California

We are so thankful that Assemblyman Evan Low (D-District 28), sponsor of AB 2943 decided to pull the bill from consideration after opening an important dialogue with pastors, former gays and lesbians and Christian counselors. We continue to ask for prayer for Assemblyman Evan Low as these conversations continue.

While AB 2943 is dead, there are many other measures of great concern that are now on the Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. If they are not vetoed by the end of the month, they will become law. Please take a moment to contact the governor’s office and respectfully request he veto the following bills:

AB 2601 would require charter schools to include sex education in their curriculum, which includes the controversial California Healthy Youth Act (AB 329 passed in 2015) . Parents in school districts across the state have voiced concern over the radical sex-ed content and implementation of AB 329. This Act, that currently applies to public schools, would be applied to charter schools.  They would be required to teach about gender, gender expression, gender identity, and discuss the harm of negative gender stereotypes. Abstinence only instruction is not permitted. Instruction must recognize in a positive light the different sexual orientations, including same sex relationships when providing examples of couples or relationships.

AB 2119 requires minors in foster care to have access to gender affirming therapies upon request and the rights of parents and foster parents to help guide their children’s decisions are not specifically protected. Most children with gender dysphoria embrace their biological gender by the end of puberty. To provide hormone treatments and mutilating surgeries at a child’s request (a child who cannot, by the way, get a tan in a tanning salon even with parental permission) is hazardous to the very vulnerable youth we should be protecting and providing with appropriate counseling. Children are not equipped to understand the consequences of a decision that could make them infertile and dysfunctional sexually for the rest of their lives.

SB 320 would require all California public university campus health clinics to provide medication abortions up to ten weeks. Would require they dispense the RU-486 abortion pill. It would establish a College Student Health Center Sexual and Reproductive Health Preparation Fund to distribute $9.6 million to these clinics. Money from organizations and private citizens would be donated to this fund. There is nothing in the bill that precludes taxpayer money. 

Take Action: Please contact Gov. Brown as soon as possible and politely ask him to veto these bills. If you like, make one or two points. Be sure to let him know that you are a member of Concerned Women for America of California.

Call (916) 445-2841 and then click here to email him a contact form. Note, within the “Please choose your subject” field simply scroll down and click on the specific bill number.

Again, if these bills are not vetoed by the end of the month, they will become law.

Please pray that the governor will seek God’s wisdom and follow His precepts.

All for God’s glory,

Marlo Tucker
State Director
CWA of California
[email protected]
ca.cwfa.org

Greetings Prayer and Action Warriors:

We work from victory and power from our Lord Jesus Christ!  Thank you to all who have fought the good fight by praying and taking action on AB 2943.  Today, the last day of the 2018 legislative session, Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Cupertino) withdrew his bill banning sexual orientation change efforts from consideration before its final floor vote!

Our widespread grassroots efforts throughout the state and country were successful. Our work in Him is not in vain!  God answers prayers!  Let’s be in an attitude of thankfulness and celebration that God answers the prayers of His people. AB 2943 is dead. Hallelujah!

Read Asm. Low’s statement here and pray for him.  Read today’s article in the LA Times here.

You were a part of this with your prayers, your calls, letters, and your donations.  Thank you!!  Please take a moment of silence and say “thank you” to our Lord for His goodness and mercy to California.

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

Thank you and God bless!

Marlo Tucker
State Director
CWA of California
[email protected]
http://ca.cwfa.org

Click here if you would like to contribute to the ministry of CWA of California.  Any size gift is appreciated.

Dear friends:

The 2018 California legislative session is drawing to a close. There are just under three weeks until the August 31 deadline for bills to pass or die. Many key measures are awaiting hearings or are already on the floor 

SB 320 would require all California public university campus health clinics to provide medication abortions up to ten weeks. It would establish a College Student Health Center Sexual and Reproductive Health Preparation Fund to distribute $9.6 million to these clinics. Money from organizations and private citizens would be donated to this fund.   

This bad bill will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee THIS THURSDAY, AUGUST 16.   

The committee’s chair, Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), is a Catholic who has stated that she is pro-woman and pro-choice.  

