Values Voter News

McCain

EXCLUSIVE:McCain Makes Clear Support for CA Marriage Amendment-"Here is what he said on June 25, 2008: "I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona. I do not believe judges should be making these decisions."...McCain may be AGAINST a federal marriage amendment but by issuing a declarative statement FOR a state constitutional amendment he stays consistent with his principles."

Obama

McCain announces support for the California Protection of Marriage initiative-"Over 61% of the electorate has already voted to reaffirm marriage as between a man and a woman. Four activist judges on the California Supreme Court in San Francisco wrongly substituted their own narrow views for the opinion of over 4 million California voters. Fortunately, voters will be able to correct that mistake in November and restore the definition of marriage to our constitution. We look forward to working with Senator McCain and many other elected leaders to accomplish this. We hope that U.S Senator Barack Obama will join Senator McCain in endorsing the initiative, and would welcome his support as well."-See Marriage Amendment/African-Americans were determining factor for Bush in 2004? Is this why liberal media silent about this issue? of the importance of this issue and NPR and Homosexual hit the spot that most secular news mediums miss: Religious Discrimination in the name of Gay Rights. for a video of Obamas' stance on the Defense of Marriage Act.

McCain

Will Christians Sit Out This Election?-"If John McCain cannot get the help of Christian conservatives in the Republican Party during the fall campaign, he and his wife will probably not be relocating to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue next January....It's clear that McCain's campaign lacks the faith-based outreach that helped sweep the last three Republican presidents into the White House....Meanwhile, Sen. Barack Obama has launched an aggressive campaign to reach out to evangelicals....The campaign has also held more than 200 "American Values Forums." These forums will soon be followed by small group meetings as well as town hall meetings targeting young Catholics and young evangelicals....Obama's strategy is to split the vote among evangelical voters."-See How valuable is your Values Vote? Obamas' first ad: To Values Voters?.

McCain Meets with Focus on the Family Ally-"John McCain needs to talk about life more often; he needs to talk about marriage," said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values (CCV) in Ohio. "If the senator thinks he is going to run the campaign appealing to the middle by avoiding the social issues, he is going to lose Ohio."

McCain meets with evangelist Billy Graham and son-"The senator and I both have sons currently serving in the military, and also have a common interest in aviation," Franklin Graham said. "I was impressed by his personal faith and his moral clarity on important social issues facing America today."...He said he was not endorsing anyone for president, but was urging "men and women of faith everywhere" to vote and be involved in the political process."I encourage people to vote for the candidate at every level who best represents their values and convictions, and then to pray for those in authority over us as required in Scripture," Franklin Graham said."

Confronting Liberal Media Bias

Bush judges and Gun Control (Balancing out the Liberal Media Bias with information not reported on, nor emphasized or just flat out biased that may have an impact on voters)

Morning Bell: A Big Victory For Individual Rights-"The District of Columbia has one of then nation’s most draconian handgun bans, and yesterday the Supreme Court struck down the law, finding that the Constitution’s Second Amendment does protect an individual’s right to to keep a loaded handgun at home for self-defense....Far-left critics of the decision are already claiming that the decision represents “judicial activism.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Justice Antonin Scalia’s majority opinion is a textbook example of constitutional originalism. Using simple grammar and crystal-clear logic, Scalia destroys the argument of dissenting Justice John Paul Stevens that the first half of the Second Amendment — “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State” — negates the second — “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”...Nevermind that since the District of Columbia first instituted its ban on handguns, there has been only one year (1985) that the homicide rate in the city fell below what it was in 1976. Worse, in 15 of the 29 years since the ban went into effect, D.C. had either the first or second highest murder rate among the nation’s 50 largest cities. A National Academy of Sciences report based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications and a survey of 80 different gun-control laws, shows no link between restrictions on gun ownership and lower rates of crime, firearms violence or even accidents with guns.... According to Gallup, 73% of the U.S. public believes the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the rights of Americans to own guns. And almost 7 out of 10 Americans are opposed to a law that would make the possession of a handgun illegal."-Here is actual 150 or so page decision.

Georgetown Law Prof: Scalia’s 2nd Amendment opinion is the finest example of “original public meaning” jurisprudence ever-"Justice Scalia’s opinion is exemplary for the way it was reasoned. It will be studied by law professors and students for years to come. It is the clearest, most careful interpretation of the meaning of the Constitution ever to be adopted by a majority of the Supreme Court . . .Justice Scalia’s opinion is the finest example of what is now called “original public meaning” jurisprudence ever adopted by the Supreme Court. This approach stands in sharp contrast to Justice John Paul Stevens’s dissenting opinion that largely focused on “original intent”

Obama

Flip flop or not? Does Obama support the DC Handgun Law as constitutional or does he not?



McCain vs Obama for contrast

Protecting Second Amendment Rights-"As part of John McCain's defense of Second Amendment rights, he cosponsored legislation to lift a ban on the law abiding citizens of the District of Columbia from exercising their Constitutional right to bear arms."-McCains web site.

I couldn't find it on Obamas' "Issues" page but here is his "Issues" page for further investigation.

Pro-Life Supreme Court vs Planned Parenthhood

South Dakota and Planned Parenthood

8th Circuit: S.D. can enforce women’s “right to know” abortion law-"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruled 7–4 Friday to lift an injunction against a South Dakota informed consent abortion law. The law requires abortionists to inform women about the nature of abortion and the risks involved before they elect to terminate their pre-born child’s life. Alliance Defense Fund attorneys authored and filed a friend-of-the-court brief defending the law on behalf of the Family Research Council. “A woman’s life is worth more than Planned Parenthood’s bottom line,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence. “Anyone truly concerned about the interests of women supports making sure they have access to all the information necessary to make a fully informed decision. Planned Parenthood, on the other hand, has argued adamantly to restrict the information women have about the lives of their pre-born babies. We’re pleased the court’s decision today will make sure women have access to the information they need and deserve.”

Illinois

Parents Outraged by Library Link to Planned Parenthood Web Site-"Parents were outraged when they learned their library in Batavia, Ill., links its computers to Planned Parenthood's teen Web site. They have formed a coalition and are calling for the link to be removed. Parent Kerry Knott complained to the library director after discovering the link. “This is horrible stuff," she said. "It promotes birth control, sexual activity (and) makes a joke of abstinence. It mocks parents and makes us out to be idiots." She and about 60 other parents took their case to the library board recently. Knott claims they were cut off early by the board. “We the people, the taxpayers who fund the libraries, are no longer in control of the libraries," Knott said.

Area Christian leaders protest United Way connection to Planned Parenthood-"A letter signed by more than two dozen Christian leaders from five central Illinois counties was delivered to the Heart of Illinois United Way on Thursday, asking the funding organization to cut ties with Planned Parenthood of Illinois. If the funding is not halted, some of those pastors may urge their congregations to rethink giving to the United Way. Illinois Planned Parenthood affiliates merged earlier this year. The letter, delivered by two Central Illinois Right to Life board members, says that as a result United Way contributions to Planned Parenthood’s Peoria programs may go into a common fund that also will ultimately benefit facilities that perform abortions in Champaign, Chicago and Aurora... spokeswoman for the local United Way chapter said any money raised locally must be used for local programs only. Money raised for the Planned Parenthood Heart of Illinois office in Peoria is earmarked for youth programs at two local schools, Gina Edwards said. However, Central Illinois Right to Life board chairman the Rev. Mark Henninger said that “even though the United Way’s desire may be toward that end, we would think that money would go into a local pot that would go outside the local control.” As an alternative to funding Planned Parenthood’s Peoria office, the letter suggests that the HOI United Way instead give money to local pregnancy resource centers."

