WI’s Gov Signs Bills Costing Planned ‘Murderhood’ Big Bill$

Wisconsin’s Republican Governor, Scott Walker, has signed two bills that will deprive Wisconsin’s Planned Parenthood offices of an estimated $8-million.  Even the site of the signing, a pro-life women’s pregnancy center named Life’s Connection in Waukesha, underscored that the governor embraced a new culture of life.

Assembly Bill 310 redirects the state’s Title X funding away from Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI) to other community health providers – a strategy favored by Republicans at the national level.  It is expected to cost PPWI $3.5-million (annually) in tax revenue.  Currently, PPWI is the only statewide recipient of Title X funding.  The bill passed the Assembly by a 60-35 vote.

“Cutting Planned Parenthood’s public funding is a fiscally and morally responsible step that furthers a culture of life in the great state of Wisconsin,” said Pro-Life Wisconsin State Director Dan Miller.  “Pro-Life Wisconsin is grateful to Gov. Walker for signing into law legislation that respects the consciences of Wisconsin taxpayers who oppose public funding of abortion.”

The second new law (S.B. 238) only allows PPWI to bill Medicaid for the actual cost of contraceptives, a move that will save taxpayers an estimated $4.5 million.

In 2014, the state’s Department of Health Services (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that two family planning facilities alone had charged the Medicaid program more than twice their allowable cost for birth control.  PPWI warned, if it had to obey the law on reimbursements, it would have to close some of its offices.  PPWI’s Public Policy Director, Nicole Safar, said at the time such an action would trigger “clinic closing” actions statewide.  The prospect did not concern the state’s pro-life leaders.  “Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin profits from killing unborn babies and sexualizing our youth,” Miller said.  “This is not health care, but rather a violation of the trust of women and families.”

“Today, we signed two bills into law that prioritize women’s health while improving government and its services to the citizens of Wisconsin,” said Gov. Walker.  “These bills require DHS to apply for additional federal funding for women’s health services to be obtained from less controversial providers and ensure prescription reimbursement processes are handled in a cost-based and transparent manner.”

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Casey Mattox, who testified on behalf of both bills, said, “The taxpayers deserve better than an organization with a long track record of abusive and potentially fraudulent billing practices, that have been caught in authenticated undercover videos negotiating prices for baby body parts, and that have repeatedly failed to report the sexual abuse of girls.”

Praise the God of life for life-saving governmental officials!  May God raise-up more God-fearing (honoring) elected officials who are pro-life!

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

When It Pays to Protest for Pro-Life

Lands’ End has pulled down an interview with radical abortion feminist Gloria Steinem, and apologized to its customers, writes Dustin Siggins for The Stream.

“We understand that some of our customers were offended by the inclusion of an interview in a recent catalog with Gloria Steinem on her quest for women’s equality,” said the statement, which was issued to The Stream and other press outlets.  “We thought it was a good idea and we heard from our customers that, for different reasons, it wasn’t.  For that, we sincerely apologize.  Our goal was to feature individuals with different interests and backgrounds that have made a difference for our new Legends Series, not to take any political or religious stance.”

Lands’ End’s decision was quickly applauded by PR and branding consultant Marana Moore who said, “Lands’ End is to be commended for their alacrity in response to this issue.  They have shown sensitivity to patrons who felt it inappropriate that such political activism be celebrated in conjunction with what is broadly seen as a religious, family-based holiday.  Although it will be interesting to see what steps the brand may take next, this decision should reflect positively with their consumer base.”

Robert Kuykendall, National Outreach Director for 2nd Vote, says the quick action by Lands’ End should prove an inspiration.  “By scrubbing the Gloria Steinem interview from its website and issuing an apology,” he said, “Lands’ End is proving that companies will respond when conservatives hold them accountable for their advocacy.”  However, as Kuykendall notes, questions do remain: “While the acknowledgement of their customers’ values is commendable, 2nd Vote believes that Lands’ End must still make assurances that our shopping dollars won’t be used to fund advocacy that stands in stark contrast to our values by publicly discontinuing its relationship with the ERA Coalition.”