Please pray that Chairwoman Fletcher will seek wisdom from the Lord and know that baby girls – even tiny ones – are women, too, and in need of protection!  

Please act.

1.      Call Chairwoman Fletcher and ask her to oppose SB 320. As committee chair, she has the ability to hold this bill under submission and not allow it to move to the floor. Be sure to let her know that you are a member of Concerned Women for America of California.

Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher

Sacramento Office: 916-319-2080

San Diego District Office: 619-338-8090

Note: The Appropriations Committee is primarily concerned with the fiscal side of bills, not their policy merits. So, if you make additional comments when you call, you might mention: While SB 320 states that public universities are not “required” to use general fund moneys for this purpose, it does not exclude taxpayer funds or student fees from being used. Additionally, Californians would certainly bear the cost or any wrongful injury or death lawsuits brought against the schools. 

2.      Call your own assembly member and ask him or her to oppose SB 320 if it reaches the Assembly floor. This could happen quickly if the bill passes out of committee. If you don’t know who your assembly member is or how to contact them, click here.  

More about SB 320: 

SB 320 states, “It is the intent of the Legislature that public university student health centers make abortion by medication techniques as accessible and cost-effective for students as possible, and thus public university student health centers should treat abortion by medication techniques as a basic health service.” 

Abortion by medication is RU-486 abortion pill – a two-stage process in which the first pill kills the baby (up to 10 weeks gestation) and then the second, which the young woman self-administers, creates what is essentially a self-induced miscarriage. Young women will go back to their dorms or apartments, take the pill at the appointed time and experience the physical and emotional trauma of the death of their tiny babies and the sometimes very dangerous aftermath. The psychological effects can last a lifetime. There is no requirement for counseling young women with alternatives to aborting their children in SB 320. 

Is this part of the mission of our state institutions of higher education? 

Providing early medication abortions, even assuming the condition of ultrasound imaging to ensure the pregnancy is not ectopic, could be detrimental to young women’s health. Side effects can cause harm and be unsafe for the student undergoing this treatment. Physical side effects of the second drug include heavy vaginal bleeding (which could lead to the need for immediate surgical attention to stop the bleeding), cramping, nausea, fever/chills, vomiting, headache, and dizziness. Serious injuries, and even deaths, have been reported.  Emotional side effects include the trauma of witnessing the very early birth of a tiny dead baby in her dorm room or apartment.  This can be damaging to her for years to come.  

Further, this bad bill would also put employees who are prolife in a position contrary to their closely-held beliefs. There are no explicit allowances to provide such rights of conscience in SB 320.  

Please make your two calls as soon as possible. If you have additional time, below are some key members of the committee who should hear from concerned Californians asking them to oppose SB 320. 

Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) 916-319-2018

Ian C. Calderon (D-City of Industry) 916-319-2057

Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles) 916-319-2051

Ed Chau (D-Monterey Park) 916-319-2049

Eduardo Garcia (D-Imperial) 916-319-2056

Adrin Nazarian (D-Van Nuys) 916-319-2046

Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) 916-319-2020

Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-San Bernardino) 916-319-2047  

Thank you for making a difference!
 
With you for women and the unborn,
 
Marlo Tucker
State Director
CWA of California
[email protected]
ca.cwfa.org

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

The California Legislature returns from its summer recess on Monday, August 6. AB 2943, the bill to ban counseling that helps individuals with unwanted same-sex attraction and gender issues, could be voted on in the Senate floor as early as their first session that begins at 2:00 p.m. THIS Monday.

Please join a statewide effort to call key state senators and the governor, asking them to oppose AB 2943.

The senators listed below are our best opportunity to change the course of this bill and protect the freedom to acknowledge the transformational power of Christ in people’s lives. Simply ask each senator to oppose AB 2943 or abstain from voting.

Senators
Ben Hueso (D)
Capitol Office (916) 651-4040
District Office (619) 409-7690

Richard D. Roth (D)
Capitol Office (916) 651-4031
District Office (951) 680-6750

Anthony J. Portantino (D)
Capitol Office (916) 651-4025
District Offices (818) 409-0400

Ed Hernandez (D)
Capitol Office (916) 651-4022
District Office (626) 430-2499

Connie M. Leyva (D)
Capitol Office (916) 651-4020
District Office (909) 888-5360

Bill Dodd (D)
Capitol Office (916) 651-4003
District Office (707) 224-1990

Steven Bradford (D)
Capitol Office (916) 651-4035
District Office (310) 412-6120

Holly J. Mitchell (D)
Capitol Office (916) 651-4030
District Office (213) 745-6656

Governor
Please also ask Gov. Brown to veto AB 2943 if it is presented to him.

