When Democrats misspeak, we make them vice president. When Republicans misspeak, Republicans are the first in line to throw them under the bus.

When Rep. Todd Akin stood for protecting all innocent human life in a recent interview, he used a word with more than one meaning. He used the word “legitimate” before the word “rape” to mean “real,” “forcible,” a tragic event that “really took place.” Anyone who doesn’t think false claims of rape can be made should check with Norma McCorvey, the “Roe” of Roe v. Wade. The infamous abortion case, based on her false rape claim, has resulted in the deaths of 55 million innocent human lives.

But because “legitimate” could also modify the word rape, some in the Republican Party are practically writing Willie Horton ads about it, pretending that the congressman is “pro-rape” and wants to let rapists out on furlough. This “interpretation” of the congressman’s words doesn’t resemble reality, and everyone knows it.

If Republicans love their country, they will quit using fiction to shoot their own and focus on the real enemies of life: Democrats Claire McCaskill and Barack Obama, who stand for legally sucking the brains out of half-born babies in a procedure called partial-birth abortion.

In America, we shouldn’t kill people for the crimes of their father. And in politics, we shouldn’t kill statesmen for a badly worded sound bite.

Thankfully, there are men and women of courage who stand with Rep. Akin, beginning with the founder of National and International Right to Life, Dr. Jack Willke, who said:

“Congressman Todd Akin remains a strong and courageous pro-life leader – and awkward wording in one sound-bite doesn’t negate that. Of course, Congressman Akin never used the word ‘legitimate’ to refer to the rapist. … It’s time for Republican leaders to rise to the level of Rep. Todd Akin’s principle and courage and stand with him and the Republican platform that stands for the protection of every human life.”

Dr. Ted Baehr of Movieguide added:

“The attacks on Rep. Todd Akin are vicious, bigoted and insensitive. This is media and left-wing bullying at its worst. Todd is one of the few really good men in the United States. Every decent person, everyone of faith and values, every American should support him and stand up to the progressive, leftist, Democratic, media bullies.”

I agree with Dr. Baehr – even when those bullies call themselves “Republican.”

Tim Wildmon is president of the American Family Association – with more members than the circulations of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal – combined. Here’s what he had to say:

“Fair-minded people understand that Congressmen Akin is not ‘pro-rape.’ That is absolutely ridiculous and everyone knows it. … I’m a little stunned at the piling on against Rep. Akin over what clearly is a simple misuse of the English language. The way he is being treated by some GOP leaders and colleagues  is just wrong. This is a decent, honorable man who has been pro-life and pro-traditional values. He has apologized for his choice of words and that should be the end of it.”

Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, added his voice:

“… Congressman Akin – an unsung hero on Capitol Hill, who with courage and conviction, has stood for life and liberty, and he is a man who quickly apologizes for his faults. I’m proud to stand with, and fight for, the hero we know as Congressman Akin, to become the next senator from Missouri.”

Dr. Jim Garlow of Renewing American Leadership said:

“No doubt about it. Congressman Akin misspoke. We all do. … And he immediately did what we all have to do when we misspeak. He apologized. And well he should. But here is my question: Will the people who got understandably upset regarding his misstatement (repeating: for which he apologized) get equally upset over the fact that babies are being torn to shreds in the womb? Rape is a horrible, violent act. We all agree. Killing a baby in the womb is, too. Why am I hearing silence on that issue?”

Rachelle Heidlebaugh of Witness Abortion Recovery put it this way: “As a woman who has had an abortion following being raped, I stand with Rep. Todd Akin for the protection of every child in the womb. A violent act did not justify a second violent act upon my innocent child. I mourn the loss of my baby every single day, a child who would be 15 today had I not bought the lie that abortion was ‘the solution’ for my rape.”

Mat Staver, dean of Liberty School of Law and founder of Liberty Counsel, added:

“Congressman Todd Akin is a man of integrity who loves God, loves America, and has been a bright star in Congress and will even shine brighter as the next U.S. senator. … Todd Akin is what is right with America and those calling for him to step down represent the failed policies and bankrupt views that most American want to see changed.”

Bott Radio founder Dick Bott said, “With Bott Radio Network’s (BRN) headquarters in Missouri for 50 years, I have known Todd Akin and his family since he first entered Missouri politics. … He has always been an example of what I wish every political leader would be. In short ‘he is the real deal.’ In fact, he’s one of my heroes.”

