CONCERNED WOMEN FOR AMERICA OF WASHINGTON
ACTION ALERT MARCH 9, 2011
Running with Endurance
Dear CWA of Washington Members,
“and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1b-2
I was recently encouraged to keep up the good fight for the faith and for the nation and not to” grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Galatians 6:9) Believe me; I needed to hear those words! How about you? Romans 12:2 admonishes us to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Political correctness would have us lay down our spiritual armor and surrender to the modern culture’s definition of “good and acceptable”. Concerned Women for America thinks differently, as they proved when they refused to bow to the easy path at the CPAC meeting and also as they continue to stand up and speak out for traditional American values, femininity (NOT feminism!), and the value of one-man plus one-woman marriage, motherhood and families. Please join us in prayer for those values and traditions to endure as we continue to run the race, always putting families first.
UPCOMING EVENTS
I. There is one final Citizen Activist Workshop in Olympia for you to attend in order to educate yourself so that you can be a culture warrior for God’s values and principles in the battlefield of public policy.
9:00 a.m. Tuesday, March 15, at the Cherberg Building Conf room B/C
Learn grassroots strategies, understand bills, get tips on testifying, and “field trip” to hearings. Please sign up in advance for information and confirmation of the class. Contact edresearch@hotmail.com for information. Special arrangements can be made for your group to have a custom class for your issues.
II. 40 Days for Life begins March 9. Details from the national “40 Days for Life” website:
The largest ever 40 Days for Life international campaign is here! The campaign will run from March 9 to April 17 in 247 cites — locations from coast to coast in the United States as well as sites in Canada, England, Ireland, Australia, Spain, Georgia, Armenia and Belize.
From www.gospeloflifeinstitute.org website:
40 Days for Life has borne remarkable fruit throughout the world since it started in 2007. What, exactly, has 40 Days for Life accomplished?
3,599 babies have been saved, and those are just the ones we know about!
Nine abortion clinics have shut down completely.
Many people with past abortion experiences have stepped forward to begin post-abortion healing and recovery.
400,000 people have pledged to fast and keep vigil outside abortion clinics. Won’t you make it 400,001?
There are nine 40 Days for Life locations in Washington state:
Bremerton
Phone: (360) 329-4985
Email: kitsap@40DFL.com
Vigil Signup: Vigil calendar
Website: www.40daysforlife.com/bremerton (redirects to www.kitsap40daysforlife.com)
Vigil Location: Planned Parenthood, 623 NE Riddell Road, Bremerton WA 98310
Everett
Phone: (425) 923-3188
Email: everett40days@gmail.com
Vigil Signup: Contact shift leaders listed on website
Website: www.40daysforlife.com/everett
Vigil Location: 1509 32nd Street, Everett, WA 98206
North Seattle
Phone: (206) 552-8547
Email: northseattle40daysforlife@gmail.com
Vigil Signup: Vigil calendar
Website: www.40daysforlife.com/northseattle
Vigil Location: Planned Parenthood, 2111 N. Northgate Way, Suite 218 Seattle WA 98133 (2 blocks west of I-5 exit 173)
Olympia
Phone: (360) 561-5548
Email: oly40daysforlife@aol.com
Vigil Signup: call or email to sign up for vigil hours
Website: www.40daysforlife.com/olympia
Vigil Location: Planned Parenthood, 402 Legion Way, Olympia, WA
Renton
Phone: (360) 269-2105
Email: cmdegoede@yahoo.com
Vigil Signup: call or email to sign up for vigil hours
Website: www.40daysforlife.com/renton
Vigil Location: Cedar River Clinic, 263 Rainier Ave S., Renton WA
Spokane
Phone: (509) 850-1340
Email: 40DaysSpokane@gmail.com
Vigil Signup: Vigil calendar
Website: www.40daysforlife.com/spokane
Vigil Location: Planned Parenthood, 123 E Indiana Ave, Spokane, WA
Tacoma
Phone: (253) 536-LIFE (5433)
Email: info@tacoma40days.com
Vigil Signup: Vigil calendar
Website: www.40daysforlife.com/tacoma
Vigil Location: 813 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Tacoma WA 98405
Tri-Cities
Phone: 509-438-9239
Email: 40daysforlife.kennewick@gmail.com
Vigil Signup: Vigil calendar
Website: www.40daysforlife.com/tricities
Vigil Location: Planned Parenthood, 7426 W. Bonnie Ave (off N. Belfair Street), Kennewick, WA
Vancouver
Phone: (360) 953-1239
Email: knittedinthewomb@hotmail.com
Vigil Signup: contact day coordinators listed on website
Website: www.40daysforlife.com/vancouver
Vigil Location: Planned Parenthood, 5500 NE 109 Court, Suite A, Vancouver, WA 98662 (just north of SR 500 and west of Gher Road)
Main Website (general info on 40 Days for Life): www.40daysforlife.com
LEGISLATION
Of the eight bills CWA of Washington has been tracking, five have died in committee: SB 5274 (attack on pregnancy care centers), HB 1442 (underage abortion restrictions), HB 1270 (mental health and suicide prevention education in public schools), HB 1004 (social emotional learning in public schools), SB 5333 (verifying citizenship for licenses or id cards). SB refers to state Senate bills; HB refers to state House bills.
