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Mon - Fri: 12:00 AM - 12:30 AM & 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Jody Heiss brings to the table intense discussions regarding school safety following a tragic incident in Madison, Wisconsin. Expert Meg Kilgannon provides an emotional analysis of contributing factors and societal influences on youth violence. The episode further explores Texas’ bold legal actions against out-of-state abortion prescriptions, with Dr. Chris Gasek unpacking the legal ramifications and potential nationwide impacts. Throughout, the episode stays true to FRC’s mission of informing and empowering listeners with knowledge grounded in faith and values.
SPEAKER 08 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 07 :
Good afternoon. Great to have you on board. Welcome to this Tuesday edition of Washington Watch. I am Jody Heiss, the Senior Vice President here at the Family Research Council and President of FRC Action. As always, an honor to be filling in for Tony when needed. All right, we’ve got a lot coming up on the program today. Let me start by giving some of the highlights. A deal, it looks like, between Israel and Hamas is reportedly closer than ever. But certainly we’ve heard that before.
SPEAKER 20 :
Based on the remaining issues, we should be able to get to an agreement. We should be able to bridge the disagreements between the two parties. But that is not to say that we will. Because again, there have been times before where we were close. differences were bridgeable and ultimately we didn’t get a deal.
SPEAKER 07 :
That was U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller earlier today. So just how close are they? Well, I’ll be discussing this in just a few moments when I’m joined by Dr. A.J. Nolte of Regent University. And there was a Classified briefing today for members of the House Intelligence Committee regarding the drones that have been seen in New Jersey and elsewhere. Congressman Scott Perry, who is a member of that committee, plans to call in here in just a little bit so that he can share the latest that he can share coming out of that classified briefing. And a text now for the stopgap measure to fund the government. It’s expected anytime. In fact, we’ve been looking for it for days now. What’s in this?
SPEAKER 15 :
The CR is coming together. Bipartisan work is ongoing. We’re almost there. We worked really hard to achieve consensus on a bill that responsibly funds the government into March of next year. We’re going to take care of these obligations and get this done, and then we’re going to go to work in unified government in the 119th Congress that begins in January.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, of course, that was Speaker Mike Johnson earlier today. So do we have the text? Well, I’ll get the latest from Congressman Robert Adderhold, who’s a member of the House Appropriations Committee. He’ll be joining us a little bit later. And the investigation continues into the motives behind yesterday’s school shooting at a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin.
SPEAKER 11 :
We’re looking into her online activity. We’re asking anyone who knew her or who may have insights into her feelings leading up to yesterday to please contact the Madison area Crime Stoppers. Again, anyone who may have known her or knew what she was feeling or going through at that time.
SPEAKER 07 :
That was Madison Police Chief Sean Barnes giving an update this afternoon. And as in the case of other shootings of this nature, many people are asking if there were signs that were missed. Was there anything that could have been done to help prevent this individual from committing such a horrific act? Well, I’ll be discussing this a little bit later when I’m joined by FRC’s Meg Kilgannon. And then we’ll conclude today’s program discussing some developments on the life issue, including abortion drugs that may or may not have been offered by Kroger. We’ll also discuss the court battles that are playing out over the abortion pill. So as always, we’ve got a lot to bring your way. We’ll get to all of it as the program unfolds. But if you happen to miss any portion of today’s program, Fear not. You can always catch it by going to our website, TonyPerkins.com, where certainly you can find not only this edition of Washington Watch, but past editions as well. And also lots and lots and lots of resources there for you. So be sure. to bookmark that page, tonyperkins.com. All right, let’s jump into our first topic for the day. We are expecting Congressman Scott Perry to call in after votes, which are underway right now. But while we wait, I want to bring you up to speed on the latest regarding the hostage deal negotiations between Israel and Hamas. According to some reports, Israel is closer than ever to closing a deal. But just how close is that, especially considering how past talks have gone? Well, joining me now to discuss the latest is Dr. A.J. Nolte. He’s the Chairman of Government Graduate Program and Director of the International Development Master’s Program at Regent University. He’s also the Director of the Institute for Israel Studies at Regent University. Dr. Nolte, always great to have you on Washington Watch. Welcome back. Jody, it’s great to be here. Thanks for having me. You’re very welcome.