A spokesperson for Lands’ End did not immediately respond as to whether this apology means they will no longer donate to the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Coalition promoted by Steinem in the piece.  The ERA Coalition promotes contraception and abortion as part of “women’s equality” in America.

The Stream also asked whether Lands’ End would feature a pro-life woman for its “Legends Series” …for which Steinem appeared in the spring catalog.

Kristi Hamrick, spokesperson for Americans United for Life, told The Stream, “The vast majority of Americans don’t agree with abortion the way it’s practiced in America today, through all nine months of pregnancy, for any reason whatsoever, even for sex-selection and with taxpayer subsidies.  The fact is, whether it’s Lands’ End or anyone else, you need pro-life voices, as well.”

The apology and website scrub came after the popular school clothes fashion company faced a barrage of criticism from pro-life and Christian customers through social media and other mediums.  Several pro-life women told The Stream they opposed the juxtaposition of Steinem in the same issue that featured children engaging in an Easter egg hunt.

“This profile on Gloria Steinem — conducted by Lands’ End CEO Federica Marchionni, no less — is revolting,” Media Research Center reporter Katie Yoder told The Stream about the original spread.  “A feminist who adores abortion and hates religion doesn’t deserve one inch in a catalog that also celebrates Easter and family.”

Regnery Publishing Senior Managing Editor Maria Ruhl called the juxtaposition “jarring,” while the Institute on Religion and Democracy Director of Evangelical Outreach Chelsen Vicari said it was “heartbreaking” but “not surprising … to see a catalogue praise a perpetuator of the culture of death instead of celebrate a holiday dedicated to the cross and Christ’s triumph over death.”

Dustin Siggins goes on to write, “Steinem is well-known for her decades of abortion advocacy.  Last year, she said that she became a feminist when she covered the issue of abortion in the 1960s as a journalist.  ‘If one in three of us in this nation, then and now, has had this experience [of abortion] at sometime in our lives, why is it illegal, why is it dangerous? Who owns women’s bodies, who says we can’t control our own reproductive lives?’  Other statements by Steinem include telling PBS that opposing Planned Parenthood is related to racism and ‘patriarchy,’ and in 2013 saying that former Texas Governor Rick Perry ‘will go down in history as an authoritarian, a dictatorial, unacceptable American’ for defunding Planned Parenthood.  She has also blamed the Pope for global warming and for not supporting abortion, said that economics classes ‘should start with reproduction, not production,’ and believes that ‘reproductive rights are a fundamental human right like freedom of speech.’ ”

Don’t ever underestimate the importance of your protest for pro-life.  The cultural tide of death is ever turning toward life.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

TX Calls a ‘Planned Murderhood’ Study Distrustful

Two state health researchers in Texas are under fire for co-authoring a Planned Parenthood (PP) study that has already been debunked.  The study – published just weeks ago in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine – suggested that since Texas cut PP out of Medicaid funds, impoverished women have been denied contraceptives and other services, and the state has seen an increase in births.  Now, the revelation of the researchers’ connections has raised the hackles of conservatives in the state legislature.

According to Emily Horne of Texas Right to Life, ever since the defunding occurred PP has tried to prove that Texas needs them.  “But in fact, even the Houston Chronicle independently did a data request to find out how many women Planned Parenthood was actually serving under the Medicaid program – and it was miniscule,” Horne reports.  “It was just like one to five percent – numbers that can clearly be absorbed by any pro-life or life-affirming health centers that do more comprehensive care.”  The pro-life activist says further examination suggests the source of the study and the researchers who did it are pro-abortion and pro-Planned Parenthood.  “So it debunks itself by the time you look just even at a surface level of who is doing the research,” she concludes.

According to The Associated Press, the research was funded by the Susan T. Buffet Foundation, a major supporter of Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups.

After learning the two state researchers were involved, Republican State Senator Jane Nelson called the findings “deeply flawed” and “highly political.”  A spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services agrees.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

An Oklahoma Judge is OK with Me, but Not with Abortionists

An Oklahoma judge has ruled an admitting privileges law is constitutional -- a decision abortion advocates say they will appeal to the state’s Supreme Court.

