is about 833 times your risk of dying from Tylenol.

Additional myths are addressed in a white paper National Right to Life released on April 5. Addressing Many of the Myths the Media is Repeating about the FDA’s Approval and Management of Mifeprex (Mifepristone) can be accessed here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON – Tuesday evening, the North Carolina legislature voted to override pro-abortion Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of SB20, the Care for Women, Children, and Families Act.

The Senate voted 30-20 to override the veto and the House followed with their vote to override the veto with a vote of 72-48.

“Our hope is that this law, which allows for unlimited abortions for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, will save precious lives,” stated Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life (NRL). “We know that 90% of all abortions take place before 12 weeks of pregnancy and we will continue working for the day when all innocent human life is protected.”

“North Carolina has taken steps to protect some babies and North Carolina Right to Life is thankful whenever a child is saved,” said Bill Pincus, M.D., president of North Carolina Right to Life. “The fact remains that 99% of abortions are performed on healthy women, carrying healthy babies and the vast majority of abortions occur before 12 weeks. In every case of an abortion, a baby dies. If abortion is healthcare as they claim, exactly what disease are we treating?”

According to North Carolina Right to Life, National Right to Life’s North Carolina affiliate, the Care for Women, Children and Families Act:

protects babies from chemical and surgical abortion after 12 weeks except allowing abortions for rape and incest up to 20 weeks. It also allows abortion for “life limiting anomalies” up to 24 weeks. The 46-page document defines chemical and surgical abortion, as well as giving a thorough list of complications from such medical interference.

The Bill maintains the 72-hour waiting period, expands informed consent standards for women, ensuring that attestations are signed and understood, and it gives women the right to sue under the laws of the State if she feels she has been coerced or misled prior to obtaining an abortion.

For those seeking chemical abortion, they must be examined in person by a physician to check gestational age and risk of ectopic pregnancy. It specifies that chemical abortions are limited to 70 days (10 weeks) or less, gestational age as per the current FDA recommendations.

The bill also contains conscience protections for those whose conscience will not allow them to participate in the killing of unborn children.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and eutha

WASHINGTON (April 27, 2023) – A measure pretending to revive the long-expired Equal Rights Amendment failed today in the U.S. Senate, falling 9 votes short of the level of support necessary to allow it to advance to the House of Representatives, where it would have died anyway. The vote to advance S.J. Res. 4 was 51-47, with 60 votes required.

“While some ERA true-believers will assert that today’s vote was a mystical victory for the ERA, they further delude themselves,” said Douglas Johnson, director of the ERA Project of the National Right to Life Committee. “ERA-revival advocates continue to deflect news media attention away from the fact that the federal courts have consistently rejected legal claims that the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment remains viable. The most recent such ruling was by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on February 28, rejecting the claim of Illinois and Nevada that the ERA has been ratified—a unanimous ruling by a panel made up of judges appointed by Presidents Obama, Biden, and Trump.”

Johnson also noted that a White House State of Administration Policy issued today on S.J. Res. 4 “conspicuously avoided language asserting that the resolution would have a legal effect, but instead merely observed that the resolution ‘would declare’ the ERA to be part of the Constitution.”

“Every time the issue has been litigated in federal court, most recently in 2021, the pro-ERA side has lost, no matter whether the judge was appointed by a Democrat or a Republican,” wrote the Washington Post Fact Checker in February 2022, awarding “Four Pinocchios” to claims by then-Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) that the Archivist was obligated to certify the ERA as part of the Constitution.

Earlier this week, NRLC sent a letter to the U.S. Senate, urging a nay vote on the unconstitutional ERA-revival measure.

The recent history of judicial, executive, and legislative actions on the Equal Rights Amendment is documented in detail in the NRLC Special Report on the Equal Rights Amendment (January 23, 2023).

WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, the Kansas legislature voted to override Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act (HB 2313/SB 320).

The Kansas Born-Alive Infants Protection Act would require that infants who survive abortion attempts be given the same degree of medical care as other children born alive at the same gestational age.

“We thank the leaders in the Kansas House and Senate who are leading the way in protecting babies born alive following an abortion,” stated Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life (NRL). “We praise our affiliate Kansans for Life for their tireless and unceasing work in seeing this law passed.”

Earlier today, the Kansas House voted to override the veto in a vote of 87-37. Later, the Kansas Senate voted 31-9 to override the governor’s veto.

“We applaud the Kansas legislators from both sides of the aisle who stood together for compassion and basic human decency by repudiating Governor Kelly’s heartless veto of the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act,” stated Jeanne Gawdun, KFL Director of Government Relations.

