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Join us on this edition of Washington Watch as Jody Heiss guides us through the complexities of the ongoing government shutdown and its wide-ranging impacts on American citizens and beyond. We hear from distinguished guests, including members of Congress, who express their thoughts on the pressing issues faced by the nation today. More than just politics, this episode delves into personal stories and legislative challenges, unveiling what it means for different communities across the country.
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from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview.
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Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss. the senate democrats have zero shame about this they don’t have any shame at all about the pain that they’re inflicting upon hard-working families upon soldiers and law enforcement officers and veterans and the elderly and the disabled and women infants and children services to all those categories and paychecks to those folks are being stalled because democrats are playing games
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That was House Speaker Mike Johnson on Capitol Hill earlier today criticizing Democrats for refusing to pass a clean continuing resolution as the government shutdown is now in day 20. Welcome to this October 20th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host for today, Jody Heiss, filling in for Tony Perkins. Thank you so much for tuning in. Coming up on today’s broadcast, over the weekend, the so-called No Kings protests challenged President Trump’s leadership, but Republicans dismissed them as nothing other than political stunts, not any serious solutions at all. The shutdown is now the third longest in U.S. history. Congressman Chuck Edwards will be joining me shortly to break the latest down for us. And a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is now itself under heavy fire, but at least for the time being, it’s still holding on. And later in the program, we’ll share insights from Pastor Jack Hibbs and former Congresswoman Michelle Bachman, both of whom were in last week’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit in Southern California. We begin this afternoon with news coming out of the Middle East in Gaza. Israel marked a new pullback line under the U.S. brokered ceasefire, but still violence flared up again over the weekend. Hamas militants killed two Israeli soldiers, and in response, Israel put forth strikes of their own, literally killing dozens. And joining me now is Washington’s stand reporter Casey Harper. Casey, a lot’s happening in the Middle East. What are you hearing as far as the latest?
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Yeah, that’s right, Jody. So here’s the update. Despite the violence committed by the terrorist group Hamas this weekend and their efforts to maintain control of Gaza, which is a violation of the peace deal, both sides do say that that ceasefire is holding. Now, President Trump, while speaking today at the White House, he said the U.S. will give the ceasefire a chance, but he warned Hamas, behave or you’re going to face some swift, violent action from allied forces.
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We made a deal with Hamas that, you know, they’re going to be very good, they’re going to behave, they’re going to be nice, and if they’re not, we’re going to go and we’re going to eradicate them if we have to. They’ll be eradicated, and they know that. So they went in, they went in, and I don’t believe it was a leadership, but they had some rebellion in there among themselves, and they killed… Some people, you know, pretty a lot of people. But this is a violent group. You know, you probably noticed over the last 100 years, this is a very violent group of people.
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Now, President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, they met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu today to try to keep this peace deal on track. Israel says Hamas is breaking the agreement by attacking troops and withholding those bodies of deceased hostages. But despite those setbacks, the Trump-led plan is pushing forward. Vice President J.D. Vance actually just left for Israel today as the administration is pushing forward this 20-step peace strategy, which is part of what President Trump calls this historic new Middle East, Jody.
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Wow. A lot going on, Casey. Let’s turn, if we can, our attention to Washington, D.C. Of course, the government shutdown is still the big news. I have been hearing for several days, Casey, that there is a possibility, a possibility that maybe the Democrats will be open to reopening the government after the No Kings rallies. What are you hearing?
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Yeah, well, they do have President Trump is leaving the country soon, so they might be motivated by that deadline, Jody. But today marks the day 20 of the government shutdown, which is actually the third longest in U.S. history. So the Senate, they’re scheduled to vote on another clean CR. But as you may expect, it’s not expected to pass. These no kings protests, they have become a major focus in today’s political discussion. As you mentioned, protesters gathered across the U.S. over the weekend to speak out against President Trump, and they say his actions are too extreme and even threaten democracy. But many Republicans argue he’s just doing what he promised, cracking down on illegal immigration, standing up to biased media, and putting America first. Most of these protests were peaceful, but some, like in Portland, showed signs of glorifying violence, which did raise concerns. Now, in a Fox News interview this weekend, President Trump responded to those protests, saying, I am no king. He defended his leadership as firm but fair. Many Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, actually joined the No Kings protests. And Republicans say this is proof positive that Democrats are prioritizing political theater over reopening the government. In fact, Republican Congressman Chip Roy slammed Democrats for this, calling it a distraction from just doing their jobs.