According to KSL.com, County District Judge Don Andrews said that the state “has a legitimate, constitutionally recognized interest in protecting women’s health,” and that women getting abortions should have access to “prompt and efficient health care, when necessary.”

Andrews said the bill, which was overwhelmingly passed by state legislators and signed into law in May 2014, does not target abortionists or women going to them for abortions.

In a statement, Attorney General Scott Pruitt praised Andrews’ decision.  “Oklahoma lawmakers passed this bill to protect the health and safety of Oklahoma women requiring quick and efficient emergency care,” said Pruitt.  “The law requires abortion facilities to follow health and safety protocols similar to those for outpatient surgical centers and birthing centers.  We are pleased that the court agreed with us that this bill is constitutional.”

Thanks to a prior state Supreme Court ruling, the law will not take effect until litigation has ended.  The Center for Reproductive Rights has said it will appeal to the state Supreme Court, with President Nancy Northrup saying in a statement that “Politicians across the country have made it their mission to cut off women’s access to essential reproductive health care under the guise of protecting their health.”

A similar Texas law is slated to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in March of this year, which could settle the constitutionality of admitting privilege laws.  [I wrote of this in my March 14, 2014 blog posting – “Pro-Choice Advocates – More Interested in Access to Abortion Clinics than Protecting Women.”]  Needless to say, the untimely death of Justice Scalia will affect the outcome of that decision.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

50% or More Assisted Suicide Patients Could Have Been Treated

Analyzing euthanasia in the Netherlands, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry found that in more than half of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) cases, patients declined treatment that could have helped them.

This flies in the face of euthanasia activists’ claims that physician-assisted suicide for the mentally ill is committed only on people with untreatable mental illnesses.

In many cases in the study, patients cited “loneliness” as their primary reason for requesting to be killed.

Besides the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland have legalized killing the mentally ill, and Canada will implement assisted suicide in the coming months.  Proponents say they are defending the rights of the mentally ill; but opponents say laws allowing patients to be killed by their doctors are intrinsically flawed.  They say that “doctor-assisted death” is an oxymoron.

Depression is one example euthanasia opponents use to illustrate how physician-assisted suicide can be abused under the guise of mental illness.  Other mental illnesses qualifying for suicide assistance include avoidant personality, dependent personality, eating disorders, and autism.

Investigating records of most physician-assisted suicide cases for psychiatric distress from 2011 to mid-2014, 57% of patients refused treatment that would have eased their depression or other mental illness.  Many patients simply said they feel intensely lonely.

70% of physician-assisted suicide cases in the Netherlands study were women.

5-states in the U.S. have legalized euthanasia; but none (as of yet) have expanded the practice to the mentally ill.  However, researchers from Harvard University cautioned, “In the United States, the trend of legalizing physician-assisted death is already accompanied by discussions about broadening the practice beyond individuals with terminal illness.”

According to the JAMA Psychiatry study, patients who got assistance to die in the Netherlands sought suicide help from doctors they had never seen before; who never treated them; and in many cases used “mobile end-of-life clinics.”

Also found was the fact that in one fourth of euthanasia cases for the mentally ill, attending physicians disagreed on the merits of the request to die. 

“This finding is consistent with a host of previous studies, as well as analyses of Oregon reports in former years, that doctors who give the poison prescription fail to refer patients for supposedly mandatory counseling,” said bioethicist and public policy scholar Dr. Jacqueline Harvey to LifeSiteNews.

Dr. Harvey, who teaches political science at Texas A&M’s Tarleton State University and serves as U.S. policy analyst for the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition International, explained to LifeSiteNews, “My review of reports has shown that patients are not screened for depression according to the law, meaning that many who would otherwise not wish to take their lives if treated for depression are not adequately protected.”  This Associate Scholar at Washington, D.C.’s Charlotte Lozier Institute reviewed the documented effects of legalizing physician-assisted suicide in states that have passed such legislation.  Her review noted, “Many patients opting to end their lives suffer from treatable depression and physicians report that patients for whom interventions were made (like treating depression) were more likely to change their minds about wanting to end their lives.”  Harvey went on to say, “One analyst, after examining Oregon’s most recent annual report, found that physicians who prescribe the lethal medications are failing to refer for necessary psychiatric evaluations of patients, many of whom might reconsider suicide if properly treated.”  Dr. Harvey concluded, “This prompts the question of how many people freely choose PAS or are pressured into the decision by negative circumstances, especially circumstances for which there is some or complete relief.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Victory Over ACLU Attempt to Violate Conscience

