Andy Birkey's blog

Bachmann Allies Slam Republican Committee

2008-10-28T09:00:00-04:00

Family Research Council runs to Bachmann’s aid

The Family Research Council, a religious right organization, rushed to the aid of Rep. Michele Bachmann in the wake of Anti-AmericaGate. They also rallied around Colorado Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Republican who has made opposition to same-sex marriage her signature issue in Congress.

In a letter to the Republican National Congressional Committee titled “NRCC Abandons Social Conservatives,” Family Research Council president Tony Perkins wrote, “You have made a grave error in judgment by pulling your funds from the Michelle Bachmann race in Minnesota and the Marilyn Musgrave race in Colorado,” he said. “The left is attacking both of these outstanding women because they are true conservatives.”

Despite the economy and the Iraq War dominating voters’ concerns this November, Perkins says it’s Bachmann’s and Musgrave’s extreme views on abortion and homosexuality that will sway voters.

“They vote pro-life and pro-family. Both Congresswomen are against taxpayer funding of abortion. Both oppose embryonic stem cell research, and both are for a Marriage Protection Amendment,” he said. “These are issues that motivate voters. These are issues they and other conservative candidates have won and can win with.”

Minnesota Independent: A tool of the Religious Right?

The Family Research Council used reporting by the Minnesota Independent in its newly released voter guide (PDF) touching on abortion, same-sex marriage, “special protections for homosexuals” and stem-cell research. “Erik Paulsen runs away from Republicans and his own record” is used to bash Ashwin Madia on social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, as are other reports from our coverage of the 3rd Congressional District debates. View their source guide (PDF).

Pro-lifer’s canceled speech riles right-wingers

“In Minnesota, there is another brilliant example of liberals trying to indoctrinate their views on college students,” wrote Crystal Clear Conservative. “The College of St. Catherine is banning Bay Buchanan from speaking on campus, because the college administration believes her speech would be a direct violation of their 501(c) (3) status.”

SCSU Scholars blog cried foul. “Bay Buchanan is neither a candidate nor engaged in a campaign or debate for any candidate,” read a post at the popular St. Cloud blog (its contributors helped arrange the Buchanan visit). The Republican Party-affiliated Young America’s Foundation suggested “a more sinister motive behind the cancellation of Ms. Buchanan’s speech and an utter contempt for intellectual diversity.”

Despite protestations that Buchanan is not campaigning for any candidate, Buchanan held an impromptu gathering across the street, hailing Sarah Palin’s candidacy. SCSU Scholars wrote, “As Bay stated, Sarah was not exactly the icon these feminists wanted. Sarah is (horrors) a Republican, a Christian and a mom who kept her child even after she knew it would have health problems. And, like it or not, she’s the new face of feminism.”

Despite outcries from the right wing, the college has been bipartisan in its policies. It banned Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton from appearing at the college this week and last month told DFL Senate candidate Al Franken he could not speak on campus.

Anti-Obama abortion mailers hitting Minnesota mailboxes

The Susan B. Anthony List has printed 500,000 of these mailers to send to mailboxes in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio and Pennsylvania this week. The two-sided mailer features a lenticular print on the front: when viewed from one angle, a baby is visible; from another, it’s gone.

Click the image for a larger size:

Religious Right GOTV Effort in Minnesota Spurs Backlash

2008-10-20T08:00:00-04:00

Minnesota’s religious right is pulling out all the stops to bring social conservatives to the polls on Election Day, but most Minnesotans won’t see any signs of the push unless they are in church. And the message is clear: Christians must vote Republican.

Abortion and homosexuality dominate the discussion, as ever, but typical Republican talking points in 2008 include notes on oil drilling, immigration and taxes — and a seemingly growing number of Minnesota pastors find this degree of politicizing of their faith inappropriate.

Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL), the state’s largest anti-abortion group, is taking its message to the voters in two ways: direct political action and church meetings.

MCCL has a PAC that has endorsed candidates for office. “There would be little or no protection for unborn babies, their mothers or other vulnerable lives if Barack Obama were in power,” said MCCL PAC spokesman Scott Fischbach. “Minnesota citizens must look beyond his charm and realize that Obama is an extremist who intends to promote and expand abortion on demand — and force taxpayers to pay for elective abortions.”

The group also gives Sen. Norm Coleman an enthusiastic endorsement, and features quotes of Coleman’s speeches at MCCL’s annual March for Life. “Sen. Norm Coleman has been a dedicated friend of MCCL and the pro-life movement for many years. We need his strong pro-life voice in Washington!” said the group’s endorsement.

MCCL also endorsed Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann and John Kline and conservative blue-dog Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson. They have also endorsed 1st Congressional District Republican candidate Brian Davis.

In addition to directly endorsing candidates, MCCL is hosting meetings in nearly 50 churches around the state as part of their Fall Tour 2008. The meetings will include a “presentation about life issues and the importance of the November election.”

MCCL doesn’t present itself as overtly religious, but nearly all 50 events scheduled from the end of September to Election Day are being held in churches.

The Minnesota Independent reported on a MCCL Fall Tour meeting last year.

The Minnesota Family Institute (MFI), a division of the Minnesota Family Council, says in its postcards, “When godly people don’t vote … ungodly candidates get elected.” The group says it is trying to reach between 500,000 to 600,000 people.

The “Mobilize 2008! Vote Your Values” campaign contains voter guides that reveal a less-than-scriptural message. Privatizing Social Security, a border fence with Mexico, offshore drilling, troop withdrawals from Iraq and tax cuts overshadow “traditional values” issues in the presidential and Senate campaign scorecards.

The organization’s “Pro-Family Champions,” or those state legislators with a 100 percent “pro-family voting record,” are all Republican. Fifty-six legislators earned that distinction, comprising a large portion of Minnesota’s Republican caucus. That should be no surprise when homosexuality and abortion are mixed with issues like tax cuts and immigration.

MFI leaders are openly critical of Sen. Barack Obama. MFI president Tom Prichard recently wrote: “If Obama is successful on the tax front as well as on the health care and other social fronts, we’ll see a decidedly leftward shift in our economic and political culture… [T]he cost is clear. Less freedom and less prosperity for Americans.”

In early October, MFI rallied pastors in all corners of the state — Marshall, Mankato, Rochester, Bemidji and Duluth — for “Dare We Remain Silent” lunches urging pastors to get their congregations involved in politics.

The premise was to put the fear of God — or rather, Democrats — into the pastors. The main themes of the pastors’ luncheons: “The next President is likely to appoint from three to five Supreme Court Justices. Preaching God’s word could become a hate crime. Christian ministries and other employers may be forced to hire people whose lifestyles are contrary to God’s design and their beliefs. God’s design for marriage may be trampled by the courts and through legislation, opening the door for homosexual marriage nationwide.”

MFI is urging pastors to preach about the election, provide voter registration and MFI voter guides in their church, and place MFI fliers and signs in their church. The group also offers training for pastors on how to preach politics without running into trouble with the Internal Revenue Service, using materials from the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). (The same ADF made political waves in late September by asking pastors to break the law by endorsing candidates for office.)

“[The] Minnesota Family Council, has been lighting up my phone and email in the last few weeks encouraging me to preach about the upcoming election from the pulpit,” says New Prague pastor Jamie Prip, whose church is an Assemblies of God congregation. “What concerns me is when Christians have such a hunger for political power (Liberal or Conservative) that they destroy the true mission of the church.”

