Let ERA Rest in Peace

When fresh ideas are scarce, desperate folks resort to recycling old ones (“The Equal Rights Amendment: Wrong Then, Wrong Now“). The Equal Rights Amendment is one of those outdated concepts best left in the past, along with other discarded relics of the ’70s – burned bras, platform shoes and peace medallions.

Now that the United States has its first woman at the helm of the House of Representatives – and another gender defender holds a frighteningly realistic chance of occupying the White House in her own right – feminism once again seems to be in vogue. Know this: ERA has nothing to do with improving life for women. Instead, reviving the ERA is a thinly veiled attempt at setting public policy based on gender neutrality.

Women in America, however, are too wise to fall for this ruse and allow themselves to become pawns in the Left’s agenda to dismantle the distinctions God established between men and women.

To set the record straight, the ERA wasn’t exactly a new idea when Congress passed it in 1972. The proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provided that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex,” had been languishing in the legislature since 1923. At the time of its passage, the public knew very little about the bill until the feminism movement embraced it as leverage for strengthening the status of women in society.

By the July 1982 ratification deadline, the amendment lacked support from the required 38 states (although 35 states did ratify the ERA, four states later rescinded their support). There’s a reason the Equal Rights Amendment faltered in 1923, and every subsequent year that it was introduced. There’s no need for it.

If the so-called “weaker sex” really needed a constitutional amendment to advance equality, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton – who leads the field of Democrats vying for the party’s presidential nomination – would not be where they are today.

As powerful as women have become in the political arena, there is still something that Pelosi and Clinton can’t do today: give their gay and lesbian supporters permission to “marry.” Such unions likely would be easier to legitimize in a nation where acknowledgement of a person’s gender is unconstitutional.

There are certain to be other unintended consequences. For example, two states already have ruled that equal-rights amendments in state constitutions justify state funding for abortion. If the pro-death movement wants something to kill, let it be the Equal Rights Amendment. Save babies and biblical marriage by letting the ERA rest in peace.

Source:  www.centerformoralclarity.net

Don’t Cross the Line

Transporting a minor across state lines for an abortion without parental consent ought to be a federal crime. It’s a common-sense measure that should transcend political lines – but in the last session of Congress, lawmakers were unable to move the legislation to the president for his signature. It’s time to try again.

Click here to send an e-mail urging Congress to pass the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act.

U.S. Ileana Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and 105 original co-sponsors have re-introduced the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act. This critical legislation makes it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion, for the purpose of evading a state’s parental-consent law or parental-notification law.

Most people agree that parents should have a legal right to make medical decisions on behalf of their children. Surveys reveal a wide stream of support for the inclusion of parents in abortion decisions. In a 2004 Gallup poll, 69 percent of respondents favored parental notification.

It is a strange contradiction that girls must obtain signed parental consent to have their ears pierced or get a tattoo, yet they can have an abortion without a mother or father knowing it took place. Perhaps this is why 31 states have laws in effect that require the consent or notification of at least one parent, or court authorization, before a minor can obtain an abortion.

In November, voters in both California and Oregon rejected measures that would have required abortion clinics to notify parents 48 hours before performing abortions on underage girls. Thankfully, however, those states are in the minority. Twenty-two states have laws mandating parental consent for minors seeking an abortion, and 14 states require parents to be notified before an abortion is performed on a minor child. Another nine states have similar laws that are not being enforced because of court challenges.

The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act will not create a new mandate. It will simply require the enforcement of state laws that are designed to protect our daughters from potential harm.

The Center for Moral Clarity stands strong in support of parental rights. Parents are ultimately responsible for the health and safety of their children, and they need to be involved in the decision-making process.

“I have supported this bill, and members of the Center for Moral Clarity have urged their representatives in Congress to pass this legislation because it should be a federal offense to cross state lines in an effort to circumvent state parental notification laws,” said Pastor Rod Parsley, founder and president of the Center for Moral Clarity. “This bill simply promotes parental involvement in one of the most important moral decisions their daughters will ever make.”

Parents must not be shut out of their children’s lives.

Source:  www.centerformoralclarity.net

If Not Enforced, Life-preserving Law is Useless

A newspaper columnist in South Dakota suggested last week that it’s time to end the debate over abortion. The writer said she was “bone tired” of the endless discussion of such issues as the right to life and moral imperatives. This is precisely the result abortion advocates hope to achieve.

Christians must not grow weary; the battle for life is far from over. As Bible-believers pursue policies that cultivate a culture of life, they also must follow up and make certain the laws enacted are, in fact, enforced.

Click here to support CMC’s campaign to uphold and enforce the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act.

It’s a national disgrace that abortion kills more than a million babies a year in America, and that clinics and hospitals defy the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act – allowing innocent abortion survivors to die. President George W. Bush signed the legislation into law in 2002, mandating medical assistance for any child born alive, even if that birth occurs during an abortion procedure.

Five years later, battle-fatigued Christians must be vigilant to make sure every baby benefits from the provisions of this law. A situation reported last week in Florida reveals how easy it is simply to look the other way, ignoring the inhumanity.

On Feb. 9, when a man came to the back door of an abortion clinic carrying the body of a baby in a bag, a pro-life activist contacted police. The Good Samaritan was concerned that the baby had been born alive, then deprived of medical treatment, in violation of the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. Police refused to investigate, noting that as a policy they didn’t get involved in the abortion industry.

What purpose is served by a law that’s not enforced? The law requires that if an infant is born alive, life-sustaining treatment must be provided to that child. These innocent victims can’t speak for themselves. Advocates for the sanctity of all human life must stand up and be heard on their behalf.

