In Memory of Dr. Pat McEwen
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matthew 28:18-20).
Pat McEwen, missionary to the nations, died on Thursday, September 12th, 2019. “Miss Pat” had been a friend of mine since the fall of 1993. From 1993 to 2000, I lived in and owned a house across the street from an infamous abortion center in Melbourne, Florida. Due to a restrictive “no-free-speech” buffer zone, the site became a “hot bed” for pro-life activism. During that time, sidewalk evangelists and counselors cut the abortion rate in our county in half. This is while the abortion rate in every other county in Florida rose. The abortion center finally closed in 2000. The building was demolished and there is no abortion center in Brevard County today.
This is the demolition of Aware Woman Center for Choice in 2000. No abortion clinic operates in Brevard County today!
See a playlist of videos with Pat McEwen about Central Florida’s abortion industry.
I first met Pat on the sidewalk in 1993, when she first moved to Melbourne. Her reputation as an effective sidewalk counselor preceded her. Dr. Patricia McEwen was a retired university professor and horse enthusiast from upper state New York. She had sold her horse farm and moved to Florida to become a full-time pro-life evangelist. When I first saw her on the sidewalk next to the abortion center, I immediately introduced myself to her. I wanted to know how she was so effective in getting so many women to choose life. “I just do something crazy!” she said. Pat had a way of getting abortion-minded women’s attention. Then when they were engaged in conversation with her, more often than not they chose life for their babies. She was the most effective sidewalk counselor I have ever known and I have known some good ones. Not only did she rescue babies and train other counselors, but she also made sure the entire Melbourne pro-life street ministry was organized so that there were at least two counselors standing at the “gates of hell” every minute it was opened for business. After she arrived, the pro-life ministry began to function in a much more unified and organized manner.
I got started in full-time Christian work as a publisher, writer, video producer shortly after I spent a weekend in jail with Operation Rescue in Brookline, Massachusetts, on New Year’s Eve weekend of 1988/1989 as part of a peaceful prayer rescue. After that experience, I resolved that I’d stay involved in pro-life work, but as a writer. I did not envision myself ever being arrested again.
However, after I moved to central Florida in the 1990s, I was involved with Miss Pat in other arrests, which were dismissed in court, for challenging unconstitutional buffer zone laws. One of these cases, Madsen, made it all the way to the Supreme Court. Although we lost that aspect of the case, I was pleased to see our court testimonies quoted by none other than Justice Antonin Scalia in a scathing dissent. Because we continued to challenge the buffer zone injunction, we eventually encountered fair judges who realized that an injunction that we were not individually named in could not apply to us. Shortly after that, the city of Melbourne made the decision to stop arresting Christians for peacefully gathering on a public sidewalk. This story exemplifies the tireless attitude of service of Pat McEwen. She would not give up until righteous judgment prevailed.
Another arrest came from challenging yet another unconstitutional “no-free-speech” buffer zone in Winter Park, Florida. This case took a lot of twists and turns, as I chronicle here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. But eventually that case was thrown out because the city’s key witness, Jenna Tosh, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando, moved to California and would not return for the hearings. Whenever you did anything with Pat McEwen you knew you were in for an adventure fraught with adversity, but God would be victorious.
In 1993, the pro-life organization Operation Rescue National was based in Melbourne, Florida, a small community on Florida’s “space coast.” The director at that time was Keith Tucci who was also the pastor of Christian Life Family Church where Pat and I were members. Keith turned the national organization over to Flip Benham in Dallas, Texas in 1994. Pat continued for over 20 years to work as an administrator for Operation Rescue / Operation Save America at national and regional pro-life events. Her work was as a “ministry of helps” to several “type-A” personalities. I helped her organize several events in central Florida and I was amazed at her tirelessness and patience.
Keith Tucci had also founded Life Coalition International (LCI), which was meant to be the missionary outreach for Operation Rescue to assist pro-life ministries of all types overseas. In 1995, I was pleased to help LCI organize the first national pro-life conference in the history of Russia attended by hundreds of pastors from all over the former Soviet Union. Pat McEwen eventually took over as the director of LCI. She was sent out from our church to pioneer pro-life and other missionary works in New Zealand, Australia, China, India, Europe, Israel, Central America, South America, and Africa.