Religous Freedom vs ACLU

Missouri

Gideon Bible Distribution Case Briefed at the Federal Court of Appeals-"Liberty Counsel filed its Initial Brief with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in defense of an equal access policy of the South Iron School District ("District") that permits the Gideons to distribute Bibles in the same manner other non-religious organizations are permitted to distribute secular literature. Liberty Counsel represents the District. In September 2006, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit against the District to stop the Gideons from providing Bibles for public school students."

Florida

Florida: School board to pay $325,000 in legal fees to ACLU-“The Holmes County School Board must pay $325,000 in legal fees to the ACLU because a Ponce De Leon High School student won a lawsuit against the district earlier this year.”

South Carolina

ACLU To Open New South Carolina Office-“The American Civil Liberties Union will announce the opening of its new South Carolina Office July 2 at a press conference and ceremonial ribbon-cutting that will include Charleston Mayor Joe Riley and a host of other political and community leaders.”

Confronting Liberal Media Bias

Bush (Balancing out the Liberal Media Bias with information not reported on, nor emphasized or just flat out biased that may have an impact on voters)

"I truly believe the Faith-Based Initiative is one of the most important initiatives of this administration. (Applause.)"-Bush (24 minute video speech 06/26/2008)

"We've laid the foundation for an effort that will continue transforming lives long after I've been back to Texas. (Laughter and applause.)"-Bush (24 minute video speech 06/26/2008)

Faith-Based Initiatives May Continue-"According to Jay Hein, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, both Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have said positive things about the initiatives. The purpose of the program is to give government funding to a variety of secular and religious charities that work to solve social ills. Approximately 35 governors across the country have begun similar initiatives. Nineteen are Democratic governors and 16 are Republican....Today, 1,000 leaders are attending a two-day Faith-Based and Community Initiatives National Conference in Washington. "The purpose of this national conference is to survey the landscape of the changes that have been made and the progress that's been achieved since the President launched the Faith-Based and Community Initiative during the second week of his first administration," Hein said."-

"On January 29, 2001, President George W. Bush signed the first two Executive Orders of his Administration"-"creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives...George W. Bush promised in his first major policy speech as a Presidential candidate, on July 22, 1999, "In every instance where my Administration sees a responsibility to help people, we will look first to faith-based organizations, to charities, and to community groups.""

Mrs. Bush's Remarks at White House Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives-"Here in New Orleans, this strength was seen by the overwhelming response to Hurricane Katrina. Americans contributed over $2.5 billion* in private resources to the recovery effort after the storm....President Bush launched the Faith-Based and Community Initiative in 2001 because he recognized that the spirit of compassion that our citizens have is our very asset when it comes to meeting community needs...Hurricane Katrina damaged or destroyed hundreds of schools in the Gulf region, leaving thousands of students displaced. But today, the vast majority of the schools in New Orleans are up and running, with more than enough room available for children as they start to return home. Around 40 percent of these schools are charter schools, which provide greater flexibility and accountability than traditional public schools. New Orleans has the highest percentage of charter schools than any other city in the United States."!!!

Excerpts of the President's Remarks to Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives' National Conference-"On the Origins of the President’s Faith-Based and Community Initiatives:
During my first campaign for the White House, I was troubled to see so many of our citizens’ greatest needs going unmet. Across our country, the hungry, homeless, sick, and suffering begged for deliverance – and too many heard only silence in reply. The tragedy was that there were good men and women across America who had the desire to help – but not the resources. And because many of them belonged to faith-based organizations, they were often barred from receiving support from the federal government. So I set about to change this with a new approach called "compassionate conservatism."...We have helped level the playing field for faith-based groups and other charities – especially small organizations that had struggled to compete for funds in the past. We have educated religious groups about their civil rights. We have made the federal grant-application process more accessible and transparent. We have trained thousands of federal employees to ensure that the government does not discriminate against faith-based organizations. And we have ensured that these groups do not have to give up their religious character to receive taxpayer money....On the Impressive Results Faith-Based and Community Groups Have Delivered While Revolutionizing the Way Our Government Confronts Some of Today's Biggest Challenges...Faith-based and community groups like yours have also revolutionized the way our government gives prisoners across America a second chance. Nationwide, 44 percent of prisoners are rearrested within one year of their release. Yet among the prisoners you work with through this program, that number is almost three times lower – just 15 percent...On the Important Role Faith-Based Groups Have Played in the Success of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief...When we launched this program in 2003, about 50,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa were receiving anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. Today, we are releasing the newest PEPFAR results – and they show that we now support treatment for nearly 1.7 million. One of the beautiful things about this initiative is that we are also saving babies. To date, PEPFAR has allowed nearly 200,000 African babies to be born HIV-free. These new numbers show that our Emergency Plan is a huge success. Much of the credit goes to our partners who carry out PEPFAR's work – nearly a quarter of them faith-based groups...Americans have volunteered in record numbers. And of the 60 million people who now give their time to others, more than one-third do so through faith-based groups."

President Bush Attends Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives' National Conference-"Thank you very much. Please be seated. (Applause.) How beautiful was that? From being a homeless mother of two to introducing the President of the United States. (Applause.)...You don't know Ramie yet, but you're about to. Ramie was once lost to substance abuse and depression....Today, she's reunited with her daughter, Dawn. She helps other women as a Next Door case manager. And I'd like to tell you what she said. She used the words of Saint Paul: "Old things have passed away; behold, all things are becoming new." (Applause.)...So you applaud for Ramie -- but you're also applauding for those compassionate souls at The Next Door. (Applause.) Faith-based communities -- our faith community is doing a fantastic job of saving lives....the outpouring of love for the American citizens is great. I mean, it is such an honor to represent our country, and to see the hard work of the American citizens and the generosity of the American citizens paying off in the smiling faces that line the road....When we were in Tanzania we went to visit a clinic where a 9-year-old girl was HIV-positive, and she'd lost both her parents to AIDS. And for the last year, Catholic Relief Services had been helping the girl. And her grandmother said this: "As a Muslim, I never imagined a Catholic group would help me like that." And she went on to say, "I'm so grateful to the American people." The United States Senate must follow the lead of the United States House and reauthorize this vital program (PEPFAR)...The island of Zanzibar, which is affiliated with Tanzania, the infection rate has gone from 20 percent of babies born to less than 1 percent of babies born in 16 months. (Applause.)"-24 Minute video of speech.

Fact Sheet: Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: Delivering Help and Hope to Millions at Home and Around the World-"The Faith-Based and Community Initiative has helped level the playing field for faith-based groups and other charities – especially small organizations that had struggled to compete for funds in the past. Federal agencies have issued 15 regulations mandating that faith-based organizations be treated the same as secular groups and has applied these regulations across the Federal Government. It has educated religious groups – as well as thousands of Federal employees – to ensure these rules are fully applied. President Bush and his Administration have advanced policies that yield greater support for faith-based and community groups. Working with Congress, the Administration has: Trained more than 100,000 social entrepreneurs to build their capacity and more effectively engage need. Amended the tax code to provide greater incentives for charitable giving and activities. Established the Compassion Capital Fund to help grassroots nonprofits that serve the needy to increase their effectiveness and reach. Launched the Pro Bono Challenge, a three-year campaign to encourage corporate professionals like accountants and lawyers to share their time and expertise with the nonprofit sector."

Related News

Africa, Bush and Values Voters vs Obama, Democrats and Liberal Media for Values Voter contrast

See Darfur, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and Namibia: Americas' Approval Ratings Soaring in Africa, Has Bush done anything right??? and Grandma Behind Bars for more on Faith Based Initiative, Bush and PEPFAR. See how popular President Bush and America are in Africa. Also, see Africa for striking similarities of African Values with those of Values Voters Values on issues like abortion, homosexuality and abstinence and notice the contrast between African/Values Voter Values and those of Obama.

