My head is still spinning after a busy and fruitful week. It started with a veto and ended with a big victory!
You may have seen our Breaking News yesterday in celebration of the passage of SB 1457, sponsored by Sen. Nancy Barto. On Monday, the legislature will send this major pro-life bill to Governor Ducey for his consideration.
You may remember the bill failed to get the necessary 16 votes in the Senate a couple of weeks ago, and it looked like it was dead. I said then that I was confident it would get to the Governor’s desk this session. Glory to God!
Republicans in both the House and Senate voted in favor of the bill, passing it along party lines. Know that Governor Ducey shares our pro-life views and has signed pro-life measures throughout his tenure. Pray for him to sign the bill to protect preborn babies with Down syndrome and other genetic conditions, and to protect women from the abortion industry’s dangerous tactics.
Action Step: Call Gov. Ducey at 602-542-4331 or email him here and politely ask him to sign SB 1457.
A Disappointing Result
How does a bill make its way through committee hearings in both chambers, with expert and citizen testimony; survive rigorous debate on both the House and Senate floors, and endure intense misleading news coverage, then is vetoed by the governor?
All I can say is sometimes friends and allies disagree and surprises happen. You may have read CAP’s Breaking News earlier this week on SB 1456, Senator Nancy Barto’s parental rights bill regarding sex education.
The Governor did issue an Executive Order mandating public hearings and the posting of sex education curricula online so parents can see it, but the EO lacks the prohibition on sex ed instruction prior to fifth grade, a key component of the bill.
An executive order does not have the full weight of a duly passed bill from the legislature. That said, I’m hopeful the legislature will find a way to meet the Governor’s concerns on SB 1456 and still pass a measure this session. The bill could codify the Governor’s Executive Order, by that I mean take the provisions and put them into law. We’ll keep you posted.
You can read Governor Ducey’s veto letter here.
Pro-Adoption Bill on Governor’s Desk
The House passed SB 1254 this week and sent it to the Governor’s desk. The bill would ensure the Arizona Department of Health Services makes adoption information easily accessible on its website. This simple bill faced major pushback and passed with only Republican votes. No Democrats voted for easy access to adoption information.
ICYMI
- Al Mohler has some eye-opening analysis of the bold pro-abortion movement and “faith leaders” that support it in one of this week’s The Briefing.
- Walt Heyer has suggestions on How to Talk with Someone Struggling With Gender Confusion here. He says, “Taking on a transgender identity is not about becoming someone else; it is about erasing oneself.”
- Our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom are representing the Phoenix Seminary and other religious colleges in defense of a lawsuit by the LGBT community to exclude religious school students from financial aid because the colleges operate by their religious beliefs. Read about the lawsuit here.
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