Can the Revelations of VA Scandal be a “Gift from God”?

The personal story of Dr. Ben Carson is remarkable; and his common-sense, unapologetic brand of conservatism is a breath of fresh air.  Given his initial success in the political realm, it’s no surprise that some conservative admirers have undertaken a ‘draft Carson’ in 2016 movement.  Carson is a measured, accomplished gentleman.

 

Did you hear these remarks from this former neurosurgeon last week on Fox News? – “I think what’s happening with the veterans is a gift from God to show us what happens when you take layers and layers of bureaucracy and place them between the patients and the health care provider.  And if we can’t get it right, with the relatively small number of veterans, how in the world are you going to do it with the entire population?”  Radio host Rush Limbaugh built a similar case last week, saying the problems with Veterans Affairs (VA), which include reports of misconduct and crushing wait times that have been linked to dozens of deaths, provide only a glimpse of the broader havoc ObamaCare will wreak.  Carson and Limbaugh understand the situation.

 

It is in no way offensive or out of bounds for conservatives to seize on the systemic failures and abuses of the VA health system … which the ‘Left’ has extolled as an emblem of the promise of government-run health care … as a means to warn the nation against governmental healthcare meddling.  ObamaCare’s “cost control” measures … to the extent that they exist … rely on rationing.

 

Fully socialized medicine would make matters worse.  If we can’t execute single-payer coverage for a relatively small band of people whom we all agree have earned our help, applying that model to the entire country is an impractical fool’s errand … which is to say that Carson’s point is crucial and correct.

 

When Carson uses the phrase – “gift from God” – he is saying that the current situation presents a relevant and pressing opportunity for opponents of government healthcare.  The present VA circumstances illustrate the perils of such a system.  The system is being abused. Veterans are suffering and dying.  The White House has done practically nothing in response, beyond the usual expressions of shock and outrage, followed by obligatory investigations.  VA Secretary Shinseki still has his job.  Though the calls for his resignation or removal are growing, it seems as though the president’s party remains unwilling to loudly call out Obama’s weak response, even though improving the care of our veterans was supposedly a major passion of the President.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Take It From VA; Repeal Obamacare

Now if you want a sneak preview of America’s healthcare future, look at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  This is socialized medicine at its finest – government-run, single-payer style healthcare.  If President Obama and his fellow socialists are correct, VA ought to be a medical paradise on earth.  But of course it’s not.  Every day more news arrives of patient deaths due to delayed access to treatment, mounting waiting lists, fraudulent jiggering of the numbers to conceal failure to treat, and the list goes on.

 

Here’s the latest, from the Washington Examiner :

 

When (Eric) Shinseki took office (as Secretary of Veterans Affairs), he vowed that every disability claim would be processed within 125-days with 98% accuracy.  But the backlogs only got worse.  [It took about 4-months for VA to process a disability compensation claim when Shinseki was sworn in 2009.  By 2012, the average wait time was about 9-months.]

 

In February 2013, the Examiner published a five-part series, “Making America’s Heroes Wait,” showing more than 1.1 million veterans with disability claims and appeals were trapped in bureaucratic limbo in VA.

 

About 70% of the 900,000 claims for initial benefits were considered backlogged, meaning they were older than 125-days.

 

The Examiner series also showed how agency statistics were manipulated to hide mistakes that doomed veterans into appeals that could drag on for years.

 

Pressure from Congress, veterans groups and the media prompted VA to launch an initiative to reduce the claims backlog.  Claims processors were required to work overtime and the oldest claims — some of which were more than 2-years old — were given top priority.  The backlog slowly declined.  Today, about half of the nearly 600,000 benefits claims are backlogged.  [There are about 275,000 appeals, an increase of 25,000 from a year ago.]

 

VA is the poster child for ‘death panels,’ an inevitable outcome when government … which decomposes everything it touches … is placed in charge of healthcare:

 

An outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease was reported in Pittsburgh, PA in November 2012.  Subsequent investigations by the inspector general and area media eventually linked a half-dozen patient deaths from the disease to faulty maintenance and poor management.  Reports of other deaths followed.

