Previously at LSF.
Do you know Mrs. Judie Brown? If you haven’t made her acquaintance, an introduction is long overdue.
As cofounder and president of the American Life League, she’s known in “pro-life” circles as America’s #1 Church Lady – and it must be true, because the Vatican says so. In fact, she’s well into her second five-year term as a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, and the Daily Catholic cites her as one of the top 100 Catholics of the 20th century.
When Mrs. Judie Brown speaks, Catholic “pro-lifers” listen. This week, she’s got a lot to say about Bill Frist and the National Right to Life Committee – and Judie’s not in a good mood about what she calls a case of mistaken identity.
Not that Judie would be so vulgar as to call a conniving sellout son-of-a-bitch by his right name, of course. No, no phrase so common as that would issue from the mouth of a lady like Mrs. Brown — but snidely refined bitchery comes to her lips as naturally as ten Hail Marys.
Have you ever had an “I think I know you, but I can’t recall your name” moment when you see a familiar face at a gathering? And even worse, have you said, “Hi, Jane,” only to blush in embarrassment at the reply, “I’m sorry but my name’s Ruth”? It’s certainly an uncomfortable moment. But after the initial embarrassment, it always turns out fine.
But what happens when an “I think I know you” moment happens among organizations that all claim to have the same goal? What happens when the face we think we know turns out to belong to a total stranger?
OK, so much for her specialty, the coy intro. Judie was only warming up for her “Billy, we hardly knew ye” moment, and here it comes.
On July 29, Senator Bill Frist announced that he had “changed his mind” and decided to support human embryonic stem cell research. This physician-turned-politician claimed that scientists need to pursue the “truly magnificent, truly remarkable properties” of stem cells taken from days-old human embryos.
As a point of information, human embryonic stem cell research can only be done by killing innocent boys and girls in the embryonic stage of development. So while Frist claims this research will save human beings’ lives, he ignores the fact that it always begins with a sacrifice of other human beings.
Saints above, weren’t all those innocently sweet and fluffy kitty cats enough? Does the blood lust of the Abominable Dr. Frist know no end? And Judie’s even more furious that his dark and seductive aura of power is making baby killers out of the National Right to Life Committee, too.
In response to this “change,” the National Right to Life Committee made the following statement on July 29:
“National Right to Life is very disappointed that Senator Frist has expressed support for a bill that would mandate federal funding of research that requires the killing of human embryos, which National Right to Life opposes. It is worth noting, however, that Senator Frist also stated that the creation of human embryos by cloning should be banned, and we call on the Senate to pass such a ban promptly, in order to prevent human embryo farms from springing up in the United States.”
Human embryo farms? Ye gods and little fishes, what does the Department of Agriculture know about this, and when did they know it? Where in that porked-up appropriations bill did they hide the subsidies, because not even ConAgra or ADM would underwrite the R&D and startup costs on that much new technology without some federal sugar. Otherwise they’d just outsource this baby, and cut themselves a sweeter deal on some fallow rice paddies in China.
But I digress. The subject is not baby farming, but baby killing, so let’s get back to Judie’s nuclear outrage over Frist’s and NRLC’s endorsement of the home grown variety.
My initial reaction to this was horror, which turned to anger, which turned to sorrow. The National Right to Life Committee took yet another step in their quest to get a wink from the “stars” (i.e., the Beltway political power brokers). Rather than having the courage to criticize a Republican, they chose to sell out the babies.
How could NRLC say that anything is “worth noting” when a United States senator turns his back on the most vulnerable members of the human family and chooses to support their direct killing? Why pander to a clearly pro-death pronouncement by this Republican senator? Why not excoriate him for his abuse of power? Why not challenge his warped sense of science?
The answer to all these questions is the same. The National Right to Life Committee has chosen to play politics with the big boys. They’ve been doing it for years. NRLC has supported proposals such as the campaign finance reform bill and made it a barometer for gaining the organization’s support, despite the fact that could not possibly impact in any way the heinous crime of abortion. The Republican Party was for the bill, you see, and so they are for it too.
But now they have gone too far. They have publicly excused a man who is willing to permit the wholesale slaughter of innocent human beings for the vacuous promise of “magnificent” research that is, at its core, unethical and immoral. Senator Frist is not pro-life. Nobody who has studied his record would have ever made that connection.
My question is more fundamental, however: Just how pro-life life is the National Right to Life Committee?
Well, if “pro-life” is still code for “anti-abortion,” the NRLC has done a pretty good job of persuading most people of their intentions. But since we’re apparently all just mindless dupes who can’t see what’s in front of our faces, it’s a saving grace that Judie’s around to show us what blind fools we’ve been.
NRLC has been around a long time and they’ve convinced millions of pro-lifers — especially pro-life Catholics — that they are 100 percent pro-life and they will never compromise on even one baby’s life.