Monday, March 7, was the last day to consider bills in the house of origin (5:00 p.m.). However, as long as the legislature is in session, no bill is really ever “dead”, and bills can be pulled from a committee and slammed to the floor of either house for a vote, although that is rare. If that happens, we will send out an alert.
SANCTITY OF LIFE: GOOD NEWS!
HB 1366 relating to limited service pregnancy centers and prescribing penalties has been STOPPED!!!
Thank you for praying for this bill to be stopped so that pro-life clinics are able to continue serving women dealing with unplanned pregnancies or who are looking for a positive environment to discuss their future. Did you know that a woman entering a Planned Parenthood clinic in 2009 was 42 times more likely to have an abortion than to receive either prenatal care or be referred for adoption? That is just one reason this is such good news: Pro-life clinics save lives!
We praise God that 1366 was stopped. Here is Rep. Matt Shea’s 3/7 report:
Thanks to your collaborative grassroots efforts and involvement, I am pleased to announce that my House Republican colleagues and I were able to successfully kill House Bill 1366, a measure which could have resulted in the closure of faith-based, pro-life pregnancy resource centers and medical clinics across our state. The measure did not pass from the House before today’s 5 p.m. deadline, and a similar measure in the Senate failed to make it out of committee, so unless unforeseen circumstances arise, this legislation is essentially dead for the session.
This is a victory for the 4th Legislative District and for nonprofit, privately-funded pregnancy resource centers across our state that provide vital counseling services and maternity homes where young, pregnant girls have a place to stay and learn important life skills.
Thank you for your support in helping us to stop this very bad piece of legislation.
DEFINITION OF THE FAMILY
HB 1267 relating to clarifying and expanding the rights and obligations of state registered domestic partners and other couples related to parentage: OPPOSE!
HB 1267 (in a substitute version) has passed the House of Representatives 57-41 and is now in the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Tribal Relations & Elections. There is a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, March 15, at 1:30 p.m. in the John A. Cherberg Building, Senate Hearing Room 2 in Olympia.
Along with other changes, this bill will allow same-sex couples to hire a woman to carry a child for them and immediately upon birth that same-sex couple will legally become the child’s parents; the bill also requires that gender-neutral terms such as parent and person be substituted for mother/father, wife/husband or even woman/man. This is a depersonalizing, disrespectful, untruthful bill that could impose those terms on all families or else lead to two classes of family. This bill dishonors motherhood through payment-for-service of a woman’s body for carrying a baby, without loving her or caring in any other way about her. Homosexual couples, by nature, cannot produce families without stretching all the laws of nature and of nature’s God. As another CWA state director said, “We believe that surrogacy commercializes children. It’s about the dignity of the child as a human being, deserving of a mother and a father.” It’s also about the dignity of women and their unique role as mothers, not as baby making machines. This is an assault on the definition of family, and we must stop it here!
PRAY that HB 1267 fails to pass out of the Senate committee and for those who will testify against this abominable bill next Tuesday, March 14. We need God to soften the hearts of the committee members and also need excellent testimony against this bill. Please inform others and encourage like-minded citizens to make their calls, send their e-mails, and show up for the 1:30 p.m. hearing on HB 1267 on Tuesday, March 15.
HB 1649 giving legal effect to domestic partnerships: OPPOSE!
HB 1649 would make the “legal union of two persons of the same sex that was validly formed in another jurisdiction, and that is substantially equivalent to a domestic partnership under this chapter” recognized as a valid domestic partnership in Washington State. Again, gender neutralization is promoted; “gender-specific terms such as husband and wife used in any statute, rule, or other law shall be construed to be gender neutral and applicable to individuals in state registered domestic partnerships”.
Current Status: March 4 this bill passed in the House: 58-39; excused, 1. This bill is now in the Senate and referred to Government Operations, Tribal Relations & Elections. Please contact your state senators and ask them to OPPOSE HB 1649!
EVEN IF YOU HAVE ALREADY CONTACTED YOUR THREE REPRESENTATIVES, CALL AGAIN: 1-800-562-6000 OR E-MAIL TODAY! Contact information is available on the legislative website: www.leg.wa.gov/pages/home.aspx. Please be concise and respectful!
Pray for the Christian legislators that they will not grow weary while doing good and that they will continue to run with endurance the race that is set before them. Then, let’s join them in that race and be diligent in prayer, not losing heart (2 Cor. 4:16).
Commit to the LORD whatever you do and your plans will succeed. Proverb 16:3
In His Service,
Maureen Richardson, State Director
CWA of Washington
director@washington.cwfa.org