U.S. President Joe Biden condemned Texas’s heartbeat law as it went into effect Wednesday and continued his criticism Thursday after the Supreme Court declined to put a stay on the law while pro-abortion organizations fight it in court.
Biden also vowed to leverage the federal government against the state of Texas because of the pro-life law.
Regardless of the administration’s animus toward pro-life protection for the unborn, the pregnancy help movement has been and will continue to be a crucial safety net for women facing unplanned pregnancy, stepping up to meet women’s needs over the last half-century - no matter the political climate.
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When a woman enters a pregnancy help organization she is embraced, given compassion and practical help
Heartbeat International, the largest pregnancy help network in the world, is observing its 50th anniversary this year. Although it is Heartbeat’s 50th anniversary, its founders, recognizing the need to support women facing unplanned pregnancy prior to the 1973 passage of Roe, began the work of pregnancy help before Heartbeat had developed into its current organizational form in 1971.
Beginning in that pre-Roe time and through every presidential administration the pregnancy help community has been present and available to women, demonstrating that women do not need abortion.
When a woman in need enters a PHO, she is embraced and loved, she finds hope and care, she is given compassion and practical help, and she will find answers.
Heartbeat International’s President Jor-El Godsey responded to the Biden administration’s ardent abortion support and defended the Texas heartbeat law.
"Texas, as other states, such as Mississippi, Alabama, and others, is showing the leadership required to protect women from a predatory abortion industry,” Godsey said.
Biden called the Texas heartbeat law “extreme” in a statement Wednesday, claiming it violated the “constitutional right” to abortion ushered in with Roe v. Wade. Biden also said his administration was “deeply committed” to defending the purported right to abortion.
A "whole-of-government effort" against Texas
Then, after the Supreme Court late on Wednesday declined to grant a petition to block enforcement of the law filed by a group of abortion providers, in a statement the following day Biden called the ruling “an unprecedented assault on a woman’s constitutional rights” to abortion.
Biden claimed the court was letting “millions” of Texas women suffer while the case plays out.
In 2020 there were roughly 55,000 abortions in Texas, according to state health figures, and around 85% of them were conducted after six weeks of pregnancy, the cut-off established by the new law.
Biden further directed the Gender Policy Council, established via executive order this past March, and the White House’s legal counsel, “to launch a whole-of-government effort to respond to this decision.” The "whole-of-government effort" would also entail involvement of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice, he said, "to see what steps the Federal Government can take" to ensure abortion access for Texas women.
Biden's move to use the newly created Gender Policy Council to go after Texas confirms what pro-life advocates expected with its creation – advancement of abortion and gender ideology through all U.S. government agencies - and indicates that he intends to fight any restriction of abortion.
This demonstrates a disconnect between the administration’s priorities and a majority of Americans - who think states should make abortion laws, oppose late-term abortion, and support significant restrictions on abortion, according to data compiled by national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List).
The Texas Heartbeat Act, Texas SB 8, prohibits abortion “after detection of an unborn child's heartbeat” unless the mother’s life is in danger. It also authorizes private citizens to sue abortion providers, a unique provision removing enforcement from the state with the intent of preventing legal challenges.
Fetal heartbeats can be detected beginning around six weeks, though abortion apologists frequently dispute this. In addition to a heartbeat, unborn babies in the womb at six weeks have blood vessels forming into their circulatory system and their brain and spinal cord are beginning to develop.
Biden's servile commitment to Big Abortion
Less than 24 hours into the law’s Sept. 1 effective date the Supreme Court had rejected the emergency request from a group of more than 20 abortion providers and supporters, including Planned Parenthood and Whole Woman’s Health, to block enforcement of the heartbeat law, allowing it to go into effect and drawing Biden’s ire.
"The White House's old and tired mantra pretending abortion is health care only shows President Biden's servile commitment to Big Abortion,” Godsey said.
“Women need better than abortion,” Godsey continued. “Texas is showing the way in providing care and compassion for pregnant women and their babies as well as this protection from the hurt and harm associated with abortion.”
“If only our federal government cared as much for the next generation as Texas does,” he added, “then the obsolete abortion on demand, up to the moment of birth, crowd would rightly fade into history."
The Biden-Harris presidential ticket was considered by pro-life advocates to be the most pro-abortion in history, and the administration’s first eight months have brought that to fruition with unprecedented spending of tax dollars on abortion, rescinding the many pro-life acts of the previous administration, efforts to remove the Hyde Amendment from the federal budget, radical pro-abortion cabinet appointments, and abandonment of enforcing the FDA’s safety standards for chemical abortion.
Biden, a professed Catholic, denounced the private enforcement component of the Texas heartbeat law in his remarks criticizing the Supreme Court, stating that it would create “constitutional chaos.”
Roe believes less of women, and nothing of the baby within
Godsey pointed out the incongruity of supporting Roe while claiming concern for women, given the damage the ruling has wrought.
“It's quite ironic that the White House can so clearly identify chaos from this law, when they fail to see the chaos that arose from Roe,” he said. “Is it a life? Is it a person? Is she (the woman) capable?
“It is Roe that created the chaos women face, and our abortion culture supports,” Godsey stated. “Roe believes less of women, and nothing of the baby within. Meanwhile, the pro-life movement has great clarity in her ability to overcome temporary obstacles, value her life with the life within, and still pursue her dreams.”
Tweet This: “It is Roe that created the chaos women face, & our abortion culture supports. Roe believes less of women, & nothing of the baby within."
Tweet This: The pro-life movement has great clarity in her ability 2overcome temp. obstacles, value her life w/the life w/in & still pursue her dreams
Pregnancy help organizations served almost two million people in the U.S. in 2019 alone, according to the findings of the Charlotte Lozier Institute’s, “Pregnancy Centers Stand the Test of Time,” report, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in essential medical, education and support services. Those numbers showed growth following the previous 2017 report.
Medical services offered by PHOs include free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and testing for sexually transmitted infections. PHOs also help with obtaining healthcare coverage for low-income women, referrals for many other needed resources, clothing and supplies needed for families welcoming a newborn, as well as psychological support for individuals facing abortion regret.
Of Heartbeat's nearly 3,000 affiliated pregnancy help locations worldwide, more than 1,700 pregnancy help service providers are in the U.S. and Texas has roughly a tenth of those.
Other national networks such as the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) and Care Net, along with numerous pregnancy help organizations, whether affiliated with a one or not, stand ready to assist women and families facing unexpected pregnancy.
Heartbeat’s Worldwide Directory of Pregnancy Help, an online directory of life affirming service providers around the world, offers provider locations whether network-affiliated and not, connecting those looking for help with those who provide help.
Additionally, women and families seeking assistance can call or text 1-800-712-4357 or chat online with OptionLine, Heartbeat’s 24/7 bilingual hotline which has helped millions of women connect with pregnancy help organizations and support.
Unlike the White House, Texas works hard to help and serve women and families
The Texas state government has stepped up to support women in unexpected pregnancy as well.
In April of this year the Texas House approved a $20 million increase in funding for pregnancy centers, adoption agencies and maternity homes, according to Texas Right to Life.
The lawmakers voted to invest a total of $100 million into the Texas Alternatives to Abortion program over the next two years. The program supports agencies that provide free counseling, parenting classes, material support, job skills training and more.
“Unlike the White House, Texas works hard to help and serve women, and families, in unplanned, unexpected pregnancy through significant funding of positive parenting and pregnancy support services,” Godsey said. “Every state should be as committed to loving and supporting women during pregnancy."
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
