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.
Pro-life group releases radio in in support of pro-life Amendment Two
Election Day is only a week away, and Alabama Citizens for Life (ACL) is doing everything it can to encourage Alabama voters to support of the pro-life constitutional measure known as Amendment Two. On Tuesday, ACL — a non-partisan, non-denominational, non-profit, working to restore legal protection for all human life from conception to natural death — announced it has released a new radio ad in support of the amendment. “Life is on the line and on the ballot this year. There are many important issues this election, but one is fundamental: the right to life,” says the ad. “Alabama’s greatest resource isn’t our beaches, not our industries, but our children. The spot continues, “If you want to vote to protect our state’s greatest resource, vote ‘Yes’ on Amendment Two. If you want to restore respect for babies, vote ‘Yes’ on Amendment Two. If you don’t want your tax dollars to pay for abortion-on-demand, vote ‘Yes’ on Amendment Two. Unborn babies can’t vote, but you can. Their lives really are on the line. Please, vote ‘Yes’ on statewide Amendment Two.” According to Cole Wagner, Executive Director of the Alliance for a Pro-Life Alabama, pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and and its liberal allies have dumped more than a million dollars into Alabama from New York, California, Memphis and New England to run ads against Amendment Two. “We can’t match Planned Parenthood and its liberal allies dollar for dollar. Their expensive radio and TV commercials are spreading lies and misinformation about Amendment Two to confuse the voters and create doubts,” Wagner explained. “We are grateful to all of our Pro-Life partners in the Alliance, like Citizens for Life, for making every effort they can to support Amendment Two and combat Planned Parenthood’s false claims.” The spot is initially airing in Birmingham and Montgomery media markets, and it is also posted on the Alliance for a Pro-Life Alabama Facebook page. Amendment Two is one of four statewide amendment proposals that will be on the ballot on November 6.
John Giles: Amendment Two — Choice vs. Life
November 6, 2018 is the mid-term election, and in addition to a slate of candidates, Alabamians will be voting on four amendments to the Alabama Constitution. Allow me to focus on Amendment Two. If passed, the Alabama Constitution will recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life. Generally, there are three visible sides to this debate: those who want unlimited abortion, those who want to protect the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death (except for the life of the mother), and those who are opposed to abortion (except in the case of rape, incest and life of the mother). In full disclosure, it is no surprise that I will be voting YES without blinking for Amendment Two. Please don’t hang up the phone on me just yet; let’s get into the facts on this, so you can make a sound, rational decision. Planned Parenthood (PP) is leading the effort to vote NO on this amendment. Why are they so adamant about keeping abortion legal in America; could it be large sums of money and their core philosophy? Even in the disturbing wake of mounting video-recorded evidence of PP selling baby body parts, they are still receiving in excess of $500 million annually of federal tax dollars. In addition to the federal funding, PP charges anywhere from $350 – $950 for first trimester abortions and much more for second trimester abortions. PP is federally recognized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which excludes them from income tax. I am not sure how they do this, but even though nonprofits are precluded by the IRS from engaging in elections, PP is publicly reported to be spending $20 – $30 million supporting Democrats for Congress in this general election cycle. I ran a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, and while we could participate in voter education and lobbying, we could not engage in “express advocacy” or endorsing any candidate. Amazingly, the IRS attacked conservative Tea Party members, but they look the other way on PP, which is pouring huge sums of money into Alabama to defeat this amendment. PP was founded by Margaret Sanger (1883 -1996), who was a turn of the century birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. I challenge you to look her up yourself, because she had some very radical, liberal ideas. Most of her philosophical quotes are morally repugnant, even by the norms of her era, but they are imbedded into the molecular makeup of PP. Sanger formed PP to exterminate blacks. In 1939, she started: “The Negro Project” for the purpose of radically curbing the birth of black children. If this offends you, like it bristles me, check out this Sanger quote: “The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.” Sanger had an abhorrent, horrific, belief system and appalling tone; but at least she was honest in the goals of PP, which are prevalent today. Three high profile Republican women, along with the Alabama Exchange (ad hoc group consisting of several pro-life organizations) are leading the vote YES effort in the state. Terry Lathan (Chair of the Alabama Republican Party), Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (President of the Alabama Public Service Commission) and Mary Sue McClurkin (Shelby County Republican Representative) are leading the GOP get out the vote effort. Thank you ladies, for your leadership. This will be primarily a grassroots and social media driven outreach, and it will not match the well-funded PP opposition to Amendment Two. PP will showcase in their ads that voting YES to the amendment will eliminate access to women, who are pregnant due to rape or incest. One of the three categories mentioned at the beginning of this article are those opposed to abortion except in the case of rape, incest and life of the mother. Pay close attention to this statistic: The Guttmacher Institute, which is a research division founded by PP, by its own data, states that rape, incest and the life of the mother represents less than 1 percent of all abortions. So another