In this episode of Washington Watch, host Tony Perkins dives into the latest collaboration between the DEA and FDA aimed at controlling the distribution of controversial drugs. The highlight of the episode reveals insights from Ohio Senator John Husted, who discusses Republican moves to advance a reconciliation bill focusing on DHS funding. Additionally, listeners are brought up to speed on the geopolitical tensions as President Trump announces a unilateral extension of the ceasefire with Iran.
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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 soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
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The DEA and the FDA are going to work together to create a pathway so that people can get access to these drugs, not in a pharmacy shelf or behind the counter, but in a controlled medical setting with supervision.
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That was FDA Commissioner Marty McCary discussing the Trump administration fast-tracking the approval and use of controversial psychedelic drugs. Welcome to this Tuesday, April 21st edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks for tuning in. Coming up, Ohio Senator John Husted joins us to discuss Republican efforts in the Senate to advance an expanded reconciliation bill aimed at moving legislation forward without Democratic support. And speaking of drugs and the FDA, pressure is rising on the Food and Drug Administration over its abortion pill policies. A new journal of the American Medical Association study finds that in states allowing mail order access to abortion drugs, About 97% of Mifeprestone prescriptions are now being delivered by the mail, while fewer than 2% are dispensed in person at pharmacies. Congressman Chris Smith joins me later. All of that and more, straight ahead. America Reads the Bible continues for the third day with President Trump set to participate tonight. Joining us now to discuss this is Washington Stand reporter Casey Harper. Casey, what can we expect to hear from the president tonight?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, Tony, it’s a great week of reading Scripture, and tonight, just after the show’s over between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern, President Trump himself is scheduled to read the Old Testament, 2 Chronicles 7, verses 11 through 22. That’s when the Lord tells Israel that if they’ll repent and turn from their wicked ways, that he’ll heal their land. Very fitting for the president for this hour, really. But his reading is going to be live-streamed on the America Reads Bible website, and the streaming’s also actually available on the PureFlix app. Now, about 500 people, from politicians to stars to regular folks, will be reading through Scripture aloud throughout the week. And we actually have a clip here of the chair of USURF, also a former congresswoman, Vicki Hartzler, reading Scripture earlier today.
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Then he went down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God. And his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came and stood before him. And he said, behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.
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So it’s just great to see, Tony, leaders not just giving lip service to Christianity, but reading the scripture itself, because that’s really what we have to get back to in our nation right now.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yep, it certainly is. We were able to be a part of the kickoff wave earlier this week. Actually, Sunday morning, we were the first ones to read. You know, the Lord says, the Bible says, the word of God will not return unto him void. So we’re just praying that that would be the case. Speaking of prayer and the word of God, something we need to be praying about, President Trump announced just moments ago before we went on the air via Truth Social that he was unilaterally extending the ceasefire with Iran until Iran could submit a proposal to end the hostilities. What’s happening there?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, Tony, this is breaking news on the show right now. It’s really been leading up to this. Everyone’s been wondering what’s going to happen with these deals. We thought J.D. Vance was leaving to lead the talks, and then he didn’t go, and then maybe he was going to leave tonight. President Trump was threatening to blow up every bridge and power plant in Iran if they didn’t reach a deal. Iran was really waffling on whether they were even going to show up. And then right before we went on the air, we have this post on True Social from President Trump where he said that essentially he is going to extend this ceasefire. to until they can come up with a deal. And he said, quote, I’ve directed our military to continue the blockade and all other respects remain ready and able. So, you know, President Trump is saying clearly that the military is ready to continue fighting. But there’s a couple of important points here. One, that naval blockade is going to continue. That has been putting a lot of economic pressure on Iran, which relies very their economy relies very heavily on getting oil out of the country. And right now, they’re not able to do that. Another thing that’s really interesting here, Tony, is that he said that he did this at the request of Pakistani leadership. Of course, these ceasefire talks have been held in Pakistan, but his post here suggests outsized influence from Pakistani leaders. And to put it mildly, Pakistan has not always been an ally or really aligned with the US worldview. So it’s interesting to see that they have such influence here. It’s a long message. I won’t read the entire thing. But we have the naval blockade continuing, Pakistan is influencing, and the ceasefire is continuing. But whether Iran actually agrees to the ceasefire seems unclear. I think by tomorrow’s show we’ll have our answer.
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Yeah, very interesting. It sounds also as if The country is so fractured, they don’t know who they’re negotiating with and people don’t. They just don’t know what’s going on. So, you know, maybe extending a little bit of time could bring a resolution. Casey, thanks so much for bringing us up to date on these key issues. Thanks. And continue to track them. We’ll talk to you tomorrow. All right. We want to turn back now to Capitol Hill to discuss the latest developments on the Department of Homeland Security and the funding efforts. Joining us now is Senator John Husted of Ohio, who serves on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Senator, welcome back to the program. Thanks for joining us.
