{"id":17634,"date":"2017-01-06T21:10:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-06T21:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable-19399\/"},"modified":"2017-01-06T21:10:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-06T21:10:00","slug":"how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/","title":{"rendered":"How a pro-life group will hold members of Congress accountable"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Pro_life_marchers_gather_for_the_March_for_Life_at_the_nations_capitol_in_Washington_DC_on_the_43rd_anniversary_of_Roe_vs_Wade_January_22_2016_Credit_Jeff_Bruno_CNA_4_11_16.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2017 \/ 02:10 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- As the 115th Congress is underway, a pro-life group is touting a new means of holding pro-life members accountable \u2013 a scorecard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Scorecard will help ensure accountability of Members to their constituents while identifying true defenders of the unborn in U.S. Congress,\u201d March for Life Action announced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt March for Life Action we aren't just looking for politicians who vote pro-life \u2013 we are looking for pro-life champions in the mold of Henry Hyde,\u201d Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs at the pro-life group March for Life Action, stated.<\/p>\n<p>Hyde was a congressman who successfully inserted into federal policy a prohibition on Medicaid dollars funding abortions. The Hyde Amendment has been supported by members of Congress in both parties for 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>Other advocacy groups, including National Right and Life and Planned Parenthood Action, use scorecards to inform voters of how members of Congress vote on various issues.<\/p>\n<p>March for Life Action hopes to not only record pro-life votes, but also to record initiatives by members such as sponsorship of pro-life bills and speaking out about a pro-life matter on the House or Senate floor.<\/p>\n<p>McClusky noted that \u201cwe aren't just looking to maintain the pro-life status quo by only tallying votes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A stream of pro-life legislation is expected to come up in Congress after the change of presidential administrations.<\/p>\n<p>President-elect Donald Trump made promises on the campaign trail that he would sign pro-life legislation into law, including the defunding of Planned Parenthood by federal tax dollars because it is the nation\u2019s largest abortion provider. However, he had also praised Planned Parenthood early in 2016 as doing \u201cvery good work\u201d for women.<\/p>\n<p>Vice president-elect Mike Pence enjoys the backing of pro-life groups for his pro-life record as a congressman, from 2001 to 2013.<\/p>\n<p>One of the first bills expected to come up in Congress is the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would expand prohibitions of federal funding of abortions and solidify the Hyde Amendment\u2019s policy, which has been passed every year by Congress as a rider to appropriations bills, as permanent federal law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are hoping our first score will be on the House of Representatives putting forth and passing No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act during the month of January,\u201d McClusky said. A Knights of Columbus\/Marist poll from earlier in 2016 showed 62 percent of Americans opposing taxpayer funding of abortion.<\/p>\n<p>That poll also demonstrated that 78 percent of respondents \u201csupport substantial restrictions on abortion\u201d and want it limited to at least the first term of pregnancy.<\/p>\n<p>\nOther bills that are expected soon include a pain-capable bill banning abortions when the unborn baby has been found to feel pain, at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The House has previously passed a pain-capable bill and voted to defund Planned Parenthood, but both initiatives failed to receive the necessary votes to move through the Senate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=6IemG0lOfks:elAMifaZWs0:yIl2AUoC8zA\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/6IemG0lOfks\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Pro_life_marchers_gather_for_the_March_for_Life_at_the_nations_capitol_in_Washington_DC_on_the_43rd_anniversary_of_Roe_vs_Wade_January_22_2016_Credit_Jeff_Bruno_CNA_4_11_16.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2017 \/ 02:10 pm (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\" target=\"_self\">CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- As the 115th Congress is underway, a pro-life group is touting a new means of holding pro-life members accountable &ndash; a scorecard.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Scorecard will help ensure accountability of Members to their constituents while identifying true defenders of the unborn in U.S. Congress,&rdquo; March for Life Action announced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;At March for Life Action we aren&#8217;t just looking for politicians who vote pro-life &#8211; we are looking for pro-life champions in the mold of Henry Hyde,&rdquo; Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs at the pro-life group March for Life Action, stated.<\/p>\n<p>Hyde was a congressman who successfully inserted into federal policy a prohibition on Medicaid dollars funding abortions. The Hyde Amendment has been supported by members of Congress in both parties for 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>Other advocacy groups, including National Right and Life and Planned Parenthood Action, use scorecards to inform voters of how members of Congress vote on various issues.<\/p>\n<p>March for Life Action hopes to not only record pro-life votes, but also to record initiatives by members such as sponsorship of pro-life bills and speaking out about a pro-life matter on the House or Senate floor.