MassResistance and others file strong pro-family bills in MA Legislature

Some bills originally written by MassResistance being re-introduced

February 13, 2009

We are preparing to take on the anti-family forces in a huge way. As the 2009-2010 legislative session began last month, MassResistance filed three strong pro-family bills in this legislative session, and others have filed other bills originally written by MassResistance.

As we've recently reported, the homosexual lobby has filed 8 major bills this session to further push the homosexual agenda into the schools and general society.

The big issue that dwarfs others from a pro-family standpoint is parental rights in the schools - and particularly the homosexual / transgender agenda being forced on children.

Bills filed by MassResistance

The David Parker case shocked and outraged everyone when federal judges in Boston issued two separate rulings stating that parents have no legal recourse to stop homosexual lessons to kids, even in kindergarten. They ruled that the Massachusetts laws not only allow it, but essentially mandate schools to do it. Moreover, they said, under current law parents have no right to opt-out their kids from these programs, or even be notified before (or after!) their kids are taught them. Therefore, elementary schools currently don't even have to tell parents when they read homosexual-oriented story books such as the gay romance book "King and King", the judges ruled.

The parental notification law

As many of you know, back in 1995 MassResistance (then known as Parents Rights Coalition) wrote the current Parental Notification Law (Ch. 71, Sec. 32A) and we organized parents to get it passed by the (hostile) Legislature and signed by the Gov. Bill Weld. We have worked with parents on it ever since then. Unfortunately, there are loopholes in the law which we did not anticipate. Back then, no one knew the various ways the homosexual agenda would permeate the schools, even into elementary schools, and David Parker's situation really angered people. Who could have predicted David Parker's situation back in 1995?

1. The David Parker Parents Rights Opt-In Bill  (Docket #3797)

As a reaction to the David Parker case, MassResistance drafted and introduced the David Parker Parents Rights Bill. This was tailored to address the horrible abuses against parents and children in an airtight way that no court could unravel. Most importantly, it's "opt-in" rather than the current "opt-out", which doesn't work. And it goes further than that. It also protects parents and children from the psychologically intrusive and damaging surveys given to kids by schools, with reckless questions about death, suicide, sexual experimentation, and criminal activity that kids are routinely being asked to answer.

Link to text of the David Parker Parents Rights Bill

Getting this filed wasn't easy. This bill is so hated by the homosexual activists that no Republican would dare to file it. Everyone we asked turned us down. (A few were willing to do it in a watered-down form.) One Rep flat out told us that he was afraid to do it because of the abuse he'd take from the homosexual community. So we had to get a Democrat to file it, Rep. William Greene (D-Billerica) - the only one with the guts to stand up to the homosexual movement.

David Parker (left) was led into court in handcuffs after he refused to take it anymore. At right, from a book being read to 2nd-graders about a homosexual romance.

2. Bill to eliminate the Massachusetts Commission for Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Youth  (Docket #2023)

This official "Commission" is like nothing else that exists in the US - or the world. It is made up of the most radical, hardcore homosexual and transgender groups and activists in the state (including men who dress as women and a woman with a beard and sideburns). This group spends $850,000 of tax money pushing homosexual programs in the schools, works with schoolchildren unsupervised, and is completely unaccountable. This Commission was created in 2006 by a sleazy maneuver in the Legislature - as a statute slipped in through the annual state budget process, and thus didn't have a public hearing or the usual steps for becoming a law. Filed by Rep. Robert Hargraves (R-Groton).

Here's some of what this commission does

Here's the GLBT Commission statute that would be repealed by this bill

Schoolchildren at a GLBT Commission event last summer.

3. Bill to eliminate the buffer zone around abortion clinics  (Docket #3654)

As you know, last year the Massachusetts Legislature passed a severe and blatantly unconstitutional "buffer zone" law, which curtails free speech from public sidewalks and streets within a 35-foot radius of abortion clinics. This is an outrage. We need to fight back. So we've fled a bill to repeal that law. Filed by Rep. Robert Hargraves (R-Groton).

Here's the Buffer Zone statute that would be repealed by this bill

This is the only bill that we attempted to get lots of co-sponsors for, given that a fairly sizeable number of legislators still seem to be "pro-life." Well, we were pretty disappointed. The fear going through the State House on this is bigger than we thought. It appears that only a small handful of "pro-life" legislators were willing to put their names on this. But as with the other bills, this fight's only begun.