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Great to be with you.
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So earlier today, I think the Republicans discussed this at their lunch today. Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham released a blueprint for a target reconciliation bill that will provide the funding for immigration enforcement and border security. Give us the latest.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, we just completed a vote here that begins the 50 hours of debate on a budget reconciliation bill that will fund the Department of Homeland Security. If you recall, the Democrats wanted to stop us from funding Homeland Security, particularly border control and Immigration and Customs, enforcement uh they wanted a bunch of reforms so instead of getting those reforms uh they’re actually gonna get uh three years of funding for the entire uh uh those targeted uh components of the agency so uh let’s this is the other thing that i think really sticks out to me is that Democrats had a strategy. They wanted to open up the borders during the Biden administration, let tens-plus million people come into the country. Then they were going to house them in sanctuary cities and sanctuary states. And then they were going to defund ICE and border control. so that you couldn’t deport the people that came into this country illegally. We are thwarting that with the passage, when we get this done, the passage of funding for DHS, Department of Homeland Security, ICE and Border Patrol, Customs Enforcement, really something that thwarts their efforts to essentially defund the police. So we’re making progress on this, and we just had a unanimous Republican vote on clearing it in debate, and so we’re moving forward.
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So the process here, Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he’s hopeful that this will move forward quickly, but it sets up what’s known as this marathon voterama for later in the week. That’s when all of these amendments can be offered. It just goes through the night. Do you see the bill possibly broadening beyond the funding for immigration enforcement and border security?
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, the instructions are focused on just two committees, the Homeland Security Committee and Judiciary. And so there’s a limit to what kinds of amendments you can actually put forward under the rules. And so I think it will remain pretty narrow. And the reason that it needs to is because we got to get this done. We have a great contrast here. Democrats wanted to defund the police, allow for people in this country to legally to stay here and continue to commit crimes. And we’re putting an end to that. And we’re going to stand for law and order, the rule of law. And we need to stick together and get this done and get it done quickly. The more you put into it, the harder that becomes to get accomplished.
SPEAKER 07 :
What’s the time frame here? When do you think the Senate will finish its work and bounce it over to the House?
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m hopeful that we’ll have this done by Thursday. I’m not a great predictor of timing around this place. Sometimes things can linger on, but the fact that we just completed the vote, that we started the 50 hours of debate, gives us a chance to get this done sooner rather than later.
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I want to turn to another topic, the Save America Act. Leader Thune said yesterday that the Senate might return to that legislation after reconciliation, FISA, and other Trump nominations. Where do you see that going? I mean, this is a pretty big issue, especially to conservatives, to make sure that our elections are protected.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I’m a former Secretary of State in Ohio where we made it easy to vote and hard to cheat, and I actually offered an amendment when I heard Chuck Schumer say that Democrats oppose the Save America Act, but not the photo ID provision. So I produced legislation, gave them an amendment to try to do a strict photo ID provision like we have in 36 other states. And every single Democrat, including Chuck Schumer, who told the media that he was with the American people on photo ID when they actually had the chance to put their actions into words, refused to do so. So as far as getting it done with Democrat cooperation, I think it’s highly unlikely that that can happen. But there may be a third reconciliation process that we could go through. that would allow perhaps this is this is i’m just thinking you know this is the stuff i’m working on is to put some funding in there that would fund photo ids for the entire nation uh and and that way nobody could complain that they didn’t have an id we’ll fund them for the people that don’t have them and then try to get a provision in there that says and with the funding of that we will require that they be used in American elections and all federal elections. So that’s an example of something that we can try going forward. There’s no reason to give up on something that’s that important.
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Are you surprised that Chuck Schumer would say one thing and do another?
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m not surprised, but look, I try to be somebody who listens to what people across the aisle say for opportunities to find common ground. And so when he said that they don’t oppose the photo ID provision, just all the other things, I was like, okay, well, let’s give it a chance. I know all about this. I just really mirrored it on the Ohio law that said, driver’s license, state ID, passport, military or veterans ID or tribal ID. Just use one of those five different types of IDs.