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target the Southern Poverty Law Center, who are going after people like our friends at the Family Research Council, or ultimately Charlie Kirk. Securing the border, passing the Lake and Raleigh Act. These are the things the American people want us to do, not shutting down the government for political rallies. And the truth is, the Marxists, the radicals, and the Islamists, the Democratic Party promoted this weekend. They cannot handle the truth. The truth is that there is a king, and that king is Jesus.
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With President Trump heading to Asia later this month, Jody, we’ll see if these negotiations can move forward before then.
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Well, let’s certainly hope that they do. And just hearing Congressman Chip Roy there, I was honored to be at the PrayVote Stand Summit this weekend in Chino Hills, California. And certainly we had some protesters there as well. And as you can imagine, they were chanting, no king, no king, no king. But while they were out there, we were all inside Calvary Chapel, Jack Hibbs Church, praising the one and only king. the Lord Jesus Christ, and it was just a really, really special time. In fact, those of you who are viewing right now, you’re able to see Tony Perkins and Jack Hibbs. They’ve got a picture of themselves with some of the protesters there in the background. Really quite an experience it was. All right, Casey, anything else that you’re tracking? Is there any good news out there?
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Oh, yeah, Jody, we do have some positive news. Sorry to be a downer on the show so often, but here’s some good news. Bible sales across America are up. In fact, they soared 36% in September of this year compared to the same time last year. Now, of course, this comes after the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk, but according to the publishing tracker, Circana Book Scan, sales jumped from 1.5 million to 2.4 million copies. This shows Americans may be turning back to faith in some pretty uncertain times, Jody.
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Wow. Thank you so much, Casey. We appreciate always you giving us these updates. We are grateful for it. All right. I want to go back now to the latest on the government shutdown. And in particular, I’d like to get a congressional perspective of it all. And joining me now to discuss this and more is Congressman Chuck Edwards. He’s a member of the House Appropriations Committee as well as the Budget Committee. And he represents the 11th Congressional District Committee. the great state of North Carolina, Congressman Edwards. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you.
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Good to have you. It’s great to be here. Thanks for having me.
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All right. Well, look, before we get to the shutdown, which I certainly want to get to, I would love to get your thoughts on the No Kings protests over the weekend. While certainly most of them, as already has been noted, were free of violence, there was some pretty violent rhetoric that was on display at all. What was your thoughts with it?
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You know, I wasn’t there. I didn’t see actually what took place. I find it extremely interesting that we see this level of theatrics from folks that really are distracting from the issues at hand right now, which are getting our government drunk. funded and operational again. I think it’s interesting that so many folks want to protest what President Trump is doing, what he has accomplished, what he says he wants to help us accomplish. They’re just still angry that he won the election. But we’re remaining focused on trying to get the government open.
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That’s what it seems to really come down to. And many have noted the irony of these demonstrations. In fact, Speaker Johnson, we had a clip of him moments ago about it. But if President Trump was a king, the government would be open right now, wouldn’t it?
SPEAKER 09 :
That would certainly be the case. And President Trump would be the first to admit that he’s not a king. He’s part of a republic of this great nation. And again, they’re just frustrated that he was elected, and this is their opportunity to get out in the public eye and remind folks they wish the election had gone some other way.
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Well, speaking of all of the opening the government, the Senate is scheduled yet again to vote, I believe, now for the 11th time on advancing the clean House passed continuing resolution to fund the government. Are you hearing any indication that we might see some movement on the votes? What are you hearing?
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What I’m hearing right now is that the constituents in the districts of those senators that are continuing to say no to funding the government are getting more and more restless. They’re beginning to recognize that the military will not be receiving checks here in just a short time. They’re beginning to realize. that they will not be receiving SNAP payments and WIC payments, and that other government services disruption will be beginning to show through. And the constituents in those districts are getting noisier and noisier. And I believe we’re going to see a number of Senate Democrats switch over and decide to reopen the government.
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Well, I sure hope you’re right. You know, we hear a lot and we’ve been hearing for the last few weeks a lot about how the government shutdown hurts certain individual service members, for example, federal workers. But it also impacts everyday people. And you represent a district where I suppose that is as real as anyone else in Congress. This time or so last year, of course, the huge hurricane came through your district and did catastrophic damage all throughout the southeast. But your district in particular was hit. And you still have people right now suffering and they need some help, some assistance. Tell us the impact that the shutdown is having on them.
