On Saturday, Idaho Governor Butch Otter allowed SB1353 to become law without his signature.

While that is an admittedly disappointing development, we cannot allow that to take away from the huge pro-Life victory this legislation represents. Frankly, it is also rather surprising given Otter’s strong constitutional orientation. SB1353 codifies the very spirit of our 1st Amendment’s promise of religious and moral liberty.

After some two years’ worth of work, Idaho joins a handful of other states with comprehensive conscience protections for health care professionals. It couldn’t have come at a more opportune moment.

With the federal government now busily erecting hundreds of new agencies with which to invade our hospitals, clinics and insurance providers’ offices – this new law may well prove vital to protecting the integrity of our vital health care professions. We are confident that it will also help protect the very lives of vulnerable Idahoans.

Our special thanks to the Idaho statesmen who went beyond the call of duty to make this new law reality: Senators Russ Fulcher, Chuck Winder and Representatives Tom Loertscher and Erik Simpson. We received support and encouragement from many tremendous legislators – who offer Idaho courageous and principled leadership at a difficult time in our nation’s history.

And thank you … our many readers and supporters from across the state who help us fight these battles. May the Lord continue to prosper you for your active and powerful love of neighbor and community.

We have received calls and emails from concerned pro-Lifers, asking about the state of things now that President Obama has signed legislation federalizing health care. Does this mean that we are going to start paying for abortions? What about the Executive Order he signed? Does that help or hurt?

The truth is, the situation is still pretty confusing. But we already know a few things.

Most of us really don’t comprehend the scope of what Democrats have foisted upon us. The legislation is so massive, expensive and far-reaching that it will take many years to unfold. Building the huge new bureaucracies required by the law will take time.

In the short term, we’re guessing that public funding of abortions will be slowed by the Executive Order, as well as the fact that the insurance exchanges created by ObamaCare will take time to become operational. The Abortion Lobby has time to plan its certain court challenge of the legality of Obama’s Executive Order on tax funding of abortions; we already know from public statements by Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards that they view the Executive Order as “symbolic”.

On the other hand, the media and public have largely overlooked the huge funding subsidies contained in ObamaCare for expansion of “family planning services”. We count at least $13 billion – yes, that is ‘b’ for billion – that is very likely to make it way into Planned Parenthood’s coffers in coming years. And that is very likely a low-ball number.

What’s the money for?

A story this week out of Washington state paints a graphic picture of our future under ObamaCare.

The mother of a high school girl has gone public with her outrage over the fact that her 15 year old daughter received an abortion arranged by the health center located inside the school.

“[My daughter] took a pregnancy test at school, at the teen health center,” said the mother, identified as Jill. “Nowhere in this paperwork does it mention abortion or facilitating abortion.
According to KOMO News in Seattle, Jill described how her daughter was given a pass, put in a taxi cab and sent off to abort her baby during school hours. No one in the family knew a thing about the situation until the girl broke down afterwards.

“They told her that if she concealed it from her family, that it would be free of charge and no financial responsibility,” cried Jill.

The media went to school district officials seeking comment. The Seattle School District declined to accept any responsibility, saying it does not operate the health clinics in its schools.

Welcome to ObamaLand: Under his master plan, such clinics will now become common-place in America’s schools. It is all part of his proposal to enhance “preventive” care. The beauty of the plan is that local school officials can, and will, hide behind federal mandates. The clinics will not report directly to school districts, but federal officials.

Planned Parenthood will be the likely vendor operating all or most of these clinics. Not only will they be raking in huge amounts of new federal monies – they will have direct access to our children. The consequences for our daughters in particular are just too awful for many people to long contemplate.

Labels: ObamaCare, Planned Parenthood, school clinics, tax funding of abortions

The anguish of Bart Stupak and other pro-Life Democrats has been evident for weeks. He finally cracked this afternoon. Begging for some kind of exit door to escape his great moral test, Stupak cried out to his leader, Barack Obama. The President reached down to offer the poor guy a fig leaf with golden presidential seal – The Executive Order to Nowhere.

“I have a deal!” cried the broken Stupak, surrounded by his rescued “pro-Life” colleagues, who gave themselves permission to hide behind the president’s worthless scrip and return to their pews as members-in-good-standing of the Church of Liberalism. With their votes, and only with their votes, Speaker Pelosi was able to drive House Democrats into accepting the Senate version of ObamaCare.

