Staying Positive-Good News In The Midst Of COVID-19: President Trump grants Texas request to defund Planned Parenthood, Nebraska Governor declares day of prayer to end abortion, and more good news during the COVID-19 pandemic!

Air Date: 04/24/2020

On-air Personalities: David Barton, Rick Green, and Tim Barton

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Transcription note:  As a courtesy for our listeners’ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. Transcription will be released shortly. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

 

Rick:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture, it’s WallBuilders Live, we are talking about today’s hottest topics on policy and faith and the culture, all from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. We’ve made it today 37 of the COVID crackdowns, dating it back to the first statewide complete lockdown that California did. None of the statewide total lockdowns advisable from a constitutional, historical or biblical perspective, but unfortunately, 43 states ended up doing that and many of you right now are listening from your homes. And you’re wondering when we’re going to get the country back open again, when we’re going to restore the constitutional and free market ingenuity of Americans so that we can once again be thriving. Well, we’re going to get there soon, some states are opening up now.

What we’d like to do today switch gears a little bit. Instead of talking about COVID-19 all day, we’re just going to do a Good News Friday and bring you some good news stories that have happened over the last few months, some stories that you probably didn’t hear when it came out in the media, some of these will go back several months. It’s just a chance to zero in on what happens when we do exercise our constitutional rights and when we live in freedom. And when we as citizens get engaged, we can make a difference.

So, we’re going to dive into a lot of good news today. As we do that, we also encourage you to visit our website at wallbuilderslive.com where you can get more of these good news Friday programs from previous weeks. Or you can take a little time to just peruse through there and see some of the videos that we have. If you do want to talk a little bit about the quarantines and COVID today, you can watch those videos at wallbuilderslive.com, we’ve got a whole series there on the constitutionality of quarantines where the line is and where they crossed the lines and how we restore this thing, so check that out at wallbuilderslive.com.

And then while you’re there, make a contribution. You know, we’re listener supported program, this only happens with your support and it’s a critical time for us to be bringing truth to the nation. We do that here on a regular basis, every day, Monday through Friday on all kinds of topics that are affecting the culture. But you can help us restore America’s constitutional republic and those constitutional jurisdictions by donating to the program. It helps us, not only do the program and broadcast this across the nation around the world, but also our training of pastors and young people and legislators and all the different things that we’re doing, Constitution coaches, you name it, you get to be a part of it by making a contribution right now today at wallbuilderslive.com Alright, David, Tim, I know our listeners are looking forward to your stories today.

David:

Okay, guys, I’m going to take a federal case that came down in Michigan. Now, this case that came down in Michigan deals with a law that was passed in Michigan. Tim, Rick, we got a friend, Senator Pat Colbeck now former senator who’s retired. But back when he was in office, they saw what was going on across the country and that a number of states were saying, hey, if you happen to be Catholic or Christian and if you run an adoption placement service, If you’re trying to take kids who have no parents and put them in homes and you’re saying that you just want to put them in a traditional nuclear family, one with a husband and a wife and you want that kind of a setting, we’re not going to let you participate in state adoptions if you’re going to have a religious view to how you place them.

Now, this is part of the interesting argument. Because whether do you have a religious view or not, the unequivocal, statistical indication is that the safest and soundest and healthiest place for any kid to be placed is in a home with a mother and a father. Hands down. If they’re unmarried living together, statistically, kids do not do as well; if they happen to be a gay couple, kids do not do as well. There are marked differences between their academic achievement, between their mental health and depression suicide attempt. I mean, every statistical category, it is the highest and it’s best for those kids where they’re in what we call it traditional home.

So, you can say that your religious value, but you can also be non-religious and just say, you know, looking at the stats, this is the best thing for those kids. So, States saying we want the best for the kids, we want what works best for kids. And so, they pass this law in Michigan that says the best thing for kids, hands down, statistically speaking, you don’t need to interpret the evidence by your viewpoint, here’s the stats, best thing for these kids is to be able to be placed in homes that there’s a mother and a father. And that’s what Catholic Relief Agencies and others did, Catholic Adoption Agencies, they would put kids into these homes.

