The Patriot Post® · Dems' Equality Doesn't Have Its Act Together
Almost every day, it seems like there’s a new revelation of the extremism of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her new congressional majority. The so-called Equality Act is one of the latest examples, which shows once again how the new Democratic party is being controlled by extreme LGBT activists.
Just days after Democrats took H.R. 5 for a test drive in the Judiciary Committee, the party was back at it — this time in a Education and Labor subcommittee. To some people, the quick turnaround was just another sign of how dangerous the legislation is. As our own team will tell you, the Equality Act is so broad and touches so many areas of law that if it follows proper procedure it could be heard in as many as five committees before Pelosi’s party is done. The bill is so far-reaching in its effect that it rewrites the rules of business, education, sports, health care, privacy, and faith.
While the committee’s Democrats droned on about the Equality Act writing America’s next great chapter, conservatives like James Comer (R-Ky.) had to set the record straight. Sure, the Kentucky Republican said, the “Equality Act sounds like a bill that advocates for all people… But as I look at H.R. 5 and learn more about what’s in the bill, I’m deeply troubled — and I believe most Americans would be deeply troubled by what’s really there.” It may have “a clever name,” he said, but that can’t hide the “serious, harmful consequences.”
Casualty number one? Religious freedom. As far back as Chai Feldblum, liberals have been pretty candid about the fact that when faith and sexuality clash, there isn’t “a single instance” when they thought religious liberty should win. The Equality Act makes sure of that, gutting the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) “in ways,” Comer warns, “that will have unintended effects we cannot know sitting here today.” Not necessarily, the Human Rights Campaign’s Sarah Warbler tried to argue during her testimony. “Both protections can co-exist.”
Since when? Long before the Equality Act, dozens of bakers, florists, sportscasters, teachers, policemen, nurses, athletes, and so many others were already living proof that the Left has no interest in co-existence. Democrats haven’t even hollowed out RFRA yet, and look at the fallout. If Congress ever did put the full weight of government behind the Left’s intolerance — and passed a bill like this — imagine the price Americans would pay for believing in natural marriage and science-based gender. The 99 percent are already at the mercy of the one percent when it comes to locker rooms, sports competition, privacy, and business. What’s next? Purging half the country from society?
The far-Left has been lying about this grand compromise for years. “Live and let live,” they promised during “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” same-sex marriage, bathroom, and transgender debates. Now, we have drag queens reading to our kids in elementary school, girls running from the half-naked boys in their locker room, and teachers getting fired for using the “wrong” pronoun. Fool me once, the saying goes, shame on you. Fool us twice, and suddenly, there’s no such thing as the First Amendment, religious liberty, or expression.
Most Americans, even the ones the Left despises, aren’t trying to discriminate. They just want the freedom to live out their beliefs in their every day lives. That doesn’t mean they don’t believe in the dignity and decency of people who identify differently than they do. These are folks, Comer points out, who believe in the “fair treatment of their fellow citizens.” But they shouldn’t have to sacrifice who they are to prove it.
“Some of the things I see in the Equality Act go beyond the pale of anything I’ve heard — from anyone,” Comer said. “The poor execution of this bill, I’m afraid, will result in certain persecution for millions of innocent Americans who are still under the impression that religious freedom is a fundamental American right.” Stop House Democrats from taking a blowtorch to 230 years of constitutional tradition. Contact your representative and urge them to vote no on H.R. 5.
Originally published here.
Harris Unleashed by Dog Cruelty
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) wants everyone to know she has a HEART. Just not when it comes to children. While the rest of the country is still waiting for her party to find some compassion for newborns, the California senator is making sure she real priorities are covered — dogs, for one. Her “Help Extract Animals from Red Tape” (HEART) Act won’t take people’s minds off of her vote for legal infanticide, but it will help remind people the limits of her party’s humanity.
“Infanticide is a despicable crime. These children bring us so much joy, and we can and must do more so that survivors of abortion find their forever homes.” That’s what Senator Kamala Harris’s (D-Calif.) tweet would have sounded like if she put half as much concern into babies’ welfare as she does pets. Instead, her posts on dog fighting have just become more fodder for a nation stunned by the radical transformation of the Democratic Party.
After the sickening optics of the KITTEN debate, most Americans were surprised to see that the Left hadn’t learned its lesson. While abortion survivors testify on Capitol Hill about the horrors of killing a born baby, Harris’s party continues to pick this moment to fight for the humane treatment of animals. “Abusing [dogs]… is not only wrong, it’s immoral,” Harris said. “When our government saves animals that have been victims of cruelty and abuse, we must do everything we can to ensure their welfare,” Harris said. But when it comes to a perfectly healthy child, delivered and ready for a family to love, this senator says it’s perfectly fine to throw her in the closet with the rest of the medical waste.
Now, obviously, no one is saying it’s okay to abuse animals. I love dogs and cats as much as the next person. But to the vast majority of Americans, it’s absolutely unconscionable that there’s a major political party in this country who believes four-legged creatures are worth fighting for — and a human being, made in the image of God, is not.
If you’re going to oppose violence, oppose it all. Don’t champion pets and then refuse to care while thousands of children are thrown out like garbage because your party won’t act.
Originally published here.
Bogus Focus: Schumer’s Doublespeak on Infanticide
There aren’t a lot of things Democrats haven’t wanted the government to control. The decision to save an innocent newborn may actually be the first. In the two months since New York celebrated legal infanticide like it won the Super Bowl, Americans have seen a lot of contradictions from the Left. And Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) recent comments make it quite clear: the party isn’t interested in consistency any time soon.
On Tuesday, CNSNews caught up with the Senate Minority Leader and asked him whether leaving babies to die on a hospital table was actually infanticide. “You know,” Schumer said, “this issue has been brought up over and over again. It’s bogus in terms of how our Republican friends are interpreting this.” Bogus? Try telling that to abortion survivor Melissa Ohden, who was on the Hill that same day to share her story — and the story of at least 281 other people whose lives were almost ended because of the radical position Democrats support.
“Infanticide is against the law,” Schumer went on, “and a woman has a right to decide what is her choice with her doctor before that moment before the child is born. So, this is all — again — fear-mongering and falsification of what is happening. Infanticide is already illegal.” Turns out, Schumer’s response is only half-true. As Alexandra Desanctis points out in NRO, leaving babies alone to die is legal in almost half of the country. “As of 2016, only 26 states have laws creating a specific affirmative duty for physicians to provide medical care to infants born in botched abortions, and only six states even required that abortion providers report instances of infants born alive under such circumstances.” And even if it were illegal in the other 24, what’s the harm in reaffirming it? There’s no one-vote limit on doing the right thing.
Everyone should be able to say that killing an innocent child is wrong. And until the steps are taken to stop it, FRC will fight to protect every life at every stage. You can join us by supporting our End Birth Day Abortion campaign. For $9, you can join the tens of thousands of Americans who are sending a newborn hat — and a message — to Nancy Pelosi’s party that every child is worth welcoming into the world and defending in law.
Originally published here.
This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.