Prip isn’t alone in his concerns. Rev. Greg Boyd of Woodland Hills Church in Maplewood, an evangelical baptist megachurch, has been an outspoken critic of the type of political involvement MFI is encouraging pastors to engage in.

“If they want to express their values, that’s fine,” Boyd told the Star Tribune recently. “I just wish they wouldn’t call it Christian, like there’s one Christian way to vote.”

Boyd and MFI met two weeks ago in Rochester during one of MFI’s “Dare We Remain Silent” pastor luncheons.

“I don’t know if it happened by design or by chance, but just before I got up to speak, several representatives of the Minnesota Family Council (a conservative Christian political action ministry) shared with the pastors why they felt America was a Christian nation and why it was the responsibility of pastors to encourage their church members to get out and ‘vote their biblical values,’” wrote Boyd. “These sincere folks then handed out a booklet to inform pastors on what they could and could not say as they steered their congregants in the right direction without getting into trouble with the law. They also handed out ‘voter registration guides’ that would help ‘inform’ Christians where the particular candidates stood on the ‘key’ issues (e.g. abortion, gay marriage). They finished by encouraging the pastors to distribute these guides in their churches.”

Boyd said it seemed like an odd notion to ask Christians to vote their values, since as Christians they already do. “It was a little awkward, but I basically gave a talk asking the question: ‘When did Jesus ever do anything like what you just asked to do?’

“I made the case that the church’s one and only job is to look like Jesus, humbly manifesting God’s love in sacrificial service to all people at all times, including our enemies,” he said. “By this criteria, I argued, the church in America is, as a whole, failing miserably. Christians are known for a lot of things, but humility and self-sacrificial love, especially for enemies, isn’t among them. (Folks, it’s not in the top 100!)”

Anti-Abortion Ads Target Al Franken

2008-10-18T08:00:00-04:00

The anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List, the religious right’s answer to the abortion rights group Emily’s List, has bought up time on Minnesota Christian radio stations to run ads attacking Al Franken. Interestingly, pro-life DFLer Rep. James Oberstar sits on the group’s advisory committee.

Listen to the ad:

The ads say, in part:

In Minnesota, 39 innocent children are lost every day, 39 children every day. And what does comedian Al Franken want to do about it? Nothing. Franken says he supports abortion on demand. It’s no wonder radical pro-abortion groups have embraced Al Franken. They want to overturn the ban on gruesome partial birth abortions, force you to pay for abortions with your tax dollars, and allow young girls to get abortions without their parents consent. Al Franken and his allies are wrong. Call Al Franken right now at 612-344-2008 and tell him MN deserves leaders we can trust to protect life. tell him every life counts and this is no laughing matter.

“While Senate candidates like Al Franken in Minnesota and Kay Hagan in North Carolina hide their extreme support for abortion on-demand from the voters, we are there to expose it,” SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser told the religious right website Lifesite.com. “American voters deserve to know the truth about who really is – and isn’t – on the side of unborn children.”

The group opposes any and all abortion, including those resulting from rape or incest. Like the name suggests, SBA List’s original focus was on progressive pro-life candidates who opposed abortion, but promoted social welfare policies that reduce the need for abortion.

In the late-1990s and early-2000s, the group underwent a transformation as Republican insiders took over the group, aligning its activities close to those of the religious right.

The group is also focusing three other states: Colorado, New Hampshire and New Mexico.

Complaints Filed Against Churches Making Endorsements

2008-09-30T08:00:00-04:00

An initiative spurred by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a religious right legal outfit affiliated with James Dobson's Focus on the Family, has prompted complaints to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), including one against Minnesota's Warroad Community Church. The ADF says that at least 30 churches participated in its Pulpit Freedom Sunday and endorsed presidential candidates for office. Almost all endorsed Sen. John McCain.

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State filed formal complaints with the IRS on Monday targeting six churches that violated an IRS stipulating that churches which take advantage of the IRS' tax breaks need to refrain from partisan politics or else pay their share of taxes.

Pastor Jody Hice of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Bethlehem, Ga., said that McCain "holds more to a biblical world view" on issues of abortion and homosexuality and urged her congregation to vote for McCain and not Sen. Barack Obama.

Pastor Gus Booth of Warroad Community Church in Warroad, Minn., told his congregation, "We need to vote for the most righteous of candidates. And it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure that out. The most righteous is John McCain." He said that homosexuality is immoral and Obama's refusal to denounce homosexuality and abortion is "evil, wicked and immoral. Obama condones what the Bible condemns," he said.

Booth was a delegate to the Republican National Convention (RNC) and had previously endorsed McCain from the pulpit.

Pastor Paul Blair of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond, Okla., said from the pulpit, "As a Christian and as an American citizen, I will be voting for John McCain."

Pastor Luke Emrich of New Life Church in West Bend, Wis., referenced abortion and said to his church, "I'm telling you straight up I would choose life. I would cast a vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin." On Obama he said, "If a candidate supports something that is evil and wicked from a biblical perspective, then I have the right to call out the wickedness, and I have the right to say this is what this person stands for - this is wrong."

The Rev. Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist Church, Buena Park, Calif., came out strongly against Obama and said, "I am angry because the government and the IRS and some Christians have taken away the rights of pastors. I have a right to endorse anybody I doggone well please. And if they don't like that, too bad... According to my Bible and in my opinion, there is no way in the world a Christian can vote for Barack Hussein Obama. Mr. Obama is not standing up for anything that is tradition in America."

He then endorsed Alan Keyes of the American Independent Party. "I'm here to tell you that I personally endorse Alan Keyes as our next president of the United States," said Drake. "There's no way a Christian can vote for Barack Obama. You could vote for John McCain. I want you to vote your conscience. Let the Bible act as your guide."

One pastor missed his flight and couldn't participate, although it's likely that Bishop Robert Smith Sr. of Word of Outreach Center in Little Rock, Ark., would have endorsed McCain. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention.

The Rev. Francis Pultro of Calvary Chapel, Philadelphia, Pa., told his congregation, "As Christians, it's clear we should vote for John McCain. He is the only candidate I believe a Christian can vote for."

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said that pastors who violated the law should be ashamed.

"These pastors flagrantly violated the law and now must deal with the consequences," said Lynn. "This is one of the most appalling Religious Right gambits I've ever seen. Church leaders are supposed to tend to Americans' spiritual needs, not behave like partisan political hacks. I urge the IRS to act swiftly in these cases."

He continued, "A pastor who knowingly violates federal tax law is setting a poor example for his or her congregation. Every pastor who took part in this stunt ought to be ashamed."

Brand-New "Moderate": Minnesota Rep. Paulsen Runs from His Record

2008-09-16T08:00:00-04:00

Rep. Erik Paulsen, who is running to replace the retiring Jim Ramstad in Minnesota's Third Congressional District, is a Republican -- but don't tell anybody.

Throughout his 14-year tenure in the Minnesota Legislature, Paulsen has been one of the most consistent and avid Republican right voices on behalf of government-slashing and "family values" assaults on abortion rights, gay rights and education standards. Yet when Paulsen spoke at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul early this month, his campaign billed the site of the appearance as simply the "National Convention." In fact, a glance of Paulsen's campaign materials would leave a casual observer wondering what party the candidate is affiliated with.

That scrubbing of party identification betrays his position as a leader in Minnesota's Republican Party and his conservative legislative record, a record that appears more conservative than the voters of Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District.