Jamaica and Latin America

Food for the Poor, Inc.-"The 3rd largest International charity in the US is a christian relief and development organization...We have grown to become the foremost provider of aid to the Caribbean and Latin America...Food For The Poor goes to local clergy, missionaries and other church-based social programs of various denominations, and asks them, “What do you need to feed, educate, house and minister to the poor?”...Listen and read more about Jamaica by visiting In Their Own Words and Stories from Mango Valley."-Included are 2 videos and must see before and after pictures!!! See US stinginess in foreign aide?/Organized Christianity abuses power and money?/Big Business' portrayed as corrupt? for more encouraging stories.

Bush Well-Received at National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast-"Latinos of faith are proud of President Bush's accomplishments during the past eight years, said the Rev. Luis Cortes, Jr., president and CEO of Esperanza, the largest Hispanic faith-based evangelical network in the United States..."We are proud that you have, and have had, the largest bilingual education budget in American history," Cortes said...He asked the audience to pray that God will strengthen American families and for every child to grow up in a loving and stable home. "We pray for the day when every child in America is welcomed in life and protected in law," he said. Cortes started the first National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in 2002 as a way for Hispanic faith and community leaders to meet with national policy makers and business leaders in Washington, D.C."

Bush/Pro-Life

Bush Admin Official Sends Another Letter to Group to Protect Pro-Life Doctors-"A top Bush administration official sent another letter to the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists about their certification requirements regarding abortion. The OBGYN group appeared to relent after Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt issued his initial letter in March. In his first letter, Leavitt said the Bush administration opposes a policy ABOG was considering that could have doing or promoting abortions as part of the formal requirement for physician board certification. The requirement would rely on American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines saying physicians should refer women to another doctor when they refuse to do an abortion or refer to someone who does. That could wind up making many pro-life obstetricians quit their jobs rather than be forced to do abortions. After receiving the letter, ABOG Executive Director Norman F. Gant, MD said that abortion is not an issue for consideration in any of its requirements or exams."-See also Has Bush done anything right??? for Bush and Republicans clear pro-life stand though a Democrat Majority since 2006.

Africa

Bishops Plan to Shun A Key Conference-"A growing number of Anglican bishops -- one-third by some accounts -- are planning to stay away from the denomination's once-in-a-decade Lambeth Conference, reflecting the depth of division over biblical teaching on homosexuality. While the majority of those planning to boycott the conference in southeast England next month are traditionalists from Africa, where the majority of the world's Anglicans (Episcopalians) live, they are being joined by some high-profile colleagues based in the West. They include the outspoken Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, who is to date the most senior clergyman in the Church of England -- the "mother church" of the worldwide Anglican Communion -- to declare his intention to stay away from Lambeth....Those planning to stay away are doing so because the church's titular head, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, has invited U.S. Episcopal (ECUSA) bishops to Lambeth despite the unresolved dispute."Those who have gone against church teaching should not attend representative Anglican gatherings," Nazir-Ali said in a statement this week."My difficult in attending the Lambeth Conference has to do with being in eucharistic fellowship with and teaching the common faith alongside those who have ordained a person to be a bishop whose style of life is contrary to the unanimous teaching of the Bible and of the Church down the ages," he said.About 77 million Anglicans around the world belong to 38 "provinces" or regions. It is the world's largest Protestant denomination, and the third largest in Christendom, after the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches...Halfway through Gafcon, organizers and participants continue to stress that the crisis is about biblical authority, not sex. Mainstream media coverage has focused on allegations of homophobia, and reports of divisions among the participants over the way forward....He also accused liberal bishops of "persecuting" conservative clergy in North America."-See more on African Pro-Life and Family views for values voter contrast to the Obamas.

Canada

Famed Theologian Quits Anglican Church of Canada-"J.I. Packer, one of the world's most renowned evangelical theologians, left the Anglican Church of Canada, citing "poisonous liberalism" in the church body....Packer, 81, who was named one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in the world by Time magazine in 2005, quit the Canadian arm of the global Anglican Communion with 10 other B.C. Anglican clergy last week, he said, according to The Vancouver Sun. They joined the more conservative and orthodox Province of the Southern Cone in South America....While the controversy has focused on homosexuality, Stackhouse says the issue is about more than sex. "This is about the fundamental question of how we derive any kind of Christian truth," he said, according to The Canadian Press. Packer, who has outlined a conservative Christian theology in his 1973 bestseller Knowing God, described the Bible as "absolute" authority on divine truth and that it clearly describes homosexuality as a grave sin, as reported by The Vancouver Sun."

Germany

Prospect of gay Lutheran bishop divides Germans-"Germany could elect its first openly gay Lutheran bishop next month, a move conservatives say would alienate many Christians and open divisions in the Church. The July 12 election brings to Germany the question of gay clergy and same-sex unions which has caused rifts in several countries and faiths, including the Anglican community.Others have been quoted as saying Gorski's appointment would damage the standing and weight of the Lutheran Church, founded by German Martin Luther in the 16th century and now one of the largest Protestant denominations....Last year the largest U.S. Lutheran body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), said it would allow homosexual clergy in sexual relationships to serve as pastors."

USA

Unbalanced Committee Courts Presbyterian Moral Relativism-"On June 24, a General Assembly committee voted to change the constitutional standards for deacons, elders, and ministers to be ordained to office. Among the ordination standards is a requirement for sexual morality, in particular that officers of the church "live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness." What we have at this point is one committee's recommendation, and it appears to be a group clearly atypical among Presbyterians. While Presbyterians as a whole lean in a theologically conservative direction by roughly a two-to-one margin, this committee evidenced roughly a four-to-one split in the other direction, toward theological liberalism. That is a vast deviation from the reality of Presbyterians out in the churches! "These troubling committee decisions will likely be reversed when the full set of commissioners decide the issue in plenary session. An informed, organized, articulate, and faithful group of commissioners will be prepared to advocate for refusing to lower moral standards that are based on God's best for humankind. And even if General Assembly should vote to change our church constitution, the amendment would likely fail for lack of ratification by regional presbyteries. "Presbyterian Action stands shoulder to shoulder with faithful Presbyterians to maintain the integrity of our denomination's enduring message of moral truth."

Colombia and Romania

World Congress of Families Gravely Concerned About OAS 'Sexual-Orientation/Gender Identity' Resolution-"Pro-family organizations were not given an opportunity for input..."Once again, a political institution has been co-opted by the international homosexual movement. Once again, a transnational organization has chosen to enlist with one side in the culture war, to the manifest displeasure of majorities in the nations they represent. Latin cultures, in particular, are noted for their traditional, pro-family orientation." World Congress of Families recently garnered the support of 110 pro-family leaders from 23 countries for a petition in support of Romania's pending move to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman."

Update 05/27/2009 Here is new link to the testimony of Roe of Roe vs Wade before THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. Update 01/20/2012: Here is yet another link here. You can also read it below and an image is available to the left. Since web sites are updated and links are changed I thought it would be good to post an image here.

