Abortion Bill moves, Parents views on Schools – American Family Association of Indiana
Abortion Bill Advances in the House
Yesterday, the House Committee on Courts and Criminal Code took eight hours of testimony before passing Senate Bill 1 on an 8-5 vote.
The bill will be reprinted with the lengthy amendment adopted by the Committee and reviewed by legislators today before the full House considers their own amendments tomorrow.
The Committee amendment and much of the debate surrounds the exceptions for rape, incest, and physical health of the mother. As I said many times, a bill with no exceptions or none for rape or incest does not have enough votes to pass, regardless of pro-life views on such exceptions and their logical validity. (The Alan Guttmacher Institute, once affiliated with Planned Parenthood, has consistently recorded over the years that those exceptions make up only 1.5% of abortions.)
Most pro-life Hoosiers would support ending 98.5% of abortions done for reasons of convenience. However, the real question seems to be how are those exceptions written? Are they consistent with 1.5% or less, or are they a large loophole that the abortion industry will use to continue doing thousands of abortions?
Another problem with this bill concerns enforcement. The amendment gives more power to the medical licensure board for that effort.
From initial reviews of the amendment, many pro-life leaders consider the committee amendment an improvement to the bill.
Thursday’s floor amendments will reveal a lot about the bill and where House members come down on the bill and its passage.
Many Voters Are Not Happy with Public Schools
A poll by Hart Research but commissioned by the liberal American Federation of Teachers has results the teacher’s union won’t like. Voters in the United States are overwhelmingly “dissatisfied” with how public schools handle issues of race, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
The poll involved 1,758 likely voters in seven states considered battleground states in presidential elections – Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
By a more than 2-1 margin, more respondents indicated that they were “dissatisfied” with “the way students are taught about racial issues and the role of race in America” (60%) than “satisfied” (27%). Similarly, 58% of participants told pollsters they were “dissatisfied” with “the way students are taught about issues related to sexual preference and gender identity” compared to just 23% who were “satisfied.”
Thirty-nine percent of respondents indicated that they had “more confidence in Republicans” on education issues, while 38% asserted they had “more confidence in Democrats.” This is a major finding as Democrats tend to always poll ahead of Republicans on the issue of education.
When asked to list the top problems in schools, education becoming too politicized ranked ahead of teacher or staff shortages. Third came concerns over inappropriate content like sexual orientation and gender identity. Fourth was parents not having enough say in their child’s education.
Is that an Assault Knife or a High-Capacity Hammer?
With more gun control efforts regarding “assault weapons”
and high-capacity magazines, an Arizona congressman recently made a surprising comment that a few the media attempted to fact check.
However, it turns out that Rep. Andy Biggs‘ recent claim, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence, that more people are killed annually with knives than rifles is quite true. The numbers aren’t even close.
As Breitbart has noted: “The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) for 2019 shows more than four times as many people were stabbed to death than were killed with rifles of any kind. The UCR shows 364 were killed with rifles in 2019, while 1,476 were stabbed to death with ‘knives or cutting instruments.’”
“The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) for 2019 shows nearly twice as many people were killed with ‘personal weapons’ like hands and fists than were killed with rifles of any kind. The UCR shows 364 were killed with rifles in 2019, while another 600 were beaten to death with hands, fists, feet, etc.”
Fully Boosted President Has Covid Again
President Biden tested positive for Covid again not long after having the virus a few weeks ago. Interestingly, a new study from the New England Journal of Medicine has found that those who have been fully vaccinated remain contagious much longer than those who have either not been vaccinated or only taken an initial shot. Read more here.
Groups Warn Senators of Dangerous Legislation
Over 80 religious and conservative organizations have signed on to a letter to Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell asking him to fight against the passage of the misnamed “Respect for Marriage Act.”
In the letter they warn that the Respect for Marriage Act “aims to shut down any disagreement, silencing those with the long-held conviction that marriage between one man and one woman is essential to human flourishing, a view that has existed from the dawn of time.”
The authors of the letter which include legal organizations like the Alliance Defending Freedom, Liberty Counsel, and First Liberty also warned that the legislation, “attacks (1) faith-based foster care providers who are alleged to be performing a state function through child placement services; (2) religious social service organizations that are heavily funded by and work jointly with the government to serve their communities; and (3) religious organizations and businesses that provide services under contract with the government.”
They warn the legislation would harm the freedoms of numerous people and faith-based organizations as the subjects of legal penalties and lawsuits if they live out their religious beliefs. “Although the issues to be litigated would be many, there is no question the proposed Act subjects religious people, businesses, and organizations to countless new lawsuits.”
Signatories include: Michael Farris of Alliance Defending Freedom, Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation, Ryan Anderson of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Tony Perkins of Family Research Council, Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America, Albert Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld of the Coalition for Jewish Values, Terry Schilling of the American Principles Project, Brian Burch of CatholicVote, and Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse.
Indiana Senators Todd Young and Mike Braun need to know that the Respect for Marriage Act is a threat to freedom of assembly, free speech, and religious liberty.
Please take 60 seconds to email Senators Young and Braun – click here.
In Their Own Words:
“It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.” – Voltaire