In the 1990s, she was involved in helping refugee Christians from China find residency and jobs in several countries in South America. These were people fleeing China’s one-child policy, where women and men are sterilized against their will by the communist government. Although Representative Chris Smith took up their cause, the Clinton administration refused to work with LCI and other groups in allowing them to immigrate to America. So Miss Pat worked tirelessly to find them refuge elsewhere.
When Personhood USA led by Cal Zastrow, Keith Mason and later Dan Becker began a Florida affiliate, they insisted that the organization must have Pat McEwen as a co-sponsor of the state constitutional amendment petition and executive board member. Pat later served as a delegate to Personhood Alliance, the national organization for all Personhood state affiliates, as well as on the boards of other national and international pro-life groups. In addition to all of this, she also served as a volunteer church administrator in Christian Life Family Church in Melbourne.
Of all the ministries Pat was involved in, her greatest love was for the mission field. Even during her cancer treatments, she made several mission trips a year and travelled to pro-life conferences all over the world. Her message was for the Personhood of all human beings with no exceptions and no compromise.
At a conference in 2001, she said in an address to fellow Christian missionaries, “Jesus chose the ordinary working people. Peter was fishing. Matthew was collecting taxes, not a popular profession in any time. What made them special? They were special because they were ordinary.”
Pat may have seemed ordinary at first glance, but she influenced many pro-life leaders and organizations around the world in the paradigm shift toward the no compromise, no exceptions stance of Personhood. She even had the opportunity to meet and speak with government leaders in various countries.
As the coordinator for LCI in Africa, she also travelled with Doctors for Life, a missionary group that worked in the African bush with tribesmen that were in dire need of medical care. she travelled through war torn areas where the roads were being actively shelled by artillery. She even contracted a number of diseases that can lead to blindness or even death. We in the west have eradicated these maladies through modern medicine, but these are rampant in the remote areas of Africa. She helped treat lepers and AIDs victims, but her group specialized in performing eye surgeries in areas that were difficult to reach.
Dr. Pat McEwen worked with Doctors for Life and Life Coalition International. All you have to know about the video is that when these African tribesman are happy they dance! Watch all the way to the end and you will be blessed.
After going to Africa several times a year since 2009, she was thankful she could still go on some “Aid 2 Africa” outreaches even though she was suffering with cancer. She would time her chemotherapy to be able to make these trips. Pat compiled numerous stories of tribal people who would dance or burst into laughter when they discovered that their vision had been restored after surgery. She even witnessed miraculous healings on the mission field due to prayer.
These areas are pretty remote and people cannot just go to an optometrist in a city to get testing and glasses. I spotted a lady who was an albino, in the queue. I asked Benerio to bring her in for a pair of sunglasses because the African sun often blinds the albino. After giving her the glasses, I examined her and found that she already had severe vision loss. She could only count fingers at about four feet, even with a -10 lens, the strongest we can test for. I could not help her and was feeling so sorry that we had nothing to help her severe problem. She was almost blind. Prayerfully, I looked through our glasses just in case. By God’s grace, I found a -15 pair that also were very dark sunglass. When I took away the original sunglasses, her face fell, but when I placed the new pair on her face, she burst into laughter because she could see. Our motto is “so the blind might see” and it means both physical and spiritual sight. She, like most of our patients, listened intently to the Gospel message and left with a tract in her native language clutched tightly to her chest. There is no joy like seeing someone’s eyes open to the Gospel.
There are many more stories from the mission field that Pat compiled over the years. But one story that stands out is her work in training Christians in the Zulu territory along South Africa’s east coast to do sidewalk counseling. After several days of training, they decided to name the ministry, “11th Hour Counselors” since there are no sidewalks in front to the abortion clinics in Africa. On the day that the group was to put their training into action, they loaded up a school bus to go off to an abortion center in Zululand. People were crowded onto the bus three to a seat for the long, hot journey through the Zulu territory so there was no more room. Some cried when they had to be left behind.
When Pat called several months later from America to find out how the “11th Hour” ministry was going, she was told. “Oh, we don’t go to the abortion centers anymore!” After a moment of shocked disappointment, she was told that the abortion center in the Zulu territory had shut down due to their ministry.