These are the bills we felt necessary to file directly. You can't fight a war if there's nothing on the table to actually fight for. All bills had to be filed last month.

Also filde: Bills originally written by MassResistance being introduced by others this session

Ronald Reagan once said that you can accomplish a lot if you don't mind who gets the credit. That seems to apply in this fight, too. Over the years we've done a lot of work researching issues that should be bills and crafting language for legislation. We're flattered and pleased that others can use our work.

1. An Act Relative to Parental Notification and Consent.
    (Alternative Parents Rights Opt-In Bill)  (Docket #882)

This is an alternative bill to the "David Parker Bill" (above), filed by the House Republican Minority Leader, Rep. Brad Jones (R-North Reading). It is also an opt-in bill.

It has an interesting history. Back in 2005, MassResistance understood that an serious update was needed to our Parental Notification Law (Ch. 71, Sec. 32A) We carefully crafted a new bill, and it was introduced as Bill H1050 by Rep. Joyce Spiliotis (D-Peabody) with several co-sponsors. Unfortunately, it didn't pass but it got a lot of support that year.

Then in 2007, Rep. Jones re-filed it himself as Bill H465, and got his own group of co-sponsors. It still didn't get the traction it needed that year.

Last fall we ran into Rep. Jones at a political event and briefly chatted with him about this. We suggested a good bill was needed and encouraged him to do something. He apparently huddled with his people, and Rep. Jones re-filed the bill this year as Docket #882. This time, he took out the word "primarily" in the first paragraph, which makes the bill even stronger.

     Original MassResistance version filed in 2005 as Bill H1050

     Re-filed by Rep. Jones in 2007 as Bill H465

     New version re-filed this year as Docket #882

Although we prefer the "David Parker" bill (see above), we can certainly support this one also. It doesn't address the school survey problem - but Rep. Hargraves has filed a separate bill for us that specifically does that and uses our language, Docket #994.

2. An Act Relative to Protecting Children from Harm in Schools
    (Eliminating the exemption of schools from obscenity laws.)
    (Docket #1775)

Last session, our own Amy Contrada was researching the General Laws and noticed that public schools are exempt from the laws regarding obscenity and "materials harmful to minors." So she crafted S925, which was filed by Rep. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth). We pushed it hard, but it didn't get through that year.

Link to last year's bill, S925

Apparently, Rep. Vinnie deMacedo (R-Plymouth) like it so much that he re-filed it this year, as Docket #1775. (We haven't seen the exact wording, but it's probably close or identical.) Good for him! We'll see if we can push it through.

Other important bills of interest

When the text of all the bills is finally (!) posted on the Legislature's website we'll probably have several more. But here are a few that we know about:

1. An Act relative to a woman's right to know  (Docket #1037)

Also known as "Laura's Law", this is a re-file of last years Bill H1687, which would require abortion providers to give women complete and accurate information about abortions, instead of the pressure and propaganda that women in those situations now get. Rep. Elizabeth Poirier (R-North Attleborough).

Link to Bill H1687, which has been re-filed this year

2. An Act relative to open meetings  (Docket #SD1944)

This is a very important bill by Janet Aldrich and Comflm Registry, filed by Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester). Currently, the Legislature exempts itself and its various committees (including the hideous Commission on Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Youth) from various parts of the Open Meeting Law. It's outrageous. For example, they can ban photographs or videos during their public meetings, and actually have people arrested for taking a photo of such a public meeting!

3. An Act Relative to Protecting the Religious Freedom of Students
    (Docket #1781)

Filed by Rep. Vinnie deMacedo (R-Plymouth), this is rather strange bill that's being promoted by certain groups. We're not sure if it solves a problem or makes it worse. It says that schools shall allow a limited forum for religious views at school events, but with a required disclaimer that such views are neither endorsed nor sponsored by the school. The school is also required to ensure that such views are not "obscene or indecent." Hmmm.

Here's a link to the bill

Fear and ignorance in the State House

We spent days in the State House, going door to door trying to get sponsors for these bills and talking to as many people as we could. We finally got what we needed, but it wasn't easy.

We learned two things pretty fast. (1) Just about everybody is afraid of the homosexual movement. And (2) just about nobody there has heard our side of these issues.  But they have all heard, over and over, the emotional rants and disinformation from the homosexual movement. They can easily repeat it: "It's about civil rights," "It's about safety of children," etc.

That definitely needs to change.