After massive targeting of pro-life and conservatives groups by the IRS during the Obama administration, members of Congress are pushing the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act, a bill to prevent the Obama administration from implementing new rules that define what constitutes political activities for “social welfare” groups organized under the 501(c)(4) section of the tax code.
The bill was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee about two weeks ago, and a similar version has been introduced by Republicans in the Senate. The measure has the support of the National Right to Life Committee, which wrote members of Congress saying the legislation is needed to protect pro-life groups. The measure has the support of the National Right to Life Committee, which wrote members of Congress saying the legislation is needed to protect pro-life groups. The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), representing state right-to-life organizations nationwide, urges you to vote for passage of the Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act, H.R. 3865, when the House of Representatives takes up this legislation on February 26. H.R. 3865 would prevent the IRS from putting into effect the regulatory changes proposed by the agency on November 29, 2013 (NPRM REG-134417-13, 78 Fed. Reg. 71535). The proposed changes would radically rewrite the longstanding regulations that govern permissible lobbying and advocacy by nonprofit organizations organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, which includes the National Right to Life Committee and most of the 50 state affiliates of NRLC. The net effect of the proposed changes would severely narrow the range of permissible advocacy activities by NRLC and our affiliates. A major goal of the proposed changes is to violate the privacy of our donors and supporters, in order to expose them to intimidation and political retribution. There is nothing in the Internal Revenue Code as enacted by Congress that justifies the proposed changes. Moreover, the proposals blatantly disregard the constitutional principles enunciated by the U.S. Supreme Court in a series of rulings, that strongly affirm that the First Amendment does not permit burdensome infringements on independent advocacy regarding the actions and positions of those who hold or seek federal office. (link to article) Now the IRS is proposing regulations to make its illegal efforts to silence conservatives an official part of regulatory code. Not only would these oppressive regulations trample the First Amendment, they would unfairly favor liberal groups over conservative and libertarian organizations. Nonprofit organizations designated as 501(c)4 are already limited in their ability to engage in “candidate-related political activity.” The new regulations are meant to broaden the definitions of both “candidate” and “political activity” to give the IRS more power to regulate conservative action. But get this: the new rules would NOT apply to labor unions or trade associations. These new definitions would include: -Criticism of incumbents 30 days before primary elections and 60 days before general elections (in other words, you can't speak poorly about those already in power) -Any references to politicians (candidates, appointees, etc.) -Hosting candidate debates -Posting voting records of incumbents on websites before elections -Creating or distributing voter guides -Phone calls about upcoming votes (even when no candidate is mentioned) -Voter registration drives (no more signing up folks at churches or in your neighborhoods, for instance) -Donating money to groups that engage in political activity -Volunteer activities if they relate to voting or candidates Every action listed above, among others, would have to be submitted to the IRS for review, would be subject to taxation and would be treated as restricted candidate-related political activity. The restrictions include every type of communication, from newspapers to television to oral speech that can reach 500 people or more. Before it can finalize the new regulations, the IRS must review all public comments. If you comment and the IRS doesn’t address your concerns, the regulations can be overturned. We need to inundate the IRS with comments by the February 27th deadline. Please, help me encourage others to help stop the gross abuse of power. We MUST let the IRS know that the new rules are discriminatory, that they violate the first amendment, and that they burden the American people. Email them to http://www.regulations.gov. Be sure to include the citation: IRS REG-134417-13 in subject line or body of your email. Please cc your congressmen on all correspondence to the IRS and keep copies for your own records. Make sure you spread the word and ask your family members and friends to comment too. (read full article) You may have already heard the heartbreaking news: Belgium’s parliament voted in favor of a billallowing euthanasia for terminally ill children without any age limit. Experts expect King Philippe to sign the bill into law.
The move comes only 12 years after Belgium legalized euthanasia for adults. It was a fast tumble down the slippery slope. As Americans, there’s a certain temptation to read news like this and though we gulp and sigh, we think this sort of thing only happens in Europe, not the United States. Yet there are American voices that support granting our children the same “right to die.” For example, the Los Angeles Times ran an editorial this weekend arguing just that. (read more) Washington, DC (LiveActionNews) — In a recent NBC News story, Vicki Cowart, president of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, made a baffling statement:
"All women need to have the right to decide for themselves when life begins." No, Planned Parenthood, we do not live in a society where only women have the right to ignore proven science. No, Planned Parenthood, mothers do not have the right to ignore science and pretend facts don’t exist, simply so they can hire a doctor to execute their children. .... Science has never been more clear. At the moment of fertilization, at the moment of first existence,a new life has begun. This new life is fully unique, fully human, and fully set with her own DNA – the pattern to become the woman she has the right to be. Our children’s lives don’t begin when we want them to. We neither have nor deserve the power to decide that. (read full article) Wow! I hate that phrase. “Rapist’s child”, “rapist’s baby”, “rape baby”, or “product of rape”—all equally despicable, yet intentional, pejoratives used by abortion activists to debase those conceived in such horrid violence. As if these revilers had any control over the circumstances of their own conception, they stand as judge and executioner of human beings with the exact same cellular makeup.
