Abortion Declines, Experimenting on Kids

     This afternoon, the Senate Education Committee will hold a hearing on House Bill 1608. This bill seeks to protect the innocence of children by limiting school discussions of or instructions on human sexuality or gender identity matters in kindergarten through 3rd grade.  I’d like to see this expanded to 5th grade because we do not even teach the basics of reproduction until 6th-grade biology or science class in most Indiana schools.   However, HB 1608 is a much-needed and worthwhile bill as is.  HB 1608 leaves such matters up to parents to discuss with their children at home.  It also protects teachers from unnecessary controversies.

      Polling shows strong support for this kind of legislation, but your calls to your Senator would be very helpful at: 317-232-9400.

         Following the US Supreme Court Dobbs ruling overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion decision last summer, Indiana’s abortion numbers have shifted dramatically in favor of life.   New numbers from the Indiana Department of Health show an increase after the ruling that some say indicates that Indiana was perhaps an abortion destination stop briefly.

         However, with the passage of Senate Bill 2 in the special summer session restricting elective abortions except in the cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother, Indiana’s monthly abortion numbers declined by as much as 50%.   In July 2022 there were 1,035 abortions.  In August there were 1,081 abortions performed in Indiana.  After the law went into effect in September the number of abortions in the state dropped to 446 in October. In January 2023 the number was 405.

The new law’s restrictions have been put on hold while the State Supreme Court deals with lawsuit challenges to SB 2 from the ACLU and abortion advocates.

         Yesterday the House Public Health Committee took testimony on Senate Bill 480.  This bill would prohibit a child in Indiana from taking risky puberty-blocking drugs or radical surgeries removing healthy body parts due to gender confusion in their mind.

         There are two false phrases you will often hear on this. First that this is “lifesaving care.”  The rates of suicide are terrifyingly high among transgenders even after drugs and surgeries.  The most comprehensive longitudinal study on this is from Sweden.  It found that the rate of suicide for transitioned individuals was 20 times higher than the public even decades after their medical changes. That is not life-saving care.

         The second false phrase is “gender-affirming care.”   Removing a person’s sex organs and giving them high doses of synthetic hormones to hide their biological sex is the exact opposite of affirming their gender.

         As you can imagine the testimony was dominated by young liberal activists shouting down testifiers from the hallways.  (This is the modern version of “tolerance.”)  However, the loudest voices in the statehouse (or the media) often do not reflect the real world outside. Polling finds that an overwhelming percentage of Americans believe children should not make these life-changing decisions before they are legal adults.

        The Trafalgar Group surveyed 1,000 registered voters. They found that 79% support legislation like SB 480.

         In fact, when asked if they “believe underage minors should be required to wait until they are adults to use puberty blockers and undergo permanent sex change procedures,” even most Democrats (53%) said “yes.”

         Thankfully, the committee did hear some powerful testimonies in support of the bill from several clinical and medical experts warning about this, and from people who transitioned thinking it would help, only to regret it after suffering mental and physical harm from the drugs and procedures.

         The bill passed the committee on an 8-5 vote with Rep. Ann Vermillion joining the Democrats in opposing it.

         A new Rasmussen Poll released last week finds that US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is not very popular with Republicans.  Only 32% of Republicans have a favorable view of the 81-year-old Kentucky Senator.  Interestingly, more Democrats than Republicans have a favorable view of McConnell at 35%.   In contrast, 71% of Republicans have a favorable view of Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.   McConnell is the longest-serving Senate leader, breaking the record in January held by Democrat Senator Mike Mansfield who held a leadership position for 16 years from 1961 – 1977.

         Three years into, or after, the Covid pandemic, just one-third of Americans say their lives are completely back to normal, while 47% say their lives will never return to pre-pandemic normalcy according to a new Gallup Poll.  Only one-third (33%) say that their life is completely back to normal.

         A new annual report called Kids Count from the Indiana Youth Institute has some disturbing numbers showing that the mental health of Hoosier young people is quite terrible.  An incredible 27% of youth say that they have seriously considered suicide. This is nearly a 10-point increase since 2011.

         I tend to think that it is no coincidence here that today’s youth are the least religious of any generation.  There’s much I could say about that connection along with a lot of the garbage messages of our culture today that kids consume and the ultimate hopelessness that it likely produces.  There is also growing evidence that social media use has a strong link to depression. However, I’m going to ask something even more taboo.

         The youth with the worst mental health are those who have bought into our anything-goes, sex-crazed culture and embraced the LGBT lifestyle.  Tragically, nearly two-thirds of such youth have seriously considered suicide, even though the LGBT lifestyle has never had more societal support and approval.  (Even in Europe where the LGBT lifestyle is rarely questioned, and religious opposition to it is sparse and often punished, mental health problems are drastically higher.)

         Could it be that a lifestyle that goes against natural design consequentially carries with it a great deal of mental torment?  If so, why are so many kids encouraged to live that way?

         While people were yelling and screaming in the halls of the statehouse over SB 480, over in the Senate the Committee on Corrections passed House Bill 1569 on a 5-2 vote.  It prohibits the Indiana Department of Corrections from paying for transgender surgeries on prisoners.

      “Our world today so desperately hungers for hope, yet uncounted people have almost given up. There is despair and hopelessness on every hand. Let us be faithful in proclaiming the hope that is in Jesus.” – Billy Graham