LAST MINUTE NEWS, March 20, 2000

ANOTHER PRO-LIFE VICTORY!

Click here to read the Immediate Action Alert related to this victory article.

Monday, March 20, 2000

Press Release from Center For Arizona Policy
By Len Munsil, President

(1) Following a 90-minute meeting this afternoon, SB-1238, which would require parental consent for minor abortions, was passed out of conference committee with the weakening amendments removed. The minor differences between this bill and the way we had it introduced in the beginning are fairly inconsequential. The abortion industry is fighting tooth and nail to defeat parental consent. A final vote on this bill should occur very soon.

Please pray that all of the votes in favor of parental consent will hold on and vote in favor of final passage, especially for those pro-abortion members who are being bombarded by e-mails, calls and post-cards opposing SB-1238.

(2) HB-2708, the "Jackie Doe" bill, has some minor amendments that will be attached before it gets voted on in the full Senate. Those amendments mean that, assuming it passes in the Senate, it will have to return to the House for another very close vote. We are urging all of our supporters to call Rep. Barry Wong at (602) 542-5836 and thank him for voting in favor of HB-2708, the "Jackie Doe" bill; and to ask him to support SB-1238 (parental consent). His assistant may ask whether you live in Rep. Wong’s District 18 (central Phoenix). If you are not in his district, don’t be flustered by the question. Simply say you wanted to thank him for his stand on these bills, which affect all the residents of Arizona.

(3) VICTORY!!! After a spirited round of debate in the form of explaining their votes, SB-1216, which would cause every public elementary school to begin each day with the Pledge of Allegiance, and fourth to sixth graders to say The Declaration of Independence, passed out of the House by a 32-27 vote - just one more than needed. During the debate, opponents mentioned that the ACLU has already promised a lawsuit if the bill passes. Now the battle really begins, as the bill will go to a conference committee. Because of the closeness of the vote, there may be an effort to have our amendment removed. We’ll keep you posted on any action that is needed. Following this fax / e-mail is a guest column I am submitting to several publications statewide regarding The Declaration.

America’s principles must be learned by a new generation Twenty-seven years ago in August the thunderous voice of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. echoed off the monuments in Washington D.C. and shook the soul of America:

"I have a dream --- that one day this nation will rise up, and live out the true meaning of its creed --- ‘We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.’"

Beginning the rhetorical climax of one of the greatest speeches in history, Dr. King relied on wisdom from America’s Founding Fathers. He quoted words that were pledged with the lives, fortunes and sacred honor of men, many of whom would later make good on that pledge.

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence sets forth certain core principles and ideas that are central to what it means to be an American. These principles have enraged tyrants and inspired freedom-loving peoples throughout the world for nearly two and a quarter centuries. And now, the notion that our children should learn and repeat these principles in Arizona public schools is somehow causing a controversy.

"America is essentially an idea," said Dr. King, and he was right. We are not united as a people by skin color, ethnic heritage or culture, language or geography. We are not united by temperament or tradition. We are united by adherence to a set of shared beliefs, and those beliefs are most succinctly and dramatically set forth in The Declaration of Independence.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident ..." The notion that there are truths is under assault today. Children are often told there are no absolutes, "it’s all relative," make up your own mind about right and wrong. We should not then be surprised when children cheat on tests and kill each other over a pair of tennis shoes or a playground insult. The Declaration reminds us that our nation came into being because certain ideas are true, and not only true, but obviously or self-evidently true. School children need such a reminder today.

"... That all men are created equal." Slavery in America was eliminated because it conflicted with the great principles contained in the Declaration. Over the course of less than a century, the hypocrisy of claiming all men were created equal while some men owned other men became overwhelmingly, indefensibly obvious, and the institution of slavery caved under the power and fury of an idea fulfilled. Skinheads, neo-Nazis and other perpetrators of racial bigotry, along with those in school who mock and torment any students who are different, must remember the worth of each human soul.

"That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Freedom and liberty are granted to each of us by God, not by government. If our fundamental rights don’t come from the state, then the state has no power to take them away. As the government grows in power, size and control over our lives, our children need to have the same healthy distrust of government power as our forefathers. They need to know that the purpose of government is to secure our God-given rights, and that no government is legitimate unless it operates with the consent of the people it governs.

Further, the most fundamental of our rights is the right to life, a message that our children must hear in an age of random shootings, school violence, shaken and abandoned babies, and callous disregard for human life.

The Arizona Constitution contains a Declaration of Rights that in many ways mirrors the freedoms protected by the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights. But it also contains the following provision, even before freedom of speech and of the press:

"A frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is essential to the security of individual rights and the perpetuity of free government." Art. II, sec. 1.

There are no principles more fundamental to our nation than those contained in The Declaration of Independence. Requiring elementary school students to learn and recite daily the Declaration is exactly the type of "frequent recurrence to fundamental principles" that the Arizona Constitution demands. For those who object on moral or religious grounds, Arizona education law already allows what our Constitution requires - the ability to refuse to participate, without penalty. But for the majority of students, this exercise has the potential for great benefit.

The First Amendment protects speech because we understand that words have power to influence thought and behavior. Recent surveys of schoolchildren demonstrate a breathtaking ignorance of our nation’s history and purpose. The words contained in the Declaration, when learned, explained and repeated by schoolchildren, will establish a foundation by which we can "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."

And that’s a legacy our Founding Fathers, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - men who understood the power of ideas, the rhythm and strength of bold language, and the dream of a nation based on truth, liberty and justice -- would be proud of.

Len Munsil is an attorney and President of The Center for Arizona Policy, which you can view by visiting the CAP web site at www.cenazpol.org.

Copyright Children of the Rosary 2005. P.O. Box 1028, Scottsdale, AZ 85252-1028.
Updated March 21, 2000.