SPEAKER 19 :
So what’s the latest? What are you hearing? So what we’re hearing today is that it does appear as though they are close. We’re hearing that from both Palestinian sources and also from the current defense minister, Israel Katz, who used to be the foreign minister, and from other figures in the Israeli government that this is very close. and that they are expecting a deal that is going to easily pass both the security cabinet and the Knesset, because of course, just proposing the deal is not enough on the Israeli side, they’ll have to pass it as well. Some of the necessary preconditions that the Israelis have said they want are, for example, access to the Philadelphia corridor. And for those who remember some of Israel’s past military operations, this is that corridor that stretches across the border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. So not on the Israeli side of the border, but on the Egyptian side. And then the Netzerim corridor, this is a corridor that Israel has been using in Gaza to sort of move through the Gaza Strip and kind of maintain control of some of those highways to access different parts of the Strip for security purposes. And so those are not, Israel moving out of those areas from what we’re being told so far does not seem to be on the table. And that has been a non-negotiable for the Israelis. And so what we’ll be talking about is a staged release of hostages, beginning with what they call these humanitarian categories. So folks that are sick, female soldiers, perhaps children and the elderly, and then eventually culminating to full release in exchange for what looks like some sort of prisoners to be released from Israeli prisons. And then also, A ceasefire, of course, from Israel and Gaza. So that appears to be, from what we’re hearing, what’s on the table. Although, of course, with these negotiations, we’ve been very close a couple of times in the past. So it’s hard to say exactly how close we are right now.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, listen, that’s really encouraging news, everything that you just shared. But like you just said in your final comment there, we’ve been close before. How confident are you personally that this is really possibly going to happen this time?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, so let me give you the optimistic case. The optimistic case is that over the past several months, Hamas has systematically seen all of its potential international backers removed as justices from the table. So, of course, you have Israel’s wildly successful operations against Hezbollah. You have the absolutely shocking fall of the Assad regime. It’s hard to underestimate how impactful this shift is. And particularly that will complicate things for Iran, which is one of the main backers of Hamas right now in terms of their logistics and their ability to even support Hamas. And so the board has really flipped in a lot of ways. And of course, Israel has been very successful in its operations within Hamas. It seems like if you’re an optimist that perhaps Hamas is more in survival mode than they have been in the past.
SPEAKER 07 :
Let’s all be optimistic about this for sure. Right. Dr. Nolte, I’m sorry, I’ve got to go right now. But listen, I want to thank you for this update. It’s extremely encouraging news. And I don’t know of anybody that stays on top of what’s happening in Israel any more than you. I want to thank you so much for taking time to join us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thank you so much. And I hope you find out what’s going on with the drones.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, that’s what we’re going to do right now. We’ve just got a couple of minutes. So earlier today, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence received a classified briefing about the drones that have been flying over New Jersey and several other states. Well, what came out of that? Joining me now by phone is Congressman Scott Perry. He represents the 10th Congressional District from Pennsylvania. Congressman Perry, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks in your busy schedule for joining us.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, great to be with you, Jody. And, of course, look, I wish I could say you picked the right guy. But, of course, I’m on that committee. And what happens inside that secure compartmentalized information facility must stay inside there. But let me just say this. We had a lot of different representatives from the federal government. You can imagine the three-letter agencies that were in the room. I was not satisfied in the least with the information that we received. I actually think that in some cases we had more information than they did, and that’s very concerning. I would say this. Look, you can’t have officials saying that we don’t know who’s doing it, but there’s nothing to be concerned about. Both those things can’t be true at the same time, and that’s what they’re saying, and that’s just inappropriate. You know, I’ve asked for the results of the FBI’s investigation. Now, I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to get them. You know, of course, me asking, I don’t think that that would be anything classified. But we want to see the American people want to trust in the information they’re receiving. And, you know, when you see something with your own eyes, there better be a pretty darn good explanation for it. And don’t just tell us that we’re seeing things and that they didn’t occur and that it’s the same old same old that the government has done to us. And unfortunately, they’ve just lost all their credibility over the course of time here, as you know. And unfortunately, I left without any answers whatsoever in my opinion.
SPEAKER 07 :
So let me ask you this, and I have tried to emphasize that this was a classified briefing. And with that, I know you’re very limited on what you can say. So let me approach it from this direction. What more would you like to know? I mean, what are some questions that you would like to have answered?