Finally, I agree with Chris Brown, president of the Missouri Republican Assembly, who said:

“… The Republican leadership needs to grow a spine. … While Todd may have been indiscreet in his word choice, he was not wrong in his facts. … If we are unable to stand strong for our values it will be the Republican leadership that allows American exceptionalism to become a footnote in history.”

If you want leaders to courageously stand for life in the U.S. Senate, courageously stand for Rep. Todd Akin now. He must run, and he must win.

“In the race for president,” he said, “the Democrat is always worse than the Republican. So for four decades we have settled for whatever crumbs the Republicans decide to give us” – primarily pro-life lip service and promises of Supreme Court judges – like John Roberts. 

No wonder America is so disheartened.

What if, unlike other elections, we could achieve what we want before our vote is cast? I’m thinking of more than a strongly pro-life nominee for vice president. That is essential, but it is not enough. I’m thinking more like, the end of abortion. I’m not kidding, read on.

A pro-life running mate is critical, of course. But, judging from the last presidential election, that alone is not enough. No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio. But, even with pro-family rock star Sarah Palin on the ticket, 300,000 Republicans stayed home in 2008, giving the swing state of Ohio to Obama.

Think that Obama is “so bad” that could never happen? Think again. Unless we do  something different, history can repeat.

And now, Ohio pro-life and pro-family activists are even more disgruntled since Republicans in the Ohio Senate, who ran on pro-life promises, have not yet delivered a vote on the Heartbeat Bill to legally protect every baby whose heartbeat can be heard. Republican obstruction has caused even more people to disengage at this critical time.

We face the real risk of re-electing the most dangerous president in American history.

The problem:

For reasons we all understand, there is skepticism about Gov. Romney within our movement. Many are talking about “sitting it out,” or casting an obligatory vote but doing little else.

Despite a 40-year battle, abortion on demand is still legally practiced for any reason in every state.

But there is one bill that would change that: Ohio’s Heartbeat Bill. This historic bill passed the House and is only a Senate floor vote away from legal protection for nearly every child (90-95 percent) who would otherwise be aborted, according to Right to Life founder Dr. Jack Willke. It would simply ensure that “if a heartbeat’s detected, the baby’s protected.”

This presents an opportunity for Gov. Romney to join his former opponents, Sen. Rick Santorum, Speaker Newt Gingrich, Gov. Rick Perry, and Rep. Michele Bachmann in supporting the nation’s first protective Heartbeat Bill.

A solution:

Romney can benefit by giving conservatives something we desperately want – without hurting himself with swing voters. By joining 500 national pro-family leaders in supporting Ohio’s Heartbeat Bill, Gov. Romney could win over many skeptics needed by giving us what we want most: real protection of human life – not just promises. 

There has not been a protective bill with more support. In addition to 500 leaders like Dr. James Dobson, Father Frank Pavone, FRC’s Tony Perkins, AFA’s Tim Wildmon, and Right to Life founder Dr. Jack Willke,  two-thirds of likely Ohio voters support a Heartbeat Law (eight out of 10 Republicans, seven out of 10 Independents, even Democrats support it by a 5-3 margin) according to state-wide polling.

Gov. Romney can easily point to what Americans already believe: If there’s a beating heart, there is life.

If Romney came out solidly for the nation’s first Heartbeat Bill, the Ohio Senate would follow his lead and bring it to the floor for a vote. He could help to deliver what the pro-life movement has wanted for the last 40 years: the end of abortion in nearly every case. If he helped to deliver a vote to end abortion, it would be a whole lot easier to convince skeptics to do the heavy lifting needed to deliver the victory to him.

You see, this isn’t about Ohio. It’s about babies. And when Ohio babies are protected, other states already lined up to follow will do the same.

Romney says he’s pro-life from conception. Then protecting babies with beating hearts should be an easy position for him to take, and one with an enormous payoff. I think it could be the tipping point for a pro-Romney (not just anti-Obama) electorate.

More importantly, if there were a place in America that actually brought the killing to an end, maybe, just maybe, God will give us mercy instead of the judgment 54 million slaughtered lives demand.

The good news is there’s a way you can help make it happen.

Troy Newman of Operation Rescue and CauseACTION has a way for us to send a clear message to Romney and those who advise him: We want a strong pro-life running mate and support for the Heartbeat Bill. In less than a minute, you can deliver that message with postcards to Romney and his top campaign officials at PickaProlifer.com

Unless you’re happy with crumbs, pro-life promises and Supreme Court justices like John Roberts, go to PickaProlifer.com. It’s time to quit talking about it and actually protect babies with beating hearts. Romney is in a position to do it. He needs our help, and the best way to get it is to bring the killing to end.

