LETTER: CURE Urges Senate to Oppose National Abortion Bill, a Divisive Attack on Life and Human Dignity

The following letter was sent to members of the United States Senate urging the decisive rejection of legislation aimed at making abortion protected by federal law.

Dear Senator: 

The Senate will soon vote on S. 4132, the so-called “Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022.” This bill advances the false narrative that abortion on demand is health care, undermines religious freedom, and injects the federal government into an area of state jurisdiction. We urge you to oppose this radical legislation, which should be named the “Abortion on Demand Until Birth Act.” 

S. 4132 would override the judgment of every state legislature in America and impose a national regime of abortion on demand up until the moment of birth. While the bill forbids any limitation on abortion or abortion procedure prior to viability, it also grants complete discretion to the abortionist to determine whether a post-viability limit on abortion would pose a risk to the patient’s health and effectively leaves it to the abortionist to define what constitutes a “health” circumstance [Sec. 3(a)(9)]. 

This legislation would eliminate modest and widely-supported provisions like parental notification [Sec. 3(b)(2)] and would preempt application of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act [Sec. 4(a)(1)] – a bill that was sponsored in the House by then-Rep. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), passed the Senate by a vote of 97-3, and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

Incredibly, the Senate Majority Leader is now leading the charge to nullify the bipartisan protection of religious liberty he helped enact into law. The religious convictions of pro-life doctors and nurses will be trampled in his pursuit of an extreme abortion policy.  

Supporters of S. 4132 claim that they are ‘codifying Roe’ but this radical legislation would wipe away policies that have previously been upheld by the Supreme Court in spite of Roe. Perhaps the most notable of such provisions is the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding of elective abortions through Medicaid and other health programs. The same catchall language [Sec. 3(b)(2)] that obliterates parental notification laws sweeps away the Hyde Amendment and virtually any other effort to protect taxpayers from complicity in the performance of abortions.  

The protection of human life is the first obligation of government. As scientific understanding of life in utero has advanced, it is appropriate to widen the circle of protection for every American. 

S. 4132 ignores scientific breakthroughs and intrudes into areas that are not the appropriate domain of the federal government. We urge you to oppose S. 4132 and to pursue a respectful dialogue about protecting human life and dignity. 

Sincerely,

Star Parker – President

Marty Dannenfelser – Vice President, Government Relations and Coalitions