Supporting Planned Parenthood isn’t just the wrong decision — it could be politically costly! Some Senate Democrats are about to learn that lesson the hard way, Susan B. Anthony List warns in a new report about voters’ feelings on the abortion giant. In six states where Senate liberals are on shaky ground in 2018, the news isn’t exactly promising for longtime Planned Parenthood allies. “A majority of voters in Florida, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin said they would be less likely to support their senator if he or she voted to fund Planned Parenthood over women’s health clinics that do not perform abortions,” the survey found.

In five of those six states, most people said they objected to funding Cecile Richards’s group — regardless of where the funds were diverted. “Voters agree: taxpayer dollars would be better spent on community and rural health centers that provide comprehensive, whole-woman care, not abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood,” said SBA President Majority Dannenfelser. “Pro-life voters were key to victory on election night are eager to see a pro-life White House and Congress address the injustice of taxpayer funding for the abortion industry.” Interestingly enough, Donald Trump won all of those six states in the general election. From here, it’s up to Senators Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Jon Tester (R-Mo.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Claire McCaskill (D- Mo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) to decide whether they’re willing to gamble their seats by towing the party line.

And the time for deciding is soon. As House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) told reporters, the language to defund Planned Parenthood will be a part of the budget reconciliation push — regardless of the wrenches the out-going President Obama’s party is trying to throw in the mix. “The Planned Parenthood legislation would be in our reconciliation bill,” the Wisconsin Republican said at his weekly news conference. That certainly puts some Democrats in a tight spot, especially since the Democratic party’s platform — for the first time in history — called for unlimited taxpayer-funded abortion. If you’re looking for reasons why the party bombed on November 7, that’s a good place to start.

Few policies reveal more vividly how the Democratic Party is out-of-step with American voters. Almost 60 percent of Trump voters not only disagree with the Democrats’ barbaric approach to abortion but insist it guided their 2016 choice. The Republican Party’s platform positions on unborn human life and religious liberty was the bridge between Donald Trump and Christian conservatives. Nearly 60 percent of Trump voters were more likely to vote for him because the platform is very clear on life and religious liberty. It was the party platform that brokered the deal between Trump and Christian conservatives — a deal that was sealed in the final debate when Trump vividly described a partial-birth abortion and pledged to appoint pro-life justices. The Republican Party platform played a key role in bringing Christian conservatives and Trump together. And if Democrats aren’t careful, their fierce and blind obsession with abortion will only send more voters to the GOP.

Originally published here.

Illinois School Puts Faith on Recess

Illinois has one of the worst murder rates in the country, but a new report says that what the state’s killing now is freedom. The bullies at Freedom from Religion Foundation are making sure of that, thanks to their usual scare tactics on religious expression. Unfortunately, not every school district has gotten the message that these atheists don’t understand the Constitution — a fact that’s been proven over and over again in court. Knowing that most administrators don’t want to deal with those long and costly lawsuits, FFRF has done an impressive job scaring off districts from allowing students to exercise their God-given rights, which are protected under the Constitution.

The latest example comes from Wayne City Community Unit’s District 100 in Illinois, where officials have cowered in the face of FFRF’s complaint and issued a blanket ban on students posting about prayer or religious event’s on the school’s Facebook page. When a group advertised their “Bring Your Bible to School Day,” it triggered a threatening letter from the Foundation, claiming the practice somehow violated the Establishment Clause. “This Facebook posting violates the basic constitutional prohibition by creating the appearance that the school and, by extension, the district prefer religion to non-religion and Christianity to all other religions.”

Superintendent Jeff Mitchell didn’t bother investigating the claim and instead issued a knee-jerk memo promising to be more vigilant in cracking down on students’ freedom. “[R]est assured that the posting was taken down very shortly after it was posted and the student as well as all others involved have been notified that they cannot promote this sort of program on any district sites.” But here’s the thing: The notice was posted by a student, which is very different than if a school official did. We don’t know the full parameters of what the Facebook page was used for and how it functioned — but assuming it was open to all types of announcements (religious and non-religious), and that the students posted directly or had an administrator whose job it was merely to receive their messages and post them, they aren’t infringing on church-state space, they’re being infringed upon.

Like most cases, it looks like school officials were either ignorant of the law or failed to consult it. This is the perfect illustration of why school districts need to ensure that they’re receiving proper legal advice (from places like First Liberty Institute, Alliance Defending Freedom, or others), and not just caving to the demands of the FFRF — which is a militant atheist organization and not an objective legal source.

Originally published here.

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