Join us this month for our Educational Brunch taking place February 24th, and hear from three very passionate and talented pro-life advocates. Discussions on the pro-life movement and the first amendment will be held at New Covenant Church with doors opening at 10 a.m. and the event ending at 12 p.m. Come have a cup of coffee and enjoy a pastry with us!
This upcoming Saturday, February 24 from 9 to noon, Right to Life is hosting an educational conference on the pro-life movement and the First Amendment. Some may wonder, why pick this topic?
Many pro-life advocates do not realize the various ways in which our First Amendment rights-–of free speech, of free exercise of religion–are being chipped away. Some examples include:
– In 2015, California passed a law requiring pro-life pregnancy resource clinics to post messages letting patients know where they can go to obtain abortions. This law is being challenged in court, and will be decided by the US Supreme Court in the next few months.
– The ACLU has filed lawsuits against Catholic hospitals, attempting to force them to perform abortions in violation of their institutional religious convictions.
– Prominent pro-choice activists are calling for the abolition of state laws that protect the conscience rights of health care providers who conscientiously object to performing abortions, or who object to referring patients to doctors who provide physician-assisted suicide.
– Churches, faith-based organizations, and private businesses with pro-life owners were forced under the Obamacare mandates to pay for abortifacient so-called “contraception” as part of their employer-based healthcare plans. California is still forcing employers to do so, even after the Trump Administration has scaled these mandates back.
– Pro-life student groups on public university campuses are routinely discriminated against by their administrations. Pro-life students and speakers are frequently denied the ability to speak on public university campuses, or have their displays vandalized and shut down.
In short, there is a rising tide of hostility against those who believe in the sanctity of human life, and it is an emerging topic of concern in our politics and culture.
This is why we encourage you all to attend our Educational Brunch this upcoming Saturday. I will be speaking from my perspective as a lawyer who has studied the First Amendment; our friend Jonathan Keller of California Family Council will discuss the broader political landscape for the pro-life movement in 2018; and Anna Arend from Students for Life of America will discuss the challenges students are facing, including California students who are fighting against legislation to make abortion accessible at CSU and UC student health centers. This conference is free and open to the public. Join us!
-John Gerardi