 

Four patients under VA’s care in Atlanta, GA died of a drug overdose or suicides.

 

In Columbia, S.C., at least six patient deaths from colorectal cancers were linked to delays in receiving colonoscopies at veterans’ medical facilities.

 

VA eventually acknowledged that delays in providing care was linked to the deaths of 23-patients who died of gastrointestinal cancers at veterans’ health facilities.  Deaths from other conditions were not disclosed.

 

As with disability claims there are indications that VA has been hiding long backlogs in delivering health care by manipulating its statistics.

 

The Examiner reported in February 2014 that back-logged orders for medical care were being massively purged at hospitals in Los Angeles, CA and Dallas, TX.  Citing congressional testimony and VA’s own internal documents, the Examiner found as many as 40,000 medical tests and other procedures were cancelled in Los Angeles and another 13,000 in Dallas.

 

Earlier this month, the Examiner disclosed a nation-wide purge in the past year that cleared 1.5- million backlogged medical orders with no guarantee the patients got the care they needed.

 

ObamaCare is simply VA on steroids.  Whatever the problems are with VA, they will be multiplied under ObamaCare.  We have all read stories of restricted access, doctors and hospitals that are out of the network, and seriously ill patients with no place to go.  And we’re just getting started.  This is all before the system has to incorporate the estimated 144-million who will get dumped onto ‘HumptyDumptyCare’ by businesses that can’t afford the premiums and don’t want the hassle of trying to conform to ObamaCare’s regulations.  In other words, we’ve not seen anything yet.

 

ObamaCare must be totally repealed, not partially.  There is nothing redeemable here; nothing to save.  If the government can’t provide healthcare to the 1% (our veterans), then how will it service the other 99% of Americans?  The bottom line: We should get the government out healthcare, period!

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Memorial Day: We Honor Them by Remaining Vigilant

Today we honor the memory of the more than 1.2 million Americans in uniform who have given their lives for our country.  No words can adequately describe the valor of the men and women we honor today.  They defended the future of freedom at places like Bunker Hill and Yorktown, Gettysburg and Antietam, the trenches of France, Guadalcanal and Normandy, the Korean peninsula, Vietnam, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.  Thanks to America's service members, freedom endures.

 

For more than 200-years, Americans have distinguished themselves on the battlefields for freedom.  In places far from American soil, men and women, representing every race, religion and creed of this diverse American melting pot, have willingly donned an American military uniform and defended this country.  And they all knew the risk.

 

The Americans we honor today loved the ideals and values upon which this nation was founded – values like loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage.

 

As we pay homage to our nation’s fallen soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, let us reaffirm our national commitment of keeping the freedom torch burning for tomorrow.  Let us support the American armed forces that are defending freedom even at this moment.  For today’s armed forces personnel, the mission of defending freedom lives on … strengthened by our eternal memory of American patriots who have given their lives to preserve peace and democracy for future generations.  Your support of our armed forces is one of the most powerful weapons in the war against terrorism.

 

In addition to honoring the memory of those who gave their lives for this country, I urge you to remember in your prayers their families; and to our living veterans and to the service men and women who continue to defend our freedom.

 

The words that adorn the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery, where some of our heroes are interred, also speak volumes about the bravery and valor of the men and women who risked their lives for our nation:

 

“Not for fame or reward, not for place or rank, not lured by ambition  or goaded by necessity, but in simple obedience to duty as they understood it, these men suffered all, sacrificed all, dared all and died.”

 

May the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country live forever in our memories.  And may we honor them by doing everything we can to protect freedom for future generations, whenever, and wherever, it is threatened.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Hollywood Horror – ‘Islamaphobia’ … Coming to a Theatre Near You!

Better late than never!  The folks in Hollywood have finally realized the horrors of Shariah Law.  