<\/p>\n<p>McClusky noted that &ldquo;we aren&#8217;t just looking to maintain the pro-life status quo by only tallying votes.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>A stream of pro-life legislation is expected to come up in Congress after the change of presidential administrations.<\/p>\n<p>President-elect Donald Trump made promises on the campaign trail that he would sign pro-life legislation into law, including the defunding of Planned Parenthood by federal tax dollars because it is the nation&rsquo;s largest abortion provider. However, he had also praised Planned Parenthood early in 2016 as doing &ldquo;very good work&rdquo; for women.<\/p>\n<p>Vice president-elect Mike Pence enjoys the backing of pro-life groups for his pro-life record as a congressman, from 2001 to 2013.<\/p>\n<p>One of the first bills expected to come up in Congress is the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would expand prohibitions of federal funding of abortions and solidify the Hyde Amendment&rsquo;s policy, which has been passed every year by Congress as a rider to appropriations bills, as permanent federal law.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are hoping our first score will be on the House of Representatives putting forth and passing No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act during the month of January,&rdquo; McClusky said. A Knights of Columbus\/Marist poll from earlier in 2016 showed 62 percent of Americans opposing taxpayer funding of abortion.<\/p>\n<p>That poll also demonstrated that 78 percent of respondents &ldquo;support substantial restrictions on abortion&rdquo; and want it limited to at least the first term of pregnancy.<\/p>\n<p>\nOther bills that are expected soon include a pain-capable bill banning abortions when the unborn baby has been found to feel pain, at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The House has previously passed a pain-capable bill and voted to defund Planned Parenthood, but both initiatives failed to receive the necessary votes to move through the Senate.<\/p>\n<div>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?a=6IemG0lOfks:elAMifaZWs0:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/catholicnewsagency\/dailynews\/~4\/6IemG0lOfks\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How a pro-life group will hold members of Congress accountable<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2017 \/ 02:10 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- As the 115th Congress is underway, a pro-life group is touting a new means of holding pro-life members accountable &ndash; a scorecard. &ldquo;The Scorecard will help ensure accountability of Members to their constituents while identifying true defenders of the unborn in U.S. Congress,&rdquo; March for Life Action announced on Wednesday. &ldquo;At March for Life Action we aren&#039;t just looking for politicians who vote pro-life - we are looking for pro-life champions in the mold of Henry Hyde,&rdquo; Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs at the pro-life group March for Life Action, stated. Hyde was a congressman who successfully inserted into federal policy a prohibition on Medicaid dollars funding abortions. The Hyde Amendment has been supported by members of Congress in both parties for 40 years. Other advocacy groups, including National Right and Life and Planned Parenthood Action, use scorecards to inform voters of how members of Congress vote on various issues. March for Life Action hopes to not only record pro-life votes, but also to record initiatives by members such as sponsorship of pro-life bills and speaking out about a pro-life matter on the House or Senate floor. McClusky noted that &ldquo;we aren&#039;t just looking to maintain the pro-life status quo by only tallying votes.&rdquo; A stream of pro-life legislation is expected to come up in Congress after the change of presidential administrations. President-elect Donald Trump made promises on the campaign trail that he would sign pro-life legislation into law, including the defunding of Planned Parenthood by federal tax dollars because it is the nation&rsquo;s largest abortion provider. However, he had also praised Planned Parenthood early in 2016 as doing &ldquo;very good work&rdquo; for women. Vice president-elect Mike Pence enjoys the backing of pro-life groups for his pro-life record as a congressman, from 2001 to 2013. One of the first bills expected to come up in Congress is the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would expand prohibitions of federal funding of abortions and solidify the Hyde Amendment&rsquo;s policy, which has been passed every year by Congress as a rider to appropriations bills, as permanent federal law. &ldquo;We are hoping our first score will be on the House of Representatives putting forth and passing No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act during the month of January,&rdquo; McClusky said. A Knights of Columbus\/Marist poll from earlier in 2016 showed 62 percent of Americans opposing taxpayer funding of abortion. That poll also demonstrated that 78 percent of respondents &ldquo;support substantial restrictions on abortion&rdquo; and want it limited to at least the first term of pregnancy. Other bills that are expected soon include a pain-capable bill banning abortions when the unborn baby has been found to feel pain, at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The House has previously passed a pain-capable bill and voted to defund Planned Parenthood, but both initiatives failed to receive the necessary votes to move through the Senate.