United for Life (Part 1)

Family policy matters and engaging and informative weekly radio show and podcast produced by the North Carolina family policy Council hi this is John Ralston, presidency, family, and were grateful to have you with us for this week's program is our prayer that you will be informed, encouraged and inspired by what you hear on family policy matters and that you will fold better equipped to be a voice of persuasion for family values in your community, state and nation, and now here's our house to family policy matters. Tracy Devitt Griggs thanks for joining us this week for family policy matters. We talk about overturning Roe V Wade US Supreme Court ruling that forced every state in the nation to legalize abortion, even if Roe V Wade is overturned, it means regulation of abortion goes back to the states. However, even today.

Vital lifesaving laws and policies can be and are being enacted on the state level to protect the unborn. Every year, Americans United for life ranks all 50 states on their efforts to protect the dignity of every human life. The 2021 AUL life list ranked Arkansas as the most pro-life state. North Carolina ranked 28th Catherine Glenn Foster, Pres. and CEO of Americans United for life is with us today to discuss the status of pro-life policy in the United States, Catherine Glenn Foster. Welcome to family policy matters pleasure to be here so Americans United for life has a long and storied history as the nation's first pro-life organization. How have your efforts changed over the last 40+ years back in 1971. We came together as a group of passionate lawyers and activist doctors, medical professionals, and we were united by a single issue. Our belief in the human right to life. A lot of changed the most vulnerable among the come more and more marginalized in some ways like to become more politicized that we have remained dedicated to a cause.

It's really bigger than any one person.

Anyone who and bigger than any one moment in history, and so we work together striving for the day when every individual is welcomed throughout life and protected in law. Our work is really rooted in our robust legal expertise and were resolute in the pursuit of real change and tangible impact. We know that over the next month. You years, so much of what we do will need to happen in the state. So much of the impact we can have nationally for life. It's going to be taking place on the state level, more than at the national level. Abortion rates are continuing to fall across the country and every state in every community, more mothers and fathers and families there choosing life there choosing laws to the point where now our abortion rate in America it's dropped to the same point was in 1972 the year before the Supreme Court wiped away protective laws in every state in America and nationally legalized abortion. The staff that really stands out to me it's a start on unexpected pregnancies and we see that even when pregnancies were unexpected, maybe even unwanted, still more and more women are choosing life and choosing love were also seeing that more and more of our neighbors are refusing to stay silent or being empowered to share their stories to expose inhumanity and uphold dignity in all of this is a direct result of the work that we do with legislators, allies and advocates protecting life through legal action that we can't do this work alone, but together. This is a fight that we can when the fight that we will when legally and culturally, locally and nationally, because we know that life is never been more vital and is a community that recognizes the importance of every perspective and every person we are going to continue to make vital impact hopeful message.

Thank you for starting us off with that. I did notice that you mentioned your nonpartisan organization. So how's that working for you. If you have advocates on both sides of the political aisle, absolutely we have allies on both type of the aisle when you look at the national party platform. Unfortunately, we do see that one party's platform is not at all protective of life at any point in the spectrum and then we have another party with a platform that is extremely protective of life at all in the spectrum from fertilization to natural death that is very hopeful that that is in one party platform. We continue to work with leading Democrats. However, to try to try to shift that aspect of their platform and I would say that also on the local level and the advocacy level.

The state level. We are seeing more and more Democrats coming forward and standing for life and thinking especially of Louisiana where the case that we saw come down from the Supreme Court in 2020, June medical services case so that that came out of Louisiana. It is based on the law and emergency transfer agreement, law that protects women who sadly made the decision to pursue an abortion something went terribly wrong. As we know it is all too often does. In the course of an abortion and she needed emergency medical care what happens then is she able to be immediately admitted to the hospital and immediately get every chance at saving her life, her future fertility.

Is she able to get the same treatment that she would the same transfer that she would if she were having any other kind of surgery and what we saw is that that law was advanced by leading pro-life Democrats in Louisiana defended repeatedly. We have worked with sender Trina Jackson and others in Louisiana four years to get that law passed in defended in court and while ultimately that lawn Louisiana was struck down by the US Supreme Court.

It was still a win for dates across the nation. Because even in the process of deciding that that law would not be upheld.

The Supreme Court, in particular, Chief Justice John Roberts and his controlling opinion. He said this type of law is a type of law that other states may pursue.

