E-Alert 3.11.10
Thursday March 11, 2010 - 06:44 AM In this Edition: Two ongoing action items; Reminder: Lobby Day in two weeks; Update on casino debate; SJC again overturns a conviction of a child predator; Boston Globe runs letter in response to anti-marriage editorial; CT begins defense of ban on assisted suicide; Mrs. Tom Brady promotes motherhood in blog post; Save-the-Date: Truth Project training in Worcester. Be sure to click on eForce to receive our MFI eForce E-Alert in your Inbox every Wednesday.
There are two items that remain on the front burner, one here in Massachusetts, and another in Washington:
·Bathroom Bill – The Judiciary Committee has until March 17 to send the infamous “bathroom room” to the full Legislature to debate and a vote, something they have been very reluctant to do. We know that our opponents are putting an excessive amount of pressure on the Committee to approve the bill, but most members remain skeptical. If you nave not emailed the Judiciary Committee yet on this bill, please do so today by CLICKING HERE.
·Healthcare – Washington continues to be abuzz as Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are scrambling to assemble enough votes to force the healthcare takeover, complete with abortion funding, through Congress and to a waiting President Obama using ‘reconciliation.’ Please take a moment to email your member of Congress. Ask them to oppose reconciliation, and oppose this takeover of healthcare. Click Here to send your email.
Thank you for your continued support of these, and all public policy initiatives that we call on you to participate in. If you are able to support our work financially, please consider becoming a recurring donor to MFI through our “MFI Partners” program. Click Here for more information and to donate.
Massachusetts Family Institute and the Coalition for Marriage & Family are holding our annual Lobby Day at the State House in Boston on Tuesday, March 23rd. We will be lobbying legislators on various bills. There will be guest speakers, as well as comprehensive training on how to effectively lobby legislators. The event will be held in Room B-2 starting at 10:30 am.
Please CLICK HERE to RSVP for this important event.
According to the State House News Service, while House leaders have not yet announced when they will debate the expanded gambling bill or the fiscal 2011 budget, a memo from Speaker Robert DeLeo, citing House tradition, suggests the budget debate could begin April 26. DeLeo said Tuesday he hoped to release his proposal calling for two casinos and an unspecified number of slot machines at four racetracks in late March or early April. The House has traditionally experienced efforts to expand legalized gambling prior to or in concert with its annual budge debate.
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts yesterday threw out the conviction of a 50-year-old man found guilty of sending nude images to a police officer posing as a 15-year-old girl, arguing that the Essex County jury should have been told to think like residents of Hampshire County, where the crime occurred. According to the State House News Service, under the state “harmful matter” laws, a person who disseminates naked images to minors can only be convicted if the matter is deemed “obscene” or if it is “patently contrary” to standards “in the county where the offense was committed.” The SJC said the jury of Essex County residents was never told to look at the evidence from the points of view of residents of Hampshire County. Prosecutors had argued that the photos were offensive by any county’s standards.
Civil right of marriage must be defined at the ballot
March 9, 2010
RE “GAY rights by law, not vote’’ (Editorial, Feb. 28): The key question is where do civil rights come from, judges or the people? An opinion that it’s unfair to deny civil marriage status to same-sex couples is only that - an opinion. It does not gain civil rights status in a democracy until the people, through democracy itself, ratify the opinion as law.
We are not ruled by judges, but by law, and law is a product of the people, whether acting directly through a referendum or indirectly through their elected representatives by passage of a statute.
If we want our democracy to remain a democracy, then the civil right of marriage must be defined at the ballot, and not in the courts.
On Monday, the state of Connecticut began its defense of the state law banning assisted suicide. The state argued in the first hearing challenging the law that assisted suicide is an issue for the legislature, not the courts, to decide. Two Fairfield County doctors, Gary Blick and Ronald Levine, have brought the lawsuit and are being backed by the advocacy group “Compassion *Choices.” They argue that “aid in dying” is a legitimate medical treatment when a mentally competent patient has exhausted all other avenues for getting well and for alleviating pain. Currently, only Washington and Oregon allow physician-assisted suicide. An associate attorney general pointed to the fact that a bill didn’t even make it out of committee during last year’s session. The state wants the case dismissed. Last month, Massachusetts Family Institute testified at the State House against a bill legalizing such a practice in the Bay State.
Gisele Bundchen, the wife of New England Patriot’s quarterback Tom Brady, posted a blog on International Women’s Day about becoming a mother. “Being committed to building a family, becoming a mother and raising a child with love and awareness is for me, the single biggest responsibility a woman could have,” wrote Bundchen. “Giving birth was the most intense and life-changing experience of my life.” Of her 3-month-old baby Benjamin, she says, “When he finally was placed into my arms, I looked into his precious eyes and felt an overwhelming, unconditional love. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. ‘We did it!’ ‘We did it together!’” She concluded with a most pro-life sentiment: “To give life to another being, what a gift!”
Massachusetts Family Institute will be holding a training event for The Truth Project on Saturday morning, May 1, 2010 at First Assembly of God in Worcester. Online registration should be available soon. These partner training events are designed for those who want to lead The Truth Project in a small group at their own church. Our last training event, held in North Reading in December, attracted some 50 pastors and ministry leaders from all over the Northeast. For more information about The Truth Project, visit www.thetruthproject.org.