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How a pro-life group will hold members of Congress accountable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2017 \/ 02:10 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- As the 115th Congress is underway, a pro-life group is touting a new means of holding pro-life members accountable &ndash; a scorecard. &ldquo;The Scorecard will help ensure accountability of Members to their constituents while identifying true defenders of the unborn in U.S. Congress,&rdquo; March for Life Action announced on Wednesday. &ldquo;At March for Life Action we aren&#039;t just looking for politicians who vote pro-life - we are looking for pro-life champions in the mold of Henry Hyde,&rdquo; Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs at the pro-life group March for Life Action, stated. Hyde was a congressman who successfully inserted into federal policy a prohibition on Medicaid dollars funding abortions. The Hyde Amendment has been supported by members of Congress in both parties for 40 years. Other advocacy groups, including National Right and Life and Planned Parenthood Action, use scorecards to inform voters of how members of Congress vote on various issues. March for Life Action hopes to not only record pro-life votes, but also to record initiatives by members such as sponsorship of pro-life bills and speaking out about a pro-life matter on the House or Senate floor. McClusky noted that &ldquo;we aren&#039;t just looking to maintain the pro-life status quo by only tallying votes.&rdquo; A stream of pro-life legislation is expected to come up in Congress after the change of presidential administrations. President-elect Donald Trump made promises on the campaign trail that he would sign pro-life legislation into law, including the defunding of Planned Parenthood by federal tax dollars because it is the nation&rsquo;s largest abortion provider. However, he had also praised Planned Parenthood early in 2016 as doing &ldquo;very good work&rdquo; for women. Vice president-elect Mike Pence enjoys the backing of pro-life groups for his pro-life record as a congressman, from 2001 to 2013. One of the first bills expected to come up in Congress is the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would expand prohibitions of federal funding of abortions and solidify the Hyde Amendment&rsquo;s policy, which has been passed every year by Congress as a rider to appropriations bills, as permanent federal law. &ldquo;We are hoping our first score will be on the House of Representatives putting forth and passing No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act during the month of January,&rdquo; McClusky said. A Knights of Columbus\/Marist poll from earlier in 2016 showed 62 percent of Americans opposing taxpayer funding of abortion. That poll also demonstrated that 78 percent of respondents &ldquo;support substantial restrictions on abortion&rdquo; and want it limited to at least the first term of pregnancy. Other bills that are expected soon include a pain-capable bill banning abortions when the unborn baby has been found to feel pain, at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The House has previously passed a pain-capable bill and voted to defund Planned Parenthood, but both initiatives failed to receive the necessary votes to move through the Senate.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-06T21:10:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Pro_life_marchers_gather_for_the_March_for_Life_at_the_nations_capitol_in_Washington_DC_on_the_43rd_anniversary_of_Roe_vs_Wade_January_22_2016_Credit_Jeff_Bruno_CNA_4_11_16.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/\",\"name\":\"How a pro-life group will hold members of Congress accountable\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-06T21:10:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-06T21:10:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2017 \/ 02:10 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- As the 115th Congress is underway, a pro-life group is touting a new means of holding pro-life members accountable &ndash; a scorecard. &ldquo;The Scorecard will help ensure accountability of Members to their constituents while identifying true defenders of the unborn in U.S. Congress,&rdquo; March for Life Action announced on Wednesday. &ldquo;At March for Life Action we aren't just looking for politicians who vote pro-life - we are looking for pro-life champions in the mold of Henry Hyde,&rdquo; Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs at the pro-life group March for Life Action, stated. Hyde was a congressman who successfully inserted into federal policy a prohibition on Medicaid dollars funding abortions. The Hyde Amendment has been supported by members of Congress in both parties for 40 years. Other advocacy groups, including National Right and Life and Planned Parenthood Action, use scorecards to inform voters of how members of Congress vote on various issues. March for Life Action hopes to not only record pro-life votes, but also to record initiatives by members such as sponsorship of pro-life bills and speaking out about a pro-life matter on the House or Senate floor. McClusky noted that &ldquo;we aren't just looking to maintain the pro-life status quo by only tallying votes.