Jesus told His disciples not just to preach the Gospel to make converts, but to “make disciples of all nations” teaching them to obey all of the counsel of the Word of God. The nations scripturally are the ethne, or “peoples groups” of the world. The nations are not geopolitical countries, but rather every ethnic group with its own language, culture, beliefs, customs and mores. Although the Zulus are part of South Africa today, they are a “nation” or “peoples group.”
How many people can say that they were responsible for closing every abortion center in an entire nation? How many can say they even know someone who accomplished that? Although I am grieved and will miss my friend, I am happy when I think of the crown she is wearing as a glorified member of the Church Triumphant in heaven.
Nathan Chilton endorses In the Days of These Kings
I was blown away! My father [David Chilton] covered the book of Revelation quite thoroughly and I have been wanting to read an exposition of the book of Daniel which was also written from a preterist perspective.
— Nathan Chilton
In the Days of These Kings (Book)
Perfect-bound Paperback — 740 pages
The Book of Daniel in Preterist Perspective
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44).
The overarching message of Daniel is that Jesus the Messiah is even now ruling over the nations. He is the King of kings. Daniel tells us that Messiah’s kingdom will advance in the whole world from “generation to generation” (Daniel 4:4,34). Christ’s dominion is “given to the people of the saints of the most High” (Daniel 7:22). Our purpose then is to see “all people, nations, and languages … serve and obey him” (Daniel 7:14,27).
This comprehensive work offers a fascinating look at the book of Daniel in preterist perspective. Great attention is paid to the writings of ancient and modern historians and scholars to connect the dots and demonstrate the continuity of Daniel’s prophecy with all of Scripture.
(We accept PayPal and all major credit cards.)Click here for more information
Phillip Kayser endorses In the Days of These Kings
I am delighted to recommend a new commentary on the book of Daniel by my friend, Jay Rogers. While I take issue with some of the conclusions he has arrived at in this difficult book, I can honestly say that it is near the top of my list of recommendations. R.J. Rushdoony once said that there are four things liberals hate about Daniel: 1) Daniel displays a sovereign God who cannot be manipulated and who destroys all who rebel against His Law-Word, including civic rulers; 2) it showcases predictive prophecy that is infallible and sure; 3) it illustrates a comprehensive Providence that governs even the tiniest details of life and history; 4) and it unapologetically presents the reality of miracles. You can judge an author by their attitude towards those four things in Daniel.
Based on that criteria, Jay Rogers stands head and shoulders above a crowd of commentaries that I possess on this book. He takes the inerrancy of Scripture seriously, takes hermeneutics seriously, submits to the New Testament’s interpretation of Daniel in a way that few evangelical commentaries do, illustrates his interpretations quite well with history, and shows how Daniel dovetails with the rest of Scripture. The reader will especially appreciate the historical background to passages that Jay provides. May this commentary receive a wide readership.
— Phillip Kayser, BiblicalBlueprints.org
In the Days of These Kings (Book)
Perfect-bound Paperback — 740 pages
The Book of Daniel in Preterist Perspective
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44).
The overarching message of Daniel is that Jesus the Messiah is even now ruling over the nations. He is the King of kings. Daniel tells us that Messiah’s kingdom will advance in the whole world from “generation to generation” (Daniel 4:4,34). Christ’s dominion is “given to the people of the saints of the most High” (Daniel 7:22). Our purpose then is to see “all people, nations, and languages … serve and obey him” (Daniel 7:14,27).
This comprehensive work offers a fascinating look at the book of Daniel in preterist perspective. Great attention is paid to the writings of ancient and modern historians and scholars to connect the dots and demonstrate the continuity of Daniel’s prophecy with all of Scripture.
(We accept PayPal and all major credit cards.)Click here for more information
Brian Godawa endorses In the Days of These Kings
In The Days of These Kings is a fascinating explanation of the prophecy passages of Daniel. Jay Rogers’ explanation verse-by-verse of the detailed historical fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecies is a helpful corrective to the speculative sci-fi fantasy scenarios of modern-day prophecy pundits. He reveals Daniel’s context in relation to the other prophets of the Old Testament as well as Jesus’ Olivet Discourse and Revelation. He shows how it all fits perfectly together. This is exactly what I have been longing for in my own research. I’m telling all my readers to get this book.