Pro-Life

Obama vs Jane Roe of Roe vs Wade and her Saviour for values voter contrast

Groups plan protest over Obama's pro-abortion views-"Calling Senator Barack Obama's views on abortion "radical," protest groups say they plan prayer vigils during the Democratic National Convention in August to bring attention to the issue. The groups say they'll circle the convention site with as many as 1,000 demonstrators who will kneel and pray for an end to abortions. They also plan to leave roses on the sidewalk outside the arena. Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition says Obama would be "the most radical president ever when it comes to abortion."-See Obama and the Born Alive Infant Protection Act? and scroll down to the bottom of NPR and Homosexual hit the spot that most secular news mediums miss: Religious Discrimination in the name of Gay Rights. under Pro-Life with article under Michelle Obama concerning Partial Birth Abortion.

Roe and Jesus

Norma McCorvey (the Roe of Roe vs Wade) speaks out against abortion-“Norma McCorvey’s testimony is a incredible example of God’s redeeming grace. I commend Norma for her courage to speak out on the evils of abortion and pray that her redemptive story will touch hearts and change minds.”-Video Commercial

TESTIMONY OF NORMA MCCORVEY, THE FORMER ROE OF ROE v. WADE, BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE JUNE 23, 2005-"...a woman becomes a mother as soon as she is pregnant, not when the child is born. And women are now speaking out about their harmful experiences from legal abortion....Instead of getting me financial or vocational help, instead of helping me to get off of drugs and alcohol, instead of working for open adoption or giving me other help, my lawyers wanted to eliminate the right of society to protect women and children from abortionists. My lawyers were looking for a young, white woman to be a guinea pig for a great new social experiment, somewhat like Adolf Hitler did. I wanted an abortion at the time, but my lawyers did not tell me that I would be killing a human being. My lawyers did not inform me about the life-changing consequences of this decision. I was living on the streets. And while I was confused and conflicted about the decision for many years, and while I was once an advocate for abortion, like many women who choose to participate in abortion, my lawyers did not tell me that I would later come to deeply regret that I was partially responsible for killing 40-50 million human beings...I wanted to justify my desire for an abortion in my own mind, as almost every woman who participates in the killing of her own child must also do. I made up the story that I had been raped to help justify my abortion....My lawyers didn’t tell me that abortion would be used for sex selection, but later when I was a pro-choice advocate and worked in abortion clinics, I found women who were using abortion as a means of gender selection. My lawyers didn’t tell me that future children would be getting abortions and losing their innocence. Yet I saw young girls getting abortions who were never the same. In 1973, when I learned about the Roe v. Wade decision from the newspapers, not my lawyers, I didn’t feel real elated. After all, the decision didn’t help me at all. I never had an abortion....Then around 1992, I began to work in abortion clinics. Like most Americans, including many of you Senators, I had no actual experience with abortion until that point. When I began to work in the abortion clinics, I became even more emotionally confused and conflicted between what my conscience knew to be evil, and what the judges, my mind and my need for money were telling me was OK. I saw women crying in the recovery rooms. If abortion is so right, why were the women crying?....I saw the baby parts, which are a horrible sight to see, but I urge everyone who supports abortion to look at the bodies to face the truth of what they support. I saw filthy conditions in abortions clinics even when “Roe” was supposed to clean up “back alley” abortions. I saw the low regard for women from abortion doctors. My conscience was bothering me more and more, causing me to drink more and more and more....Finally, in 1995, a pro-life organization moved its offices right next door to the abortion clinic where I was working. I acted hatefully towards those people. But those people acted lovingly to me most of the time. One man did angrily accuse me at one point of being responsible for killing 40 million babies, but he later came to me and apologized for his words and said they were not motivated by love. The answer to the abortion problem is forgiveness, repentance, and love.....We must also ask Almighty God to forgive us for what we have done. We must repent of our action as a nation in allowing this holocaust to come to our shores. We have to turn from our wicked ways. Senators, I urge you to examine your own conscience before 5 Almighty God. God is willing and able to forgive you. He sent His own son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins as Roe of Roe v. Wade, and for our sins in failing to act to end abortion and to truly help women in crisis pregnancies. I finally asked the Lord Jesus to forgive me in 1995 and immediately dedicated my life to saving children’s and women’s lives....These women hurt by abortion have formed a movement they call Operation Outcry to cry out to you, to the courts and to God Almighty to end this scourge of abortion in our nation. The Rev. Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference helped lead America non-violently to end the scourge of segregation. When slavery was constitutional, we treated one class of humans as property. We are treating the humans in the mother’s womb as property and less than human when we say it is OK to kill them. How can we have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, when we have death by abortion?...Please do not ask a judicial nominee to pledge to maintain Roe v. Wade. If new evidence comes before the court, then the court should be willing change its old precedent, as it has many times. Roe v. Wade is not in the Constitution."-US Senate. Norma McCorveys' affidavit before the Courts.

Operation Out Cry-See above...

Colorado

Human Life Amendment Signatures Certified – Historic Amendment Officially on November's Ballot-"Denver, Colorado – May 29, 2008 – For the first time in US history, the issue of personhood will be decided in the public forum by a constitutional amendment. Colorado for Equal Rights has been notified by the Colorado Secretary of State's Office that enough valid signatures were submitted to put the Every Human is a Person amendment on the November 2008 ballot. The Secretary of State's Office's random sampling indicated that there were 103,377 valid signatures, surpassing the 76,047 valid signatures that were required. Colorado for Equal Rights has demonstrated an unparalleled grassroots effort thus far, with likely more volunteer circulators than any other ballot initiative in the State's history. The grassroots initiative had over 1,300 volunteer petition circulators. "We at Colorado for Equal Rights are incredibly thankful for our many volunteers who worked so hard for each signature we delivered to the Secretary of State's Office and the churches who stood behind us and supported us," Burton continued. "This victory is the voice of the people and all credit goes our Creator". See Colorado for more information.

Texas

Texas Pro-Life Groups Celebrate Closing of Dallas Late-Term Abortion Business-"Texas are excited to learn that they're next on the list. Aaron Women’s Health Center, a late-term abortion facility, will be closing its doors, and that's good news for the people who have prayed for this day to come. The closing follows on the heels of recent closures of abortion centers in other states, including Kentucky and New York. Aaron Women’s Health Center was one of three abortion businesses in Texas authorized to do late-term abortions when it upgraded its facility in early 2005 to comply with a new state law regulating abortion centers as "ambulatory surgical centers." When it complied with the new law, it qualified to do abortions on unborn babies older than 16 weeks’ gestation. Members of the Catholic Pro-Life Committee, the Respect Life Ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, maintained a constant presence of peaceful prayer and sidewalk counseling in front of Aaron’s for over a decade....In the 1980s, there were 13 abortion centers in Dallas and seven have closed since then. After Aaron’s closes, only five abortion centers will remain in the area."