Governor Edmund G. Brown
(916) 445-2841

Thank you so much for all your time and support.  Concerned Women for America of California is on the move to bring Biblical principles to all levels of public policy. Your committed prayers and actions are achieving this.

All for God’s glory,

Marlo Tucker
State Director
CWA of California
[email protected]
ca.cwfa.org

Dearest Concerned Women:

Come join with Concerned Women for America (CWA) of California leaders on our quarterly conference call to get updated on the issues, hear praise reports on the national and state level, and to be refreshed with a special time of prayer.   SCOTUS nomination, Title X, AB 2943, SB 320, exciting media opportunities are just a few topics we will cover!  Join us for a special time of sharing.  Concerned Women for America leaders want to hear from you!

Schedule this call on your calendar, Thursday, July 26, at 11:00 a.m.  I encourage you to jot down your praise reports, your concerns and your questions for discussions on our conference call.  As conservative believers, we feel the opposition out there, but be encouraged, it only takes a few willing hearts, unified in prayer, action, and votes to transform our humanistic laws with Biblical truth. Judges 6:12 says: “When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.’”

Mighty prayer and action warriors, won’t you join with CWA of California to take back the Golden State for God’s glory?! CWA of California supporters, we are gaining more members and more momentum! May we praise the Lord together as we bring it all to God in prayer.

We invite you to join us for a quarterly conference call to hear from CWA of California state leaders to unify through prayer, shared ideas and encouragement.  Do you want to know which state legislation to support or oppose? Do you feel frustrated with the political direction of our state?

Be encouraged, join with us in unified prayer and action; make plans now to be part of our quarterly conference call.

Thursday, July 26
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
(712) 770-5253
Access code: 680147

In addition, consider these opportunities for involvement:

1. Visit our state website regularly at cwfa.org.
2. Like for us Facebook at Concerned Women for America of California.
3. Tweet @CWAofCA.
4. Interested in putting boots on the ground? If you are called to pray and act for your country, state and community, there is a place for you to serve in leadership. The State Steering Committee positions currently open are Communications Coordinator, Prayer/Action Chapter Coordinator, Area Director, and Development Coordinator. Or, join our 60-member team of Prayer/Action Leaders who meet once a month across California to pray and act on issues impacting our nation. Contact one of us today to find out more!
5. We are a non-profit volunteer run organization, dependent on the donations of our supporters. Please consider joining or renewing your annual membership of $25 to CWA of California by donating online. Or, send a check to the address below. (Checks are made payable to “CWA” and on the memo line note “California”.)

Friends, we are mighty warriors, and together we are a mighty army!

Joyfully,

Marlo Tucker
State Director
CWA of California
P.O. Box 1323
Borrego Springs, CA 92004
[email protected]
(760) 207- 8518
ca.cwfa.org

Carissa Campbell
CWA of Northern California
Area Director
[email protected]

Ruth Smith
CWA of Southern California
Area Director
[email protected]

Friends of Life,

Are you tired of paying for abortion? I am! Together, we have a chance to do something about it!

We have a great and urgent opportunity to shift taxpayer funds away from abortionists and direct funds toward real health centers. Planned Parenthood alone receives at least $50 million from Title X, and 90% of the women who enter their clinics have abortions. A new proposed rule directs money away from abortion providers.

Together we can influence the right to life on a national level. The opposition will not take their hand out of the cookie jar without significant opposition.  

As with any federal regulation, there is an open comment period where the public has the opportunity to express their views to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Azar. After the 60-day comment period is up, HHS will review the comments and issue a final rule based on the public’s feedback.  The deadline is July 31.

