Pro-life Amendment Two gains additional support ahead of Election Day
With less than a week before voters head to the polls, Amendment Two continues to gain public support. Following Governor Kay Ivey’s public endorsement last week the pro-life constitutional measure picked up even more support on Wednesday with endorsements from Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Will Ainsworth who is the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor, as well as top leadership figures within the Alabama Legislature. “One of the biggest honors I have as your Attorney General is fighting for the rights of the unborn. I have aggressively defended Alabama’s pro-life laws and fought alongside other states as they did the same,” said Marshall in a statement. “Now, you have an opportunity to join me in standing for life by voting YES on Amendment Two.” Ainsworth echoed Marshall’s support of the Amendment. “As a candidate for Lt. Governor and, hopefully, once in office, I will continue to champion the pro-life cause and fight the liberal elites who mock conservative Alabamians for our stand,” Ainsworth said. “Each and every life is a gift from God, and I support the passage of Amendment 2 on Nov.6th .” The Alabama Fair Ballot Commission explains the constitutional amendment, which was sponsored and passed by Montevallo-Republican, State Rep. Matt Fridy, with the following description: Amendment 2 provides that it would be the public policy of the state to recognize and support the importance of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, including the right to life; and to protect the rights of unborn children. Additionally, the amendment would make clear that the state constitution does not include a right to abortion or require the funding of an abortion using public funds. Legislative endorsements Leaders in both chambers of the Alabama State House have come out in support of Amendment Two. Monrovia-Republican, Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives Mac McCutcheon: On November 6th, Alabama has the opportunity to show the nation how strong our conservative values are by adding language to our state constitution acknowledging the sanctity of unborn life. I am proud to stand behind Amendment Two and would encourage all Alabamians to vote yes on Tuesday, the 6th. Rainsville-Republican, State House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter: As Planned Parenthood and other liberal groups make their way into Alabama we are seeing our conservative values being attacked daily. It is crucial that Alabamians join together to fight for the rights of the unborn by voting yes for Statewide Amendment Two. Jasper-Republican, State Senate Majority Leader Greg Reed: Amendment Two will protect the sanctity of all life in Alabama by ensuring that our God-given rights extend to the most defenseless among us, unborn children. I urge my fellow Alabamians to stand for a culture of life by voting yes on Amendment Two on November 6th. Rainbow City-Republican, State Senator Phil Williams: Planned Parenthood has pumped nearly a million dollars of out-of-state dark money into Alabama to defeat Amendment Two. Planned Parenthood represents a culture of death, and their celebration of abortion-on-demand is sickening to see. President Trump is remaking the judiciary through the appointment of solid constitutional judges like Brett Kavanaugh, and Amendment Two will help make Alabama a haven for life as our nation returns to a respect for the U.S. Constitution and for the sanctity of all life. Amendment Two is one of four statewide amendment proposals that will be on the ballot on November 6.
Ahead of election Kay Ivey urges support for pro-life Amendment Two
Governor Kay Ivey on Monday affirmed her support for Alabama’s Constitutional Amendment Two, which recognizes and supports the rights of the unborn. “Now, perhaps more than ever, is the time for Alabama to affirm the sanctity of unborn life,” said Ivey. “It’s unconscionable to me that Walt Maddox would join abortion rights activists from across the country in opposing this measure that simply recognizes the rights of our precious unborn babies.” Amendment 2 The Alabama Fair Ballot Commission explains the constitutional amendment, which was sponsored and passed by Montevallo-Republican, State Rep. Matt Fridy , with the following description: “Amendment 2 provides that it would be the public policy of the state to recognize and support the importance of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, including the right to life; and to protect the rights of unborn children. Additionally, the amendment would make clear that the state constitution does not include a right to abortion or require the funding of an abortion using public funds.” Alabama is one of three states – joined by West Virginia and Oregon – voting on abortion-related measures next month. Ivey added, “I urge Alabamians to join me in this important fight by showing up to the polls on November 6 and voting yes on Constitutional Amendment Two.”
