Greater Threats on the Horizon (Part 1)

Thanks for joining us this week for family policy matters today were excited bring you part one of two part series focusing on the keynote address presented by Roger Severino and NC families annual dinner event in Charlotte North Carolina in October. Roger is currently a senior fellow at the ethics and Public policy Center in Washington DC and prior to that he served as the director of the office for civil rights in the US Department of Health and Human Services within the Trump administration. We hope you enjoy. So I thought restructuring to speak about the achievements we did, how they been changed and will act with lightning speed and what are some of the greater threats on the horizon. Of course, what we can do about it. The first want to say that the family is one such organization that can do something about it and is tremendous work for years working in the vineyard to help out. So keep in mind that there were some dark moments but there there is still hope. At the end of the light moments was a beautiful day in March right after the president was sworn in, was at the White House Rose Garden and I was the president's talk announcing his executive order on religious freedom in the crowd were the Little sisters of the poor. We've all heard their story and the president said we are finally going to get the government foot off of your next because a government under Obama through Obama care had impose a contraceptive mandate, which Congress had never voted for it went through the administrative process and those imposed upon all employers of a certain size that they must provide concept of coverage including nines for fellow knives. So I do know how much you know about Catholic doctrine, but none generally don't need contraceptive but it didn't matter what their religious beliefs were on the question the government said you must comply. Regardless an effective city. What religious enough import because they served everyone and their mission was for the dying poor so they would not die alone. So would know Christ's love would be with them in their final moments is that while could you open up to other people to follow her rules.

The president was announcing that we were going to get rid of that burden on the religious freedom will stop hounding them and threatened literally to shut them down and assess millions of dollars in fines just to make a point that was what the government was doing the just wanted to make a point that there would be no exceptions can be wanted us to be universal. That is a bureaucratic mindset that encountered time and again when I worked at HHS I was in the bowels of the beast and is something that came up in other things of the president rolled the Mexico City policy.

This was designed by bureaucrats to fund overseas advocacy for abortion as a method of family planning that was undone very early title X. The funding of contraceptives for low-income persons, we issued a rule that would make sure it was not being used to subsidize abortion clinics in their overhead of the American people have ulcers, abuse on the abortion question. It is generally pro-life, especially among the young. But wherever there is profound agreement.

It's on this.

You don't force people to perform persistent abortions. You don't force people to have insurance coverage for abortion is. Some people do it well there to do it. Don't force others to participate that has wide majorities of Americans that support that concept so you don't fall in fun Planned Parenthood when you're trying to do family planning projects while course the Obama ministration was and we said something very simple Planned Parenthood. You say that abortion is a mere C wing CeBIT of your activities. They say 3%, well you have a choice separate that 3% from your family planning activities financially and physically and don't refer people who come in to abortions because that's barred by federal law. They refused and they dropped out of the program and that was because of the rule put in place. We also ended the practice of secret abortion billing under Obama care. Unfortunately, one of the compromises that led to come into play were few people couple holdouts. They were Democrats at the time said well, the best we can do to protect life is at least have separate billing so somebody has abortion as part of the coverage they get a separate bill in the mail. They pay for separately so you have that separation between federally funded programs and well under Obama that requirement was gone. They could've buried in plan documents so people wouldn't know that their funding their own kids abortions because of Obama care is up to 25 years of age, you have a daughter in college having abortions under your plan and the parents pain for not a reason, knowing that they're paying for.

So we are rolling things back rolling things back and were also doing some things on this question of gender identity doctors under Obama care were being required to perform sex reassignment surgeries regardless of the best medical judgment, and regardless of any religious objections they would have in this would apply even to minors, so long as you had psychologists issue a doctor's note saying that it is medically indicated for this person to have the surgery greatest teenagers have puberty blockers, etc. he was a doctor would have to do it if you could do a hysterectomy because that party or practice to cure cancer, you have to do hysterectomy, even if there is no disease tissue whatsoever.

