The Democrats’ platform on abortion is sure easy to sum up: not safe, not rare — and always legal! If you tuned in to the Fox News [Monday] night for the Bernie Sanders-Hillary Clinton debate (and based on the ratings, you probably didn’t), there couldn’t have been a starker contrast with the GOP candidates, who are competing to make life a bigger priority in their campaigns. And based on the political landscape, it’s no wonder. Apparently, the last seven years of President Obama’s extreme policies have resulted in fundamental change — of people’s minds!

Americans are more pro-life than ever, though you certainly wouldn’t know it from two of the six remaining candidates. Surveys, state laws, and even the turnout for a blizzardy March for Life all point to the country’s rejection of Obama’s radical agenda, which Clinton and Sanders clearly share. Asked Monday if they support “any restrictions” on abortion, especially late-term abortion, the senator from Vermont replied, “It is wrong for the government to be telling a woman what to do with her body… I am very strongly pro-choice. That’s my view.” Of course, his non-answer answer didn’t address voters’ real concerns, which are that Democrats believe in unlimited abortion, underwritten by taxpayers — right up until the moment of birth. Interestingly enough, Bernie didn’t mind invoking life later, claiming that “being a human being” guarantees one the right to health care (unless, apparently, you’re the unborn kind of human being).

Secretary Clinton, the official choice of “pro-choice” Planned Parenthood, was next. “Do you think a child should have any legal rights or protections before it is born?” Bret Baier pressed. Clinton responded that we needed to put the question in “context.” “Right now,” she started, “the Supreme Court is considering a decision that would shut down a lot of the options for women in Texas, and there have been other legislatures that have taken similar steps to try to restrict a woman’s right to obtain an abortion.” Actually, what the Supreme Court is considering is whether women have a right to a safe abortion, which the clinics refuse to give them by fighting common sense regulations. States like Texas, who care about women enough to demand higher standards, aren’t the villains here. If abortionists were as concerned about mothers’ health care as they insist they are, these laws wouldn’t even be necessary!

But Hillary wasn’t finished. “Under Roe v. Wade,” she said, “which is rooted in the Constitution, women have this right to make this highly personal decision with their family in accordance with their faith, with their doctor.” If abortion is in the Constitution, then it must be in the same version as same-sex marriage. Let me spare you the trouble of looking for it, because it doesn’t exist. “It’s not much of a right if it is totally limited and constrained. So I think we have to continue to stand up for a woman’s right to make these decisions, and to defend Planned Parenthood, which does an enormous amount of good work across our country.”

Like Sanders, she didn’t outline a single restriction, so Bret pushed harder. “Just to be clear, there’s no — without any exceptions?” Pausing, she replied, “No — I have been on record in favor of a late pregnancy regulation that would have exceptions for the life and health of the mother.” (Notice, Clinton said “health” of the mother — not life of the mother, which is much harder to exploit. “Health of the mother” gives clinics a much bigger loophole to cite things like depression as a justification to abort.)

Unfortunately, the former senator racked up quite a stunning pro-abortion record, even voting against consensus bills like the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. And while her extremism may earn her Planned Parenthood’s support, it won’t win her America’s. According to a January survey from the Knights of Columbus, an overwhelming majority of Americans (81 percent) support significant restrictions on abortion. And that includes women (at 82 percent)! Unlike Hillary, eight in 10 think abortion should be limited to the first three months of pregnancy (which is well shy of the 20-week ban Congress she opposes). Another six in 10 think abortion is morally wrong — including, believe it or not, a third of “pro-choicers.” This kind of abortion fanaticism may fill the Democrats’ bank accounts, but it won’t fill the ballot box.

Originally published here.

NYC Flips a Lid over Restroom Rule

There was a time when LGBT activists wanted the government out of their bedrooms. Now they not only want the government in their bedrooms, they want it in their bathrooms too! That much has been clear from the explosion of gender-neutral bills across local communities, school boards, and state legislatures. As soon as one ordinance fails, another pops up to take its place.

In areas like New York City, officials aren’t even bothering with the semblance of democracy. There, Mayor Bill de Blasio is dispensing with the legislative process entirely and forcing chaos on the public facilities of the city with an executive order allowing grown men into women’s restrooms and vice-versa, regardless of their biological sex. As if New York weren’t unsafe enough already, the mayor is authorizing the sexual predation of countless locals and tourists under a misguided sense of tolerance. “Access to bathrooms and other single-sex facilities is a fundamental human right,” he argued, “that should not be restricted or denied to any individual.” Then, in a stunning irony, the mayor insisted that “every New Yorker should feel safe in our city” after his order ensured the exact opposite.

Of course, De Blasio was referring to the complaints of people who identify as transgender, who insist restroom policies guided by anatomy are “humiliating.” Under his latest mistake, De Blasio is ordering compliance from all “city-owned buildings, including city offices, public parks, playgrounds, pools, recreation centers, and certain museums.” (Area schools are already operating under a policy of gender chaos.) Even if the Left’s estimates aren’t inflated (a big “if,” research suggests), and there are actually 25,000 transgender people in the Big Apple, the mayor is still risking the safety of the entire city for .3 percent of its population! (And probably less, when you factor in the number of tourists in the area daily.) No wonder there’s a cultural revolt in America! People are sick and tired of this politically correct nonsense.

Just ask Tennesseans. Their leaders are watching with horror the insanity sweeping through local governments and are determined not to fall victim. State Rep. Susan Lynn ® and Sen. Mike Bell (R) have just introduced a bill requiring “that a student use… a restroom and locker room facilities that are assigned for use by persons of the same sex as the sex indicated on the student’s original birth certificate.” Like a lot of Americans, Susan watched what happened to a similar law in South Dakota, after a super majority passed a similar measure. She couldn’t believe that Governor Dennis Daugaard (R) vetoed it, insisting it was a “mistake.” “We feel past court decisions have upheld the right of privacy for students regarding this issue.” It’s time for more Americans like Susan Lynn and Mike Bell to demand our governments stop the nonsense and return to common sense! If you live in Tennessee, support their efforts by contacting your leaders.

Originally published here.

California Gets a Pray Check

If the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) thought they’d found a soft target in Chino Valley Unified Schools, they were greatly mistaken. Apparently, liberals haven’t learned their lesson about tangling with California’s Calvary Chapel church network, where a firestorm over praying at school board meetings is resulting in a bigger fight than atheists bargained for. Pastor Jack Hibbs, one of FRC’s Watchmen pastors, hasn’t backed down on religious liberty before — and he doesn’t plan to start now. The head of a culturally-engaged congregation that’s also battling the state’s ObamaCare abortion mandate is now pushing back on another front: school board invocations.

After FFRF filed suit about the school board’s opening prayers, a federal judge ordered the members to end the tradition. Pastor Hibbs and the school board refused to capitulate and he led the board in prayer just last week. Bolstered by overwhelming public support, the Chino Valley Unified board (which includes members of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills Church and Calvary Chapel Chino Valley) met Monday to decide whether or not to fight the ruling that also bars them from reading the Bible during meetings. More than 300 people from the community poured into the board room [Monday] night, overflowing the overflow room and lobby, until parents packed the sidewalks outside, most holding signs that said simply: PRAY.

After a brief discussion, the board voted 3-2 to appeal the ruling and hire an outside firm to defend their First Amendment rights. (Rights, incidentally, that the Supreme Court upheld in 2014 by 5-4 in Town of Greece v. Galloway.) “I think the Lord is on our side,” said Jay Reed. “We have to fight. We’ve got to stand up as being Christians. We’ve got to live our biblical values.” Let’s hope more will try — thanks to the example of Chino Valley and Pastor Jack!

Originally published here.