The Heartbeat Bill, which passed the Ohio House last June, is based on a simple and powerful concept: “If the heartbeat’s detected, the baby’s protected.” It will protect every unborn child whose heartbeat can be heard.

But the Ohio Republican Senate has been holding it hostage for nearly a year. These are the same people who were elected on pro-life promises and the Republican Party Platform. They have the ability to end nearly every abortion in the state of Ohio, but seem content with their record of merely regulating abortion.

They ran as Republicans, but the Republican Party Platform could not be clearer:

“… we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the 14th Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.”

After 53 co-sponsors out of a 99-member House, multiple rallies, billboards, bumper stickers, yard signs, television, radio and full-page print ads, five 5,000 red heart balloons, heart chocolates, heart cookies, heartbeat teddy bears, 2,200 red roses, an airplane that flew over the statehouse and demonstrating more support than any bill in America, IT’S TIME FOR A VOTE.

There are two basic methods of persuasion: the carrot and the stick. We have given these senators so many carrots, they have spit them out in our face. Perhaps it’s time for another approach.

They didn’t like the teddy bears and roses, so let me introduce a more direct approach, one that will not let them get away with further delay and more excuses. On neon-pink postcards, the 23 Republican members of the Ohio Senate are being asked a very simple question: Are they Republican or Republican In Name Only (RINO)?

We’re asking them to take the “RINO test.” Printed on the postcards is a very clear choice:

___A. I stand by the Republican Platform and call for the protection of unborn children with an immediate floor vote on the Heartbeat Bill (H.B. 125). Roe v. Wade must be challenged and overturned and there is no better time than now.

__B. I am Republican In Name Only and am content with merely regulating abortion. I will continue to stall and make excuses rather than call for a vote to protect unborn children with the Heartbeat Bill (H.B. 125). I accept and conform to Roe v. Wade and have no desire to challenge it.

We then urge them to CHOOSE LIFE, stand by the Republican platform and bring the REAL Heartbeat Bill to an immediate floor vote! And we remind them that inaction is a costly choice, one that has cost nearly 26,000 Ohio babies’ lives (that the Heartbeat Bill would save each year).

Either they stand by the pro-life Republican Platform and bring the protective Heartbeat Bill to a vote, or they are RINOs, plain and simple. We’re not calling names. We’re just asking them to take the RINO test.

They will need to choose wisely – an image of a RINO next to your name is one that may have a tendency to stick. The fact that these pink postcards resemble “pink slips” is ironic, and perhaps prophetic. But, the choice is theirs.

Let them know that pro-life America isn’t buying their flimsy excuses that the Heartbeat Bill could be challenged in court. They said the same thing when I was lobbying to pass Ohio’s informed consent, parental consent and the nation’s first ban on partial-birth abortion. All were challenged, and all were ultimately upheld. Had we listened to the naysayers, partial-birth abortion would still be legal today. Instead, children are now protected from this brutal form of abortion because the Ohio Legislature had the courage to lead the way for the nation. History is on our side.

To say we must conform to Roe v. Wade (and subsequent pro-abortion rulings) is to say we will never outlaw abortion. It is to say we are content with the status quo of abortion on demand and we will never do anything more than regulate it.

I’m not asking you to fly here and walk door to door. You don’t have to work the phone banks. I’m asking you to click one button to bombard the Senate with more pink postcards than they have ever seen, calling them to make the choice that will label them for the rest of their political career: Republican or RINO? Let them know the nation is watching.

Why does an Ohio bill affect you? Because when Ohio protects children with beating hearts, other states will follow. Mississippi already has. They already passed a version of Ohio’s Heartbeat Bill through their House, but, unfortunately, their Senate killed it. We can’t let them do it here.

Someone has to break through the wall of Roe to protect unborn children, and there is no one closer than Ohio, who can send the most pro-life law in America to pro-life Gov. John Kasich for his signature with ONE SENATE FLOOR VOTE.

Please help us break through the wall of resistance, because when the Senate votes, the killing stops.

If you think you are ending abortion by attending conventions, symposiums and protests, this column is NOT for you. If you think 1,200,000 U.S. abortions each year is sufficient progress in 39 years, then go back to doing whatever it is you do. One thing is for sure, whatever that is, it isn’t ending abortion.

Fifty-four million innocent babies are dead, and I, for one, am tired of talk. It’s time to bring the killing to an END … right now.

Think it can’t be done? Think again.

