LIVE at the Texas State Capitol

3 views

EAN is LIVE at the Rally for HB 2709 and SB 2198. These are bills of Equal Protection being submitted here in the state of Texas. Please like and share. Be sure to like, share, and comment on this video. You can get more at http://apologiastudios.com : You can partner with us by signing up for All Access. When you do you make everything we do possible and you also get our TV show, After Show, and Apologia Academy, etc. You can also sign up for a free account to receive access to Bahnsen U. We are re-mastering all the audio and video from the Greg L. Bahnsen PH.D catalogue of resources. This is a seminary education at the highest level for free. #ApologiaStudios Follow us on social media here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ApologiaStudios/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apologiastudios/?hl=en Check out our online store here: https://shop.apologiastudios.com/

0 comments

00:00
We'll get some music, some free music while we're here. Hey, thank you all very, very much for coming today.
00:06
We're here to rally, to abolish abortion in Texas. So, thank you very much for coming.
00:17
And we want to begin with gratitude. That's how I want to begin. First of all, thank you for y 'all coming.
00:23
This is the fourth session that we've had this bill in Texas. We had it in 2017, 2019, 21, and now here again.
00:31
And thank you for your faithfulness to come, and to rally, and to show your support for equal protection for our pre -born neighbors.
00:39
Thankful for our Capitol State troopers who are here watching out for us, to the
00:45
State Preservation Board by assisting us in making this happen. And of course, we're gonna be thanking, well, we thank
00:51
Representative Brian Slayton, who, we wouldn't be here without him, so thank you. I'll be inviting him up here in just a moment.
00:58
He filed HB3326 last session. He's carrying this bill again this session,
01:04
HB3709, fulfilling his promise. We also have Representative Carrie Isaac has also co -authored the bill.
01:12
So, we're very grateful for her. She couldn't be here today, but she sends her greetings.
01:18
She actually, she ran twice to be State Representative, and both times she signed our pledge to co -author.
01:25
And whenever she got elected, she fulfilled her pledge. So, we're very grateful for Representative Isaac. We're also grateful to Senator Bob Hall.
01:38
Senator Bob Hall has filed the bill, the identical bill, but in the
01:44
Senate, Senate Bill 2198. And he couldn't be here today as well.
01:49
He had another previous commitment, but he also sends his greetings. I'm also thankful to the
01:55
AATX staff and our families who give so much to help support us in what we do.
02:01
So, thank you very much, especially to my wife personally. Thank you. Also, to so many of you who volunteer your time.
02:09
I mean, there's so many who come up here to the Capitol and who've come up this year and who are calling legislators and setting up meetings and going and doing stuff just completely on your own.
02:18
And we're very, very grateful for you. So, thank you to everybody who's done that. And we'd love more of that, more of that stuff.
02:26
And most of all, though, we're here because we're grateful to God. I'm grateful to God for my life, that my mother, by the grace of God, gave me life and my father.
02:39
And we're grateful to God for all of our lives and to whom much is given, much to be required.
02:45
And we're here to stand up for our pre -born neighbors and stand up for their lives and to speak up for them who cannot speak for themselves.
02:53
You know, we had, since the last rally that we had here, the Dobbs decision has come down and overturn
02:59
Roe versus Wade. So, we're very grateful for that. We're grateful for that, that that has happened.
03:06
While we've said at our last rallies, we've said, hey, Texas needs to abolish abortion and stand up to the
03:12
Supreme Court. Even if they don't overturn Roe versus Wade, Texas still needs to abolish abortion. But now that barrier's out of the way.
03:18
That excuse is out of the way. So, that should be even easier to get legislators to support this.
03:25
We actually filed a brief in that case, in the Dobbs case, along with 81 other organizations, or 81 other briefs that were filed on the anti -Roe side.
03:37
We filed a brief along with 20 other organizations that filed that brief, signed onto that brief.
03:43
And 17, I'm sorry, 20 legislators that signed onto that brief as well, including
03:49
Representative Brian Slayton, signed onto that brief as well, before the U .S. Supreme Court, along with Representative Kyle Biederman, Representative Briscoe Cain, Representative James White.
03:59
So, we're also grateful for them and their support that they've shown. The arguments that we made in that brief, we made three arguments.
04:06
Number one, the court, you should overturn Roe versus Wade. It's your duty before God and it's your duty under the
04:13
Constitution. And by the grace of God, they did. Our second argument that we made was that even if you don't overturn
04:21
Roe versus Wade, the state should still abolish abortion anyways. And then the third argument that we made was not only should you overturn
04:30
Roe versus Wade, but you should find under the 14th Amendment that a fetus is a person, therefore they're entitled to equal protection of the law.
04:37
Because the 14th Amendment says, no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
04:45
But the Supreme Court did not do that. Even though we delegated that authority to them over 150 years ago to decide that, that a fetus is a person, to protect them with equal protection, that states are required to do that, nevertheless, the
04:59
Supreme Court did not do that. And so while they abused their jurisdiction for 50 years because of Roe versus Wade, now they are abdicating their lawful jurisdiction and duty since the
05:12
Dobbs case. So that's why there's still work to do, and we need to do it here whether they do it or not.
05:19
That continues. And Roe versus Wade is dead, but abortion is alive and well, and babies are still dying in Texas.
05:29
The New York Times has said, quote, as states banned or restricted abortion this summer, the number of American women ordering abortion pills, that is last summer, since then, the number of American women ordering abortion pills from overseas jumped significantly, enough to offset most of the drop in legal abortions.
05:47