SPEAKER 07 :
And that’s the biggest part. That’s the biggest part of the Save America Act. I know there are other provisions of it, but that’s the most significant. And, I mean, what can you do in America without an ID today? You can’t cash a check. You can’t get on an airplane. I mean, you have to have an ID. So, I mean, unless you’re living… you know, I don’t know, in a cave somewhere, you’re going to have some kind of ID.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I think that that we’re all accustomed to using IDs for everything that we do. I mean, you can’t apply for public assistance without some form of identification. Everything that you do, you have to have some form of identification. And so the fact that we would vote, look, the American people are for this. 80% of American people, including You know, Hispanics and blacks and Democrats and everybody who they they say that we’re trying to suppress. No, like they they’re they’re all you see the public opinion polls. They’re all for it because it’s pretty reasonable. I love the video of one of the members of Congress who went to a church and said, well, you know, how many of you don’t how many of you don’t have an ID? And no one raised their hands. And it was just like, yeah, well, it’s because everybody does. This is free. This is common sense.
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And I think, as you said, as we started this conversation out, easy to vote, hard to cheat. That’s what we should be after. And I think that’s what the American people, the vast majority of Americans want. Senator Houston, thanks so much for joining us. Always great to have a conversation with you. Great to be with you. Thank you. All right. Senator John Houston of Ohio. I mean, it is. It’s common sense stuff. I mean, we shouldn’t even be debating it. I mean, you can’t get on an airplane. You can’t cash a check. You can’t do hardly anything without an ID. In fact, members of Congress can’t vote without an ID. They have a little card that has their name and picture on it they have to use to vote. All right, coming up, President Trump has ordered the FDA to fast track a review of psychedelic drugs. We’re gonna discuss that next, so don’t go away. More Washington Watch straight ahead.
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250 years ago, our founding fathers signed a death warrant, pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the idea that our rights do not come from men, but from God. Protected by Providence, they brought forth a new nation one nation under God, whose word rings beneath every law and liberty. Family Research Council believes in preserving this rich history, the grounds of our freedom, our undeniable foundation of faith.
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Well, I can tell you that it’s been an amazing course, period.
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I think this course is a reminder that a biblical worldview should really impact everything. It impacts our government from the federal to the state to the local. It should impact what we’re doing with our families and with our work.
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God and Government is a video-driven, Bible-based training course from Family Research Council that explores the connection between biblical principles and American government. In this six-session video series, FRC President Tony Perkins equips participants with a practical understanding of civil government from a biblical worldview.
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I would encourage all people to take it. I almost wish I would have took it earlier that I could have taught my kids this.
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I wish I had known these things when we were homeschooling because I think children and my adults now would just greatly be influenced by that information.
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So I’m an attorney, and for me, it gives me some direct practical knowledge of what I can do to try to impact my legal community to make better legislation, to try to encourage legislators to make choices that have a biblical worldview, which is what we really want.
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Any pastor would benefit from taking this course. because we are dual citizens, right? We are citizens of the kingdom of God, but we’re also citizens of this great land, and that comes with responsibility.
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Even as someone who has been involved in these types of issues for a while, you’re learning little bits and pieces of new stuff all the time. But it’s also approachable enough that newer people, younger people, high school, college students, they can really glean something from this. So I would encourage everybody to take this course, whether it’s the videos, whether it’s doing it in person, bring your Bible study group through it, bring your homeschool group through it, and equip yourself for these challenging days ahead.
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View the course at frc.org slash God and government or on the Stand Firm app.
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All right, welcome back to Washington Watch, the website TonyPerkins.com. All right, over the weekend, President Trump signed an executive order directing the FDA to fast-track the review of psychedelic drugs, which is being studied. Some of these drugs are being studied to treat mental health conditions such as PTSD, addiction, and depression. The initiative is backed by $50 million in federal funding. It’s intended to… at least they say it is, to help Americans struggling with mental health issues. But how safe are psychedelic drugs? And is this a move in the right direction or the wrong direction? Joining me now to discuss this is Dr. Bertha Madress. She is Professor of Psychobiology at Harvard Medical School. She also is the Director of the Laboratory of Addiction Neurobiology at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, McLean Hospital. Dr. Madras, thanks so much for joining us. Welcome to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you very much for having me. Good afternoon.
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Let’s begin with just a definition. What are psychedelic drugs and are they safe?
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psychedelics are a class of hallucinogens hallucinogens are drugs that make you see things that you don’t that aren’t real they make you hear things that aren’t real uh they make all your senses distorted and so the perception that you have is not reality but psychedelics are a subset of these hallucinogens that also apparently expand your mind expand your introspection, your sense of self. So they are somewhat more of an experience that includes hallucinations, but also an in-depth examination of your own life.
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Now, the drug ibogaine that is being researched here is a Schedule I substance, which a Schedule I has no medical use.
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Correct.