A federal judge has turned down the ACLU’s attempt to force Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis to violate her conscience while issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Although Governor Matt Bevin granted a religious accommodation for the county clerk to issue altered marriage licenses to homosexuals, the ACLU brought a lawsuit seeking to force Davis to issue the old forms with her full name on them.

“There is absolutely no reason that this case went so far without reasonable people respecting and accommodating Kim Davis’ First Amendment rights,” said Mat Staver, the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, who is defending Davis.  “Today’s ruling by Judge Bunning rejected the ACLU’s request to hold Kim Davis in contempt of court.”

Kim Davis is a born again Apostolic Christian who refuses to issue marriage licenses bearing her name to homosexuals, because doing so would imply her consent and participation in something the Bible deems sinful.  “It’s a Heaven or Hell decision,” she said.  Davis contacted state legislators and former Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, seeking a religious accommodation that would alter the form but allow her office to recognize gay unions, to no avail.  Ultimately, she spent 6-days in jail last September after Judge Bunning held her in contempt of court for refusing to issue the unamended forms.

When she was released last September 8, presidential hopefuls Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz showed up to wish her well.  “Lock me up” in Kim Davis’ place, Mike Huckabee said.  “Let Kim go.”

When Davis returned to work last September 14, she allowed other employees to grant new certificates that did not have her name on them. 

Matt Bevin, the Republican who would be elected governor that November, promptly granted Davis an accommodation and signed the first new regulation on abortion in a dozen years shortly after taking office.  [read my previous blog dated February 15, 2016]

But the ACLU sued to force Davis to issue the old certificates, anyway.  Judge Bunning wrote that would be unnecessary.  “There is every reason to believe that any altered licenses issued between September 14, 2015, and September 20, 2015, would be recognized as valid under Kentucky law, making re-issuance unnecessary,” wrote Judge David Bunning, a Republican whose father Jim Bunning, was a baseball great and former U.S. senator.  “Under these circumstances, the court finds that Plaintiffs’ request for relief is now moot.”

“From the beginning we have said the ACLU is not interested in marriage licenses.  They want Kim Davis’ scalp,” Staver said.  “They want to force her to violate her conscience.  I am glad the court rejected this bully tactic.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

New GOP KY Gov Signs Bill Mandating Informed Consent for Abortion

Kentucky’s Republican Governor Matt Bevin made pro-life issues a top priority throughout his campaign.  Last week, he made good on his promise.

Governor Bevin signed an informed consent bill requiring that biological facts and medical information be given to mothers in person or by real-time video at least 24-hours before an abortion.  “The overwhelming support for Senate Bill 4 in the Kentucky legislature is a positive step toward protecting the emotional and physical health and safety of women,” Bevin said in a statement before signing the bill.

Bill supporters say the reason the bill was necessary is because many abortionists circumvent the law by having mothers listen to a prerecorded message over the phone.  The lead sponsor of the bill, Senator Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville), said that in-person consultations before surgery are standard medical practice, “and Kentucky women deserve no less.”

The House passed Senate Bill 4 a couple weeks ago, with the option of a real-time video consultation, and the Senate gave final approval last week.

Gov. Bevin chose this as the very first bill he signed into law.  He put his signature to it as soon as legislators delivered it to him.  The bill informing mothers of the medical and biological facts related to gestation and abortion becomes the Bluegrass State’s first new pro-life law in twelve years.  [Pro-life legislation was previously road-blocked by the Democrat-controlled state House.]

Senate Minority Leader (Democrat) Ray Jones, supported the bill, calling it “long overdue” and saying the issue was “not Democrat or Republican; it’s right or wrong.”  Sen. Jones recalled seeing his son in the womb’s heartbeat via ultrasound and said, “I knew he was a human being.”

