While the country's eyes are on D.C. and South Carolina, two states have been keeping busy with big gains for life and religious liberty. In South Dakota, leaders gave the governor a chance to make their state the first to outlaw special rights for students who don't identify with their biological gender. By a 20-15 vote, the state senate is trying to reverse the tide of bathroom bills that give girls and boys the freedom to use any facility they feel like. "I'm telling you right now," Republican Senator David Omdahl said, "it's about protecting the kids, and I don't even understand where our society is these days." Governor Dennis Daugaard (R) was initially on board with the bill but told reporters he would take time to think about it before making a final decision.
In Virginia, state leaders continued to push back against the radical agenda of their liberal governor, Terry McAuliffe (D) with a pair of pro-life, pro-faith bills. By a comfortable margin (64-35), delegates passed a measure defunding Planned Parenthood, which supporters say would open the door to redirecting that money to groups offering the same services "with none of the controversy." And that wasn't all the delegates accomplished. Heeding the cries of groups like FRC, Virginia threw its weight behind a Government Non-Discrimination Act that would bar the government from punishing, fining, firing, or suspending a person because of their marriage or religious views. Not surprisingly, LGBT groups were out in full force, nicknaming the bill the "Kim Davis" religious freedom legislation -- which is somewhat ironic, since the measure doesn't protect state officials like the Kentucky County Clerk. Our friends at the Family Foundation of Virginia tried to debunk the Left's misinformation campaign with the facts.
"The Government Non-Discrimination Act (GNDA) balances the new found right to whatever definition of marriage you want with our nation's longstanding principle of religious free exercise by ensuring that the heavy hand of government cannot penalize a person or religious charity because of his or her beliefs about marriage and human sexuality," Victoria Cobb explained. "Charitable religious organizations should be treated fairly, not targeted and punished by the government because of their beliefs about marriage. The faith that inspires their charitable service shouldn't be used by the government to discriminate against them."
