The 3 - September 20, 2020

This week's edition of The 3, with three stories of relevance to the Christian community, includes the issuance of a letter from over a hundred African-American leaders calling out the nation's largest abortion provided for racism. Also, a Federal judge has found that Pennsylvania's restrictions during COVID-19 are unconstitutional.  And, California lawmakers have relaxed the law concerning sexual relationships between adults and minors.

Bi-partisan group of African-American leaders decry Planned Parenthood's emphasis on taking lives of Black children

A group in excess of 120 African-American leaders from both political parties has sent an open letter to the head of the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, calling it out for racism in its targeting of Black pre-born babies, according to The Christian Post, which reports that:

Among those who have signed the letter are Louisiana state Senator Katrina Jackson, Georgia state representative Mack Jackson, and Michigan's Kent County Commissioner Monica Sparks, all of whom are Democrats. Black Republican signers include Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill and Texas state representative James White. Conservative think tank Heritage Foundation President Kay Coles James, former NFL star Benjamin Watson and pro-life activist Alveda King, who is the niece of Martin Luther King Jr. also signed the letter.

The letter states: “The impact of abortion on Black communities is unequal and disproportionate... Despite constituting only 13% of the female population, Black women represent 36% of all abortions, and Black women are five times more likely than white women to receive an abortion. In some cities, like New York, more Black children are aborted every year than are born alive."

Dean Nelson, Executive Director of the pro-life organization, Human Coalition Action, in a statement to The Christian Post, said that this is a representation of "...the outrage among the Black community that we have been strategically and consistently targeted by the abortion industry ever since the practice was legalized almost 50 years ago.” 

By, the way, Benjamin Watson has a new film, called Divided Hearts of America, which deals with the abortion issue. Crosswalk.com describes it in this way: "In the span of about 90 minutes, Watson interviews more than 30 pro-life and pro-choice leaders as he unveils – in his words – 'the truth about abortion, the laws, the history and where our country is headed.'” Alveda King and Katrina Jackson appear in the film.  Watson is quoted as saying, “Can anything save us? Yes. It’s love,” adding,“Will we decide to love each other enough to mend our divided hearts? That's a choice we all have to make. That's a choice that will determine how the story ends.”

Judge rules PA governor's COVID restrictions unconstitutional

Government restrictions in the face of the COVID-19 virus have been challenged in court, and a recent ruling out of Pennsylvania by a Federal judge said that the governor had overstepped his bounds and issued unconstitutional orders. Bruce Hausknecht, writing at the Daily Citizen of Focus on the Family, stated:

Just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court let a COVID-related state lockdown order in California remain effective in the face of constitutional challenges, a federal district court judge in western Pennsylvania says those can’t go on indefinitely, striking down several of Governor Tom Wolf’s orders restricting indoor and outdoor gatherings in that state, his designations of “life-sustaining” and “non-life-sustaining” businesses, and his general “stay-at-home” order.

Hausknecht writes:

The judge addressed the impact of the recent U.S. Supreme Court action in denying an emergency injunction blocking the California governor’s lockdown order in that state, and, in particular, Justice Samuel Alito’s dissent which argued in favor of granting an injunction in that case.

“There is no question, as Justice Alito reasoned in Calvary Chapel, that courts may provide state and local officials greater deference when making time-sensitive decisions in the maelstrom of an emergency. But that deference cannot go on forever. It is no longer March. It is now September and the record makes clear that Defendants have no anticipated end-date to their emergency interventions.

The article says that: "It’s worth quoting something that the U.S. Department of Justice began saying months ago when it came to the support of citizens’ constitutional rights in the face of onerous state lockdown orders: 'There is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights.'"

The American Pastors Network, which is led by former Pennsylvania representative Sam Rohrer, partnered with the Pennsylvania Pastors Network to issue an open letter a few weeks ago concerning these orders from state officials.  A summary on the APN site says:

This letter from APN and PPN, which represent more than 1,200 PA pastors, explains that the current COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the executive branch are without authority, are therefore unlawful, and in violation of both the Constitution and statutory law, particularly since the General Assembly in accordance with the law ordered the Governor to rescind all COVID-19-related orders resulting from his natural disaster proclamation on March 6. The resolution calls out these realities and highlights how the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has only deepened the constitutional crisis, the letter states.

California liberalizes sex offender law

Concern has been raised about a new California law, recently signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, that appears to loosen restrictions on those who have been found to have sexually abused children. The Daily Signal reports that:

Senate Bill 145—which passed both the state Assembly and Senate, and Gov. Gavin Newsom just signed into law—ensures that adults will not automatically be placed on the sex offender registry even if they engage in sexual acts with minors aged 14 to 17, regardless of what kind of sex they had.

According to the law’s text, SB 145 will “exempt from mandatory registration under the act a person convicted of certain offenses involving minors if the person is not more than 10 years older than the minor and if that offense is the only one requiring the person to register.”

Bottom line, according to the writer of the piece, Nicole Russell: "So, even though it is illegal in California for any adult to have sex with a person under 17, this law will require judges to take each case separately."  She notes that Dr. James Dobson stated, "Any law that lessens protections for vulnerable children is a bad idea. There’s a word for adults who pursue sex with children: pedophiles..."  He also said, “Any proposed legislation that gives incentive or cover for such depravity should be condemned, not passed into law.”