And so there had been a move that came out of New England, I think, first over in Massachusetts, and some of those States that said, Well, if you’re going to put them just in a home where that there’s a mother and a father, then that’s discrimination and we’re not going to let you do that. And instead of saying, we want what’s best for the kids, they said, we want what our social policy is and our social policies LGBTQ-friendly and so we insist that you do that, even if that’s not the best statistical thing for the kids.

So, as they started really enforcing that, Pennsylvania did it. They started saying if you’re Catholic Adoption Agencies or if you perform foster service placement or whatever, you cannot be part of that place in our State if you have this religious viewpoint. So, friends like Senator Pat Colbeck, they got this law passed and then the election came and in the last election, Michigan went from Republican to Democrat and so a Democrat governor rather than Republican governor. And you have a Democrat Attorney General who comes in and Attorney General looks at that State law says, you know, I really disagree with that.

And so, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the State for passing that law and the Attorney General said, hey, I agree with the ACLU. I’m going to make it out of court settlement that we’re not going to allow Catholic Relief agencies to be able to place kids here in the State of Michigan. And so just unilaterally, he set aside the law, he settled with the ACLU, never went to court, he just didn’t like the law and he just said I’m not going to enforce it, so I’m settling with ACLU.

Well, folks in the State said, no, no, no, we’re going to take this on through, you can’t just set aside law, because you don’t like it. And so, as it got through the courts, the court in Michigan, the Federal Court ruled that he can’t set aside that law and that the law was legitimately passed and that he sided literally with the Christian organizations, with those who believe in traditional marriage, a man and woman, he sided with them and said, you can’t just set that aside. That was a law that was passed, it was a legitimate law.

Now, what’s interesting is because this has been going on for a decade now, because it’s gone on to so many States, the US Supreme Court just recently accepted one of these cases out of Pennsylvania at the Supreme Court and it’s going to decide at the Supreme Court just because you’re a Christian organization, can you be denied opportunity to participate in placing kids in homes that you think are the best for those kids? Just because you’re Catholic or Christian or have traditional values, can you be excluded from government programs, some State programs just because of your religious views? So, this is going to be a huge case at the US Supreme Court, depending on how the court comes down in this. If it comes down to Wade has in the last couple of years on religious liberty and conscience issues, this could be a huge reversal of several policies in several States that have really aggressively move forward LGBTQ issues in areas of family and placement and it may give those who believe in traditional family much better legal standing than they’ve had in a number of years, at least in several States that had been very hostile. So really good news coming out of federal court in Michigan and hopefully out of the US Supreme Court when the decision comes down next year.

Rick:

Alright, fellows, quick break. We’ll be back, more good news coming up. Tim Barton has the next segment, stay with us. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

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Hey friends, Rick Green here and I want to invite you to join us live every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon for a crash course on history and the Constitution. We’re going to take you to some incredible places in American history and bring that history to life, tell you the story of America, rediscover the roots of what made America great in the first place.

And we’re going to have live conversations and questions with all the different folks that starred in ‘Chasing American Legends’. They’re going to join us throughout the series, David Barton will be there live on one of our programs, Tim Barton on another one. We’ve got Dr. Alveda King coming in, Brad Stein. It’s going to be a wonderful, wonderful time. You can sign up right now at patriotacademy.com. It is entirely free if you are a member of a state homeschool association anywhere in the country and if not, you need to join anyway. Right now, everybody is schooling from home, whether it’s yourself and your whole family or maybe just you by yourself, either way, get signed. And if you’re not a member of an association, we still have ways for you to sign up. But we’d love to have you join us for this. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon, it’s going to be a great time of history and government and learning what we can do to be citizens. It’ll bring history to life. It’s going to be fun and entertaining and it’s going to be live and we expect to see you there. Check it out at patriotacademy.com.