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Well, certainly with FEMA, USDA, HUD, and others having their operations disrupted so much, we’re having a tough time. In fact, my office has been in contact with several folks today and not been able to get through. And it has certainly slowed our recovery. I find it appalling that folks, the House Democrats in North Carolina, said that they wanted to see North Carolina rebuild, and yet they voted to shut the government down. Here’s the other interesting thing. In the clean resolution, we had $21.5 billion additional disaster relief funding that Democrats are saying no to for North Carolina. It most certainly has disrupted the momentum that we’ve built
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over the last few months and i’d rather see us get back to full functionality well we certainly hope that that will take place speedily thank you so much congressman chuck edwards of north carolina it’s great to have you on the program we appreciate you coming on appreciate you coming on good to be here thanks for having me All right, coming up next, we’ll share the latest on a case involving Pastor Luke Ash. He is a bivocational pastor who was fired from his job at the local public library because he refused to use biologically correct pronouns. Well, Liberty Council’s Matt Staver will be joining me for that discussion in just a moment. They are representing the pastor, so stick around. We’ll be back right after this brief break.
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For over 4,000 years, the Jewish people have had legal, historical, and biblical ties to the land of Israel, especially the heartland of Israel, Judea and Samaria, which much of the world still calls the West Bank. To Israelis, Judea and Samaria is far more than a name. It’s the center of their ancestral homeland where nearly 80% of the Bible’s events took place. Abraham purchased property in Hebron, Jacob in Shechem, Joshua made an altar on Mount Ebal and led the Israelites into a covenant before God. On Mount Gerizim, overlooking Shechem, Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well about worshiping neither on Mount Gerizim nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth. Judea and Samaria is nearly a quarter of Israel’s current land mass, not a small strip of land on the Jordan River, but a vital and strategic part of the nation’s identity. The October 7th massacre, launched from Gaza, shattered the illusion that giving away territory brings peace. Gaza, which was once seen as the cornerstone of a two-state solution, became a launchpad for terror. Today, only 21% of Israelis support a Palestinian state. Trust in a two-state solution has all but collapsed. The Middle East is changing. Iran’s grip is weakening. New alliances are forming. But Western countries and some U.S. officials still chase the mirage of a two-state solution. History speaks clearly. The 2005 Gaza withdrawal, backed by the U.S., led not to peace, but to a terrorist regime. Judea and Samaria are 24 times larger than Gaza, deeply woven into Israel’s geographic and spiritual fabric. To surrender them would not bring peace. It would invite conflict and existential danger. Family Research Council stands with Israel’s rightful claim to sovereignty. It’s time for America to do the same for history, for justice, and for lasting security in the Middle East.
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Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to The Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at The Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
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Download the new Stand Firm app for Apple and Android phones today. You can join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We’ve created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective. Read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family and church members. And of course, Stand Firm wherever you go.
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Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss, an honor to be filling in today for Tony and thank you so much for joining us. All right. Earlier this summer, our team here at Family Research Council was among the first, if not the first, to report on an incident regarding a bivocational pastor in Baton Rouge who was fired from his job at a local public library after he refused to use the preferred pronouns of a gender-identifying coworker. Well, that pastor is fighting back, thank God, and he’s doing so with the help of our great friends over at Liberty Council. And joining me now to discuss this is Matt Staver, who is the founder and chairman of Liberty Council. He’s also pastored several churches and produces a Bible study podcast, among a host of other things that he does. Matt, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to see you, my friend.
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Thank you, Jody. Always a good opportunity to be with you and the great people at FRC. In fact, it was Family Research Council that broke this story, and that’s how Liberty Council learned about this story with Pastor Luke Ash in the East Baton Rouge Parish Library. So thank you for doing so, and thank you for keeping all of us informed.
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It’s great. Well, Pastor Ash actually was with us this past weekend at our PrayVote Stand Summit in Southern California. Matt, I’d like to get started by showing you just a little clip of what he shared, and then we’ll go from there. Play the clip for me.
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I was working there for a few months. And I was in a conversation with a colleague about somebody that she was training. And in the course of that conversation, I used biologically accurate pronouns. And my coworker corrected me. and said that they prefer he. And I said, I don’t do that. And she said, you don’t use preferred pronouns? And I said, I don’t do that. And she said, that’s very respectful. And I said, yes, that’s very respectful. Thinking about the image of God, how the Lord has created each one of us in his image. And so to tarnish that would be to vandalize the good creation that God has made each and every one of us with the sex that he has given to us. So the next day, I was brought into the office, shown the inclusivity policy. I was given the option to change course. And I said, I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to lie. And two days later, I was fired from the library.
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All right, Matt Staver. You know, hearing that, I think most of us instinctively feel what the library did was wrong. But can you tell us a little bit more precisely how the library acted unlawfully here? What did they do?
