State Senator Hannah Beth Jackson was in a hearing last week promoting a bill to raise money for Planned Parenthood over fears the federal government might withdraw taxpayer support from the country’s largest abortion provider. SB 309, sponsored by NARAL Pro-Choice California, creates a specialized license plate so drivers can celebrate their support for abortion rights, as well as contribute to a fund that supports abortion clinics. But if you heard the testimony in the Assembly Transportation from Senator Jackson and the NARAL Pro-Choice California representative, you would have no idea the bill was raising money for abortion clinics.
In place of the word “abortion,” sanitized, nice sounding words were used instead, such as “women’s health”, “reproductive healthcare”, “comprehensive family planning services”, and “reproductive freedom.” If the Senator and her allies don’t have moral problems with abortion, why hide behind vague words. Either their consciences are bothering them and they can’t bring themselves to talk plainly about what they are promoting, or they are purposefully trying to hide what they are raising money for.
In an effort to speak truth into the situation, our Director of Capitol Engagement Greg Burt testified against SB 309 and sparked a discussion about slavery and equal rights, and prompted Sen. Jackson to talk about her view that women shouldn’t be forced to “birth fetuses” they don’t want. I bet she was hoping to get though her testimony without actually revealing what she thought about the value of pre-born human beings. Watch the testimony below.
Here is the SB 309 testimony of our Director of Capitol Engagement, Greg Burt:
Thank you chair and members. My name is Greg Burt, and I work for the California Family Council. I’m here On behalf of tens of thousands of Pro-Life Californians, allied organizations, and over 2,000 churches across the state.
It has now been 44 years since the U.S. Supreme Court declared abortion to be a constitutional right, but the controversial nature of this decision still rages. Fundamentally, there is something in the conscience of the American soul that realizes abortion violates one of the founding values of this nation: equality. Thomas Jefferson’s words in the Declaration of Independence still ring as true today as they did when they were first penned over two centuries ago:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
If each human being is created equal, then no person or government has the right to take away someone’s right to live, without due process of law. Unborn human beings deserve the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as everyone else. Abortion violates this principle, and just like dehumanizing institution of slavery, and it deserves to be abolished.
In light of this Truth, California should not be celebrating ending the lives of innocent children who never had the opportunity to experience the liberty our country says it still believes in.
California Family Council respectfully and strongly opposes, SB 309.