There is a place in America on the verge of ending nearly every abortion. That place is Ohio – the “Heart of it all” – Ground Zero in the abortion battle.

A bill in Ohio, which has already passed the Ohio House, will protect nearly every child facing an abortionist’s knife. It’s called the Heartbeat Bill, and it will ensure that “if the heartbeat is detected, the baby is protected.”

They said it wouldn’t pass in committee. It did. They said it wouldn’t pass the Ohio House. It did. They said there wouldn’t be hearings in the Senate. There were.

All we need now is for Ohio Senate President Tom Niehaus and his Republican Senate leadership to call for a vote in committee and a vote on the Senate floor.

We’re inches away from the finish line, but we’re up against a wall of resistance. It isn’t from the pro-aborts. It is from those who call themselves “pro-life.” Here’s a cartoon glimpse into what we’re facing.

If you’re serious about ending abortion, I’m not inviting you to a convention. I’m not asking you to sign a petition. I’m asking for you to send this article and/or these videos to your email lists and Facebook friends. We need to make sure the stalling Republican senators can do nothing but take your calls until they bring the Heartbeat Bill to a vote.

Then, go to HeartBeatBill.com and send those legislators something they’ll actually like getting: red roses (the symbol of life and love). We’ll be delivering bouquets of three red roses, for the three babies the Heartbeat Bill will save every hour when it becomes law. Each one comes with a personalized card and a message from you: “The Heartbeat Bill will save three Ohio babies with beating hearts every single hour. PLEASE don’t wait any longer to pass H.B. 125 to PROTECT them! With Heartfelt thanks, Your Name, City.”

And because God’s word doesn’t return void, we’re putting this verse on the back of the cards:

Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die; 
save them as they stagger to their death. 
Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” 
For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. 
He who guards your soul knows you knew. 
He will repay all people as their actions deserve. 

– Proverbs 24:11-12 (NLT)

We will be delivering your roses to all 33 Ohio senators this Valentine’s Day. Help provide the positive push needed.

Ohio is on the verge of victory in the abortion battle, but we’re calling in the reinforcements because we need your help. Call each of the following Senate leaders today (and every day) with this message: “Please stop the deadly delay and bring the Heartbeat Bill to a vote this week to legally protect every unborn Ohio baby who has a beating heart!”

Senate President Tom Niehaus (614) 466-8082

Sen. Shannon Jones (614) 466-9737

Sen. Keith Faber (614) 466-7584

Sen. Tom Patton  (614) 466-8056

Chairman Scott Oelslager (614) 466-0626

Sen. Peggy Lehner (614) 466-4538

This week we celebrated what would be Ronald Reagan’s 101st birthday. What would Reagan do? If he were here now, I think he’d say something like this:

If we don’t stop calling until they call for a vote, we’ll get our vote and children will be protected from abortion in Ohio and all the states lined up to follow suit. And the bill crafted to be the arrow in the heart of Roe v. Wade will bring abortion on demand crumbling to the ground!

We are on the verge of victory but need your calls/emails/postings/and prayers to get the Heartbeat Bill over the finish line. Your help will provide the final push to finally bring the killing to an end … right now.

When we stood at the foot of Mount Rushmore we were hundreds of thousands of votes away from our goal. Right now we are 17 votes away from restoring legal protection to every child who’s heart we can hear.



The Ohio Heartbeat Bill, which will ensure that “once a heartbeat is detected, the baby is protected,” has already passed the Ohio House of Representatives. Now, if just 17 out of 33 Ohio senators say “yes,” the Heartbeat Bill will head to Gov. John Kasich’s desk to be signed into the most protective law in the nation.



You’ve heard the slogan, “Abortion stops a beating heart”? When the Heartbeat Bill becomes law, it will ensure that: “A beating heart stops abortion.” 


Dr. Jack Willke testified that the Heartbeat Bill will save 95 percent of the babies who would otherwise be aborted – that’s 26,000 Ohio babies every year – a school bus full of children every single day!



We also have every indication that the current Supreme Court will uphold Ohio’s Heartbeat Law. In Gonzales v. Carhart (which upheld the ban on partial-birth abortion), the Supreme Court, after nearly four decades of recognizing only “potential life” in the womb, recognized as an undisputed “finding of fact” that a “living fetus” exists from the time of detectable heartbeat! What happens in Ohio will affect the nation! Already seven states are lined up to follow Ohio’s lead.


