February 2017 – Page 8 – Family Council

Pastors Day at the Capitol 2017 a Success

Feb 7, 2017Jerry CoxArkansas Pastors Network

Last week we hosted Pastors Day at the Capitol in Little Rock. Ministers and church leaders from across the state gathered for a time of prayer, worship, testimony, and fellowship. This is a great opportunity to minister to elected officials and have “church” in the Capitol Building.

This year’s Pastors Day at the Capitol was a tremendous success. Below is video footage from the day.

Worship

Preaching

Video Playlist

New Bill Prohibits Abortions Performed Due to the Baby’s Sex

Feb 2, 2017Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Arkansas Legislature, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

Rep. Charlie Collins (R-Fayetteville) and Sen. Missy Irvin (R-Mountain View) have filed a bill prohibiting abortions performed due to the baby’s sex.

H.B. 1434 requires a doctor performing an abortion to first ask the woman if she know’s the baby’s sex, and inform her it is illegal to perform an abortion based on the baby’s sex.

According to our research, eight states currently have laws prohibiting sex-selection abortions:

Illinois
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Arizona
Kansas
North Carolina
North Dakota
South Dakota

Pennsylvania’s and Illinois’ laws have been on the books since the 1980’s. Arizona’s law passed in 2011, and it has survived multiple court challenges.

In some countries and cultures, unborn girls are more likely to be aborted than unborn boys. No baby should be killed because of his or her sex. H.B. 1434 is a good bill that reinforces the sanctity of human life and the dignity of unborn children.

You can read the bill here.

Here’s a Little Information About President Trump’s Supreme Court Pick

Feb 2, 2017Jerry CoxCurrent EventsCurrent Events

This week President Trump nominated Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Here is a little about Judge Gorsuch and some noteworthy opinions he has issued:

He is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Law from Oxford University.
He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy.
- Justice White is noteworthy for dissenting in the Roe v. Wade abortion decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Justice Kennedy is noteworthy for writing the Planned Parenthood v. Casey abortion decision and the 2015 Obergefell decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide.
- This matters, because some people believe looking at who an attorney clerked for after law school is one way to gauge his or her judicial philosophy.
President George W. Bush nominated him to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006. He was confirmed on a voice vote by the U.S. Senate, because his nomination was not deemed controversial.
As a federal judge, Neil Gorsuch has issued opinions in favor of religious liberty in lawsuits like the Hobby Lobby case.
In 2007 he wrote a dissenting opinion in the Pleasant Grove City v. Summum case. In it he argued it was constitutional for a city to display a donated monument of the Ten Commandments on public property without displaying other monuments. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed.
In 2009 he authored the book The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, in which he analyzed the arguments in favor of euthanasia and assisted suicide, but ultimately provided strong arguments against these practices.