FIC Blog

“They converged in big numbers at the state Capitol today to rally against same-sex marriage and for the right to homeschool their children.” That was how Channel 3’s Al Terzi began a 5:30 pm Eyewitness News report about FIC Action’s Pro-Family Rally and Lobby Day yesterday. You can see the report that ran on the 12:00 pm edition of Eyewitness News by clicking here.

A “crowd of about 125″ attended our Rally, according to today’s Courant. That number appears on page B3, in a caption beneath a beautiful Shana Sureck photo of my daughter Elizabeth, age 7. You can view the Courant’s “Family Institute of Connecticut rally” photo gallery by clicking here. The Rally was also covered by Fox 61’s News at Ten show, the Archdiocese of Hartford’s “Crossroads” television program and airmaria.com.

We want to thank all of you who took time out of your busy day to attend our Rally and lobby your legislators for faith and family. The last time that full same-sex “marriage” was not before the legislature—2006—our Rally attracted 50 people. That 125 of you turned out yesterday to fight on six different bills is a sign to our opponents that we will defend the family whenever it is attacked—regardless of whether the attack is out in the open or “under the radar.”

We also want to thank all those who contributed to the Rally’s success. Rep. Arthur O’Neill (R-Southbury) addressed us on the need to restore the parental rights bill that he has championed. Pastor Adam Soderberg of South Church in Hartford gave a stirring speech on moral decay and our right to self-government. Pastor Jeff Roman of First Baptist Church in Tolland and Fr. Joseph Looney of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem inspired us with their prayers. Representatives David Aldarondo (D-Waterbury) and Selim Noujaim (R-Waterbury) offered bipartisan support for faith and family with their presence.

The Rally also marked the unveiling of FIC’s new youth wing with a remarkable speech by Chelsea Rankin, age 17. Several of FIC’s youth members were present at the Rally. Chelsea’s inspiring talk on youth who dare to defy the low expectations of the anti-family movement is just the first of many important contributions they will be making in the future.

We have been inundated with pictures of the Rally taken by many you who were in attendance. We will include a sampling of these wonderful photos in a future e-mail alert.

Once again, thank you so much for making our annual pro-family lobby day a success! Watch your in-box for news on future pro-family events and updates on the battles still to be won.

Our opponents are nothing if not tenacious–and they have friends in high places. A front page above-the-fold article in today’s Courant alleging discrimination against same-sex civil unions by H&R Block could revive the pro same-sex “marriage” bill that died in Judiciary on Monday. Interestingly, most of the Courant’s readers who have posted comments about the article–even some who are homosexual–disagree with the ACLU’s claim of discrimination. And last time I checked (10:45 this morning) most Courant readers responded “no” to the paper’s online poll asking whether H&R Block is discriminating. WTIC’s Jim Vicevich also tore the article to pieces this morning.

But the article’s real point was to try to influence the legislature to revive that bill. All the more reason for pro-family citizens to attend FIC Action’s April 3rd Rally and Lobby Day.

Monday night a bill that would have forced Connecticut to recognize out-of-state same-sex “marriages” died in committee. This marks our first victory in the Judiciary Committee in five years!

Not since the 2003 same-sex “domestic partnership” bill have we been able to defeat an attack by pro same-sex “marriage” forces inside the Lawlor-and-McDonald-led Judiciary Committee. Since then, anti-family activists continually gained strength in this key committee…until this year! The death of the 2008 same-sex “marriage” bill marks a major interruption in what had been pro same-sex “marriage” activists’ increasing sway over the Judiciary Committee.

And several Capitol insiders are saying FIC Action played a significant role in killing the bill! Following my testimony against the bill last week, one member of the Committee told me that my testimony had moved this legislator from the “yes” category to “undecided.” Other legislators yesterday also privately cited my testimony–particularly my testimony about a tax credit that would go only to same-sex couples–as one reason for the bill’s death.

And it was not only me–it was all of you who came to the Capitol last week to testify or otherwise made your opposition known. The Judiciary Committee had 100 bills to vote on by their 5 p.m. deadline Monday. Because we showed a significant level of opposition to the 2008 same-sex “marriage” bill, the Committee feared the bill would be “a talker”–that it would eat up so much of their time that they would not be able to pass other legislation by 5 p.m. Rather than face that prospect, they let the bill “die in committee.”

But this might not have happened but for the fact that so many of you heeded our call to send e-mails and testify at the Judiciary Committee. There are some who believe that our opponents at the state Capitol may have been testing us to see what opposition we would muster against this year’s stealth same-sex “marriage” bill. If so, it was you–our members–who passed the test with flying colors and gave us a victory the likes of which we have not seen in five years!

This shows how important it is for Connecticut’s pro-family citizens to make their voice heard at the Capitol. And it shows why we cannot let up. Though it is unlikely, the 2008 same-sex “marriage” bill could reappear as an amendment. Also, the Committee did pass the transgender bill, which we will work to defeat.

On Thursday, April 3rd FIC Action will hold a Pro-Family Rally and Lobby Day, beginning at 10:00 a.m. on the steps of the state Capitol. It is urgent that we turn out as many people as possible in order to keep these victories going. Please tell your friends and family and ask them to attend. And thank you for all you do to make possible Monday’s victory and all our other successes!

We have received the following from Deanne Kopp, head of UConn’s student pro-life group: 

NEXT WEDNESDAY Norma McCorvey (who was the pro-abortion “Roe” of Roe v. Wade and now pro-life) will be speaking at the UConn Storrs campus!–in the Student Union Theatre, 7:30-8:30pm.  Also the movie “Bella” (www.bellathemovie.com) will be playing in our theatre on Friday night, April 4th (11pm, free of charge). Info is below and Roe poster is attached! So exciting!
Contact me with any questions
~Deanne Kopp, 860-458-9027
UConn Pro-Life Club

Here’s the info from the poster:

“ROE NO MORE”

Featuring Norma McCorvey a.k.a. “Jane Roe” of the original R O E v. W A D E case that legalized abortion in the US

April 2 at 7:30 PM University of Connecticut, Storrs campus Student Union Theatre

35 years after the Roe v. Wade case, hear the message of a former abortion advocate who has lived on both sides of the debate.

FREE EVENT

Contact: uconnprolife@gmail.com

Funded by UConn Pro-Life and USG

Last week the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on a bill to force Connecticut to recognize out-of-state same-sex “marriages.” The bill would also begin a process for granting a tax credit that would go only to same-sex couples in civil unions, an expensive subsidy that would be borne by all the state’s taxpayers.

FIC Action opposed the bill because it would allow out-of-state same-sex “marriages” to automatically trigger legal incidients in CT law, thus undermining the 2005 DOMA. Just three years ago our state legislature made explicit that state policy recognizes that marriage can only exist between a man and a woman. By giving legal significance to same-sex “marriage” in CT law, this bill seeks to erode that policy. We also noted that state taxpayers should not have to bear the burden of pro same-sex “marriage” activists’ disagreement with federal tax policy.

You can read my comments in the New Haven Independent here and the Meriden Record Journal here. I testified before Michael Lawlor’s Judiciary Committee for about a half hour on the evening of St. Patrick’s Day. Though the hearing had been going for about six hours at that point, I was the first to bring up the taxpayer-funded subsidy to same-sex couples–a point Chairman Lawlor conceded. I have been told that my testimony may have moved a few votes our way. Even so, the Committee is heavily stacked against us and will likely pass the bill. Watch your in-boxes for more information on what you can do to stop it.

I want to thank all of you who responded to our messages and came to the hearing last week to oppose this bill. We were particularly touched by an e-mail FIC member Stephen Cardone sent to Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher and copied to me:

About a year ago, I watched the 2 of you and others make the case for marriage in front of the Connecticut Judiciary Committee. I was both impressed and inspired. Plus, I was more than a little bit perturbed at the hostility shown toward those for traditional marriage. I made a little promise to myself to let my voice be heard in the future. This Monday, I had a small opportunity and I took it. I testified against Raised Bill 5925 in Hartford. As you know, this would automatically recognize other states’ marriage or civil union as civil union in CT. Clearly an attempt to push us further toward same sex marriage.

Though I felt I could have done a better job if I had prepared more thoroughly, I handed this over to God and said what was on my heart. God certainly gave me the strength to do this. As it turned out, the ConnPost ended up quoting me…in, I would say, a positive light.

I say all of this to say thank you for your hard work and dedication. If it were not for you and the efforts of Peter Wolfgang, I don’t know where our state would be. Please keep up the good fight and know that you have inspired another like-minded individual. May God have His mighty hand on the mission.

Alis has submitted a comment that deserves the front page:

Christ is risen!

Blessings of the joyful Easter season.

And to you, Alis, and to all our readers!

The increasingly resource-strapped Hartford Courant still fields an impressive team of reporters to cover the state Capitol–and yet, not a single one of them could be bothered to cover yesterday’s Catholic Awareness Day events. The paper’s print edition could not even be bothered to run the AP story covering the biggest annual legislative event by the state’s biggest religious denomination. 

They did find space for it on their web site, though:

Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, said he hopes the bill [raising the age at which girls must be counseled before obtaining abortions from 15 to 17] could be amended later in the legislative process with language prohibiting anyone at the abortion clinic from providing the counseling.

“That’s an inherent conflict right there, because it’s the abortion provider who benefits financially from providing that service,” he said. “Ideally, we would like to see a bill that at least requires that the counseling comes from someone who is not connected to the abortion provider.”

Just to clarify: As I said in my testimony to the Children’s Committee (and to the AP reporter) FIC Action does support the bill in its present form. Like the Church, though, it is an issue we would like to revisit next year.

I was also interviewed about the two Planned Parenthood-backed sex-ed bills that the Church and FIC Action are opposing:

Planned Parenthood is at odds with the Catholic Church and the Family Institute over another proposal this session to fund sex education in public schools. Yolen said a coalition came up with the idea of providing $1 million worth of grants to school boards so they can hire or train sex education teachers if they want.

Wolfgang said he believes the bill is an opportunity for Planned Parenthood to get into the school systems.

“Even if they’re not talking about abortion in the public schools, Planned Parenthood develops that relationship with the kids, the kids go down to the clinics for contraception and that’s where it become obvious to them that when the contraception fails, abortion is available there as a backup,” he said.

William F. Buckley, a Connecticut native rightly described as the intellectual father of the conservative movement, died last week.

Buckley was not one of the formative influences in my journey from left to right. I did not discover him–or his delightful magazine, National Review–until after that journey was complete. But once I did, it was further confirmation that I had taken the correct path. No where on the Left was there anyone who was capable of engaging opponents in as elegant and witty a style as Buckley did from the Right. It helped, too, that he was brilliant and almost always right.

One person who did influence me in the way Buckley influenced so many others, Richard John Neuhaus, had this to say:

Bill Buckley was a man of almost inexhaustible curiosity, courtesy, generosity, and delight in the oddness of the human circumstance. He exulted in displaying his many talents, which was not pride so much as an invitation to others to share his amazement at the possibilities in being fully alive. He was also, in and through everything, a man of quietly solid Christian faith. I am among innumerable others whose lives are fuller by virtue of the gift of his friendship. May choirs of angels greet him on the far side of Jordan.

Perennial third party candidate–and ardent Connecticut pro-lifer–Joe Zdonczyk has died: 

Joseph A. Zdonczyk, who ran unsuccessfully for governor four times on a platform of outlawing abortion, has died at 79 at a Wolcott nursing home after a brief illness…

As founder of the Concerned Citizens Party of Connecticut in 1975, Zdonczyk focused often on abortion, one of the party’s key planks. But he maintained that he was not a single-issue candidate, saying he was also opposed to the death penalty and embryonic stem cell research…

“Joe was passionate about the beliefs he championed, and he would defend and debate them with anyone and everyone,” Rell said. “He was a tireless campaigner, and he earned the respect of many.”

Every so often Joe would invite me to run on his party’s ticket. I always declined. Every so often I would suggest to him that his party make cross-endorsements. He always declined.

But we always understood each other to be on the same side in the great battles of our day and his death is a cause for sadness. He was one of the few who raised his voice in-season and out-of-season on behalf of those who have no voice. May those unborn innocents on whose behalf Joe advocated greet him with love at his final destination. Joe Zydoncyk, R.I.P.

Hearings have been held on the two controversial Planned Parenthood-backed sex-ed bills that I blogged about last week. From the New Haven Register:

Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, testified against the bill at a public hearing Monday, and also had concerns about New Haven’s teen pregnancy plan.

“What we favor is abstinence-only education. It doesn’t make sense to educate them on abstinence, and say if you choose not to go that route, here’s how to have sex. That actually encourages them,” he said.

From the Courant, regarding the first–quite heated–hearing on Friday:

Opponents of the bill met with skepticism from legislators.

Theresa Krankowski, director of St. Gerard’s Center for Life, a Catholic pregnancy center in Hartford, said comprehensive sex education was fundamentally incompatible with abstinence, which she said should be taught instead. Krankowski, who holds a doctorate in education, called teaching children about both condoms and abstinence “educationally unsound.”

But state Rep. Jason W. Bartlett, D-Bethel, said Krankowski was effectively suggesting that too much information can lead to bad behavior, and he noted that teens can also get information from the Internet. “Should I be submitting legislation that we not allow children to access the Internet because there’s too much information there?” he asked.

“Because teens have access to unhealthy things on the Internet, we should expose them to unhealthy things in the public schools. The only alternative is to ban the Internet.” Yes, the arguments from legislators supporting this bill were actually that lame–and worse.

More:

Another opponent, Valeria Barbier, a 20-year-old Trinity College student, said the bill could lead to teaching children about sex too early.

Barbier focused much of her testimony on Planned Parenthood’s support for the bill, and warned that the organization was attempting to drive up its “business” providing abortions by introducing younger children to topics like oral sex and masturbation. “They know condoms break, and they know that girls forget to take contraception regularly,” she said.

Ironically, the same hearing which saw legislators defending the nation’s largest provider of abortions also heard testimony on a bill that would create an educational program focused on genocide awareness. To the surprise of no one, the irony was lost on the Committee.