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And so now we’re talking about starting to use these to treat various issues such as post-traumatic stress syndrome. First, let me get your reaction to the president’s directive to fast track the review of these psychedelic drugs based upon what you just said.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yes. Well, my feeling is that fast tracking a review is very different than pressuring the FDA to approve the drugs. so that if you fast track a review that has adequate clinical trials, adequate safety evaluation, adequate trial methods, that’s fine. If you then say that because there are promising data, but they’re not really done by FDA standards, but nevertheless, we’ve got to approve these drugs, that’s very, very worrisome. Because the FDA must not compromise their rigorous, rigorous criteria for drug approval. And the reason I say that is that these are a very dangerous class of drugs that could really be hazardous to the general use in the population.
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But this is not the first time that the government has dealt with psychedelic drugs. I mean, this is not like something new. So being that they have been a Schedule I, what new information do we have that would suggest that they have a positive use?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yes, well, I’ll just preface this by saying that the Food and Drug Administration in 2024 denied approval of MDMA, which is ecstasy, for the treatment of PTSD. And they denied it by criteria that should be applied to the current roster of psychedelic drugs, which includes psilocybin, LSD, ibogaine, and a few others. So that’s number one. And the reason they denied the approval is for very simple criteria. The studies were unblinded. The outcome measures were not critically evaluated. Safety concerns were not necessarily adequately assessed and so on. So they had very rigid criteria and they applied them. I want the present FDA to use the same rigorous standards for these drugs. What has happened that’s new? Psychedelic drugs, for example, psilocybin and ibogaine, have gone through a few trials, a few clinical trials, especially with regard to psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, and they have shown outcomes that look Interesting, but, big but, as the clinical trials get better, as you recruit more subjects, as you deny the inclusion of people who have previously used psychedelics, as you improve this placebo effects, all these outcome measures get weaker and weaker. And so I don’t think we’re ready yet to approve or to even fast track these drugs. I think there is a much longer period ahead of time that should be exercised in order to make sure that these are safe and effective.
SPEAKER 07 :
So, Dr. Madress, let me ask you this question. What will the review process that the FDA is going to do look like? We’ve got about a minute and a half left.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, it will simply, the FDA process in terms of approving a drug takes quite a long time because generally most drugs generate about 100,000 to 200,000 pages of data. And so that’s quite a daunting task to do in a short period of time. My feeling is that what they will do is put a lot more people, a lot more statisticians onto the data in order to see whether or not they fulfill FDA criteria. But at this point, I have to say unequivocally that the current trials have weaknesses, and those weaknesses make me think quite strongly that we’re not ready for prime time with these drugs, and we’re not ready especially with regard to safety for general use in the population.
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30 seconds left. Do these psychedelic drugs have long-term side effects and addictive natures to them?
SPEAKER 15 :
Psychedelic drugs generally are not addictive, but the long-term effects are clear in people who have vulnerabilities, or even if you don’t have vulnerabilities, but they get declared by using the drugs. And that’s one of the problems with the current clinical trials. They exclude high-risk people. they take they they maximize the benefit they minimize the risk in order to prevent adverse effects but in the general population it’s not going most clinics average clinics are not going to screen as carefully as these clinical trials dr madras we got to leave it there i thank you for joining us very insightful thank you so much you’re very welcome bye bye all right folks stick with us we’re back with more
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Proverbs 22, 6 says, Train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is old, he will not depart from it.
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For God is the love of the world, that he is only God’s Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3, 16.
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For know that my Redeemer lives.
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Job 19, 25. God raised Jesus from the dead because it was impossible for death to teach. Hold on him. Acts 2, 24.
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Join Family Research Council in standing on the Word. Visit FRC.org slash Bible for free resources to help your family follow the way. Jesus, the risen Savior of the world.
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A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal That they’re endowed by their Creator.
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With certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Happy 250th. Happy 250th. Happy 250th. Happy 250th birthday, America. May God bless America.
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This is Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins. Thanks for joining us. Check out the website TonyPerkins.com or get the Stand Firm app at the App Store. You’ll have access to Washington Watch. You’ll have access to the Washington Stand, our news and commentary from a biblical perspective, as well as my daily devotional, Stand on the Word. All of that is found on the Stand Firm app. Go to the App Store and get it today. The Southern Poverty Law Center is claiming that the Trump administration has launched a criminal investigation into the organization over its use of informants that they say they paid to infiltrate extremely violent groups. Oh my heart is breaking for the Southern Poverty Law Center. This was done, they said, in order to gather intelligence on their activities. And we know they did that because we’ve tracked a lot of what they’ve done. But it’s not necessarily extremely violent groups. It’s just people they wanted to, conservative groups they wanted to destroy, which is what they’ve said that they wanted to do. Now, they claim that these groups are the most radical and violent extremist groups in the nation. But given how they’ve placed groups like the Family Research Council on their hate map, that led to a shooting here in our building. Can anyone trust what they say? Well, that was a rhetorical question. The answer is no. Joining us now to discuss is Dr. Chris Gasek, Senior Fellow for Regulatory Affairs here at the Family Research Council. Dr. Gasek, welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to be back. All right, so what do we know about this Department of Justice investigation?