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Well, they certainly violated Title Seven, which is the law that governs employment. But they also, since they are a public library here, they also violated the federal First Amendment and also the state constitution right to religious freedom. So there’s three different different categories of law here that they violated under Title Seven or under the First Amendment, where you have religious free exercise rights, for example. In this particular case, They knew that he had a religiously based objection. He’s not going to lie. He’s not going to give false pronouns to someone. So they should have asked about how or they should have perceived in determining how they could accommodate this. Well, this is pronouns, right? So how often do you refer to your colleagues by pronouns? You refer to them by first or last name, for example. They could have simply said, whenever talking to this particular employee, can you just use their name? which I’m sure Pastor Lukasz would be happy to do so. He just didn’t want to lie. He could use the person’s name, whatever that name would be, but he’s not going to tell a female employee that they are something other than how God created them as female, in this case, male. That’s an absolute lie. So the library should have, it’s a very easy accommodation, but in fact, what the library did is they have the so-called inclusivity policy that each employee has a so-called right to choose their own pronouns, but they don’t have a right to force other people like Pastor Luke Ash or anyone else to go along with that delusion or that lie. And that’s really, I think, the problem with the library. So we sent a demand letter to the East Baton Rouge Parish Library on behalf of Pastor Luke Ash. We are asking them to reverse course. They need to actually reinstate him. They need to pay him back pay as well. And if not, this will result in, unfortunately, litigation against this library because they’ve clearly violated his rights. And not only to get against Pastor Luke Ash, if they did it against him, they’re going to do it against everybody. So this has to end. And I’m glad Pastor Luke Ash is standing up for his freedom.
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Yeah, we are, too. So what are the possible different outcomes here? What could happen as this moves forward?
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Well, what the preferred option would be is that the library just understands that it made a mistake and they need to apologize. They need to reverse course. They need to bring Pastor Luke Ash back and they need to pay him for back pay. That’s really what needs to be done. And then going forward. he doesn’t have to refer to someone based upon a false pronoun. He can refer to that person, or this was someone who was new, he could refer to that person by their first or last name. That’s an easy fix. That’s what really needs to do. But if they don’t do that, if they dig their heels in, then I believe this will result in a lawsuit, a federal lawsuit. And I know Family Research Council, you all have been so good at getting this information out. So frankly, the people of Louisiana and the people of Baton Rouge, they ought to be outraged at this, and they ought to make their voice known. This is a publicly supported library, and it’s their tax dollars that are supporting this library that people have an interest in correcting.
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Matt, less than a minute before we’ve got a hard break here, but what advice would you give to people who may encounter this type of situation? It’s not happening just in Baton Rouge. We’re seeing more and more of this.
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Well, I think Pastor Ash has done the right thing. Number one, he said that he’s not going to participate in that false pronoun, and it’s based upon his religious beliefs. And stand firm. Don’t compromise on this particular issue. You’re not helping anybody. You’re hurting somebody by giving them a false delusion. And then if you have issues, contact Family Research Council. You can get the word out. Liberty Council will stand beside you to make sure that the legal issues are protected and your rights are protected.
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Thank you so much, Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Council. Always great to have you with us. Thank you for joining us.
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Thank you. My pleasure.
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All right, by the way, for those of you who are listening and watching right now, we do have a petition through which you can stand with Pastor Luke and push back against the left’s deceptive and destructive ideology that punishes faith. You can simply text the word PASTOR to 67742 to sign that petition. All right, coming up, we’ve got some very timely discussions that took place at the PrayVoteStand Summit. We’ll start with the question, what should we keep in mind when we talk about IVF?
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A family is the oldest, most tested, and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained. And yet, there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure. That’s why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that can effectively defend and strengthen the family.
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Family Research Council began over 40 years ago, like all great movements of God, with prayer. Today, rooted in the heart of the nation’s capital, FRC continues to champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
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FRC is one of those bright lights that helps us focus on true north. And I shudder to think had they not been here that it could have been worse, worse, worse.
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The Family Research Council is key. It’s one of a handful of groups that I think will determine whether our children live in a country that enjoyed all of the freedom and all the opportunity that we enjoyed in this great land.
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It’s just a wonderful parachurch organization that doesn’t seek to take the place of the church, but it seeks to assist the family and the church as we try to move forward successfully, not in a defensive mode, but in an offensive mode as we seek to live our lives according to the Holy Scriptures.
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FRC is not going to be whooped. You know, we’re going to fight. We’re going to take a stand. And again, we don’t retreat.
