Barry Sheets
Legislative Consultant
Friday the 13th long thought of as a foreboding date complete with horror movies bearing the same title, this day is just like any other. The sun rises, the sun sets,
the world still spins on its axis. It is what we do with the day we are given by God
that makes a difference.
Let us dedicate today as the day where, regardless of the outcomes of elections,
we press on to secure the ending of the slaughter of unborn children. Hopefully, with God’s blessing and our diligence, we can mark a Friday the 13th as the day
the body count of aborted children went to zero!
NEWS AND VIEWS
1. The drama continues as our nation watches while lawsuits and recounts become the topic of discussion in our political sphere. Regardless of the outcome of these efforts, states are required to report their final numbers by December 8th, and each state must seat electors for the actual vote for president (think of Nov. 3rd as one giant national poll). If this can’t be accomplished, then the matter lies Constitutionally in the hands of the House of Representatives, where each state’s delegation receives just one vote to use to pick who will be seated in the Oval Office come January 20th.
Keep praying for the protection of the unborn...this fight is far from over!
2. In Ohio, this week found our Governor announcing the implementation of new orders requiring businesses to mandate all staff and customers must wear masks relative to COVID-19 issues. This is widely seen as a prelude to a push for a requirement
that citizens must take the currently-promised vaccine being developed (last week’s Friday 5 explored the problems with the vaccines and their use of aborted human tissue in their development) in order to work or to conduct business. Perhaps Governor DeWine would benefit from having this information about the announced vaccines, or perhaps this information shedding light on how this type of approach can lead to significant autoimmune responses in patients, which can be devastating to their health.
3. The aftermath of this election is being felt in other states: in Massachusetts, the Speaker of the House, Democrat Rep. Robert DeLeo, announced sweeping plans to use their delayed 2021 budget bill to push for the ROE Act (Remove Obstacles and Expand Abortion Access). ROE Act would codify abortion as state law, allow for abortions after 24 weeks (until birth) in expanded circumstances, create legal processes for girls under 16 to
get abortions, and allow for the denial of care for babies born when an abortion is botched. Pray for babies, their mothers, and our pro-life friends in Massachusetts.
4. More insanity from the left: in Arizona, a federal lawsuit has been filed against the state’s health department challenging the requirement that sex reassignment surgery must be performed in order to legally change the sex designation of an individual on a birth certificate. Three families, with children of the ages of 13, 10, and 6 who believe they are transgender (hmm, wonder how the six year old came to that conclusion…) want to be able to alter the certificates for their children, who identify as the opposite sex but don’t “need” the surgery. Pray the courts make the right decision, and protect children from delusional parents and from the machinations of the radical sexual anarchists of the left! Conversely, our friends in Hungary (yay, Prime Minister Orban!) are going exactly the opposite direction: they are putting forward a Constitutional amendment to prohibit gender theory manipulations of children, promote one man-one woman marriage, and provide that adoptions can only be to married couples. The text states in part: “Human dignity also includes the right of every child to have an identity appropriate to his or her gender, including protection against mental or biological interference with his or her physical and mental integrity.”
5. The government of Guatemala has gotten the right kind of woke: Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei last week repealed an agreement to allow Planned Parenthood to operate in the country. It seems the President is also a pro-life physician, and he stated “I recognize life from conception and therefore I will not tolerate in my administration any movement that violates what is established in our Political Constitution of the Republic,
that goes against the values with which I was raised and that conflicts with my principles as doctor.” The interior minister, Oliverio Garcia Rodas, who brokered the original deal, resigned his post after the President’s bold stand for life. A double win for life! Pray that our state can be woke like Guatemala!
PROFILE
Each installment of the Friday Five will bring thumbnail profiles of key
policymakers and committees.
United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio—
Judge Pamela A. Barker. Judge Barker, an attorney and former Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge, was born in 1957 in Cleveland. She earned her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in political science from Kenyon College in 1979, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and her Juris Doctor from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 1982, and was admitted to the bar that year. Judge Barker spent 29 years in private practice specializing in insurance litigation. She was appointed to the Common Pleas bench in 2011 by then Governor John Kasich. In 2018, Barker was nominated by President Donald Trump to fill a seat on the U.S. District Court in Cleveland. The nomination was not finalized during the session, and President Trump re-nominated her in 2019. Her confirmation was secured by a 91-5 vote on the Senate floor in June 2019.
Judge Barker summed up her judicial and personal philosophy on her campaign website: “As a student of political philosophy and history, Pamela Barker is a strict constructionist believing that judges should not legislate from the bench but must follow the law as established by the duly elected representatives of the people. A woman of strong faith and integrity who believes that others should be treated as she would want to be treated and adheres to principal over expediency, Pamela Barker is aware that family and church are important places to instill and promote faith and Christian values and beliefs but that the trial court bench is not the appropriate forum for imposing those beliefs upon others.”