— Brian Godawa, Best-selling author, Chronicles of the Apocalypse
In the Days of These Kings (Book)
Perfect-bound Paperback — 740 pages
The Book of Daniel in Preterist Perspective
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44).
The overarching message of Daniel is that Jesus the Messiah is even now ruling over the nations. He is the King of kings. Daniel tells us that Messiah’s kingdom will advance in the whole world from “generation to generation” (Daniel 4:4,34). Christ’s dominion is “given to the people of the saints of the most High” (Daniel 7:22). Our purpose then is to see “all people, nations, and languages … serve and obey him” (Daniel 7:14,27).
This comprehensive work offers a fascinating look at the book of Daniel in preterist perspective. Great attention is paid to the writings of ancient and modern historians and scholars to connect the dots and demonstrate the continuity of Daniel’s prophecy with all of Scripture.
(We accept PayPal and all major credit cards.)Click here for more information
Why Personhood Florida does not support pro-life “heartbeat” bills
Note: I have written this as the director of The Forerunner and the president of Personhood Florida Education. I have submitted this article to the board of Personhood Florida for review and endorsement. It also appears at the PersonhoodFL.com website. ~ JCR
There are a number of so-called “pro-life” bills throughout America at the state and national level that seek to regulate or push back the incidence of abortion by banning a certain type of abortion procedure, such as dismemberment or partial birth abortion. There are also “pain capable” bills that ban abortion once a preborn child is capable of feeling pain. The most popular type of regulatory bills are the incremental bills that ban abortion after viability or what some call “late term abortion.” Some put this at 20 weeks, while others seek to go further to twelve weeks or even six to eight weeks.
The recent Florida House Bill 235 or “detectable heartbeat bill” is one of these incremental bills that have support from various pro-life groups.
Personhood Florida cannot support this bill for a variety of reasons. This might come as a surprise to some who believe it would eliminate the vast majority of abortions. Simply, Personhood Florida’s goal is to establish that all human beings regardless of their stage of development have a God-given right to life.
As President Trump recently stated this in no uncertain words in his 2019 State of the Union address.
There could be no greater contrast to the beautiful image of a mother holding her infant child than the chilling displays our nation saw in recent days. Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth.
These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world. And then, we had the case of the governor of Virginia where he stated he would execute a baby after birth.
Ironically, the president then provided a good illustration of the logical disconnect in a lot of current “pro-life” initiatives.
To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb. Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth — all children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God.
If we can say in one breath that life begins at conception because we are all made in the image of God – an ideal that Personhood Florida seeks to codify in constitutional language – and then call for a partial ban on abortion after 20 weeks, we undermine our own core beliefs. If we then load up the language of such bills with exceptions designed to pass the muster of higher court rulings that strike down such laws the next day, then we merely show that we do not even believe our own rhetoric.
What’s good about the heartbeat bill
Before getting into the many reasons why Personhood Florida cannot support Florida House Bill 235, I wanted to point out two things about the heartbeat bill that are good and actually represent an improvement over past efforts to regulate abortion in our state.
1. It uses correct, biblical language to describe the “unborn child.” The original draft of the bill had the word “fetus” throughout, but in revision it was changed to “unborn child.” This is important to us in Personhood because we want to use biblical language. It is recorded in the Gospel According to Luke that Jesus, while still in the first trimester, perhaps only a few weeks or even a few days after His conception, was recognized John the Baptist, who was called a “babe” in the womb.
And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost (Luke 1:39-41).
It’s important to note here that the word for “babe” is the Greek word, brephos. This can mean a young child, a baby or a preborn baby. It makes no difference with the Lord. All children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God. If our president is bold enough to speak that, and our own Florida Constitution affirms that our right to life and liberty comes from “Almighty God,” we can certainly use that language in our legislation.
2. The language for the “life of the mother” exceptions, although not without several problems, is better than in previous “pro-life bills.” The bill has several long clauses describing what a doctor must do in a medical emergency. In summary, the bill says the following.
If a termination of pregnancy is performed during viability or after a fetal heartbeat has been detected, the physician performing the termination of pregnancy must exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the unborn human being that the physician would be required to exercise in order to preserve the life and health of an unborn human being intended to be born and not aborted. However, if preserving the life and health of the unborn human being conflicts with preserving the life and health of the woman, the physician must consider preserving the woman’s life and health the overriding and superior concern.
