Recently, some of you may have seen or heard attacks directed at me or other legislators for our pro-life stance and our particular lack of support for a piece of legislation called the “Protection at Conception” bill. I would like to address these attacks and the group that is spurring the attacks, “Hoosiers for Life” (H4L).
This group,
which is relatively new to the pro-life scene, is led by Amy Schlichter and is
based in Northeast Indiana. On their website they state that “H4L advocates to
protect all innocent human life from conception to natural death.”
I first
heard of H4L a few years ago when I saw their booth at a County Fair. As I do
often when I see people sacrificing their time and resources for the cause of
life, I thanked those staffing the booth. The little figurines they display of
the unborn child in the womb are a powerful testament to human life in the
womb.
Then, in 2014
I was asked about authoring a “Heartbeat Bill” in Indiana like one that had
passed in Arkansas and North Dakota. Subsequently, I had such a bill drafted
that would ban abortion of an unborn child with an audible heartbeat (6-12
weeks’ gestation). However, after consulting with pro-life advocates who have
fought for life at the Statehouse for decades, I concluded that it was
premature to introduce due to the makeup of the federal courts which had become
stacked with pro-abortion Obama appointees. (This proved correct, as both
Arkansas and North Dakota’s laws were blocked and never went into effect). Those
who have been following the issue of pro-life legislation closely over the past
decade know that we have repeatedly been blocked by this activist judicial wall
in Indiana from defunding Planned Parenthood in 2011 to banning abortion based
on sex and disability in 2016. However, we have seen a number of pro-life
victories stand, including a ban on abortion after 20 weeks (2011) and many
additional informing and reporting requirements.
As the
federal courts shift back to a constitutional, pro-life judiciary under the
Trump administration, passing more aggressive legislation such as a ban on
abortion after 16 weeks or even a ban on abortion upon the presence of a
heartbeat become much more effectively realistic.
Which leads
us to Hoosiers for Life’s initiative, “Protection at Conception.” H4L has
repeatedly stated that the a “Protection at Conception” law would end abortion
in Indiana and that it would save the lives of 8000 babies in Indiana. For
instance, in a blog post attacking a legislator on February 28,
Amy Schlichter wrote, “If this bill passes, it would mean the abortion numbers
in Indiana would be zero.” She also called it a bill “that would have ended
abortion in Indiana.”
What
pro-life person would not support such a bill? Those who recognized it as the
lie and falsehood that it is. The day such legislation would be signed into
law, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and every other leftwing pro-abortion group
in the state would file a challenge in federal court seeking immediate
injunction, which would be granted, and the overturn of the law which is the inevitable
outcome under a leftwing federal judiciary and the Supreme Court precedent of
Roe vs. Wade. Thus, a “Protection at Conception” law would not save a single
life. To say otherwise is a baldface lie.
Yet, many
of us, in our passion to see the end of this bloody practice in America after
45 years of Roe vs. Wade and 60 million lives lost, desire the claims about the
“Protection at Conception” bill to be true and for the bloodshed to finally
come to an end. But to do so is to be misled and deceived. There is no quick,
easy victory to be had in this fight, but rather a disciplined, steady, and
judicious advance is our only hope to ultimately achieve victory and see the
end of abortion in our nation.
It pains me
greatly that “Hoosiers for Life” and Amy Schlichter have turned friend against
friend and ally against ally in our pro-life movement. She and her followers
have viciously attacked me and other sincere pro-life legislators for refusing
to kneel to her lies. And enough is enough. If you care about the pro-life
cause, I plead with you to reject these divisive and deceptive tactics of
“Hoosiers for Life” and stand united in the pro-life cause; for truly divided
we fall, but united we stand.
In
God We Trust,
Representative
Timothy Wesco