Paulsen has earned high marks from some of Minnesota's most extreme conservative groups. He has earned a lifetime score of 89 percent from the arch-right Minnesota Taxpayers' League, reaching a high of 91 percent in 2007. Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, a group dedicated to making abortion illegal in all circumstances, gave Paulsen his lowest rating ever in 2008: a mere 90 percent. Paulsen had garnered a perfect 100 percent from 2002 to 2007. The Minnesota Family Council, a group that opposes equal rights based on sexual orientation, noted that Paulsen has voted their way on every issue except for gambling from 2003 to 2005. He scored a 100 percent in 2007 from the group.

Which issues has Paulsen supported to gain such impressive conservative ratings?

On issues of reproductive health, Paulsen has stood firmly with the religious right in opposing any form of abortion or any sex education curriculum that doesn't include abstinence. In 2007, for instance, he voted against ensuring medically accurate and age-appropriate sex education for public schools and voted for an abstinence-until-marriage school curriculum.

He voted to eliminate any state funding for organizations that include abortion in the reproductive health spectrum. The bill read that funds could not be granted to "an organization that has adopted or maintains a policy in writing or through oral public statements that abortion is considered part of a continuum of family planning services, reproductive health services, or both." He voted to completely de-fund the Minnesota AIDS Project. In 2005, he voted against a bill that would have required hospitals to carry emergency contraceptives for victims of sexual assault.

He repeatedly voted to create a 24-hour waiting period for abortion, and he cosponsored a ballot initiative that would have outlawed abortion in Minnesota in the event that the federal Roe v. Wade standard was ever overturned.

Paulsen made friends with the religious right by opposing any pro-LGBT legislation and actively working to enshrine religious right issues into the constitution, voting twice for the Minnesota Marriage Amendment, a bill that would amend the Minnesota Constitution to permanently outlaw domestic partnership, civil unions or marriage for same-sex couples. In 2005, he voted against allowing domestic partner benefits for state employees.

On one issue, Paulsen has flipped his position away from the religious right. In 2005, Paulsen voted to allow creationism, the theory that God created the Earth in seven days and that the planet's history began 10,000 years ago, to be taught in Minnesota schools alongside evolution. In 2008, he voted against such a measure.

In the legislature, Paulsen was a leading voice on behalf of transforming Minnesota's health care system to a conservative, free market model. In 1996, he attempted to remove caps on deductibles for MinnesotaCare enrollees (poor and uninsured Minnesotans) and to insert language promoting ‘free market solutions' to Minnesota's goal of universal health care. He sponsored a tort-restriction bill that would have placed a $250,000 cap on awards to patients injured by medical malpractice.

While not quite wanting to drown Minnesota's government in a bathtub, he did make moves to shrink it dramatically. He cosponsored bills to reduce the size and scope of the legislature: one to make the legislature meet once every other year and another to reduce the number of legislators by almost a third.

On the drug war front, he cosponsored a bill to increase the penalties for selling, advertising or possessing drug paraphernalia and opposed allowing permits for Minnesota farmers to grow hemp.

Paulsen voted against increasing the minimum wage and voted for a bill that reduced benefits paid to injured workers "in order to lower costs for employers" [Star Tribune, May 23 1995].

On voting rights, he cosponsored a bill to tighten Minnesota's tradition of allowing neighbors to vouch for each other by requiring oaths from three different residents of the precinct in every case. He worked to ensure that Roseville's bid to institute instant runoff voting failed in 2004. "Just philosophically, there's no need for the state to be involved with this," Paulsen said. "People vote for the one person they think should hold office, and you live with the results. That's democracy" [Pioneer Press, 2004].

He met with President Bush twice, once in 2003 and again in 2004, and gave the Bush a glowing review on CNN: "I think Minnesotans really do appreciate the firm and steady leadership. You know, the reality is, given 9/11's situation, I think Minnesotans especially want leadership that was going to be on the offensive against terrorism. And that's what we've seen with our president. And I think that's why Minnesota is - and there's a strong possibility of going to President Bush."

Religious Right Watch: Sarah Palin At A Glance

2008-09-10T08:00:00-04:00

Gov. Sarah Palin isn't talking about her faith - or anything else, for that matter, in the last few days - but that hasn't stopped the media from digging into her religious background, which has been hailed by the religious right as an impetus for social conservatives to support Sen. John McCain. Palin certainly hits all the high notes on issues concerning the religious right. But while that support from the religious right has been huge, Palin has also suffered some criticism from members of the pro-family movement.

The two main churches in Palin's life are very conservative and have generated a great deal of controversy.

Palin attended the Wasilla Assembly of God for most of her life. The church is Pentecostal and many members are said to "speak in tongues," a fluent uttering of unintelligible speech as part of religious custom. The practice is based on the experience of Jesus Christ's apostles who were said on the Pentecost to have spoken in languages unknown to them but recognizable to native speakers. Leaders of the church believe that the end of the world is near and that Alaska will be a refuge for North Americans when, they believe, Jesus will return to Earth.

"I believe that Alaska is one of the ‘refuge states' - come on, you guys - in the Last Days," said pastor Ed Kalnin while standing next to Palin at June event. "And hundreds of thousands of people are going to come to this state to seek refuge. And the church has to be ready to minister to them."

When Palin became active in state politics, her family left their lifelong church to move to the conservative, but not so high profile, Wasilla Bible Church. But even that church has provided some surprises.

Palin sat in church a few weeks ago while a representative of Jews for Jesus preached that terrorist attacks on Israel are God's judgment against Jews for not being Christians.

"Judgment is very real and we see it played out on the pages of the newspapers and on the television," said David Brickner, executive director of Jews for Jesus. "It's very real. When [Brickner's son] was in Jerusalem he was there to witness some of that judgment, some of that conflict, when a Palestinian from East Jerusalem took a bulldozer and went plowing through a score of cars, killing numbers of people. Judgment - you can't miss it."

Palin's pastor confirmed that she was in the audience that Sunday.

Alaska taxpayers footed the bill for Palin to return to her church of origin and talk with students who had recently graduated from a religious program there. At Wasilla Assembly of God, Palin gave an impromptu speech about needing prayers from church members in order to do her job as governor. Palin was clear about mixing politics and religion during the speech, which is currently circulating on the Internet.

Where does Palin stand on issues important to the religious right?

Iraq War: Palin believes that God is behind the Iraq war. She told the Wasilla Bible Church graduates that “our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for — that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.”

Abortion: Palin told anti-abortion activists in 2007 that she needed their help to “reshape the judiciary” in Alaska to help overturn Roe v. Wade, a move that even some anti-abortion activists found to be too extreme.

She said she would be against abortion even if her own daughter was raped.

Creationism: When running for governor, Palin advocated teaching creationism alongside evolution in science classrooms. “Teach both,” she said. “You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.”

She did backtrack, though, later saying, “It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.”

Gay rights: Palin supported a constitutional amendment barring marriage for same-sex couples in Alaska and has said she would support a ballot measure overturning a state Supreme Court decision mandating benefits for domestic partners of state employees.

Her current church is promoting a Focus on the Family conference dedicated to the discredited practice of “curing” homosexuality. The church flier reads, “You’ll be encouraged by the power of God’s love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality.”

Palin has even engendered fanatical support. One fan is praying for McCain’s death so Palin can run the country. Here’s his wish list:

1. Vote Constitution Party. (I vote my conscience and cannot support McCain even with Palin.)
2. Pray for Sarah Palin to win. (I am an idealist, but also a realist!)
3. Pray for John McCain’s salvation and speedy death. (Google The Forerunner’s articles on Imprecatory Prayer if you think this is harsh.)