Gov. Bevin was a Tea Party and conservative favorite who supported Rowan County clerk Kim Davis during her incarceration for refusing to sign homosexual ‘marriage’ licenses.  In fact, Bevin credits Davis in part for his election last November.  Among his first actions as KY governor was to grant Davis a waiver removing her name from marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples.

Republican State Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer told local media, “It just goes to show that elections have consequences.”

“We have worked for over a decade to correct the obviously flawed interpretation and enforcement of the original bill that we passed in 1998,” said Margie Montgomery, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life Association.  “We are grateful for the thousands of pro-life citizens across the commonwealth who, for years, have been active in the legislative and political process.  We thank pro-life Republican Leadership in both House and Senate for working with us and, of course, our new pro-life governor!  Elections do matter for women and their unborn babies.”

Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, praised Bevin.  “Kentucky is blessed to have a governor who leads by serving,” Fr. Pavone said.  “Governor Bevin’s immediate action to sign the new informed consent for abortion law is a great act of service –– not only to pregnant mothers, but also the state as a whole.  The more women know about abortion and its alternatives, the more women will choose life.  Hopefully, the Kentucky legislature will deliver more pro-life legislation to Governor Bevin,” added Fr. Pavone.  “His leadership is an encouragement to all Americans who seek a culture of life.”

Last week, Kentucky’s new pro-life governor also shut down a Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Louisville for committing abortions without a license.

Betty Cockrum, the leader of the regional Planned Parenthood affiliate, said the new law is “just one more barrier and one more burden to what is the constitutional right of women.”

Listen: Abortion has never been about a women’s ‘choice’ … It’s about escaping the consequences of a women’s choice by taking all choices away from another human being – the baby in the womb.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Fool Me Once …

It was not until 9/11/01, that most Americans had neither strong opinions nor understandings of Islam.  However, in that momentous event, this world religion became a household term … for which many people came to recognize the potential dangers in the spread of Islam.

Almost daily we get news stories about a Muslim blowing himself up, murdering innocent people or taking sex slaves.  Ironically, most of the victims of these Islamic extremists are other Muslims.  For the law-abiding Muslims that love life in America, they’ve got to be feeling under siege.

Personally, I think most American Muslims are good people; they’re anti-terrorist; they’re anti-Shariah Law; and they want to raise their families in peace and pursue the American Dream just like everybody else.  I condemn the smearing of all Muslims.  Every Muslim isn’t engaging in Taqiyya … secretly planning to kill the infidels.  

We’ve repeatedly heard - “Islam is a religion of peace,” every time radical Muslims murder someone because of their religion. We know these radicals are murdering people because of their religion since they go out of their way to tell us this.

One can certainly argue that groups like ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas and Boko Haram are mis-interpreting Islam or perverting the Quran, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are Muslims who believe they’re being faithful to their religion as they rape, murder, and enslave the innocent in the name of Allah.  Worse yet, a significant minority of Muslims across the world agree with what they’re doing.

It would be fair to say that ISIS is generally unpopular in the Muslim world; but it’s just as fair to note that this still means that enormous numbers of Muslims back ISIS.  In just 11-countries, there appears to be upward of 60-million Muslims (at a minimum) who approve of an Islamic organization … every bit as evil as the Nazis.

Additionally, while it’s true that a relatively small number of Muslims are in favor of suicide bombing, those numbers can really add up.  For example, 86% of American Muslims oppose suicide bombing.  That equates to roughly 460,000 American Muslims thinking it’s okay.

Then there’s Shariah Law, which is absolutely incompatible with Western democracy and civilized behavior.  Yet, it’s extremely popular across much of the Muslim world.  99% of Muslims in Afghanistan, 91% in Iraq, 84% in Pakistan, and 74% of Muslims in Egypt want Shariah to be the official law of their country.

Moreover, look at what’s now happening in Europe.  There are so many sexual assaults by Muslim migrants that they are actually putting classes in place to teach them that it’s not okay to rape women.