SPEAKER 09 :
The questions I would like to have answered are, have you positively identified any of these vehicles? and who is operating them, for what purpose? Have you located the individuals? Are they operating within any kind of guidelines? Jody, there are a lot of reports, and some come from the state police, from county sheriffs. I hate to say it this way, but it’s one thing if the general public reports something, but when a state police officer reports something, having followed up on it and tried to intercept one of these things, or more than one of these things, to me that has credibility because someone in the position of authority has had eyes on and tried to do something about it. And for the FBI to not be able to speak to that, to me, is concerning. So, you know, again, those are some of the answers to the questions that I have. And, you know, are they coming on to the shore? Are they, you know, can you verify, can you validate that the sightings that many people are claiming are real? You know, those are simple questions that you think if you were going to a briefing you would have answers to.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, and it seems as though it just seems as though this is a clear cover up. I mean, these are drones. They don’t have unlimited ability to fly. They take off from somewhere. They are battery operated. They can only last for so long and they go back to some place. This ought to be easy to know. And because of that, it makes you suspect. that they really do know something, they’re just not telling us. And that in itself is extremely concerning. Congressman Scott Perry, always great to talk with you. I want to thank you. I know you have a ton of things happening right now on Capitol Hill, running every which way but loose. And we deeply appreciate you taking a few moments and joining us with this update.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, thank you, Jody, and thank FRC. God bless you and your mission. And we’ve got to save the country, so let’s get after that.
SPEAKER 07 :
Keep it up and Merry Christmas to you and your dear family. All right, friends, coming up, the latest on the continuing resolution, trying to deal with this government spending and keep it funded. Congressman Robert Adderhall will be joining me after the break to discuss the latest. So stay tuned. Much more coming your way right after the break.
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The throne of Jesus Christ is unchallenged. His name was never on the ballot to begin with, and it’s never gonna be on the ballot. He’s the King of Kings and he’s the Lord of Lords, and nothing’s gonna change that. And so our mission stays the same, preach the gospel, make disciples, get ready for heaven. In the meantime, that we’re to advance the concerns of the kingdom of God here on earth.
SPEAKER 06 :
America has entered a critical and vulnerable period from now until January the 20th. Join Family Research Council for Operation Prayer Shield, a 10 week prayer initiative for our nation. From now until January 20th, our country faces global challenges, a transition of leadership, and a lame duck session of Congress. This season calls for heightened spiritual vigilance, discernment, prayer. Text the word SHIELD to 67742 to join us. You’ll have access to prayer points, scripture, prayer calls. Text SHIELD to 67742. Unite with us and pray for our nation.
SPEAKER 10 :
Let’s not be discouraged. Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose the faith. Stand now strong because the Lord has given us the great privilege of living in a time when our choices matter, when our lives matter, when our courage matters. So let’s stand together and save this great country. God bless the United States of America.
SPEAKER 02 :
The American Republic has a freedom like no other. It has roots in the scriptures far more than any other heritage. And if we as followers of Jesus and conservatives don’t defend it, who will?
SPEAKER 12 :
Neutrality is not an option. There are many Christians who believe that if we just keep our heads down, if we just don’t say the wrong thing, that somehow we will come out of this unscathed. You’re naive if you think that, because what they want from us is not our silence. What they want from us is our submission.
SPEAKER 01 :
Part of the dilemma of Christianity in our generation is that we’ve relied a little too much on human wisdom and human reasoning, human strength, human resource, and we’ve relied too little on the power of God and God’s ability to open doors that we can’t open and do things that we couldn’t even hope to begin to do.
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This may not be an easy task, But we are living in a moment of challenge, but also a great opportunity. And we know always that we are not alone, that his spirit empowers us and protects us, and that he can do the unimaginable. Dobbs, after all, was never supposed to happen.
SPEAKER 06 :
Father, we thank you. You have entrusted us with this moment in history, and I pray that we would be found faithful, and that as a result of our faithfulness to you, that thousands, millions would come into the kingdom as they would experience the forgiveness of sin and the new life that is found only in Jesus Christ. Amen.
SPEAKER 07 :
Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your host Jody Heist sitting in today for Tony and glad to have you with us. All right. Congress has been scrambling to finalize a short term bill to keep the government open at least through March 14th. And the text of the bill was actually expected on Sunday. Then it was expected on Monday. And then it’s carried over to today. So do we yet have the text for this bill? Joining me now to discuss this is Congressman Robert Adderhold. He’s a member of the Appropriations Committee and the Values Action Committee representing the 4th Congressional District of Alabama. Congressman Adderhold, welcome to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 18 :
Thanks, Jody. Good to be with you. Thanks for having me on. Hey, listen, great to be with you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I was just going to say you were literally on the Capitol steps. We just had Congressman Perry on with us. He was in votes and you obviously have made it outside.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yes, we literally I just walked off the floor and I wanted to come on and be with you. And so good to be with you again. Good to see you again.