&rdquo; A stream of pro-life legislation is expected to come up in Congress after the change of presidential administrations. President-elect Donald Trump made promises on the campaign trail that he would sign pro-life legislation into law, including the defunding of Planned Parenthood by federal tax dollars because it is the nation&rsquo;s largest abortion provider. However, he had also praised Planned Parenthood early in 2016 as doing &ldquo;very good work&rdquo; for women. Vice president-elect Mike Pence enjoys the backing of pro-life groups for his pro-life record as a congressman, from 2001 to 2013. One of the first bills expected to come up in Congress is the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would expand prohibitions of federal funding of abortions and solidify the Hyde Amendment&rsquo;s policy, which has been passed every year by Congress as a rider to appropriations bills, as permanent federal law. &ldquo;We are hoping our first score will be on the House of Representatives putting forth and passing No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act during the month of January,&rdquo; McClusky said. A Knights of Columbus\/Marist poll from earlier in 2016 showed 62 percent of Americans opposing taxpayer funding of abortion. That poll also demonstrated that 78 percent of respondents &ldquo;support substantial restrictions on abortion&rdquo; and want it limited to at least the first term of pregnancy. Other bills that are expected soon include a pain-capable bill banning abortions when the unborn baby has been found to feel pain, at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The House has previously passed a pain-capable bill and voted to defund Planned Parenthood, but both initiatives failed to receive the necessary votes to move through the Senate.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How a pro-life group will hold members of Congress accountable\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How a pro-life group will hold members of Congress accountable","description":"Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2017 \/ 02:10 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- As the 115th Congress is underway, a pro-life group is touting a new means of holding pro-life members accountable &ndash; a scorecard. &ldquo;The Scorecard will help ensure accountability of Members to their constituents while identifying true defenders of the unborn in U.S. Congress,&rdquo; March for Life Action announced on Wednesday. &ldquo;At March for Life Action we aren't just looking for politicians who vote pro-life - we are looking for pro-life champions in the mold of Henry Hyde,&rdquo; Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs at the pro-life group March for Life Action, stated. Hyde was a congressman who successfully inserted into federal policy a prohibition on Medicaid dollars funding abortions. The Hyde Amendment has been supported by members of Congress in both parties for 40 years. Other advocacy groups, including National Right and Life and Planned Parenthood Action, use scorecards to inform voters of how members of Congress vote on various issues. March for Life Action hopes to not only record pro-life votes, but also to record initiatives by members such as sponsorship of pro-life bills and speaking out about a pro-life matter on the House or Senate floor. McClusky noted that &ldquo;we aren't just looking to maintain the pro-life status quo by only tallying votes.&rdquo; A stream of pro-life legislation is expected to come up in Congress after the change of presidential administrations. President-elect Donald Trump made promises on the campaign trail that he would sign pro-life legislation into law, including the defunding of Planned Parenthood by federal tax dollars because it is the nation&rsquo;s largest abortion provider. However, he had also praised Planned Parenthood early in 2016 as doing &ldquo;very good work&rdquo; for women. Vice president-elect Mike Pence enjoys the backing of pro-life groups for his pro-life record as a congressman, from 2001 to 2013. One of the first bills expected to come up in Congress is the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would expand prohibitions of federal funding of abortions and solidify the Hyde Amendment&rsquo;s policy, which has been passed every year by Congress as a rider to appropriations bills, as permanent federal law. &ldquo;We are hoping our first score will be on the House of Representatives putting forth and passing No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act during the month of January,&rdquo; McClusky said. A Knights of Columbus\/Marist poll from earlier in 2016 showed 62 percent of Americans opposing taxpayer funding of abortion. That poll also demonstrated that 78 percent of respondents &ldquo;support substantial restrictions on abortion&rdquo; and want it limited to at least the first term of pregnancy. Other bills that are expected soon include a pain-capable bill banning abortions when the unborn baby has been found to feel pain, at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The House has previously passed a pain-capable bill and voted to defund Planned Parenthood, but both initiatives failed to receive the necessary votes to move through the Senate.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How a pro-life group will hold members of Congress accountable","og_description":"Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2017 \/ 02:10 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- As the 115th Congress is underway, a pro-life group is touting a new means of holding pro-life members accountable &ndash; a scorecard. &ldquo;The Scorecard will help ensure accountability of Members to their constituents while identifying true defenders of the unborn in U.S. Congress,&rdquo; March for Life Action announced on Wednesday. &ldquo;At March for Life Action we aren't just looking for politicians who vote pro-life - we are looking for pro-life champions in the mold of Henry Hyde,&rdquo; Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs at the pro-life group March for Life Action, stated. Hyde was a congressman who successfully inserted into federal policy a prohibition on Medicaid dollars funding abortions. The Hyde Amendment has been supported by members of Congress in both parties for 40 years. Other advocacy groups, including National Right and Life and Planned Parenthood Action, use scorecards to inform voters of how members of Congress vote on various issues. March for Life Action hopes to not only record pro-life votes, but also to record initiatives by members such as sponsorship of pro-life bills and speaking out about a pro-life matter on the House or Senate floor. McClusky noted that &ldquo;we aren't just looking to maintain the pro-life status quo by only tallying votes.