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In addition to earlier lawsuits by small religious colleges, individuals, and non-profit organizations, seven states have filed a law suit against the HHS contraception, sterilization, and abortifacient mandate.
The attorney generals of Texas, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina filed a joint lawsuit in Nebraska’s US District Court yesterday.
The attorney generals are asking the Court to declare the mandate unconstitutional, as it violates the religious freedom’s of their state’s citizens.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott argued that:
“Obamacare’s latest mandate tramples the First Amendment’s Freedom of Religion and compels people of faith to act contrary to their convictions. The President’s so called ‘accommodation’ was nothing but a shell game: the mandate still requires religious organizations to subsidize and authorize conduct that conflicts with their religious principles. The very first amendment to our Constitution was intended to protect against this sort of government intrusion into our religious convictions.”
The Obama administration had no comment (as of press time) about the lawsuit.
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According to ABC’s Jake Tapper, the most influential supporters of the controversial Contraception Mandate were HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, former Director of Domestic Policy Melody Barnes (who has resigned from the Obama administration), Presidential Advisor Valerie Jarrett, and President of Planned Parenthood Cecile Richards.
Other than their support for this mandate, they have something else in common: they are all unabashedly pro-abortion.
Why was Cecile Richards, who is not an official White House advisor, included in the discussions so prominently? Why was someone who could directly benefit from this mandate included, yet the very organizations that would be forced to provide this coverage against their beliefs, were excluded from the conversation?
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I won’t take much of your time, Live Actioners. I just want to remind you that the movie I had the pleasure of seeing recently, Doonby, opened yesterday in Chattanooga and today in Dallas. If you’re in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, grab some friends and go see it. How it does in Dallas will determine how it will do across the country, and this is a story that needs to be told to an entire nation. It is by turns warm and thrilling, and its jaw-dropping ending alone is worth the ticket price.
Most of all, I firmly believe that this film, without preaching or shoving anything down anyone’s throat, can save lives.
Even if you’re nowhere near Dallas, please share this on Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest and Tumblr and MySpace (if you keep it old-skool).
Special Doonby Trivia: This movie was screened — and praised — by the Vatican, and yet it is not a religious movie. Curious? Go see it!
Check out Dallas show times! And watch this trailer:
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You may wonder why I am discussing the Christian basis for defending all human life in this series, along with the scientific, philosophical, moral, and legal bases. Well, in case you haven’t noticed, many active pro-lifers are Christians. In addition, I’m a Christian, so I think I understand this basis well. Furthermore, on a personal note, I believe that every Christian pro-lifer needs to be able to clearly explain why they are pro-life–from a Christian perspective–for their Christian friends who may claim to believe otherwise. There are certainly Christians who get abortions and vote for pro-abortion candidates, sadly.
A clarification before I start: while I am a Christian and believe that the Bible supports the pro-life position, I am not pro-life only because I’m a Christian. I’m pro-life because it’s also the common-sense, scientific, moral, and logical position to take. However, I do believe that being a Christian and believing in my Savior is what compels me to speak out for those more helpless than myself.
Here’s what I believe to be the Christian basis for defending all human life. We can find all the evidence we need in the Bible itself.
1) The Bible Clearly Teaches That Life is Precious.
Life is clearly precious to God, as He is the giver of life (Acts 17:25), the fountain of life (Psalm 36:9), the defender of life (Psalm 27:1), the prince of life (Acts 3:15), the restorer of life (Ruth 4:15), and the conqueror of death (I Corinthians 15:55). George Grant lists out these Scriptures and more in “Third Time Around”.
In this same book, Mr. Grant lays out an excellent Biblical basis for the sanctity of life. I recommend you read the book for yourself online. While laying out specific verses, he states, “From Genesis to Revelation, in the books of the Law, in the books of history, in the books of wisdom, in the prophetic books, in the Gospels, and in the epistles, the pro-life message of the Bible is absolutely inescapable.” [ Read the rest of this article... ]
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In case you hadn’t noticed, this is going to be an intensely personal blog post.