SPEAKER 07 :
Likewise. So give us the latest. Where’s the C.R. right now?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, as of right now, I think there’s still some final negotiations that are being settled. I have not – I’ve just, like I said, walked off the floor. I have not heard that a final version has been adopted. When I say adopted, approved of to move forward. But I would expect it would at any time. We’ve got to get this done. If the government shuts down, if we don’t have the funding done by Friday night, uh so uh i would expect that this is just a matter of uh just making sure that they’ve got all the the dot the i’s dotted the t’s crossed and such as that to make sure uh at least i hope that’s what it is but it’s always this time of year as you well know you You’ve been here. You’ve served many years up here in the U.S. House of Representatives. And you know how things can come push comes to shove right here at the end. But obviously, I’m optimistic that we will get it done. But the speaker has been given a lot of grief lately that, you know, he’s going ahead and not really doing an entire thing. omnibus right now, but I really am glad the Speaker’s waiting until after the first of the year, because I don’t want to cram something down the throats of the American people right here at the 11th hour at Christmas, and it’d be a bad bill. So if we need to wait a little bit to get a better bill and negotiate when Trump gets in office, then I’m all for that.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, and like you said, I mean, we both have been through this, you longer than me, but it always seems to happen at Christmas time where this type of thing happens. And generally, when you have big bills like this at Christmas, it’s not good for the American people. Do you have any idea specifically what the holdup is? has been, what kind of last minute hurdles they’re trying to overcome, and what are you hearing from your colleagues? Are they anxious about this or what are you hearing?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, one of the last holdups that has been, the major holdup that has been with this CR or this continuing resolution has been the assistance to agriculture. And obviously we need to protect the farmers in this country. I do not want to see a situation where we have to depend on other countries for our food. And so I’ve been very supportive of making sure that we do what we can to help farmers. Some on the other side of the aisle, or do not have a constituency that really sees as ag is important, and especially to farmers. But I can tell you, and you well know, being from Georgia, that farmers are really the backbone of this country. And we’ve got to make sure that they stay in business. Now, again, we understand it’s all the free enterprise system, but at the same time, we could get all of our food from some other place in the world and maybe get it Sometimes cheaper, sometimes a little easier. But I fear of the day that the United States of America is depending on every other country in the world to bring us food supply because that puts us in a real vulnerable position.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, absolutely. And it’s a lot better position as we are to be supplying food to the world rather than depending on others for our own food. So as we kind of wind down, the clock ticks towards the deadline here for the CR. What are your expectations looking ahead?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, you know, like I said, this is a continuing resolution. So all the probes bills, by and large, will be pushed into the new year, which I think is a good thing, because if I thought we could get a good deal right now, I would say, let’s go for it. But if obviously I think the way the situation is with Biden still in the White House, with the Democrats still in control of the Senate, there’s no way that we’re going to get a good deal right now. So Let’s just wait till after the first year. Now, a lot of my appropriation colleagues would disagree with me on that, but I’d never have been in favor of a bad bill just to get a bill done. But obviously, because this is the last train that leaves the station, so to speak, this is the last piece of legislation that will get out of Congress. They’re attaching some things that we have to get done. And this aid to farmers is one of the things that I was just referring to that’s been attached to it. And they want to make sure that we do try to help our farmers to make sure that they’re not going bankrupt. And so if it takes a little time to do that, to protect some of our interests in this country, you know, I’d like to be finished and be back in Alabama. But obviously, we need to make sure we get the work done.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, first things first. So I take it from that. I mean, Tony, what you’re saying sounds like there is some encouragement for our viewers and listeners. Is that correct that you are confident? Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER 18 :
No, I am optimistic that we will get an agreement soon. done within the matter. I think they’ll have the final text, I would say, probably by tonight. But of course, obviously, you never say always or never up here because you never know what the case may be. But I’m optimistic that by Friday night at midnight, when the CR or when the current CR runs out, then we will have a continued resolution in place to fund us through at least probably until March of next year.
SPEAKER 07 :
Good to hear. Congressman Robert Aderhold, always great to see you and thank you for your leadership in Washington and beyond and the Values Action Team supporting our Christian values. Just as we have 30 seconds or so, how can we be praying for you and your colleagues right now?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, well, in this new Congress, really be praying that this new Congress gets off to a good start because obviously we, as conservatives, we’re in a unique position having control of the House and the Senate and also the White House. So we’ve got to make sure that we don’t squander this opportunity. So I’m very optimistic that we can do a lot of good things for the American people. The I think that praying for the president as he leads from the White House, but also the House and the Senate as we lead as well.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you, Congressman Robert Adderhold from Alabama, and thanks for stepping off on the steps of the Capitol to talk with us. Don’t go away, folks. Much more coming up, specifically the shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, right after the break.
