I am, and always have been, pro-life. Life from the moment of conception is precious and deserves our respect and protection.

This January, for the first time since Roe v. Wade was announced in 1973, Washington D.C. did not host its annual March for Life. This event typically brings hundreds of thousands to our nation’s capital, including hundreds from Kansas, to march peacefully in protest of a decision that has enabled the elimination of more than 60 million children.

Instead, as with so many other events this past year due to COVID-19, Americans came together virtually today as they continued to make their voices heard to protect the right to life for the most vulnerable. While I missed the ability to meet with Kansans outside the U.S. Capitol during the march, I want to thank each of you who participated in the virtual March for Life to defend the unborn.

Sen. Moran meeting with students from Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School in Wichita participating in the 47th March for Life in January 2020.

Abortion rates have declined in recent years, and we must continue building on this success rather than rolling back legal protections for the unborn and their mothers, taxpayers and health care providers of conscience.

I was honored to be awarded an A+ rating by the Susan B. Anthony List for the work I did to protect unborn children and their mothers during the last Congress. In the 117th Congress, I will continue to use my voice and vote to further the cause of life and defend the unborn.

Preventing Federal Dollars From Funding Abortions

No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act
Millions of Americans, including many Kansans, agree that we should defend the unborn, and a majority believe using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions misrepresents their convictions and values. I joined 45 of my colleagues this week in reintroducing the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, which would make the Hyde Amendment restrictions on using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions permanent.

Currently, policies that regulate federal funding for abortions, like the long-standing Hyde Amendment, have to be reapproved each year and can be terminated at any time. This bill would eliminate the need for annual action and ensure a permanent, government-wide prohibition on funding for abortions and make certain not a cent of taxpayer funding is used to pay for the elimination of an unborn child.

To read more about the steps this bill takes to protect life, click here.

Protecting Life in Crisis Act
I am also a cosponsor of the Protecting Life in Crisis Act, which extends the Hyde Amendment protections to COVID-19 relief. The legislation prohibits any funds that are authorized or appropriated for the purposes of preventing, preparing for, or responding to the COVID–19 pandemic, domestically and internationally, from going toward abortions or abortion coverage.

In May, I joined my colleagues in requesting the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to conduct a full investigation into how affiliates of Planned Parenthood were able to obtain loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). While the SBA did promptly cancel those loans, this legislation would further ensure relief dollars provided by Congress do not fund abortions.

We must make certain abortion providers do not use our current pandemic to get their hands on taxpayer dollars through COVID-19 relief packages.

Women’s Public Health and Safety Act
Not only should we prevent taxpayer funds from being spent directly on abortions, but states should not be forced to give Medicaid funds to abortion providers. Under current law, states are required to allow any qualified provider to participate in that state’s Medicaid system. A non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealed that Planned Parenthood received nearly $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements over a three year period, accounting for 81 percent of the abortion provider’s joint federal-state funding stream.

I cosponsored the Women’s Public Health and Safety Act to give states the authority to exclude abortion providers, like Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid Funds. I have consistently supported measures to prevent taxpayer money from funding abortions and will continue to take steps to protect unborn children.

Condemning President Biden’s Executive Order
On the eve of the annual March for Life, President Biden signed an executive order reversing the Mexico City policy. This means U.S. dollars intended for foreign aid will be allowed to fund abortions in foreign countries. At a time when people around the world are facing extreme hardships due to the global pandemic, President Biden authorized funds totaling $9 billion to potentially fund abortion and abortion providers overseas.

President Biden is grossly ignoring the will of the American people, with more than three-quarters of Americans opposing U.S. aid money being used to fund abortion overseas, including Americans who describe themselves as pro-choice. I opposed this executive order and will continue to work to protect American taxpayer dollars through my role on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, which oversees resources to foreign countries.

Protecting Our Most Vulnerable

Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act
This week, I cosponsored the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to provide commonsense protections for unborn children at 20 weeks after fertilization, a point at which there is scientific evidence that abortion inflicts tremendous pain on the unborn.

Every year, thousands of unborn children are aborted after 20 weeks gestation—a point where we know, based on science, those babies can feel pain. I will always vote to defend the sanctity of life and hope that one day we will become a society that protects our most vulnerable, instead of one that permits their destruction.

Support and Value Expectant (SAVE) Moms and Babies Act
Chemical abortions, which can be taken up to nine weeks into a pregnancy, have a high complication rate that puts women at risk and can result in an emergency room visit or worse. To protect women and their babies, I reintroduced the Support and Value Expectant (SAVE) Moms and Babies Act with my colleagues to strengthen federal controls over the regulation and distribution of chemical abortion drugs.

Specifically, the SAVE Act would prevent labeling changes for already-approved abortion drugs; prevent providers from dispensing these drugs remotely, by mail, or via tele-medicine; and prevent the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from approving new chemical abortion drugs. Too often, women are not fully informed of the potential dangerous effects of chemical abortion drugs that are taken outside the supervision of their physician, and we must do all we can to protect them.

Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
Current federal law does not adequately protect a born child who survives an abortion, which is why I joined my Senate colleagues in reintroducing the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. This legislation would protect newborns that survive abortions by requiring appropriate care and admission to a hospital, equivalent to the professional care other babies born at the same gestational age receive.

When this bill was considered on the U.S. Senate floor last Congress, I voted to defend the sanctity of life by protecting children who survive an abortion. Regardless of any child’s birth situation, he or she deserves to be loved and cared for, and this important legislation makes certain of that.

Value Them Both Amendment
Earlier this month, I urged Kansas Statehouse leaders to quickly pass the Value Them Both Amendment, which would amend the Kansas State Constitution to reaffirm there is no constitutional right to an abortion and the legislature can pass legislation to protect the unborn and their mothers.

I am pleased that the Value Them Both Amendment has now passed both the Kansas House and Senate, and will appear on the ballot in August. This will give Kansans the opportunity to correct the Kansas Supreme Court’s overreach and have a direct say in how the lives of the unborn and their mothers are protected.

Thank You
Thank you for your continued support of pro-life policies that protect the most vulnerable among us. Please feel free to forward this newsletter on to your family and friends if it would interest them.

Through my work in Washington, D.C., I will continue to defend the beliefs of millions of Americans and support efforts that respect the inherent dignity of human life.