Not only will you live to see the end of abortion, you can be a part of it! Come to the event that will signal the beginning of the end of abortion in America! We’ve reserved the Ohio Statehouse Atrium (downtown Columbus, Ohio) on Tuesday, Sept. 20, to greet the Ohio senators as they come back from their summer recess. This is an event you will tell your children and grandchildren about! We will begin the day with prayer from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. with Pastor Dutch Sheets, author of “Intercessory Prayer,” and Lou Engle of the Call. The rally begins at 11 a.m.



Several of the senators will be speaking, along with the who’s who of the pro-life movement, beginning with the founder of both Ohio and National Right to Life, Dr. Jack Willke. Also speaking will be Joe Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America, Troy Newman from Operation Rescue, Dr. Rick Scarborough of Vision America, Dr. Jim Garlow of Renewing American Leadership, Rick Joyner of the Oak Initiative, Phil Burress of Citizens for Community Values and Timothy Johnson of the Frederick Douglass Foundation.


Just be sure to wear red to show the Senate just how many people stand for protecting babies with beating hearts!


The momentum is building – four presidential candidates have added their strong support, including the most recent addition: Gov. Rick Perry. The list also includes Rep. Michele Bachmann, Speaker Newt Gingrich and Judge Roy Moore – along with Dr. James Dobson, Farther Frank Pavone, Tony Perkins of Family Research Council, Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association, and former governors Mike Huckabee and George Voinovich.


There is something else you can do right now: With the click of a button, you can send a positive and effective message to the 33 senators that they can’t miss: Red Heart Balloons! We delivered to House members thousands of red heart balloons (see the pictures and video at www.HeartBeatBill.com) with the message “Have a Heart, Pass the Heartbeat Bill!” They did, and now we just need to do what worked in the Senate! Order your balloons now so we can deliver them just after the rally to the offices of the 33 decision-making senators. Let them know the nation is watching and rooting for them to lead the way! As you send them, please pray for open hearts.



I learned a lesson from my friend Phyllis Schlafly. While her angry opponents were vandalizing the statehouses with sit-ins and blood, she and her anti-ERA ladies were delivering to legislators homemade pies and cakes! She’ll be happy to know that in addition to the bright shiny heart balloons, we’ll also be delivering heart-shaped sugar cookies!



The Bible says that hope deferred makes the heart grow sick. There are many pro-lifers who are heartsick because of 38 years of hope deferred. But let not your hearts be troubled any longer – we are on the brink of answered prayer! Babies with beating hearts are about to be protected. Roe v. Wade is about to come crashing down. All we need is you to help provide the tipping point:

1. Come to the Heartbeat Bill rally at the Statehouse Atrium Tuesday, Sept. 20, wearing red! RSVP to www.HeartBeatBill.com
.

2. Send your red-heart balloons to the 33 senators with a message from you to protect babies with beating hearts.
3. Call Senate President Tom Niehaus and ask him to leave a legacy of life by assigning the Heartbeat Bill to a friendly committee without delay: 614-466-8082.


Thirty-eight years is long enough to wait. Be a part of history Sept. 20 and help us pass the most protective pro-life legislation in the nation – right now.

Wonder no more; today an aborted “fetus” will take the stand for Ohio’s Heartbeat Bill, which would give legal protection to preborn Ohioans with beating hearts.

In addition to legal, medical and financial experts, the Ohio Health Committee hearing the Heartbeat Bill will hear from Melissa Ohden, a woman who survived a brutal abortion attempt on her life.

Last week in the legislative hearing for H.B. 125, the Heartbeat Bill, introduced by Rep. Lynn Wachtmann with more than half the House of Representatives joining him as cosponsors, the committed heard from the youngest to ever testify: unborn babies who were presented to the committee via ultrasound projector.

The legislators saw and heard their beating hearts. The pro-aborts went crazy.

How dare we actually make use of medical advances in technology in a committee hearing? How “unorthodox!” Those who favor abortion have always been about covering up the facts – but now they’re also running from science and technology to hold on to their archaic and outdated pro-abortion viewpoint.

The compelling, inspirational story of a Planned Parenthood director who switched sides. Order Abby Johnson’s new book, “UnPlanned”

The pro-aborts have spent the last 38 years trying to keep women in the dark. They fought us back when we passed the Woman’s Right to Know Law, too. This is no different. They want to pretend that sonograms don’t exist. They are even more outdated than English common law, which recognized “quickening” and protected children when a mother felt a kick. The entire pro-abortion camp is in the dark ages and most of the media along with them.

The pro-abortion lobby ran from ultrasounds of babies with beating hearts last week, but they cannot hide from Melissa Ohden who escaped the clutches of this brutality they call “choice.”