To solidify his re-entry into the Party of Death, Stupak even took to the House floor tonight to proclaim that it was the Democratic Party that stood for life – from conception to natural death. His fellow religionists heartily applauded his public confession of self-delusion. Utterly unbelievable and utterly tragic: Stupak has traded his long public service, all the months of struggle around abortion expansion in ObamaCare, to eat a bowl of porridge at a backbench in the Democrat Party’s celebration feast.

The applause from his betrayers is already over, but Stupak will have a lifetime to reconcile himself to his failure. You may be sure that he will never be the same.

But enough of Bart Stupak.

The real tragedy here is the greater number of preborn children killed through abortion. Close behind is the forced remaking of America into a coarser, less noble place, in which we have taken a huge stride toward becoming supplicants of the state.

This legislation is, in effect, the Abortion Lobby’s greatest “accomplishment” since they bullied the Supreme Court into legalizing feticide. Given the huge public subsidies involved for Planned Parenthood and other practitioners of child-slaughter, it is not surprising that they have set-aside the Freedom of Choice Act in order to concentrate on the huge public money on the table with ObamaCare.

Certainly the battle over nationalized health care is not over with tonight’s vote by Pelosi’s Congress. This drama will play out over many election cycles, and through many court cases.

But it sure has been a painful day to witness.

Labels: abortion, Pelosi, Stupak

The Idaho House voted 51-18 to approve SB1353, legislation designed to protect the conscience rights of all licensed health care providers practicing in Idaho. Only two Republicans voted against the measure (George Eskridge of Sandpoint and Tom Trail of Moscow).

Two courageous Democrats, Jim Ruchti (Pocatello) and Branden Durst (Boise) broke with the majority of their party to support the measure; in fact, Rep. Ruchti was a co-sponsor of the bill.
After some two years’ work on this issue, today’s floor debate was somewhat anti-climactic.

Reps. Rusche and Burgoyne made formal statements of opposition and debate was closed. Much of the energetic opposition to the legislation was spent yesterday during a floor session, in which Rusche attempted to move the bill to the amending order in order to remove conscience protections in end-of-life situations.

As the legislation moved through the Capitol, the focal point of opposition shifted from emergency contraception to end-of-life treatment and care.

By the time the legislation arrived in the House, the AARP became the most vocal opponent, expending big resources to mislead seniors into believing that SB1353 would deprive them of rights under Idaho’s Living Will statute. In fact, the legislation which gained final legislative approval today does nothing to change patient rights.

But it does make clear that no patient can force a medical professional to violate his or her conscience.

This legislation may, in fact, become a vital part of protecting patients under the threatened health care rationing now on the verge of passage by Congress.

There are many heroes in this long struggle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.

Thanks to all who carried us through prayer and legislative contacts and financial support.

Labels: conscience protections, Fulcher, Idaho Chooses Life, Loertscher, Ruchti, Winder

The House State Affairs Committee approved SB1353 this morning on a party-line vote, 13-5.

After two days of testimony, the committee voted for Rep. Crane's motion to send the bill to the floor with a "do-pass" recommendation. Democrats Higgins and King made substitute motions to kill and/or amend the legislation. Those motions failed both failed 4-14.

The legislation will now go to the House floor for final legislative action.

more to follow ...

Labels: conscience protections, Crane, SB1353

Despite the serious threat posed to every Idaho family by ObamaCare, three Idaho Senate liberals joined with their Democrat compatriots in opposing the Idaho Health Freedom Act this afternoon.

The legislation is part of a strategic defense of Idaho against the threatened federal take-over of health care called for by Gov. Butch Otter. It authorizes the state to resist federal legislation, and prohibits the enforcement of mandatory provisions by any state or local official.

Senators John Andreason, Joe Stegner and Chuck Coiner are the only Republicans in the Legislature to oppose this crucial bill.

These gentlemen also joined Democrats in undermining the religious liberties of Idaho health care professionals when they voted against SB1353 - the Freedom of Conscience for Health Care Professionals Act this session.

With candidate filing now open to the voters of Districts 7, 15 and 24 - one can only pray that righteous men and women will answer the call to public service at this difficult time in our nation's history.