Janet Porter

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Janet Porter
Born
Janet L. Folger

(1962-10-13) October 13, 1962 (age 58)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPro-life activist, radio personality
Known forPro-life activist, Heartbeat Bill Architect
Notable work
"Heartbeat Bill"
Spouse(s)
David Porter
​
(m. 2008)​

Janet L. Folger Porter (born October 13, 1962)[1] is an American Pro-Life activist and author.

Biography[]

Porter founded the now defunct website ReaganBook and, in 2003, conservative Christian ministry Faith2Action.[2] Porter is most known promoting the pro-life movement and the protection of fetuses in the womb. She also is an outspoken Christian, who seeks to conservative Christian values.[clarify][citation needed] In 2018, the Southern Poverty Law Centre designated Faith2Action as a hate group for its anti-LGBT stance.[3]

In 2017, she served as a spokesperson for Roy Moore in his campaign for the United States Senate special election in Alabama, 2017, drawing media attention for repeatedly refusing to answer direct questions about the candidate's publicly stated beliefs.[4][5]

She was the National Director for the Center for Reclaiming America, during 1997 to 2002, and an Ohio Right to Life legislative director. Porter has also worked for campaigns supporting George W. Bush for president; Mike Huckabee for president; Mandate to Save America; Birther Movement; and Risk Factors.

Pro-Life Activism[]

Porter's efforts supporting the passing of fetal heartbeat bills in American state legislatures has led to her being described as "in many ways the godmother of the heartbeat movement." Prior to founding Faith2Action in 2003, she was the legislative director for Ohio Right to Life for 1988 to 1997.[6][7] At Ohio Right to Life, she helped lobby for the first partial-birth abortion ban in the United States, which was later upheld by the Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Carhart. She then served as the national director of the Center for Reclaiming America from September 1997 to 2002. She has said that she joined the Center because she wanted to focus on more issues than just abortion. At the Center, she led a campaign promoting the idea that homosexuality is an individual choice.[8]

The original Ohio "Heartbeat Bill" (House Bill 493) was authored by Porter, who launched the first version of it in Ohio in 2011, and advocated for its passing; former Governor John Kasich then vetoed it twice, prior to its passing in 2019.[9] In 2011, she played "testimony" from a fetus in legislative hearings on the bill, by projecting an ultrasound image onto a screen and showing it to legislators.[10]

Introduced in 11 states, and passed by legislatures in four more, Porter’s bill is supported by conservatives seeking to mount a challenge to Roe v Wade. [11]

Faith2Action radio show[]

Porter previously hosted a radio show, also called Faith2Action, before it was cancelled in 2010. VCY America, the show's parent company, said it cancelled the show because Porter had expressed views too similar to dominion theology. The following week, she posted a blog post denying that she supported dominion theology.[12]

Political candidacy[]

In 2016, Porter ran unsuccessfully against Larry Obhof in the Republican primary for the Ohio Senate's 22nd district. During her candidacy, she criticized Republican opponents for not supporting her heartbeat abortion bills.[13][14] Her campaign for Obhof's senate seat was supported by Mike Huckabee. In a February 2016 video, Huckabee announced that he was supporting Porter because she would fight "for faith, family and for freedom."[15]

Author[]

Porter is the author of several books published by Random House, including True to Life and The Criminalization of Christianity.[16]

She has authored a column for WorldNetDaily since 2007, in which she has promoted conspiracy theories about Barack Obama, including that he is not a U.S. citizen.[12]

References[]

  1. ^ "Janet L. Folger Porter". flvoters.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  2. ^ Lecher, Colin (2014-07-31). "The swift death of ReaganBook, the Facebook for patriots". The Verge. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
  3. ^ "In 2018, 36 hate groups were tracked in Ohio". Southern Poverty Law Center.com. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  4. ^ Balmert, Jessie (2017-12-06). "Roy Moore's new spokeswoman: An Ohioan with roots in state's abortion fights". cincinnati.com. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  5. ^ Cilizza, Chris (2017-12-05). "Roy Moore's 'non-accusers' and 15 other outrageous quotes on the Alabama Senate race". cnn.com. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  6. ^ Cottle, Michelle (2013-07-07). "Janet Folger Porter, Abortion Warrior, on Her Heartbeat Crusade". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
  7. ^ "Janet Folger Porter". www.ambassadorspeakers.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-21. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
  8. ^ Smyth, Julie Carr (2011-09-17). "Anti-abortion activist center stage in Ohio fight". The News-Herald. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  9. ^ Ingles, Jo (2019-04-18). "Driving Force Behind Heartbeat Bill Left Out Of Bill Signing Celebration". The Columbus Dispatch. The Statehouse News Bureau.
  10. ^ Thomson-DeVeaux, Amelia (2014-04-15). "The Abortion Restriction That's Too Extreme for Most Pro-Lifers". The American Prospect. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  11. ^ Glenza, Jessica (2019-04-25). "The anti-gay extremist behind America's fiercely strict abortion bans". The Guardian.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b Liss-Schultz, Nina (2016-12-09). "The mastermind behind Ohio's new "heartbeat" abortion bill is too extreme for Christian talk radio". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
  13. ^ Higgs, Robert (2016-01-20). "Mike Dovilla gets nod from Ohio Right to Life in 3-way Senate primary". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
  14. ^ "Statewide results for Ohio primary election March 15, 2016". cleveland.com. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
  15. ^ AP (2016-02-17). "Mike Huckabee backs anti-abortion activist Janet Folger Porter from Hinckley in Ohio Senate race". www.ohio.com. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  16. ^ Author: Janet Folger; Amazon.com. Accessed 20 May 2019.

External links[]

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