"We
support this prayer and fasting initiative for our state. We recognize that
prayer is the key to affecting the hearts and minds of those that are leaders
and decision makers."
Dr. Patrick Blewett
Academic Vice President & Dean of the Faculty, Grace University
Linelle Kelley, Nebraska Coordinator, United States Strategic Prayer
Network
Pastor David Vaughn, Victory Bible Fellowship, Grand Island
Fern Nilson, National Area Leader, National Day of Prayer
"I completely endorse this call to fast and join with
others in our great state to petition God for His Kingdom to come on these
issues."
Pastor Les Beauchamp, Senior Pastor
Trinity Church Interdenominational, Omaha
Here is an expanded explanation of each of the issues:
PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION:
The U.S. House voted decisively, 281-142, in early October to ban
"partial-birth" abortions. This bill represents the first national restriction
on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion. Without the ban, a
woman can get an abortion at any time during her pregnancy, which includes the
ninth month. After days of passionate debate, the U.S. Senate passed the same
ban by a wide margin of 64-33. President Bush then signed the ban. After
signing the bill, President Bush told members of Congress, "for years a terrible
form of violence has been directed against children who are inches from birth
while the law looked the other way". Almost before the President's signature
was dry, a lower court federal judge in Nebraska, Judge Kopf, put the ban on
hold. In other words, after eight years of work, the bill received a strong
majority vote from over 500 representatives in Congress along with a
presidential signature, and then a single lower court federal judge in Lincoln
Nebraska overruled. The approximate 10-day trial on partial birth abortion is
scheduled to begin in the district court of Judge Kopf on March 29, 2004. US
Attorney General John Ashcroft is sending a defense team to Lincoln to defend
the ban.
DOMA - DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE AMENDMENT:
Marriage is the foundation for existence of a society. Thus, it was a
landmark decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, opening the door
for same-sex marriages. Vermont has allowed same-sex civil unions to be
performed. In February, San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to
same-sex couples. The federal lawsuit by the ACLU against Nebraska is an
attempt to overturn our Defense of Marriage Amendment and potentially redefine
marriage nationally. Nebraska is one of only a few states that have placed a
definition of marriage in its state constitution and the only state to include
domestic partnerships and civil unions. DOMA was passed by over 70% of Nebraska
voters in 2000 and defines marriage between one man and one woman. There is an
aggressive campaign underway nationwide to see states adopt legislation that
legalizes homosexual marriage. Once one state makes the move, homosexual
advocacy groups say they will then challenge the constitutionality of the
Defense of Marriage Act, claiming that states which fail to recognize homosexual
unions are in violation of the "full faith and credit" clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment. Federal Judge Joseph Bataillon in Omaha will hear the case and has
already given a preliminary statement. His initial statements indicate he may
very well rule in favor of ACLU and call our Defense of Marriage amendment
unconstitutional.
EXPANDED GAMBLING:
A series of four initiative petition drives and two legislative bills are
attempting to allow casino and machine gambling in Nebraska. The measures limit
full-fledged casinos to Omaha but allow machine gambling in many communities
across the state and at racetracks. The highest-profile initiative petition
drive would allow two casinos in Omaha, slot machine parlors along Interstate 80
and U.S. Hwy 81 and video gambling in bars throughout Nebraska. This petition
effort has financial backing from "Las Vegas, Nevada" interests. Currently in
the Unicameral is stuck at the second stage of floor consideration. For the
bill to advance through final read, 30 votes are required. The proponents in
the previous two rounds of debate were only able to get 26 votes. Legalized
gambling's wave of popularity ended in the 1880's with the Louisiana state
lottery scandal. This attracted so much national attention that even today it
is an oft-cited standard of greed and corruption. The resurgence of expanded
gambling began again in the 1980's when state legislatures began to promote
gambling as a source of revenue.
HUMAN CLONING:
The Human Cloning Prohibition Act - LB 602 debate stalled after a failed
cloture vote in Nebraska's Unicameral 98th Session. Senator Chip Maxwell of
Omaha then prioritized the bill, which potentially allows for the bill to be
debated on the Legislative floor again. There are now less then 30 days left in
the session and many pressing issues continue to place the Ban on Human Cloning
to the bottom of the agenda. Researchers are on the verge of cloning human
beings as "copies" of other people to be destroyed for experimentation. Cloning
reduces God's creation of a new human being to a manufacturing process in a
laboratory and treats life as disposable. LB 602 was initially introduced by
Senator Adrian Smith of Gering to provide safe guards in Nebraska against
cloning. New Jersey's State Legislature recently passed a bill that requires the
destruction of a clone up to 9 months gestation in development before it is
born. Next year there will be six state senators leaving office who have stood
strongly on sanctity of life issues and LB 602 would be in jeopardy of passing
if not voted on this year.