OPED: U.S. Representative Jake LaTurner Stands Up For Life
January 22 marked the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. Now more than ever, America must continue to unapologetically stand for the sanctity of all human life. As the representative of Kansas’ Second Congressional District, my constituents can be assured that I will always protect pro-life values at home and in Washington. I promised that I would be a fearless pro-life advocate throughout my public service, and I will keep my word to those who elected me.
In Kansas, I am proud to put my full support behind the “Value Them Both Amendment” that is before the Kansas Legislature. Currently, there is a legal basis for an unrestricted, unlimited abortion access in Kansas due to the Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt decision handed down by our liberal Kansas Supreme Court. The Value Them Both Amendment will allow for commonsense regulation on the abortion industry that protects babies and mothers. Thankfully, significant progress is already being achieved with the Value Them Both Amendment recently passing the Kansas House of Representatives and looking very likely to pass the Kansas Senate any day now. Once that vote takes place, the voters of Kansas will have the final say during a statewide election in 2022, where I am confident Kansans will choose life.
In Congress, I have already taken bold actions to advance pro-life policies. After being sworn in, I immediately joined the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, with the primary objective of preserving the sanctity of life. From there, I intend to co-sponsor significant, commonsense pro-life bills that protect the unborn. I will co-sponsor the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which prohibits any person from performing an abortion on an unborn child who is 20 weeks or older. Additionally, I will co-sponsor the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, a bill that prohibits Planned Parenthood from accessing any federal mandatory or discretionary funds for one year. The bill also reallocates more nearly $250 million to other community health centers that do not perform abortions.
Despite all of this, we are already beginning to see the drastic consequences of the 2020 presidential election for the pro-life community. President Joe Biden is wasting no time to advance his radical pro-abortion agenda. The Biden administration announced that they intend to revoke the Mexico City Policy, which bans United States taxpayer funding to foreign organizations that provide abortions. President Biden and his Democrat counterparts will shamefully send Americans’ hard-earned money to other countries with the intention of funding abortions – this is deeply wrong and sends a horrible message about our values to the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, it does not end there. President Biden also proudly campaigned on ending the Hyde Amendment, a bipartisan, pro-life public policy that has been in place for more than four decades that restricts federal funding for abortions. If you didn’t know, President Biden had previously opposed taxpayer-funded abortion for nearly 50 years, until he decided to run for president and abandon his conviction on the issue. I pray that President Biden will appeal to his better angels and return to a commonsense support of the Hyde Amendment, especially if he truly wants to unite our country. Forcing American taxpayers to subsidize unrestricted, unlimited abortions will only further our divisions and isolate our fellow Americans.
We must reaffirm our commitment to defending the most vulnerable lives among us – the unborn. Pro-life Americans will not rest until innocent human life is protected from the abortion industry. Life will win.
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Read the op-ed published by the Morning Sun here