 

According to the Wall Street Journal:

 

The pink stucco palace known as the Beverly Hills Hotel has long been a symbol of Hollywood glamour and affluence, the place where Elizabeth Taylor decamped for six of her eight honeymoons.  Now it's become the unlikely epicenter of protest against a new set of harsh laws enacted by the Islamic country of Brunei.

 

The opulent hotel is part of the Dorchester Collection, a luxury chain owned by the Sultan of Brunei.  This week, the tiny, oil-rich southeast Asian country set off a storm of celebrity protests and boycotts by introducing Islamic laws that include death by stoning for homosexuals and adulterers.

 

Over the past several days, 20-events have been canceled at the Beverly Hills property – a loss of about $2 million in revenue for the hotel, according to Dorchester.  Local politicians and celebrities are also boycotting the nearby Hotel Bel Air in Los Angeles, the hotel’s more subdued sister property.

 

Big names like Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres are urging boycotts, and the Beverly Hills mayor and council are calling for Dorchester to sell the famed hotel.

 

At long last, Hollywood is understandings that radical Islam calls for the stoning women and the murder of gays.  Where have they been for the past 50-years?  

 

Katie Pavlich of Townhall.com said, “I won’t hold my breathe waiting for the left to call their Hollywood friends ‘Islamaphobic’ – that term is typically reserved for conservatives who warn about radical Islam. Further, I won’t bother hoping Hollywood liberals will reject the Obama Administration’s tolerance of the Iranian regime or the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.”  [Both believe homosexuality should be punished by death and gays are being publicly hanged regularly in Iran.]

 

I wonder if those who live in the ‘bubble’ of Hollywood … who are outraged over their sacred hotel’s Islamic foreign ownership … have a clue of Shariah Law’s gains across America.  [Read my previous blog postings – Nov. 1, Sep. 27, Sep. 13, Aug. 26, Jul. 22.]  

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Equal Access in Public Schools … Except for Christians?

Last week, the Lake County (FL) School Board voted unanimously to enter into a ‘Consent Decree’ granting the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) at Mount Dora High School the same rights as other non-curricular student clubs.  Liberty Counsel filed a lawsuit earlier this spring and sought a preliminary injunction to immediately end the district’s longstanding discriminatory treatment of FCA.  The ‘Consent Decree’ will be submitted to the federal court in Ocala for approval.

 

If approved by the court, the ‘Consent Decree’ will grant FCA 100% of the injunctive relief it sought in the litigation and will require the district to permanently grant the following benefits to FCA, on the same terms as they are granted to all other non-curricular high school clubs:

 

• Access to the public address system for club announcements,

• Access to bulletin boards and school marquee for club announcements,

• Permission to post club flyers and information in and around classrooms where FCA meets,

• A club webpage on the district’s website,

• Permission for club members to wear a colored cord at graduation to signify club membership, and

• Inclusion of the club in the school yearbook.

 

The ‘Consent Decree’ also establishes that the district violated the constitutional and statutory rights of FCA and its members by denying them these benefits.  The ‘Consent Decree’ requires the district to pay $315 in damages for these violations, as well as the substantial attorney’s fees required to correct its conduct.

 

“Public schools cannot treat Christian students as constitutional orphans,” said Horatio Mihet, Senior Litigation Counsel at Liberty Counsel.  “It is a shame that the school board stubbornly refused for several years to listen to reason and forced FCA to file a lawsuit to vindicate its right to equal access and equal treatment,” added Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel.  “We are thrilled to return the Constitution from exile in Lake County Schools,” concluded Mihet.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Should the U.N. Seek to Silence the Church Regarding Abortion?

The Center for Reproductive Rights … a powerful and radical international abortion group … is trying to use the United Nations (U.N.) to stop the pro-life movement.

 

They’re actually trying to force the U.N. to use anti-torture treaties to silence that element of the Church that is pro-life … arguing that their message tortures women.  They contend that not even religious freedom should protect the pro-life message and that pro-life leaders should be viewed as international criminals.