I’ll just kick it off with the juicy stuff so you don’t have to wait around: I haven’t had sexual intercourse in almost four years. Now, this is not to say I haven’t done anything I wouldn’t do if Jesus were in the room. I am not perfect. But for the past three and a half years, in the ball park of my love life, there have been no home runs.
I admit I am not a virgin. I am also not sexually repressed. I am not, like the virgin adult character on “Glee,” a frigid obsessive-compulsive with serious psychological problems. I am also not, as far as I know, completely repulsive, although if there’s one thing I’ve learned from observing the world around me, it’s that if you are female, it doesn’t matter what you look like; somebody thinks you are juuuust fine, and that somebody probably has an ad on Craigslist right now.
I simply made a choice, for ethical, moral, and religious reasons, not to engage in baby-making activities, and I have stuck to that decision for well over three years.
You are probably asking yourself, “Self, why on earth is she telling me this?”
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Each presidential candidate had his ups and downs in last night’s CNN Republican debate, but former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had the evening’s most memorable moment. Moderator John King posed the following question:
Since “birth control” is the latest hot topic, which candidates believe in birth control and if not, why?
The audience’s raucous booing made clear they weren’t interested in the press’s latest talking point, and neither was Gingrich. He turned the tables beautifully:
I want to make two quick points, John. The first is there is a legitimate question about the power of the government to impose on religion activities which any religion opposes. That’s legitimate. But I just want to point out, you did not once in the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide. [ Read the rest of this article... ]
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Most people have heard about the lies Planned Parenthood spews into society, which just keep on coming. PP is up in arms about the HHS mandate, and to try to improve their reputation, they’re twisting poll statistics and trying to make it look like America is on their side.
Recently, PP posted this link on their Facebook page, and commented on it saying:
” 67% of Americans oppose the Blunt Amendment, believing employers should not be able to deny health coverage for employees based on their own personal beliefs.”
Okaaay. That’s not too weird sounding, but 67%? Sounds a little fishy, huh? I haven’t been hearing statistics similar to this, and for a good reason. This number does not truthfully represent the context PP was using it in! Whoa. Is Planned Parenthood lying?!?!?! Well, they sure are twisting things a lot.
Remember it was just a week ago that CNN found a very different result showing that the public was against the Obama HHS mandate 50% to 44%.
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While I was pregnant I would sit on my bed and look at Riley’s name printed on the wall. I felt that something was a little off. Nothing was wrong, but something wasn’t right. How neat it was that I knew she was special before I even met her…
Meet Riley!
Jennifer peaks her head into the living room where her three daughters are playing house. Sarah and Jaimee giggle as they push their little six month old sister, Riley, around in a carriage that is supposed to be for their baby dolls. Riley simply smiles at all the attention. “Mom, come look at Riley!” they suddenly exclaim, “she is smiling!” From the doorway, Jennifer can’t help but smile herself at the scene. In her eyes it is nothing less than picture perfect. Her children are right where they should be… with her. But, if some people had it their way Riley wouldn’t be here. Why? She has Down- Syndrome; Trisomy 21 to be exact. Which somehow labels her as less deserving of life by many in today’s society. What a loss for them. They have no idea of the joy that comes from having a child with “special needs”, but Jennifer does.
This is her story…
We tried for nine months straight, after just having a miscarriage two months prior. Then, it happened. I knew I was pregnant because of the dreams I was having. I’m a very vivid dreamer and I find out many things in my dreams. On December 23, 2010 at 12:30 AM, I got out of bed to use the bathroom. I then decided to take a pregnancy test, because I was a few days late. [ Read the rest of this article... ]
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Colorado has provided a model for other states to follow.
According to on-the-scene reports from Colorado Right to Life spokesperson Leslie Hanks, a principled, life-affirming Fetal Homicide Bill passed the State House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and will be put to a vote on the House floor.
The proposed 2012 Colorado Unborn Victims of Crime Act states:
If the commission of any crime codified in this Title [18] or Title 42 of the Colorado Revised Statutes is the proximate cause of death or injury to an unborn member of the species Homo sapiens, the respective homicide and assault charges for that death or injury may be brought contemporaneously with the underlying charges.
