Engage Arizona Podcast
Good to know
State lawmakers introduced about two thousand bills this past session. Only a fraction made it through committees and onto the House and Senator floor for a vote, and then to Governor Ducey’s desk. Among those that did, were 14 CAP-supported laws that protect life and preserve families, parental rights and religious freedom. As those and other new laws take effect, we discuss the important changes impacting Arizonans on this week’s Engage Arizona.
Life on the Line
It was yeoman’s work getting a major pro-life law passed in Arizona with a slim pro-life majority in the House and Senate, especially when the abortion industry feels its power slipping. As expected, abortion activists sued and asked the court to stop the law from going into effect. The hearing was revealing and unique in some ways. In this episode of Engage Arizona, CAP’s policy team recaps the hearing, the arguments, and what we can expect next in the fight for life.
Leadership Lost
Just days after a devastating retreat from Afghanistan, America marks a solemn anniversary of the historic terrorist attacks that originally led the U.S. Military to Afghanistan years ago. Most have their vivid memories from the morning of 9/11/2001. Those who lost loved ones, security, or peace that day vow to never let America forget what is at stake. Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William G. Boykin comes with a unique perspective on the events of 9/11 and where we are now 20 years later. With 36-years in the Army, one of the original members of the U.S. Army’s Delta Force, Gen. Boykin knows combat, danger, and what makes it all worthwhile. He does not hold back his lament of how we gave up 20-years of accomplishments – and left Americans and allies behind in danger.
300 lives and counting
The U.S. Supreme Court’s surprise decision to let the Texas heartbeat law remain in effect is the biggest pro-life victory since 1973 – it’s a game-changer. Every day the law remains in effect, up to 150 lives are potentially saved. Each of the women not seduced into abortion are spared the pain and regret of abortion. But this is only the beginning. The novel approach to this particular heartbeat law can serve as a roadmap for other states looking to save the lives of the preborn and protect their mothers.
Liberty for All
Christians are often thought of as defending only their own religious interests in the public square. They are viewed as worrying exclusively about the erosion of their freedom to assemble and to follow their convictions, while not seeming as concerned about publicly defending the rights of Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and atheists to do the same.
Joining CAP’s VP of Advancement is Dr. Andrew T. Walker, an emerging Southern Baptist public theologian, who argues for a robust Christian ethic of religious liberty that helps the church defend religious freedom for everyone in a pluralistic society. Whether explicitly religious or not, says Walker, every person is striving to make sense of his or her life. The Christian foundations of religious freedom provide a framework for how Christians can navigate deep religious difference in a secular age.
Survivor
With the U.S. Supreme Court set to decide a major pro-life case challenging Roe v Wade this next term, the issue of abortion is front and center. Lawyers will make legal arguments, but it’s the real-life stories of how abortion ends life and harms women that will change hearts. As a survivor of abortion, Claire Culwell has a very unique perspective. Her existence forces people on both sides of the issue to look beyond the abstract to the humanity of both preborn baby and wounded mother. Hear how God turned her experience into a powerful story that heals and saves lives.
An Unlikely Journey
Sometimes those who fall from high places land on solid ground, right where they are meant to be. Craig DeRoche rose quickly to the lofty position of the Speaker of the Michigan House, calling the shots for the state’s Capitol – the youngest member to hold that office. Behind the scenes, his life was falling apart. When it did, the Lord had him right where he needed him. Now, DeRoche heads the Family Policy Alliance, effecting public policy on a state level from a national position. Hear his compelling journey and how he is uniquely qualified to lead a nation policy network of which CAP is a part.