But not every social conservative finds Palin to be palatable. Some think Palin’s priorities are wrong: a woman who with an infant son with special needs should not be running for vice president. Dr. Laura Schlessinger:

I’m stunned — couldn’t the Republican Party find one competent female with adult children to run for Vice President with McCain? I realize his advisors probably didn’t want a “mature” woman, as the Democrats keep harping on his age. But really, what kind of role model is a woman whose fifth child was recently born with a serious issue, Down Syndrome, and then goes back to the job of Governor within days of the birth?

I am haunted by the family pictures of the Palins during political photo ops, showing the eldest daughter, now pregnant with her own child, cuddling the family’s newborn.

Protesters Plague Pro-Life RNC Party

2008-09-03T12:30:30-04:00

Three-hundred-year-old religious right gadfly Phyllis Schlafly organized a “Life of the Party” party on Tuesday for pro-life delegates and politicians. The event was rife with bitter disappointments for the crowd, however. First delegates were met at the door by protesters from Code Pink, who heckled pro-lifers for their support of the war. Then they learned that the gala’s planned headliner, Gov. Sarah Palin, had canceled the night before and was being replaced by right-wing talk radio star Laura Ingraham. Schlafly was not amused.

“I think this is clearly somebody in the McCain campaign who doesn’t understand where the votes are coming from,” Schlafly told ABC News. “They only told me this at 10 o’clock last night and it was a call from somebody down-the-line in the McCain campaign.”

Backed by a Dixieland quartet, Schlafly kicked off the party at 2 pm and was greeted by two protesters who jumped on stage. Undeterred, she carried on with a program that ended with testimonials on behalf of Palin. from Rep. Michele Bachmann ("One thing we know is that with our Founding Father, it has always been cool to be pro-life.”) and religious right leader Gary Bauer, who offered what was perhaps the most ringing Christian endorsement of any out-of-wedlock pregnancy since that of Jesus’ mother: “In the last several days,” he intoned, “Gov. Palin’s family have taught the American people more about what it means to be a faith-based family that believes in the sanctity of life than anything the politicians could do in Washington DC.”

Evangelicals Push for More Palaver on Abortion

2008-08-14T08:00:00-04:00

As the electorate focuses on economic downturn, high energy prices and war, evangelicals are promising to turn the election rhetoric to abortion and gay marriage. While McCain and Obama are both journeying to Rick Warren's California megachurch on Saturday, thousands of evangelicals are heading to Washington, D.C., for "The Call." The purpose, said organizer Lou Engle, is to “drive the issue of abortion like a wedge into the soul of the nation.” Mike Huckabee will be featured prominently at the event.

The group has put together a video touting "50 million babies murdered" (see below) and claiming that the 9/11 attacks have biblical roots.

Engel and other religious right leader are calling on McCain to be more zealous in espousing social conservative talking points -- specifically, by calling for a constitutional amendment to block gay marriage and denouncing his own past support for stem cell research. “I don’t trust John McCain,” said Engle.

Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi profiles McCain's religion and his relationship to the religious right. McCain recently started regularly attending church, or at least that's the impression his campaign gave reporters. According to Taibbi, "Yeah, they started telling us he was going to church about a month ago," one McCain-beat reporter chuckled to me on the Straight Talk Express. "Like, Oh, by the way, he's going to church again. At this address, if you want to check. . . ."

Some nuggets from the story: McCain is not born again. He has not been baptized in his Baptist church. Baptism being a central tenet of evangelical faith, the revelation could spell trouble in some fundamentalists eyes.

But, the McCain campaign is nonetheless working hard to curry favor among the evangelical set. McCain is courting former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed, who will be headlining a fundraiser for the presumptive Republican nominee. (Reed also serves to remind voters of the Republicans' involvement in the Jack Abramoff scandal -- Reed took Abramoff's scandal tainted money to do PR work.)

The Rev. Jerry Falwell may have passed on, but his spirit is still alive in McCain's mind. He keeps an autographed copy of Falwell's picture in his office. In fact, it's the only politically oriented picture in his office. The signature from Falwell reads, "You are a great American, a national treasure and I am glad to say my good friend." Apparently, attitudes change: during the 2000 presidential campaign, McCain called Falwell an "agent of intolerance."

Minnesota's Home-Grown Christian Right

2008-08-12T08:00:00-04:00

At the end of the 2008 Minnesota legislative session, the Omnibus Education Policy bill was held up because of a controversial measure that would have ensured comprehensive sex education in Minnesota schools. Sen Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, was leading the charge to get the measure past the desk of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, but Pawlenty told her he wouldn't budge unless unless the Minnesota Family Council approved the measure. They didn't, and it didn't pass. After eight years of trying and with huge popular support from the electorate, advocates of sex education were blocked again by the Minnesota Family Council.

The Minnesota Family Council maintains a great deal of influence in Minnesota politics, especially among Republicans, but just who is the Council and where did they come from? Here's a backgrounder on one of Minnesota's most prominent religious right groups.

History

The Council was launched in 1982 as the Berean League, a group of fundamentalist Christian organizations that opposed efforts by mainline Minnesota churches to repeal Minnesota's sodomy laws. Those laws made consensual anal or oral sex between two adults a crime: one year imprisonment and a $3000 fine. While the law applied in theory to all adults, its selective enforcement made it a de facto tool for prosecuting homosexuals, a tactic that many churches found unjust.

The Berean League succeeded in blocking repeal efforts, although the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled those laws unconstitutional in 2001.

In the late 1980s, the Berean League launched the Clean Up Project, an anti-pornography protest group. The Project's protest angered baseball fans in 1987 when their picketing caused the cancellation of an appearance by Oakland A's sluggers Mark McGwire and Terry Steinbach at Shinders in downtown Minneapolis.

The group also pushed for legislation to ban certain pornographic videos, a move that led adult video retailers to threaten to hire private investigators to dig into the protesters' lives.

in order to align itself with two other prominent religious right organizations, James Dobson's Focus on the Family and Gary Bauer's Family Research Council, the Berean League changed its name to the Minnesota Family Council in 1992.

With the name change came an increased emphasis on legal challenges to equality for gay and lesbian Minnesotans. In 1994, the group filed a lawsuit to end the city of Minneapolis's practice of extending domestic partner benefits to its employees. By prevailing in that case, the Family Council helped to prevent any local unit of government in Minnesota from offering benefits to unmarried couples.

MFC's creation of the Northstar Legal Center for The Family and Constitutional Rights in 1996 enhanced the group's ability to mount legal challenges. Northstar was party to a 1998 lawsuit to prevent the use of student fees for liberal causes, including gay and lesbian student groups. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which unanimously ruled against Northstar and its partners in the suit.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the Council has made same-sex marriage its signature issue. In the late 1990s, the group was instrumental in getting the Defense of Marriage Act passed. By the early 2000s, the Council was working hard to beef up the act with a Defense of Marriage Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution. Despite several attempts, the amendment has yet to make it on the ballot. The group blamed former Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson for the loss, and took credit for his defeat in his 2006 election.

Republican Party Ties

The Family Council not only works closely with Republicans; members of its small staff have worked for the Republicans.

MFC president Tom Prichard (pictured) used to be a researcher for the Independent-Republicans (now Republican Party of Minnesota) and worked for former Iowa Republican Sen. Roger Jepsen. Prichard's father was a Republican party activist in Iowa. Prichard joined the Council in 1990, and was instrumental in aligning the Council with Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council.

