SBA List & NRTL Just Backed Congresswoman Who Almost Killed an Abortion Ban

Support came weeks after both groups attacked Rep. Renee Ellmers for the same thing.

Two of America’s most influential pro-life groups have backed an incumbent Congresswoman who derailed a vote to ban abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation — just weeks after both groups attacked another Congresswoman, Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC), for her role in delaying the same vote.

On April 5, the Susan B. Anthony (SBA) List endorsed Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN), with SBA List Vice President Marilyn Musgrave describing the second-term congresswoman as “a leading voice for unborn children and women” who “will champion pro-life, pro-woman policies.”

The endorsement came less than a month after National Right to Life (NRTL) endorsed Walorski, praising her for her “100% voting record with National Right to Life” and “her votes to protect unborn children at 20 weeks.”

However, Walorski was one of the female Republican Representatives responsible for nearly killing the 20-week ban over a rape reporting requirement they said was too harsh. The largely male leadership of the House GOP was also accused of not listening to the strategic and other concerns of female members about the rape reporting requirement.

House leaders had originally planned to have the vote as pro-lifers participated in the 2015 March for Life, but the internal rift set the vote back by nearly four months. And while the revised bill is considered to be a stronger iteration of the original ban, the months-long kerfuffle still reverberates with pro-life advocates.

Almost simultaneous to the NRTL and SBA endorsements of Walorski were attacks on Ellmers, who is in a difficult and complicated primary against fellow GOP Representative George Holdings. Like Walorsia, Ellmers has a 100 percent ranking from National Right to Life — but the group endorsed Holdings.

“There is no member of Congress in recent memory who has done greater harm to a major piece of pro-life legislation, while claiming to be pro-life, than Renee Ellmers,” said NRTL’s endorsement letter. “She even advocated amending the bill to allow consenting adults who chose to engage in incest (which is illegal in most states, including North Carolina) to continue to be allowed to abort unborn babies at will, in the sixth month and later.”

SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser was likewise withering in her criticism of Ellmers. She told LifeSiteNews last month, “We have been following Congresswoman Ellmers’ re-election race closely, and it is increasingly clear that she is collapsing under the weight of her own failed leadership on the pro-life issue and others.”

Dannenfelser said her group, along with the rest of the pro-life movement, “refused to let Ellmers’ actions stand in the way of moving the pain-capable bill forward. The House passed a stronger version of the bill. It received the support of 54 Senators in its first-ever vote in the upper chamber, and every Republican presidential candidate has pledged to support it.”

A spokesperson for SBA List declined to comment on the potentially contradictory endorsements. Multiple requests for comment were also left unanswered by the NRTL, which has been heavily criticized by Walorski’s primary opponent Jeff Petermann for allegedly “attempting to excuse away” Walorski’s record on the 20-week ban debate and a budget vote taken late last year.

“Jackie Walorski voted yes on HR 2029, also known as the Omnibus Bill, which is the budget bill for this year,” said Petermann  in a statement after NRTL endorsed Walorski. “It included MANY objectionable pieces within its pages, including funding Obama’s illegal executive amnesty, and fully funding at current levels (roughly $540 million) Planned Parenthood.”

NRTL has defended Walorski’s omnibus vote, with President Carol Tobias saying that “Rep. Walorski did nothing contrary to pro-life interests by voting in favor of the Omnibus appropriations bill on Dec. 18, 2015.” According to the group, the omnibus bill was “ill-suited” to defund Planned Parenthood.

Neither Walorski’s campaign nor her Capitol Hill office returned a request for comment about the Congresswoman’s involvement in the 20-week vote derailment and her relationship with pro-life groups.