On Friday, pro-life advocates will again gather across the country for a set of vigils to focus attention on the efforts in Congress to de-fund Planned Parenthood. These vigils will have pro-life advocates at the district offices of their U.S. Senators — following a first set that had them at Planned Parenthood clinics.
Students for Life of America is one of the driving forces behind the Friday vigils and Kristan Hawkins, the pro-life group’s executive director, talked about the importance of placing attention on the Senate to complete the de-funding the House already started.
“The House of Representatives voted by an overwhelming majority to strip Planned Parenthood of its federal taxpayer funding, but the struggle is far from over,” she said. “Planned Parenthood is furious and is mobilizing abortion advocates across the country while running attack ads in the home districts of courageous House members who voted their conscience.”
“Now, the pro-abortion Senate has to create its own version of the “Continuing Resolution” bill… and it’s far less likely to include an amendment to stop federal funding to Planned Parenthood,” Hawkins explained. “And regardless of the vote in the Senate, things don’t end there. For the President to sign any bill into law, the wording from the House and the Senate versions of that bill must be exactly the same. The next step will be to send the Continuing Resolution bills from both the House and Senate to be ironed out in “Conference Committee.” After the final bill from the Conference Committee is voted on again by both chambers, it will head to the President’s desk to be signed into law, or vetoed.”
“Bottom-line: There are still several hurdles to overcome. And media outlets are predicting that the measure to strip Planned Parenthood’s tax funding likely won’t survive,” she said.
That’s where Hawkins and other pro-life groups in the Expose Planned Parenthood coalition pushing the vigils — including LifeNews.com — are hoping thousands of pro-life advocates will show up on Friday to tell their senators and staffers to de-fund Planned Parenthood.
The vigils will take place on Friday at noon local time outside the nearest district office of the elected senators.
“It’s simple,” Hawkins says. “To find out what you need to do, visit the Expose Planned Parenthood homepage (www.exposeplannedparenthood.net), where you’ll see step by step how you can plan, promote and conduct your prayer vigil this Friday.”
“It’s vital for us to act swiftly and take a public stand against to insist that our Representatives in Washington treat the defunding of Planned Parenthood as non-negotiable,’ Hawkins concludes. “Together, we really can make a difference! Let’s act quickly to make sure Congress understands: the American people cannot support the killing of unborn children or be complicit in the aiding and abetting of underage human trafficking.”
If you can’t make one of the vigils, pro-life advocates are urged to contact their senators at https://www.Senate.gov and urge them to support the House-passed Continuing Resolution and efforts to de-fund Planned Parenthood.
