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January 9, 2023

Pro-Life Coalition Sends Life Agenda for Congress with SFLAction Backing

With the drama of determining a Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives settled and a new session of Congress before us, Students for Life Action (SFLAction) joined a coalition of more than 40 pro-life leaders in sending a letter to the new Congress on the key areas for a life agenda.  

The pro-life movement has ambitious plans to protect life in law and service; the start of the new year and a new Congress brings greater opportunity to enact life-saving laws, and we’re eager to get to work.  

As abortion still very much remains a federal issue, this letter outlines the key areas where legislators can protect the sanctity of life and ensure both women and the preborn are protected in a post-Roe America. In summary, these areas include passing:   

  1. The Heartbeat Protection Act to protect the preborn from the moment a heartbeat is detected.

  2. The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act to ensure infants born alive after an abortion attempt receive proper medical care.

  3. The Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act that prohibits prejudice against a child in the womb based on its medical diagnosis.

  4. The SAVE Moms and Babies Act to begin to address the massive Chemical Abortion Pill issue as these deadly pills make their way into many women’s hands without knowledge of the life-threatening effects.

  5. The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, and the Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act to cease taxpayer funding for abortion and propping up America’s abortion giant: Planned Parenthood.

  6. The Conscience Protection Act to protect individuals, physicians, and pharmacists who do not wish to commit or fund direct abortion.  

The letter additionally notes, “The policies outlined above should also be a springboard for hearings and congressional oversight. Furthermore, Congress should ensure annual re-enactment of every existing pro-life appropriations rider, including the Hyde, Helms, Smith, Dornan, and Weldon amendments.” 

While these key items reflect the desires of the pro-life coalition, our objective is protecting innocent, preborn lives in the womb from the violence of abortion; these policy areas are a starting point for abolishing abortion.  

Urging legislators and staff to take on these issues, the letter concludes: 

“As Justice Brett Kavanaugh observed in the Dobbs decision, the Constitution leaves the abortion question to “the people and their elected representatives to resolve through the democratic process in the States or Congress.” 

“With several states pledging massive resistance to the Dobbs decision, congressional silence on the fundamental human right to life is not an option. Members cannot squander the opportunity to advance policies that protect innocent life in the first Congress to convene in post-Roe America.” 

SFLAction will be releasing its first federal report card in the coming days as we score legislators on their voting record on pro-life laws and will continue to grade forthcoming votes to keep leaders accountable to their constituencies.  

READ NEXT: Students for Life Action Issues Scoring Alert on First Pro-Life Votes for 118th Congress