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You will never see in front of this building here in Washington, D.C., a white flag flying. We will never step back. We will never surrender. And we will never be silent.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. In vitro fertilization, IVF. Well, it became a topic of discussion once again after President Trump’s announcement late last week of new federal actions related to the procedure. And it was also a topic at our PrayVote Stand Summit. And one of our panelists, reproductive endocrinology and infertility physician, Dr. Lauren Rubal, had some great insights on fertility and IVF. So I want to share some of that with you right now. Here’s Dr. Rubal with Tony.
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For much of my career, I did do in vitro fertilization, which is combining eggs and sperm outside of the body to create embryos. And I absolutely believed that what I was doing was the best way forward to help those couples. That IVF is pro-life because it helps create life, right? That’s how I started. And I’ll tell you, quite frankly… After a period of doing this, I was the head of a division in a large hospital system, and I was starting to feel more and more and more the weight of my actions and what I was doing. And I felt that personally because I knew that I was seeing all these couples. I was seeing almost a third of the time per the national data, couples do IVF, for example, due to unexplained reasons, that they don’t have a true diagnosis. And I felt it every day because I said, you know, We just have to kind of move forward and this should be the fix. But it truly is a band-aid and I could sense that, that I wasn’t healing when I wasn’t addressing those root causes, number one. And then number two, I was intimately involved and really felt like I was playing God. I felt and realized that in fact what in vitro fertilization does is it creates embryos, which are humans in their earliest stages of development. And unfortunately, I was making decisions of life and death for those embryos. In fact, on average, about seven to 11 embryos are created per IVF cycle. And with that being said, when we look at data from Europe or from the UK, they have about 20 years of data showing that there are about 300,000 embryos that have become live-born babies. But guys, this is 5% of embryos that are created based on that same data. And so what that means is that 95% of those human beings in their earliest stages of development are either they die through the process, they’re destroyed, or they’re frozen indefinitely. And in fact, we know there are millions of embryos that are just suspended in a cryotank somewhere without… potentially the possibility of ever being transferred or given that chance for a life, a life, a true life. And so because of this and because of my realization morally and ethically, I realized I couldn’t do what I was doing, that my soul was truly at stake. And therefore… Thank you. Oh, thanks be to God, actually. All glory to him. But I’m here to tell you that the exciting part about this is that even though IVF is actually not the best answer because it’s not as effective as we think, it’s less than a 50% chance of live birth per treatment cycle.
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Say that again?
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s less than 50% of a live birth.
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And it’s also very costly.
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incredibly costly. $61,000 on average to achieve a live birth and otherwise about $25,000 per couple.
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And how much oversight and regulation is there of the industry?
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There’s minimal. There’s minimal. And that’s why techniques and technologies such as pre-implantation genetic screening, which is a biopsy of those embryos to look at the chromosomes within. There have been different iterations of this technology that have happened for decades already. What has happened is they’ve finally gotten around to doing studies of this, looking at how this impacts live births. And the thought is, well, if you screen the embryos and we select the best chromosomally normal embryo, they actually find when they finally do the studies that it doesn’t significantly improve live births and that there are errors with this technology. And there are babies born after being deemed chromosomally abnormal by this technique that are perfectly normal, chromosomally, no defects, no issues, live-born babies. So lots of issues.
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So there’s issues there, and there’s moral, there’s theological, there’s health issues, there’s cost issues, there’s so much. But you’ve got couples. I mean, I have five children. My wife and I took a few years to get to our first one. We had some issues we had to go through. But the Lord blessed us with five children. And I can’t imagine what life would be without my children. And so there are couples struggling to have children that want children because I mean, I think we’re created that way, but there’s another alternative.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 12 :
Speak to that.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes. And so that’s very true also, just in general, that children are always a gift, no matter how they come, you know, and how they’re conceived. But restorative reproductive medicine is an ethical, affordable, and effective alternative to IVF. And what this means is this is essentially a process whereby we look at the root causes of why people are dealing with infertility or losses and For example, that 30% unexplained infertility diagnosis goes down to 1% when you use RRM or restorative methods to figure it out, which is unbelievable. And not only that, like I said, it’s incredibly effective. If we think of a 37% chance of live birth per IVF cycle for everyone in the U.S., according to recent data, With restorative reproductive medicine, there are studies showing a 30% to 66% chance of live birth over a period of two years using, again, techniques that help and restore your own health, your wellness, and decrease risk to moms and babies, too.
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And it doesn’t create the excess embryos that then are just suspended out there forever. That’s right. Wow.