SPEAKER 06 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you joining us. I’m Jody Heiss. An honor to be sitting in today for Tony. All right. Yesterday, as I’m sure you are aware by now, Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, became the latest school to become a victim of the school shooting. Tragically, that’s the 83rd this year. Unbelievable. And although very much also unusual, the shooter in this case was a female student of the school. So what’s behind this epidemic of violence in our schools, both in secular and Christian, I might add? Well, here now to discuss this heart-wrenching story is Meg Kilgannon. She’s a senior fellow for education studies here at the Family Research Council. Meg, welcome back to Washington Watch. Appreciate you joining us.
SPEAKER 17 :
Thanks for having me, Tony. I mean, Jody. Sorry.
SPEAKER 07 :
Close enough, but a far stretch from Tony. Listen, so what do we know so far, Meg, about this shooter?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, she was a 15-year-old girl. She was a student at the school. It seems that her family, she’s from a broken home. Her parents are divorced and remarried, and it seems from the manifestos that have been posted that are allegedly by her, you know, it’s early in the process, so what do we really know? We’re, you know, not a lot, but… But like so many of these other cases, this seems to be a family in crisis. And in a way, it could be really anyone’s family. She wrote about feeling very alone. And it seemed that she spent a lot of time alone and a lot of time alone. on the internet and she had come to sort of idealize other school shooters and so this is just a such a tragic situation and right here at the holidays you know I hope that that the families that are listening to this show and families everywhere will spend the holidays with their kids really engaging with them And really looking honestly at your own family and saying, is there a child of mine who’s feeling left out, who’s feeling alone? And how much time are they in their room behind closed doors? And Do I need to just go in that room with them and just sit with them and be with them?
SPEAKER 07 :
A great point. You know, this really is such a heart-wrenching story. And the manifesto, allegedly, as you say, it’s just heartbreaking to read some of the things that she describes. But for those parents who think that a Christian school is all they need to try to make sure that their kids are going to grow up okay. What do you say to them? Hats off to them for trying to put their kids in a Christian school. Of course. But what else would you say to them right now?
SPEAKER 17 :
No, I mean, I think, you know, I’m a parent, you’re a parent, we’re always stressed, right? We’re always rushed and in a hurry. And we’re always looking for help. We always want the support of the community to raise our kids, right? And so it’s easy to put our children in an environment, in a school situation, and think that we have a box checked, that they’ll be fine. Because, you know, we’re all on the same team here. And It really doesn’t remove, as Tony does say, it doesn’t remove the responsibility from you even though you delegate the authority to others. That isn’t enough. It’s great. It’s a huge advantage over other situations in a child’s life, but it will never replace the relationship that we’ll have with our own children and that our children will have with each other if we’re blessed with more than one child. So that family life, I mean, Christ came to us into a family. He could have come as king of the universe, right? But he chose to come humbly into a family.
SPEAKER 07 :
And he adopted us into his family. Yes, exactly. So what do you make, Meg, of the fact that now we have at least two schools, Covenant School Shooter and now the Abundant Life Christian School Shooter. Both are females. I mean, what is driving that? the developing trend where even females are expressing more and more violence in ways that we certainly have not seen in the past.
SPEAKER 17 :
Yeah, I think that this is a byproduct of the culture that we’re living in. You know, we are aware that we’re in an overly sexualized culture and women are behaving differently now than maybe a generation ago in terms of that kind of behavior and the same is true in terms of violence. We have a pornified culture and we also have an incredible glorification of violence in our culture. Both are a function of being in a culture of death rather than a culture of life. But the result of that is going to be that it’s not just going to be the boys who will take these aggressive actions, but you’re going to see this behavior adopted by the girls. And that really, for me as a woman, is very, very chilling and very sad.
SPEAKER 07 :
It is. Meg, we’ve got less than a minute. Real quickly, you and the Pray Vote Stand Summit in 2022, you were part of a panel with an individual named Wendell that you said made a powerful statement. Real quickly, what was that statement? And just highlight it for us.
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, he said that, you know, we live for 50 years. We did a great job of protecting unborn children in the womb and that we need to keep our attention on children and make sure we’re protecting them outside the womb. And I think he’s exactly right. We do. Our children need our full attention, regardless of their age.
