Action Needed by David Barton and Rick Green

Greetings!

Late last Friday, U. S. Representative Doug Lamborn – a strong God-fearing Congressman from Colorado – sent me this letter signed by 78 Members of Congress and submitted to President-Elect Obama, asking him to maintain the “Mexico City Policy.”

Mexico City Policy

In 1984, the UN Conference on Population met in Mexico City. At that meeting, Assistant Secretary of State Alan Keyes, acting for President Reagan, announced that non-governmental organizations promoting family planning programs would not be eligible for American tax dollars if they encouraged or performed abortions. That position became known as the “Mexico City Policy” and was faithfully observed throughout President Reagan’s administration as well as that of President George H. W. Bush. However, in 1993, shortly after his inauguration, President Clinton ordered a reversal of that policy. In 2001 following his inauguration, President George W. Bush ordered the reinstatement of that policy, explaining: “It is my conviction that taxpayer funds should not be used to pay for abortions or advocate or actively promote abortion, either here or abroad.”

Friday’s Letter

Sometime later this week after his inauguration, it is fully expected that President Obama will set aside the Mexico City Policy and return to the public funding of abortion through the State Department – hence Friday’s letter from the Congressmen.

2008 Congressional Pro-Life Results

The new freshmen class for the U. S. House of Representatives is the largest in recent years with 57 new Members, but only 23 (or 40 percent) are pro-life. Similarly, there are 14 new freshmen in the U. S. Senate, and only 2 (14 percent) are pro-life. (New Senators will be named to replace Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Ken Salazar, and it is fully expected that they will be pro-abortion.)

This is the second consecutive election in which pro-abortion freshmen outnumber pro-life freshmen. In 2006, of the 54 freshmen House Members, only 17 were pro-life (31 percent), and of the 10 freshmen Senators, only 1 was pro-life (10 percent).

The 2004 elections sent 40 new freshmen to the House, of whom 25 were pro-life (63 percent), and of the 9 new freshmen send to in the Senate, 7 were pro-life (77 percent).

In 2002, of the 54 freshmen elected to the House, 36 were pro-life (67 percent), and of the 10 freshmen elected to the Senate, 8 were pro-life (80 percent).

Giving Honor (Romans 13:7)

The reversal in the number of pro-life Congressmen in the past two elections certainly makes it difficult to preserve pro-life policies. It now requires much courage for Congressmen to stand against the trend of the past two elections and vote pro-life.

Therefore, if your Member of Congress appeared in the list of signers on page 4 of the document, please contact him or her and convey your appreciation for their efforts to protect innocent life and to keep federal money out of the hands of abortion providers. If your Member did not sign the letter, tell him that you want him to oppose lifting the Mexico City policy. (Go to https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml to send an email to your Congressman or to find his or her telephone number.)

America’s Founders were Pro-Life

“Americans! Ask the Declaration of Independence and it will tell you that its authors held for self-evident truth that the right to life is the first of the unalienable rights of man, and that to secure and not to destroy that right, governments are instituted.” John Quincy Adams, president of the united states

“Human life from its commencement to its close is protected by the common law. In the contemplations of law, life begins when the infant is first able to stir in the womb. By the law, that life is protected.” James Wilson, signer of the constitution and the declaration; original justice on the u. s. supreme court
David Barton