- January 22, 2021
Lankford Continues Strong Record to Stand for Life
WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) was honored to receive an “A+” rating on the Susan B. Anthony (SBA) List National Pro-Life Scorecard, which ranks senators and representatives on a series of SBA-selected key pro-life votes.
“I can think of no more fitting way to honor the legacy of Susan B. Anthony in the year we have the most pro-life women serving in Congress ever than to join together to protect the lives of unborn children,” said Lankford. “Standing up for those who cannot speak for themselves remains one of my top priorities in my work for Oklahomans, and I am humbled to be recognized by the Susan B. Anthony List, who helps keep Americans’ informed about pro-life work in Congress. Children in the womb need our help, and we should make sure they have what they need to be healthy and successful—which begins first and foremost with the right to life. I remain grateful to stand up for life at all stages and to reaffirm my commitment to babies in the womb, to the safety and health of their mothers, and to ensuring our communities can help meet our families’ needs.”
In 2019 Lankford reintroduced the Conscience Protection Act as well as the Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act. He also supported pro-life conservative priorities including the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, the Protect Funding for Women’s Health Care Act, the Down Syndrome Discrimination by Abortion Prohibition Act, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protect Act. Lankford spoke on the Senate floor in 2018 to advocate for the Pain-Capable Unborn Protection Act and in 2019 to speak on infanticide and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
To prevent US funding for abortion abroad, Lankford led a bicameral letter to the Former Acting Administrator for the US Agency for International Development John Barsa to urge him to protect American taxpayer dollars during the pandemic from funding pro-abortion lobbying or advocacy efforts in other countries via the United Nations. This practice is in violation of the Siljander Amendment, which prevents State Department funds from being used to lobby for abortion.
In 2020, Lankford also joined more than two dozen senators to call on the Department of Treasury to investigate Planned Parenthood’s abuse of the taxpayer-funded Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and separately calling on the Department of Justice to expand its ongoing investigation of Planned Parenthood in the wake of new evidence of criminal activity. Lankford also recently joined a bicameral letter to Former Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to call for new regulations to end tax breaks for abortion under the guise of health care, as well as a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to urge it to remove the abortion pill from the US Market.
Lankford is Chair of the Senate Values Action Team and member of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, which advocates for issues including life and conscience protections.
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