LEGISLATIVE VICTORIES

You did it!!   Your calls, emails, and post cards expressing your concerns with “hate crimes” legislation had an impact.  This morning the Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Code rejected Senate Bill 418.   The bill failed for a lack of support or a compromise agreement.  It was withdrawn from consideration before being voted upon.

Language was offered to the bill from two different sources (Senator Mike Delph & Attorney General Curtis Hill) that we would have supported because it granted equal justice to any victim of a hate crime, but that was not what the bill’s proponents wanted.  There is really no other way to explain this except to say that the bill’s supporters wanted a politically correct list of favored victims.  It’s possible too, since hate crime actions have long been illegal in Indiana, that some supporters wanted to use the law to punish certain thoughts or speech.  (Atty General Hill’s rejected language specifically protected speech while targeting hate crime actions.)

It is my assumption that the Republicans debated and probably voted on this behind closed doors. It would seem that a majority of them, because of your calls, said SB 418 should be rejected.   However, while SB 418 is dead, the issue could possibly come up this session as an amendment to another bill in either the House or Senate.  We must still be ready to light up the phone lines again, should that happen.  We will continue to monitor this issue.

You made the difference when you contacted your Senator.  We know that they got a lot of calls raising concerns over freedom of speech, equal justice, political correctness and the questionable effectiveness of SB 418.  Thank you for standing with AFA of Indiana and other groups raising awareness about this media-driven legislation.

And There’s More!  A Victory for Life

Last week, Senate Bill 203 passed out of the same Senate committee on a strong 8-1 vote.  This is a bill that modifies our feticide law, which allows a prosecutor to punish a person for killing an unborn child in a criminal act against a pregnant mother.   The bill expands this to remove the current application to a baby that is 20 weeks or older in gestational age.  Now a prosecutor can seek a charge if a mother loses her baby that is less than 20 weeks along.   Although the bill excludes abortion, advocates of that procedure do not like SB 203 because, as one young lady testified, “It humanizes the fetus.”    I expect this bill to easily pass the Senate this week.

The bill has eight strong pro-life co-authors. They are Sen. Aaron Freeman, (lead author), Sen. Erin Houchin, Sen. Eric Koch, Sen. John Crane, Sen. Jean Leising, Sen. Jack Sandlin, Sen. Jim Tomes and Sen. Michael Young.

Parental Rights Makes Victory # 3!!

Your calls in support of Senate Bill 65 are also helping to propel this parental rights bill along.   Yesterday, two amendments to water down the bill failed dismally on an 8-41 and a 9-40 vote.   This bill requires schools to get parental permission before children are instructed on human sexuality, homosexuality or gender confusion.   It is expected to pass this week as well, with a strong vote.   Like SB 203, it will have to go through the same process in the House before reaching the governor’s desk.  That’s a long path with many obstacles, but a strong start in one chamber is very helpful.

In Their Own Words:

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”  – President James Madison