The truth is: These problems are specific to Islam.  If you bring 100,000 Muslims into your country, you’re going to have more people who can’t assimilate, more terrorist attacks and more rapes than you will if you bring in 100,000 Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus or Evangelical Christians.

Again, this doesn’t mean all Muslims are bad.  In fact, most Muslims pretty clearly aren’t bad people.  Unfortunately, we have proven to be completely incapable of distinguishing “moderate” from “radical” Muslims.  If you think our government’s vetting can tell one from the other, you’re kidding yourself.  So, when someone gets worried that we’re going to let radical Muslims into our country, realize that countless moderate Muslims came to the U.S. to get away from the crazies in their own religion.

Because of our inability to screen out radicals, we’d be better off doing anything and everything possible to cut back on the number of Muslims we allow to immigrate to our country.  That doesn’t mean an out-right ban, which would be impossible to implement … and contrary to our American values.  But we should certainly try to minimize the number of refugees and immigrants we allow into our country from Muslim nations.

Bottom line: If you want to dramatically cut the risk of having another 9/11 in the next few years and want to reduce the number of American women who will be raped, then reduce the number of Muslims we allow to live long-term in our country.  It all depends on how willing we are to deal with the world as it is … as opposed to what we wish it would be. It’s time to stop pretending that the problem is people pointing out that a significant minority of Muslims worldwide are radicalized and to start realistically dealing with the fact that a significant minority of Muslims worldwide are radicalized.  With everything we know, we shouldn’t need another 9/11 to convince us to start taking reasonable precautions with our immigration policy.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Receipts Reveal that Planned ‘Murderhood’ Sold Baby Body Parts

A pro-life organization, Operation Rescue (OR), has released documents that may show Planned Parenthood (PP) illegally profited from the sale of aborted babies’ body parts, furthering a Texas state investigation and possibly triggering a new grand jury in Harris County.  Receipts show that PP charges for each body part obtained … just as pro-life advocates have maintained all along.

OR attorney Briscoe Cain held a press conference in front of the PP abortion facility in Houston, which is run by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC).  After undercover investigators filmed PPGC officials discussing how such profit could be hidden in “line items,” it touched off a series of investigations at the national, state, and local level.  One of those was in Harris County, where the grand jury (last week) took no action against PP but indicted David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) investigators who shot the video footage.  They face up to 20-years in prison for using a fake ID.

New invoices show PPGC partnering with the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston to furnish aborted babies’ tissue for medical research and experimentation.  An e-mail from September 7, 2011, shows a UTMB official telling PPGC Director of Research Melissa Farrell, “We are needing to collect tissues as soon as possible.”  Farrell sent UTMB two invoices: one for $5,750 covering February-August 2010, and another for $2,374.98 for January-June 2011.  Each has a flat-fee charge - listed alternately as “reimbursement for study supplies” or “annual admin fee.”  Both also contain a line charging $150 for each “consent” obtained - something lawyers say proves that PPGC charged a fee per specimen.  That designation is how Farrell was able to hide its profit in “line items,” as she told CMP investigators on film.

“Farrell admitted on camera to undercover investigators that PPGC ‘worded’ the per-specimen charges for fetal specimens as ‘per consent’ in order to ‘frame’ the project budget in a way that will look legal ‘on paper,’” said Daleiden.  “Whether the ‘consent fee’ for fetal tissue is $25” (the amount Farrell mentioned on film) “or $150, it is completely outside the letter and spirit of Texas Penal Code 48.02.”

There is also an aspect of public funding for PP in the UTMB study.  “Because Planned Parenthood was selling to publicly funded universities, this means that our tax dollars went to buy aborted baby remains and ended up in the pockets of Planned Parenthood executives,” said OR Senior Vice President Cheryl Sullenger.  Yet, she said, Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson “turned a blind eye to this crime while charging the people that reported the crimes.  This injustice must not be allowed to stand.”

“Because of this new evidence, we renew our call for a new grand jury to investigate Planned Parenthood to be directed by an independent special prosecutor not related in any way to Devon Anderson, anyone in the Harris County District Attorney’s office, or Anderson’s friend, Chip Lewis” (the attorney for Houston abortionist Douglas Karpen and a longtime Anderson ally), Sullenger said.

