Legislative Update

By Rebecca Faust

With the legislature's policy committee deadline passed, here's an update on where several bills are at.

In general, bills that weren't reported out of policy committee by Monday, February 21st, can't be passed this session. Fiscal committees have through today to report bills out of committee. These deadlines are only for bills in their chamber of origin (e.g. a House bill would need to be reported out of a House committee, but if it passes the House it can still be considered by a Senate policy committee at a later date). Budget bills are exempt from the committee deadlines.

Redefining Marriage

By Rebecca Faust


Legislators introduced two bills last week aimed at redefining marriage in Washington to include same-sex couples. Senator Ed Murray sponsored SB 5793, which was introduced on Monday, February 14th. Representative Jim Moeller sponsored HB 1963, which was introduced on Tuesday, February 15th. Both bills also had a number of co-sponsors.

Public Hearing on HB 1267 Scheduled for Tuesday

By Rebecca Faust

Substitute House Bill 1267, overhauling Washington's parentage laws, has been scheduled for a public hearing in the House General Government Appropriations and Oversight Committee next Tuesday.

You can find detailed information about HB 1267 on the legislature's website, but here are a couple of highlights that may interest you:

• HB 1267 would allow women to enter into a paid surrogacy contract, become pregnant through assisted reproduction, and give up their child for financial profit. Surrogacy contracts are binding in the sense that once a woman enters a contract, she can't decide to keep her child as her own. However, she would not need the consent of the intended parents to seek an abortion for any reason during the pregnancy.

Restrictions on Pregnancy Centers Found Unconstitutional

In a decision that could have significant impact on legislation here in Washington State, a federal judge in Maryland struck down a law requiring pregnancy resource centers in Baltimore to post notification that they will not help you obtain an abortion.

The Baltimore ordinance, enacted December 4, 2009, states:

A limited-service pregnancy center must provide its clients and potential clients with a disclaimer substantially to the effect that the center does not provide or make referral for abortion or birth-control related services

Why Washington Should Cut “Take Charge”

I know, I know. You have no idea what Take Charge is, much less have an opinion on why it should lose its funding. But that’s what we’re here for: enlightenment. Regardless, when you’re staring down a $5 billion budget deficit, it isn’t that hard to make the case that something should lose its funding.

Take Charge is a tax-payer funded program that pays for contraception. While the majority of the funds come from the federal government, millions of state dollars are spent on the program every biennium. According to the Feminist Women’s Health Center, the goal of Take Charge is to help people have the tools to reduce unintended pregnancies which will save on the state’s expense of paying for labor and delivery.

Monday Minute: Tell You What to Buy, Tell You What to Sell

Two stories in the last week are painting an interesting picture of what freedom in America might look like in the future.

The first story is the ongoing saga concerning the constitutionality of ObamaCare. A federal judge recently found the mandate to purchase health care, which is the foundation of President Obama’s health insurance plan, unconstitutional.

That decision is at odds with two others that have said the mandate is proper under the omnibus “commerce clause”.

Monday Minute : Is Your Pastor An Anarchist?

Thoughts from our Executive Director

Ok, the title is a bit alarmist. But there is a point, I promise.

Within Christendom, there are a wide range of approaches as to how Christians, both individually and collectively, should engage in law, government, and public policy. Some feel that government exists to make sure everyone behaves like them, some feel government is irrelevant. Still others feel government is an instrument of evil and should be totally abandoned.

However, the greatest conflict within Christian churches is between two groups that generally agree what the outcome should be but have strong differences of opinion as to what should be done to achieve that outcome.