Rick:

Welcome back to the intersection of faith and the culture. It’s WallBuilders Live, It’s Good News Friday, so we’re just going to keep throwing some good news stories at you today. Little pick-me- up for all of us across the nation and Tim Barton is got the next piece of good news.

Tim:

Alright, guys, I’m going to Texas and this one deals with a Department of Health and Human Services. Actually, the article’s headline says ‘Trump Grants Texas Request to Defund Planned Parenthood, Fund Real Women’s Healthcare Instead.’ What happened is back in 2011, Governor Greg Abbott, one of the things that happened was Texas had decided they were going to defund Planned Parenthood and other abortion groups.

And in 2013, the Obama administration came forward and said, yeah, we’re going to go ahead and remove your federal funding, since you’re not going to fund Planned Parenthood. And so, Texas has been using State dollars to fund what’s known as Healthy Texas Women, which is another health organization. And so, Texas used to get 350 or at this point, now they once again received 350 million in federal funding to Healthy Texas Women program.

And what Texas Healthy Women program does, it’s medical care for low income women. They do things like cancer screening, family planning, pregnancy test, counseling, right, multiple things that are associated with what should be a women’s health organization, not things that Planned Parenthood always did, because most of their women’s health things related to abortion, that’s kind of what Planned Parenthood did. And they would say, no, we do all these other things as well. Well, yeah, you do medical screenings preparing for the abortion, right? You do counseling, preparing for the abortion.

So, most of what Planned Parenthood does drive to the abortion and that’s why they’re kind of in that abortion industry and they’re an abortion mill and that’s what they didn’t. That’s why Texas said we’re not going to fund Planned Parenthood. We’re going to fund women’s health organizations that actually do things related to women’s health. Right? What a novel idea that we’re going to do things that are actually good for women.

And so, Texas decided to do that. Governor Greg Abbott decided that’s what we’re going to do. That was something that he made that move and the Obama administration said yeah, I’m not going to let you do that. President Trump has come out and under the Trump administration, they have given a waiver allowing Texas to defund Planned Parenthood. And so, what Greg Abbott said is a Lone Star State is once again in partnership with the federal government to provide meaningful family planning and health services while fostering a culture of life.

What this ultimately means is and this is according to the Statesman is that it will help fund an additional 27,000 low income women in Texas, the program already serves about 173,000, is what they served in 2018. And so, Texas is still giving a lot of their own dollars to this program, but now that there’s no longer a restriction and the federal government is no longer saying we’re not giving you money, which the federal government allots money to every State to help with different programs in the State. And so, women’s health is something that the States are given money and it’s a lot to go to women’s health.

But under the Obama administration, States lost that money if they were restricting the money that went to Planned Parenthood, because President Obama’s administration and right, I can’t say it was strictly President Obama, because many times it’s the people that are appointed under him as people in cabinet positions. And in this case, right, Department of Health and Human Services is the people making that decision, but these are people appointed under President Obama. And so, it says administration is saying that if you’re not going to fund Planned Parenthood, then we’re not going to let you have the federal funding. President Trump has said we’re reversing that decision. So, this is really good news that now more money is coming in to women’s health organizations in Texas that actually are doing women’s health that don’t do abortions. This is just another example of where you see prolife, policies, actions, philosophy coming from the Trump administration and this is really good news.

Rick:

David, you’re next.

David:

Okay, guys, I’m going to go back to the course for a minute and in doing so, when you look at the federal judiciary and the number of courts that are out there, number of Judges are out there, you have 13 Federal Court of Appeals and those 13 Federal Court of Appeals, that’s kind of the Supreme Court, if you will, federal Supreme Court for most States. Very few cases actually reached the US Supreme Court.

So, in the State of Texas, where we are, we’re under the 5th Federal Circuit. And the 5th Federal Circuit is kind of the Supreme Court for Texas and Louisiana, Mississippi, a few of our cases will eventually get to the US Supreme Court, but not that many. So generally, what’s decided by the Federal Court of Appeals level tends to be 99% of the time like the Supreme Court for those States.