 

This defies logic and is the height of absurdity.  It is exactly backwards.  Killing children is brutal and inhumane.

 

I guess we can expect this from the U.N.  But I have a difficult time when ‘so-called’ Christians do not embrace the pro-life advocates.  God is not pro-choice!  God-fearing and believing followers of Christ … who came to bring life … feel that Christians (like myself) must exercise tolerance instead of expounding truth!

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Will Proposed Party Politics Prohibit Prophetic Pulpit Preaching?

A pro-family organization is warning that ‘hate crime’-related legislation introduced on Capitol Hill could potentially squash free speech and create a “thought-controlled society.”

 

In mid-April, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) introduced a bill authorizing the government to monitor and analyze speech online, on television, and over the radio … with the aim of classifying it as ‘hate speech’ under the government’s own vague guidelines … and then possibly charging the ‘offenders’ with a ‘hate crime.’

 

The Hate Crime Reporting Act of 2014 (S. 2219) would create a comprehensive report of internet and other telecommunications speech regarding gender, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.  It would also create recommendations to address such crimes.

 

If S. 2219 becomes law, it would be “a really big step toward a police state,” says Patrick Vaughan, general counsel for the American Family Association (AFA).  “What they propose to do is capture and monitor everything that’s said on broadcast or everything that’s said on the internet; they’re going to grab it all,” the attorney describes.  “Then they're going to analyze it to see if there might be something going on that would lead to a crime in the future.”

 

Senator Markey’s fellow New York Democrat, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, has introduced a companion bill in the House (H.R. 3878). Jeffries says such legislation is necessary to “comprehensively evaluate the scope of criminal and hateful activity on the internet that occurs outside of the zone of 1st Amendment protection.”

 

But Vaughan says such legislation could have a chilling effect on groups like AFA.  “This gives a tool to the government so [they can punish] anybody that disagrees with them,” he states bluntly.  “Their speech will be captured and monitored and then punished if the government thinks that it might at some point in the future lead to a crime.”  And that’s a problem, concludes the attorney, because “normally the police don’t get involved until a crime has been committed.”

 

OneNewsNow columnist Robert Knight describes the legislation as a “hare-brained plan” and points out that even liberal commentator Alan Colmes opposes it.

 

Think about the implication for pastors (such as myself) who will not compromise the proclamation of God’s Word as absolute truth.  I can tell you right now, with the reproduction of over 300-DVD sermon titles of my preaching over the past 6-years, it would be easy for today’s humanists to take any number of my recordings out of context and falsely accuse me of ‘hate speech.’  Such a charge would, of course, call into question the 1st Amendment right to freely exercise one’s religion without government interference.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Should Churches be Permitted Use of Civic Facilities?

From the very beginning of the United States, churches have used civic facilities for worship services.  On December 4, 1800, while Thomas Jefferson was President of the Senate, Congress approved the weekly use of the United States Capitol for Christian worship services.  In fact, worship services were held in the Capitol building until well after the Civil War and Reconstruction.  In the years that followed, it was commonplace for church worship services to be held in public school buildings and for public schools to be held in church buildings.  Indeed, it makes a great deal of sense for churches and schools to occupy the same physical space given that churches generally operate at times when schools are not in session and vice versa.

 

Despite this long history and the fact that church use of governmental buildings has not led our country any closer to establishing a national religion, there are forces that do not want churches to use school buildings for religious worship.

 

There are two cases … one in Hawaii and the other in New York City … threaten the long tradition of churches using public school facilities:

 

In one case, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has been representing the Bronx Household of Faith in New York City for close to 20-years.  The New York City public schools established a policy that allows community groups to use school facilities, but prohibits using them for religious worship.  The case has bounced back and forth between the trial court and the appeals court in New York several times.  In the most recent ruling, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the school’s policy excluding religious worship was constitutional.  ADF appealed that ruling to the full Court of Appeals and will continue to fight for the ability of churches to use school facilities equally.  Churches should not be discriminated against simply because they are religious.