Do we refer to children as the “drug dealer’s child” or the “adulterer’s child?” President Obama’s alcoholic father was married multiple times. In fact, his father was married to two different women concurrently. Do we call Obama the “bigamist’s child” or the “alcoholic’s child”? That would be horrible. Granted, people hold various views of our Commander-in-Chief, but who would call him the Abandoned-in-Chief because of his deadbeat dad (no matter the wishful dreams he had of his father)? When do we ever define an innocent child by the crimes of either parent? This is only necessary to those whose ideology demands the dehumanization of that life to justify killing via abortion. It assuages those who demand that certain human life have zero civil rights. (read more) When Congress passed Obamacare, it did so over the objections of the pro-life community, which pointed out the ways in which it would fund abortions and send taxpayer dollars to the Planned Parenthood abortion business.
As the Obama administration struggles to sign up people for Obamacare, which is already rationing care as patients are denied or delayed treatment and hospitals and doctors offices closes, Planned Parenthood is taking the lead to assist the administration in signing up more Americans for the boondoggle. The working relationship with the Obama administration will make it easy for America’s largest abortion business to sign up more customers for abortions and to plug them into their political system pushing and promoting pro-abortion candidates like President Obama. This is all funded with taxpayer dollars. (read more) The Obama administration faces more than 90 lawsuits from businesses and nonprofits fighting a government mandate requiring them to betray their faith — or pay steep fines. Some even face the possibility of shutting down.
On Feb. 6th, Obama and hundreds of others attended the 62nd annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. During his speech, the president highlighted “the inherent dignity of every human being”: "And central to that dignity is freedom of religion — the right for every person to practice their faith how they choose, to change their faith if they choose, or to practice no faith at all, and to do this free from persecution and fear." He made no mention of the many people of faith challenging the Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate. It requires most for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations to offer potential abortion-inducing drugs in their employee health plans. Mainstream news outlets have failed to note the conflict between some of the president’s policies and his words. Policy experts, though, were not so silent. U.S. Congressman Doug Lamborn from Colorado pointed out the irony when the president said: “…the killing of the innocent is never fulfilling God’s will; in fact, it’s the ultimate betrayal of God’s will.” In spite of it sounding like a pro-life statement, the Republican lawmaker told CitizenLink that Obama “doesn’t see this in relation to abortion.” Focus on the Family Judicial Analyst Bruce Hausknecht also questions Obama’s statements today. “I would ask the president to consider the dignity of the Little Sisters of the Poor,” he said. “I would ask him to consider the dignity of our military personnel, including chaplains, who are being told to compromise their religious beliefs about marriage and biblical sexuality or leave the military. I would ask the president, whose IRS targets religiously motivated pro-life and pro-marriage non-profit organizations for harassment and intimidation, to consider their dignity. I would ask the president to look to his own administration’s actions which, with an ever-increasing frequency, attack and erode the very religious freedom which he said in his speech that he strongly supports.” Take Action for Religious Freedom Urge President Obama to stop the Health and Human Services (HHS) Mandate requiring businesses provide contraceptives and possible abortion-inducing drugs to their employees under their respective insurance plans. (link to article) The Planned Parenthood abortion business has been forced to pay a $2 million settlement to the family of a black teenager it killed in a botched legal abortion in 2012.
Walter Hoye, a black pro-life leader who has closely followed the case, obtained a copy of the court order awarding the settlement. The settlement document indicates Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation must pay her son Alvin Jones III, who was one at the time of Reaves’ death from the botched legal abortion. He told LifeNews today that the settlement is an acknowledgement on Planned Parenthood’s part that it took Reaves’ life, but he said he’s disappointed the abortion giant won’t be held accountable further. “In my opinion, Planned Parenthood is guilty of criminal negligence, depraved indifference, and gross medical incompetence,” Hoye said. “Now that the case is settled, we will never know how a jury would have reacted.” (read more) In just a few months, a group of young pro-life leaders will meet in Washington, D.C. for an unforgettable summer that will equip them with the knowledge and skills to lead the pro-life movement into the future.
At the National Right to Life Academy, an intensive five-week training program, pro-life convictions are transformed into action. The curriculum for the program covers abortion, euthanasia, health care reform, stem cell research, bioethics, human development, legislation, history of the pro-life movement, media relations and grassroots organizing. Applications are still being accepted for the 2014 National Right to Life Academy, which runs from June 26-August 1, 2014. Interested college students should contact [email protected]. More details about the program are available at www.nrlc.org/academy. (link to read full article) |
Contact your elected officials Senator Josh Hawley 212 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 202-224-6154 www.hawley.senate.gov/contact-senator-hawley Senator Eric Schmitt 260 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5721 www.schmitt.senate.gov/contact/ Representative Ann Wagner 2350 Rayburn Office Building Washington, DC 20510 (202) 225-1621 wagner.house.gov/contact Washington Missouri Office 516 Jefferson Street Washington, MO 63090 (636) 231-1001 Click here to find your House Representative
October 2024
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