And when you look at what’s out there with these 13 Federal Court of Appeals, right now, President Trump has put 51 Judges on those Courts of Appeals. So, that’s like 51 lower Supreme Court Justices, only 9 on the US Supreme Court, but these regional Supreme Courts, he’s put 51 Justices there. I think he’s got 197 Judges total, which takes you through the federal district courts and other federal courts as well. So, you’re looking probably in the end of sanity of around maybe 30% of federal Judges so far have been appointed by Trump, that’s in one term. If there’s a second term, then that’s going to be a much bigger number.

But here’s the interesting thing about the Judges. Not only has he been shifting the judiciary in a much more constitutional direction, much more original intent. I actually just did an op-ed piece that on a national news site recently, showing what Judge James Ho is doing down in the 5th Circuit, how that James Ho is writing opinions. They keep going back to the Constitution, back to original intent. He’s reaching his rulings and basing his rulings on knowing what the Constitution actually says and that’s just so refreshing. I mean, there’s so few decisions I’ve read where that you really get a good constitutional exegesis. You had Justice Clarence Thomas do that when the Second Amendment issues came up. And you’ve had a few other times Justice Rehnquist did that back on religious liberty back in the 80s, you just don’t see it that often, but we’re seeing it more and more and more.

So, when you look at all these federal appointments that Trump has made so far and by the way, I think there are now 4 federal circuit courts of appeals that have flipped from liberal to conservative because of the appointments he’s made. So, we’re seeing amazing rulings even coming out of the 9th Circuit out in the West Coast. We’re winning cases we have not won in 20-25 years.

So, looking at that, a couple of things is kind of interesting on stats. When you look at the average age for Democrat appointed circuit Judges, that’s your district court judge, the average age for those Judges is 61.2 years old. Now, the average age for Republican appointed Judges was 71 years old. So, since Obama was more recently in office than George W. Bush, that makes sense, the Democrat Judges, a little younger. So, the Democrat Judges average in 61 years old, the Republican Judges averaging 71 years old. But when you look at the Trump appointments, when you add them in, it has dropped the average overall age for Judges down to 57, which that’s a huge drop just from the approximately 30% of Judges he’s put in there.

And here’s just a good example. On the 11th Circuit, you have Robert Luck and Barbara Lagoa and others that have been placed on the court. Luck, who is on that 11th circuit is 40 years old and the Judge who’s seat he’s filling was 89 years old. Oh my gosh, what a difference that is.

So, what you’re looking at is not only is Trump shaping the judiciary, but he’s putting younger Judges on, which means that constitutional philosophy could be there for a lot longer than is normally expected by any president. So, really healthy news coming out of the federal judiciary with what President Trump has been able to do with those appointments, plus having younger appointments.

James Ho, which I mentioned earlier, I mean, he’s one of those relatively young guys. I don’t, Tim, is Jim, maybe upper 30s, lower 40s?

Tim:

I would guess, 40s.

David:

Yeah. So, I mean another young guy on the 5th Circuit and he’s the kind of guy that could make the Supreme Court someday. And it’s just phenomenal to see what’s happening with these Trump judicial nominees.

Rick:

Quick break, guys, we’ll be back for our final segment of good news today. Hope you’re enjoying this today? Folks, there is more good news available on our website right now when you go to wallbuilderslive.com We’ll be right back on WallBuilders Live.

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Hey friends, this Rick Green from WallBuilders Live and I have had so many requests about, what in the world could we be studying at home right now you know I got the kids at home, they’re normally in school? Or if you homeschool, you’re looking for additional material. One-Room Schoolhouse. It is a great new series WallBuilders is putting out where you literally get a tour of the WallBuilders library as Tim Barton and Jonathan Ritchie bring history to life. There’s a couple of resources on this.

