Urging Sen. Mark Pryor to Back Pro-Life Bill

The following is a press release from Susan B. Anthony List and Family Council.

Washington, D.C – This week the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) and the Arkansas Family Council will launch a statewide grassroots campaign to call on Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) to co-sponsor the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 1670). The bill, introduced in November by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), has 40 cosponsors including Arkansas’ Senator John Boozman, and would protect babies beginning at 20 weeks, or more than halfway through pregnancy. The week-long campaign encompasses Wednesday’s 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and will mobilize pro-lifers to call Sen. Pryor’s in-state offices.

Most recently when asked about the legislation by National Review, Senator Pryor “looked at [at the reporter], sort of smiled, said nothing, and kept walking.” Similarly, Pryor’s office has refused to answer similar questions from Talk Business Arkansas. Pryor’s 2014 senatorial opponent, Congressman Tom Cotton, voted for the companion legislation which passed the U.S. House of Representatives last June.

“Arkansans deserve to know where Senator Pryor stands when it comes to protecting unborn children and their mothers from the painful death of abortion more than halfway through pregnancy,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “The majority of Americans are opposed to brutal, late abortion – and women support this bill in even higher numbers than men. Senator Pryor should do the right thing: honor the strength and dignity of women and protect the weak and vulnerable from pain. We urge him to respect life and the pro-life people of Arkansas by cosponsoring this compassionate legislation.”

“Arkansas is the third most pro-life state in the nation,” said Family Council President Jerry Cox. “I am disappointed every time our elected officials refuse to stand up for the weakest members of our society—the unborn.  The appropriate response to late-term abortions should be outrage rather than silence from our elected officials. This is why we are asking Senator Pryor to co-sponsor the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.”

Last year national polling by Quinnipiac, National Journal, Huffington Post, NBC/Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post/ABC News all found that a plurality or majority of Americans support limiting abortion after 20 weeks gestation and that women support the measure in higher proportions than men.

Before the bill was introduced, Senator Pryor told The Weekly Standard: “I’ll have to look at it. I haven’t focused on it.” In 2003, Senator Pryor voted for the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

The Susan B. Anthony List, is dedicated to pursuing policies and electing candidates who will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List emphasizes the education, promotion, mobilization, and election of pro-life women.  The SBA List is a network of more than 365,000 pro-life Americans nationwide.

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Outrage Only Appropriate Response to Late-Term Abortions

Awhile back, Sen. Mark Pryor was asked about his position on a bill that would make most abortions illegal after the 20th week of pregnancy. According to the news article, Sen. Pryor indicated he would need to look at the bill before making up his mind.

It is surprising that an educated person who is a United States Senator would have to make up his mind about passing a law to stop the unnecessary deaths of unborn children who are just 3 or 4 weeks shy of being able to survive outside the womb.

I hope our lawmakers read every bill before voting, but commonsense should dictate where one stands on such a clear-cut issue.

What if there was a law to protect young children from pedophiles and, when asked his position, Sen. Pryor had responded that he would need to look at the bill before making up his mind? Child abuse is wrong, so there’s nothing more to think about except how the perpetrator should be punished. These late-term abortions ought to be viewed the same way.

The only appropriate response is outrage—outrage that late-term abortions are legal in the first place. The only appropriate course of action is the make them illegal.

Abortion Advocates Give Arkansas an “F”

NARAL, the National Abortion Rights Action League, has given Arkansas an “F” when it comes to passing pro-abortion legislation.

In their report, The State of Choice in the States, the pro-abortion group singled out Arkansas as the state that passed the largest number of abortion-restricting laws in 2013.

Altogether, NARAL gave 25 states a failing grade when it came to passing pro-abortion laws. The group acknowledged that 2013 saw 53 “anti-choice” bills passed nationwide, and that 807 “anti-choice” laws had been passed in the U.S. since 1995.

According to the report, 97% of Arkansas’ counties have no abortion providers. That number is surpassed only by North and South Dakota at 98% and Mississippi, a state where 99% of its counties have no abortion centers.

This “Failing” grade from NARAL comes right on the heels of Americans United For Life ranking Arkansas the third most pro-life state in the nation.

Click here for more information.

See the State of Choice in the States report here.