In 2009, Barack Obama appointed then-Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.  This was a troubling pick for conservatives, given her support for abortion-on-demand and support from abortion giant Planned Parenthood.  As an advocate for federal funding of abortion, abortifacient drugs and embryonic stem cell research, among other things, Sec. Sebelius has justified these concerns.

Yet there is a significant bright side to Sec. Sebelius’ departure from Topeka: Former Senator Sam Brownback, a champion for life, is now Governor of Kansas.  And what a difference that has made.

Yesterday, Gov. Brownback signed legislation that “strictly limits abortions after 22 weeks based on the fact that fetuses can feel pain beginning after the 21st week of pregnancy” and another measure, “the Abortion Reporting Accuracy and Parental Rights Act,” which “requires minors who seek abortions to obtain consent from both parents and places certain prohibitions on late-term and partial birth abortions.”

Kathleen Sebelius would have fought these bills from their introduction.  Sam Brownback not only signed but celebrated them.

To those who say that Christians should withdraw from political engagement and concentrate on private acts of charity or work solely with church or ministry groups, consider Sam Brownback and his allies in the Kansas Legislature.  Were these bills the final word in the battle for life?  No.  They are part of a larger legislative mosaic that is building, gradually but steadily, a culture where the personhood of the unborn child increasingly is being recognized in law and in the American conscience.  For the children whose lives will be saved through these measures, they are nothing less than critical.

Does political engagement bring complete resolution of every problem?  No.  But political action can make a decisive, if incremental, difference in a host of areas — most importantly those involving the sanctity of life, the dignity of marriage, and the centrality of religious liberty to American public life.

Elections matter.  Just ask Sam Brownback.

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According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the fiscal year 2010 deficit was $1.3 trillion.  If the roughly $700 billion from Social Security had been kept in its own so-called “Trust Fund” and, as a result, subtracted from federal general revenues, the deficit would have been more than $2 trillion.

Instead, as economics writer James Pethokoukis observes, monies supposedly dedicated to Social Security are used as part of a fiduciary “shell game” to “mask the true depth of the budget deficit.”

How can Social Security and the federal government get away with this?

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If you think legislation on the federal level has gone haywire, take a minute to check out what’s going on in state governments through FRC’s State Legislation Tracker. The present 38 issue “profiles” currently track 7469 bills of concern. A breakdown of the results (listed below) provides a telling glimpse into the “state of the states” and the subsequent health of our nation. That the top five profiles include domestic violence (2146), gambling (1346), divorce reform (827), and pornography (728 total, 325 dedicated to child pornography alone) should be a serious wake-up call for all Americans.

Whether or not current liberals and “progressives” approve, America’s Founders understood from historical perspective that their new government must be rooted in Judeo-Christian tenets. Nothing less resilient and enduring could contribute the ongoing stability required for individuals, families and national industry to flourish in the long term. The following contemporary indicators mandate that we re-examine those pro-family factors that precipitated America’s success, and work aggressively at the state and local level to re-introduce and re-implement them.

Numbers of bills (see here a drill-down on each issue):

• Abortion – Fetal Pain – 5
• Abortion – Parental Notification – 38
• Abortion – Ultrasound Bills – 60
• Abortion Alternatives – Pregnancy Care Centers -18
• Adoption – By Traditional Family – 551
• Adoption – By Unmarried or Same-Sex Couples – 44
• Bathroom Bills – Gender Expression & Same-Sex Issues – 185
• Conscience Regulations – 4
• Cord Blood – 62
• DADT – Military Repeal of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ – 13
• DOMA – Defense of Marriage Act – 2
• Domestic Violence – 2146
• Eminent Domain – 1340
• ENDA – Employment Non-Discrimination Act – 3
• Gambling – 1346
• Hate Crimes – 27
• Health Care – States’ Response to Obamacare – 176
• Homeschool – 341
• Human Cloning – 149
• Human Eggs – 8
• Human Trafficking – 255
• Jessica’s Law – 5
• Life Issues – 23
• Marriage – Divorce Reform – 877
• Marriage – Marriage Protection Amendments -12
• Pornography: Child – 325
• Pornography: General – 403
• Public Education: Bullying Bills – General – 28
• Public Education: Bullying Bills – Pro-Homosexual Agenda – 41
• Public Education: Discrimination Free Zones – 1
• Public Education: Sex Education – 7
• Religious Liberty – 29
• Reproductive Health – 9
• Same-Sex Marriage – 493
• Sexual Predators – 60
• Statutory Rape – 69
• Stem Cell Research – Adult – 17
• Stem Cell Research – Embryonic – 37

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