Feb 17, 2018 Townhall meetings with Legislators (Districts 5, 11, and 47)

Bills of interest/concern

1)Senate bills 6219 and 6102, and House Bill 1523 – Mandates for Contraception and Abortion

HB 1523 Contraceptives Mandatewillrequire all health plans in the state to provide 'free contraceptives'; including those that induce abortions. SB 6219 adds ‘abortion procedures’ to the mandate, and SB 6102 would make it a “civil right” subjecting employers to discrimination lawsuits.

Talking Points and/or questions to Legislators

  • These bills address a problem that does NOT exist!! There is no lack of access to abortion or contraception in this state, regardless of income level.
  • All of these bills are a direct attack on the dignity of human life.
  • According to the Center for Disease Control, Black & Hispanic women account for 55% of all abortions in the U.S. This appears to immigrants and minorities as a very ‘racist’ policy and is not good long term policy for any political party who supports it.
  • None of these bills provide adequate protection of the WA State Constitution’s Article 1 “Declaration of Rights”, Section 11 guarantee to “absolute freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment or belief…”.
  • Why do you refuse to protect religious freedom/conscience rights in these bills?(eg.Sen. O’Ban’samendment to SB 6219 was not accepted in the Senate floor vote, andSen. Fain’s religious protection amendment was withdrawn - before he voted IN FAVOR of passing the bill)
  • What makes you believe this would survive the inevitable court challenges?
  • Do you support school vouchers? If no, why not?

So you don’t believe that you or others should have to contribute to paying for my child’s private Christian education, but you DEMAND that I/we pay for your/other’s abortions and contraceptives??!! That is an unacceptably inconsistent position for a lawmaker.

  • Can you tell me -- of the existing health plans available in WA state, either govt or private, which ones do NOT provide coverage for contraceptives or abortion? (answer is: effectively ALL plans already provide coverage, including Medicaid, except for religious organizations – so there is no real need for these new laws unless this is simply an attack on religious organizations).
  • SpecificallyWHAT RESTRICTIONS on abortions are contained in existing public and private health plans in WA (and which plans contain those restrictions)?(they likely don’t know the answers)
  • How are these coverages going to be “free” (no co-pays, no deductibles)? How does that work?
  • What are the existing “cost sharing” requirements under WA state health plans? (how about Medicaid & Planned Parenthood?).
  • NOTHING is free. If there is no co-pay or deductible, that only means the insurance premiums will go up to cover these added costs; NO ONE benefits.
  • Federal law prohibits the use of federal funds to pay forabortions. The penalty for violating this law is the loss of all funding for education,healthcare and labor, which would be more than $6 billion per year for WA state. Olympia would then no doubt look for ways to increase our taxes to make up the $6 billion shortfall.

2)Senate bill 6037 “Uniform Parentage Act” (aka Contract Surrogacy) - this billwould create a contract-basis for surrogacy ("womb rental") in our state, allowing for the buying and selling of babies strictly for money and outside of the normal court systems that protect children's rights.

Talking Points and/or questions to Legislators

  • This law would de-value women and motherhood (“womb selling”), not to mention children who would be bought and sold ‘as a commodity’. Impoverished/vulnerable women will be recruited to “rent their bodies” for the benefit of the wealthy.
  • This law would eliminate all of the current court protections for the ‘best interest of the child’, and instead the only legal consideration would be were the contract terms met (money exchanged for a baby). There would be no “background checks” nor home studies to determine the suitability of the parent (s), like occurs during the adoption process. ALL YOU NEED IS MONEY!!
  • I want our state to be known for “anti-trafficking”, not for baby selling.
  • Most countries around the world have already made this ILLEGAL (even places like India and Cambodia)

3)Senate bill 5572 “Conversion Therapy”

Talking Points and/or questions to Legislators

  • how is it that you want to make it illegal for minors (under age 18) to get professional “licensed therapy” for their struggles with their sexuality (eg. gay), but it’s somehow ok (not illegal) for adults to give minors sex-hormone treatments/therapy - with the specific intent to disrupt their normal, natural biological sexual development? THIS is what should be illegal – it is about the most severe form of child abuse in human history!
  • Especially as there is no scientific proof that a person is “born this way” (no ‘gay gene’ has been proven yet, despite decades of scientific research), and therefore the overwhelming evidence is that being gay is a psychological ‘condition’ or result from environmental influences as a person matures through puberty – but you would deny a minor that opportunity for professional help?