John Freshwater, the Mount Vernon Ohio public school science teacher who was fired for proselytizing to his students will get a hearing on an appeal in the Ohio Supreme Court. I’ve been following this story since Freshwater burned his first cross in a student in 2008. He has lost in every court yet this case will not go away.
On June 6th, the 68th anniversary of the D-Day invasion during World War II, Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) spoke on the floor of the Senate to ask for passage of the World War II Memorial Prayer Act of 2012 which calls for a plaque, to be installed on the National World War II Memorial, inscribed with a prayer President Roosevelt spoke when announcing the operation over the radio in 1944. Although tax payer money won’t be used for the making of the plaque, it still will be on a national memorial on public land that is suppose to honor all soldiers who fought in the war. Portman’s bill is as misguided as someone putting the 10 Commandments up in a court house.
Here is the text of the bill that was introduced on May 10th:
There is yet another dust up about a city council saying Christian prayers before meetings. Mount Vernon Ohio City Council previously held prayers at the beginning of their meetings then a resident sent a letter of complaint. Once the other people in town heard, then they complained about ending a “tradition”. Add to that mess is the comments the city council president made in a story on a local TV station – that he pledged an oath to God so he sees no problem with having the prayers during the meetings. He’s wrong of course.
Resident Ryan Kitko sent a letter of complaint to the council. He claimed – factually – that Christian prayers at the meeting slighted those who weren’t Christian or who had no religious beliefs.
Last week I posted about the publicity stunt anti-abortion group Faith2Action pulled at the state house. Surrounded by children some state senators were given Teddy Bears that made a heartbeat sound to try and convince them to pass HB 125. The ‘heartbeat’ bill would prohibit any abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected. Now it seems senators are giving back the toys because they cost more than $25 and would have to be reported on financial-disclosure forms.
The recent Ohio House Bill 125, aka the “Heartbeat” Bill, would prohibit an abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected. This usually happens as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. One common argument anti-abortionists use for needing such laws is to save the lives of unborn children. In a recent newspaper interview, one of the authors of the bill stated the real reason anti-abortionists want the ‘heartbeat’ bill passed. It’s all about ending legal abortion not saving lives.
Linda Theis, of Findlay, Ohio, has been involved in the anti-abortion movement since the 1970’s. In a profile and interview in the Findlay Courier she gave her reasons for joining the effort to take away a woman’s right to choose:
You have to give supporters of the so-called Ohio “Heartbeat” bill credit, they sure know how to promote their bill with the subtlety of PT Barnum. Tuesday afternoon I watched another circus filmed at the Ohio State House. In a room full of children, Ohio state Senators were given toy Teddy Bears that made a heartbeat sounds when squeezed. The tacky photo-op still doesn’t hide the glaring wrongness of the newest attempt to force women not to have abortions. HB 125 is hands down the worst of the worst. Using children as props show how classy the bill supporters really are.
Ohio House Bill 125 would prohibit an abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected. This usually happens as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. Sometimes women don’t even know they are pregnant that early. The proposed law doesn’t make any exceptions for rape, incest. or the mental health of the mother.