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Friday 5
Barry Sheets
Legislative Consultant
October 25, 2019
Life legislation is taking the spotlight in Columbus this fall, and there's much more to come! Take time to talk with your elected officials and candidates and find out their views on advancing the Pro-Life agenda!
NEWS AND VIEWS
1. A hearing has been scheduled for next Tuesday morning on Senate Bill 121, the bill to mandate Ohio adopt health education standards. These would be based on national models, which incorporate anti-life, anti-family, pro-LGBT materials. The hearing is for opponents and interested parties
(please let me know if you can attend or submit testimony). The sponsors, Senators Stephanie Kunze and Vernon Sykes, appeared before the Ohio State Board of Education last week to try to get the board to vote to endorse a bill that would mandate their adopting these standards. The board has wisely decided to hold off until their November board meeting on deciding their position on the bill.
2. Opponents received a chance to testify on Senate Bill 155 this week. It is fairly obvious that they either can't understand, or don't want to try to understand, that SB 155 only requires information be given to an abortion-minded woman (in the informed consent period 24 hours before a procedure would commence) regarding therapy that can reverse a chemical (or medical) abortion if undertaken in the approximately 72 hour period between the administration of the first chemical (RU-486) and the second (misoprostol). To hear their version, one would think the bill requires an abortion provider to keep large doses of progesterone on hand and administer it to a woman who changes her mind during the three-day procedure to abort her child. Hmmm...
3. An amendment was added to Senate Bill 208, Senator Terry Johnson's bill to protect children born after a botched abortion attempt. The amendment, offered by Senate Health Committee Chairman, Senator Dave Burke of Marysville, would mandate care steps that an abortion provider (in an ambulatory surgical facility, or ASF) must do when the child is born alive. This is a well-thought amendment, as it requires, under penalty of law for failure to follow, that the provider needs to stabilize and protect the child's health, call emergency services, and ensure the baby is transported to a hospital for care.
4. Keep your eyes on Texas. A significant test of whether or not parents can protect their children is playing out right now. Jeffrey Younger finds himself in a nightmare: having to fight for custody of twin seven-year old sons in order to prevent the boy's mother from moving forward with having one of the boys undergo gender reassignment. The mother, a pediatrician, is fully committed to the transgender zeitgeist. A Texas jury earlier this
week ruled against the father's petition. However, the next day, pro-life Texas Governor Greg Abbott's administration has stepped in and is ordering an
investigation into the mother potentially committing child abuse by encouraging further medical intervention against this child's God-given, DNA-based gender.
PROFILES
Each installment of the Friday Five will bring thumbnail profiles of key policymakers and committees.
United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer-Appointed by former President Bill Clinton, Justice Breyer, 81, has served the nation's highest court since 1994. A former Chief Judge of the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Breyer holds degrees from Stanford, Oxford (Magdalene College), and Harvard Law. He served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg during the 1964 Term; as a Special Assistant to the Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Antitrust, 1965-1967; as an Assistant Special Prosecutor of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force in 1973; as Special Counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 1974-1975 and as Chief Counsel of the committee, 1979-1980. He was an Assistant Professor, Professor of Law, and Lecturer at Harvard Law School, 1967-1994. Breyer regularly joins the liberal justices of the court voting in favor of expanding abortion rights and opposing restrictions on the practice of abortion.
U.S. Congress Jim Jordan (4th District) - a member of Congress that may need no introduction, Jim Jordan of Urbana has served since 2007 and served in the Ohio legislature from 1995-2006. Jordan, a spearhead of the House Freedom Caucus, is one of the key members of Congress working to root out corruption within agencies, from the IRS's illegal profiling of conservative groups, to the Justice Department's presumptive illegal activities against certain American citizens during the previous election. Jordan is the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, the House Committee on the Judiciary, and is a member of the subcommittees on Courts, Intellectual Property & the Internet, and the Constitution, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties. Jordan scores a 100% rating from Freedom Works and proudly holds a 0% rating from both the Human Rights Campaign and Planned Parenthood Action Fund. A consistent Pro-Life vote and voice in Congress, Jordan, along with all of the members of the House of Representatives seeking to return, will be running for re-election in 2020.
Ohio State Board of Education- the State Board of Education is comprised of 19 members, 11 are elected and eight are appointed by the governor. The chairs of the Education Committees of the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate serve as non-voting (ex-officio) members. The Superintendent of Public Instruction serves as Secretary of the State Board of Education.
District 1-Linda Haycock, a Lima resident, was elected in 2016 and is serving her first term on the State Board of Education. For the eight previous years, she served on the Lima Shawnee Local Board of Education, including terms as President and Vice President. Haycock is the CFO and Business Manager of Haycock Foot & Ankle Center in Lima. She is also the Chaplain of the Shawnee Optimist Club, whose motto is "Bringing Out the Best in Children." Among the club's most notable activities are tutoring in schools, supplying breakfast on testing days, fundraising to provide scholarships for local children, and donating to libraries so they can expand their inventory. She was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, and holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics from Brigham Young University. Haycock is eligible for re-election in November, 2020.
Ohio House Armed Services & Veterans Affairs Committee-this Committee deals with legislation affecting our active duty service members, our veterans of service and their families. This thirteen member committee is comprised of eight Republicans and five Democrats and is chaired by Rep. Rick Perales of Beavercreek. The committee has received seven bills this session for review, including ones designating special observance days, improving veterans' health care services, and other service-related topics. The committee meets regularly on Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m.
Ohio Senate Energy & Public Utilities Committee-this Committee oversees legislation dealing with regulation of energy and other utilities (water, gas, etc.) and is comprised of thirteen members, 10 Republicans and three Democrats. It is chaired by Senator Steve Wilson of Warren County. They have had three bills assigned to the committee, including the well-known House Bill 6 (nuclear energy bill) and recently have been considering more regulations on robo-calls. The committee regularly meets at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesdays.
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