SPEAKER 07 :
It’s a fight for life, both in the womb and beyond, outside the womb. And this type of tragic ending just highlights that more and more. Meg Kilgannon, FRC Senior Fellow for Education Studies. Always, it is an honor to have you on the program. Thank you so much. And listen, thank you for mistaking me as Tony. I appreciate that.
SPEAKER 17 :
Merry Christmas, Jody.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, that was my Christmas present from you. Thank you so much. All right, friends, don’t go anywhere. Much more coming your way. Texas is going after some out-of-state doctors that are prescribing dangerous abortion drugs to Texans. Wow, what a bold step, a powerful step. This is a story absolutely you need to hear. We’ll bring it your way right after the break.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C. Behind me is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world, the U.S. Capitol. What does it stand for? Well, most people say government. But you know, the Bible talks about four institutions of government. You know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this thing, separation of church and state? Does that mean Christians shouldn’t be involved in government? Guess what? We address those issues and more in our new God and Government course. I invite you to join us to see what the historical record and the Bible has to say about government. Join us for God and Government.
SPEAKER 16 :
The world is hurting, streets are filled with crime, families are broken, sin is celebrated, and God is mocked. Everywhere we look, the wages of our sin are on full display. As Christians, we know that surrender to God’s will is the solution to our biggest problems, but not everyone agrees. Even in church, we hear people say the most important thing is to be tolerant, that we shouldn’t impose a morality on other people, and that loving our neighbor means celebrating what they do. But you can’t do that. It’s not that you don’t love your neighbor. You do. But you care about God’s opinion more than your neighbor’s opinion, and this makes you different. In fact, sometimes it makes you feel alone, like you’re the only one. But there is good news. You are not alone, not even close. Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable Word of God. But that’s not all. They’re also engaged in our government. They’re voters. They’re more likely to be involved in their community, and they’re making a difference in elections. The problem is that a lot of them feel alone, too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together no matter the cost. If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these sage cons yourself, go to frc.org slash sagecon and take the quiz to find out. The world is hurting, and we have the solution. We can’t do it alone, but we can do it if we work together. That’s what we’re working toward every day. Join us. Go to FRC.org slash S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more. That’s S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more.
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Thank you so much for joining us today on Washington Watch. Welcome back. I am your host today, Jody Heiss. An honor to be sitting in for Tony. All right, before I bring in my next guest, I want to encourage you to join us here at Family Research Council as we are shining the light of biblical truth right here in Washington, D.C., and literally across our nation. We all know this is a dangerous time in which we’re living. And we are now, of course, in the midst of a leadership transition, as well as a lame duck session of Congress. And FRC is serving literally as a watchman on the wall. We’re here protecting faith, family, and freedom from multiple attacks from the left. And now, catch this, underscore this in your mind. Thanks to a $1.5 million challenge match, You now have the opportunity that every gift that you give to FRC from now to the end of the year, December 31st, everything you give will be doubled. Folks, you can have twice the impact. That’s a huge opportunity. And so I’m asking you to stand with us here at FRC as literally we are here as though God has given us a prophetic voice. for biblical truth, and we ask you to join us in that. You can do so by texting the word LIGHT l-i-g-h-t light to six seven seven four two and together let’s have an eternal impact and thank you for helping us out all right yesterday frc’s news and commentary publication the washington stand which if you are not a part of that you need to let the washington stand be a regular diet for your source of news but yesterday the washington stand reported on how sam’s club and kroger had quietly started offering abortion drugs at their pharmacies. Well, the Washington Stand reported on it yesterday, and guess what? Kroger is saying otherwise now. Wow. Huge praise for that. Joining me now to discuss this is Jared Bridges, who is the editor-in-chief of the Washington Stand. Jared, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you. Glad to be here. Great work. Let me just tell you, way to go. So I kind of gave a little bit of a summary. Please elaborate further for us.