“The purpose of releasing these documents is to shed light on previously unseen evidence of criminal activity by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast and to publicly release for the first time financial documents exposing the practice of purchasing aborted fetal tissue by Texas medical schools,” Cain said, according to Breitbart.  Cain said he expected the documents to be “key evidence used by the State of Texas as they continue their investigation of Planned Parenthood’s activities.”

CMP Daleiden says, “Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton must hold Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast accountable for their flagrant violation of the Texas Penal Code and their abuse of Texas taxpayers’ dollars.”

As a related aside, I would remind you that the State of Texas is investigating PPGC who paid $4.3-million to settle allegations of Medicaid fraud back in 2013.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

So How Do Nations Expel Thousands of Asylum Seekers?

While the political candidates debate their individual stances on immigration in America, it would be prudent to see what’s going on elsewhere with countries taking in those seeking asylum from the Middle East.

Interestingly, Sweden is preparing to deport up to 80,000 of last year’s record number of asylum seekers, according to Interior Minister Anders Ygeman in an interview with business daily Dagens Industri newspaper last week.  Ygeman said he estimated about 60,000 to 80,000 of the 163,000 people who sought asylum last year would be expelled and either leave voluntarily or be forcibly deported.

The government fears many of those will go into hiding, Dagens Industri reported, and police are increasing their work to find and expel those.  “We have a big challenge ahead of us.  We will need to use more resources for this and we must have better cooperation between authorities,” Ygeman was quoted as saying.

Last week, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven promised more resources for police to deal with the increased workload because of the refugee situation.

Sweden reversed its open doors-policy on immigration late last year and has introduced border controls and identification checks to stem the flow of asylum seekers.

What’s happened in Sweden makes me think of clichés such as: “buyers beware” … “buyer’s remorse” … “count the cost” … “check the depth before you dive.”  America – There is some wisdom to be found in these trite expressions; and Sweden’s experience (and that of other European nations) should be a lesson to U.S.!

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

It’s in the Bible, Isn’t It?

Certainly one of the great gifts that God gave to us is Holy Bible.  The Bible is literally God revealing Himself, and communicating Himself to humanity in written word.  Most of what we know about God comes from Holy Scripture; and it contains all we need to know about becoming a Christian, and living the Christian life.

Orthodox [right belief] Christianity teaches that the Bible was inspired and authored by the Holy Spirit of God using human instruments to record it on the sacred page.  It also believes that in its original languages (Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic) it is without error and fault.

However, there are many things that Bible-believing Christians believe that are completely unbiblical.  How does this happen?  Often, we’ll hear someone quote a statement that sounds nice to us, and we’ll begin repeating it as though it’s biblical truth without ever researching it in the Scriptures.  [For example: “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.”]  Several of these unbiblical statements have gained enough traction that many people believe they’re actually Bible verses.  Not only are the statements unbiblical; most of them teach the opposite of what the Bible teaches.

Shane Pruitt, Director of Missions and Church Planting for the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention, has identified a few popular unbiblical statements that Bible-loving Christians tend to believe:

God helps those who help themselves.

This statement is actually anti-Gospel.  Self-reliance and self-righteousness, or the attitude of trying harder and doing better, actually gets in the way of the work of God. Jesus saves those who die to themselves: “Then Jesus told His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.’” (Matthew 16:24)

We’re all God’s children.

Although God has created everyone … not everyone relationally belongs to Him.  Only those who have repented of sin, placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and possess the Holy Spirit of God inside of them can claim Him as their Father: “But you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Romans 8:15b,16).  Those who don’t have Jesus as their Savior, nor have the Holy Spirit of God inside of them, actually belong to Satan: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:1-2)  “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” (1 John 3:10)

God won’t give you more than you can handle.

Actually, all of life is more than we can handle.  The point of living in a fallen world is not for us to try really hard to carry our heavy burden, but rather give-up, quit and surrender to God … that’s what faith is all about.  Everything is more than I can handle, but not more than Jesus can handle: “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia.  For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.” (2 Corinthians 1:8)  Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

We all worship the same God.