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That was part of our panel on the life issue at last week’s PrayVoteStand Summit. To watch the entire panel, visit TonyPerkins.com. All right, coming up, I want to share with you another panel on the topic of Israel. Stay tuned. We’ll be right back.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new year. Find our Bible reading plan in daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us in Stand on the Word.
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Three years ago, the Supreme Court issued its historic Dobbs decision, a ruling that overturned Roe versus Wade, which for nearly 50 years imposed abortion on demand, silencing voters and bypassing the democratic process across the country. The Dobbs decision was a huge step forward against abortion, but it didn’t outright ban it. It returned the power to the people. Now, 29 states have laws on the books protecting life. However, there’s a catch. Abortion numbers since Dobbs have actually gone up with an increase of 12% since 2020, climbing from 930,000 to over 1 million in each of the most recent years. So how can this be? The answer is simple, the abortion drug. Today, over 60% of U.S. abortions involve abortion drugs, many of these without medical oversight. In 2021, the Biden administration quietly removed bare minimum longstanding safety protocols for the abortion drug that have existed for 20 years to protect women from life threatening risks and ensuring informed consent. The Biden DOJ then declared that they would not enforce the Comstock Act, which prevents the mailing of anything that causes an abortion. This is not only illegal, but also dangerous. A study shows nearly 11% of women who take the abortion drug end up in the emergency room with serious complications. Unless the Trump administration reverses these reckless Biden-era policies, pro-life laws will remain largely symbolic without a full review and repeal of Mifepristone. Unborn lives will remain in grave danger, and pregnant mothers will remain at risk. Let’s stand for life and end this mail-order abortion drug pipeline. Sign the petition urging the Trump administration to take action at frc.org slash stop chemical abortion.
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And welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. As the delicate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues to hold, we thought it’d be fitting to share a portion of the panel we had on Israel during last week’s PrayVoteStand Summit. Tony was joined by Pastor Jack Hibbs and former Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, and they discussed their concerns with the Trump administration’s 20-point peace plan for Israel and Hamas. Let’s start with Michelle’s reaction to the plan.
SPEAKER 04 :
So then the plan comes out, and this made all the bells go off in my head because contained with the plan is the understanding that Israel, that by the way, They were within two weeks of winning this war with Hamas. They already controlled 80% of Gaza. They were just right there coming in for the victory. Go back to World War II. We soundly defeated Imperial Japan, soundly defeated Nazi Germany. So when that happened, they’re clear winner, clear loser. That’s what you need in the Middle East for the Arab mind. The Arab mind needs to know there’s a clear winner, clear loser. And by the way, the loser loses land. That’s how the Arab mind works. So just about as Israel is reaching the goalpost, in comes our envoys, Wyckoff and Jared Kushner, and say, wait, stop it. You can’t win. Sorry, we’re not going to let you win. And so now we’re going to have a ceasefire. And now we’re going to negotiate. And in the negotiation, Israel, you’re not getting control over the land. You’re not getting it. And by the way, if the Arabs do everything right, there’s a hint, they might get their own state out of this deal. Judea, Samaria, and maybe Gaza for their own country. I mean, this is like shocking stuff. Absolute barbarians, murdering, raping barbarians. They’re going to get rewarded. And Israel’s going to get what? 20 emaciated people back. That’s what they’re getting out of the deal. 20 emaciated people and dead corpses. That’s the deal they’re getting. After they’ve lost the lives of 2,500 people and two years in this nation, when we saw one miracle from the hand of God after another, week after week after week, you saw the miraculous hand of Almighty God win and defeat Hezbollah, defeat Iran, defeat in Yemen, defeat Israel. every enemy on seven front wars. We watched the Bible play out for the last two years, and God was victorious over Israel’s enemies. And just as we have the weakest of all enemies, Hamas, and Israel’s about to go and defeat them, because again, Israel is handcuffed. We, the United States, we were the bad guys for the last two years. Under the Biden administration, America handcuffed Israel and told them, you’re not allowed to win. You can’t win. And we denied them ammunition. We denied them weapons. We made Israel’s life miserable. That was under Joe Biden. Then when President Trump came in, it took a long time to ramp up to get them the weapons and the ammunition. But then weirdly, out of nowhere, Jared Kushner reenters the scene. What had he been doing? He struck a $2.5 billion deal with the Saudis and the Qataris when President Trump left office the first time. Okay, that’s his thing. That’s what he’s doing. But you’re going to bring him back in to negotiate the deal? Somebody