How Will the Only Republican to Oppose De-Funding Planned Parenthood Vote on Late-Term Abortion?

Yesterday, pro-life leaders in Illinois joined together to call on Senator Mark Kirk to support legislation that would de-fund Planned Parenthood and end late-abortion in America. The Susan B. Anthony List (SBA) led the press conference but Illinois Right to Life, Americans United for Life, Illinois Citizens for Life, the Pro-Life Action League, Concerned Women for America and Students for Life of America all participated in the event.

In early August, Sen. Kirk was the only Republican senator to vote against de-funding Planned Parenthood’s abortion business. After the vote, the abortion company applauded his vote and said on Facebook that they were proud of him. Sen. Kirk told The Hill that “[i]n other states tissue donation programs should be investigated but in Illinois there is no similar program.”

In a press release, SBA said the following about Sen. Kirk: “Senator Kirk has thus far refused to support the common sense limit on abortion, which is supported by a majority of Americans – women in higher numbers than men. He has also continued to support Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion business, despite investigative videos exposing their practice of harvesting the organs of aborted babies.”

It is disappointing that Sen. Kirk supports an organization that kills babies in abortions and then profits from selling their organs. As LifeNews previously reported, in videos released by The Center for Medical Progress, Planned Parenthood’s top executives are shown haggling over the price of aborted babies’ body parts, admitting to altering abortion procedures to procure salable organs and casually discussing ways their doctors can “crush” unborn babies to obtain “fully-intact” body parts.

Sen. Kirk’s vote is worrisome because it indicates that he may vote against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (PCUPA), which the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on when they return from their recess. In 2013, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1797, which is the federal version of the PCUPA. The bill was modeled off of National Right to Life’s model that has been passed 10 other states.

In a nationwide poll of 1,003 registered voters the Polling Company found that 64% would support a law such as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act prohibiting abortion after 20 weeks, unless the life of the mother is in danger. Only 30% opposed such legislation. Women voters split 63%-31% in support of such a law, and 63% of independent voters supported it.

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The National Campaign Chair for SBA, Jill Stanek, indicated that she supports fetal pain legislation because late-term abortion is barbaric. Stanek is a pro-life activist who fought to stop “live birth abortions” after witnessing one as an RN at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Her experience and testimony eventually led to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act legislation, which was signed by President Bush and ensures that proper medical care be given to babies born-alive in botched abortions.

Stanek said, “I witnessed live children born alive after abortion procedures more than halfway through pregnancy. These children suffered painful deaths. We challenge Senator Kirk to have compassionate on these children and support a common sense measure to protect them at this point. The United States is one of only seven nations – including human rights violators like China and North Korea – to allow abortion after five months.”

Today we joined 13 other #ProLife groups in Chicago to call on @SenatorKirk to vote to #DefundPP & protect ALL life pic.twitter.com/aqEKCrgFnm

— AUL (@AUL) September 3, 2015

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