Kansas

Kansas Group Heads Pro-Life Supreme Court Petition Against Abortion-"In 1973, the high court decided that laws of states across the country protecting unborn children by prohibiting abortion should be overturned. "These laws were not given to us through a legislative process, and the citizens of this country were not given an opportunity to petition their legislators before these laws went into effect," Gietzen said. In an effort to change this injustice, Gietzen's group requested that the Supreme Court officially accept his petition. After months of phone calls, red tape and repeatedly hearing the high court wouldn't accept the petition, Gietzen pressed on. Eventually, Gietzen contacted the clerks who work directly for Chief Justice John Roberts, a Bush-appointed judge whom pro-life advocates hope will be one of the eventual five needed to overturn Roe. Gietzen’s persistence finally paid off and, in January, the Supreme Court agreed to officially accept the petition. "This is a tremendous victory," Gietzen told LifeNews.com. "At no other time in history has the Supreme Court officially accepted a petition that was not affiliated with a specific case that was being considered by the Court." "Finally, every citizen has a means to petition the actual lawmakers, as they should have had since 1973," he said." Gietzen says most pro-life Americans aren't aware of how sensitive the Supreme Court is to public opinion.
He ultimately hopes the petitions will convince Justice Anthony Kennedy to follow on his ruling upholding the partial-birth abortion ban and change his opinion on Roe itself. ..."Kennedy, the 'swing vote' on the Court holds the key to all abortion law in America, and by our global influence, the entire world," he concluded."-See another first in US History below under Colorado.
Eyewitness Confession: Live Infant Stabbed to Death by Tiller Abortionist Shelley Sella-"Abortionist Shelley Sella is a “circuit rider” who splits her time between Tiller’s Wichita clinic, a California Planned Parenthood clinic, and other, smaller abortion mills. “Ms. Davis gave us a very specific eye-witness account about the incident,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “We were told that the baby was 35 weeks gestation at the time of the abortion. The baby came out and was moving. Sella looked up at Ms. Davis, then picked up a utensil and stabbed the baby in the left ribcage, twisting the utensil until the baby quit moving. At 35 weeks, there is no doubt about viability. This is murder in anybody’s book.” Ms. Davis could not explain why the baby was born alive since abortions that late in the pregnancy usually begin with a fatal injection into the baby’s heart. However, Operation Rescue has been told by former abortion patients that sometimes the first injection is not always successful. (Read how these abortions are done.) In fact, Sella was involved in the abortion of Michelle Armesto-Berge, who testified before a Kansas legislative committee last September of her horrific late-term abortion experience at WHCS. According to her medical records, which she released to Operation Rescue, Armesto-Berge received the digoxin injection at the beginning of her abortion process, and was forced to receive a second injection by Sella when it was discoverd that her baby was still alive the following day....In March, 2008, Students for Life in America released an undercover video where Tiller told them that if a baby is born alive during an abortion, “It’s just sloppy technique. It is just technique that is reprehensible.” He added, “The guy that did that ought to have his head beat up.” Listen to the interview excerpt (1 min. 38 sec.)"-See also Obama and the Born Alive Infant Protection Act? and MIT Pro-Life students vs Obamas' "moral" concern for his once unborn daughters and hearty empathetic Judges.

Obama vs Dr Dobson and like minded Values Voters for contrast

Obama Makes A Pitch to Values Voters-"America is a country of strong families and strong values," says a political ad that began airing in 18 states over the weekend. The candidate then goes on to say how he helped move people off the welfare rolls and fought for tax cuts. It almost sounds like a typical Republican campaign commercial -- except this is the first national ad aired by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama since he effectively secured his party's nomination earlier this month. (See ad)...Obama, ranked by The National Journal as the most liberal senator, is pro-abortion and supports civil unions between homosexual couples. Campaign ads won't change that record, said the Rev. Louis Sheldon, president of the Traditional Values Coalition. "He knows nothing about what values voters base their votes on," Sheldon told Cybercast News Service. "He has emphatically voted to support partial-birth abortion, killing the life of the unborn baby partially out of the birth canal. He has agreed to raise taxes by not renewing Bush's tax reduction. All of this is going to come out."But many religious voters don't fall into neat categories on the issues, according to a study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released Monday. (See study)"

Obama Loses Church-Goers Again, But Wins Nomination-"After these remarks were reported, Clinton beat Obama, 61-39 percent, among Democratic primary voters in Pennsylvania who said they attend church weekly. Among Catholic Democratic Pennsylvania primary voters who said they attend church every week, she defeated him, 74-26 percent."-A very informative article as to why Obama is focusing on the Values Voter.

ABC: Evangelicals ‘Buzzing’ Over Obama-"According to Harris “hundreds of house parties and rock concerts” are planned to attract the liberal members of the evangelical community. In closing the story Harris conceded that there was “almost no chance Obama will win a majority of evangelicals” but “even a small improvement could make a huge difference in a tight race.”...Harris acknowledged one major stumbling block for evangelical voters: Obama’s support for abortion....At this point he included a sound bite from Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, who mentioned Obama’s opposition to banning partial birth abortion and a “failing record on the key issues that are important to evangelicals.”
Rather than delineating those key issues, or mentioning that Obama has an extremely liberal voting record, Harris mentioned that McCain wasn’t conservative enough for some evangelicals either. Harris noted that Mansfield, the author featured in the story, “will not actually vote for Obama because of the issue of abortion.”

Dobson: Obama ‘Distorting’ Bible, Pushing ‘Fruitcake Interpretation’ of Constitution-"“Even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?” Obama said. “Would we go with James Dobson’s or Al Sharpton’s?” Dobson said Obama condemned pastors for their “diatribes” but “sat for 20 years under the tutelage” of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and suggested Obama couldn’t recognize the controversial pastor’s anti-Americanism....“Folks haven’t been reading their Bibles,” Obama said....“I think he’s deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology,” Dobson said....Dobson reserved some of his harshest criticism for Obama’s argument that the religiously motivated must frame debates over issues like abortion not just in their own religion’s terms but in arguments accessible to all people. “What the senator is saying is that I can’t seek to pass legislation that bans partial birth abortion because there are people who don’t see that as a moral issue,” Dobson said. “Now that is a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution. … We don’t have to go to the lowest common denominator of morality which is what he is suggesting. Am I required in a democracy to conform my efforts in the political arena to his bloody notion of what is right with regard to the lives of tiny babies?”...Obama recently met in Chicago with religious leaders, including conservative evangelicals. His campaign also plans thousandsof "American Values House Parties," where participants discuss Obama and religion, as well as a presence on Christian radio and blogs."-See Obama and the Born Alive Infant Protection Act?.

Dr. Dobson's Take on Obama-A must see video of 5 parts of an Obama speech and Dr Dobson radio broadcast in response. Obama responds to the statement: "Jesus Christ would not vote for Obama".

For more on Obama see Obama Reaches Out to Young Evangelicals?, The "Goose Bump" and "Race" trap, First things on Obama's list of first things he will do as President?, MIT Pro-Life students vs Obamas' "moral" concern for his once unborn daughters and hearty empathetic Judges, NPR and Homosexual hit the spot that most secular news mediums miss: Religious Discrimination in the name of Gay Rights., and The Values Voter traps (see The "I am a Christian trap" where Obama says, "I am a Christian. I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place..")

Pastors Challenge Law, Endorse Candidates From Pulpit-"..God wanted them to vote Republican. In an election where candidates openly discuss their faith and are regularly seen in churches, and a time when pastors' sermons lead the politics sections of newspapers, one might be excused for not knowing that it is illegal for a church to endorse or oppose a candidate for president. when Booth addressed the members of his Warroad Community Church one Sunday in May and told them, "If you are a Christian, you cannot support a candidate like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton for president," he very much knew he was violating the law. He even wrote a letter to the IRS explaining what he had said and challenging the tax collection agency to do something about it...Booth, 34, is one of several religious leaders who this year hope to challenge federal law by flouting the regulations about endorsing candidates from the pulpit...Booth and other religious leaders who want to challenge the government believe their rights to freedom of speech and religion, enshrined in the First Amendment, permit them to say whatever they want, wherever they want. Those rights, they say, should trump a 54-year-old tax code. "The government is trying to censor me and other religious leaders," Booth told ABC News. "I may be taking on the IRS, but the IRS has taken on the Constitution unchallenged since 1954. I feel like the only law that should dictate what I am allowed to say is the First Amendment." "The gist of my speech was you can't support Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama because they support abortion and homosexual marriage, and the scripture vehemently opposes both. I didn't say vote for McCain, but I'm planning to," he said..."A month before I made the sermon I talked to the church leadership. I told them, 'If we do this we could lose our tax exempt status. Are you prepared for that?' We spent a week in prayer, and I felt God was telling me to make that speech." Booth said despite alerting the IRS to his sermon, he has yet to hear from the agency. The IRS would not comment to ABC News on any specific investigation."...Booth is not the only pastor challenging the IRS this year. The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian advocacy group based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is enlisting ministers around the country to endorse candidates from their churches' pulpits on Sept. 28. "Pastors on that day will evaluate candidates in light of scripture," said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group. "Our hope is that the IRS will initiate investigations and we can bring this into the federal courts." Churches, he said, are doubly protected by the First Amendment to make political speeches, because it protects both free speech and freedom of religion. "Churches have constitutional rights and special status by virtue of being churches. This isn't about political speech, it is about religious speech. The Bible and scripture applies to every aspect of life, including who we elect." Both the Democrats and Republicans recognize how important "faith voters" will be in this year's presidential election, and each is working to court religious groups....The Democrats this year are courting religious voters like never before and will open this summer's convention, for the first time, with a prayer meeting."