who has… has financial arrangements on the line, and is a junior business partner of Saudi Arabia that’s clearly been involved in terrorism against the United States, and Qatar, which is actively involved in terrorism. And you should know this, by the way. You wonder why American students, Christians, conservatives, have turned against Israel. I’ll tell you why. It’s because for the last two years, it’s documented, Qatar has spent over $200 billion… billion dollars in America targeting your kids and targeting you. They spent it on American newsrooms, on influencers, and in academic institutions. So all those riots at Columbia University paid for courtesy of Qatar. Not just Soros, Qatar. Okay, so why is American policy that we’re going to allow that? Why is it that two weeks ago, President Trump announced an executive order that we, the United States, are going to give a NATO-type guarantee to Qatar? Anybody who attacks Qatar, America is going to defend Qatar. In what universe? Why? This just came out. Just this week it came out. I love Pete Hegseth. Went to church with him since he was in high school. Beautiful believer. But he had a meeting where he was with, I think, his counterpart from Qatar saying that now we are going to host Qatari F-15s in Boise, Idaho on an American airbase. Unbelievable. So why are we rewarding the chief funder of terrorism, the nation that has housed and hosted Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical terrorist organization? Why are we rewarding them when their goal, and they’ve been propagandizing our students against Israel? Why are we doing this? So I’m asking these questions and thinking, I don’t know, I’m looking at this 20-point plan. and they’re talking about taking away Israel’s land, which would violate Joel chapter 3, verses 1 through 3, and perhaps take away control, or at least at minimum, allowing Israel the right to annex, which means to put their sovereignty over Judea, Samaria, which since 1967, Israel owned Gaza… And they’ve owned Judea, Samaria. So under international law, this is their land. And now it looks like under the Trump plan, the plan is saying, yeah, Israel, you’ve owned it since 67, but Gaza, we’re going to sever that off and we’re going to give it to Qatar. And we’re going to give it to Saudi Arabia. And we’re going to give it to all these wealthy Arabs. You paid the blood and treasure, but we’re giving it to them. In what universe? And Judea, Samaria. In what universe? So I’m looking at this thinking, oh. This isn’t political. This is biblical. And so what’s going to happen to the United States of America? Because God is no respecter of persons. We will not mock him when it comes to his people. And again, Pastor Jack has been brilliant to teach his congregation about the times that we’re living in. These are prophetic days. As we’re looking at all these convergence of events that are happening that the Bible predicts, This is when we want to sit up and fly right and make sure that we’re part of the five virgins with full oil lamps right now. Because the king is coming.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s right. I’m glad a woman delivered that message just now because… Wow.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I won’t be invited to the White House for Christmas, I can tell you that. And I don’t mean to be mean. Honestly, I’m not mean.
SPEAKER 12 :
I think we have to be truthful, and what we’re looking at this is from the biblical lens of how things should be. And I agree with Michelle’s analysis of the 20-point plan. In fact, we’ve communicated our concerns to the White House. Any effort that would take a an official position that would divide the land puts America in a very dangerous place.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s judgment against God. If you’ve read Bill Koenig’s book, Eye to Eye, he documents the consequences of dividing the land, and they’re ferocious. So we don’t want to see the United States put in that position of judgment.
SPEAKER 11 :
In fact, the scripture says, you referred to Joel, God says in the end when he returns that he will draw the nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat and judge them for dividing up my land and selling my people as though they were chattel. using the Jew for whatever and dividing up. He says, not the Jewish land. He says, it’s my land. And of course, that’s what he said to Abraham. It’s my land. I’m making you a promise, but it’s my land. But what she said is exactly spot on. And it should cause all of us as Americans to tremble in the sense for our nation. Remember, we were talking about Jefferson just the other day. Jefferson said, I tremble when I think that God’s wrath is
SPEAKER 04 :
That’s written on the Jefferson Monument in D.C. I tremble for the nation when I think that we would expose ourselves to the wrath of God when we violate his word.
SPEAKER 11 :
That God’s judgment and wrath will not always sleep. What becomes of the United States if we… participate in leading Israel down the wrong path is remarkable to me for just many reasons, but this one. To whom much is given, much is required. This nation has been given more than any other nation in all of human history. And if we turn… On Israel. I believe in short order. I don’t mean 100 years. I don’t think 50 years. I think in short order you will see the hand of God’s judgment fall upon this Christ-rejecting nation. And I think the only thing that spares this nation from imminent judgment is the presence of the believers.