He opened the door to more and more states passing emergency transfer agreement laws Holding more more types of laws because he returned to a previous legal standard that really puts more faith in the lawmakers of our nation and trust our lawmakers to know what the women of their communities need what protection, what the children of our communities need and particularly our children in the world and so this entire case that was implicated in glad my strong pro-life Democratic women who are just great heroes, and so when I look to women like that when we know that two thirds plot of even self-described pro-choice people. They still oppose at least late-term abortion. There are points of commonality where we can build bridges and start passing good protective laws even when some of our party leaders may push back may be more interested in listening to special interest and a lobbyist then to their constituents. The people of America who voted for them and who they were elected to serve. So that's why we are nonpartisan because we are therefore all Americans who support life all-American to believe in hope and possibility and holistic care.

That's who we Americans United for life represent and will work with the pro-life Democrats in the pro-life Republican and try to come together to stand for life. So let's talk about this life list. So what are the criteria that you consider when ranking the states, we consider every policy that has to do with the defense of human life that spans from the very beginning of life at fertilization conception to the end of life. When I when we may rely on those around us.

The most for carriage and while we are fighting against abortion. The target innocent children, but were also combating suicide by physician and euthanasia that often target the elder elderly and those are equally important to being truly pro-life, and equally important in our ranking we look at ethical research and and all of the different ways that innocent human life may be impacted by state law and policy, and so while the ranking system specifically is proprietary, that is sort of a snapshot of what we look at every year. As were looking at every state at the state laws and which states are standing for life right so Arkansas was top of the list. So what what was so wonderful about what Arkansas is doing is number one is here because of the citizen of Arkansas. The pro-life leadership in legislation that the jihad of Arkansas.

It is a direct reflection of the pro-life conviction of ordinary Arkansan Arkansas. They have taken a really holistic approach to protecting life as we were just discussing they are looking at the full spectrum of life from fertilization to natural death. They are doing everything that they can to oppose abortion to protect children in the world to provide real, holistic, life-affirming care for mothers and families but they also are taking a really hard look at what really does constitute ethical research and how to protect older adults and people with disabilities from euthanasia from denial of medical care from suicide by physician Dave lead on protecting our children by forbidding the violence of abortion based on down syndrome or age in the natural state is also blazing the trail on protecting the rights of children while also defending patients from the predatory dangers of suicide by physician by affirmatively making it clear that suicide is never medical and it should never be promoted by the doctors that we trust to heal us. They are taking the lead on conscience rights and I would also say that there's an informed consent law that Arkansas passed a particular significance for me because I'm good supportive myself and I got an abortion when I was 19 years old college student in small-town Georgia.

I.e. I went into an abortion facility made the appointment because I had no idea where to turn and so I went to the Internet and as I googled know what to do when you're pregnant. The thing that popped up was abortion facilities and so I called one.

I picked the second cheapest one that I saw thinking okay I don't want to go bottom of the barrel, but I'm a college student.

I just don't know what to do and I didn't have a plan. I didn't know if I was going to get an abortion, but I do the ideas of cremation and they knew they needed answers.

I needed help and so I made that appointment and I walked in the door that Saturday am. I had Artie been bonding with my baby and so one of the things that I really wanted while I was there was to see my baby on the ultrasound screen and get that information.

Get the medical record right and so they perform the ultrasound as they do, they needed to make sure that the pregnancy is an ectopic and need to know how far along you are, so that they know what procedure to use and much to charge you they charge you based on how far along you are. And so I'm lying on the table on their there, maneuvering the wand over my belly and asked to see the image and they said they said it was against policy to let women and girls see the ultrasound and so I never got to see it and I ended up going through that abortion every day.

I think back, and I think what would've happened if I had been able to see it, because knowing now what I now his mom. I know what my baby will look like then and I just wish I'd been able to see it and one of the most joyful things to me is when a state passes on ultrasound law like Arkansas has done an informed consent law because I know what impact that is going to have on the women who are struggling like I was, who are considering abortion like I was don't believe they had anywhere else to turn. When women feel ultrasound. We know that that makes it different. When women feel ultrasound they make a choice for life and I am just so grateful that more than half the states in our nation now have a law that protects our right to see her medical records and thereby protects babies in the womb. I just love that. And so Arkansas they pass they pass over a dozen life-affirming laws on both ends of the spectrum over the past two years and it's truly an impressive achievement, but we are looking at their commitment to life, full spectrum fertilization and natural � and they are doing an outstanding job, thanks to the people of Arkansas and the leaders that they've elected to office who are willing to stand up against against lobbyists and Planned Parenthood in the abortion industry and really listen to the people of you been listening to family policy matters.

This has been part one of a two-part show with Catherine Glenn Foster, Pres. and CEO of Americans United for life.

Be sure to tune in next week for part two. To learn more about NC family and how you can be a voice of persuasion for family values in your community. Go to our website@ncfamily.org.

Thanks for listening and may God bless you and your families