Document: /pub/resources/text/breakpoint: BPT.94.04.05.TXT ---------------------------------------------------------- Note: Prison Fellowship has recently asked that email transmission of the BreakPoint commentaries be suspended until they decide how they wish to proceed with that matter. However, I have been given permission to email special noncommentary items like fact sheets and urgent announcements. Write me for the recent posts about transmitting BreakPoint over email. You have my permission to forward these posts ONLY if you are being sensitive to and respectful of the recipients' views and you KNOW that these posts will not be a threat to or abuse of their ideals, only if the copyright notice (if present) is retained, and only if there is no profit involved. If you've missed a post, you may get it from the USENET newsgroup bit.listserv.christia. This is an UNOFFICIAL transcript made from the radio broadcast. Mistakes in it are mine, not Mr Colson's nor Prison Fellowship's. Comments, corrections, questions are welcome; send to . * Tuesday, April 5, 1994 BREAKPOINT with Chuck Colson The air crackles with suspense. One man stands alone against a hoard of bullies riding into town, their guns blazing. No, I'm not talking about the movie High Noon. I'm talking about Governor Casey of Pennsylvania who is standing up to the federal bureaucracy to defend his state's laws on abortion. The countdown began three months ago when the Clinton administration unveiled its latest ploy to advance abortion. Sally Richardson, director of the Medicaid Bureau, decreed that all pregnancies resulting from rape or incest will henceforth be considered "medically necessary" and that state's are required to fund them through medicaid. The directive was based on a new version of the Hyde Amendment allowing states to pay for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. But Richardson took the language "allowing" state funding and turned it into a "requirement" for state funding. Across the country state officials were stunned. After all, every state has its own laws on abortion funding. Most states do not allow tax payer money to cover abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother. The few that do cover rape and incest cases - states like Pennsylvania - require the woman to fill out a report to police or health authorities. But administration officials rode into town with their black hats on and shot down all existing state laws. They even shot down requirements that rape and incest be reported. The directive says reporting requirements must be waived if the abortionist states that the woman is physically or psychologically unable to file a report. When they saw the feds coming, some state officials scurried for cover. But about thirty states have drawn a line in the sand declaring their intent to protect democratically passed state laws. Governor Casey of Pennsylvania has even filed suit in federal court asking to have the medicaid directive rendered null and void. In a letter to President Clinton, Casey argued that administration officials are directing governors to ignore validly enacted state laws, while on their side they haven't even followed fundamental procedures necessary to preempt state laws. What's more, there is no federal statutory basis to preempt state law in this case. Sally Richardson responded by threatening federal action. The government deadline was this past weekend, but Casey isn't budging. The shoot out is about to begin. If the states let the feds get away with this power grab, no state law will ever be safe again, nor any federal law for that matter. In an arrogant display of double talk, the feds have taken language making something optional and announced that it really means mandatory. If language can be twisted and distorted into meaning the exact opposite of what it says, we will enter an Orwellian world where words mean whatever any bureaucrat says they mean. You need to find out where your state officials stand, and urge them to stand up to the federal bullies as Governor Casey has done so courageously in Pennsylvania. The administration should not be allowed to impose its own social and political agenda by bureaucratic fiat. Otherwise, we will see democracy itself go riding off into the sunset. <> Thursday, February 10, 1994 BREAKPOINT with Chuck Colson Lisa seemed in many ways like a typical teenager, but there was something about her that was not so typical. She kept showing up at abortion clinics. By the time she was fourteen, Lisa had had 7 abortions. Seven abortions by age fourteen? Where were Lisa's parents while she was getting pregnant again and again. Her father, it turns out, was well aware of his daughter's pregnancies. In fact, he was responsible for them. Lisa was a victim of incest and the abortions only served to cover up the horrible abuse. Well, thanks to the current administration, your tax dollars will now be financing cover-ups just like this. The director of the National Medicaid Bureau, Sally Richardson, recently instructed all states that the revised Hyde Amendment which allows Medicaid payments for abortion in cases of rape or incest is not optional, it is mandatory. In other words, states are henceforth required to pay for Medicaid abortions in cases of rape or incest. Currently, most states restrict state funding for abortion. Even the states that do allow state funding in case of rape or incest require that the abuse be reported to the police. But everyone of these laws has just been overturned by bureaucratic fiat. From now on any woman covered by Medicaid can simply show up at an abortion clinic, claim she was raped and there is no way to check up on her claim. Tax payers will foot the bill. Under this new directive, the number of rape claims is certain to skyrocket. Let me give you an example why. Pennsylvania used to allow women receiving Medicaid abortions to simply claim rape or incest. Then later the state passed a requirement that they report the assault to the police first. Immediately, the number of women claiming rape dropped from 400 a year to only 50. What makes this situation so incredible is that when the Hyde Amendment was revised to allow states to fund rape or incest abortions administration officials denied they would ever make funding mandatory. We only want flexibility, they said. We would never override a state's own laws or force them to use state funds for abortion. Well, now with stunning arrogance, federal officials have made a complete about face brazenly insisting that the law means exactly the opposite of what they said less than a year ago. This is an outrageous sleight of hand. The good news is that some states are not taking this lying down. Several governors argued that the new directive is an abuse of federal power, and they're ready to fight. Pennsylvania governor Robert Casey has openly challenged President Clinton. "This I cannot do," Casey wrote, "and I will not do." Well, three cheers for governor Casey and other state officials who are standing their ground. But they ought not to fight this battle standing alone. Please contact your state officials and ask them to oppose this federal directive. This is one time we have to stand up to the federal bureaucrats, and more important, we ought to stand up for girls like Lisa. There is no excuse for the government to pay for abortions that are simply cover-ups for sexual abuse. BreakPoint is copyright (c) 1994 by Prison Fellowship. To talk with Prison Fellowship about emailing BreakPoint write or call: Prison Fellowship (800) 497-0122 PO Box 17500 (703) 478-0100 Washington, DC 20041 (703) 834-3658 fax BreakPoint (800) 995-8777 The unofficial BreakPoint FTP site is ftp.cs.albany.edu:/pub/ault/bp ----------- David S McMeans amUous Mind Puzzles Dayton, OH BreakPoint with Chuck Colson