Darrell McKigney, the Council's legislative director throughout the 1990s, was also the press spokesman for former congressional Reps. Vin Weber and Rod Grams.

Jim Hansen currently works as pastor church network director for MFC. Previously he was candidate services coordinator for the Republican Party of Minnesota, working on behalf of candidates for governor, auditor and secretary of state. Hansen was later rewarded with a position as deputy secretary of state under Mary Kiffmeyer.

Barb Anderson holds a coordinator position with the Council and has been active in opposing comprehensive sex education and promoting an abstinence-only until marriage classroom curriculum in Minnesota's public schools. Anderson is also major donor to Republican candidates, having given almost $83,000 since 2000. She has contributed $26,500 in 2008 alone, including $10,000 to the Republican National Congressional Committee and maxed-out individual contributions to candidates Brian Davis, Erik Paulsen and Sen. Norm Coleman.

Finances

In the 1990s, the group pulled in an average of $600,000 a year. In 2007, the Council took in $513,458. Prichard's compensation is about $77,000 and chief executive officer John Helmberger makes about $83,000 for his work at the Council.

MFC on the issues

Same-sex marriage:
"The reality is that gay activists aren't seeking equal access to marriage. They can already marry; it just must be to a person of the opposite sex." Tom Prichard, Star Tribune, July 2005.

Anti-bullying programs:
"Today we are in a cultural war over two views of sexuality: our Judeo-Christian sexual ethic of monogamous heterosexual marriage and the 'gay' ethic of sexual license. The battleground is the classroom and it is the children who will be the greatest casualties if we do not respond." Abby Ludvigson, Director of Education, Oct. 2004.

"Under the guise of safety and diversity, these activists are introducing children as young as first grade to sexual lifestyles that are unhealthy and dangerous. These kids are encouraged to accept and celebrate perversity even before they have an understanding of normal sexuality." Barb Anderson, Volunteer Coordinator, "Rescuing our kids from the gay agenda."

Medical marijuana:
“All one has to do is look at the bill to see that it authorizes the establishment of businesses on Main Street to dispense marijuana, in addition to allowing 18 year olds to grow upwards of 60 to 300 of pounds of marijuana. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize what they’re up to.” Tom Prichard, Feb. 2007.

Laurie (Mrs. Norm) Coleman's lingerie modeling:
"It's disappointing. It sends the wrong message to young girls. She's in a position of influence, being married to a public figure. Whether one likes it or not, there's a degree of responsibility that goes with it." Tom Prichard, Aug. 2004.

Transgender rights in the workplace:
"We are hearing reports that crossdressing men are using the women's restroom in other places as well. This is illegal in Minneapolis and the police should enforce the law. Parents should be able to send their daughters into a restroom without wondering if some transgender or crossdressing man is in there." Tom Prichard, Oct. 1999.

Religious Right's Old Guard to Make Strong Showing at the RNC

2008-08-11T08:00:00-04:00

Though John McCain struggles to excite the religious right, many of them will make the trip to St. Paul to showcase the movement at the Republican National Convention. The Pioneer Press polled leaders from throughout the party, including leaders of the religious right, to see who was going to show up this year. Among the attendees will be Phyllis Schlafly, Gary Bauer, Ralph Reed and Tony Perkins -- a who's who of the religious right.

For a better look at what to expect from evangelical Christianity's movers and shakers, here are some thumbnail sketches of how these people have shaped the party and the platform.

Phyllis Schlafly: She is 83 years old and has attended every GOP convention since 1952. Schlafly spent the last 30 years fighting the Equal Rights Amendment, a constitutional amendment that sprung out of the women's suffrage movement in the 1920s to guarantee equal rights under the law regardless of gender. On women joining the workforce, Schlafly said, "The flight from the home is a flight from yourself, from responsibility, from the nature of woman, in pursuit of false hopes and fading illusions."

During the 1996 Republican National Convention, gay journalist Michelangelo Signorile asked Schlafly about her son who had come out in 1992. "Run along! Shoo! Shoo! Why can't you just go away?" she said. Signorile responded, "Phyllis, we are never going away!"

Schlafly has been an outspoken opponent of abortion and gay rights, and has long advocated teaching Christianity in public classrooms.

On the U.S. Supreme Court decisions on social issues in the 20th century, Schlafly wrote: "Out went the Ten Commandments, in came condoms. Out went the Cross and pictures of Christ, in came drawings of apes pretending to walk like humans. Out went Adam and Eve, in came Heather Has Two Mommies. Out went Easter, in came Earth Day. Out went teachings against homosexuality, in came teachings in favor of homosexuality."

Schlafly's Eagle Forum is reported to have said in 1996, "Many years ago Christian pioneers had to fight savage Indians. Today missionaries of these former cultures are being sent via the public schools to heathenize our children."

She has had a heavy hand in forming the Republican Party platform every four years, guiding the party's stance on abortion.

Tony Perkins: A former Republican legislator in Louisiana, Perkins is the president of the Family Research Council, founded by Focus on the Family's James Dobson. Perkins came under sharp criticism in 2005, when The Nation reported that in 1996 Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,000 for use of his mailing list.

The Family Research Council works to prevent laws protecting LGBT Americans, and opposes abortion, gambling and divorce. Some notable Perkins quotes:

"Counterfeit marriages called 'civil unions' pose a serious threat to the health of our culture, and while the President may believe this is an issue to be resolved at the state level, he should use his moral leadership to steer states away from such culture-threatening unions -- not encourage them by showing indifference or political tolerance."
"Supporters of V. Gene Robinson, the newly consecrated homosexual Episcopal bishop, claim his elevation sends 'a powerful message of love and tolerance.' However, it is not 'tolerant' to brush off opposition to the consecration of a homosexual bishop. Nor is it 'loving' to suppress evidence that homosexual behavior is a 'death-style' that is sending young people to an early grave."
"...[O]ne of the primary goals of the homosexual rights movement is to abolish all age of consent laws and to eventually recognize pedophiles as the 'prophets' of a new sexual order."
"Gaining access to children has been a long-term goal of the homosexual movement."

Perkins had a hand in crafting a more anti-gay platform for the GOP in 2004.

Ralph Reed: Reed has been active in the religious right and in Republican corporate circles. In both spheres, scandal seems to follow him closely. Reed was arrested in 1985 as part of Operation Rescue after he burst into a clinic waiting room. Hired by televangelist Pat Robertson to run the Christian Coalition in the 1980s and 1990s, the organization fell apart after financial mismanagement. The Federal Election Commission determined that the coalition, under Reed's watch, "violated federal campaign finance laws during congressional elections in 1990, 1992 and 1994, and the presidential election in 1992."

After his work with the Christian Coalition, Reed contracted with Enron shortly before its collapse. He then moved on to work with Jack Abramoff and was implicated in the ensuing lobbying scandals when his communications firm was paid with gambling funds.

Gary Bauer: Bauer runs an organization called American Values. That organization is dedicated to bringing "traditional values" back to America by preventing the legalization of gay marriage, overturning Roe v. Wade and putting Christianity into public classrooms. It also targets children to recruit them to neoconservatism. The organization's mission says it is committed to "equipping our children with the values necessary to stand against liberal education and cultural forces."

Bauer served as President Reagan's Undersecretary of Education and Chief Domestic Policy Advisor in the 1980s and went on to work for Dobson's Family Research Council. Bauer was replaced by Perkins when he decided to run for president.

Bauer ran for the GOP nomination against McCain and George W. Bush, among others, and was saddled by rumors of adultery.