Today Melissa will testify about how the “abortion issue” affected her: She was burned alive by a saline poison injection in August of 1977, when her mother, an unwed college student who was five months pregnant, made a “choice.” That “choice” burned Melissa’s lungs, organs and skin. She was left for dead and thrown in the trash with the medical waste. A nurse heard her and saw her moving, and she was taken to a hospital and treated.

Here is part of her testimony the legislators will hear:

There was some commentary in the media after last week’s hearing before this committee that somehow, preborn children would oppose legislation such as Bill 125, aptly named the Heartbeat Bill. I am here today as a woman who, as an infant, survived a failed abortion attempt, to emphatically deny such a claim, to lend a voice to my fellow 53 million preborn brothers and sisters who have lost their lives since Roe v. Wade, and our fellow Americans yet to be born, who are at risk of being aborted.

As a survivor, I believe that I can speak for all of the children like me who have been aborted or those who are at risk of being aborted, in saying that we support this bill, and we urge you to do the same. It may somehow be easy for some to deny the right to life of a child in the womb when you never hear their heartbeat, when you never come face to face with them as a fellow human being, but what if you did come face to face with them? Who in this room wants to look me in the eye today and tell me that I was not worth protecting from abortion? Who in this room wants to tell my daughter that her mother’s life, and therefore, her life, were not worth defending?

What is the pro-abortion lobby going to say? “I’m sorry our ‘choice’ didn’t work and you made it out alive”?

Are they really so heartless as to say Melissa belonged in the trash with the medical waste?

Only the most hard-hearted can see a baby with a beating heart and refuse him protection. And only the most cold hearted can look in the face of a little girl and tell her that her mother didn’t have a right to live.

The truth is out. Those who call themselves “pro-choice” can still pretend we’re living in the dark ages, but the witnesses, the technology and the facts speak otherwise.

Find out how you can help keep Ohio’s hearts beating at: http://www.HeartbeatBill.com.

The Health Committee of the Ohio House of Representatives will hear expert testimony for H.B. 125, the Heartbeat Bill, from the youngest to ever testify: a 9-week-old baby in the womb.

At least two in-utero babies will appear live before the committee by an ultrasound projector where legislators will see and hear their beating hearts. When passed, the Heartbeat Bill will insure that once that heartbeat is detected, the baby is protected.

Last Thursday, the Heartbeat Bill was introduce before the 99-member House of Representatives with 50 co-sponsors – that’s more than half of the House! This majority felt so strongly about protecting babies with beating hearts that they put their names on the Heartbeat Bill.

National Right to Life founder Dr. Jack Willke added his strong support of the bill in a letter he wrote to the legislature stating: “While I’m for protecting all unborn babies, this bill is a giant step toward our goal since it will protect at least 95 percent of all babies in Ohio who would otherwise be aborted.”

Dr. Willke is also president of International Right to Life, founder and president of Life Issues Institute and the national delegate on the board of Ohio Right to Life. Willke also told the legislators:

While I used to believe there was a danger of reaffirming Roe v. Wade by passing such a protective bill, after 38 years of abortion on demand, I no longer believe that would be the result. Whether Roe is affirmed or not, the results are the same: Unborn babies are killed for any reason virtually any time until their birth. We must not wait any longer to protect babies in our state.

We have seen Ohio lead before when we passed the nation’s first partial-birth abortion ban in 1995. While it was struck down by the court initially, Congress and 30 states followed – and while the U.S. Supreme Court said no (to a Nebraska partial-birth abortion ban) in 2000, seven years later they finally upheld the … ban passed by Congress.

Ohio can see history repeat and lead the way. I strongly encourage you to lend your leadership and support to the Heartbeat Bill.

Dr. Willke’s right about history repeating. Already, Georgia and Texas have secured a copy of Ohio’s bill and are planning to introduce a version of it in their state legislatures. Kansas, Oklahoma and Arizona are next in line.

The Health Committee will also hear today from Walter Weber, senior litigation counsel for the ACLJ in Washington, D.C., who received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and his law degree from Yale Law School.

When Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, described Weber as “the most brilliant legal mind in the country on abortion litigation,” I knew we needed him on the team of legal experts to help draft the Heartbeat Bill.

Weber has written briefs in many landmark cases at the Supreme Court including NOW v. Scheidler, Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches School District and Bray v. Alexandria Women’s Health Clinic, but this legal expert is going to be out-shined by the youngest to ever testify before the Ohio General Assembly!