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Well, The Department of Justice has said nothing about it. This is all basically a press release from the Southern Public Law Center. So they’re trying to spin things, huh? Yes, exactly. But it’s a video. There’s like a three-minute hostage video by the head of SPLC who comes out. There’s no Morse code blinking, but… But he’s essentially putting a lot of spin on what’s going on. It’s hard to know what actually is going on, but you have to sort of read between the lines. And they’re trying to get out ahead of a story.
SPEAKER 07 :
Exactly. So in crisis media, if you know something’s going to drop on you that is going to be defining, you want to get out and get ahead of it and try to define it. Shape the story. Right. So there could be much more to this. I mean, they’ve put the most positive spin as possible. They’ve hired informants. And they said years ago, years ago to infiltrate.
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, that tells you something that’s a little fishy right there. Right. So years ago, and they were kind of hearkening back to the 70s and the 60s. There’s no statute of limitations. I mean, you’d be so far out of the statute of limitations. I would think that we’re talking to get any kind of a prosecution, you’d be in the last 10 years.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I know that when they put us on their hate map 14 years ago, and you actually began to do the research on them, we knew that they had a pattern of sending people and trying to get them hired into different organizations. So we began screening very closely, you know, who was coming into work here or applying for jobs to see if, you know, they were trying to get someone in, which is what they would offer.
SPEAKER 21 :
And I think people contacted us, too.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. And people contacted us and let us know that they were doing this type of thing. So what would be illegal about what they have said that they were being investigated for?
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, let me give you an example of something, all right? So in 2018, there was an article in Wired magazine about a person who was a contractor. She’s a professor at a college. And they described—she described her as— Meet Antifa’s secret weapon against far-right extremists. So she ended up working at the SPLC for many years. I’m not going to give her name because I don’t know if she’s involved in this criminal case. But it says, meet X. X is an intelligence operative of sorts passing along information to those who might put it to real-world use, like Antifa. who can weaponize it. Now there’s another paragraph in the story where they basically, she gets this information and then passes it to SPLC, but that she also passes it on to a shadowy leftist guy who gives it to Antifa so that they can carry out violent activity. against the people that are being targeted and doxxed. So what I’m just trying to say is we don’t really know what is… So, I mean, could this be like criminal conspiracy? In other words, there could be a lot of layers here to what’s going on and the infiltration and who are the people. So I think we just… I wouldn’t take anything at face value with what the SPLC is saying. And one of the things I think, I mean, the FBI is probably, I think they’re pretty good at dealing with criminal enterprises, especially when you’re dealing with Antifa and you’re kind of working with, when I read this story many years ago, I was thinking, man, they are really close to the line here. You’re getting close to some conspiracy, close to real violent people who could be doing bad stuff. How do we know which way the arrows are going in terms of who’s directing what? We would never do anything like this. You would never get within 1,000 yards of people like this. What’s fascinating here is that
SPEAKER 07 :
a year and a half ago, they were sitting at the table at the FBI, dishing out dirt on conservative groups. Pro-lifers. Right. Yeah. I mean, they were helping shape the policy of the FBI and the Department of Justice on conservative groups.
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, and it’s possible that some of this is is flowing downhill from the investigation, that 800, 900 pages that was released the other day.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I mean, there ought to be a lot of pages within the FBI’s own files regarding their interaction with the SPLC. So, I mean, they probably know how SPLC works because no doubt if SPLC was infiltrating these organizations, they were feeding that back to some in the FBI.
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, you know, it’s like, well, SPLC, were you getting this information about the pro-lifers, you know? Yeah. Yeah. You know, I think there’s a lot of layers here, possibly.
SPEAKER 07 :
But now, before anyone rushes off to create a defense fund for them, they’re still sitting on how much money? Something like $750 million.
SPEAKER 21 :
Almost a billion dollars. They’re wealthier than every historically black college except Howard University.
