By Congressman Jason Smith
This week marks the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s devastating decision on Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion throughout our country. In the years following the court’s misguided ruling, more than 60 million innocent lives have been lost – more than the entire population of the State of California. While this issue is deeply personal, it also speaks to the character of our nation. America should be a nation that values all innocent life.
As a person of faith, protecting innocent life is something I will never stop defending. Pro-life Americans have lots to be grateful for over the last four years, from making it harder for Planned Parenthood to provide abortion services to ensuring strong protections against taxpayer funds being used to support abortions.
In the past week, President Biden began removing these restrictions by executive order, which will cause the death toll of the unborn to rise. The president ended the “Mexico City Policy,” which will result in American tax dollars going to foreign organizations that support abortions and reversed the prohibition on Title X family planning funding from being issued to doctors performing abortions. As a member of the Pro-Life Caucus, I joined 108 of my colleagues in urging the president to reverse these egregious decisions.
This week, I was proud to author the No Abortion Bonds Act, which would close a loophole that allows pro-abortion organizations to utilize tax-exempt bonds to finance abortion provider offices and clinics. This is undoubtedly the exploitation of taxpayer dollars, something that’s prohibited by federal law, but that Biden and his Administration seemed determined to change.
I am also a coauthor of an incredibly important bill, the Born Alive Abortion Survivor Protection Act, which will protect babies who survive an abortion procedure by ensuring that the baby receives immediate medical care and is admitted to a hospital. This bill will save the lives of defenseless infants who cannot defend themselves.
I often reflect on the words of Gianna Jessen, a pro-life advocate who was herself marked for death but miraculously survived her planned abortion. She said that “God has a way of making the most miserable things beautiful.”
Gianna has had a life filled of uphill battles and complications from the attempted abortion, but she has courageously chosen to dedicate her life to fighting for the unborn and their right to life.
However, despite the celebrities, big money and liberal politicians, Americans are banding together in support of the pro-life movement. Just today, thousands of Americans gathered on the streets of Washington to give a voice to the voiceless.
As miserable as Washington can be, it’s seeing millions of people together on an issue that Democrats wish we would be quiet about that gives me the inspiration to continue the fight to defend life and protect hardworking Missourians’ values.
