Dear Pro-life Friend,

In 1999, as a labor and delivery nurse at Christ Hospital in Chicago, I was shocked to discover that not only were abortions being committed there, but babies were being aborted alive and left to die in the hospital’s soiled utility room without medical care. I personally held one of these precious infants for 45 minutes until he gasped his last breath.

Up until this time I had been pro-life, but had never really taken a stand against abortion. But all that was about to change. When hospital leaders said that they refused to stop this horrific practice, I realized that remaining silent was simply not an option.

After I went public, my story immediately grabbed the attention of legislators and the media. This resulted in the introduction of the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, a bill to protect babies born alive after an abortion, on the federal level and in several states. Altogether I’ve testified 10 times before congressional and state legislatures about what I witnessed at Christ Hospital.

As an Illinois state senator, Barack Obama voted against the Illinois Born-Alive Infants Protection Act – not once, but four times!

In 2002 I had the honor of joining President George W. Bush for his signing of the federal version of the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act.

In 2012 I joined SBA List on a bus tour to defeat pro-abortion candidates running for the U.S. Senate. And then last year I was honored to receive a call from Marjorie asking me to become an official member of the SBA List team as its National Campaign Chair!

Since that fateful day for me in 1999 when I came face to face with the horror of abortion, one thing I have learned is that culture and politics go hand in hand. Laws are often downstream from culture, and on the other hand, how Americans feel about abortion is often impacted by laws. There are many critical ways to fight for life, and politics is chief among them.

That’s why I was so glad to say “yes” and join the SBA List team, which is not only the largest pro-life political organization in the United States, it is also blessed with wise leadership and savvy, effective strategies that have been proven to save lives.

I’m particularly appreciative of the opportunity to work with SBA List in an election year that is so critical for our cause. I know that working in partnership with you we have the best chance to elect a pro-life president and hold a pro-life majority in the Senate.

This need was accentuated by the recent tragic passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. We need a president who will nominate sound, constitutionalist justices and a Senate who will confirm them.

We also know these two priorities – winning the White House and holding the Senate – are paramount to passing life-saving bills into law, such as the bill to defund Planned Parenthood. This measure passed both the House and Senate this year for the first time since taxpayers began funding this abortion behemoth almost 40 years ago. The only thing stopping this is a pro-abortion president.

Another such bill is the Pain-Capable Unborn-Child Protection Act, and your SBA List team has been tirelessly advocating for this critical legislation on Capitol Hill and at the state level, because we know it will save up to 18,000 babies every single year.

The Pain-Capable Act is near and dear to my heart because I know – more than most – exactly what this bill would mean for America’s vulnerable unborn children. It’s not just ideology, or politics, or theory to me. The precious child I held in my hands until he died was 21 weeks old – a child whose life would have been spared had the Pain-Capable bill been law at that time.

One reason I fight for life is to honor that baby I held back in 1999.

Pro-life Friend, thank you for joining SBA List to fight alongside me for that most fundamental of rights, the right to life.

For Life,

Jill Stanek
National Campaign Chair,
Susan B. Anthony List