SPEAKER 07 :
Wow. Wow. So they’ve got plenty for their defense fund. Dr. Chris Kasich, thanks so much for joining us. You’re welcome. All right. Well, folks, we’re going to continue to track that story because Southern Poverty Law Center is an evil organization. And they have created they’ve caused a lot of harm to people and they’re dangerous. All right. Coming up, Congressman Chris Smith will join me here in studio to talk about the life issue and the growing toll of the chemical abortion drug Mifeprestone. We’ll talk about what you can do to help. So don’t go away. Exodus 9, verse 1 says, You see, America has freedom for a purpose. The question is, are we living by that purpose today? In Scripture, deliverance and freedom is never an end in itself. It is a liberation unto obedience, to worship, and to a covenantal relationship. God’s demand to Pharaoh was not freedom for freedom’s sake, but freedom so his people could identify with and belong to and serve him. Freedom that is not used to serve God will not endure. One of the founders actually echoed a similar warning. Thomas Jefferson wrote, Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just and his justice cannot sleep forever.” See, the founders understood we as a nation would be accountable to God for what he had granted to us. They sought freedom for a purpose. And that freedom was given to us as a nation for that same purpose, to serve God, to honor Him, and to live as a people under His authority. In this 250th anniversary year, we must ask the question, are we living by that purpose today as a nation? Lord, we thank you for the godly foundation and heritage of our states. Lord, we would return to an understanding of the freedom that you have granted to us, that freedom has a name. His name is Jesus. And freedom has a purpose. It is to honor and glorify you. And I pray that our nation would return to that understanding of the purpose of the freedom that you have granted to us. We thank you, Father. By faith, we pray that we would return to that purpose. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
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SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us on this Tuesday. The website, TonyPerkins.com. Better yet, get the Stand Firm app. That way you’ll have Washington Watch in your pocket no matter where you go. You’ll also have access to our news and commentary from a biblical perspective, the Washington Stand. And you’ll have my daily devotional, Stand on the Word. All of that can be found on the Stand Firm app. So I encourage you to go to the App Store and get the Stand Firm app. Speaking of the Word, our Word for today comes from Joshua chapter 13. Now Joshua was old, advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, You’re old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed. Wow. When God tells you you’re old, you must be old. How old Joshua was at this point, we don’t know for certain. Most likely between 90 and 100 years old. Was God commenting on Joshua’s physical ability? Maybe, but I think there was another reason. God was telling him this, Joshua, you’re old and there is still much work to be done and your time is short. God was telling him, focus, let’s get the job done. You know, we need to be reminded of life’s brevity so that we stay focused on our mission and the priorities of that mission. As Moses prayed in Psalm 90, teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. In short, I think God was telling Joshua, your tomorrows are few. Don’t wait to obey and take the next steps that I’ve given you. Do it now. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text Bible to 67742. That’s Bible to 67742. Well, as pressure continues to be applied on the Food and Drug Administration over the Biden era abortion drug policies, we’ve seen report after report on the impact of those policies, which have been to make access to abortion easier than ever, ever. A recent study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, that’s JAMA, sought to determine whether removing the in-person dispensing requirement on the abortion drug Mifeprestone affected access through pharmacies. Well, among the findings, in states where mail order abortions are allowed, Around 97% of abortion pills, those prescriptions, were filled by mail-order pharmacies. Fewer than 2% were filled at physical retail pharmacies. So now the old Democrat talking point to make abortion safe, legal, and rare, that actually sounds pretty conservative compared to the FDA’s current policy. Is this a bigger threat than ever to advancing abortion in our country? You know, we thought that once Roe was overturned, we would see life embraced once again. Actually, abortion numbers have increased 21 percent since the overturn of Roe. Joining us now in studio to discuss this and much more, Congressman Chris Smith, senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, co-chair of the Tom Lantros Human Rights Commission and co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus. He represents the 4th Congressional District of New Jersey. Congressman Smith, welcome back to Washington Watch. Tony, it’s great to be with you.
SPEAKER 12 :
And again, thank you for your extraordinary leadership. It’s well noted on Capitol Hill and around the country, but especially on the Hill.
SPEAKER 07 :
You’re a force. Well, thank you. I’m back at you. I mean, you’ve been at this battle for a long time on the life issue. I mean, we’ve got to be frank here. Okay, the abortion numbers prior to the overturn of Roe, this is according to the abortion industry itself, 930,000 abortions. The latest numbers, a little over 1.1 million abortions in the country. How is this increasing if Roe was overturned? We were told that women wouldn’t have access to abortion. We were told that the nation was moving away from abortion. Does it look like it?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, the problem is the abortion pill, which is baby poison, that’s how it works. It starves the baby to death. And we also know that the complication rate for women is increasing. off the charts. We know that just under 11 percent of all women who take it have serious adverse consequences, including sepsis and very significant bleeding and other complications. Very, very serious. And that’s from the study done a year ago. That is the most comprehensive study ever done on any abortion method or pill or anything else. It’s just it was groundbreaking. And it’s and unfortunately, it’s not being heated right now. So people, unfortunately, think that this is just an easy solution. It’s anything but. Women are being harmed. Babies are being slaughtered. I think of it as a weapon of mass destruction in terms of its impact at home and all over the world. And we’ve got to stop it. Minimally, we’ve got to stop the mail-order abortions.
