The theme for this year's March for Life is: "Thou shalt Protect the Equal Right to Life of Each Innocent Born and Preborn Human in Existence at Fertilization. No Exception! No Compromise!"  In addition to the Washington events, there are rallies scheduled across the nation.

In Washington, a special event is being planned to attract young people: "As recent polls have shown, the youth of America are the most pro-life generation since Roe v. Wade and we are working with that generation to end abortion in our lifetime," said Kristan Hawkins, head of Students for Life and Executive Director and Founding Organizer of the National Pro-Life Youth Rally scheduled to coincide with the March for Life.

A House only a mother could love

Welcome to 2011 and the 112th Congress, where Republicans will be donning their man pants. After reading the Constitution on the floor of the House, Republicans will follow-up their two-year long campaign of hurling rhetorical bombshells at health care reform by aiming to kill it.

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), after having called President Obama "one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times," is eager to assume the chairmanship of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee from whence he can unleash investigations about any-and-every thing Obama-related.

Meanwhile, House Science and Technology Committee Chair Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas), an admirer of BP - and a recipient of its largesse -- is gearing up to investigate those meddlesome scientists that believe in global warming.

On the Tea Party front: Fresh from calling the NAACP, the Department of Homeland Security and the ACLU liberal "hate groups," and from having a dream that there would be no more United Methodist Church, Tea Party Nation's Judson Phillips is downright aroused about the possibility of having Tea Party activists take over local Republican Party operation, and, (I'm not sure where Phillips came up with this one) hunting down voter fraud.

The battle continues

According to the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, "One of " the conservative movement's "top goals will be stopping the flow of our tax dollars to organizations and government programs that undermine the values that parents are trying to instill in their children," which includes "repealing ObamaCare," and "work[ing] with House leadership to dismantle the law with language found in the Reps. Pitts (R-Penn.)-Lipinski (D-Mich.) bill."

In Monday's "Tony Perkins' Washington Update" Perkins wrote that the FRC's "biggest goal will be getting taxpayers out of the abortion business" by supporting "Rep. Smith (R-N.J.)-Lipinski (D-Mich.) 'No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act' which would wipe the slate clean of most government projects that force us to subsidize the abortion business." Rep. Mike Pence's (R-Ind.) is sponsoring legislation called "Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act" which "takes care of the federal money line for abortionists," Perkins wrote. According to Perkins, the Pence "bill is becoming even more important now that Planned Parenthood has told all of its affiliates they are required to perform abortions or lose the organization's support."

As Mother Jones' Nick Baumann pointed out in early December, there is every likelihood that some Democrats in the House will join with Republicans to support assorted anti-abortion measures: "Democrats who oppose abortion rights are eager to help.... In the midterms, conservative opponents of abortion rights made pro-life Dems their top targets. ... [P]ro-life Dems lost re-election at a significantly higher rate than their pro-choice colleagues. Nearly half of the Democrats who voted for the anti-abortion Stupak amendment to the health care bill" are no longer in Congress.

"Many of the defeated Dems are co-sponsors of Smith's bill, which could easily garner several dozen Democratic votes," Baumann pointed out. "The surviving Dems are, if anything, even more gung-ho about the idea. Rep. Dan Lipinski, a pro-life Dem from Illinois, introduced the bill with Smith in July. 'It's the general consensus of the country that people don't want federal funding of abortion,' argues Kristen Day, the head of Democrats for Life of America. 'So to make the Hyde Amendment permanent would be a real positive step.'"

Outside Washington, they'll be lots more action in the states, where pitched battles over various aspects of reproductive rights have been under assault for years.. Alicia Cohn reported that anti-abortion activists could make significant progress in a number of states where Republicans have been elected governor and the GOP controls the statehouses: "Various states are also expected to tackle pro-life issues in 2011. According to an unreleased NARAL Pro-Choice America analysis previewed by Politico, the number of anti-abortion governors rose from 21 to 29 in the November election, and the number of states with governments where the governor and the majority legislature are both considered anti-abortion increased from 10 to 15."

On Wednesday, January 12, the House will be voting on repealing health care reform.  Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.) told Fox News: "They [voters] want it repealed, so whether or not the vote will be symbolic will depend on what the Senate and our President does. It's entirely meaningful within the context of what the House is doing. That's what we were elected to do."

The FRC's Tony Perkins proudly pointed out that "Unlike the 2,074-page tree-killer that was ObamaCare, the repeal text is a breezy 250 words."  While Perkins recognizes that the repeal bill is not likely to go beyond the House, he is hopeful that Republicans "will try starving the bill of federal funds."