Clay Scofield: Amendment 2 fact vs fiction, check the records
Visiting Alabama’s State Parks and boating on Lake Guntersville were staples of my childhood. As I’ve travelled and experienced other public lands around the country, I’ve grown to appreciate these parks more and recognize the incredible gift from God our state parks are to us. This is why, for the last few years, I’ve been doing all I can to protect these amazing resources. The state parks belong to the citizens of Alabama, and I worked this year to write a constitutional amendment that would help ensure our parks are protected for future generations. I hope you’ll join me in supporting our parks and voting yes for Amendment 2 this Tuesday. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of misinformation spread about Amendment 2 recently. The primary goal of Amendment 2 is to ensure that park guest fees stay in the system to maintain our beautiful state parks. Amendment 2 also allows all parks the option to enter into concession agreements with businesses, which many of the parks already have the ability to do and will level the playing field by allowing that option to other parks. These private business partnerships benefit our park system. At no time does the park system lose ownership of a park or park facility if they enter into these “concessionaire” agreements. It simply gives them another option if they can’t afford to run a particular park or park facility rather than being forced to shut it down. If these private business agreements were not an option, Roland Cooper State Park would still be closed to the public today, the new ziplines at Guntersville would never have been built, the cable ski system at Oak Mountain would not be available to guests and plans for other exciting new attractions at our state parks would not be in the works. Keeping our parks open and providing new adventures so our parks system is continually meeting guest expectations is the reason it is important to vote yes on Amendment 2. Contrary to some of the information being shared around the state, Amendment 2 does not privatize the parks system and does not allow for corporations to develop on park lands. I can assure the people of Alabama, if Amendment 2 did privatize the parks or put the future of the parks system in jeopardy, I would be working to defeat it. The reason myself, our state parks staff, dozens of community leaders, conservation organizations and tourism bureaus from around the state are supporting Amendment 2 is because it protects our parks system and ensures the parks are sustainable for decades to come. The misinformation about Amendment 2 is being spread by individuals whose top priority is not supporting the parks or securing stable funding for the system. A quick Google search will bring up information that shows the real intentions and special interests behind these “park supporters” advocating against Amendment 2. They have ties to the competing developers on the Gulf Coast opposing the construction of a new Lodge & Conference Center at Gulf State park. Their motives are selfish and they’re not being honest with the people of Alabama. My record of supporting the parks is clear. I’ve been an advocate of the parks long before I entered public service and have continually stood up for the parks system in the last few years. When the parks funding was being transferred to the state General Fund year after year, I was educating lawmakers about how the parks funding operates and why transferring funds hurt the parks system. During this time where were these “park supporters?” I can assure you they were not in the state house trying to stop these funding transfers. Instead, some were actually filing lawsuits against the parks and projects that would benefit the entire system. When the parks funds were depleted and out of options for additional revenue, I joined my colleagues in sponsoring a bill to create a specialty boat tag that would bring an additional $3.5 million in revenue to the parks without raising any taxes. As this legislation was being passed these “park supporters,” the ones furiously working against Amendment 2, were again absent from the state house and were not in the communities advocating for these specialty tags or speaking with the public about a solution to the funding crisis. When the parks budget had reached a dire point and parks began closing facilities and entire parks, I was fighting for these parks and the citizens that love them. When five parks closed these “park supporters” were in court because their lawsuits against the parks were being dismissed by a judge. It’s our responsibility as voters to educate ourselves on the issues. It’s also our responsibility to research sources and understand the messenger(s) background. My background and relationship to the parks is transparent. I have three state parks in my district, I represent three counties that have part of a park within their boundaries. I have six state parks in my area that are on the line here. My interest in protecting the parks and seeing them thrive for generations is obvious from my record. I hope you will spend some time looking at the facts as it relates to Amendment 2. If you can’t take my word for it, please read the many letters of support, Facebook messages and take a look at the broad coalition who support our parks that are advocating for Amendment 2. I plead with you, if Amendment 2 does not pass I fear what the Alabama State Parks System’s future will hold based on the hard lessons we have learned from the last few years. The parks can not survive if their funding is not protected. These are not scare tactics. • • • Clay Scofield is a state senator from Guntersville, Alabama. He represents the 9th district. He represents Blount, DeKalb, Madison and Marshall counties.
Linda B. Reynolds: Enrich the lives of your children, vote ‘yes’ on Amendment 2
Several people have written op-ed pieces on the upcoming Amendment 2, which will allow state parks to keep the money they generate. I want to emphasize the state parks as a great big outdoor classroom, teaching all subjects and providing a great time in the process. I spent almost 20 years as the naturalist at Lake Guntersville State Park and I visited schools in 10 counties. Also, those schoolchildren came to the park on field trips. I had pre-school, elementary, junior high, high school, and university students. Then there were the professors who were studying something unique like bats, salamanders, fish, etc. One professor even came from the University of Northern Ontario to study our various crabapple trees. Almost every time I went to a school, shortly after, a child would come to my park office and announce that they were camping (for the first time). Then they would say, “You came to my school”. Lake Guntersville State Park is lucky to have old homesites clustered around a number of springs. It also has an old cemetery, so not only did we study the plants and animals, we studied history. We studied English language from the poetry on the tombstones and art history from the symbols on those grave markers. The numerous baby graves led to discussions about how important it is to be vaccinated. We used the golf course sometimes at night when planetarium personnel would do astronomy events. We went on night hikes to listen to owls and see glowworms. One time, I had just read that city children sometimes have trouble walking in the woods. A few weeks later, I had an inner-city Girl Scout troop for a hike. A few yards down the trail, they began to fall down. Then I told them what I had read and we all got the giggles. After a few mishaps, all was fine and we had a great time. I am a firm believer in exposing children to the natural world and there is no better way than taking them to a state park. At Lake Guntersville State Park, I gave kids opportunities to help our program. We did not do the Junior Ranger thing. We had Associate Naturalists. They donated exhibits to the Nature Center display, they helped care for the orphaned animals that I always seemed to acquire — especially the opossums. They helped clean the aquarium, bathed the Box turtles and chauffeured me in the golf cart when I needed to monitor the bluebird boxes. They helped with the trail work and learned something in the process. We had college students from all over the U.S. who served as interns. Now they are teachers, National Park workers, or serve in some other outdoor professions. I never tired of seeing the expression on a child’s face: a 4-year-old with a butterfly, or a child of any age when they saw their first bald eagle. Several parks have naturalists on duty, and if they don’t, they can probably round up a volunteer to guide a class of children. And, parents, hiking with your children is a fun and exciting thing to do. And it’s CHEAP! Today’s children are tomorrow’s park users and we all need to nurture their interest in what is outside. Every state park has something unique: waterfalls, CCC structures, caves, lakes, beaches — something wondrous. So come on folks, mark that ballot for Amendment 2. ••• Linda B. Reynolds, is a retired park naturalist for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