Lori Viars, director of Family First PAC, and vice president of Warren County Right to Life, spoke at the bill’s press conference: “There is excitement across the heartland for Ohio’s new Heartbeat Bill! It is invigorating our troops who can’t wait to take this giant leap toward protecting unborn babies from abortion!”

Pro-life leaders like Phil Burress of Citizens for Community Values, Pat Banaszak of Tri-County Right to Life, Paula Westwood, executive director of Cincinnati Right to Life and law professor David Forte are lining up to testify for the bill in the coming weeks.

Linda Theis has been in the pro-life movement since the 1970s when Dr. Willke asked her to serve on the board of Ohio Right to Life. She became president of Ohio Right to Life following Dr. Willke and will be attending the hearings. Theis said at the press conference that she has “never been more hopeful.”

Thank you to all those who went to www.HeartBeatBill.com to send the unmistakable message of support: red heart-shaped balloons! Thousands of red-heart balloons were delivered to the legislators on Valentine’s Day to thank and encourage them with the message, “Have a heart, pass the Heartbeat Bill.” They were sent by pro-lifers throughout Ohio and 35 states who want to help keep Ohio hearts beating. You can see pictures, clips of the press conference and the “99 Red Heart Balloons” music video, as well as send your heart balloons to the committee before they vote at: www.HeartBeatBill.com.

At the press conference where a dozen legislators spoke, prime sponsor Rep. Lynn Wachtmann stated: “After all, Ohio is the ‘Heart of it all,’ so it’s only fitting that we protect our fellow human beings with beating hearts.”

Wachtmann is chairman of the House Health Committee where the bill will have its first hearing this morning at 9 a.m. in House Hearing Room 116. Intercessors are welcome. Please pray the babies’ beating hearts will move the hearts of committee members who’ll be voting on the Heartbeat Bill – our best chance to protect the most babies.

One skeptic asked me how we planned to get such a bill through the committee. Prime sponsor Rep. Wachtmann also happens to be the chairman of the committee hearing it. But how are we going to get it through the House, you ask? Already more than one-third of the Ohio House has agreed to cosponsor the “Heartbeat Bill” –and we’re just getting started!

I’ve never seen anything like it before. I’ve lobbied for a lot of bills, but I have never seen such support of any bill as I have this one! One legislator said, “I was wondering if I should support the other efforts since they didn’t do enough. Finally a bill we can get excited about!”

As I told that legislator, I’m for supporting all those other bills – any protection is better than what we have now.

But the “Heartbeat Bill,” when passed, will be the most protective law in the nation. It is our best chance to protect the most children, and there’s an easy way you can help. Help fill the Ohio Statehouse by sending heart-shaped red balloons to some or all 99 Ohio state reps! We hope to deliver hundreds of heart-shaped, red balloons to each representative in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day (when the “Heartbeat Bill” will be introduced by Chairman Wachtmann).

Watch the music video with the happy, dancing babies (in utero and out), and join the campaign that makes protecting babies fun. This bill will not only warm your heart, but it just might make you dance! Be sure to see the music video (a parody to that ’80s song “99 Red Balloons”). The new words are below.

Also, please help us by forwarding this to every pro-lifer you know around the nation – because this is the catalyst that will protect babies across the country. Already, states are lining up to get a copy of the Heartbeat Bill to pass in their state. Please post the link: HeartBeatBill.com to Facebook, blogs and news sites.

To those who say “it’s not the right time” to protect babies, after 38 years of killing, we simply aren’t going to wait any longer! The time to act is NOW. Ohio has the opportunity to make history again; when the Heartbeat Bill passes, our children’s beating hearts will no longer be forcefully and brutally broken.

Here are the words so you can sing along to the music video:

Some time ago, we don’t know why

The court ruled

to make babies cry

But now we can stop their decree

And protect children like me

When they hear our hearts, they’ll care

Send the message

“Someone’s in there!”

Show them that we are alive

with 99 red heart balloons for life!

99 red heart balloons

Floating in the winter sky

Wouldn’t it be really neat?

To protect us from

our first heartbeat?

Ohio babies spring to life

Opens up one eager eye

Focusing it on the sky

Where 99 red heart balloons go by

99 on High Street

Where 99 State Reps meet

The heartless worry, we must scurry

Call the troops out in a hurry

This is what we’ve waited for

This is it boys, win the war!

The governor is on the line

As 99 red heart balloons go by

Now you can be a voice for me

And send them something they will see

You can be a super-hero

Have a heart – don’t let them kill!

