AUSTIN, TX, January 24, 2012—Today, Liberty Institute, on behalf of three Austin, TX-area pregnancy resource centers submitted a comment letter to the Mayor, City Council members and attorneys for the City of Austin, opposing as unconstitutional a newly proposed city ordinance requiring pregnancy centers, under the threat of criminal penalties, to disclose government-mandated information about their services at their front entrances, information that the pregnancy centers already provide to women inside their facilities.
On January 26, the Austin City Council will discuss Chapter 10-9 of the Austin City Code, which, last week, the City’s Law Department recommended should be repealed. In addition to repealing the unconstitutional ordinance, the Austin City Council will also consider amending the ordinance. The newly proposed ordinance, however, suffers from many of the same defects including unfair application to facilities the City disagrees with and violates the First Amendment because it is compelled speech and discriminates on the basis of viewpoint.
“We encourage the Austin City Council to follow the recommendations of its own lawyers and simply repeal the current ordinance that the City never enforced and is already the subject of a federal lawsuit, and do nothing more. This rogue Council has now proposed a new ordinance that is even more unconstitutional and shows that Mayor Leffingwell and Member Spelman would rather waste taxpayer dollars in court then do what’s best for the people,” said Jonathan Saenz, an attorney and director of legislative affairs for Liberty Institute in Austin.
Coauthors of the letter include former Texas Supreme Court Justice Raul Gonzalez, David Lill, and, attorneys with Liberty Institute, who are co-counsel representing three Austin area pregnancy resource centers in the pending federal lawsuit, Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin, et al. v. City of Austin.
If the Austin City Council fails to repeal the original ordinance or passes an amended ordinance as proposed, Liberty Institute’s clients, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin, Catholic Charities of Central Texas, the Austin Pregnancy Resource Center, and the South Austin Pregnancy Resource Center, will proceed with their federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance. In three other federal district court cases in other jurisdictions, federal judges have held similar ordinances unconstitutional.
Liberty Institute is a non-profit legal firm defending and restoring religious freedom across America.
An overview of the negative impacts of divorce on children from a new groundbreaking study:
1. Children from divorced families diedalmost five yearsearlier than those from intact families.
2. Facing parental divorce during childhood was the single strongest social predictor of earlydeath, many years into the future.
3. Having one’s parents divorce during childhood was a much stronger predictor of mortality riskthan was parental death.
4. The experience of parental divorce was strongly linked to earlier mortalityfrom all causes, including accidents, cancers, and cardiovascular disease.
5. For boyswhose parents divorce, the risk of dying from accidents and violencewas particularly robust, as they grew up to be more reckless.
6. Children’s standards of living decreased, on average, when their parents divorced, but the psychological effects went beyond the economic changes.
7. Girls and boys from divorced homes tended to end their educationearlier than those from intact families, with the expected problems that then ensued.
8. Boys and girls from divorced homes were more likely to smoke and drinkwhen they got older, as compared to their peers from intact families.
9. Girls from divorced families were than 100%more likely to become heavy smokers
10. Those who had lived through their parents’ divorce when they were children were more likely to have their own marriages end in divorce, thus perpetuating the vicious cycle.
11. A positive family environment—having positive feelings about one’s family—did not ameliorate the detrimental effects of divorce. Boys with positive family feelings lived shorter lives, as it was especially traumatic to have a seemingly positive, functional home torn apart.
12. Men who divorced were at much higher mortality risk than those who remained married. Even remarried men didn’t live as long as those who stayed steadily married.
This unique life-span study dramatically extended and confirmed similar (but shorter-term or less intensive) findings in this area by researchers such as Drs. Rena Repetti, Paul Amato, Judth Wallerstein, Andrew Cherlin, Jennifer Lansford, Robert Anda and others. See Howard S. Friedman & Leslie R. Martin (2011). The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study. NY: Hudson Street Press. Information being distributed by Coalition for Divorce.
Download a full pdf version of this information here.
