Lady Gaga Fails in Her Aggressive Efforts to Overturn “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”

Looks like Lady Gaga’s appeal to her fans to contact senators to encourage them to overturn the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has been unsuccessful.  Mobilizing her 6.3 million twitter followers and posting a heavily-scripted plea on youtube  seemed to have little effect .  Today (Tuesday, Sept 21) the Senate voted against cloture on the Defense Authorization Bill.

A bipartisan vote in the senate has now delayed this bill which would have allowed abortions to be performed on military bases (on the tax payer’s dime, of course) and allowed homosexuals to openly serve in the military.  It also included a controversial amendment that would have granted a form of amnesty to millions of illegal aliens who arrived in the U.S. prior to their 16^th birthday.

Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), with the encouragement of same-sex advocacy groups and pop culture oddities like Lady Gage, concocted the scheme to use the Defense Authorization Bill to slide in a little—no a lot!—of social engineering.  Reid was attempting to hold the military and the country hostage by adding his favorite leftist policies to a bill that is meant to provide funding to U.S. troops.  Many have referred to Reid’s political maneuvering as “despicable.”

United Families International thanks Senators McCain, McConnell, and Inhofe for their efforts in building  and maintaining a coalition to successfully stop this legislation.  Political analysts give mixed opinions as to when this bill may resurface.  We will alert you when it comes forward again.

As for now, Harry Reid and Lady Gaga are back to the drawing board.

Watch out for IVAWA! (International Violence Against Women Act)

There’s a new piece of U.S. legislation in the works that purports to help women, but the reality is far different.  The International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA), Senate Bill 2982, has a great sounding name.  Who, of course, could oppose protecting women against violence?   Well that’s what the bill’s sponsors want you to think.

Here are a few things that the bill, if passed, could do:

• help international feminist groups push for U.S. ratification of the unnecessary and dangerous Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)—a treaty that is so radical and unhelpful to women that during the last three decades, regardless of which party controlled either the Senate or the White House (or both), the U.S. Senate has declined to ratify.
• Aid and abet the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as they give support to China’s forced abortion and sterilization efforts (now that’s ending violence against women isn’t it!).
• Create a new office for “Women’s Global Issues” (more tax dollars at work!) which will most certainly have as one of its main goals the strengthening of “reproductive and sexual rights” and will work to make sure that abortion on demand is achieved worldwide.
• Has no language which would ban the funding of prostitution and sex trafficking thus subjecting more women and girls to degradation and suffering.

Read that partial list and tell us where the violence against women and their unborn children is ended by this piece of legislation. This bill could come before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sometime this week.  Contact the committee and tell them that women deserve better.

Healthcare Update: Obama signs Executive Order

President Obama finally signed the Executive Order (EO) he promised to pro-life Democrats Wednesday afternoon.  The EO was the tipping point in gaining Stupak and twelve Democratic pro-life votes for health care reform. Without their votes the bill would not have passed.

Before Obama even signed the EO, pro-life groups across the country denounced it, saying it was not enough to prevent taxpayers from covering abortions.

The president’s order instructs government agencies “to establish a comprehensive, government-wide set of policies and procedures” within 180 days that would make sure that federal funds are segregated from abortion services, except in the cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother.

Family Research Council analyst David Christensen explains, “An Executive Order simply cannot trump statutory law. If the Senate bill passes, the various abortion funding provisions in it will become the law of the land unfettered by this EO.”

Obviously the pro-life community is upset with the results of the vote and now the EO. What is interesting is that the pro-abortion community is just as angry.  NOW President Terri O’Neill said,

“We remain deeply dismayed by it. President Obama campaigned as a pro-choice candidate. He campaigned as a person, he said, who was opposed to the Hyde Amendment. This deal, with Bart Stupak, is simply unacceptable.”

While Obama’s EO is better than nothing, it’s important we recognize that this fight is far from over.  So far 14 state Attorney Generals have filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government and the Senate still has to vote on changes to the bill.

Day 9: Utah at the UN

Utah’s current legislation for Utah State House Bill 12 has been a hot topic throughout the country, even with an article in the New York Times (with a quote from Laura Bunker, President of UFI Utah!) printed in February.

House Bill 12 says that a woman found to have harmed her unborn child through “intentional, knowing or negligent” acts could be charged with criminal homicide.  Basically, a woman who purposely miscarries is held responsible for her actions.