 

In another case, ADF represents two Hawaii churches who were sued by atheists, claiming that the churches knowingly underpaid rental fees to the schools they were using.  The lawsuit filed was brought under the state’s False Claims Act, which allows insiders who possess confidential information of fraud to file a whistleblower lawsuit to recover the money on behalf of the state and to assess triple damages.  If successful, the atheists get to keep a portion of the money they recovered, and they are asking for an award of several million dollars.  But the churches paid all the rent they were charged, and the Department of Education knew about the charges and payments by the churches.  ADF asked the trial court to dismiss this lawsuit.  Churches should not be bullied into giving up their right to equal use of government buildings.

 

These lawsuits are just a few of the attacks against churches using school facilities.  So how should a church respond?  Should they abandon any attempts to use school facilities for worship services?  No. This approach disregards the many start-up churches who can only afford to rent government school facilities.  It also ignores that in places like Hawaii and New York City, property is at a premium with frequently nowhere for churches to meet other than public buildings.  And it overlooks the rich history of complementary use of government buildings by churches since the very beginning of this country.

 

Churches should not be pushed out of public spaces simply because some find the message of the Gospel “offensive.”  Nor should churches voluntarily abandon the public square where the proclamation of the Gospel message is sorely needed.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Christian Persecution in Abduction of Nigerian Girls

A Persecution.org report states that a Boko Haram spokesman officially declared the radical insurgency’s responsibility for the kidnapping of 243 school girls from a secondary school in Chibok, Northern Nigeria [in April].  The report details the names and religious affiliations of 180 of those abducted.  Chibok is one of the few remaining Christian strongholds in Nigeria’s increasingly Islamized North.  More than 90% of the 180 known girls have been identified as Christians [released by the Christian Association of Nigeria]… confirming allegations that the girls were specifically targeted for their faith.  The revelation reiterates the specificity with which Boko Haram continues to carry out its campaign of terror against northern Christian populations in its quest to establish a separate Islamic state to be ruled by Shariah law.

 

On Sunday, May 4th, Boko Haram terrorists reportedly kidnapped 8 more girls.  Boko Haram is known for attacking Christians and government targets (bombing churches, schools and police stations), and kidnapping western tourists  Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency has resulted in an estimated 10,000 deaths between 2002 and 2013.

 

Last week, President Obama announced that Nigeria has accepted an offer of help by the United States, and that a team has been sent to try to rescue the girls.  “Obviously it’s a heartbreaking situation, outrageous situation,” President Obama told ABC on Tuesday.  “We’ve already sent in a team to Nigeria — they’ve accepted our help through a combination of military, law enforcement, and other agencies who are going in, trying to identify where in fact these girls might be and provide them help,” he added.

 

Since their abduction, efforts to get the authorities to release information proved unsuccessful … raising questions as to why their identities have been shrouded in secrecy.  When contacted, the Special Adviser for Media to the Borno State Governor, Alhaji Isa Gusau, said he could not verify the list released by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) … verified by the police and security forces, Borno State Government, the state Ministry of Education and the school authorities.

 

The statement issued by CAN said the kidnapping was premeditated and particularly targeted at Christians, as Chibok is a predominantly Christian community.  It added that about 90% of the residents are Christians, while the rest are of the Muslim faith.

 

Let us pray for Almighty God’s hedge of protection around these girls; the granting of wisdom to the team from our God who seeks and saves the lost; and God’s inner peace to those anxious loved ones who await word of the safe return of their young girls.  And may the righteous God exercise the punishment of justice on these evil terrorists.    

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

A Federal Court’s Injunction Halts Obamacare’s Abortion Pill Mandate

A Colorado federal court ordered a halt to the Obamacare abortion pill mandate for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) due to the statute’s direct violation of FOCUS sincere religious beliefs.