This language, designed to bring justice to the unborn victims of criminals, is life-affirming because it remains abortion-neutral. Previously introduced bills in Colorado and other states have included clauses which explicitly exclude abortion and affirm the legality of killing the unborn child by a medical procedure. Some bills have even been so abortion-affirming that they could have protected back-alley abortionists from prosecution for the “unlawful termination of pregnancy” as long as “the pregnant woman’s consent is implied.”
Far from undermining personhood, the proposed 2012 Unborn Victims of Crime Act is a great step forward in affirming the inherent dignity of the unborn by conferring legal protection to unborn children victimized by criminals. [ Read the rest of this article... ]
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I used to have quite the collection of pro-life books. I’ve been into this issue since I was a very young teenager. Now, I’ve thinned down my collection and have a few definite favorites. For anyone out there who’d like to increase their knowledge or expand their thinking on the issue, here are my reviews and recommendations:
The #1 Book Out There Award goes to Why Pro Life? by Randy Alcorn. This is an incredibly easy-to-read, yet appropriately detailed and informative book. It’s thin and small, so anyone can read it. It’s even available in an audio-CD format. I’ve talked about this book before, and I highly recommend that you grab a copy. When I was the spokesperson for Colorado’s 2008 Personhood campaign, Randy Alcorn mailed us copies of this book for free so we could hand them out. I rate this an absolutely invaluable resource!
Third Time Around by George Grant (free online copy) is a wonderful history of the pro-life movement. I’m going to guess that most of you had no idea the movement started so early or in such interesting ways. I certainly had no clue. If you’ve ever been curious about the Christian church’s involvement (or lack of involvement) on this issue over the centuries, if you’ve ever wondered about what early pro-life heroes did, if you’ve ever wished for a basic history of the movement…this is the book for you.
A Perfect Persecution by James R. Lucas. Can I say amazing? This book is a heart-stopping thriller of a novel. It takes the reader into a not-so-difficult-to-imagine world where the pro-choice position has taken over the U.S.A. (Now, I didn’t say I believe this will ever happen—I don’t! But it’s not hard to imagine what kind of a world that would be.) The really cool thing about this novel is that it is believable. It’s not a sci-fi, pie in the sky, fake world book. It’s the real thing. Don’t pick up this book unless you want to be more motivated than ever to stand up for innocent life. [ Read the rest of this article... ]
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Belief in abortion rights does not equal knowledge about abortion. This was made clear when the group Feminists for Choice asked women, “Can you be pro-choice if you wouldn’t choose abortion for yourself?” Most women answered the question with the same pro-abortion, deceptive language that has been fired off by abortion proponents for years. And it proves they don’t know anything about fetal development or abortion.
It’s My Body
Aurelia says, “I am pro-choice for the most basic reason. I don’t want anyone to tell me what to do with my body and I don’t think I have any business telling anyone what else to do with their body.”
Van claims, “It seems intuitive and obvious to me that I should be the ultimate decision maker of a decision that has to do with my physical body. On top of that, the fact that the majority of government is men makes it even more insulting.”
What these two fail to understand is that the baby/fetus is a completely different person from the mother. She has her own body developing with her own unique DNA within the womb of her mother. This is scientific fact. To be peddling the old line that abortion is something a women does to her own body is ignorant and disingenuous. Besides that, the government tells us we can’t use drugs or prostitute ourselves – actions that actually only affect our own body (unless of course the person is pregnant).
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The Alliance Defense Fund has filed a suit against the Missouri Dixon R-1 School District on behalf of a student who says she was unfairly censored for promoting the annual Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity.
While Dixon High School has typically been known to foster student involvement by allowing the promotion of events and causes, last October they decided to deny the female student’s request to post flyers encouraging her fellow students to give up their voices for the unborn.
Such promotions have been previously allowed, and follow district policy that states: “student expression regarding a variety of topics may be beneficial to the District’s educational mission,” including “discussion and debate regarding serious issues.” In recent years, this policy has been used to justify posters with political and anti-drug messages, posters and announcements promoting the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network’s Day of Silence, even photos of students edited to look like bloody zombies. [ Read the rest of this article... ]