Although it is awesome that Utah’s bill has been mentioned in two separate side events here at CSW, they are getting it all wrong. They are preaching to the women here that Utah is making miscarriages illegal. If you think about that statement for approximately 30 seconds you will realize how ridiculous that is, and obviously untrue.

About 15-20 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage naturally. They are often caused by chromosomal abnormalities which don’t allow the fertilized egg to develop properly. For Utah’s legislature to deem this an illegal act makes no sense whatsoever. This is because they are not.

The bill was signed by the Governor Gary Herbert on Monday.

Every Vote Counts

By now you know that Scott Brown, a Republican, won the Senate seat vacated by the late Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts last week. In one of the most Democratic states in the Union (less then 10% of voters are registered as Republican) the people made their voices heard.

Brown was elected by the little grassroots campaign that could. Despite Obama flying to Massachusetts to support Attorney General Martha Coakley just two days before the election, Brown won. Why?

Brown is a guy you want to be friends with. He’s an attractive older guy (Cosmopolitan Magazine: America’s Sexiest Man 1982) who drives a pick up (area GMC dealers are reporting a spike in sales of trucks) and like any dad, embarrasses his daughters in public (His daughter is single, if you were wondering). Brown is a lot easier to relate to then Coakley and he made sure the people of Massachusetts knew he was willing to represent them with their best interests at heart.

Moderate and Independent voters made this election. With such a small Republican contingent in Massachusetts, Moderates, Independents and unhappy Democrat voters were vital to the success of Brown’s campaign. These voters educated themselves and were able to vote not blindly by political party but by candidate and policies. The rest of the country needs to look to the voters of Massachusetts as an example of what you should do. Educate yourself. On the politician, their policies and their history to make an educated decision for who will best represent you and your family.

Most importantly, every vote counts. No matter where you live and how set in its ways a state may appear, you have to get out and vote. Brown would have never won the election if the people of Massachusetts hadn’t actually gone to the polls to vote. Passion is what drives people to the polls to vote, not political affiliation. Be passionate about making sure the correct people are elected to stand for your beliefs.  There is no point in complaining about elected officials  if you haven’t even made the effort to vote.

There are elections later this year. Be pro-active and be smart. And vote!

Senate Votes on Abortion Amendment Today

A pro-life amendment is finally being added to Senator Harry Reid’s health care bill. Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb) introduced the amendment to the Senate health care bill on Monday. The amendment, which essentially mirrors the language of the Stupak Amendment, would ban abortion coverage within the government sponsored public option and prevent women receiving federal health insurance subsidies from purchasing insurance plans that cover abortion.

This new amendment enforces the already existing federal policy on abortion written in the Hyde Amendment, which has banned federal funding of abortions for decades now. The current draft of the Senate bill, on the other hand, allows women to purchase insurance plans that cover abortion with federally subsidized funds while stipulating that no federal funds are used to directly cover the procedure. This is a simple accounting trick that amounts to nothing more than federally subsidized abortion.

“As written, the Senate healthcare bill allows taxpayer dollars, directly and indirectly, to pay for insurance plans that cover abortion,” Sen. Nelson said in a statement on Monday. “Most Nebraskans, and Americans, do not favor using public funds to cover abortion and as a result this bill shouldn’t open the door to do so.”

Pro-abortion factions, however, argue that the amendment would violate women’s rights by making it too difficult for women receiving federal funding for health care to pay for an abortion. Sen. Boxer (D-Cal.), for example, claimed Monday that those attempting to limit federal funding for abortion were attempting to use health care legislation to limit women’s rights.

This logic is fundamentally unsound, however. Refusing to publicly fund a procedure does not legally limit a woman’s right to obtain it. At what point did the law permitting abortion shift into a legal mandate to ensure that all women have funding for it. In truth, the Nelson amendment does nothing more than enforce the federal policy on abortion as it currently exists.

The Senate is currently debating the amendment and is expected to vote later today. Unfortunately, many in support of the amendment are in doubt that it has enough votes to pass. “A lot of us on the Republican side will support that,” said the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee. “The question is whether or not you can get 60, which I think is very much in doubt.”

Write or call your Senators TODAY to ensure that the amendment gets the 60 votes it needs. As the Senate health care bill currently exists, your federal tax dollars will be used to subsidize the abortion of thousands of unborn children. Let your Senators know that you will not tolerate your tax dollars being used to support a practice to which you are morally opposed.