Pro-Life

Obama

“Well, the first thing I will do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act.”-In answering this question by: "Dessa Cosma: Um, as you were talking about earlier, the recent Bush Supreme Court’s decision really took away critically important decisions from women and put them in the hands of politicians. And as a result of this, we’re expecting, and have already seen, so much anti-choice legislation at the state level. Um, what would you do at the federal level not only to ensure access to abortion but to make sure that the judicial nominees that you will inevitably be able to pick are true to the core tenets of Roe v. Wade?"

-"..see young women who are Ariana’s age and younger, and I think about my own two daughters, Sasha and Malia, and sometimes it makes me stop and makes me wonder: what kind of America will our daughters grow up in?"-Obama

Actually video footage of above 40 minute speech on a Planned Parenthood Fund raising site.

Bush for Values Voter contrast

"On January 29, 2001, President George W. Bush signed the first two Executive Orders of his Administration"-"creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives...George W. Bush promised in his first major policy speech as a Presidential candidate, on July 22, 1999, "In every instance where my Administration sees a responsibility to help people, we will look first to faith-based organizations, to charities, and to community groups.""

Mrs. Bush's Remarks at White House Conference on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives-"Here in New Orleans, this strength was seen by the overwhelming response to Hurricane Katrina. Americans contributed over $2.5 billion* in private resources to the recovery effort after the storm....President Bush launched the Faith-Based and Community Initiative in 2001 because he recognized that the spirit of compassion that our citizens have is our very asset when it comes to meeting community needs...Hurricane Katrina damaged or destroyed hundreds of schools in the Gulf region, leaving thousands of students displaced...Around 40 percent of these schools are charter schools, which provide greater flexibility and accountability than traditional public schools. New Orleans has the highest percentage of charter schools than any other city in the United States. "

McCain for Values Voter contrast

Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life-"John McCain believes Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned, and as president he will nominate judges who understand that courts should not be in the business of legislating from the bench....As John McCain has publicly noted, "At its core, abortion is a human tragedy. To effect meaningful change, we must engage the debate at a human level"...As president, motivated by his personal experience, John McCain will seek ways to promote adoption as a first option for women struggling with a crisis pregnancy. In the past, he cosponsored legislation to prohibit discrimination against families with adopted children, to provide adoption education, and to permit tax deductions for qualified adoption expenses, as well as to remove barriers to interracial and inter-ethnic adoptions."

UK

Good News: British Baby Survives Abortion-"When Jodie Percival of England found out her preborn baby may have a life-threatening kidney condition, she decided to abort him. Eleven weeks after her abortion, she found out she was 19 weeks pregnant. Finley was born three weeks premature with minor kidney damage but is expected to lead a normal life."

Florida

Habitat for Humanity Ends Land Deal With Planned Parenthood-"happy to see that Habitat for Humanity broke its ties with Planned Parenthood.""

Confronting Liberal Media Bias

Campaign Financing (Balancing out the Liberal Media Bias with information not reported on, nor emphasized or just flat out biased that may have a negative effect toward values voters)

Obama

Experts Reject Claim of 527s Spending Millions to Oppose Obama-"Campaign finance analysts say that conservative or Republican-affiliated "527" independent political committees have raised far less money than such groups affiliated with Democrats."The Democratic organizations, through the 15-month point, have raised more than three times as much as the Republican groups -- $87 million to $24 million," said Michael Malbin, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute. Malbin, whose nonpartisan group is affiliated with George Washington University and tracks campaign finances, said it was ironic that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) last week blamed his decision not to take public financing, in part, on the supposed need to stockpile money to counter independent "527" committees. Last Thursday, Obama said he was foregoing the $85 million in public funding he could have received because it tied his hands -- and because the campaign finance system was allegedly slanted toward his expected Republican challenger, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)...."Obama set up a deal with the [Federal Election Commission] to take public financing, then publicly pledged to take it if his opponent did as well," McCain spokesman Brian Rodgers told Cybercast News Service. "And now, he's broken his word to the American people." Nevertheless, both Parnell and Malbin defend Obama's right to refuse the money. "A lot of people are portraying this as the death of campaign finance reform," Malbin said. "I don't see it that way. Sen. Obama made a calculation that it would hurt him more than it would help him." Malbin added: "I think the real problem he has is not that he made a calculation, but that in February 2007, instead of saying, 'I will take funding if my opponent does,' he should have said, 'I will take it if it is convenient for me.'...According to the Federal Election Commission, Obama has already raised $265 million dollars from individuals, dwarfing McCain's $88 million."

Updates that have been added to New Mexico and Colorado state elections.

Candidates stand on the Fairness Doctrine

Unmasking the Myths Behind the Fairness Doctrine-"Political activists and even certain U.S. senators have argued that the federal government should reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine, which would require broadcasters to air both sides of controversial issues. Opponents charge that Fairness Doctrine advocates are trying to reduce the impact of conservative talk radio. Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) has introduced The Broadcaster Freedom Act (HR 2905), which would bar the Federal Communications Commission from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine."-For full 30 page report on this issue

http://www.hypocrisycaucus.com/- Tom Udall (New Mexico Democrat for Senate) and Mark Udall (Colorado Democrat for Senate) have yet to sign on to protect radio from government regulation while Steve Pearce (New Mexico Republican for Senate) has and Ben Schaffer (Colorado Republican for Senate is not currently in office).- Also, see Is Obama using smear tactics on "the most listened to radio talk show in America"?

Republican Convention in Colorado dividing up the state Republican Party?

Colorado Pro-Life Group Says State Republican Party Must Oppose Abortion-"Colorado Right To Life (the nation's oldest right to life organization) says the state GOP shut the group out of having a table at the recent state convention. CRTL vice president Leslie Hanks told LifeNews.com that Dick Wadhams, the state Republican Party chairman, banned the pro-life group from having a table at the most recent convention....At the same time the party apparently allowed an organization that supports abortion to have a presence....Wadhams allowed the so-called Republican Majority for Choice to distribute literature opposing the personhood amendment that will appear on the November ballot. The information includes quotes from Wadhams opposing it."..."Colorado Right To Life is warning Dick Wadhams that by shunning their pro-life conservative base they're headed for another election catastrophe in November," Joe Riccobono, CRTL president, told LifeNews.com."-A must read for Coloradan Values Voters...