What a fantastic March for Life Rally in downtown Dallas this past weekend! There was beautiful weather, thousands of people, and with recent victories like the Sonogram Law, there was a renewed sense of purpose in continuing to fight for a culture of life. Don’t forget that the Texas Rally for Life is this coming Saturday at the Texas Capitol. Liberty Institute will be participating as one of the Host Committee orgainizations. For more details visit: http://www.texasrallyforlife.org/
Pictures from Dallas on Saturday:
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Check out a video of the March, with the line seemingly going on forever.
The Texas Sonogram law is now in full effect as of January 13, 2012, as ordered by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Yes, every abortion clinic and abortion doctor in Texas must follow this law, now. Any doctor seeking to perform an abortion on a woman in Texas must follow this law that protects women and makes it illegal for doctors to prevent a woman from seeing a sonogram image. During the legislative process, we heard so many women testify about how abortion clinic doctors would not let them see the sonogram image.
The Sonogram law requires:
1. A woman must have the sonogram displayed so she can see it.
2. A woman must have a sonogram performed on her.
3. The baby’s heartbeat must be made audible so the woman can hear it.
4. A woman must be given a description of the sonogram image.
5. A woman must have a face to face meeting with the abortion doctor.
6. A woman must be given this information 24 hours before the abortion.
If a doctor does not provide a woman with this information, the doctor faces civil penalties.
Spread the word, and make sure every woman in Texas knows that she now has significant protections in the law when she goes into an abortion clinic. If you hear of any doctor or abortion clinic not following this law, please contact our office immediately at 512-478-2220.
Texans from all across the state will be convening in Austin, TX February 3-4, 2012 for the premier conservative grassroots event in the state, CTxPAC. Liberty Institute is a founding sponsor of CTxPAC and our President and CEO Kelly Shackelford will be addressing the conference on Saturday, February 4th as well as leading a workshop. Other founding sponsor’s of the event include Americans for Prosperity – Texas, FreedomWorks, New Revolution Now, and numerous Tea Party groups from across the state. Just a few highlights of the event will include:
Great Speakers and Empowering Workshops: Hear from leading conservative leaders and have opportunities to meet conservative grassroots leaders from around Texas, get advice, and get up-to-date on the latest grassroots strategies and technologies. Workshops will be conducted by Liberty Institute, Americans for Prosperity – Texas, FreedomWorks, Common Ground America, and others.
Presidential Town Hall and Texas Conservative Caucus: The conservative grassroots will make a historic pre-primary statement by conducting a caucus to choose a nominee for President. All registrants will be eligible to vote except discounted student registrants. Invited Presidential Candidates and Campaigns include Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, and Ron Paul. This will be an exciting, interactive event – so don’t miss your opportunity to join conservative Texans in voting.
Patriot Reception: Join us for this exceptional private reception that includes food, drink and entertainment. CTxPAC is over-flowing with opportunities to network and build relationships with other state and national activists and conservative candidates. A highlight of the Patriot Reception will be the announcement of the Texas Top Ten Conservative Challenger Candidates. Nominate your top 5 candidates here.
As we move into this all important 2012 election year, it is vitally important that we stay actively engaged and informed. Be sure to check out all the event details on the CTxPAC website and you can register for the Friday night and all day Saturday events here. Attendance is limited so please register today!
Martin Luther King, Jr. holds a prominent place in the Texas History and Social Studies curriculum standards. That’s correct, MLK is one of the most discussed and studied persons in our Texas curriculum standards passed in 2010, under the leadership of conservative Republicans. I have long been an admirer of Dr. King, so I am proud that our state is showing such support for an incredible man.
In 2010( and part of 2009) the Texas State Board of Education had numerous public hearings, votes, discussions, meetings, etc. to decide on a final product for statewide History and Social Studies teaching for K-12 public school children in Texas. Conservatives led the way and eventually 2/3rds of the elected SBOE members, all Republicans, voted in favor of a final product that is expected to stay in place for around ten years.