Senate Health Care Bill Removes Stupak Amendment and Funds Abortion

Saturday the Senate voted 60-39 to move the U.S. Senate Health Care Bill sponsored by Sen. Harry Reid to the floor for open debate. This newest rendition of the health care bill has removed the Stupak Amendment, which prohibits all public funding for abortion, and replaced it with a thinly veiled rewording of the Capps Amendment, once included in the House bill.

In our alert two weeks ago, we informed you of the dangers of the Capps amendment and its concealed mandate for publicly funded abortions. The new health care bill from the Senate includes the same mandate and the same misleading accounting scheme.

According to Douglas Johnson, National Right to Life legislative director, Sen. Reid’s new bill authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to require abortion coverage throughout the newly established public option.

“This would be federal government funding of abortion, no matter how hard they try to disguise it,” he says.

Similarly, affordability credits—federal subsidies for purchasing private health care plans—can be used to purchase private plans that include abortion coverage.

The Senate is expected to begin debating the bill November 30. UFI will keep you updated as the bill progresses.

The American People Have Said They Don’t Want It… Why Is the Government Still Pushing Obamacare?

Scare Tactics on Parade:

“Health authorities say almost a hundred children have died from the flu and 46 states now have widespread flu activity.  More than 5,000 people have reportedly died from swine flu since it emerged this year and developed into a global epidemic. In Houston, Texas, there were two swine flu deaths… What do we say to that child’s parents?  I can only imagine that there might have been some difficulty in that child receiving that flu shot.  So many are in that predicament, so many do not have access to doctors and clinics and health insurance or a vigorous, robust public option”

—Sheila Jackson Lee, Congresswoman

On Thursday– This week on “Voice of the Nation” we will be discussing the healthcare scare being pushed through congress.  Polls show that the American people do not support government run healthcare.  Why is it that after a summer of discussion, concern and voicing our objections to the healthcare policies being put forward by this congress that the concerns of the people are not being heard?

Join us as we speak with Cheryl Flake, wife of Congressman Jeff Flake of Arizona. With personal experiences involving their son, Cheryl believes that if they didn’t live here in the US with the great medical care and advancements available here, her son would be severely handicapped.

Guest: Cheryl Flake – Cheryl is the wife of Congressman Jeff Flake who represents the 6^th district of Arizona.  She has worked on Capitol Hill for Senator Heinz, and has taught private piano and voice for 14 years.  Besides being a dedicated mother to her five beautiful children, Cheryl also serves on her elementary school’s PTO board and is active in Mesa Republican Women, church and community.

TUNE IN HERE

Good news! Abstinence Education is back in the federal budget.

In a narrow vote earlier this week, the Senate Finance Committee approved an amendment to reinstate abstinence education funds removed from the budget earlier this year by President Obama and abortion advocates.

The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-UT, restores $50 million dollars in funding through new Title V state block grant programs. It passed by only a narrow 12-11 vote, but it is a hopeful sign for abstinence education advocates who were facing zero federal funding for 2010.

In May of this year, President Obama zeroed out all federal funding for abstinence education in his proposed budget for 2010 and replaced it with $104 million for a new “evidence-based” teen pregnancy prevention program. In the House, representatives offered an amendment that required some of this funding to go towards non-governmental abstinence education but it failed to pass. Two weeks later Title V federal funding for abstinence education expired, eliminating all federal funds for abstinence education.

Thus, the excitement over Tuesday’s vote, which restores the hope of funding for sex-education programs that actually works to protect those most susceptible to teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other negative effects of teen sexual activity.

“The absence of an abstinence only education program has negative health consequences for our nation’s most vulnerable citizens,” Hatch explained. “Teenage pregnancy is a leading contributor to poverty, which in turn leads to poor health outcomes for mothers and children; sexually active teens are more likely to experience mental health issues such as depression or attempted suicide; and sexually active teens are more likely to suffer health consequences such as increased rates of infection with sexually transmitted diseases.”

Unfortunately, the battle is not over. The amendment still needs a floor vote in the Senate. So there is still time to help.

If you want to join in the fight, visit Parents for Truth or the National Abstinence Education Association for information on advocacy. Or to learn more about the proven success of abstinence education, visit AbstinenceWorks.org.