Ignoring several problems with this language, which I deal with below, the bill does two things that are an improvement.
First, it defines an “abortion” as “the termination of human pregnancy with an intention other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead unborn human being.”
Thus an abortion would not include an operation with the intent to save the mother and the child that unintentionally results in the death of one or the other. It would not include an operation that is done in a life-threatening situation, such as necessary surgery on woman who has had a “tubal pregnancy” and is in danger of death without emergency intervention. It would obviously not include a D&C after a spontaneous miscarriage, a birth by caesarean section, or surgery “to remove a dead unborn human being.”
Second, it classifies the above as a pregnancy “termination” procedure, but not as an intentional “abortion.” According to this bill, abortion has to do with the “intent” to kill a preborn child. This eliminates the confusion among some medical professionals and pro-abortion advocates who say that banning abortion prohibits life-saving care.
What’s wrong with the heartbeat bill
1. The bill defines an “unborn human being” as “an individual organism of the species Homo sapiens from fertilization until live birth.”
While this is certainly true, the Florida Constitution, as well many other state constitutions and the Declaration of Independence, define the right to life as originating from “Almighty God” or our “Creator” or similar names describing our Lord. We don’t have the right to life because we are a species superior to animals. We don’t have the right to life because we can feel pain or have a heartbeat that can be detected by medical science. We have the right to life because we are created in the image of God. The language of our laws ought to reflect this biblical truth that our founding documents affirm.
2. The heartbeat bill contains contradictory language describing when life begins.
The rationale for protecting preborn children is given in the bill that the state of Florida has a legitimate interest in “protecting …. the life of the unborn human being who may be born.”
WHEREAS, as many as 30 percent of natural pregnancies end in spontaneous miscarriage, and
WHEREAS, fewer than 5 percent of all natural pregnancies end in spontaneous miscarriage after the detection of fetal cardiac activity, and
WHEREAS, more than 90 percent of in vitro pregnancies do not survive the first trimester when cardiac activity is not detected in the gestational sac, and
WHEREAS, a fetal heartbeat, therefore, is a key medical predictor that an unborn human being will reach live birth, and
WHEREAS, cardiac activity begins at a biologically identifiable moment in time, normally when the fetal heart is formed in the gestational sac, and
WHEREAS, the State of Florida has a legitimate interest from the outset of a pregnancy in protecting the health of the woman and the life of the unborn human being who may be born …
We must realize that laws not only prohibit criminal behavior, but they are also instructive. What the bill does is to send the message that human life is valuable when an organism of the species Homo sapiens has a detectable heartbeat and therefore “may be born.” It implies that the state of Florida does not have a legitimate interest in protecting human life prior to the time when a preborn child has a heartbeat when “as many as 30 percent of natural pregnancies end in spontaneous miscarriage.”
That being said, if the heartbeat bill were really enacted, it would end practically all surgical abortion. A fetal heartbeat is detectable at 22 days (three weeks) with a highly sensitive ultrasound or at eight weeks with a stethoscope. Few women actually realize they are pregnant prior to six to eight weeks. Few abortion clinics will perform an abortion on a pregnancy that is not at least six weeks from the last missed menstrual cycle (which is actually eight weeks). In reality, the heartbeat bill would end all abortion after this time. Further, medically necessary surgeries needed to save the life of a mother that end with pregnancy termination are rare. It’s estimated even by pro-abortion advocacy groups, such as the Alan Guttmacher Institute, that .08 percent of these pregnancy terminations (or less than one in a thousand abortions) are performed in these “hard cases” in the state of Florida each year.
While it would be a good thing to stop the surgical abortion industry, it would not stop the operation of abortion clinics that prescribe early abortifacient drugs. Since virtually no surgical abortions are performed prior to six weeks, it sends the message that life begins with a human being that has a heartbeat. This begs the question. If ending surgical abortion, which is the “cash cow” of the abortion industry, is a good thing, then why not go the whole way? What if there were a companion bill that banned prescription and over-counter sales of drugs that are intended to be used as abortifacients? Why go as far as a detectable heartbeat and no further?