Please be a voice for righteousness by adding your name to CMC’s petition, which asks federal authorities to assure that clinics follow the law.

Click here to support CMC’s campaign to uphold and enforce the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act.

Source:  www.centerformoralclarity.net

Slavery Isn’t a Relic of the Past

The 16,000-member Christian Medical Association (CMA) has asked the Bush administration and its federal agencies to take part in a nationwide education campaign to help medical professionals better identify victims of human trafficking.

Since the training would increase the likelihood of treating people who have been tortured and sold, the Center for Moral Clarity endorses such educational campaigns as one more way of restoring value to human life.

Click Here to download and watch the latest CMC Moment, and hear Pastor Rod Parsley’s message on slavery.

Dr. Jeffrey Barrows, a CMA member, has been teaching other doctors about the existence of modern-day slavery and how to recognize the tell-tale signs of victimization by traffickers. According to the doctor, a recent study found that 28 percent of human trafficking victims were taken to see health-care professionals who did not realize the horrific trauma they had endured.

This finding, Barrows said, is evidence that the CMA training is needed. So the Christian physicians developed an online, continuing medical education program, which they hope the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of State will champion.

CMA’s emphasis on human trafficking is being advanced in conjunction with the soon-to-be-released movie “Amazing Grace,” a biographical film on abolitionist William Wilberforce. As a member of the British House of Commons, Wilberforce fought for 20 years to pass legislation banning the slave trade. On Feb. 23, 1807, Parliament banned buying and selling humans in the British Empire, but it was not until 1833 that the House of Commons voted to abolish slavery altogether.

The Feb. 23 release of “Amazing Grace” has been timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the end of the slave trade in Britain. The abolition of slavery, however, remains an unfinished story. Two centuries years later, human trafficking still claims hundreds of thousands of victims. So Wilberforce’s legacy must serve as an inspiration to continue the fight for human life and dignity.

Click here to send an e-mail to your U.S. senator, asking him or her to pass Senate Resolution 84, which honors William Wilberforce and the end of the British slave trade.

For many Americans, slavery is an institution of a long-gone era, ending with the Civil War in 1865. The grim reality, though, is that slavery isn’t relegated to history, and the trade of human chattel has evolved into the trafficking of women and children. The U.S. State Department estimates that there are 27 million people worldwide who are living in slavery today.

Awareness is the first step toward change. The ongoing human rights violations in Sudan deserve America’s attention, but it’s insufficient to merely raise public awareness on the issue. Christians have a moral obligation to be a voice for the victims of human trafficking.

CMC members can use their voice to denounce the violence and killing associated with modern-day slavery. The Center for Moral Clarity also supports accountability, which can be achieved by pulling American investment dollars out of Sudan until the atrocities end.

Click here to send an e-mail to Congress asking your representatives to pass House Resolution 7, denouncing the genocide in Darfur.

Click here to send an e-mail to Congress asking your representatives to pass H.R. 180, the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act.

Source:  www.centerformoralclarity.net

Fight for Freedom Continues

At the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, there is a magnificent memorial dedicated to the courageous men and women who helped to bring freedom to all people in America.

More than 40,000 Americans of African descent found freedom through the surreptitious network of safe havens and daring advocates of liberty who defied the social norm of their generation. They didn’t just believe in freedom; they took action to help the enslaved secure it.

Sadly, as the nation observes Black History Month and the struggle race has endured in search of human and civil rights, there are 27 million people worldwide living in slavery. There is no place this horror is more widespread than in the African nation of Sudan, where slavery is compounded by mass murder.

Click here to send an e-mail to Congress asking your representatives to pass House Resolution 7, denouncing the genocide in Darfur.

Click here to send an e-mail to Congress asking your representatives to pass H.R. 180, the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act.

During the past two decades of civil war, Sudanese government-sponsored Arab militias have captured men and women and sold them into bondage. They have been subjected to beatings, racial and religious insults, forced labor and denial of the freedom to practice any religion other than Islam. Most of the girls and women had also been sexually abused.

“Today, multiplied tens of thousands of enslaved black African Christians in Sudan have no voice. For nearly a decade I’ve made my voice heard in our nation’s capital on their behalf,” said Pastor Rod Parsley. “Together with concerned citizens, we literally flooded Congress with our petitions demanding passage of the Sudan Peace Act, condemning the many violations of human rights, including Sudan’s slave trade.”

President George W. Bush signed that important piece of legislation into law Oct. 2, 2002. Yet the violence and brutality continue.

Darfur, an impoverished region roughly the size of France, is becoming one of the most dangerous areas in the world even for United Nations’ aid workers. In many places roads are deemed either “no go” or extremely insecure, making it difficult to reach those in need, especially in North and West Darfur.

The situation deteriorates daily: more than 2 million people are internally displaced, with another 25,000 added to that total last month alone. The Center for Moral Clarity supports passage of two pieces of legislation aimed at bringing peace to this war-torn nation – and freedom to the victims of the violence.

House Resolution 7 denounces the genocide click here to read the resolution, and H.R. 180 click here to read the bill would withhold U.S. funding and university contracts from companies conducting business with Sudan until there is hard evidence that Sudan’s government is not still supporting the travesty taking place there.

This is a time when Christians must not be silent. You can lend your voice to the thousands of concerned Americans who are want to help end the violence, the slavery and the suffering in Sudan.

Click here to send an e-mail to Congress asking your representatives to pass House Resolution 7, denouncing the genocide in Darfur.

Click here to send an e-mail to Congress asking your representatives to pass H. R. 180, the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act.

Together Bible believers can be a mighty force to help bring an end to the violence and slavery in Sudan. Do your part today!