If the goal of compromise is to ensure that nobody’s happy, then North Carolina is succeeding! With the NCAA’s ultimatum to repeal HB2 just hours away, the state flew into action yesterday to try to appease the NCAA, which has become a puppet of the radical Left. Turns out, the compromise only made liberals angrier. In the “deal” struck by State Senate Leader Phil Berger (R) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R), North Carolina rushed to pass a modified version of HB2 in hopes of wooing the college sports association back to the state. What the measure has succeeded in doing is revealing the definition of compromise for LGBT agitators — total surrender of those who oppose their radical agenda.

Among other things, the “deal” includes a three-year ban on local ordinances like Charlotte’s that open the restroom, locker room, and shower doors to both genders. In negotiations, lawmakers said they wanted to give the courts time to decide the current cases on bathroom and shower policies. So everyone will just have to hold it until the moratorium expires in December of 2020 when there would be another legislative free-for-all. What the LGBT agitators don’t like is that in places like government buildings and schools, the state would reset its policy to the pre-HB2 standard (which is still gender-specific).

National groups from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to the ACLU, NAACP, and even Planned Parenthood used social media to warn the “repeal’s” supporters. HRC’s Chad Griffin was furious. “This ‘deal’ does NOT repeal #HB2. It’s simply another version of HB2 dressed up in a way desperate lawmakers hope will save state’s economy.” Calling it a “kiss of death,” he let it be known that “There will be political consequences for those who [voted yes], Dem and Rep.” The ACLU was just as upset. In a tweet to the sports association responsible for this last-minute legislating, it posted, “Hey, @NCAA: North Carolina ‘compromise’ bill doesn’t repeal HB 2. We’re not ok with compromising human rights, and you shouldn’t be either.”

Equality NC, the state’s LGBT hub, used even stronger language, posting that it had nothing but “heartfelt disdain” for lawmakers who put the bill on the table. “This proposal is a train wreck that would double down on anti-LGBTQ discrimination. North Carolinians want a clean repeal of HB2, and we urge our allies not to sell us out,” Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality NC, said in a statement. “Those who stand for equality and with LGBTQ people are standing strong against these antics.”

Conservatives, on the other hand, are frustrated that the state is even trying to appease these cultural bullies. As anyone who’s tried to negotiate with LGBT activists knows, they won’t be satisfied until conservatives have unilaterally surrendered. There’s no need to give even the appearance of compromise on what a majority of Americans believe are common sense protections. Especially not now, when Texas and 12 other states are on the verge of solidifying their own privacy laws. “This … will not solve anything!” said our friends at the N.C. Family Policy Council and N.C. Values Coalition. And ironically, the NCAA, which this whole “deal” was meant to placate, wouldn’t even comment on whether it supported the idea.

“If HB2 was right to begin with,” Lt. Gov. Dan Forest (R) said, “which I believe it was, then why are we repealing it? If it is wrong, then why wait four years to fix it? Such ambiguity undercuts the legitimacy of a law that we have fought so hard to defend. We are yielding the moral high ground and giving in to a new form of corporate extortion from an unaccountable, out of state, non-elected, tax-exempt organization (NCAA) and for what?… [A] ballgame? Why are we allowing them to dictate to us, laws that govern the protection of our people? We should have the backbone to tell them to take a hike.”

If state leaders are suddenly worried about the economic impact of HB2, they shouldn’t be! That fake news has been debunked over and over again by everyone from PolitiFact to Forbes. Even the state’s own tourism and business reports have proven the critics wrong! Business is booming, the Washington Times points out. Still not convinced? Read this latest analysis from The Heritage Foundation’s number-crunchers. As for the loss of the NCAA and ACC, Lt. Gov. Forest must feel like a broken record. The total fallout, he explained — as recently as this week — was “less than one-half of one percent of the state’s GDP And even if it were more,” he added, “We don’t put a price tag on the safety and security of women and children in North Carolina.”

Here’s my take: While this measure doesn’t violate the privacy of women and children by allowing dangerous policies like Charlotte’s to be re-established, it does signal that elected officials are ultimately willing to surrender to the courts and the NCAA on matters of safety and public policy. Lawmakers who voted for this legislation have no right to complain about activist judges.

Originally published here.

David and the Abortion Goliath

Mike Pence is used to voting in Congress, but who knew he’d cast so many important ones as vice president? Donald Trump’s second-in-command has a second title in the Senate: tie-breaker. And that job could not have been more significant than yesterday when the former Indiana governor handed Americans a major victory on Planned Parenthood — the first piece of pro-life legislation to land on President Trump’s desk.

