With the start of a new Congress, there have been a lot of opportunities to introduce legislation in support of pro-life policies that defend the unborn and affirm the sanctity and value of every human life. As a consistent and staunch advocate for the cause of protecting babies in the womb and their moms, I’ve been proud to take important steps in support of the pro-life agenda since the start of this year.

Here’s some of the latest legislation I’m sponsoring to protect and defend life:

• The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, legislation to provide commonsense protections for unborn children at 20 weeks after fertilization, a point at which there is significant scientific evidence that abortion inflicts tremendous pain on the unborn.
• The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, a bill to protect newborns that survive abortions by requiring appropriate care and admission to a hospital.
• The Life at Conception Act, a measure which would establish a right to life by implementing equal protection under the 14th Amendment for the right to life of each born and unborn human.
• The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, a measure to close loopholes that allow Title X family planning funds to go to entities that perform abortions, including Planned Parenthood.
• The Protect Funding for Women’s Health Care Act, a bill to prevent any taxpayer dollars from going to the nation’s single largest provider of abortions: Planned Parenthood.
• The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act which would make permanent the Hyde Amendment restrictions on using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions.
• The Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act, a measure to ban the performance of an abortion being sought because the unborn child has Down syndrome.
• The SAVE Moms & Babies Act, a bill to strengthen federal controls over the regulation and distribution of chemical abortion drugs.
• The Protecting Life and Integrity in Research Act, legislation to prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services from conducting or supporting any research that involves the use of human fetal tissue from an induced abortion.
• The Conscience Protection Act which would protect health care providers, including health insurance plans, from government discrimination if they decline to participate in abortions.

And I’ve taken some additional steps recently to support pro-life policies and initiatives:

• I joined many of colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives in filing an amicus brief supporting the state of Mississippi’s pro-life law that will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in December 2021. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization will provide the Court with an opportunity to overturn a history of egregious abortion precedent set in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The State of Mississippi in 2018 enacted the Gestational Age Act, a state law prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks’ gestation, except in cases of medical emergency.
• Importantly, I’m also standing with over two dozen senators in opposing the Biden administration’s attempt to eliminate a 2019 Trump-era rule that blocked combined payments for abortion coverage in taxpayer-funded Obamacare exchange plans. Abortion is not health care, and American taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize it.
• I opposed the deceptively named Women's Health Protection Act, a radical measure that would codify the right to abortion, on-demand, and nullify states' pro-life laws. Every life is precious, worthy of dignity and possesses intrinsic value. Our nation is stronger and more just when we protect human life. Senate Democrats' abortion-on-demand bill does the opposite. I'm thankful it was rejected in a bipartisan vote and pray for more pro-life victories to come.
• I’ve also called for a complete investigation into the University of Pittsburgh’s abortion procedures and research. Recent reports show the university may have violated federal law by altering abortion procedures solely for the purpose of obtaining fetal tissue. Even worse, the reports show that university researchers may have harvested organs from babies who were old enough to live outside the womb. This research should be stopped and violators of federal law should be held accountable.
• Finally, I consistently vote to include the Hyde amendment, which bars the use of federal dollars to pay for abortion, in spending legislation. Earlier this year, I voted to protect the Hyde amendment as well as the Weldon amendment, which protects health care providers who refuse to participate in abortion from discrimination. The amendment was adopted by a vote of 50-49.

The Susan B. Anthony List has awarded me an A+ rating on its National Pro-Life Scorecard for my voting record to defend the lives of the unborn and infants, including stopping tax dollars from paying for abortion domestically or internationally, and protecting the rights of health care providers who refuse to engage in the practice of abortion.

It is a tremendous honor and privilege to fight for the dignity and worth of every human being, particularly babies in the womb and their mothers. I will continue to do that work boldly and unapologetically until our country is fully committed to protecting all life.