However, NRLC is corrupting the very meaning of the term pro-life. A human being is a person the instant his life begins, be it in a petri dish or safely within his mother. There is no such thing as an expendable human being. How can you say you genuinely care about all the babies when you publicly make excuses for a man who doesn’t mind condoning their direct killing?
And now, as president of the largest and one of the most influential anti-choice organizations in America, Judie Brown goes downtown — in an impeccably ladylike manner, of course — and calls for jihad not only against the NRLC . . .
It grieves me that so many good pro-life Americans actually think that NRLC is unflinching in its defense of the babies. Every year, thousands of good people offer their prayers, their efforts and their hard-earned money to an organization they believe will aid in bringing about a culture of life.
The next time you hear someone from the National Right to Life Committee proudly claim “another important victory,” sit down and think real hard and see if you can convince yourself that even one baby in the womb is going to be saved as a result of that claim. Think about the thousands of embryonic children who are dying because NRLC’s friends, like Senator Bill Frist, can condone murder and still get a “wink” from their pals.
As long as powerful organizations like NRLC continue to put politics ahead of principle — and refuse to face the truth about abortion-causing methods of birth control — babies will continue to die at alarming rates.
. . . but – oh, my God and hers, too! – she’s going to the wall, and throwing down against the whole Republican Party.
Is National Right to Life’s recent announcement surprising? No, it’s to be expected. It’s part of a long pattern. But it’s time for their frivolous, irresponsible embrace of all that is Republican to stop.
For too long the folks at NRLC have introduced themselves as 100 percent pro-life and gotten away with it. If there ever was a case of mistaken identity, this has got to be it. Once again, it seems more important for the National Right to Life Committee to be pro-Republican than to be pro-life.
The American Life League has spoken, and no mistake.
So where will the membership of the largest anti-abortion and anti-contraception organization in the United States – and next to the Army of God itself, the one with most radically extremist agenda — funnel the overflow from its deep pockets now? Nobody but God’s own angels and Mrs. Judie Brown can know for sure, but since we’ve still got at least a nominal two-party system, it will behoove all of us to remember ALL’s fury against “all that is Republican” the next time we hear the phrase Democrats for Life.
Coupla questions for you, moiv:
While I suppose it’s nice to see the anti-choicers turning on each other, what would we do with them on “our” side? What kind of policies do you see a “democrat for life” supporting once in office? Especially, if that candidate is supported by a group like this, what does that accomplish?
Thanks for the diary!
Hi Brinnaine, sorry to take so long with an answer, but my so-called day off turned out to be a semi work day after all.
It’s seriously troubling to me that far too many Democrats haven’t looked 15 minutes into the future, as you have, and asked themselves the same things.
I see a “Democrat for Life” supporting 95-10, since it’s the DFL’s main focus right now, which they began publicizing and promoting at the first of the year, complete with a signature-ready LTE on their website for those who might not otherwise write letters in support of 95-10.
This bill is an insidiously designed wolf in sheep’s clothing. There are a few proposals there — the sheep’s clothing — that we all would support: subsidized daycare for students, increased coverage for both prenatal care and contraceptives, and expansion of the WIC program.
But this wolf has some very big teeth, as follows:
That’s the agenda right upfront. The DFL says that these are “proven” methods for reducing abortion, and that the abortion rate will drop by 95% in 10 years if “most” of the bill’s provisions are enacted. It doesn’t say which provisions are expendable, but Fr. Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life, is already saying that 95-10 needs “further modification and debate,” given the church’s adamant opposition to contraception.
Thanks for the response, moiv — this is exactly what I was thinking of — I really cannot and will not bring myself to vote for ANY anti-choicer, I do not care what they have after their name as a candidate — if they cannot support CHOICE and all that goes with it, they will not be getting my support in any way shape or form.
Those “teeth” you list will eat many a woman alive.
democrats for life are already in office. want to see the type policies they support? here’s an example.
Another fine mess the Anti-choice Democrats have made for women…
if you take the time to go and read the link be sure to follow the “link comments” hyperlink which will take you to the DFL site where they crow about stopping an amendment that would have addressed the woman’s problem.
Follow some links, do a few Google searches, and it is readily apparent to anyone who cares enough to look that there are zero degrees of separation between DFL and any of the other anti groups. DFL is merely one more political tool for advancing a very extreme anti-woman agenda. But at least the other groups don’t masquerade as Democrats.
Absolutely right. As least we know our enemy in the Republican Party. That the DFL is endorsed and supported by the Democratic leadership in the name of Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid is an abomination.
Another tidbit on the DFL. One of their heroes is Jim Exon who voted for the ban on late term abortions and voted against the exception clause for the health [or life] of the mother.