When running for president, Bauer said that it's important to keep employment discrimination against gays and lesbians legal. "I oppose changing the definition of marriage to permit same-sex marriages, or the granting of special rights on the basis of sexual preference. I will strongly defend the rights of organizations like the Boy Scouts and Salvation Army to participate fully in American culture, free from legal coercion to hire personnel who would undermine the beliefs of such organizations."

Bauer has also been sharply critical of public education and arts funding. The National Endowment for the Arts is run by "a small cadre of cultural revolutionaries, militant homosexuals, and anti-religious bigots who are intent on attacking the average American's most deeply held beliefs while sending them the bill."

Gov. Pawlenty and the Evangelicals: Where He Stands on Hot-Button Issues

2008-08-06T08:00:00-04:00

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's evangelicalism has become one of the planks in pundit-class conventional wisdom about his chances of winding up John McCain's running mate.

Back home in Minnesota, ironically, Pawlenty's religion is little known and seldom discussed. The governor himself has rarely alluded to it publicly. But its impact on his policies and actions has been far-ranging. During the spring 2008 legislative session, to take a recent example, Pawlenty effectively gave the arch-right Minnesota Family Council a seat at the legislative bargaining table, informing Democratic leaders at the Legislature that they needed to obtain the Family Council's approval on their comprehensive sex-ed bill if they wanted to avoid a veto. (Democrats subsequently gave up on the bill; details below.)

Below, I take a point-by-point look at what Pawlenty has said and done through the years on a number of the evangelical right's perennial pet issues.

Abortion

Pawlenty pushed for the "Women's Right to Know" bill as House majority leader and signed it into law as governor. The statute mandates a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion can be performed, and also stipulates that a physician must provide information about the risks of abortion and pregnancy. Pawlenty's former health commissioner, Dianne Manderbach, came under fire for providing inaccurate information about breast cancer risks supposedly associated with abortion, a frequent talking point of the religious right.

His campaign literature says he opposes late-term abortion and public funding for abortion.

Eric Magnuson, a Pawlenty friend appointed by the governor as chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, wrote a friend-of-the-court brief for an anti-abortion group challenging the public financing of abortion services.

Pawlenty has spoken at March for Life rallies. In 2006, he alluded to a desire to have Roe v. Wade overturned, saying: "We have a dream today that someday soon this will not be an anniversary of sadness, but an anniversary of justice restored."

This represents a sea change from Pawlenty's early political career. "I think we could move beyond the fundamental [abortion] question and start talking about other aspects of family planning," he said in 1992, [Eagan This Week, Nov. 8 1992]. Around the same time, he told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that the abortion issue "isn't a big deal" to him [Oct. 7, 1992].

LGBT Rights

In 1993, Pawlenty was one of 11 House Republicans to vote for the Human Rights Amendment that outlawed discrimination in housing and employment based on sexual orientation. It was the first legislation in the nation to offer protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. While he was running for governor in 2002, he called that vote the only one he regretted from his days in the Legislature.

When labor unions asked for health benefits for same-sex partners in state labor contracts in 2001, he opposed those benefits.

In 2004, he signed a pledge to support a constitutional anti-gay marriage amendment. "Traditional marriage is itself a pledge, and I will take a pledge to defend it," he said. "Some issues are too important to play the field with."

In 2006, he appeared in an anti-same-sex-marriage video produced by the Republican Party of Minnesota.

Despite all this, Pawlenty was criticized for "promotion of homosexual agenda" in 2006 by the religious right group EdWatch. "Homosexual advocacy groups are being funded by grants from the state Department of Health under his authority," wrote EdWatch in a letter about Pawlenty. "Additionally, under Governor Pawlenty's supervision, his administration is actively promoting the indoctrination of students into a homosexual worldview and value system."

In 2007, Pawlenty vetoed legislation that would give control to local municipalities in deciding who could receive domestic partner benefits. He vetoed a similar bill in 2008.

A bill to allow government employees to use sick time to care for a seriously ill family member came up in 2008. The bill would have expanded current laws that allow for the use of sick time to care for spouses and dependent children. The Minnesota Family Council, a group affiliated with James Dobson's Focus on the Family, painted the measure as part of a strategy to facilitate same-sex marriage. "The end game in all of this is a legal imposition of homosexual marriage upon the state of Minnesota," said Tom Prichard, the group's president. In the end, the bill was changed to exclude domestic partners for fear of a veto. The governor vetoed the measure anyway, saying it would cost too much for employees to use their own earned sick time to care for loved ones.

Stem-cell research

In 2007, Pawlenty seemed supportive of stem-cell research, although he's walked a fine line on the issue. In a letter to legislators, the governor wrote that stem-cell research "offers tremendous opportunities to improve human health and well-being by addressing serious diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer's. As a matter of public policy, stem-cell research deserves careful consideration and bipartisan support."

But at the same time, he was telling the Minnesota Family Council that he supported restrictions on the research. And he told Minnesota Public Radio that the federal government should go further than the Bush executive order allowing government-sponsored research only on existing lines.

There was no mixed message in 2008 when a bill to loosen restrictions on stem-cell research landed on the governor's desk. The bill was fiercely opposed by Catholic groups and the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL). Pawlenty vetoed the bill. In February, he sent a letter to all of Minnesota's legislators stating his opposition in terms that echoed MCCL's public position that the destruction of embryos is morally unacceptable.

Surrogate mothers

A bill to formalize the processes involved in surrogate motherhood passed the Legislature in 2008. The James Dobson/FOTF-affiliated Minnesota Family Council railed against it as "baby-selling" and promoting "designer babies." Another concern? "Nowhere in the legislation are the rights and interests of the born or unborn child mentioned in regard to anything," the group wrote in a policy briefing.

In vetoing the bill, Pawlenty parroted the Family Council's main talking point: "The bill also fails in any manner to recognize or protect the life and rights of the unborn child."

Sex education

Comprehensive sexual health and family education has been perhaps the closest point of collaboration between Pawlenty and the religious right in 2008. As a condition of Pawlenty's signing any sex-ed legislation, he forced lawmakers to meet with representatives of the Minnesota Family Council, a group that advocates for an abstinence-only curriculum. "We were told by the governor's staff that the Minnesota Family Council would have had to sign off on whatever negotiated agreement we have," Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, said at the end of the session. "I was unaware that the Family Council had an election certificate." Because legislators couldn't reach a deal with the Family Council, Pawlenty said he would veto the measure. DFL leaders dropped the bill shortly thereafter.

Creationism/"Intelligent design"

Pawlenty has not articulated a position on the teaching of creationism in public schools, but he did appoint someone who was quite vocal on the issue. Cheri Pierson Yecke, his first commissioner of education, became controversial when she expressed public support for what advocates call "intelligent design." She attempted to put forward the Teach the Controversy curriculum, a curriculum that opponents say is dishonest.

Pawlenty ultimately signed into law science standards that did not contain intelligent design mandates, even though his fellow Republicans pushed the idea.

Immigration

In 2005, Pawlenty commissioned a report on the costs of illegal immigration to Minnesota, a report that was criticized by Catholic leaders and members of the media who found the economic model used to calculate the costs lacking.

In 2006, Pawlenty hit hard on the issue of illegal immigration, a hot topic for a contentious election year. The Star Tribune outlined his seven-point plan:

• Establish a 10-member Minnesota Illegal Immigration Enforcement Team that would be federally trained and authorized to question, detain and arrest suspected illegal immigrants.

