A pro-life student group released a statement on President Donald Trump’s latest cabinet pick and what he could potentially do for health care and abortions in America Monday.
Students for Life of America is impressed with Trump’s choice of Alex Azar to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, but plan to judge him by his actions and not his history, according to a press release obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Abortion is not healthcare, and in Obamacare, we’ve seen Americans coerced into the service of the abortion industry, through mandates and coverage that force people to comply with an anti-life agenda or face the force of law,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America. “We hope that day one, Alex Azar begins to restore life-affirming care to our healthcare system, rather than abusing people’s consciences and wallets in service of Planned Parenthood and its allies.”
Hawkins noted that the group is impressed with Azar’s connections to judge J. Michael Luttig and former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom the appointee worked as a clerk. Azar also served as deputy secretary of Health and Human Services during former President George W. Bush’s administration, according to The Washington Post.
Students for Life of America want the Health and Human Services head to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, which it alleges totals to over $500 million. The organization is particularly concerned with how abortion affects college students.
“We’ve seen the abortion industry become deadly drug pushers on college campuses, trying to make it easy to end pre-born life with pills,” said Hawkins, speaking with TheDCNF. “This is reckless, dangerous and irresponsible as the abortion industry downplays the side effects of causing extreme bleeding and ending preborn life.”
“Some women have died when given some life-ending drugs….And we know that some women have been given life-ending drugs without their consent by callous boyfriends or partners.”
Hawkins said that Title IX prevented college administrators from discriminating against pregnant students and student parents, saying that teachers, for instance, cannot flunk a student on a test if she misses it due to giving birth.
The Students for Life of America president noted the organization’s disappointment with the Senate’s actions, or lack thereof regarding healthcare and also expressed dissatisfaction with the preceding Obama administration handling of the issue.
“We were extremely disappointed and angry when the Obama Administration called pregnancy a preventable disease, making women merely the sum of our parts,” said Hawkins to TheDCNF. “Language matters. Pregnancy is not a disease cured by abortion. Our public policy must affirm life.”
Hawkins explained that while the abortion industry tells female college students that they cannot be both mothers and students, Students for Life of America’s Pregnant on Campus initiative, which provides parenting and pregnancy tips and resources to pregnant students.
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