FROM THE GALLERY
State Legislation
The latest update on the marriage amendment SCR 1601 is that it was moved to the Federal and State Affairs Committee of the House for hearings this week. The word is that there could possibly be a vote the following week pending the outcome of the hearings. If the language passed by the Senate is changed, it must go back to the Senate for approval.
Recent court rulings in Indiana and Louisiana are favorable to our amendment, especially the Louisiana ruling which dealt with two subjects: The definition of marriage and the endowing of the privileges of marriage to other arrangements. The court ruled that Louisiana’s law was constitutional, so some of the arguments against the two-clause language of the Kansas amendment have not been upheld.
The proponents of the amendment testified on Tuesday, January 25 and the opponents spoke on Wednesday, January 26. The committee will now work the bill, and hopefully, it will be before the House next week.
It is imperative that you call your representative, especially the members of the House Federal and State Affairs Committee if you have not already done so. Some legislators, it is reported, do not even look at their e-mails, so make a call.
Capitol Switchboard: 785-296-0111
Ask for your legislator and you will be connected. Ask them to support the marriage amendment in its present form with no amendments. Ask them to give the people of Kansas a chance to vote on this important issue. Some legislators will give you reasons that may seem reasonable; continue to ask them to let the people decide. Re-state your case politely by emphasizing that marriage is the most important institution and that protecting marriage is good for the state and for families. Ask them to strengthen marriage, not weaken it.
PRAY that God will give us victory!
Board of Healing Arts
Marsha Strahm, our legislative liaison, and I attended a meeting in which the Kansas Board of Healing Arts and their role in monitoring surgical care in doctor’s offices were discussed.
The counsel for the Board, a group of 15 members appointed by the Governor, testified before the House Health and Human Services Committee concerning the protocol that the Board uses to license and monitor complaints against physicians and other medical-related practitioners.
One of the items discussed via questions by committee members was the fact that the Kansas City Kansas abortion facility that was investigated by the attorney general’s office for unclean and unsafe practices had still not been resolved. There was some pointed questioning with the result that the gentleman who testified was asked to return next Thursday to answer specific questions from legislators concerning this and other situations that might arise.
Surgical care units and hospitals are under the supervision of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). Abortions facilities, however, are supervised by an appointed board, who seemingly has little power and who takes an extraordinary amount of time to investigate abuses. No matter what your ideology is, abortion should be safe for women.
Sex Trafficking
Rep. Judy Morrison has pre-filed bill HB 2004 that defines and penalizes sex trafficking in the state of Kansas. CWA has long been involved in this issue through Dr. Janice Crouse, senior fellow of the Beverly LaHaye Institute, who has written several articles, conducted research, and represented our nation on this issue.
Sex trafficking is a huge issue world-wide, where vulnerable young women and men are lured into literal slavery and prostitution. They are coerced, forced or lured into a life of sexual servitude by the promise of a better life. Children orphaned by the Asian tsunami are reported to have been kidnapped by trafficking groups and sold into slavery; sent all over the world to servitude. Most of these children have no advocate and in the case of those who are brought into other countries, are not allowed to keep their papers which would enable them to get away. They are often beaten, starved and housed in horrible conditions by their captors.
The United Nations estimates that human trafficking is a $9.5 billion industry and is one of the top three revenue sources for organized crime. Current estimates state that between 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States annually. Up to 600,000 to 800,000 are tracked internally. Eighty percent of these are female and 50 percent are children.
It happens here too.
Recently, in Wichita Kansas, at least six teenage girls were lured into a prostitution ring by a man who operated his services at truck stops in and around Oklahoma City. According to police reports, the girls were approached in Wichita schools and told they were going on a day-trip. Instead they were taken to hotels, given clothing that suited the lifestyle, drugs, and coerced into working as prostitutes.
One of the girls was younger than 14.
Concerned Women for America of Kansas
P O Box 11233
Shawnee Mission, KS 66207
Phone/Fax: 913-491-1380
Email: director@kansas.cwfa.org
Web site: kansas.cwfa.org
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