Continued Gawdun, “Born-Alive protections proved to be the very definition of a ‘middle-of-the-road’ position, with 96% of Kansans in agreement that babies born alive after attempted abortions deserve the same degree of medical care as any newborn of the same gestational age. Any legislator who failed to vote today to override HB 2313 made themselves subservient to one of the most extreme abortion positions possible, effectively endorsing infanticide.”

The survey conducted by Heart+Mind Strategies for Kansans for Life that shows 96% of Kansans support protection for babies born alive following an abortion can be found here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON — Planned Parenthood released its 2021-2022 annual report on Monday, and it shows that, despite the COVID pandemic which caused lockdowns across the country, Planned Parenthood performed the second-highest number of abortions it has ever performed.

The service figures in this latest annual report cover October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021—before to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Women’s Health Services.

Current trends would appear to put the percentage of U.S. abortions performed at Planned Parenthood somewhere north of 40% with the organization performing 374,155. This gives Planned Parenthood a commanding share of the nation’s abortion market.

“It is obvious, given the volume of killing, its enormous budget, and its aggressive abortion advocacy, Planned Parenthood is relentless in promoting unlimited abortion for any reason,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Despite lockdowns during COVID and health care that was deferred for many Americans during the pandemic, Planned Parenthood continued to perform abortions at a near-record rate.”

Planned Parenthood took in a record $1.9 ($1,906.7) billion in revenue making the abortion giant one of the nation’s most profitable “non-profits.”

Of the $1.9 billion in revenue, $670.4 million, or 35% of Planned Parenthood’s revenue came from taxpayers in the form of “Government Health Services Reimbursements & Grants.”

“Planned Parenthood likes to bill itself as an ‘advocate for women’ but its latest annual report makes clear that the promotion and continued performance of abortion is the primary ‘service’ for which they advocate,” said Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., director of Education and Research for National Right to Life, one of the right-to-life movement’s most authoritative experts on the abortion giant.

Most of Planned Parenthood’s expenses went toward “medical services,” which came in at about $1 billion. It is impossible to estimate how much of these expenses were for performing abortions because Planned Parenthood does not make these numbers public and the prices for abortions vary regionally at Planned Parenthood affiliates. In addition, the cost of different abortion procedures varies based on how old the unborn baby is at the time of the abortion, making even general calculations impossible.

Planned Parenthood’s annual report also shows that prenatal services and adoption referrals, already rare at Planned Parenthood, were the lowest numbers in over a decade.

• Just 6,244 women received prenatal care at Planned Parenthood clinics in 2021.
• Just 1,803 women were referred for adoptions.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of 50 state right-to-life affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, NRLC works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, Joe Biden announced that he is running for reelection because he wants to “finish the job.”

“Joe Biden wants to ‘finish the job’ which means the killing of more unborn children,” stated Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life (NRL). “If Joe Biden wins, babies will lose.”

Since its first days in office, the Biden-Harris Administration prioritized a radical abortion agenda: unlimited abortions for any reason, even as a method of family planning and even late in pregnancy—right up until birth—and using tax dollars to pay for it. The Administration employed a whole-of-government approach to promoting abortion, using every lever of power at its disposal to make abortions more available and more common, with no thought of the innocent unborn children who would die.

The Biden-Harris abortion agenda is extreme and out of step with the American electorate. Polling shows that most Americans would allow abortions only in rare or limited circumstances—such as life of the mother, medical emergencies, rape and incest—and a majority does not support unlimited abortions through birth, or their tax dollars being used to fund them.

“Americans deserve a president who will stand up and protect unborn children and their mothers. Americans deserve a president who accepts the scientific facts that unborn babies have beating hearts, detectable brain waves, the capacity to feel pain, and a unique set of DNA never to be replicated by another human being,” Tobias added. “Americans deserve a president who will fight to ensure pregnant women facing unexpected pregnancies receive the support and resources they need to make life-affirming decisions.”

“Instead of supporting life-affirming programs and policies that help women and their unborn children, the Biden Administration has poured its focus into promoting unlimited abortion, even late in pregnancy,” said Tobias. “Joe Biden’s abysmal record on abortion speaks for itself: Joe Biden is the most pro-abortion president in American history.”

As the only national single-issue pro-life organization with a grassroots presence in all fifty states, National Right to Life and its network of affiliates and chapters is uniquely positioned to educate Americans about what is at stake in the 2024 elections.

Joe Biden’s presidential record on abortion can be found here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON (April 24, 2023) – The U.S. Senate will conduct a cloture vote on Thursday, April 27, on a measure (S.J. Res. 4) that purports to make the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment a part of the U.S. Constitution.