SPEAKER 07 :
But I think it’s helpful if we have the bigger picture. Because sometimes we see a tree and we miss the forest. You just made a statement here that I want you to unpack for our viewers and listeners. A weapon of mass destruction. This is a pill of mass destruction. It’s being used globally. So this is actually a part of this bigger strategy of the left on really going after the population.
SPEAKER 12 :
Oh, without a doubt. What’s happening, particularly in developing countries, particularly in Africa, Nigeria and other countries, Sierra Leone, is that the abortion movement is funding this massive push to get the abortion pill everywhere. And again, if a woman starts hemorrhaging in many of the less developed parts of an African country, there’s no emergency room. She will die. So the danger and the mortality rate will skyrocket. It’s being pushed by many at the United Nations. The World Health Organization pushes it every single day, as do most of the other agencies of the UN.
SPEAKER 07 :
So why is that? Why are they so focused on basically keeping…
SPEAKER 12 :
people from having babies well i i think what has happened in many of these institutions over time is that the very aggressive abortion lobby which actually is a prejudicial group of people they look at babies as parasites maybe if they’re wanted okay but if they’re not they’re totally and completely expendable by any means necessary dismemberment chemical poisoning or in this case starving them to death and they really have captured key strategic positions all over the world. And that’s what their modus operandi has been.
SPEAKER 07 :
But when you look at the fertility rate… Yeah, way down. Even in the United States. Not even replacement. That’s right. When we talk about replacement, it means that for a… The fact that what the population is today, the trajectory that we are on is the population is going to decrease. Exactly. And people say, oh, that’s probably good. I won’t have as much traffic on the interstate. Well, who’s going to pay the bills? No, there’s no doubt about it.
SPEAKER 12 :
You know, it was early. I remember Forbes magazine right around Roe versus Wade. So that’s what, 1973? They talked about the lack of replacement and the impact it would have on Social Security and a whole lot of other issues. Of course, the workforce would be greatly diminished. A country in decline population-wise is also a country in decline economically and every other way. The statistics are very, very clear on that.
SPEAKER 07 :
You also cannot, and I mean, I can’t, I can’t escape the spiritual side of this. I mean, the scripture tells us to be fruitful and multiply. Children are a blessing from the Lord. It’s our heritage and we’re killing them. How can we say God bless America when we’re actually killing the blessings that God has given us?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, it is a fact that we have killed something on the order of 66 million unborn babies in the United States alone since 1973. And as you pointed out, you know, there’s a 21 percent increase since. How’s that happening under a Republican administration? Well, I think we have to be more assertive.
SPEAKER 07 :
compassionate but assertive one stopping this abortion pill from going forward and this is a biden era policy yes this was done then it went to obama and then it got worse under biden it got worse under biden because remember remember there was the whole of government approach to undermining the dobbs decision so they got together they the kamala harris was leading that effort how can we undermine the dobbs decision which gave the issue of abortion back to policy makers So they came up with two major approaches to it. One is this abortion pill and that no longer would an in-person medical consultation be necessary. So let me stop with that one and just ask you the question. Because you were here when it was first approved by Clinton. And the reason there was an in-person medical visitation requirement is because this pill is only effective in the first portion of pregnancy and can be deadly if it’s outside of that window.
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely right. the doctor out of the equation, even if the doctor’s an abortionist who we don’t really respect, frankly, but to have some medical expertise.
SPEAKER 07 :
Or some kind of Chinese mail service sending it through the internet right now.
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s been taken off the table. The big mantra for years was a woman and her doctor. Well, the doctor has just completely dropped off. And that is dangerous. If it’s an ectoptic pregnancy, that can be very serious and life-threatening. And then, you know, you and I can just go on and order this. And people have. And that’s happening, too, where men and boyfriends are ordering it for their girlfriends or wife, and in some cases, forcibly administering it or clandestinely putting it into a drink.
SPEAKER 07 :
And there’s cases that have been proven. And there are many cases.
SPEAKER 12 :
And it’s growing in number, not diminishing. So it’s a dangerous, poisonous pill. So we’re calling on the administration to minimally stop the mail order. It is undermining all of those 26 states that have pro-life laws. And it takes any kind of medical expertise out of it completely.