This is the reason why I support establishing Personhood in our laws over abortion regulations. Personhood Florida advocates that all human beings must be recognized and protected because we are made in the image of God. Simply, the Florida Personhood Amendment initiative states:
The God-given right to life of every human being at any stage of development must be recognized and protected.
The Personhood Amendment avoids confusing legal language and exceptions that actually contradict our message that each human life begins at conception/fertilization as a unique creation in the image of God.
3. The life of the mother clause in this bill says the doctor must operate to save the life of the mother and the preborn, but complicates the matter by adding the words “and health.”
Preserving both the life and health of both the mother and the child is the correct ethical view. At first glance, it’s not a terrible clause by itself. In isolation of the other implied and explicit exceptions, there is not a huge problem here. Of course, the “exception” to save the life of both patients doesn’t have to be stated in law because this is what doctors do routinely. They try to save lives.
Above I wrote that one good thing about this bill is that it does not use the language that “abortion is permissible for life and health of the mother.” What it does instead is describe what should happen in a life-threatening situation. There would be nothing wrong with a law that by itself explained what a doctor must do to preserve the life of both the pregnant mother and the child.
I personally think this comes close to being good language, but the heartbeat bill has a big problem. The heartbeat bill both confuses and negates its own stated ethical position.
The first and foremost problem is that it also adds the words “and health.” The word “health” can be interpreted in a number of different ways. It is common in late term abortions for women to claim that their mental health is such that they would consider committing suicide if forced to deliver a baby. In fact, it is common for abortion doctors to “coach” women to sign such affidavits so that they may skirt the law in the state of Florida and perform late term abortions in an outpatient setting.
I am all for protecting doctors who truly protect the sanctity of life and try to save both the mother and the child. If a life saving procedure results unintentionally in the death of one or the other the doctor should not be criminally culpable. This can be in some law or precedent. It all comes down to the word “intent.” So whether you call it an “exception” or not, this is not a conundrum. The doctor must operate to save both lives doing everything that is medically possible within our current medical knowledge.
However, it is unclear what this bill is actually saying. Would an emergency procedure be performed on a woman who has any type of health issue? The bill doesn’t define what types of health problems this would entail.
Here lies the second and greatest problem. The “health of the mother” exception opens up the possibility to legally abort any preborn child who is not viable under the guise of a “health” exception. Thus it shifts quickly from being a true “heartbeat bill” to a “viability bill.”
4. There is a “use of public funds prohibited” section that has a rape or incest or life and health of the mother exception.
This exception clause literally says that an “abortion” in the case of rape or incest, or to preserve the life or health of a pregnant woman can take place using public funds.
USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS RESTRICTED.— A state agency, a local governmental entity, or a managed care plan providing services under part IV of chapter may not expend funds for the benefit of, pay funds to, or initiate or renew a contract with an organization that owns, operates, or is affiliated with one or more clinics that are licensed under this chapter and perform abortions unless one or more of the following applies:
(a) All abortions performed by such clinics are:
1. On unborn human beings that are conceived through rape or incest; or
2. Are medically necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant woman or to avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman, other than a psychological condition.
This is extremely confusing if not contradictory. If the doctor is really trying to save both lives, then why does it matter if a rape was committed or public funds, such as Medicaid, are used? First, this not an “abortion” in the usual sense of the word or as defined earlier in the bill. It’s an emergency caesarean-section or some other procedure designed to try to save both lives. Second, why create a rape exception? Why would public funds be available in the case of a rape to try to save the life of an unborn child, but not a child conceived through consensual relations?
So the language is problematic in that it is confusing and contradicts the ethical stance laid out previously in the bill. This section is either a badly botched oversight or some type of legal sophistry that defies common sense.
5. The bill has several pages of regulations on the abortion clinics that might still operate in the cases when surgical abortions would be performed.
While it’s not unusual for pro-life bills to turn into “omnibus packages,” I found this to be one of the stranger aspects of this piece of legislation. Let’s think this through. Would a woman go to an outpatient abortion clinic in a life-threatening situation? No, they are going to go to a hospital. So the bill is odd in that it hyper-regulates an industry that would effectively be put out of business in about 99% of cases by not allowing surgical abortion. It sends the message that surgical abortion centers would still operate under a variety of restrictions and regulations – many of which are already in place, but not always enforced.