“The anticipated Senate vote on the ERA measure, which will fail, is an exercise in political performance art,” said Douglas Johnson, director of the ERA Project of the National Right to Life Committee. “The ERA irrevocably expired decades ago, and those who argue otherwise have suffered an unbroken 41-year string of defeats in the federal courts, most recently in a unanimous rejection by a panel of the D.C. Circuit. Congress can no more resurrect the long-expired 1972 ERA than it can float the Titanic.”

“Every time the issue has been litigated in federal court, most recently in 2021, the pro-ERA side has lost, no matter whether the judge was appointed by a Democrat or a Republican,” wrote the Washington Post Fact Checker in February 2022, awarding “Four Pinocchios” to claims by then-Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) that the Archivist was obligated to certify the ERA as part of the Constitution.

Johnson added, “With the unanimous February 28 D.C. Circuit decision rejecting the claim that the ERA has been ratified, the ERA-revival movement is now 0 for 29 among federal judges who have had an opportunity to act or vote on any of its novel and implausible legal claims.”

NRLC today sent a new letter to the U.S. Senate, urging a nay vote on the unconstitutional ERA-revival measure.

Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), a leading opponent of the ERA-revival scheme, has introduced Senate Resolution 107, which critiques some of the constitutional violations inherent in S.J. Res. 4. NRLC endorses the Hyde-Smith measure.

The recent history of judicial, executive, and legislative actions on the Equal Rights Amendment is documented in detail in the NRLC Special Report on the Equal Rights Amendment (January 23, 2023).

Mr. Johnson can be reached at (202) 626-8825.

Decision Stays Lower Court Ruling
Returns the Issue to the 5th Circuit for Full Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C.— On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court released a decision that stayed lower court rulings and returned the issue to the 5th Circuit for a full hearing in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Chemical abortion drugs will stay on the market, for now. However, the full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will take up the case in a hearing scheduled for May 17.

“We are hopeful that when the court takes up the expedited hearing on May 17 that it will confirm the fact that these drugs are dangerous to women,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.

The case was brought by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the abortion drug mifepristone.

Justice Alito dissented from today’s decision, writing about the ruling of the three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit:

It would simply restore the circumstances that existed (and that the Government defended) from 2000 to 2016 under three Presidential administrations.

The circumstances that existed from 2000 to 2016 were a series of protections meant to reduce the many dangers of chemical abortions.

“The U.S. Supreme Court gives the full 5th Circuit the opportunity to evaluate the case on its merits and review the materials presented to them in a timely fashion,” said Tobias. “What the courts will see is a drug that does not cure a disease or alleviate the symptoms of a disease. It was developed to take the life of an unborn child and always has the potential to harm the mother.”

In the lawsuit, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the plaintiffs argued that the FDA unlawfully fast-tracked the approval of mifepristone through a process intended for the treatment of life-threatening illnesses.

On April 13, a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit removed the 2016, 2021, and 2023 changes to the FDA’s loosening of the original safeguards it applied to mifepristone and left in place the original requirements that it be used only up to 7 weeks of pregnancy, including: three physician visits; removed the ability for the drug to be mailed or dispensed by pharmacies; prevented non-physicians from prescribing the drug and reinstated the reporting requirements for non-fatal adverse events. Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court stays the 5th Circuit three-judge panel decision while the case is under review by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, the research organization affiliated with the abortion industry, approximately 54% of all abortions are done using chemical abortion methods like mifepristone and misoprostol.

Mifepristone is used in combination with misoprostol, a prostaglandin, to cause an abortion. Mifepristone blocks progesterone, leading to the death of the unborn baby, while the second drug, misoprostol, causes powerful, painful uterine contractions to expel the dead or dying baby.

The FDA recently weakened the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requirements for the drug to allow it to be dispensed and even mailed by pharmacies. Prior to those 2023 changes, the FDA had previously weakened the protocols for mifepristone by:

(1) increasing the maximum gestational age at which a woman can use the drug from 49 to 70 days; (2) reducing the number of required in-person office visits from three to one; (3) allowing non-doctors to prescribe and administer the chemical abortions drugs; and (4) eliminating the requirement for prescribers to report non-fatal adverse events from chemical abortion (Page 5 of the decision of the three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.)

“When hundreds of thousands of women take these pills, even a couple of percentage points of women hemorrhaging, dealing with infections, or ectopic pregnancy, represents thousands of women desperately seeking treatment, which may or may not be nearby,” said Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., director of Education and Research for National Right to Life.

On April 5, National Right to Life released a white paper about the myths involving the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval and management of mifepristone (generic for Mifeprex).

Addressing Many of the Myths the Media is Repeating about the FDA’s Approval and Management of Mifeprex (Mifepristone) can be accessed here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and more than 3,000 local chapters, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement, National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.