 

The group filed the lawsuit in December explaining:

 

FOCUS holds, as a matter of religious conviction, that it is immoral for FOCUS to intentionally participate in, pay for, train others to engage in, enable or otherwise support or facilitate access to contraceptives, sterilization, abortion, abortion-inducing drugs, devices, and services.

 

Plaintiffs claimed the mandate therefore directly violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which forbids the government from “substantially burdening a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability.”

 

They also demanded their free exercise, establishment, and free speech rights be respected per the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and called into play their guaranteed liberties of due process and equal protection under the 5th Amendment.

 

In 1998, the year FOCUS co-founder Curtis Martin launched the group, he met Pope John Paul II.  According to their website, the Pope listened to Curtis’ vision for the Catholic campus outreach and “simply told Curtis, ‘Be soldiers.’”  Little did he know how true to life the imperative statement would become.

 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly condemns abortion or taking any part in assisting an abortion:

 

Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception … Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense.  The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life.

 

More than two dozen catholic organizations have filed suit decrying the unconstitutional nature of the Obamacare abortion pill mandate.

 

The federal court’s preliminary injunction will stand until the Supreme Court makes a ruling in the Hobby Lobby case.  The decision is expected next month.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

When Artistic Liberty Breaks the Law

In her freshman year, Samantha Murphy made known the fact that Wisconsin’s Madison East High School (MSHS) did not recite the Pledge of Allegiance each morning.  Her family decided to talk to the principal and school board, reminding them that it is a state law to offer the Pledge every day.  They pointed out Wisconsin State Statute Chapter 118, Section 6, which states – “Every public school shall offer the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem in grades one to 12 each school day.”

 

After months of waiting and deciding if her family should go public with her school district’s unlawful-ness and lack of patriotism, her school board finally obliged and started to offer the Pledge of Allegiance daily.

 

Samantha said, “This went on without issue from around January of 2013 until March 4th, 2014.”  But then on March 4th, Samantha says her school began to remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, and added that they thought they were “above the law.”  On the first day of revision, they took out the entire line “one nation under God.”  The next day, they merely skipped the words “under God.”  On the third day (Thursday March 6th, 2014) they replaced the word “God” with “peace.”

 

We’ve all heard the assortment of renditions of our National Anthem.  But now, MEHS has taken an artistic liberty with the Pledge of Allegiance … switching the line “under God” to “under peace.”  MEHS is not above the law.  The Pledge of Allegiance does not have optional portions; and the term “under peace” doesn't occur in the official wording.

 

I call upon the Wisconsin Attorney General to enforce the law, and call to account the administrators of MEHS.  And I challenge the God-fearing students of MEHS to restore “under God” with increased volume in their daily recitation.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

UPDATE – SCOTUS Has Ruled in Favor of Public Prayer

I wrote extensively about it in my October 21st blog (“The Power of Prayer for Public Place”) and in my November 22nd blog (“Atheists are Antagonistic to Christians in Public Prayer”).  Well, the U.S. Supreme Court just ruled in a 5-4 decision affirming the American tradition of public prayer, and that public prayer does not violate the Constitution.  Americans are free to pray! 

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

A Child is a Child … Whether Born or Unborn

Recently, the Supreme Court of Alabama ruled—Children in the womb should have the same legal standing as other children.  The decision upheld the prior conviction of Sarah Janie Hicks for “the chemical endangerment of her child,” when she exposed her unborn baby to cocaine.  The boy, referred to as “JD,” was born testing positive for cocaine.

 

The 8-1 decision reaffirmed the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling in a similar case last year that the word “child” includes “unborn child.”

 

According to Justice Tom Parker, who wrote the majority decision, “It is impossible for an unborn child to be a separate and distinct person at a particular point in time in one respect and not to be a separate and distinct person at the same point in time but in another respect.  Because an unborn child has an inalienable right to life from its earliest stages of development, it is entitled not only to a life free from the harmful effects of chemicals at all stages of development, but also to life itself at all stages of development.  Treating an unborn child as a separate and distinct person in only select respects defies logic and our deepest sense of morality.”