perspective is the reciprocal, which means that over 99 percent of all abortions are emergency measures for birth control, and they are not cases of rape, incest or the health of the mother as marketed by PP. Liberal Democrats, PP, and the media will focus their entire attention on less than 1% of all abortions. The life of the mother discussion is a non-issue. When the life of the expecting mother is at stake, like a tubal pregnancy and the like, the tending physician will always put the life of the mother over her unborn child. Their argument is distorted at best, but now we take a close look at the deception around Roe v Wade. If you follow my writings, there is no misunderstanding about my feelings of judicial activism and making law from the bench. Roe v. Wade was a classic model case as the pinnacle of judicial activism. Norma McCorvey (9/22/1947 – 2/18/2017), whom Deborah (my wife) and I knew, was the legal pseudo “Jane Roe” in Roe v. Wade. Before becoming a Christian, McCorvey became a lesbian and ran an abortion clinic; her life was a wreck. McCorvey later in life repented, became an active pro-life Christian and our friend Reverend Flip Benham baptized her. Self-proclaimed feminist liberal lawyers, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee were seeking out the perfect case to make abortion legal in America. McCorvey, a single, divorced, alcoholic woman became pregnant with her third child in 1969, wanted to abort her child, but in Texas abortion was illegal, except for the life of the mother. Imagine that; except for California and New York, prior to 1973, abortion was illegal in America, except in the case of the life of the mother (like a tubal pregnancy). It was handled as a Tenth Amendment, states rights issue. McCorvey was not a pretty, eye-candy kind of girl, but rather a downtrodden alcoholic, so the lawyers kept her
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.”
Richardson, Snider: Alabama must vote yes on Proposed Statewide Amendment Two
According to Pew Research, the only state that is more pro-life than Alabama is Mississippi. Our status as one of the leading states in the pro-life movement is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing in that our state has successfully passed legislation curbing abortion. It is a curse, however, in the sense that a pro-life failure here could spell disaster for the cause at the national level. This is why, in November, Alabama must set the standard and show the world just how strong the pro-life movement is–by voting yes on Proposed Statewide Amendment 2. The amendment, if approved, would add language to the state constitution acknowledging the sanctity of unborn life and stipulating that the state constitution provides no right to abortion. That’s the technical explanation. In a recent call with the Alabama Policy Institute, however, Representative Matt Fridy, the sponsor of the amendment, described both its intention and impact. Fridy explained that the amendment is not meant to immediately eliminate abortion, but to prevent a problem faced by our northern neighbor. The problem? In 2000, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that their state constitution provided higher protection for abortion than the federal constitution. As a result, an array of the state’s pro-life measures were struck down by the court, which argued that they were unconstitutional on the state level. The Volunteer State later passed an amendment–similar to the one we will vote on in November–to specify that their constitution did not, in fact, guarantee any such right. Fridy wants to eliminate any opportunity for what happened in Tennessee to happen here, and this amendment would be effective in that vein. Any further impact, however, would require change on the national level. Alabamians should wholeheartedly support this amendment because we, as a state, overwhelmingly believe in the sanctity of life. For many of us, this belief stems from our Christian values. King David reminds us in Psalm 139 that God knits each of us together in the womb. We are unable to ignore that reality. We also acknowledge the truth described in Genesis, that humans bear the imago dei–the image of God–and are worthy of dignity and respect. Others of us are pro-life because of a non-religious understanding that each member of our species is due protection, including the least developed of us. We protect the lives of the unborn just as we do those recently born, children, and individuals with disabilities–because of their humanity. Regardless of why, we at API are proud that most Alabamians are pro-life. It’s not always easy to hold this opinion, however. Supporters of abortion often highlight the differences between the unborn and born based on physical appearance or mental capacity, suggesting that the unborn are not yet human. These arguments, at times, can seem convincing. Even so, we reject these appeals, recognizing a) the value of all human life and b) that the same dehumanization that euphemizes abortion today was employed in Nazi Germany and 1990s Rwanda to make mass murder seem tenable. It is not unknown to Alabamians that the stakes are high, and we do not lazily adopt this position. Being pro-life leads us to action: I am a mother to four children, including an adopted child with special-needs. Other Alabamians are foster parents, volunteers at local crisis pregnancy centers, or benefactors of pro-life organizations that fight daily for the dignity of all. We also, and this must not be ignored, vote as if unknown multitudes of lives hang in the balance–because they do. Although Proposed Statewide Amendment 2 will not ban abortion within our borders, its unqualified passage will signal to the nation and the wider world that abortion is unacceptable, morally repugnant, and, as many like to say, on the wrong side of history. We must not squander this moment. ••• Nikki Richardson is Executive Vice President of the Alabama Policy Institute and Parker Snider is Policy Relations Manager. API is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and educational organization dedicated to strengthening free enterprise, defending limited government, and championing strong families.
