THE SENATE

FREEDOM OF CHOICE ACT

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has introduced an insidious bill to the Senate that would undo all work ever done to curtail abortion since the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court. This misnamed bill, the Freedom of Choice Act (S-2020), actually takes away choice from parents and the individual states, because it destroys all family, state and federal authority with regard to abortion. The bill was introduced by Senator Boxer on the 31st anniversary of Roe v. Wade at the same time hundreds of thousands of Americans were participating in the March for Life in Washington, DC. Pro-abortion groups such as NARAL and Planned Parenthood are using the Freedom of Choice Act in major fund raising campaigns and hope to use it as a rallying point to defeat pro life Republicans in November, including President Bush.

Planned Parenthood's statement on January 22nd made very clear the intended impact of the bill, saying: "The legislation would invalidate current restrictions on access to abortion and family planning health care services such as mandated delays and targeted and medically unnecessary regulations." And indeed the bill would do just that. All parental consent laws would be unlawful under the bill. No state could regulate an abortion clinic. Laws requiring that real doctors, not technicians perform abortions would be tossed out the door by the bill. Indeed, an abortion clinic could not even be required to clean the blood off their floors at night.

NARAL's statement outlined the success of pro-life Republicans stating, "Since Roe v. Wade, the right to choose has been systematically eroded by anti-choice legislators in many states. In fact, more than 350 anti-choice measures have been enacted in the states since 1995." And, of course, the ACLU is right in the middle of the fight demanding that anyone be able to kill an unborn baby at any time.

The ACLU urged members to "Demand an end to the assault on reproductive rights....." Planned Parenthood has a site called "saveROE.com" that hysterically beats on anyone who does not believe that a baby can be murdered right up to the time a woman goes into labor.

Can one bill wipe out every law the federal government or any state has passed in the last 31 years to protect the unborn? Unfortunately not all Republicans are pro-life as exemplified by Senator Specter (R-PA) who is pro-abortion unlike Senator Santorum (R-PA) of that same state who leads the anti-abortion fight. If this bill comes to a vote in the Senate the results could be close. Even if pro-abortionist Barbara Boxer does not get the bill passed in the Senate the results of a vote will be used in the liberal community to attack conservative Senators. More than legislating, the Freedom of Choice Act is also about fund raising for pro-abortion organizations and to use as an organizing tool to defeat pro-life candidates. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) must be urged to stop a vote on the Freedom of Choice Act. A bill such as this that would encourage unlimited abortion in the United States and discard hundreds of federal, state and local regulations must be stopped now!

U V V A

The Unborn Victims of Violence Act, now known as the Laci and Connor Petersen Act, has once again passed the House Judiciary Committee as I mentioned last week. Passage in the House is just about assured as the bill has passed by large majorities in two previous Congressional sessions. The problem continues to be the Senate where the effort to pass the Senate version (S-1019) is headed by Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH). The Senator is a pro-life advocate who is, unfortunately, largely ignored by the national press. Pro-abortion Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has offered a phony substitute bill which would make it a crime to assault a pregnant woman, but not treat the assault on the unborn baby as a separate crime. (YES - the position is incongruent. Senator Feinstein says the fetus is not a child, but that it should be a crime to assault it anyway.) This could be a huge election issue for Republicans in Senate races because as much as 84% of the public in polls say they believe that two people are victims of crime when a pregnant woman is murdered. (See current polls) Please contact your Senator about the Laci and Connor Petersen Act (S-1019). To e-mail your Senator click here.

MARRIAGE

On Tuesday I and others met with Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and one of the major topics of our discussion was traditional marriage which is under attack by homosexuals and polygamists. He has proposed language that is different and simpler than that proposed in Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave's Federal Marriage Amendment. Neither Senator Brownback's nor Congresswoman Musgrave's language deals with the issue of Civil Unions which I believe are as great a threat to traditional marriage as same sex marriage. (See my Op-ed) Still, I lean toward the immediate answer provided by Congressman Hostettler's Super-DOMA to slow down the march toward same sex marriage in the United States despite the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling ordering that state's legislature to provide marriage for homosexuals. Next week social conservative leaders, including myself, will meet again to try to come to terms with a common strategy in dealing with the push for homosexual marriage and Civil Unions.