6. Finally, the penalties for committing an abortion on an “unborn human being of the species Homo sapiens” is a “felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.”
To clarify, a third degree felony is the lowest level felony punishable under Florida statutes “by a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years.”
The third degree felony language contradicts the statement that this is an unborn human being. It’s not consistent with other homicide statutes.
I personally am not against the idea of putting all surgical abortion centers out of business under penalty of homicide laws and then dealing with the abortifacient drug issue in other legislation. The problem with abortifacient drug legislation is that prosecution would be difficult under homicide statutes for a variety of reasons. But surgical abortion can be treated as homicide or first-degree murder.
Personhood organizations cannot support heartbeat bills
In summary, Personhood Florida and all affiliates of our national group, Personhood Alliance, cannot support heartbeat bills. The language of this bill exposes inconsistencies in thinking, is self-contradictory and sends the message that certain abortions are permissible among preborn children of the species Homo sapiens who do not have a detectable heartbeat. A better approach is to combine a Personhood amendment or law with legislation that protects human life.
A Better Way to End Abortion in Florida
Personhood advocates need to understand two important realities about state abortion laws.
First, as long as states think they must follow Roe v. Wade as established law, there is no real restriction on abortion. Roe v. Wade together with Doe v. Bolton made it possible to kill a child in the womb through all nine months once certain criteria are met. The biggest “loophole” is the “health of the mother” in Doe, which includes “mental health.” So legally all a woman has to do is sign a piece of paper saying she has had thoughts of suicide and the doctor can concur. In fact, women seeking late term abortions are often coached to do this. Some states have further restrictions saying late term abortions must be done in a hospital setting or through a doctor that has hospital privileges. This is why putting “restrictions” on abortion while kneeling before the altar of Roe as “settled law” can never work. “Chipping away at Roe” is ineffectual as long as this “mental health” exception is followed.
This is the reason why I haven’t flown into hysterics over New York’s new “barbaric” abortions laws. This is already the case in every state throughout the country as long as we accept the judicial fiat “laws” of Roe and Doe.
Second, states can right now end abortion legally by doing three things.
1. Write into law or as an amendment that the life of all human beings at any stage of development must be recognized and defended. Some states actually have such Personhood language in their constitution and laws already. But too many people falsely believe Personhood is ineffectual under Roe.
2. Pass uncompromised fetal homicide laws or remove the exceptions in fetal homicide laws that protect abortionists. There have been people tried and convicted of murder for killing an unborn child. A few years ago, Ariel Castro in Cleveland, Ohio was convicted of first degree murder for forced abortions on girls he had kidnapped. People who deceptively give pregnant women abortion pills can be tried for murder. There are many “double homicide” cases involving preborn children and their mothers. There is also a federal fetal homicide law that covers all 50 states. The problem is that these laws all have an exception that protects abortionists from prosecution.
3. Ignore or defy federal abortion-related cases that contradict state laws and state constitutions. Many states have “tenth amendment” resolutions and/or language in laws that command state officials to uphold state law over federal law.
Here in this video, Idaho state representative Heather Scott is doing just this. This needs to be the paradigm shift that all “pro-life” legislators throughout the country will adopt.
Please also see the links for The United States of America 2.0: The Great Reset. This is short primer on doctrine of nullification, which has been one of the foundational tenets of the Personhood movement since its beginning. You may either order copies or I have posted all the articles that make up the booklet online for free.
The United States of America 2.0: The Great Reset (Book)
High Quality Paperback — 40 pages of dynamite!
Revival, Resistance, Reformation, Revolution
An Introduction to the Doctrines of Interposition and Nullification
In 1776, a short time after the Declaration of Independence was adopted, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin were assigned to design an official seal for the United States of America. Their proposed motto was Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God. America owes its existence to centuries of Christian political philosophy. Our nation provided a model for liberty copied by nations the world over.
By the 21st century, we need a “Puritan Storm” to sweep away the Hegelian notion that the state is “God walking on earth.” We need revival and reformation in full force to vanquish the problems that plague us as a nation — from government controlled healthcare — to abortion on demand — to same sex “marriage.” This booklet gives a primer on our founders’ Christian idea of government and examines how the doctrine of nullification was woven into the Constitution as a safeguard against federal tyranny. It concludes with the history and theology of civil resistance. A Second American Revolution is coming with the Word of God growing mightily and prevailing! (Acts 19:20).