You go to YouTube and search for WallBuilders and look for a One-Room Schoolhouse. You can go to our Facebook page and get it right there on Facebook as we do it live each Monday and sometimes additional days from there. And then you can also just go to wallbuilders.com, scroll down to the bottom and we’ll be posting the videos as they come out. This is such a great way to learn and a great way for you to share with others. Gather the family around, watch the One-Room Schoolhouse and learn some great history. It’ll be vitally important to restoring our nation and bringing back these principles that made America great in the first place. Check it out [email protected]

Rick:

Final segment with good news for today, but there is more at the website. Go to wallbuilderslive.com. Tim, last piece of good news. Go for it.

Tim:

Alright, guys for the last segment, there’s two pieces I’m going to try to get in if we can. The first one is from Nebraska. And the article headline says, ‘Nebraska governor Pete Ricketts declares Day of Prayer to stop killing babies in abortion.’ And what is really cool about this is Governor Pete Ricketts from Nebraska has been prolife, very outspoken for the last several years, things he’s done as governor, very much promoting and defending life. But on January 22, he had a statewide Day of Prayer to end abortion. So, this is a prayer proclamation for the state of Nebraska. He’s calling on the states to say, hey, we need to put a stop to this, right. Recognizing more than 16 million babies have been murdered essentially in this genocide of what has now become this confusion about when life begins or the value of human life in general.

And Governor Ricketts has, as I mentioned, a very long record of promoting and defending life. In 2019, he signed a law requiring that women be informed about the abortion pill reversal procedure, I actually think we’ve covered this on Good News Friday last year and it saved hundreds of lives. In the abortion pill procedure, there’s a couple pills you take and you have to take them in sequence over a couple days. And you actually can reverse the sequence of pills before you have completed the final abortion pill, if you know about it. And so, there were mothers who thought, you know, I don’t want to do this, I don’t want this baby, start taking the pills and then they’re convicted about it and go, man, no, this is wrong, I shouldn’t do it.

The pills they take, there is a reversal process, there’s medicine you can take to reverse the pills you ingest. And so, he signed a law saying, look, it’s kind of this informed consent thing, right? You have to let people know that this pill procedure is not final until they’ve completed the last pill and again, hundreds of babies have been saved through that.

He supported prolife license plates where money from these license plates would go to help pregnant mothers and babies in need. He worked to defund Planned Parenthood. He’s spoken at March for Life events there in a State and so just a lot of things he’s done. But it’s really cool to see people be very outspoken in this culture that is it seemingly confused in some areas about an issue that shouldn’t be very confusing, what science has allowed us to discover, right, how far we’ve come, it should be very clear.

And along those lines, one of the things that came out just a month or so ago, was when Tim Tebow was speaking at a life event in Kansas, it was Kansas for Life annual Valentine’s Day banquet. And so, on Valentine’s Day, he was one of many prominent and featured guests who was there. Among the many prominent and featured guests who were there were people like Lamar Hunt Jr, who was one of the owners of the Super Bowl champions of Kansas City Chiefs. And Lamar Hunt Jr. got up and said, “Hey, I don’t think it’s cliche to say we are in a life and death battle for the truth and authentic dignity of the human person and we need your full attention.” Right? He mentioned we need prayer and assistance, those in need and emails and phone calls and in person meetings. He said, please do something, pray, take action. If you don’t know what to do, ask somebody. Place this a major priority in your life. 

So, first of all, the owner of the chiefs, right, Super Bowl champion is promoting and defending life. Well, kind of a highlight speaker of the night was Tim Tebow. And Tim Tebow is a name that probably needs no introduction. Right? He was a Heisman Trophy winner, a college football player, makes it to the NFL. just remarkable outspoken young man, Christian. He’s on ESPN as a commentator, but he spoke with the Right to Life event. And one of the things he said is actually, he looked at Lamar Hunt Jr. and then actually one of the chief players, Dustin Colquitt, who was also in attendance. And he said, guys, it’s so cool you won the Super Bowl. One of the cool things about it, though, is it gives you a bigger platform that now you can support things like this life movement and get even more attention for the life movement.