You heard a lot of celebrating from our side in 2010, because of the teaching on American Exceptionalism, the focus on teaching the U.S. Constitution and religious liberty, the Founding Fathers, and also praise for a large increase in diversity of persons included, across the board (race, ethnicity, gender, etc.)
But you also heard incorrect and exaggerated complaints from the left, the media, Bill White and numerous others who didn’t have their facts straight on this issue. That’s why we set up the website, www.juststatethefacts.com
So we encourage you to be proud that our Texas Social Studies standards highlight one of the most important figures in American history and that Texas students have the “I Have A Dream” speech and “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” as part of our curriculum standards for public school children.
And be proud that it was a conservative group of Texas State Board of Education members that made it happen.
By the way, big thanks goes to Attorney General Greg Abbott and Texas Solicitor General Jonathan Mitchell for doing an excellent job defending the Texas Sonogram law!!
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court Upholds Law Stating Sonograms Must Be Performed 24 Hours Before Abortions
AUSTIN, Texas, January 10, 2012 – Today, Liberty Institute announced a major pro-life victory when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit declared constitutional the recently enacted Texas Sonogram Law, also known as HB 15. The Fifth Circuit’s decision overturned a controversial ruling by U.S. District Judge Sparks, which enjoined the Texas law co-authored by Senator Dan Patrick and Representative Sid Miller and was signed into law by Governor Rick Perry in May 2011. The law requires doctors and certified sonographers to perform a sonogram on women seeking an abortion at least 24 hours before the procedure.
“This is one of the most important victories in the past 10 years for informed consent for women seeking an abortion,” said Jonathan Saenz, Liberty Institute Attorney who heads the office at the Texas Capitol and provided the main legal testimony for the bill during the legislative process. “Women and unborn children in Texas are safer today because of this decision and no longer subject to the abuse of abortion doctors who deny women critical medical information.”
HB 15, which amends the 2003 Texas Woman’s Right to Know Act (“WRKA”), requires the physician “who is to perform an abortion” to perform and display a sonogram of the fetus, make audible the heart auscultation of the fetus for the woman to hear, as well as explain to her the results of each procedure and to wait 24 hours, in most cases, between these disclosures and performing the abortion.
Senator Patrick said, “I was always confident that our bill would survive any constitutional question because our goal from the beginning was to protect the woman’s right to know, protect the unborn and protect the constitution.”
Representative Sid Miller, said, “I commend the court of appeals for this just decision which confirms that women have every right to be fully informed about the abortion decision and that my fellow Texas lawmakers who supported this law stayed within the bounds of U.S. Supreme Court precedent.”
In August, on behalf of Senator Patrick and Representative Miller and in support of the law, Liberty Institute filed an amicus brief in the lawsuit seeking to strike down Texas’ new sonogram law (HB 15), which was originally scheduled to go into effect on September 1, 2011. Senator Patrick and Representative Miller were the authors of HB 15 in the Texas Senate and Texas House of Representatives, respectively. Liberty Institute argued that HB 15 is consistent with The Supreme Court and only requires the disclosure of truthful and accurate information to allow women to make informed decisions regarding their pregnancies.
Breaking News — Texas Sonogram law ruled constitutional! The Fifth Circuit Court (Edith Jones opinion) holds recently enacted Texas Sonogram law constitutional. The Fifth Circuit reversed Judge Sparks, vacating his granting of preliminary injunction, which had stopped enforcement of the Texas Sonogram law.
Check back to the blog today for a full press release with quotes from the bill’s authors, Senator Dan Patrick and Representative Sid Miller. Liberty Institute, on behalf of Senator Dan Patrick and Representative Sid Miller, had filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the law.
You can download the 5th Circuit Court opinion here
Today, the Sonogram Bill (HB 15) will go before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The State of Texas will be seeking to overturn U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruling that put on hold key provisions of Texas’ new sonogram law. The Sonogram Bill, which requires doctors or certified sonographers to perform a sonogram on women seeking an abortion at least 24 hours before the procedure, was overwhelmingly passed by the Texas Legislature and signed into law by Governor Perry this past legislative session.
Liberty Institute, on behalf of Texas State Senator Dan Patrick and Representative Sid Miller – authors of the Sonogram Bill in the Texas Senate and House respectively, filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the law. Liberty Institute argues that HB 15 is consistent with Supreme Court precedents and only requires the disclosure of truthful and accurate information to allow women to make informed decisions regarding their pregnancies. Liberty Institute was also involved in helping lawmakers draft the best language for this legislation and provided legal advocacy at numerous legislative hearings on this matter when pro-abortion advocates tried to stop this effort.
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Liberty Institute released the following press release today:
Plano, Texas, December 22, 2011—Today, days before Christmas, Liberty Institute filed a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court in Morgan v. Swanson, (known nationwide as the “candy cane” case), asking the Court to hold government officials accountable for violating students’ First Amendment rights. Liberty Institute filed the petition on behalf of Plano ISD students who, during Christmas 2003, were banned by school officials from distributing candy cane pens, pencils and other gifts containing religious messages to classmates during non-curricular activities and after school—a clear violation of their constitutional rights to free speech and free exercise of religion.
“Every school official knows that engaging in religious viewpoint discrimination against students is unconstitutional,” said Kelly Shackelford, Esq., president/CEO of Liberty Institute. “Saying that school officials can engage in such religious discrimination without any responsibility is not the law and would send exactly the wrong message to millions of school children and their families.”
The petition asks The Supreme Court to review a deeply divided en banc decision of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which narrowly granted two school officials, Lynn Swanson, Principal of Thomas Elementary School, and Jackie Bombchill, Principal of Rasor Elementary School, qualified immunity, despite numerous constitutional violations. While recognizing that the school officials violated the Constitution, a majority of the court determined that the law, however, was not clearly established enough to hold them responsible. In July 2010, a unanimous panel of the Fifth Circuit denied the school officials qualified immunity recognizing that the law prohibiting viewpoint discrimination is clearly established and also rejected the school officials’ argument that elementary school students have no First Amendment rights.
Former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, who will argue the “Obamacare” lawsuit in the Supreme Court in March, serves as co-counsel with Liberty Institute and argued the case alongside former U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth Starr at the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in September. Clement also co-wrote the petition for review to The Supreme Court.
After eight years in litigation, the candy cane case has come to symbolize what many call “the war on Christmas.” Since 2003, the case has affected change throughout the nation, reshaping school district policies, influencing changes to state law, evoking questions about religious expression in schools and forcing the examination of student’s First Amendment rights. By taking the case, the U.S. Supreme Court would likely clarify the law nationwide, which affects over 40 million students.
Liberty Institute is a non-profit legal firm that works to restore and defend religious freedoms in schools, churches and the public arena. Visit www.LibertyInstitute.org or www.CandyCaneCase.com for more information.
This past Saturday, an estimated 5,000 Texans rallied to support the Nativity Scene at the Henderson County Courthouse in Athens, Tx. The Wisconsin based Freedom From Religion Foundation, who has a history of attacking religious freedom around the country, had sent a letter to county officials stating that the religious display on the courthouse lawn should be removed from county property. On Saturday, with law and history on their side, 5,000 Texans stood for true religious freedom and sent the clear message: “Don’t Mess with Christmas in Texas.”
The rally was filled with moving music and speech as Pastors from all around the area united in support of the Nativity scene. Pastor Nathan Lorick of First Baptist Church of Malakoff, encouraged the crowd to no longer stand as the silent majority and challenged everyone to recognize that “the truth of the Bible was not a mere afterthought but instead a foundational basis on which we live.”
Please check out some great pictures and video from the rally below:
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*Special thanks to our local conservative and tea party friends for proving the pictures and video
Posted by jonathansaenz 
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