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The Four Keys to the Millennium (Book)
Foundations in Biblical Eschatology
By Jay Rogers, Larry Waugh, Rodney Stortz, Joseph Meiring. High quality paperback, 167 pages.
All Christians believe that their great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will one day return. Although we cannot know the exact time of His return, what exactly did Jesus mean when he spoke of the signs of His coming (Mat. 24)? How are we to interpret the prophecies in Isaiah regarding the time when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:19)? Should we expect a time of great tribulation and apostasy or revival and reformation before the Lord returns? Is the devil bound now, and are the saints reigning with Christ? Did you know that there are four hermeneutical approaches to the book of Daniel and Revelation?
These and many more questions are dealt with by four authors as they present the four views on the millennium. Each view is then critiqued by the other three authors.
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The Silent Scream (DVD) Eight Languages
“When the lives of the unborn are snuffed out, they often feel pain, pain that is long and agonizing.” – President Ronald Reagan to National Religious Broadcasters Convention, January 1981
Ronald Reagan became convinced of this as a result of watching The Silent Scream – a movie he considered so powerful and convicting that he screened it at the White House.
The modern technology of real-time ultrasound now reveals the actual responses of a 12-week old fetus to being aborted. As the unborn child attempts to escape the abortionist’s suction curette, her motions can be seen to become desperately agitated and her heart rate doubles. Her mouth opens – as if to scream – but no sound can come out. Her scream doesn’t have to remain silent, however … not if you will become her voice. This newly re-mastered version features eight language tracks and two bonus videos.
“… a high technology “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” arousing public opinion just as Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 antislavery novel ignited the abolitionist movement.” – Sen. Gordon Humphrey, Time Magazine
Languages: English, Spanish, French, South Korean, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese
Running Time: 28 minutes
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Dr. Francis Schaeffer - How Should We Then Live? (DVD)
Special Two-Disc Set!
After 40 years of intense study and world-wide ministry, Dr. Francis Schaeffer completed his crowning work of scholarship – to present profound truths in simple film language. Dr. Schaeffer’s brilliant analysis of the past and predictions for current trends have proven so uncannily accurate that this amazing series still feels contemporary almost three decades after its initial release. Ultimately, Schaeffer concludes that man’s only hope is a return to God’s Biblical absolute, the truth revealed in Christ through the Scriptures.
Available for the first time on DVD, this documentary spectacular also includes intimate in-depth conversations with Francis and Edith Schaeffer. With the on-disc study guide, this presentation forms a unique course of comprehensive study. While this series forms an innovative analysis of the past, this outstanding work is more than history. Each episode focuses on a significant era, yet speaks clearly to 21st-century man with answers for modern problems.
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Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism (DVD)
Download the Free Study Guide!
Just what is Calvinism?
Does this teaching make man a deterministic robot and God the author of sin? What about free will? If the church accepts Calvinism, won’t evangelism be stifled, perhaps even extinguished? How can we balance God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility? What are the differences between historic Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism? Why did men like Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, Whitefield, Edwards and a host of renowned Protestant evangelists embrace the teaching of predestination and election and deny free will theology?
This is the first video documentary that answers these and other related questions. Hosted by Eric Holmberg, this fascinating three-part, four-hour presentation is detailed enough so as to not gloss over the controversy. At the same time, it is broken up into ten “Sunday-school-sized” sections to make the rich content manageable and accessible for the average viewer.
Running Time: 257 minutes
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Martin Luther: Digitally Remastered 1953 Classic (DVD)
“Here I stand … I can do no other!”
With these immortal words, an unknown German monk sparked a spiritual revolution that changed the world.
The dramatic classic film of Martin Luther’s life was released in theaters worldwide in the 1950s and was nominated for two Oscars. A magnificent depiction of Luther and the forces at work in the surrounding society that resulted in his historic reform efforts, this film traces Luther’s life from a guilt-burdened monk to his eventual break with the Roman Catholic Church.
Running time: 105 minutes
Special offer: Order 5 or more for $5 each; 10 or more for $4 each; and 100 or more for $2.50 each.
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