SPEAKER 12 :
That is… what I want to go to next, because I want to lay out just a little context here, and I’ll just put this out here as informational points, and the Holy Spirit can lead you to process it. I wouldn’t give it to AI, but I would give it to the Holy Spirit. So as I’ve talked about, I’ve been around here for a while in Washington, D.C., and I was a part of the conversations back in 2004 when the Bush administration and Prime Minister Sharon was convinced, you know, they had made the decision to disengage from Gaza. And they got the evangelicals together in Washington to convince us that that was a good idea. And I was relatively new. So I didn’t say a whole lot, but I did raise my hand and say, you know, I think that’s kind of contrary to what the Bible says is going to happen. Oh, no, no, this is going to be peace. This is going to be peace because we’re going to give them Gaza as a place, and so it’s going to bring about peace. So there was a disengagement. They actually literally, they dug up the graves of the Jewish people that were there. They bulldozed the homes and they took them out. That happened on August the 23rd. It was a two-day where they got all the people out. That was August the 23rd of 2005. August 25th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit America. To this day, the most expensive natural disaster in history. Michelle was in the White House. I was there in January.
SPEAKER 04 :
January 28th of 2020 when President Trump revealed his peace plan that envisioned division of the land. This was Jared Kushner’s plan for the peace process. And it was a list of everything that the Arab countries had to do. But if they did, then they would get Judea, Samaria. And it envisioned division of the land. And I remember my heart sunk to my toes. I sat in the third row. Alan Dershowitz is in front of me and Mike Pompeo was in front of him. And President Trump was up there with a big map of what it would look like, the division of the land. And I thought, are you flipping kidding me? I couldn’t believe it. And it was less than 24 hours later that the COVID task force was set up with Fauci at the head. And President Trump lost control of his presidency and then lost the election. Benjamin Netanyahu was up there. He was in agreement with the plan. He lost his prime ministership that week because the police brought charges against him. He lost his prime ministership. They had five elections. They went four elections with no government. It never happened before in Israeli history. It was devastating to Israel. And on the 5th, he came back in as prime minister. So the United States suffered trillions of dollars of loss from COVID. Easily $5 trillion, if not $6 trillion in loss. And you know what we all went through with that. And look at Israel, the price Israel paid in their own society. And so isn’t it unique? I mean, just step back for a second. This happened, this level of Joel 3 judgment happened not only in our lifetime, like five years ago this judgment happened, and then God allowed supernaturally? How often would you see a coincidence like this?
SPEAKER 12 :
Let me give you one more data point. before you come to a conclusion. You were doing great. I was on a roll. If I can’t finish it, it’s his fault. But I’m going to give her a little more fodder. It was 20 days ago that the 20 point plan was unveiled. Two days later, what happened?
SPEAKER 04 :
Government shutdown?
SPEAKER 12 :
Government shutdown. Coincidence? I mean, you do not, in fact, let me give you another data point. France was the first country in this latest go-around to advocate for a two-state solution, a Palestinian state. They led the other, many of the other European countries at the end of September at the United Nations. You know what happened to France three weeks ago? Their government collapsed.
SPEAKER 04 :
And continues to collapse.
SPEAKER 12 :
They cannot get their parliament together.
SPEAKER 04 :
He appoints a prime minister, he resigns, and then he appoints him again. It’s like a clown show in France right now.
SPEAKER 11 :
Coincidence? If France is the strong horse leading the way, then Europe is over.
SPEAKER 12 :
So what do we do with this? So, again, I go back to how I started with the illustration from Isaiah chapter 6. Many would think, I think, look, I am grateful for the policies that President Trump has put into place, many of these policies, and we are grateful that God has given us this reprieve. But to understand these issues, you have to be spiritually minded and to be able to see. And unfortunately, there is not that depth of spiritual understanding in this administration as we had in the first Trump administration. And so how do we compensate for that? We need to pray. We need to, and this is, we’re not sharing this information to be critical. We’re sharing this information so there’s a sense of urgency of how the church must pray and speak into this because we all, we all will be affected by the outcome if we get this wrong. And as Pastor Jack and I talked last night, the nation of Israel and getting it wrong on this could have incredible consequences.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, that was part of our Israel panel last week at the PrayVoteStand Summit. If you’d like to watch the entire panel, visit TonyPerkins.com. It was a powerful one indeed. All right, unfortunately, that’s all the time we have for today. Hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you’ll join us again tomorrow right here, same time, same place, for more of Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 20 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council. To support our efforts to advance faith, family, and freedom, please text GIVE to 67742. That’s GIVE to 67742. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information, please visit TonyPerkins.com.