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Well, Jody, it used to be the most shocking thing you had to worry about when you were at the grocery store was what you were going to see in the tabloid section at the checkouts. You know, was Bill Clinton going to be abducted by aliens or something like that? Something like that. The good old days. Yeah, those were the good old days. But not anymore. The question remains, do people have to worry about their grocery store, their local grocery store, selling abortion drugs? And that’s what was at issue here. The pro-life group, Live Action, had reported that Sam’s Club and Kroger were offering abortion drugs. We thought that’s something our readers would want to know about as well. So we looked into it, verified that indeed, and we pulled up Kroger’s website and they They listed mifepristone on their website, and it said it was used as – this is not a headache drug. It even said that its use was to end pregnancies. So we wrote about it and pushed out the article. Then we heard from Kroger and one of their head of communications wrote to us and said the Kroger Company family of pharmacies do not carry Mifepristone nor do we dispense it. So we’re kind of scratching our heads a bit on that. So we sent them a link to their website where the drug was being offered. And then they told us that the – that it was listed on their the kroger health savings club site in error and it has since been removed and they and reiterated that they do not carry mifepristone and they requested being removed from from the article uh which which okay we we put that information in there and got that out to our our readers at that point that is incredible you know that is uh
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It’s hard to buy that it was just an accident. I mean, how do you put something like that on your website, describing the drug in detail like that? But listen, incredible work, Jared, from you and your team there at the Washington Stand and the communication back and forth. How are you going to be following up on this story now?
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Well, I mean, we’ve since verified that it is indeed no longer there. So what they’ve told us is that they currently do not carry it, and we will keep watching to see if they will.
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Jared Bridges, editor-in-chief of The Washington Stand. Tell everybody real quickly how they can become a regular follower and reader of The Washington Stand.
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Yeah, you can go find us on any of the social platforms. You can go to WashingtonStand.com, get the email, have all the articles sent to you every day. And, you know, that’s where we go.
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Jared Bridges, thank you so much. Great work. Keep it up. Thank you for joining us on Washington Watch. Thanks, Jerry. All right. Great news, folks. And I’m telling you, you need to be a regular reader of The Stand. It is fantastic. Publications, multiple ones come out every day and from a biblical worldview giving you the news. All right. Let’s go on to my next guest. Late last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter. Now, Carpenter is a New York-based doctor. So why in the world would the state of Texas be suing an out-of-state doctor? Well, it just so happens that Dr. Carpenter is the founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, and that group prescribed abortion drugs to a pregnant Texas woman who later suffered serious complications. So here now to break down the legalese of all of this is Dr. Chris Gasek. Chris is FRC’s Senior Fellow for Regulatory Studies and is also an attorney himself. Chris, welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to have you.
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Good to see you, Jody.
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Okay, so this is pretty big news. Let’s just start the legal grounds for Attorney General Paxson from Texas suing.
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Well, the first the basis of just keep in mind that this is a civil action. It’s not a criminal action. Right. So she’s in he’s in court suing this doctor from New York. And there are two basic reasons for this. On a very basic level, she’s just practicing medicine in the state of Texas without being licensed in the state of Texas. She has no license there and she has no telemedicine license. The second part of this and probably the more impactful is that Texas has laws against physicians providing abortifacients to women in the state. She’s violating both of these provisions and both of the provisions allowed for civil penalties. So the state is going after her to get an injunction to prevent her from doing more of this. But also there’s $100,000 per event fine that’s possible. They’re asking for that. And then they’re also asking for attorney’s fees and different fees related to the litigation.
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Wow, $100,000 per incident. That could add up pretty quickly. All right, so how in the world was Dr. Carpenter caught in this interstate abortion pill scheme? How did she get caught?
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Well, it’s really interesting. So there’s a 20-year-old woman in Collier County. I think it’s Collier County, Texas. And she got the pills from the doctor and had an abortion. The abortion didn’t, you know, it went awry. And remember that one in 25 of these chemical abortions will send a woman or the patient to the emergency room so that’s what happened to her and she ended up needing to go she’s having a severe reaction excessive bleeding she had to go to an emergency room she told her her boyfriend she was not married to take her there and the boyfriend didn’t know anything about the pregnancy and was suspicious of all this he went back and found out found the drugs the abortion drugs and then He started the process of, I guess, reported it to the police. So I’m not sure what all was going there. But she is important thing to remember here is aside from the dynamics of the couple, she was an you know, she was an extremist. Right. She was a case where the abortion went awry and was one of these, you know, one in 25 women who needed help. emergency care. So the doctor in New York prescribed pills that sent somebody to an emergency room in Texas.
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Wow, amazing. All right, so 1 in 25, that sounds like a pretty high risk medication. So while you’re on that, just take a moment to remind our audience of some of the dangers that mifepristine poses to people.