• Override city ordinances in Minneapolis and St. Paul that prohibit police officers from taking action against illegal immigrants unless they are arrested for a separate crime.

• Put into law a 2002 state administrative rule that prominently marks driver's licenses of legal foreign visitors with their visa expiration dates.

• Toughen and add penalties for possession, creation and sale of false IDs.

• Require officers to note the citizenship and immigration status of all arrestees at booking.

• Increase felony penalties for human trafficking when minors are exploited to up to 20 years in prison. In addition, a task force would be set up to seek ways to combat human trafficking.

• Add a state fine of as much as $5,000 to a current federal penalty of $11,000 for employers who knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants. In addition, state contracts would prohibit the use of illegal immigrants to perform contracted services.

• Pawlenty unsuccessfully offered a similar proposal in 2008. That proposal also directed Minnesota law enforcement to work closely with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

He has also railed against in-state tuition for children of undocumented immigrants. And he authorized the Minnesota National Guard to assist the Department of Homeland Security in patrolling the United States-Mexico border.

Global Warming

Pawlenty believes that human are, in part, responsible for global warming. "Our global climate is warming, at least in part due to the energy sources we use," he said in 2007.

Also in 2007, Pawlenty signed a number DFL proposals to reduce carbon emissions. He signed a bill requiring electrical utilities to obtain 25 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2025. He also signed the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007, which requires utilities to increase energy efficiency to 1.5 percent per year and reduce global warming emissions 80 percent by 2050.

He's also a proponent of expanding nuclear energy and using clean coal technology.

His break from the GOP on the issue of global warming is influenced by his evangelical faith. "I am a person of faith. I believe in the Bible, God instructs us to take good care and be good stewards of what He has given us, and that certainly includes our environment and natural resources, he told Human Events. "And he expects us to act measured and responsible in that regard."

That shouldn't be too surprising. Pawlenty's pastor and head of the National Association of Evangelicals, Rev. Leith Anderson, has written and spoken adding global warming to the agenda of America's evangelical Christians.

Minnesota Lawmakers Fight Proposed HHS Regs

2008-08-01T08:00:00-04:00

Reproductive rights advocates and legislative leaders called on Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday to urge the Bush administration to abandon a proposal that could jeopardize access to emergency birth control for women who have been raped. Minnesota lawmakers overwhelmingly passed legislation last year to ensure the availability of emergency contraception in such cases, but under the Bush administration's proposed regulations, those women could be denied the appropriate treatment.

The rule "could make it easier for health-care institutions and individuals to deny contraceptive services to women who need them," legislative leaders wrote in a letter to Pawlenty. "The regulation is so overly broad in scope that it could undermine state laws that seek to ensure the availability of these services, even those laws that protect survivors of rape and sexual assault."

Under the proposed rules, programs receiving federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) would have to certify that their employees can decline to perform an abortion or dispense birth control if they have moral or religious objections. Critics say the rules confuse abortion and birth control.

The rules define abortion as "any of the various procedures - including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action - that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation."

Emergency contraception medications use high doses of hormones to delay ovulation and prevent fertilization. Research indicates that the use of emergency contraception may cause an embryo to fail to implant on the uterine wall, an event that anti-abortion activists say is the same as abortion.

The Bush regulations would take that uncertainty and codify it in law. Because abortion opponents see emergency contraception as akin to abortion -- despite lack of conclusive evidence to support those claims -- under the proposed rules, they may take a religious or moral exception to emergency contraception.

House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher said the proposal "is really out of the mainstream from how Minnesota women think about birth control and how Minnesotans think of emergency contraception."

Donna Dunn, Executive Director of the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said in a statement Tuesday, "We must protect barrier-free access to emergency contraception so that a survivor may be able to give up that particular fear as she weighs the other post-rape fears. While many may argue the various aspects of the language of DHHS' proposed rules, we want to stand firm and say that victims/survivors of sexual assault should not be pawns in this debate."

In the letter to Pawlenty, legislators wrote, "This proposed regulation is of particular concern to us because women who need contraception may be unable to access it, and that would of course lead to unintended pregnancies. For instance, this regulation would almost certainly negate the benefits of our state's law that guarantees that survivors of rape and sexual assault have information about and access to emergency contraception in hospital emergency rooms."

The letter continued, "This proposed regulation will not only lead to unintended pregnancies, but will contravene the laws of our state. We urge you now to ask the Bush administration not to advance this flawed and unnecessary public policy."

The letter was signed by Reps. Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Tom Huntley, Carolyn Laine, Tim Mahoney, Erin Murphy, Linda Slocum, Paul Thissen, Tom Tillberry and Neva Walker, and Sens. Linda Berglin, John Marty, Sandy Pappas, and Patricia Torres Ray.

"Last year, legislators on both sides of the debate over reproductive rights united behind a measure that provides rape survivors with the emergency contraception that could help prevent a pregnancy after a violent attack," said Linnea House, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota. "Gov. Pawlenty recognized the strong public support behind this common sense measure and signed it into law. Now, just one year after the law took effect, we are urging him to call on the Bush administration to stop an attack on birth control that would undermine this state law."

Related Posts

Read more about the Bush administration's draft regulations classifying birth control as here.

An Outrageous Attempt to Undermine Women's Rights, Sen. Hillary Clinton
War on Contraception and Science Going Strong, Susan Wood
HHS Moves to Define Contraception as Abortion, Cristina Page
Proposal Only Latest Attempt to Redefine Abortion, Amie Newman
Will McCain Also Define Contraception as Abortion?, Nancy Keenan

Republicans Call for an End to Planned Parenthood's Federal Funding

2008-07-15T08:00:00-04:00

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota called for the defunding of Planned Parenthood last Wednesday. In a "special order" floor speech organized by Bachmann and Chris Smith, R-N.J., Bachmann called for an end to any federal money for the network of reproductive health care clinics because Planned Parenthood offers abortion services.

"If you've got 882 clinics, you have $1 billion a year in annual revenue, and $330 million of that comes from taxpayer funding, I think that shows pretty clearly they are big business. They are the Wal-Mart of big abortion. They're the big box retailer," Bachmann told fellow members of the House. "It is time to end their tax-exempt status. It's a fraud. And it's time to stop the public financing of Planned Parenthood. It's the right thing to do."

Tim Stanley, executive director of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (PPMNS) Action Fund, took issue with Bachmann's characterization. "Planned Parenthood does more in one day to prevent unintended pregnancy and the need for abortion than politicians like Michele Bachmann do in a lifetime,” said Stanley.

Indeed, Planned Parenthood offers a range of services in addition to abortion services, including those that prevent the need for abortion: access to birth control, emergency contraception, pregnancy options counseling, sexuality education, and vasectomies and tubal ligations. Those services are in addition to a range of other reproductive health services such as screening for breast, cervical and testicular cancers; pregnancy testing; testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases; and menopause treatments.

“In spite of what Michelle Bachmann says, Planned Parenthood served nearly 65,000 people last year," said Stanley. "What this means is that more Minnesotans than ever are in need of health care services, and PPMNS is the safety net health care provider they turn to for the care they need. Nearly 76 percent of PPMNS patients are very low-income and likely to qualify for public insurance programs."

Those services are offered to men and women who might not otherwise have access to or be able to afford birth control and other reproductive health services.

Planned Parenthood's expansion into more affluent areas is what triggered Bachmann's heightened voice in the abortion debate.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Planned Parenthood has rebranded its operation and had opened express centers in several affluent Minneapolis-St. Paul suburbs.

