Washington D.C., Jan 28, 2021 / 15:45 pm
The day before the March for Life, several senators emphasized protecting the human dignity of the unborn.
In remarks on the Senate floor on Thursday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that "being pro-life isn't just the right to be born; it also means the right to live and to thrive," arguing that policies like an expanded Child Tax Credit would help build a culture of life.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), the founder and chairman of the Senate Pro-life Caucus, spoke in support of the 48th annual March for Life on Friday.
"I believe every human being is created with God-given dignity and potential," Daines said. "No court, no legislature, no law, can take that away."
Senators also spoke out against President Joe Biden's order allowing for funding of pro-abortion groups overseas. Biden repealed the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits taxpayer funding of foreign NGOs that perform or promote abortion.
The policy, originally enacted by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, has been in place during each Republican administration since, and repealed by each Democratic administration since. Critics of the policy sometimes refer to it as the "global gag rule."
Rubio criticized Biden for prioritizing the repeal of the policy "[b]efore we even before we passed a bill to deal with the pandemic, or bring back good jobs back to the United States."
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), author of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, said in a statement that "These pro-abortion executive orders from President Biden shock the conscience."
"Our government shouldn't be funding abortions at home, let alone overseas," Sasse said. "Unity is important at times like these, but waging a culture war is only going to deepen divides and hurt innocent victims."
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also defended the Mexico City Policy in a statement, saying that its elimination "means our tax dollars will now fund groups that perform and lobby for abortion in foreign countries."
"[Biden] claims his foreign policy is about 'championing America's values and human rights,' but there is nothing more hostile to America's values and human rights than killing innocent children," Cotton said.
Daines also praised lawmakers for re-introducing a discrimination abortion ban, legislation that would ban abortion based on a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome.
"It is our duty to protect every innocent life, no matter how small, no matter how many chromosomes they may have," Daines said.
Meanwhile, others praised Biden's move to repeal the Mexico City Policy.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said Biden's repeal was "a win for reproductive freedom."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is a win for reproductive freedom – glad to see these promising first steps from <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>. <a href="https://t.co/NXjTnTbgic">https://t.co/NXjTnTbgic</a></p>— Sen. Maggie Hassan (@SenatorHassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorHassan/status/1354901668572360705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) also praised Biden's move.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I am thrilled President Biden is rolling back the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GlobalGagRule?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GlobalGagRule</a>. We've got to stop this vicious cycle where access to life-saving services is repeatedly removed and reinstated. It's time to pass the Global HER Act to PERMANENTLY repeal the global gag rule. <a href="https://t.co/QqJDqmFgDJ">https://t.co/QqJDqmFgDJ</a></p>— Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (@gillibrandny) <a href="https://twitter.com/gillibrandny/status/1354872670022729730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A great step for reproductive rights-President Biden will put an end to the global gag rule, which has jeopardized women's access to health care around the world.<br><br>It's time to roll back this cruel Trump-era policy. <a href="https://t.co/DV8A6do7Pe">https://t.co/DV8A6do7Pe</a></p>— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) <a href="https://twitter.com/maziehirono/status/1354867910917971972?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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