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Well, I mean, mifepristone, the regimen, there are two drugs. It essentially is inducing a miscarriage, right? So as the FDA has noted, one in 25 women have sufficient complications that they have to go and have some sort of post. After taking the pills, you have to go and seek emergency care, right? And that usually has to do with, it can be things like incomplete abortion, excessive bleeding, I mean, really excessive, horrible bleeding. And then, I mean, fever, these kinds of things. So imagine all of the issues related to having a miscarriage, except that they’ve been created in this artificial environment. And most of the times, for example, here’s another thing that the pro-life doctors have always complained about from the FDA process from the very beginning. The APLOG doctors and all these folks have always wanted the abortionist to have admitting privileges at a hospital for their patient so that they could take them in and admit them, right? Well, this woman’s in New York, this doctor. The patient’s in Texas. And this is a classic example of this woman basically had no care. She’s relying on her boyfriend to take her over. He doesn’t know anything about the case. I mean, she could have been really, really sick, right? So this is, I mean, just in every conceivable way, suboptimal, you know, very poor medical treatment. Let’s put it that way.
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So the part, at least, of the press release that came out of the office of Attorney General Paxton said, It seemed to indicate to me that they are serious about this $100,000 penalty for each violation. Do you think that they really are serious about this? Are they going to try to make an example, if you will, out of Dr. Carpenter?
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well i don’t think i don’t think is in a yes i think they’re very serious but i wouldn’t put it in terms of making example of her she committed a crime in the state of texas so they’re enforcing the law of texas right you know right mean it’s uh… it’s more than that they did This doctor did something serious, you know, seriously wrong, and it affected a person in their state. It could have ended up very badly. And, you know, they have to protect the health and well-being of the state of Texas. That’s why you have state medical licensure laws, right? So these people are just kind of blowing past these pro-abortion doctors. Go ahead.
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So, yeah, so I guess part of, if we’re going to use, and it’s probably a bad choice of words, making an example. Yeah, I understand. Part of the example of this would be to, number one, communicate to other potential doctors doing the same thing that Texas is going to enforce their law. But secondly, if you as a doctor out of state are not familiar with the law of Texas, you certainly are now.
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You’re going to find out more about it, especially if – I mean if you’re a doctor, one of the things that I’m pretty sure you’re pretty certain about if you’re conscientious is where am I licensed to practice? What are the boundaries of that? What can I do in telemedicine? So this is part of the occupational requirements of doing your job. You really need to know that. what you’re all about, and this woman knows what she’s all about, this medical doctor, this doctor in New York. I mean, she is part of an organization that is focused on getting abortions into the, medical and chemical abortions through the mail into these states that have laws that are restrictive. So this is not something that she, she completely was aware of what she was doing.
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Well, and not only Texas, but as you just said, there are other states, too. So she may be in hot water all across the country. She could be. So, yeah, she could be. And very likely, I mean, you would think that they sent these drugs not only to individuals in Texas, but all over the country. So maybe this is going to spur other AGs to do something similar.
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Well, remember, real quickly, the Comstock Act, the federal act, right, is in place here about mailing abortifications across state lines. Now, The Biden Justice Department, the Office of Legal Counsel, wrote an opinion that a lot of people think was very poorly done, saying that the Comstock Act doesn’t apply to these medical abortion pills and everything like that. I think one of the things that’s going to be important in considering – Pam Bondi and the Justice Department team that Trump puts up is, how are they going to analyze this? Because it’s not just pro-lifers who realize that this was a poor analysis of the Comstock Act. So anyway, go back to you. There’s also another vehicle by which this kind of thing could be addressed, but this by the federal government, right?
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Okay. Less than a minute left, Chris. Do you anticipate more doctors could be sued by Paxson or other pro-life state attorney generals? Absolutely. Absolutely. So this is coming. Yes. Wow. Well, listen, I can’t thank you enough. Chris Kasich, it is always an honor to have you on Washington Watch. It’s always great to run into you in the halls of FRC. I always enjoy seeing you, too. You are one of those guys who seems to know so much about so many different issues taking place, and it’s always an honor. Thanks again for coming on. It’s always good to see you. FRC’s Senior Fellow for Regulatory Affairs, Chris Kasich. Thank you, sir. You’re welcome. All right. Have a great Christmas. All right, friends, that wraps up this edition of Washington Watch. And I feel like we’ve been going about 90 miles an hour from the very beginning, getting people running off the house floor and one topic after another. But that is our mission. That is our purpose, to keep you informed as to what’s happening in our country, specifically as it relates to issues of biblical significance. And that’s our commitment to you. Thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch. Have a fantastic evening. We’ll see you tomorrow right here on Washington Watch.
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Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