Help us pass the Heartbeat Bill

Come on now, give it a try

Our delivery’s drawing nigh

As 99 red heart balloons go by

As 99 red heart balloons go by

Will you be a voice for me?

And help us make history?

When we defeat the heartless ones,

I’ll give you lots and lots of hugs

Then it will be really great

To protect kids in your state

So please send a red balloon

Think of me, please don’t say no!

On Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011, the National Right to Life Committee issued a press release with the following headline:

REPORT: ABORTION NUMBERS ESSENTIALLY UNCHANGED

More than 100,000 unborn children aborted monthly

The Guttmacher Institute says we’re still killing 1.2 million babies per year.

I have a strategic question: If we were playing football and you were losing 38 to zero, would that be the time to play guarded and defensively? Isn’t it when you’re winning that you play cautiously so as not to risk losing your lead?

Thirty-eight years of virtually unrestricted abortion on demand: Our cautious, incremental strategy has failed.

I’m not one to bash any pro-life effort by anyone. If one group wants to ask for a millimeter of a loaf of bread and celebrate the crumbs, I support them and celebrate with them. If another wants to pass a bill that will save a few dozen or a few hundred lives, I support them. If others attempt to pass an amendment to protect all the babies at once, I support their efforts, as well.

The compelling, inspirational story of a Planned Parenthood director who switched sides. Order Abby Johnson’s new book, “UnPlanned”

In fact, not only did I not oppose incremental efforts, I have spent my life on the incremental approach and worked to pass the Woman’s Right to Know Law (and 24-hour waiting period), parental consent, fetal homicide, the partial-birth abortion ban, clinic regulations and bills that defunded all abortions in the state.

These were good. They saved some lives, but the fact remains that abortion continues virtually unrestricted for any reason at any time before birth.

With due respect, and I do mean respect, to those who disagree, I am compelled to make the case for passage of the Ohio’s soon to be introduced legislation called the Heartbeat Bill, which will protect babies whose hearts have begun to beat.

Some say it’s not the right time for a bill that protects most every baby. We’ve waited 38 years, with more than 50 million babies dead, how much longer do they think we should we wait?

I understand the eventual necessity of being able to count to five on the Supreme Court. But let me ask you, did we rule out passing the partial-birth abortion ban because the Supreme Court might say no? They DID say “no,” in 2000, by a 5-4 decision.

So what?

Congress passed it again. President Bush signed it again. And it was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on April 18, 2007, by a 5-4 vote.

While we all celebrated that victory, we must first remember that it all started with an Ohio bill that was first struck down by a federal judge.

So what?

Because after Ohio passed that 1995 law that was struck down, subsequent laws were then passed in: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Then, on April 18, 2007, for the first time since 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed a brutal method of abortion.

That is why the argument that our first attempt might fail isn’t valid. Trying and failing at first can lead to great victories.

Why heartbeat and not conception? Of course, I also want to protect babies from conception. But my answer is the same as why I’m not proposing a Personhood Amendment. I was a part of the South Dakota efforts. And while we stand at the burning day-care building, I’m not convinced that we can yet carry out all the babies at once. I want to, I’ve tried to and will keep trying, but if we can’t yet carry them all out with one trip, the next best thing is to try and get most of them now.

Science has already provided a yardstick that is more definitive than viability – and far more protective of children – the heartbeat. It is an educational dream. But unlike the partial-birth abortion ban, it doesn’t just educate. It is designed to educate and protect the majority of babies.

Does that hurt our chances of later protecting children from conception? Some would argue the approach aimed at fetal pain sets the precedent that before the baby is known to feel pain, it’s OK to kill them. Or worse yet, that all we have to do is anesthetize the baby first. I don’t think that’s our best approach, but any effort that provides any protection is more than we have now.

If 95 percent of the babies are all the lives we could save, as Dr. Jack Willke said this bill would do, I’ll happily take that over 40 more years of cautious crumbs that save virtually no one.

And since when is our responsibility to do all we can to protect lives excused because Justice Kennedy might not like it? Are we supposed to sit on our hands and do only things that please this immoral man? I say we keep knocking on that door, followed by another state that knocks on that door, followed by a dozen other states that pound on that door until they see that we are not going to sit quietly and cautiously, worried about offending these tyrants. No, I’d rather be like the persistent widow and keep knocking so that even an unrighteous judge will finally have to give us the justice we seek.

Keep knocking. Every way we can – including a way we haven’t yet tried – with a bill that educates and protects most every child: The Heartbeat Bill. And you won’t believe the cool way you can help at: http://www.Heartbeatbill.com!