State Bills

Thank you to all who have helped to oppose provisions in California’s Senate Bill 1146 that would have destroyed the religious freedom of religious colleges and universities. The offending clauses have been removed from the bill! 

The remaining bill contains only “transparency” requirements that do not require colleges to change their policies, practices or beliefs, and do not expose them to additional lawsuits or the loss of Cal Grants.

This is a major victory this year, and it could not have been accomplished without massive public awareness and grassroots involvement. This is YOUR victory!

BUT…… yes, there is a big, huge, BUT!  …. Next Year ….. !!!

We expect to face a renewed effort next year, and it may be an even tougher bill. For one, it is likely that restrictions on religious freedom will be renewed. It is also likely that a measure will be introduced to deprive religious colleges of Cal Grants. (Cal Grants go to students, not to the schools, but they can only be used at colleges that comply with “the rules,” which will be amended to insure the colleges subordinate beliefs about human sexuality to the will of the State.)

If you believe preserving Christian education in California is important, we hope you will join our grassroots network and receive our email alerts.

SB 1146 amends the California Education Code to eliminate any meaningful protection for religious colleges and universities to integrate faith into all aspects of campus life. It does so by applying broad anti-discrimination laws, including religious discrimination laws. Religious colleges may no longer be able to require faculty and students to uphold basic religious values. While the bill is vague it appears that employment decisions could not be based on religion, except for those teaching theology and religion.

SB 1146 also clarifies that there is a “private right of action,” i.e., the right to sue religious colleges and obtain not only damages, but injunctive relief. This means a court can order a religious school to hire unbelievers, to stop requiring students to attend worship, to stop requiring religion classes for students who object, etc.

This bill represents a threat to religious colleges and universities, many of which will be forced either to secularize or to shutter.

A controversial bill that would criminalize undercover journalists who secretly record and distribute conversations with “healthcare providers” is poised to become law in California.

Debate on AB 1671, introduced by Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D) at the request of Planned Parenthood, placed leftwing lawmakers and organizations – normally supportive of the abortion business – in the awkward position of criticizing its insistence that undercover journalists be severely punished for exposing potential corruption in its organization.

The bill comes as Planned Parenthood is desperately attempting to suppress information regarding its recent “baby parts” scandal. Last year, undercover journalists from the Center for Medical Progress released a series of videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s alleged practices of illegally selling the body parts of babies it aborts, as well as altering the position of babies during abortion to maximize the chance of harvesting intact organs.

Opponents of the bill – such as the ACLU and media organizations – expressed concerns about its potential to violate the First Amendment rights of the press and to obstruct journalists’ job of providing information that is in the best interests of the public. In the case of Planned Parenthood – which receives more than half a billion dollars annually in taxpayer funds – it is in the interest of taxpayers to know if their money is spent on potentially criminal behavior, such as the sale of fetal tissue for profit.

A “compromise” on the bill makes the change that media outlets cannot be penalized if they were not involved in the original recording of the “healthcare provider.”

Nikki Moore, legal counsel to the California Newspaper Publishers Association, said her organization will change its position from opposed to neutral on the measure, reports the Los Angeles Times.

“While we find it troubling that this bill potentially criminalizes speech, we realize this bill had political momentum and our immediate concern is to protect newspapers and journalists,” she said.

Even the Los Angeles Times editorial board is critical of the measure:

State law already makes it a criminal violation of privacy, punishable by up to 3 years in prison, to use an electronic device to listen in on or record people without their permission. Gomez’s bill ups the ante by making it illegal for the eavesdropper to disclose or distribute “in any manner, in any forum,” what that person heard or recorded, if the victim is any type of healthcare provider. That prohibition would apply regardless of what the healthcare provider was discussing — not just sensitive details about patients, but also private conversations about fees and billing practices, drug marketers, or plans for the weekend.

Why a healthcare provider merits special protection even when discussing things that don’t involve patient privacy is mystifying. Worse, the original version of the bill pushed by Planned Parenthood would have allowed prosecutors to target not just those who made the recordings, but those who shared them online, reported on them or published the transcripts.

David Daleiden, the project lead for Center for Medical Progress’ undercover exposé of Planned Parenthood, tells Breitbart News:

Planned Parenthood still can’t own up to the fact that their senior leadership was caught on camera talking about which places on a late-term baby to crush or not crush in order to harvest the most valuable body parts for sale–so instead they are trying to make it a crime to see the evidence. Citizen journalism is a First Amendment right, not a crime. The only crime is the one Planned Parenthood is trying to cover up: their abortion-and-baby-parts-for-profit scheme.

Original Publication