Media: Pro-lifers Blast Colo GOP Chairman-"Colorado Right To Life is warning Dick Wadhams, the state Republican Party chairman, that by shunning their pro-life conservative base they're headed for another election defeat in November, three election-cycle catastrophes for the Colorado GOP, and two U.S. Senate losses for Wadhams....With Dick Wadhams as his campaign manager, Allen had only given lip service but did not significantly support their state's marriage amendment. Salon magazine reported "a popular sentiment" that defeat came "when Allen failed to make the anti-gay marriage amendment, which passed handily, a centerpiece of his campaign." Just before that election New Jersey's Supreme Court gave homosexual partners the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. So in the last desperate days of the campaign, Wadhams, generally inclined to avoid social issues, hoped to hitch his candidate to the values momentum. According to the New York Times, "In Virginia, the [New Jersey] court decision could not have come at a better time for Senator George Allen, a Republican whose campaign for re-election had been thrown off course... The Virginia ballot includes a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Mr. Allen supports it... 'It's an issue that's going to play a big role in the next 12 days,' Mr. Allen's campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, said in an interview." According to the Roanoke Times, "Less than two weeks away from Election Day, U.S. Sen. George Allen spent Thursday... making sure [voters] knew he supported a proposed amendment to... prohibit gay marriage." A bit late, no? The marriage amendment won by 328,000 votes, and Allen lost by a mere 9,000, squandering countless values votes because Wadhams restrained Allen from giving the amendment more than lip service. In Colorado, Wadhams is begrudging 130,000 petition signers even lip service for Amendment 48, which is virtually identical to Schaffer's formerly claimed pro-life position, that personhood begins at fertilization. Now Schaffer is allowing the party boss to position the candidate's previous pro-life belief as a negative, so Schaffer, more than Wadhams, will be blamed for the Colorado GOP's third election strike out and game over"-Excellent radio report on this issue on this site.-06/19/2008

Debate

SOUTHEAST BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP TO HOST FIRST SENATORIAL DEBATE CONGRESSMAN MARK UDALL (D) AND FORMER CONGRESSMAN BOB SCHAFFER (R)-"Senatorial debate on Monday, July 14, at the Wildlife Experience ( 10035 South Peoria) from 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. Channel 9 News Anchor, Adam Schrager, will be the moderator."

Ballot Initiatives

Human Life Amendment

Human Life Amendment- "Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. Article II of the constitution of the state of Colorado is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION to read: Section 31. Person defined. As used in sections 3, 6, and 25 of Article II of the state constitution, the terms "person" or "persons" shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization."

Human Life Amendment Signatures Certified – Historic Amendment Officially on November's Ballot-"Denver, Colorado – May 29, 2008 – For the first time in US history, the issue of personhood will be decided in the public forum by a constitutional amendment. Colorado for Equal Rights has been notified by the Colorado Secretary of State's Office that enough valid signatures were submitted to put the Every Human is a Person amendment on the November 2008 ballot. The Secretary of State's Office's random sampling indicated that there were 103,377 valid signatures, surpassing the 76,047 valid signatures that were required. Colorado for Equal Rights has demonstrated an unparalleled grassroots effort thus far, with likely more volunteer circulators than any other ballot initiative in the State's history. The grassroots initiative had over 1,300 volunteer petition circulators. "We at Colorado for Equal Rights are incredibly thankful for our many volunteers who worked so hard for each signature we delivered to the Secretary of State's Office and the churches who stood behind us and supported us," Burton continued. "This victory is the voice of the peopleand all credit goes our Creator".

Values Voters beware of the traps set by those who oppose your Values Vote.

The "My Vote Means Nothing" trap
The "I'm a Christian" trap
The "Compaign Ads" trap
The "Goose Bump" and "Race" trap
The "Academy Awards" trap
The "Liberal Media Bias" trap
The "Unknown Voting Record" trap
The "Americans United for Separation of Church and State" trap
The "ACLU $258 million" trap

Religious Freedom

Florida

Court tosses Fla. statute banning Bible distribution on public sidewalk

New York

NY Capitol: More than 250 Christian ministers protest marriage redefinition-"to blast Gov. David Paterson for requiring state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages and to back the Senate for its opposition to legalizing the same-sex unions . . .A national group, the National Alliance Defense Fund, has sued to get Paterson’s decision overturned. Several state lawmakers have joined the suit, which is pending in state Supreme Court"

Massachusette

Transgender activists remove clothing in public-"In Massachusetts, the first U.S. state to make same-sex marriages official...Many of the marchers, born women, wore beards and boasted love for their husbands or wives. According to one observer, some who had undergone surgery to remove their breasts took off their shirts at a rally following the main event. WND was able to confirm the claim, but refrained from posting photographs for decency concerns....Contrada explained to WND that Northampton is one of three cities in Massachusetts that have ordinances forbidding discrimination against transsexuals. The city, according to Contrada, has become a magnet for the radical lesbian and transgender movement, making it an ideal place for staging a topless rally that might be restricted elsewhere. "With anti-discrimination ordinances in place, there's no way a policeman would arrest a woman for being shirtless, because she could say she's not a woman, and under the ordinance, she gets to determine whether she's female or not," Contrada said. The marchers toted signs supporting Massachusetts bill H1722, the Transgender Rights and Hate Crimes Bill, which would add the words "gender identity or expression" to Massachusetts statutes and would effectively prohibit employers, schools, landlords, realtors, hospitals and more from discriminating against transsexuals. Opponents of the bill believe it places unreasonable expectations on society and infringes on both freedom of speech and religion..."

California

Kmart CMO quitting, will fight to keep Cal. marriage redefinition

ACLU

“ACLU Sues Old Dominion Freight Lines Over Firing Of Transgender Trucker”-"The American Civil Liberties Union filed a sex discrimination lawsuit today against Old Dominion Freight Lines for illegally firing a truck driver for impersonating a female after she informed the company that she was transitioning from male to female. A prior EEOC investigation into the firing sided with the driver, Kaylee Seals, finding there was reasonable cause to believe that Old Dominion discriminated against Seals based on sex and sex stereotyping."

Canada

The Religion Clause Blog reports: “Canada’s Human Rights Commission is launching a review of how it handles complaints of Internet hate speech, according to today’s National Post.”

Kosovo

In Kosovo, Some Meddling Midwives Threaten a New Birth of Freedom-"Free speech provisions, for instance, are shackled to passages forbidding communications that offend others. Freedom of assembly can be curtailed easily by limitations imposed on any group that disagrees with the government or with the classes that the government chooses to protect, such as “sexual orientation.” Freedom of conscience can be invalidated if following one’s religious convictions violates the “health or rights” of someone else. (So medical professionals, for instance, can be compelled to perform abortions, even if they believe such procedures are murder.)"

Arizona

Student religious expressions get shield-"State senators voted Wednesday to protect the religious liberties of students, a measure foes said will let them harass others who don't share their beliefs — especially gays. House Bill 2713 would prohibit public schools from discriminating against students or their parents on the basis of their religious beliefs...Sen. Linda Gray, R-Glendale, said the measure is necessary because some school officials are not following federal constitutional requirements. There have been several high-profile incidents in Arizona. A Higley High School student's personal biography in the yearbook was altered to remove a reference to God. And students at Deer Valley High School were forbidden to use the public-address system generally available to all clubs to invite students to a prayer meeting after school...But he said a student could wear a shirt celebrating his or her homosexuality. "I believe that's patently unfair to limit one person's constitutional rights but not another's," Harper said. The bill, which already gained House approval, needs a final Senate vote before going to the governor."

Pro-Life

Ecuador

Ecuadorian Obstetricians and Gynecologists Issue Thundering Manifesto Against Abortion-"The document begins by stating that "we are not in agreement with any form of induced abortion; life is inviolable from the moment of conception. The elimination of an innocent human being is always unacceptable, ethically and medically speaking..."To affirm that the woman can do with her body whatever she wishes, besides being a conceited claim, has absolutely no basis in science: the embryo is not part of the body of the mother, nor is the fetus an internal organ of her body: the DNA of the embryo is distinct from that of its parents," the doctors write."-Document in english.