"Well, let me tell you, they've made a decision, Planned Parenthood, that they are going to go after the affluent. How do I know that? It's happening in my district, and it was detailed in this article," said Bachmann. "It said three express centers [opening] in wealthy Minnesota suburbs and shopping centers and malls, places where women are already doing their grocery shopping, picking up their Starbucks, living their daily lives."

Bachmann continued, "Do we understand what this is? This is to promote women, to promote that woman intentionally take the lives of their unborn children," she said. "We are asking God-fearing Americans to subsidize this brutal and bloody procedure on a regular business in upscale shopping malls all across the United States."

Despite Bachmann's assertion, the Wall Street Journal makes clear that abortion services are not being offered in "upscale shopping malls." The article says that the mall sites in Minnesota offer "services limited to birth-control counseling and tests for pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections. Most patients are in and out in less than half an hour."

To Combat Rising STI Rates, Minnesota Lawmakers Legalize Patient-Delivered Partner Therapy

2008-07-07T08:00:00-04:00

The increasing incidence of STD diagnoses in Minnesota is prompting lawmakers and public health departments to come up with strategies to address the emerging epidemic. A new and somewhat controversial approach to treating sexually transmitted infections was signed into law this year, exemplifying a rare instance of cooperation between the Minnesota's Democratic Party, known as the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and Republicans on an important issue.

Patient-delivered partner therapy (PDPT) for chlamydia and gonorrhea was signed into law by Gov. Tim Pawlenty last month. It will allow physicians to dispense prescriptions for the partners of patients who have tested positive for either disease without the physician ever seeing the partner for an evaluation. Minnesota is one of a dozen states that implement patient-delivered partner therapy for the treatment of gonorrhea and chlamydia. Another dozen have outlawed the practice.

"This law makes good common sense from both a public policy and a public health perspective," Kathi Di Nicola, director of media relations for Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota told Minnesota Independent. "Planned Parenthood has protocol in place to ensure that our patients and their partners receive treatment for sexually transmitted infections, with a strong emphasis on education, safer sex and encouraging partners to be tested."

Before the change in law, it would have been illegal to dispense a prescription for someone who was not a patient.

When circumstances prevent the partner of someone infected with an STI from getting tested and treated at a clinic, it often leaves that partner contagious and able to continue to infect others. "If partner testing is not an option in confirmed patient cases of chlamydia or gonorrhea, after a medical consultation, we can now send medications home with the patient to his or her treat partner," says Di Nicola.

The rate of chlamydia infection among Minnesotans has more than doubled in the past 10 years, and has affected mainly young women of color. Despite this, little has been done by the legislature or the governor to fight an epidemic that can lead to sterility in both men and women. The governor successfully blocked legislation for comprehensive sex education and budgets for prevention programs and community education continue to shrink as issues like transportation, housing, and budget shortfalls dominate lists of funding priorities.

Originally introduced by Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, the PDPT bill did not make it out of committee, but was added to a bill amending existing prescription drug statutes. That bill had the bipartisan sponsorship of Reps. Steve Gottwalt, R-St. Cloud; Thomas Huntley, DFL-Duluth; Jim Abeler, R-Anoka; Bob Dettmer, R-Forest Lake; Matt Dean, R-Dellwood; Bob Gunther, R-Fairmont; Kathy Tingelstad, R-Andover; Rep. Dan Severson, R-Sauk Rapids; and Sondra Erickson, R-Princeton, in the House. A Senate version was offered by Marty and Sen. Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud.

Chlamydia is caused by a bacteria that invades the cells lining the reproductive tract. If left untreated, it can cause pelvic inflammatory disease in women and seriously damage the uterus and ovaries. In men, is can infect the testicles and lead to sterility.

The Centers for Disease Control is actively advocating the protocol. Dr. Douglas Dr. John M. Douglas Jr., director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention told the Washington Times, "Men who may not have a physician or who may be reluctant to seek health care because they themselves don't have symptoms, can get treated without having to visit a doctor themselves."

"We hope that this will have some impact on stemming the rising rates of STIs in Minnesota," says Di Nicola.

Sexy Spring - For the Young, the Old and the Kinky

2008-06-20T08:00:00-04:00

In a room full of librarians, information technologists and other hyper-intelligent yet socially awkward types discussing sex, I learned something about myself: Evidently, I'm what is known as a "geek-chaser." The fifth annual Sexy Spring conference in Minneapolis had something for everyone to explore, and at the Sunday workshop "I'm with Einstein: Geek Fetishes Revealed," I realized that my fondness for intellect and thick-framed glasses is common. Most fall for Superman. I swoon for Clark Kent.

Sexy Spring is all about sex. It bills itself as a "radical, sex/body positive sexual education skill-share and conference focused on exploring the ways sex, sexuality, gender, relationships, communication, health, our bodies and our choices affect our lives." If it sounds like a mouthful, it should. Sexy Spring is an incredibly diverse experience.

Everything is open to discussion: from kink to demystifying transgender bodies and sexuality, from raising a family to making your own sex toys.

In even the most enlightened sex education courses in schools these days, students learn only about abstaining from sex and the responsibilities of pregnancy, the mechanics of reproduction and body parts, and the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases. Sexy Spring picks up where the high school health teacher left off -- with the myriad ways that humans communicate, appreciate and contemplate sex and sexuality.

Garrett Ferderber, a founding member of the Sexy Spring collective, says the need is there for such a conference. "Sex is a positive force in the world and we wanted to have sex education that is ongoing for a lifespan," said Ferderber. "No other venues exist." And that's why a group of radicals came together five years ago to create that venue.

Attending a sex conference can be intimidating, but the experience is overwhelmingly positive. Trained "vibes watchers" attend every function to make sure everyone is respectful. The moderators are not institutional experts but regular folks who have something to teach based on their own experiences. Held in Ford Hall at the University of Minnesota, the discussions feel more like friends sitting around a dinner table than a classroom lecture.

Many of the workshops focused on relationships and communication. "A Look at the Experiences and Perceptions of Relationships: What Happens when Disability is Thrown into the Mix?" examined the unique issues in relationships where one partner experiences disability and the other doesn't. "Hella Nervous" focused on shy kids, introverts and nervous wrecks and how to improve communication and flirting skills. "Kids in Community" centered on parents and prospective parents and aimed to "address both the emotional and physical needs of families."

A more hard-hitting workshop was hosted by educators from the Smitten Kitten, a retailer of adult sex toys and equipment in Uptown. "Making Safer and Sexier Decisions with Your Sex Toys" imparted the dangers associated with many sex toys on the market -- many contain toxic and potentially carcinogenic chemicals not disclosed to the customer. The Smitten Kitten has pioneered the Coalition Against Toxic Toys, a nonprofit that works to educate consumers.

Perhaps one of the more groundbreaking workshops was "What’s Your Kink Got to Do with Your Shrink?: The intersection between alternative sexual practices and psychotherapy." The workshop led participants on issues of how to find a kink-friendly therapist and how to fight stigma when talking about pathologically neutral sexual practices. It also helped participants in talking with therapists about the line between healthy and unhealthy sexual practices and how to identify the line between the two.

Sexy Spring is run as a collective. The workshops, entertainment and location are decided by those who show up. "We try to be open and accessible to everyone," said Ferderber. Indeed, all it takes to participate is to show up, be ready to learn and respect others' experiences.

Ferderber said that they are continually looking for new faces to help plan the event and create new workshops. "New people need to get involved, shape it and make it work for them. And keep passing it on."