Senate Health, Human Services and Aging Committee
December 7, 2011
Bobbi Radeck, CWA of Ohio State Director
Thank you Chairman Oelslager and members of the Health, Human Services and Aging Committee. My name is Bobbi Radeck, and I serve as State Director of Concerned Women for America. We are a 32-year-old national organization with state affiliates, and we serve over 24,000 members here in Ohio and have over 500,000 members nationwide. I tell you this only to show that we are one of many conservative organizations that have stood for years to push back the negative influences of our ever increasing secularist society. We believe that the Constitution is the foundation of our great America, the founders took their responsibilities very seriously, and God is in charge of everything that really matters. We also believe that everything we do will be measured in eternity, So when given the opportunity to stand up and fight for the Heartbeat Bill, we are overwhelmed with excitement and optimism for the possibilities of its success!!
You have heard wonderful, convicting testimonies today from minds far greater than mine. But what I can tell you is HB 125, The Heartbeat Bill is going to make history; we are going to be in the forefront of making a difference for thousands of babies in Ohio and prayerfully through out America.
I can stand before you and say that I have not always been pro-life; I would say I was not pro-choice either; I was neutral. I thought that neutrality was not a stand, but it is! Every time we make a choice good or bad, it is a choice with real consequences.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor who witnessed the Jewish Holocaust first hand said it so well, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil; God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
It wasn’t until after having children (after being told I couldn’t) that the reality of life took hold of me. I will never forget the first time I heard the heartbeat of my daughter Christina. I had never heard an ultrasound before, and when the technician found the heartbeat, all I could do was weep. It was amazing! She was not a neutral thing or a blob. She was a sweet little baby girl who is now serving her second full-year tour of duty in Kadahar, Afghanistan, with the 101st Airborne!
We as a state must stop this rampant killing of our next generation. We must elevate the reality of what this human being is and never stoop again so low to say that children in the womb do not have a voice. It is loud and clear in early gestation, and we need to have it once again recognized as such.
The nation is waiting for someone to stand up and keep standing. Now it is time to do the right thing and be on the right side of history. Voting for this bill is the right thing to do, and together we can help thousands of babies who will one day make a difference in this world; like my Christina!
We now have over half of the voting public who are pro-life; we have the technology; now we just need to have legislation in place to protect beating hearts!
Thank you so much for your time and please move HB 125 forward!