But Tim Tebow’s story is really interesting and he told this to the crowd and I’ve heard it many times. Really cool testimony. He said my mom, right, 32 years ago, had doctors tell her she needed to abort me because if they didn’t, it was going to cost her life. And they didn’t even believe the doctor, she’s saying, they didn’t even believe I was a baby, they thought I was a tumor. And so, he jokes that his family called him Timmy the tumor, which would be a hilarious nickname, you might not appreciate it as a kid if you’re Timmy the tumor, but that’s pretty funny.

He said to make a long story short, when I was born, they found out the placenta wasn’t actually attached. So, the doctor looked at my mom after 37 years of being a doctor and said, this is the biggest miracle I’ve ever seen, because I’m not sure how he’s alive. He said, I’m so grateful that my mom trusted God with my life and her life. And one of the things that was really noted from this event, he says, I would rather be known for saving babies from abortion than winning the Super Bowl.

And it’s so cool to see people like Governor of Nebraska, like the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, like Tim Tebow coming out and being very outspoken, promoting and defending life. It’s really cool. It seems like there’s an awakening happening in culture with some major significant people on the issue of life.

Rick:

Well, guys, thanks for the good news today, so much from the courts and I mean, you know, the issue of life. There’s so many different areas where good things are happening, you know, just like any other time in history or other time in our lives. We can easily focus on the negative and just look at some of the things that there’s some bad stuff happening. There always is some bad stuff happening. There’s also always some good things happening. And I think it really helps whenever we look at some of that good news. So, thank you to David and Tim Barton for sharing so much good news with us today.

That’s been David Barton, America’s premier historian and our founder at WallBuilders. Tim Barton, you’ve been listening to for some good news, he’s a national speaker and pastor and president of WallBuilders. And my name is Rick green. I’m a former Texas legislator and America’s Constitution coach. We all three appreciate you joining us today. Hope you’ve enjoyed the good news.

We’ve got more available for you right now at wallbuilderslive.com and that’s also the place where you can make a contribution. You can do that as a one-time contribution or a monthly contribution. Whatever you can do, greatly helps us to spread the good news and continue to work on restoring America’s constitutional republic.

We also want to challenge you to take specific action in your community. So, there’s a lot of different ways you can do that. We’ve got a lot of things happening right now during the lockdowns across the country. You can do One-Room Schoolhouse where we release those typically every Monday, sometimes Tuesday, but you can get those on our Facebook page or on YouTube, so check out WallBuilders there.

And then you can also become a Constitution coach, you can be teaching our Constitution Alive in your living room. I’ve realized you might be under a lockdown, so you can’t invite people over. But you can do it on Zoom, so we train you on how to do that. It’s all available at constitutioncoach.com. Very easy to sign up and we’re giving it away for free. You can take a Constitution class for free and you can host a Constitution class for free and we’ll train you on all that and we’ll give you all the material. We’ll actually take you into Independence Hall where the Constitution was framed, we do half of the teaching there and the other half right there in the WallBuilders library, pulling all those cool original documents off the shelf and David commenting on them. It’s a great time, it’s a wonderful time to learn about biblical citizenship in modern America. Check it out at constitutioncoach.com

And one last thing is you’re headed into the weekend, if you’re thinking about how you’re going to spend your time during the month of May, I want to encourage you to check out patriotacademy.com and sign up for our crash course on History and government. It’s going to be so fun. We’re going to do it every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon in May and it’s a chance for families to come together from across the country and in a live format, get to experience history have it brought to life and to get great commentary from all the folks like David Barton, Tim Barton, Dr. Alveda King, Brad Stein, myself, our family and there’s going to be so many people there, is going to be so much fun. We’re looking forward to having you join us. Check it out at patriotacademy.com, check out the crash course on History and Government for all the folks that are schooling from home or if you just want to learn more about these wonderful subjects.

Thanks for listening to WallBuilders Live.