SPEAKER 07 :
The second component of this is the Department of Justice. And there was a provision that’s been on the books for many, many years, Comstock, which says you cannot, in part, in part, says you cannot mail materials that facilitate abortion through the mail. Well, they they gave an opinion saying, well, because this drug is used for other things, it’s therefore not regulated by Comstock. And so, again, this is a Biden era decision that the current administration is still abiding by. Yes. This could be changed overnight.
SPEAKER 12 :
We’re asking the administration to move on this immediately. Delay is denial. It means more women who are harmed, more babies who are killed. And it can be done with a stroke of a pen by our president. And it needs to be reversed in a number of ways. You mentioned the CompStack Act. I mean, that absolutely is applicable here. I can’t believe that any reasonable person could look at that statute and not apply it here. And then the idea of the impact on women. I can’t say it enough. Just under 11 percent of all women who take this dangerous pill will have serious medical consequences to her. What happened during the Biden administration? They told the promoters of this don’t report adverse impacts.
SPEAKER 07 :
They’re
SPEAKER 12 :
not keeping records. So the one study that was done had no bias to it because it was done with information from insurance. So you could say, why was she at the emergency room? What kind of help was she getting? Because the government’s not keeping records because they don’t want to know. But that study shows we do know. And shame on us if we look the other way and look askance. And again, delay is denial. We’re calling on the administration, move today on this.
SPEAKER 07 :
Folks, and you can weigh in on this. Text the word LIFE to 67742. LIFE to 67742. We’ve got a petition that we’re going to deliver to the administration on this. We’ve given some. We’re going to do more. But this has to change. And I wonder, we’ve got a few minutes left, Congressman Chris Smith. What America does impacts the world.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yes, that’s for sure.
SPEAKER 07 :
I mean, if we address this and we show the medical complications of this and we set a medical standard, the United Nations and others are going to have a harder time using this pill to kill babies overseas.
SPEAKER 12 :
And I see it myself. I talk to heads of government. I talk to members of the parliament or Congress or whatever it might be and health ministers all the time. And what I find is that they think, well, America says it’s safe. The FDA falsely has asserted its efficacy and safety, especially in safety. Well, we now have data that actually. absolutely contradicts that. So we need to let all of these countries know by taking it off our market and not allowing it to continue that this will harm your mothers. I just recently wrote to the president of Nigeria. I’ve talked to others in Nigeria. There’s a group called IPASS. They’ve been around forever. They’re a group that just promotes abortion ad nauseum all over the world. They’re trying, they have a maximum, maybe 100 million plus more, and they’ve targeted 10 countries, including six in Africa, to try to promote this whole horrible pill.
SPEAKER 07 :
What is ironic here is that we have been talking for years, you and I and others, about Nigeria and Christians being targeted and killed in Nigeria. And here we have these international organizations coming out of the United Nations and again bolstered by what America does that are killing babies. How can we express concern for Christians being targeted and then at the same time being facilitating the killing of the unborn?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, my argument is This abortion pill, as are the other methods of abortion, when you decapitate a child, which is what dismemberment abortions do, it is a weapon of mass destruction just by the mere numbers. The tens of millions who have been slaughtered, hundreds of millions globally over these many years, 66 million in our own country, maybe more than that. And, you know, these kids are precious. You know, life begins at conception, not at the moment of birth. Birth is an event that happens to all of us.
SPEAKER 07 :
And what we embrace here, or what we tolerate here, the rest of the world will embrace.
SPEAKER 12 :
We are a great example, even though some people like to think not. Especially in health care issues. So if we say this is okay, it puts the imprimatur on it. It becomes a standard. And recently I even talked to the administration about this. When they authorized another generic of the abortion bill, I said that very company that got it is doing all kinds of global push for the abortion bill. You just gave them the green light. Right, right. Right. To promote something that’s going to kill women or harm them severely and destroy babies.
SPEAKER 07 :
And this is a big focus here at the Family Research Council is seeing the fruit of the labor of pro-lifers for decades to see Roe overturned to allow this to truly go back to the hands of policymakers. I know. That states like my home state of Louisiana have outlawed the killing of the unborn. But yet it doesn’t matter because of the policies regarding the abortion.
SPEAKER 12 :
And, you know, Tony, everybody has to remember. Clinton, Obama, and then Biden were the abortion presidents. That’s all they did. Everything was integrated into killing unborn children. I’ll never understand it, but that’s what they do.
SPEAKER 07 :
But we can’t preserve the policies they put in place. We have to reverse them. Congressman Chris Smith, great to see you. Thank you for your leadership. I appreciate your leadership. Folks, I want to thank you for joining us as well and text the word life to 67742. Don’t be silent about this. This is a defining issue of our day. We must stand for life. Pray, vote and stand. See you next time.
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.