So our leadership supports this heinous group and expects us to vote for them? They can all kiss my ass. There were a couple of frontpage posts on Kos yesterday about the DLC, the DLC that Hillary works for since she has decided she doesn’t work for ‘the people’ any longer. The DLC says we’re ‘anti-American’ because we oppose the war in Iraq. I guess we must be anti-society since we want dominion over our own bodies.
Women’s rights be damned. We must remember ‘ladies’ democracy doesn’t need to further women’s rights. Women didn’t have rights of privacy, or rights of inheritance, or rights over our own bodies, or rights of property, or rights of custody for their children, or the right to vote in 1900 but we had a democracy anyway. We should all be ‘thrilled’ we have any rights at all much less equality.
I’ll stay home for the first time since I was old enough to vote if this is the choice I have. This party will continue to bargain our rights away at their own peril.
I looed at the Democrats for Life website, and saw their goal of reducing abortions by 95% over the next 10 years.
Seems to me the only way they can do that is by outlawing and/or regulating abortion out of existence. What role has the American Life League had in the creation of Democrats for Life?
that should be “looked”…
I thought is was some funny new slang word for “laughed so hard I hit my forehead on my desk” … but no, it’s just a typo.
I have a gif for ‘banging head on keyboard’ somewhere…
Or, laughed so hard I peed my pants? Or maybe that’s just British usage…
obviously derived from “going to the loo” …
Maybe we should begin using it that way…a descriptive word for that feeling when things are so screwed up you don’t know whether to laugh hysterically or bang your head on the nearest inanimate object…
I think this is an important question, and one we’re going to have to ask more often and more loudly as Reid and the Usual Suspects start salivating over the prospect of throwing women’s rights in the woodchipper.
ALL has been working steadily since its inception in 1979, but it is important to recognize the interconnectedness of “pro-life” organizations and politicians. The DFL Website links to an extensive network of anti-choice groups, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. One of the links goes to Priests for Life, headed by Fr. Frank Pavone.
Pavone is the most visibly “out there” of the many Catholic oppenents of abortion and birth control. He and Judie Brown of ALL have worked together for years now, defending the thuggish activities of Joe Scheidler (prosecuted under RICO for shutting down clinics with violent tactics), supporting each other in the Terri Schiavo fiasco, and now working to influence Supreme Court nominations.
It isn’t possible to separate or quantify the influence of one particular anti group; it’s like asking which particular head of the hydra is speaking at any given moment. They all cooperate in promoting the same policies, which is the reason Brown is so angry about NRTL going off-message.
The most astonishing thing about DFL’s pretense of being less radical than PFL or ALL is that the latter never pretend to be willing to compromise. So while I know DFL is lying to us, I can’t help wondering how much some of their signers-on are lying to themselves about selling out to these hardline groups and still staving off a less-than-extremist anti-choice agenda.
The thing that amazes me is how many people are willing to (pretend) to believe that an anti-choice Dem will vote to protect choice.
Anti-choice is anti-choice, and it doesn’t matter if you dress it up in red, blue, or orange…the result is still the same. A war on women.
They are weasels. Are you listening Hillary?
Back when Ollie (crying,whining self-proclaimed patriot)North was running for the Senate here,I got a poll-call.
The question was ‘Do you believe women should have the right to choose abortion?’
I said ‘DAMM right and there are three voters in this household who feel the same way.’
Pollster hung up on me.
Surprise,surprise.
What the hell is an embryo farm? Is it like in Matrix?
Some of imagery is powerful, killing children has always been powerful. From the blood libel religious zealots who aimed for Jews to the pro-criminalization people today “they kill children” has been a justification for killing other people’s children.
But an embryo farm? I guess this is the next logical step to disconnecting women from reproduction, believing that you can set up farms. No women required!
This perfect illustration of the propaganda blitz 95-10 would enact as federal law just came in on my providers’ listserve. It comes from Charles Colson, once a member of Nixon’s Praetorian Guard and now running a highly profitable “ministry” to prisons. The sections I’ve bolded could have been (and probably were) taken directly from the propaganda brochures handed out at CPCs — which are linked to at the bottom of Colson’s article, and would be funded, advertised, and equipped by the federal government under 95-10.
who equate a group of cells with a living, breathing baby. No, rephrase that…a group of cells is better than a living, breathing baby, because that group of cells doesn’t need to have its diaper changed, or doesn’t need taxpayer subsidies for food, shelter, education, etc.
And they’re not just going to stop at abortion…look at the statement from “Priests for Life” (celibate men telling women what they should do with their bodies…perfect) about contraception. They’re not going to rest till we return to the days when girls and women lived in fear every month, hoping to see those magical bloodstains on the underwear and know that they have won a stay from the Governor…