We are in need of substantive comments and lots of them. The opposition is already fighting this because abortion is big business and they love their government subsidies. Planned Parenthood is mobilized with an army contacting HHS Secretary Azar.  They will sue and intimidate, so we must be vigilant, mobilized, passionate, strong and courageous on behalf of babies.

It’s time; let’s take action! Enough is enough!  Defend the right to life! 

Take Action:

1. Please click here for more information about the regulation as well as step by step instruction on how to submit a comment. We have provided a comment you can easily copy and paste (if you don’t have time to write a comment yourself), and the link to the comment submission form. It only takes about 5-10 minutes to do.
2. Please pass this e-alert on to family and friends! Encourage them to both pray and take action.

Let us join in prayer together: “Lord, we love YOU!  Thank YOU for creating us!  We ask that You bless our efforts as we speak out boldly for children.  Multiply our efforts to send a lasting and convincing message.

“… praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— [ ,,, that we] may speak boldly, as [we] ought to speak.” (Ephesians 6:18, 20)

The deadline is July 31, please comment right away and then use the remainder of the time to encourage those you know to comment as well.

Thank you for praying and taking action.

God bless you!

Marlo Tucker
State Director
CWA of California
[email protected]
ca.cwfa.org

Wow!  AB 2943 will be on the Senate floor on Thursday, July 5!  If you haven’t already, please call your state senator to oppose this bill.  Click here to find your senator and his/her contact information on this link.

As you know, CWA is opposed to AB 2943. We have had such great momentum spreading the news about this bill that infringes on free speech.  Let’s continue to send a clear message of opposition before the bill hits the Senate floor on Thursday.  Legislators need to hear that this is not a bill that helps Californians.  It does not protect or preserve our freedoms.  AB 2943 will prohibit individuals from seeking the help they desire for unwanted attractions, known as sexual orientation change efforts, and punish the professionals who could assist them. The state would be inappropriately intruding in private counseling situations – counseling that has helped thousands achieve the goals the patient is seeking. Denying this therapy, which has had well-documented success, is not the role of government.

Originally AB 2943 was to be heard first in the Senate Appropriations Committee, but the Chair decided to waive the hearing so it’s now on its way to the senate floor this week.

Thanks to all who have prayed and called to voice opposition.

Take Action:

1. Call your senators and ask them to vote NO on AB2943. Let them know that this is a free speech issue.  If you called your senators on this issue when we last asked you to, please call again.  Let them know that you called previously on this but now that the vote is this Thursday, you wanted to be sure you were heard.  Click here to find their names and contact info.
2. If you have not already, this is the time to forward this email on to others and encourage them to both pray and take action.

Pray for softened and convicted hearts in the legislature to listen to truth, that they will make wise decisions, do what’s right and vote No on AB 2943.

“He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun” (Psalm 37:6).

Marlo Tucker
State Director
CWA of California
[email protected]
ca.cwfa.org

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a great victory (5-4) today to California pro-life clinics in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra that will have a ripple effect across the country.

Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, issued the following statement:

“We applaud the U.S. Supreme Court for sending a clear statement today that pro-life Americans cannot be discriminated against and targeted by government. The State of California’s insidious effort to prevent pregnancy care centers from helping suffering women is appalling.

“To be clear, this case was not about abortion. Malicious abortion politics definitely were the motivation behind it, but the case centered on the inappropriate mandate of the state compelling pro-life clinics to promote abortion in violation of their consciences.  The case was about forced speech.

“Supporters of the First Amendment, including many pro-abortion women, were appalled to see the way the state tried to punish pro-life clinics where hundreds, if not thousands, of women dedicate their lives to help other women in need.  Millions of women around the country, both pro-life and pro-abortion, reject this form of government tyranny.

“Freedom-loving women should celebrate the Court’s wisdom here in allowing all women to serve their fellow neighbor as their conscience dictates, free from government interference.”

The Lord is on the throne, and He is hearing our prayers for wisdom, knowledge and understanding to guide our government.  Worship and praise the Lord today!  Spread the news!

“For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory” (Deuteronomy 20:4).

Blessings!

Marlo Tucker
State Director
CWA of California
[email protected]
ca.cwfa.org

Hello CWA of California!