SENATOR BILL FRIST

Last week I mentioned that Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) and Senator George Allen (R-VA) gave great speeches to at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on conservative values. Dr. Frist's office has been inundated by requests for copies of the speech which we have posted as a PDF file.

THE HOUSE

MARRIAGE

I am beginning to believe that there is not a good concept at any level in the House about the true dangers of the "gay" assault on marriage. The first problem is that it is seen as a "gay" assault and it is not. The attack is spiritual in nature and comes from various sources. Those who promote Civil Unions are actually promoting a second tier of marriage that could lead eventually to the majority of relationships in the United States being "civil" in nature and not sanctified by the church. Then there is the issue of polygamy. This month a lawsuit was filed in Utah to find the state's polygamy law unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a married couple who want to add another woman to their marriage. When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws on sodomy last year, Justice Antonin Scalia warned that the ruling would unleash a wave of lawsuits against "...bigamy, same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution, adultery, fornication, bestiality, and obscenity." He was right, but the majority on the Supreme Court wanted to conform to "international law."

The social conservative movement has become so blinded by the homosexual aspect of the marriage assault that many are missing threats of equal importance. The Islamic religion allows a man up to four wives, yet at least one organization supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment has an Islamic leader on its board. Before the FMA can be passed, which could take several years, polygamist marriages will have already been declared legal in one or more states. Congressman Hostettler's Super DOMA would prevent a court from forcing any multiple marriages or same sex marriages honored in one state to be honored in another. While some see the Super-DOMA as only a stop gap measure, it is one we should take now. Read Congressman Hostettler's CPAC address on his approach to protecting marriage (posted as a PDF file. )

NO IMMIGRATION "REFORM"

House leaders have no plans of proceeding with President Bush's immigration "reform" proposals that would give legal status to millions of people who entered the United States unlawfully. During the recess, congressmen were bombarded with criticisms of the plan at town hall meetings. Calls to congressional offices were 100 to 1 against the President's proposal. I can assure you that there are, as I was told, "no plans" to move forward on the immigration issue this year. Republican congressmen were also hit at home by their constituents for spending like "drunken sailors", although I believe that is an insult to drunken sailors. Watch for sudden repentance by Republican lawmakers that includes a cap on spending for the next budget.

INTERNATIONAL

FRENCH KISS GOOD-BYE

(Or good-bye France)

French President Chirac had many reasons for opposing the American led war on Iraq last year including his nation's involvement in supplying many of Saddam Hussein's weapons. Also, there was the issue of Iraqi oil contracts with French companies and the huge debt owed to France by the dictator. There was also a demographic reason: almost 10% of France is now Muslim and some towns now are majority Muslim. Indeed it now looks as if France will be an Islamic nation within the next 20 to 25 years. Demographers are estimating that 25% to 30% of the French population under 25 is now Muslim and the birth rate among Muslim women is at least three times that of non-Muslim women in France. As their strength grows, so does the rise in anti-Semitism, including incidents like the recent attack on a school bus of Jewish students. Such attacks are not reported in most of the West; indeed, the violence by Muslims in France is almost a state secret.

HOLY LAND

There was yet another bus bombing in Israel yesterday leaving 10 dead and more than 50 wounded. The liberal press immediately said the bombing was "in response" to Israeli counter terrorism moves the day before. That is hardly true and in fact three homicide bombers had been stopped by Israeli security in just the previous few days. The bomber, who was a Palestinian police officer, came from the United Nations "refugee camp" in Bethlehem. (Warning: Very graphic video) As I have previously mentioned, the United Nations has built huge camps for Muslims in the center of Christian Bethlehem. This and the persecution of Christians by Yassar Arafat's Tanzim gangs has caused the Christian population in Bethlehem to dwindle. I will be leaving for Israel and the West Bank in a few short weeks. I will visit Christian homes, churches and schools in the West Bank as well as the contested Golan Heights region on the border with Syria. It is my prayer to take as much money with me as possible to assist Christian organizations, schools and families, since all the funds the United States and the European Union send to Yassar Arafat are used only for Islamic causes and Muslim families. Can you assist in this great work for the cause of Christ with a gift to the RFC? Credit card gifts click here!

William J. Murray, Chairman - Religious Freedom Coalition

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