&rdquo; A stream of pro-life legislation is expected to come up in Congress after the change of presidential administrations. President-elect Donald Trump made promises on the campaign trail that he would sign pro-life legislation into law, including the defunding of Planned Parenthood by federal tax dollars because it is the nation&rsquo;s largest abortion provider. However, he had also praised Planned Parenthood early in 2016 as doing &ldquo;very good work&rdquo; for women. Vice president-elect Mike Pence enjoys the backing of pro-life groups for his pro-life record as a congressman, from 2001 to 2013. One of the first bills expected to come up in Congress is the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would expand prohibitions of federal funding of abortions and solidify the Hyde Amendment&rsquo;s policy, which has been passed every year by Congress as a rider to appropriations bills, as permanent federal law. &ldquo;We are hoping our first score will be on the House of Representatives putting forth and passing No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act during the month of January,&rdquo; McClusky said. A Knights of Columbus\/Marist poll from earlier in 2016 showed 62 percent of Americans opposing taxpayer funding of abortion. That poll also demonstrated that 78 percent of respondents &ldquo;support substantial restrictions on abortion&rdquo; and want it limited to at least the first term of pregnancy. Other bills that are expected soon include a pain-capable bill banning abortions when the unborn baby has been found to feel pain, at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The House has previously passed a pain-capable bill and voted to defund Planned Parenthood, but both initiatives failed to receive the necessary votes to move through the Senate.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2017-01-06T21:10:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Pro_life_marchers_gather_for_the_March_for_Life_at_the_nations_capitol_in_Washington_DC_on_the_43rd_anniversary_of_Roe_vs_Wade_January_22_2016_Credit_Jeff_Bruno_CNA_4_11_16.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/","name":"How a pro-life group will hold members of Congress accountable","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-01-06T21:10:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-06T21:10:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2017 \/ 02:10 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- As the 115th Congress is underway, a pro-life group is touting a new means of holding pro-life members accountable &ndash; a scorecard. &ldquo;The Scorecard will help ensure accountability of Members to their constituents while identifying true defenders of the unborn in U.S. Congress,&rdquo; March for Life Action announced on Wednesday. &ldquo;At March for Life Action we aren't just looking for politicians who vote pro-life - we are looking for pro-life champions in the mold of Henry Hyde,&rdquo; Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs at the pro-life group March for Life Action, stated. Hyde was a congressman who successfully inserted into federal policy a prohibition on Medicaid dollars funding abortions. The Hyde Amendment has been supported by members of Congress in both parties for 40 years. Other advocacy groups, including National Right and Life and Planned Parenthood Action, use scorecards to inform voters of how members of Congress vote on various issues. March for Life Action hopes to not only record pro-life votes, but also to record initiatives by members such as sponsorship of pro-life bills and speaking out about a pro-life matter on the House or Senate floor. McClusky noted that &ldquo;we aren't just looking to maintain the pro-life status quo by only tallying votes.&rdquo; A stream of pro-life legislation is expected to come up in Congress after the change of presidential administrations. President-elect Donald Trump made promises on the campaign trail that he would sign pro-life legislation into law, including the defunding of Planned Parenthood by federal tax dollars because it is the nation&rsquo;s largest abortion provider. However, he had also praised Planned Parenthood early in 2016 as doing &ldquo;very good work&rdquo; for women. Vice president-elect Mike Pence enjoys the backing of pro-life groups for his pro-life record as a congressman, from 2001 to 2013. One of the first bills expected to come up in Congress is the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would expand prohibitions of federal funding of abortions and solidify the Hyde Amendment&rsquo;s policy, which has been passed every year by Congress as a rider to appropriations bills, as permanent federal law. &ldquo;We are hoping our first score will be on the House of Representatives putting forth and passing No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act during the month of January,&rdquo; McClusky said. A Knights of Columbus\/Marist poll from earlier in 2016 showed 62 percent of Americans opposing taxpayer funding of abortion. That poll also demonstrated that 78 percent of respondents &ldquo;support substantial restrictions on abortion&rdquo; and want it limited to at least the first term of pregnancy. Other bills that are expected soon include a pain-capable bill banning abortions when the unborn baby has been found to feel pain, at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The House has previously passed a pain-capable bill and voted to defund Planned Parenthood, but both initiatives failed to receive the necessary votes to move through the Senate.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/01\/how-a-pro-life-group-will-hold-members-of-congress-accountable\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How a pro-life group will hold members of Congress accountable"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17634\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}