Today there is a state-wide effort to communicate to the California Senate our strong opposition to AB 2943.  Please take a minute to contact your Senator and ask him to oppose AB 2943. If you are available to visit their district office today, all the better.

As you know, AB 2943 prohibits free speech, a serious First Amendment infringement, on matters pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity.

 AB 2943 also violates First Amendment religious freedoms by targeting traditional/conservative beliefs. Biblical principles would be considered fraudulent and illegal. The implications may extend beyond patient/therapist relationships and into pastoral counseling, book sales, events involving the topics of sexual orientation and gender identity and more. It could possibly force Christian counselors out of business and prevent individuals from seeking desired help.

All Californians must be free to live, to counsel and seek counsel, to write and to read books, according to their faith, without fear of government intervention or penalty. 

Please continue to pray and act to oppose AB 2943.

Take Action Today, June 22.  Join in the state-wide effort to contact or visit your state senator’s district office to let him/her know you oppose AB 2943.  Click here to find your senator. Then, on their website, click on “Contact me.” Contact or visit their district office.  Be sure to let them know that you are a member of Concerned Women for America of California.  If you are unable to get to this until this weekend, do not hesitate to leave a message. 

The bill passed Senate Judiciary on June 12, and it now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee; this is a handful of senators reviewing the fiscal ramifications of this bill.  Please also contact them to help stop this unethical bill from passing.  Click here to do so.

 Please pray for California senators, that their eyes are open to the severity of this bill. May their hearts be changed to vote “NO” on AB 2943.

Your diligence in this matter is greatly appreciated.

“The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble” (Psalm 9:9).

Marlo Tucker
State Director
CWA of California
[email protected]
ca.cwfa.org
 
 

It was a hot sunny day on June 12 in Sacramento as CWA leaders and members joined some 500 pastors, leaders and concerned citizens from across California at the State Capitol to voice their opposition to AB 2943.

The premise of AB 2943 is that anyone trying to change his or her sexual orientation or gender identity will not be successful and that even attempting to do so is harmful. The testimonies of many individuals at the pre-hearing rally contradict those assumptions. These “once gay” individuals found transformation possible and want others to continue to receive help. The bill will deny them that aid unless counselors offer their services for no fee or donation. This denies not only help to the hurting, but also livelihood to licensed therapists.

Thank you to all the CWA ladies who traveled far and wide to participate in the two rallies, pray, man the CWA table, hand out our CWA of California prayer card to almost all the attendees, testify at the committee hearing, etc. And thank you as well for all who were praying in proxy as well as took action by contacting the committee members.

At the hearing, committee members heard two witnesses from each side and then the floor was opened to individuals to state their name, affiliation (if any) and position. Ruth Smith, Southern Area Director, and Sheri Miller, Executive Advisor, represented CWA of California. They stood in line for almost three hours to be able to state our position. It took an hour for the over 350 in opposition to file up to the microphone. All were cordial, but firm in their resolve that “change is real” and their “faith is not fraud,” as many of their stickers stated.

It was an amazing day of testimonies acknowledging changed lives through the power of Jesus Christ. It was a day of standing for truth and His righteousness. It was a day that showed how believers from around our great state are waking up to the wrongs our government has been committing to the detriment of the people. It was day for many pastors to speak up who had never spoken up before outside their congregation. A line was drawn before God; we will not be silent.

Despite the tremendous opposition, AB 2943 passed by a vote of 5-2. It now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee for a vote on June 25.

Regardless of what our legislators did and will do, we as God’s people, are accountable to do and say the truth. Join with us. Do not be silent on this issue. Our liberties are at stake. If we don’t speak up, who will?

Take Action:

1. Contact the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and ask them to oppose AB 2943. Be sure to let them know that you are a member of Concerned Women for America of California.
2. Contact your senator and ask him/her to oppose this dangerous bill, AB 2943. Click here to find out who your senator is and how to contact him/her.  Be sure to let your senator know that you are a member of Concerned Women for America of California.

3. Educate your pastor and others on this issue and encourage them to speak out.

Please Pray: Please regularly pray and consider fasting about this issue.

“Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s” (2 Chronicles 20:15).

Marlo Tucker
State Director
CWA of California
[email protected]
ca.cwfa.org