If somebody has a gender identity issue. We ended that we said that sex is male and female, biologically binary, based on genetics because an incredible uproar was right thing to do. And of course we had strong religious liberty protections in place as well. On the positive side, Williams is rollback things I the pleasure of launching a conscience and religious freedom division staff with career professionals to be something that's rather common sense we have civil rights laws. They have to be enforced with every other civil right we do on race, sex, national origin, disability, age, color, but we don't do it for religious freedom is discrimination so this is one lesson if the bureaucracy is already there with at least turn the bureaucracy to good ends relaunch this division tremendous fanfare. The complaint started rolling in and we had a case of a nurse who was called her hospital one weekend to assist with what she thought was the after affects of miscarriage. She had told her bosses at the University of Vermont Medical Center that she could not in good faith. Assist in abortion was contrary to religious beliefs she enter the practice of medicine to save lives, not in any respect her beliefs for a time but on this one particular weekend. He called her in under false pretenses, and the doctor turned to her and said please don't hate me because it was clear this was not a miscarriage.

This was in abortion of a living child, and she raised her objections and said you know I can't do this but they said you're the only nurse here. You can't abandon your patient. This is your obligation. Her job was on the line card license to practice medicine was on the line so face with this horrible pressure she gave in and it's been scarred ever since she turned to our subconscious division and off civil rights at HHS seeking help and we issued a notice of violation defendant. This was a clear violation of law is as clear as it gets.

We issued a referral to DOJ was involved in a lawsuit so that it would not receive federal funds and he had to shave.

We provided that health and it's just one example of things we are doing. We went after the state of California for forcing near universal abortion insurance coverage. We sure notice of violation and follow up with cutting $210 in Medicaid funds to California for violating the long-standing federal laws would after California again in the Nicola versus Becerra case for going after pregnancy resource centers because of pregnancy resource centers would not refer for abortions thing about that. The state of California was requiring pro-life resource centers to tell women there helping where to get abortions for free and they were threatened with being shut down if they wouldn't speak those words that is a form of totalitarianism that the Supreme Court said you sure notice of violation as well as people were also issued a ruling enjoying it and I'm proud of what we did in the trumpet ministration took tremendous effort. It was not easy and it was a fight on the outside enemies on all side there were pulleys on the inside were trying to block what we're doing were doing the right thing. We stuck it through and I look back with pride. We left it on the table. We did everything we could for life and religious freedom that was then. Unfortunately, where are we now Mexico City policy reversed separate billing and fitted abortion bills reversed title X, financial, and physical separations we don't find over Planned Parenthood anymore and the fourth referrals reversed Monday we had the nurse in the Vermont case forced to assist in abortion. The lawsuit was dropped by the US Department of Justice.

She is been absolutely abandoned popular Becerra. She was the Atty. Gen. California will be cut the $200 million in Medicaid funds. He was the Becerra in the flesh versus Becerra. She's now in charge of the Medicaid fund.

She is the secretary of the department of Health and Human Services was my main antagonist when I was at HHS enforcing the laws against him.

Now he's running HHS. The $200 million penalty is gone. It was provoked as well that we have a Supreme Court decision on Nicola versus Becerra Solis is limited by the Supreme Court will see what happens there but on every single step is been pushing hard to undo all the good we did for life and religious freedom on the transgender mandate, we should regulations to confirm human sexuality is one person one sex for rail one sex for female based on the science by an act of fiat through a press release these other than ignore the regulation and start enforcing those same rules that have already been struck down by District Court and undone by our efforts stroke of a pen without forcing it is a form of lawlessness. We followed the rules and a little bit about the administered process where you can get involved and encourage you all to get involved in the rulemaking process we should conscience rule which of the title X rule we should have separate billing rule which of the rollback. The transgender mandate through rule.

They have the force and effect of loss are governed in your daily activities by rules. The vaccine mandate that the president has announced is going to do, wasn't passed by Congress is going to come through OSHA, Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety and health wearing. The statues say they have the power to impose a nationwide mandate to do it through rules which means you have an opportunity to comment on the rulemaking process. Members of the public need to get involved.

Regulations.gov is the website where you track these regulations coming through anybody and everybody should submit comments by law. The agencies are required to consider the comments if you don't raise an argument on objection a particular they don't have to answer it and you lose your opportunity to raise it later is user to visit.

This is been one of the two-part address presented by Roger Severino and Nancy family Charlotte dinner in October. We sure to tune in next week for part two. For more information about and see family or watch a video of Rogers full keynote address go to our website it in.

See family.org that's in see family.org. Thanks so much for listening and may God bless you and your family