As some of you might remember, President Obama gave his friends plenty of parting gifts on his way out of Washington. Using his power at Health and Human Services, he issued a rule that did two things: it locked down federal grants for Cecile Richards’s group through the Title X “family planning” program and blocked states from defunding Planned Parenthood. Obviously, the point was to strong-arm states into giving taxpayer dollars to abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood.

That’s not only a violation of states’ rights but of taxpayers’ trust. Just Wednesday, Americans watched in horror as a doctor for Planned Parenthood joked about working out so that she’d be strong enough to dismember unborn babies. It was the 13th undercover video released by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) — each more horrifying than the last. As part of the footage, the doctor also implied that the group often saw babies born alive and it would depend on “who [was] in the room” as to whether they’d follow the law on giving the child medical help.

For Planned Parenthood, which so routinely violates the law that the U.S. House referred it for criminal prosecution, it’s just one in a mile-high pile of reasons that states are racing to defund the group. Robbing them of the authority to do so, as Obama tried, is the worst form of political terrorism. “State legislatures around the country have spoken out about their preference for prioritizing more comprehensive primary and preventative care providers for the receipt of Title X funding,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) wrote in a joint op-ed for the Washington Examiner, “and their voice should be respected by bureaucrats in the federal government.”

Fortunately, the majority of senators (minus RINOs Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, and Susan Collins, Maine) agreed. Although the bill to disapprove of the measure was deadlocked at 50-50, Vice President Mike Pence pushed the bill passed the procedural hurdle and paved the way for President Trump to dismantle another ridiculous rule of the Obama era. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) argued with Democrats who said the vote would “harm women.” “[The rule] substituted Washington’s judgment for the needs of real people,” McConnell reminded them. “This regulation is an unnecessary restriction on states that know their residents a lot better than the federal government.”

As for CMP, whose work is motivating more states to cut ties with Planned Parenthood, the legal fight goes on. And so does the Left’s hypocrisy. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) filed 15 charges against David Daleiden for “illegally” recording a conversation. There’s just one problem: state law exempts people who are exposing criminal activity (which violating the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act is). Of course, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Becerra has enjoyed plenty of financial support from Planned Parenthood. Meanwhile, where is the mainstream media? The same press that’s so quick to defend investigative journalism when the subject is an inhumane slaughterhouse, for instance, is nowhere to be found. If David had gone undercover to expose a puppy mill, he’d be hailed a hero. But because he unmasked the darker side of the nation’s largest abortion group, people want to put him in jail! The double standard is maddening. For more on Daleiden’s case, listen to my interview with FRC’s Travis Weber on Wednesday’s “Washington Watch.”

Originally published here.

Ill. Noise on Pastors’ Provision

No one would say learning to identify and help victims of domestic violence is a bad thing. Indeed, it sounds almost universally helpful. So, what’s the big deal about a legislative proposal in Illinois requiring pastors to be trained in this area?

The substance is not the problem. As a general matter, pastors should gain knowledge and skills which help them to do their job better. That may reasonably include the ability to identify victims of domestic violence.

The problem here, though, as our friends at the Illinois Family Institute point out, is a principle assumed by this proposal — the principle that the state can require pastors to do something simply because it is the state, and it has force to back up its demands. This idea runs anathema to a long history of religious freedom in the American tradition, which protects our ability to freely worship God and give to him what is owed in that relationship without the interference of the state. Moreover, our law recognizes and protects this relationship.

As the Supreme Court unanimously and recently affirmed only several years ago in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, the First Amendment protects the ability of religious organizations (including churches) to freely hire and fire those responsible for administering religious doctrine completely free of any interference by the state. In addition, under what is known as the church autonomy doctrine, the First Amendment bars the state from intruding into and deciding intra-religious disputes. For example, the government can t weigh in on whether it thinks the Catholic Church got a question of doctrine on marriage correct, or whether the Southern Baptist Convention included the right language in a statement on race relations.

Moreover, even state efforts to bring churches under public accommodation laws — where they might be more vulnerable — have been rejected. The states of Iowa and Massachusetts recently published administrative guidance regarding the application of their state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity, and the guidance claimed the laws cover churches in some instances. Yet when several churches pushed back with legal action, the states amended their guidance by striking the provisions binding churches.

As Illinois shows us, however, the struggle over this issue is not going away. We must be ever vigilant against attempts by the state to assume — and assert — authority over our churches and our relationship with God.

Originally published here.

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