Poland

Polish teen aborts child in controversial case-"The 14-year-old Polish girl whose pregnancy provoked a storm of debate on the country's abortion law has terminated her pregnancy...The local prosecutor in the girl’s hometown of Lublin determined that the girl’s pregnancy was not the result of rape-- a theory that had been set forth by Poland’s largest newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. Also it is now clear that the pregnant girl did, indeed, request the assistance of the priest-director of a local home for unwed mothers, Father Krzysztof Podstawka. Father Podstawka is also the head ot the Lublin archdiocese’s pro-life office. Gazeta Wyborcza, whose editor is the well-known former anti-Communist activist and center-left political publicist Adam Michnik, attacked the person of the local priest for his efforts to help the girl continue her pregnancy."

UK

UK: Big rise in abortions among under-age girls-“The number of abortions among under 14s rose by more than a fifth last year, one of the biggest increases in terminations across all age groups, the government said on Thursday.”

California

California Pro-Life Advocates Rally at Capitol Against Tax-Funded Abortions-"The state spends more than $33 million to pay for the abortions of poor women even though main abortion business Planned Parenthood brought in $1 billion in revenue last year....Every year, pro-life advocates have tried to amend the state budget to remove the funding for as many as 95,000 abortions annually. That's about 8 percent of the total number of abortions done nationwide -- and all paid for at the expense of California taxpayers. "Enough is enough," Wynette Sills of the Coalition to Eliminate Abortion Funding, told LifeNews.com before the rally. "We will no longer be unwilling accomplices to this tragedy through our tax dollars, especially during this time of budget deficit conditions, when our teachers are being laid-off, libraries and parks are closing, senior citizens must go without their prescriptions, heathcare to needy families is being cut, and our public safety is at risk," she explained. "Surely, our limited tax dollars can be better utilized to truly help the needy of our great state, rather than further subsidize the abortion industry," Sills added."

Planned Parenthood

RU-4Safety?-"At least eight women have died from bacterial infections after taking RU-486. Four of the eight victims had something in common. They had all visited California's Planned Parenthood clinics that didn't follow FDA protocol for dispensing the pills. It took four fatalities in one week before the nation's largest abortion merchant would consider changing its policy...Democrats have fully supported investment in Planned Parenthood, despite its abhorrent track record. The clinics' use of RU-486 has been linked to thousands of complications (many of them serious or life-threatening) and four fatalities, yet taxpayers are still forced to provide the resources for Planned Parenthood's medical negligence. Any institution with such a cavalier attitude toward health and safety shouldn't be trusted with women's lives or federal funding."

Pro-Abortion Language Tanks in War Supplemental-"Thanks to the efforts of Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the legislation--worth $161.8 billion--heads back to the Senate without a provision that would have given groups like Planned Parenthood a discount on contraception and drugs like Plan B that can act as abortifacients....Considering the number of accusations leveled at Planned Parenthood in the last six months, including a multi-million suit involving a fraudulent mark-up on the price of these very pills, Congress should be highly skeptical of the investments it's already making in Planned Parenthood--let alone future ones"

Black Pastors for Biblical Values vs Obama and his values

Obama

New Jersey pastor saddened by Jakes praising of Obama- "Dallas megachurch pastor Jakes says he "watched with visible goose bumps"....Fellow black pastor Clenard Childress says Jakes, the man Time Magazine and CNN once referred to as "America's Best Preacher," is showing that biblical moral values are not his top priority...New Jersey pastor Childress, the president of L.E.A.R.N. Northeast, says he is saddened that Jakes and others in the black community have "lost sight of the values that made this nation great and made African-Americans a resilient people."...Childress believes many black Americans who support Obama are putting their emotions ahead of their value system and says he was disturbed by Jakes' "touchy-feely" response to Obama's victory. "Undoubtedly, his position on the issues that are dear to the church and that make up the foundational basis of our preaching, Barack Obama is opposed to. And we are going to have to really do some soul searching that we've aligned ourselves and we are pledging allegiance to a person who is contrary to the scripture and the word which we carry each day, which we preach each day, which we teach each day," Childress contends. Childress says it will be difficult for Jakes to preach biblical moral values to his church members now that he has aligned himself with a politician who has no problem with abortion and homosexuality."

Jakes continues to draw fire for Obama remarks-"Another African-American pastor is reacting to Bishop T.D. Jakes' high praise for the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nomination of Barack Obama....Pastor Ken Hutcherson of the Antioch Bible Church in suburban Seattle took issue with Jakes' apparent inference that, if Obama had not received the nomination, it would have been an indication of continuing racism in America. "Absolutely. I think we all have to agree that if he [Obama] didn't get it, American, evidently hasn't even come very far since slavery," Hutcherson said sarcastically. "And, since Hillary [Clinton] didn't get it, woman's suffrage is still going on." "We have to back down and say, 'Okay, praise God that there has been a whole new day,'" Hutcherson continued. "But then, we have to quit our emotions and open up our minds and look at: What are the qualifications for this man to be president of the United States?" Hutcherson believes too much emphasis has been placed on Obama's race, to the exclusion of questions about the Illinois senator's record, beliefs, and plans. "You can get excited about the first black man that's going to be the nominee for the Democrats for president. I mean, that's a first. You can get all excited about firsts. But, then, you've got to come back down to reality," Hutcherson continued. "You would always think that the first should be someone that everyone is going to believe is capable of doing a great job. You don't want the first anybody or anything to end up being a bad choice and a bad influence and bad for America." Hutcherson says he remembers watching the firsts achieved by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and former University of California Regent Ward Connerly. "When I look at what the first for the Democrats, [the] African-American that they have chosen, I'm excited about the first," Hutcherson concluded. "But I have no excitement about believing that that choice is going to be best for America."

Black 'conservatives' blasted for pro-Obama remarks-"Two black conservatives -- one a pastor, the other a leader of an urban ministry -- say they can't understand why a number of black Republicans have publicly said they are considering voting for Barack Obama this election. It should be about character, they say, not skin color...Hutcherson says he understands being proud of a black man, but he notes that for years black conservative leaders have screamed that it is not about color -- it is about the content and character of one's heart. "... [A]nd some of these same guys seem to be forgetting that that's what we're supposed to be doing now," says Hutcherson."

Click on Obama and Africa to see a contrast in values between the two that may be applicable here in America. Also, see "Bush of Africa" and Bush's "PEPFAR" for contrast: Darfur, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and Namibia: Americas' Approval Ratings Soaring in Africa and see the contrast of values between Democrats and Republicans when approving the renewal of this bill in 2008 now that democrats are in majority: Breaking Good News from Jena, Louisiana.

Video

In first three articles above Pastor Ken Hutcherson (first black Dallas Cowboy linebacker, see below under Racism) makes pro-values comments. Check out how public school teachers treated him during an invited speech at their own school on Dr Martin Luther King Day. Bearing in mind that his daughter attends this school and introduced her father at the assembly that this occurred at.

For more on this story: Awesome 2 minute online videos worth sharing/And an Ex Muslim testimony of Christ/The Hutcherson story.

Racism

Jew nor Greek: Church Bridges Race Divide-"Ken Hutcherson pastors Antioch Bible Church, a thriving, multi-cultural congregation in Seattle, Wash. Here blacks and whites worship the same God in the same place." For more on Racism: Black History Month, Racism: Is there an answer?, Breaking Good News from Jena, Louisiana., Good News: Update on Jena Revival/Racial Reconciliation and PBS William Wilberforce Documentary to air within a week.