Congressman Chris Smith is “an effective pro-life champion who has defended life with eloquence and passion at every opportunity,” said AUL’s Dr. Charmaine Yoest.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (5/31/2012) – Americans United for Life President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest presented the 2012 Henry J. Hyde Defender of Life Award to U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) during an evening honoring the Congressman’s courageous record on life, as well as highlighting the 20th Anniversary of the Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision. “Congressman Smith has shown unfailing, unflinching leadership for life throughout his 3 decades in Congress,” said Dr. Yoest.
“Congressman Chris Smith’s heroic defense of life during his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives includes his fight to end taxpayer-funding of abortion, his steadfast leadership to safeguard the health and safety of women against the harmful effects of abortion, and his work to defend the human rights of all human beings both domestically and internationally,” said Dr. Chamaine Yoest. “On Capitol Hill, Chris Smith has also joined AUL in calling for an investigation into the misuse of taxpayer funds by the abortion industry, a truly bipartisan effort.”
The approaching 20th anniversary of Planned Parenthood v. Casey also contributed to Congressman Smith’s selection for the award, noted Dr. Yoest.
Twenty years ago, in 1992, AUL had the privilege of representing Congressman Smith and several of his colleagues, including Speaker John Boehner and former Congressman Henry Hyde, in an amicus curiae brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in the historic Planned Parenthood v. Casey case. Although Casey failed to overturn Roe v. Wade, the pro-life movement retrenched and the Americans United for Life legal team crafted a legal strategy focused on an enhanced state-based legislative emphasis that has resulted in the enactment of pro-life protections that have saved countless lives.
At this year’s Defender of Life award ceremony, AUL celebrated Congressman Smith’s essential and indispensable leadership at the forefront of the life movement, unrelenting and unflagging in his determination to reduce abortion and expose its evils.
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