Yes, there is only one true and living God: “Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” (Deuteronomy 4:39)  However, He only accepts worship that comes through Jesus Christ – not Muhammad, Buddha, Joseph Smith, etc.: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

We’re all going to the same place when we die.

There are only two possible destinations when we pass: Heaven and Hell.  However, only those who are in Christ will be with Him for all eternity when they physically die: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (John 14:6)

The fact that many Christians believe these unbiblical statements shows our unfortunate overall biblical illiteracy.  Instead of swallowing popular statements hook-line-and-sinker, may we be like the Bereans in the Book of Acts.  When they heard Paul preach, they wanted to research the Scriptures themselves to authenticate what he was saying: “The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.  Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:10 – 11)

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

No Greater Love …

February 3, marks the 73rd anniversary of the tragic sinking in the icy North Atlantic of the United States Army Transport Dorchester traveling from Newfoundland toward an American base in Greenland.  The Dorchester was carrying 902 service members, merchant seamen and civilian workers.  Just before 1:00 a.m., some 100-miles from Greenland, a German submarine torpedo struck the starboard side with a blast killing scores of men, and many more seriously wounded.  The sinking resulted in the loss of 672 lives in 1943.

Witnesses of the event have recounted in the Congressional Record the heroism and self-sacrifice of four chaplains of different faiths: Lt. George L. Fox, Methodist: Lt. Alexander D. Goode, Jewish; Lt. John P. Washington, Catholic; and Lt. Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed.

Witnesses have verified that during the approximate 18-minutes the ship was sinking, the four chaplains went from soldier-to-soldier bringing hope to the men struggling to survive.  They could be heard encouraging the frightened, praying for the dying, and guiding the disoriented toward the lifeboats.  While guiding men to safety and handing out lifejackets from storage on the deck, when there were no more lifejackets to distribute, they removed their own and gave them to four frightened young men so as to save their lives.  The chaplains were last seen arm-in-arm in prayer and grasping the railing of the ship’s deck as it slipped into the frigid Atlantic Ocean.

Many of the 230 men who survived owed their lives to these four chaplains. Their unique interfaith spirit and love for their fellowmen was memorialized by the United State Postal Service on a popular 1948 postage stamp with the title: “These Immortal Chaplains-Interfaith in Action.”

Congress in 1957, passed a Concurrent Resolution to honor these Immortal Chaplains and the men who died with them; and Presidents Truman and Eisenhower issued similar proclamations calling for national recognition and participation in memorial services throughout the land to be, observed annually by the American Legion and others on the first Sunday in February.

In turn, Congress created a special Medal of Valor in memory of the four chaplains in 1960, never to be repeated.  The United States Congress did pass a unanimous resolution on the first day of the 2nd Session of the 105th Congress, January 27, 1998, designating February 3 as “Four Chaplains Day,” which was co-authored by U.S. Senator Rod Grams, of Minnesota, and a similar bill passed unanimously in the Minnesota State Legislature at that same time.

The historic Fort Snelling Memorial Chapel, where I have the privilege of pastoring, has a permanent memorial in stained glass depicting the compassion of the Four Chaplains and has commemorated this memorial service for decades.

Jesus said and lived before us – “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  (John 15:13)  Today we remember the immortal Four Chaplains … who put flesh to these words of Christ.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

A Call to Prayer

Now, just hours away from ‘the people’ casting their first votes in this election season, let us pray for the caucus attenders in Iowa.

O God of truth who calls His people to humble themselves, to turn from their wicked ways, and seek His face: Hear our earnest prayer as we ask Your forgiveness for our individual sins and pled Your healing of this nation on behalf of those who respectfully fear You.  We sincerely desire to move from a mere motto that claims to be ‘One Nation Under God’ to a principled people who recognizes Your Word as our authority for the governess of America.  As ‘the people’ begin to vote for new leadership, may they find a candidate who unashamedly acknowledges his dependence upon You and will redirect these United States to her former glory … when Judeo-Christian principles were the rule of law.  For we ask this in the name of Jehovah God whose Holy Word is all-sufficient for the living of these days.  Amen.   

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

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

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel