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Manchin and Rockefeller Support Bill Which Could Force Sterilization and Abortion of Disabled

December 5, 2012 By Nathan Cherry

A recent pro-life victory was celebrated as the United Nations Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) treaty was not ratified by the U.S. Senate and will not become the law of the land. A recent article shares: “Now, that CRPD is defeated, we know that United Nations won’t have oversight of how we care for our special needs kids. This treaty would have given the U.N. oversight of the healthcare and education choices parents with special needs kids make. Had it passed, CRPD would have become the law of the land under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, and would have trumped state laws, and could have been used as precedent by state and federal judges.”

The article goes on to comment on how this treaty, if ratified, could have harmed the pro-life movement in America: “This is a misleading measure in that it does nothing to protect life. It is disguised as a way to ‘help’ the disabled. Instead it intentionally sacrifices the most vulnerable – the disabled and the unborn – all in the name of population control…Many don’t realize that this international treaty could potentially supersede future attempts to overturn Roe v. Wade.” But these concerns did not stop WV Senators Rockefeller and Manchin from voting to support the bill. Evidently Manchin’s “pro-life” position is more words than actions. Click here for original article and to see how all U.S Senators voted.

About Nathan Cherry

Nathan Cherry is the chief editor and blogger for the Engage Family Minute blog, the official blog of the FPCWV. He serves also as the Regional Development Coordinator as a liaison to the pastor's of West Virginia. He is a pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-religious freedom conservative. He is also a husband, father, pastor, author, musician, and follower of Jesus Christ.

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: abortion, bill, CRPD, disabled, manchin, pro-life, Rockefeller, sterilization, treaty, UN

West Virginia Sends Strong Message Supporting Life in Primary Elections

May 11, 2012 By Nathan Cherry

by Nathan A. Cherry, 05/11/2012

The upcoming election is one of the biggest in our nations’ history, of that I am sure. After nearly four years of the most pro-abortion, pro-homosexual president in U.S. history, our nation is being pushed away from the traditional values it was founded upon. But, while economic and healthcare issues are sure to be front and center in debates, don’t think for one minute that life and marriage are unimportant.

Events of the last few weeks along with this week’s election results have told me that social issues like life and marriage are still major factors in people’s mind as they decide who they will vote for. Even president Obama is leveraging social issues like marriage with his announcement this week that he now fully supports legalizing same-sex “marriage.” This could also be a political chess move to distract American voters from his failed record, who knows.

The fact is these issues have always been important to the American people. Now more than ever, more Americans identify as pro-life and support restrictions on abortions, limiting abortions to rare and emergency cases, and removing all tax funding from abortion. Yet with a super-majority of Americans in favor of such measures, our pro-abortion president has given more money to fund abortion than any other president, has fought any and all restrictions of abortion, and generally done all he can to ensure groups like Planned Parenthood can continue their criminal activities.

But West Virginia sent two very clear messages during Tuesday’s election.

According to West Virginian’s for Life, fully 88% of endorsed pro-life candidates passed the primary election to get on the ballot in November. This means 130 of 147 endorsed candidates will now be on the ballot in November. You can read this article to see the full list of those making it past the primary on Tuesday. Regarding Sen. Manchin the article states:

[Read more...]

About Nathan Cherry

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: 2012, Election, inmate, issue, Life, manchin, Marriage, message, Obama, primary, Romney, social, support, Tomblin, West Virginia

Wake Up Senator Manchin! You Can’t Stay Ignorant Forever

May 24, 2011 By Nathan Cherry

by Nathan A. Cherry, 05/24/2011

Martinsburg, WV – With all due respect to Senator Manchin, this is a load of garbage! As I read through this article and the comments made by Manchin, I found my blood pressure rising as the senator defended his vote to continue giving millions of tax-payer dollars to Planned Parenthood. His comments are nonsense. His comments aren’t logically compatible with the reality true of Planned Parenthood. Here, let me walk you through some of what he said.

“I did everything humanly possible. At the end of the day, I could not in all my good conscious, when I knew not one penny of your taxes was being used at Planned Parenthood to pay for abortions… I couldn’t tell the women who were dependent upon that health care, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t take a chance on giving you your health care.’ I just couldn’t do it.”

First, you didn’t do everything humanly possible. You could have supported the Pence amendment in the budget to remove all tax money from abortion businesses. But you didn’t. Second, only a willingly ignorant person would ever admit where living people can hear that no money is being used for abortions. Oh, let’s be clear, “not one penny” may physically be used to pay for an abortion, but our money is used to subsidize the infrastructure of Planned Parenthood so they are free to use other money to pay for abortion. In other words, our money pays for abortion. Come on Senator, don’t be so naïve, you’re in Washington, it’s time to wake up and join reality.

“Manchin said after his vote for Planned Parenthood funding that he offered the ‘Title X Transparency and Verification Act’ as a ‘lifelong abortion opponent’ to ‘ensure that all West Virginians and all Americans can easily access and independently verify information that not one single federal taxpayer dollar is used to fund abortions in this country. I believe there needs to be a strict firewall around the vital services that Title X funds provide — such as cancer screenings and family planning — so that those federal funds are never, ever used for a single abortion, except in the case of rape, incest and life of the mother.’”

[Read more...]

About Nathan Cherry

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: abortion, manchin, Mary Ann Buchanan, Pence Amendment, planned parenthood, Senator Manchin, tax money, Title X, West Virginians for life

Who Is The Best Candidate for West Virginia?

May 19, 2011 By Nathan Cherry

by Nathan A. Cherry, 05/19/2011

Martinsburg, WV – West Virginians once again voiced their strong support for life by nominating two pro-life candidates for Governor. Republican Bill Maloney and Democrat Earl Ray Tomblin won the primary held last Saturday and will begin their respective campaigns to finish the term of Joe Manchin, who was elected to Congress last November.

It’s a quiet byline in most stories, but needs to be highlighted and screamed from every Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountain in the state. Both Tomblin and Maloney are strongly pro-life and believe in the sanctity of human life. And while I suspect that social issues could be relegated to the back seat of this special gubernatorial election in favor of economic policies, Obamacare, and other issues at the forefront of many minds during this struggling economy; I hope it gets plenty of press.

I am also hoping that we get a strong, truly devoted pro-life Governor. While Joe Manchin did not do anything to harm life while in office, he did not do all that he could have to protect it either. He took a more passive stance rather than actively seeking to protect the innocent lives of the unborn. Now, as a Senator it seems Manchin is falling in line with the liberals in Washington on abortion and even voting to support Planned Parenthood. Frankly, the last thing West Virginia needs is another soft pro-life Governor.

As recently reported:

“Tomblin has compiled a pro-life record which encompasses voting for passage of these successful bills: the Women’s Right to Know Law, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and an Ultrasound Option Requirement, and Partial-Birth Abortion Ban. He has also voted to secure Parental Notice and in 2005 sponsored a Respect Life Day resolution.”

That’s good news for Mountaineers. What concerns me is the lack of information on other very important social issues on Mr. Tomblin’s website. (If you haven’t checked his website out, click here and learn more about where Tomblin stands on several issues.)

[Read more...]

About Nathan Cherry

Filed Under: Life, Marriage, Religious Freedom Tagged With: abortion, bill maloney, conservative, earl ray tomblin, Governor, manchin, Marriage, Religious Freedom, social issues, vote

Urgent: Manchin Fails First Pro Life Test

April 15, 2011 By Nathan Cherry

by Nathan A. Cherry, 04/15/2011

Martinsburg, WV – Maybe you heard about the vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate yesterday on pro-life issues. The votes were primarily on the Continuing Resolution that was agreed upon last week in order to avert a government shutdown. But, as part of that agreement abortion issues were debated and voted upon as well.

FAIL: First pro-life test is a failure for Sen. Manchin.

The House of Representatives voted 241-185 (a mostly partisan vote) to defund Planned Parenthood. The measure then went to the Senate where another partisan vote of 58-42 saw the measure defeated. And even though several pro-abortion senators voted to defund Planned Parenthood in the interested of economic intelligence and in listening the desires of the American peoples, sadly, not all followed suit.

In particular it is interesting to note that “pro-life” Senator Joe Manchin voted to support Planned Parenthood and continue funding the abortion industry with our tax money. Less than a year after being elected and proclaiming himself to be pro-life, here, in his first test of moral fortitude and conviction he chooses to support abortion and the corrupt Planned Parenthood organization rather than life.

To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations for Sen. Manchin to begin with. I was of the opinion that once he got to Washington he would fall in line with the other rank and file liberals in further damaging life, marriage, and religious freedom in America. So far he has acted as a good caucus member and done exactly what was expected of him.

One bit of good news from this vote is that the amount of Title X (family planning) funding available was reduced. This might sound like a bad thing at first. But remember that this is the fund Planned Parenthood draws from; which means that the amount available to them will be less. I support whatever gives them less of my money.

In case you are not sure why defunding Planned Parenthood is a good idea, consider this information shared by Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life:

[Read more...]

About Nathan Cherry

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: abortion, Congress, defund, House of Representatives, Life, manchin, planned parenthood, Senate, tax money

GOP – Not Sen. Manchin – to Blame for Normalization of Homosexual Conduct in the Military

December 20, 2010 By Jeremy Dys

In who do you trust? Not these guys! (Photo credit: Bill Clark/Roll Call).

Over the weekend, after 2 or 3 failed attempts this year, the U.S. Senate finally managed to repeal the so-called, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy. After the President signs it, as we expect he will this week, the 200+ year tradition for our military that finds homosexual conduct incompatible with military service will end. How that affects the morale, good order, and religious liberty of our troops will be watched with prayerful eyes.

Incidentally, I find it interesting that today the Washington Post today posts a timeline of DADT. Those calling for repeal have argued that this has been “a 17 year ban,” but, as the WaPo points out, it dates back at least to 1950 and Truman’s codification of the UCMJ. It actually goes back to the time of George Washington, but who’s counting.

On Saturday, Politico published a story that reported that one of the Senate’s newest members was absent from the historic vote. It quoted Brian Walsh, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (the NRSC – the political arm of the GOP for US Senate candidates) as saying:

“Perhaps in Joe Manchin’s world today was a win-win, not only was he able to skip work and party, but he was also able to avoid voting on two very sensitive political issues. For a Senator who has only been on the job a few weeks, Manchin's absence today, and the apparent lack of seriousness with which he takes the job he was elected to do, speaks volumes,” said Walsh in a statement.

via Manchin’s double dodge – David Catanese – POLITICO.com.

Locally, the reactions I’ve seen on Twitter and Facebook, as well as progressive and conservative blogs, have been quite critical of Manchin. I’ve seen him called everything from, “No Show Joe” to . . . well, worse names. Online comments from his left have promised never to vote for him again and some to even pledge an active campaign against him. Those to his political right have not lost much time in taking advantage of the situation either, saying things similar to what Walsh said above.

But, here’s the deal: the DADT repeal passed 65-31 in the U.S. Senate. Of that, 8 – EIGHT – GOP Senators voted in favor of repeal. Frankly, Manchin’s family obligations gave him convenient political cover, but it was an effective vote against repeal – which is more than can be said 1/5th of the republicans in the U.S. Senate!

Moreover, Manchin’s lack of presence is (in part) a testament to the thousands of calls, emails, and letters that our constituents sent, holding him accountable to their wishes. He was trapped between a party bent on normalizing homosexual behavior at all costs and a conservative constituency that made their wishes very clearly known to him ahead of the vote.

Sens. Burr, Ensign, Collins, Snowe, Murkowski, Brown, Voinovich, and Kirk – all republicans – suggested to voters that they agreed with the 2008 National GOP Platform which states:

To protect our servicemen and women and ensure that America’s Armed Forces remain the best in the world, we affirm the timelessness of those values, the benefits of traditional military culture, and the incompatibility of homosexuality with military service. [emphasis added]

Do you realize that if these eight republicans had remained faithful to the platform that they told their constituents they support, the vote would have been 57-39? The vote would have failed.

So, do me a favor: lay off Manchin.

[Read more...]

About Jeremy Dys

Jeremy Dys is the FPCWV's President and General Counsel. In addition to his duties of providing strategic vision and leadership to the FPCWV, Dys is the chief lobbyist and spokesman. Dys is regularly featured in local, state, and national print, radio, and television outlets. He lives close to Charleston with his wife and growing family.

Filed Under: Religious Freedom Tagged With: Christians and Government, DADT, dnc, FPCWV, GOP, manchin, mission, Psalm 2, public policy, purpose, Religious Freedom, Romans 13, voting

PRESS RELEASE: FPCWV Thanks Sen. Manchin for Vote Against Open Homosexual Behavior, Abortion Clinics in Military

December 9, 2010 By Jeremy Dys

West Virginia’s newest U.S. Senator only member to break with his party in defense of the family, preborn.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Late Thursday, the United States Senate rejected a measure (57-40) that would have normalized homosexual behavior in the military and allowed taxpayer dollars to be used to fund abortion-on-demand on military bases. The only member of the U.S. Senate to break with his party was Sen. Joe Manchin.

“We are grateful that Sen. Manchin has not allowed religious liberty, free speech, and national security to take a back seat to the homosexual agenda in this country,” said Jeremy Dys, president and general counsel of the Family Policy Council of West Virginia (FPCWV). “Sen. Manchin deserves credit and our thanks for this, as well as for his boldness to be the only member of his party to stand up for the next generation of our fighting forces and against the pro-abortion leadership of the U.S. Senate.”

The FPCWV generated more than 1,800 phone calls from its core constituents to Sen. Manchin’s office, each expressing their opposition to normalizing homosexual behavior in the military. Over 85% of the 10,000 homes the FPCWV called this week opposed repealing the so-called, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia is a servant organization advocating for policies that embrace the sanctity of human life, enrich marriage, and safeguard religious freedom.

# # #

About Jeremy Dys

Filed Under: Marriage, Religious Freedom Tagged With: DADT, manchin, Marriage, religious liberty, Senate

BREAKING: Senator Joe Manchin Votes AGAINST Repealing DADT

December 9, 2010 By Jeremy Dys

In a vote case just minutes ago, Sen. Joe Manchin voted against invoking cloture on the Defense Authorization Bill, effectively voting against the normalization of homosexual behavior in the military.

With additional voting continuing as we type, the final results are unknown. Updates will follow.

UPDATE (4:05 p.m.): 57-40, vote to invoke cloture fails in the U.S. Senate.

About Jeremy Dys

Filed Under: Marriage, Religious Freedom Tagged With: DADT, manchin, Religious Freedom, Senate

Op-Ed: Will Manchin Follow Byrd’s Example on DADT?

December 8, 2010 By Jeremy Dys

Will Manchin follow Byrd's historic defense of the family? (Photo Cred: Jeff Gentner/AP/MSNBC.com

During his historic tenure as our Senator, the late Robert C. Byrd consistently placed the First Amendment, freedom of speech, and national security above special interests groups. West Virginians must now wonder whether Sen. Manchin will follow the example of the historic Robert C. Byrd or advance a political agenda Byrd once clearly opposed?

Sen. Byrd’s committee vote this past summer in favor of the proposed repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) was at complete odds with his half-century, staunch defense of the family – as well as the famed Constitution he carried in his coat pocket.

In 1996, The New York Times quoted his support for marriage as the union of one man and one woman. “The drive for same-sex marriage,” he said at the time, “is, in effect, an effort to make a sneak attack on society by encoding this aberrant behavior in legal form before society itself has decided it should be legal.”

Ironically, if Sen. Manchin helped repeal DADT, a soldier quoting Sen. Byrd’s own words would be subject to discipline.

Former President Bill Clinton, in his memoir My Life, confirms this when he reported that Sen. Byrd would never allow his beloved grandson to serve in a military that welcomed the open practice of homosexual behavior.

Yet, if DADT is repealed, soldiers can expect to be put through hours of “sensitivity training” that will sharply disagree with Sen. Byrd’s characterization of homosexual behavior as “aberrant.” The 1.4 million members of our armed forces will be drilled on the myths of the homosexual movement, including those alleging that homosexual behavior is normal and that homosexual conduct is harmless to individuals and society.

On DADT, as with health insurance reform and the financial bailout, our leaders seem to be ramming through legislation and asking questions later. But, some of those nagging questions have profound implications for personal and religious freedom in America.

[Read more...]

About Jeremy Dys

Filed Under: Marriage, Religious Freedom Tagged With: #polwv, Byrd, Clinton, DADT, Dys, family, manchin, Marriage, Religious Freedom

Sen. Manchin Hears – and Wants to Hear – from West Virginians on DADT

December 7, 2010 By Jeremy Dys

Manchin, concerned how repealing DADT will affect religious liberty, wants to hear from his constituents before he votes.

As we reported yesterday, Sen. Manchin has expressed concern over how repealing the so-called, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy might affect the religious liberty of our soldiers. That has put him at odds with party leadership and, as a result, Sen. Manchin is unsure how he will finally cast his vote.

Phil Kabler of the Charleston Gazette joined other reporters on a conference call with the senator. He quotes Sen. Manchin as saying:

“I can see a lot of reasons why people could be for or against it,” Manchin said, saying he is hoping to get input from constituents before he casts a vote.

via Manchin feels partisan sting of Washington – The Charleston Gazette [emphasis added].

Well, that’s exactly what we hope to provide for Sen. Manchin

As Ry Rivard reports in today’s Charleston Daily Mail, concerning Sen. Manchin and DADT:

And he remains unsure how he will vote on a move to repeal the military’s policy on gay soldiers referred to as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

About 10,000 West Virginians were expected to receive robocalls Monday night from the Family Policy Council of West Virginia urging them to lobby Congress to keep the current policy in place, said Jeremy Dys, the conservative group’s leader.

via Manchin to vote in favor of unions – Charleston Daily Mail.

The calls we made (and are making) to 10,000 of our core constituents last night continue this morning and into this evening. And, here is what we have discovered: more than 85% of those being surveyed oppose normalizing homosexual behavior in the military by repealing DADT.

Of that 85%, several thousand have agreed to call Sen. Manchin and politely ask him to vote against repeal. Given Sen. Manchin’s comments yesterday, we trust these calls will give him the confidence he needs to stand with his people against the administration and senate leadership.

Join in. Call Sen. Manchin at 202-224-3954 and ask him to protect religious liberty by voting against the repeal of DADT.