 

Fr. Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, referred to the decision as a unique instance of “common sense and logical consistency.”  Fr. Pavone went on to say – “In ruling that a child is a child whether born or unborn, the Alabama justices have cut through decades of tortured, twisted rationales and issued a national call for courts to recognize the obvious—all humans have the right to life.”

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Should the Free Speech of Proponents of Pro-Life Positions be Protected?

An Ohio law that was used to stifle the political speech of a pro-life group appears in jeopardy last week after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Susan B. Anthony List vs. Driehaus.

 

While Supreme Court decisions are difficult to predict … based upon the justices’ questions during oral arguments … all nine justices “seemed very concerned” about the freedom of speech implications in the case, says Casey Mattox, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom.  Mattox was in the court audience.

 

In 2010, the pro-life group – Susan B. Anthony List (SBAL) – was campaigning against Democratic Ohio Congressman Steve Driehaus because he voted for the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a., Obamacare).  Driehaus was one of the pro-life Democrats who negotiated a compromise with President Obama over abortion funding in the bill.

 

SBAL and other pro-life groups argued the compromise did not go far enough and would not ensure that no public money would be used to fund abortion.  The group tried to buy a billboard that would have said, “Shame on Steve Driehaus!  Driehaus voted FOR taxpayer-funded abortion.”  Driehaus, though, threatened to sue SBAL and the owner of the billboard under an Ohio law that makes it a crime to knowingly publish false statements about a political candidate.  Fearing the lawsuit, the billboard owner declined to let SBAL rent the space.  SBAL ran the ads on radio instead.  Driehaus filed a complaint with the Ohio Election Commission and after Driehaus lost his re-election, the case was dismissed.

 

The question before the court is whether SBAL can sue over the law because the group was never prosecuted and the billboard never went up.

 

One of the free speech concerns in the case, Mattox explained, is that the Ohio law, and similar laws in other states, can be used to stifle political speech even when no one is prosecuted.  Sometimes just the threat of a lawsuit can restrict political speech.  By the time a court hears arguments about whether a statement made about a candidate is false or not, the election is usually over.  So these cases are often dismissed. But if political groups suffer as a consequence, yet do not have standing to sue after the election, the law can continue to be used to stifle political speech.

 

Believe it or not, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a brief supporting SBAL in the case.  “Speech is rarely black and white — oftentimes whether a statement is true or false may be a matter of opinion,” ACLU of Ohio Legal Director James Hardiman said in a statement.  “If the government silences one side of the debate, the public is less informed and others may be fearful of criticizing elected officials. The answer to unpopular speech is not less, but more speech.”

 

While some reports about the case suggest it is about whether the 1st Amendment protects a right to lie, SBAL argues it told the truth about abortion funding in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  “Because Congress and the White House failed to include the Stupak amendment in the ACA as it passed, the law is full of abortion funding loopholes,” said SBAL President Marjorie Dannenfelser.  “Since 2009, the SBAL has joined the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, other pro-life groups and members of Congress in pointing out the clandestine abortion funding problems in the ACA.  These abortion provisions blatantly contradict President Obama’s 2009 promise that ‘under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion.’”

 

According to Mattox, Stephen Breyer, one of the more liberal members of the court, pointed out that abortion funding in the ACA is at least a disputed question.  He noted that the court recently heard arguments in a case in which Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Woods Specialties sued the Obama administration, arguing that the ACA’s birth control mandate required coverage of abortifacients.

 

“This lawsuit originated when we sought to criticize those who voted for Obamacare and the expansion of taxpayer funded abortion it entailed. We have full confidence in the veracity of our claims and hope to see our 1st Amendment rights affirmed by the Court.  In 2014 and beyond, we must be permitted to expose the truth about Obamacare and those who support it,” Dannenfelser added.

 

To reiterate the point, SBAL bought billboards this week, identical to the one they tried to use against Driehaus, in three states against Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC), Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Mark Pryor (D-AR).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel