Donald Trump doesn’t just want to build a wall across the border — he wants to build a wall between taxpayers and abortion too! Maybe that’s why Planned Parenthood is frantically knocking on voters’ doors in what CBS calls a “massive election effort” to help Hillary Clinton. Apparently, when America’s biggest abortion provider isn’t busy destroying lives, the group is spending its time electing people that’ll help it stay in business. According to reports, the organization is sinking an unprecedented $30 million into its PAC, hoping to populate Congress and the White House with abortion allies who would help protect its multi-million dollar federal funding stream.

Cecile Richards’s group was one of the first to endorse Clinton, and she returned the favor by promising to force taxpayers to bankroll abortion-on-demand. Unfortunately for Hillary (who’s all too happy to take the money tainted by the illegal sale of baby organs), Americans have lost their stomach for the kind of rabid agenda Clinton is pushing. Just last week, Harvard University could only find 36 percent support for her call to repeal the Hyde Amendment (a position to the left of even President Obama!). In the memo obtained by CBS, Planned Parenthood Action Fund — the group’s PAC — “boasts that they are deploying 1,500 paid staffers and 3,500 volunteers to knock on over half a million doors in New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, and North Carolina.” That’s on top of the cash they’re blowing through on direct mail, phone banks, and “one of the largest canvassing operations in the country, they say.”

Of course, you can’t blame the organization for being anxious. In the last few years, there’s been a noticeable shift in public opinion on abortion. More young people are pro-life than ever before. Roughly 400 pro-life bills were considered in state legislatures in 2015 alone. And Planned Parenthood is having a tougher time than ever selling abortion to a nation that has the technology to look inside the womb. Making matters worse, their number one political target — Donald Trump — has vowed to defund the organization, appoint pro-life justices, end late-term abortions, and protect the Hyde Amendment.

Meanwhile, as Planned Parenthood makes house calls to protect its pro-abortion agenda, people in the pews are looking for pastors to give more direction in this election. A study by the Barna Group, which analyzed 10 sources of political influence for voters, shows that for three out of four evangelicals, religious beliefs were the number one influencer in their political decisions. While that 75 percent is a positive number, the survey also suggests those believers are generally left to navigate the intersection of faith and politics alone. Only one in four listed their pastor as a major influencer in their political decisions. Despite what the media would have you think, faith does play a major role in “helping Christians figure out how to vote,” George Barna explained.

“There is great potential for churches and pastors to impact voting decisions. In fact, one out of every four Americans say they trust their church or pastor to exert a lot of influence on their political choices. What a tremendous opportunity for churches to position themselves as relevant to people’s life choices while taking advantage of an available opportunity to influence people’s lives. Our research reveals that most pastors have chosen to not speak to their congregants about the issues or the candidates involved in this year’s election, which might explain the low-ranked influence of pastors in this study. But if more pastors were willing to teach their congregants how to think biblically about political issues, matters of governance, and candidate selection, the election campaign might have been dramatically altered.”

If abortion centers are encouraging people to vote, then pastors should do the same! The least a church can do is give their congregation the information they need to make informed decisions. In the meantime, Planned Parenthood’s strategy is ironic. If it’s looking for voters, maybe it should stop aborting future ones!

Originally published here.

The Night the Rights Went out in Georgia

Officials in Georgia have felt the heat — but have they seen the light? Just five days after FRC launched its petition on behalf of Dr. Eric Walsh, more than 39,000 of you have already had a major impact! Late last week, the state that fired Dr. Walsh for his Christian sermons decided to withdraw the subpoena for copies of them. After a social media storm, the State of Georgia backed off and told attorneys at First Liberty Institute that it would no longer force Dr. Walsh to hand over his messages, notes and even personal Bible!

But as encouraging as that news is, there’s still work to be done. Governor Nathan Deal (R-Ga.), who gave conservatives a raw deal on religious liberty last year, still refuses to lift a finger to help Dr. Walsh. In fact, he appointed the commissioner whose Department of Public Health reviewed the lay pastor’s sermons in 2014 (and then sacked him a day later)! Unless the governor has a change of heart, he is directly responsible for creating an environment of religious hostility in his state. Obviously, we’ll continue to urge Governor Deal to take an active role in resolving the issue and restoring Dr. Walsh’s career.

In the meantime, Dr. Walsh’s attorney, Jeremy Dys, tells us the State of Georgia hasn’t withdrawn its legal demands for: 1) validation of Dr. Walsh’s credentials as a minister; 2) proof that Dr. Walsh has served as a minister with the Seventh-day Adventist denomination; 3) production of any and all contracts Dr. Walsh has, or has ever had, with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, its subsidiaries or affiliates; and 4) a report to the State of Georgia on how — and how much — he has been compensated for producing and delivering his sermons. As Dys points out, “The state is not entitled to validate a minister’s credentials. The government may not demand that a pastor prove he has served with a religious denomination or, worse, require a pastor to disclose a contract between a religious denomination and its religious leader. And, there can be no justification for a state to demand to know how a pastor is compensated for his sermonizing.”

It’s time to stop this culture of religious intimidation in Georgia — and everywhere else! You can help. Contact Governor Deal and ask him to start cleaning up the mess he helped make. First, he can instruct Georgia’s attorney general, Sam Olens, to call off the state’s anti-Christian attack dogs! After all, this is the same governor who said that in Georgia, “our people work side-by-side without regard to the color of our skin, or the religion we adhere to.” Ask him to prove it by getting to work reinstating Dr. Walsh to his rightful place: as one of the country’s leading health administrators. For more on the Walsh case, check out the new piece by FRC’s Travis Weber.

Originally published here.

Letting the Election Run Its Courts…

A presidential term doesn’t last a lifetime — but Supreme Court picks do! So when voters head to the polls next Tuesday (or before), they’re not just voting for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton — they’re voting for at least one, and maybe as many as three or four, high court justices. And as Americans know all too well, those justices hold the keys to everything from health care, gun rights, abortion, religious liberty, and an endless list of issues critical to the future of our country. To help emphasize the significance of the Court — and the president filling it — FRC Action launched a new ad called “In the Balance.”

If you or someone you know is on the fence about the election, please take the time to watch and share this powerful video! Even a single justice can have a profound impact on the country. We saw just how profound last year in the 5-4 ruling on marriage. So when you’re comparing candidates, look carefully. Chances are, they’ll be judging the values you care about.

Originally published here.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.