Overall, abortion in the United States declined about 2 % in the first full two months after the
05:54
Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade. So abortion is not abolished in the
06:00
U .S., it's not abolished in Texas or in any other state. Here in Texas, according to data from the
06:05
University of Texas Policy Evaluation Project and data from the Journal of the
06:11
American Medical Association and interpreting it very conservatively, abortions of Texas babies have gone down at most about 5 .4
06:21
% since the Dobbs case, if they have gone down at all, at most about 5 .4%.
06:29
Of the estimated more than 52 ,000 Texas babies still being murdered annually, around 33 ,000 of those are taking place at out -of -state clinics, but at minimum, over 19 ,000 are still taking place on Texas soil under Texas law.
06:51
That's still happening. That's still happening here in Texas. How though?
06:57
How? You go talk to people, you talk to lots of people, you hear from lots of people and they say, oh, wait, we did the heartbeat bill.
07:02
We did the trigger bill. We got the Dobbs case. We've abolished abortion, right? No, we haven't.
07:09
No, those things only shut down Texas clinics, which we are grateful that they are shut down, but they did not abolish abortion.
07:18
And sometimes people just wanna pat themselves on the back for that, and I'm often tempted to say, hey, be careful patting yourself on the back so hard, you're gonna hurt yourself, okay?
07:29
There's still work to do. There's still a lot of work to do. Why? Because all those bills, the heartbeat bill, the trigger bill, and the
07:38
Dobbs case all allow, continue to allow for mothers to abort their own children, and that's why over 19 ,000 estimated are still happening annually right here in Texas, because it's legal, because the laws that I just described to you allow for it and make it legal expressly.
07:58
They allow for do -it -yourself abortions, which are also known as self -induced or self -managed abortions.
08:05
Listen to this from Texas law, from section 19 .06 of our penal code in the homicide chapter.
08:12
It says, the law against murder, quote, does not apply to the death of an unborn child if the conduct charged is conduct committed by the mother of the unborn child.
08:25
Abortion is still legal in Texas if it's committed by the mother. People are getting abortion pills by mail, committing abortions over 50 a day, 50 today.
08:40
That's right, and people who are pro -abortion celebrate that, because they know it. They know that they can still do it, and so they celebrate that, but we shouldn't be celebrating that.
08:49
We should be grieving that, and we should be acting like babies are dying in our state, that's how we should be acting as Christians.
08:58
We should be doing something about it, and we're grateful for that. Representative Slayton is leading the charge here in the
09:06
Capitol to do something about it, because abortion hasn't been abolished, because abolished doesn't mean it's still legal for every single baby in Texas to still be murdered, as long as it doesn't happen in a clinic.
09:18
That's not what abolishing abortion looks like, okay? Abolishing abortion means it's illegal for everyone the same ways it's illegal for everyone to come and murder us as born people.
09:29
That's what abolishing it means, and not only is every baby unprotected in Texas, but so are the pregnant mothers, because not only does our law tell them it's okay to abort their babies, but our law is at best unclear about something else, and that is, can someone pressure a woman into an abortion?
09:48
Our law is at best unclear on that, because unless you're threatening someone's life or limb, how is it illegal to strongly encourage someone to do something that's legal for them to do?
10:01
And so that's why there are mothers still being pressured into abortions in Texas, and I hope the courts say that it's illegal for them to do that, for people to pressure women into abortion, but I'm not holding my breath.
10:13
That's why we need a law that would make it clear that that's illegal to pressure mothers into abortions, and that's what this bill does.
10:22
That's what HB 2709 also does. So I'm here because I'm a Christian.
10:27
That's the main reason that I'm here, because I'm a Christian, and I love
10:32
God. He says, I love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. I love him, and his image is being slain in our land under color of law, right?
10:46
Under the protection of our laws, but I love God, and so he says, if you love me, keep my commandments, and that's what we're here to do.
10:56
If we love him, we obey him. That's what we're here to do. He not only has commands to us, but he has commands to civil officials.
11:05
He tells them, Isaiah 1, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless.
11:11
He goes on, Isaiah 1, 23, your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves.
11:16
Everyone loves bribes and follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and that's what can be said for the majority of people in this building here.
11:28
They do not defend the fatherless, and so God rebukes them.
11:35
Deuteronomy 1, 17 says, you shall not show partiality in judgment. You're not to say, you're not to show partiality.
11:42
What is partiality? Partiality is whenever a ruler is judging, but there's supposed to be blind judgment.
11:51
You're not supposed to be looking at what someone looks like or how old they are or how powerful they are or how strong or weak or whether it's a man or a woman or it's a baby or it's an adult, right?
12:03
It's supposed to be based upon the facts of the case and not upon those factors, but we have partiality in our land that says, if you're a mother, you can kill your baby with impunity, no legal consequences.
12:16
That's what our laws currently say. Psalm 82 too says, how long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?
12:25
Selah, defend the poor and fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and needy.
12:32
And there are commands for us. God tells us that if the people of the land do at all close their eyes when people offer their children to Molech, sacrifice their children, that God will judge those who sacrifice their children and he will judge us, the people of the land, if we close our eyes to it, if we do nothing about it.
12:54
So that's what we're here to do today, to do something, to do our role as citizens and to call upon our representatives to do their duty before God, to rescue those, as Proverbs 24 says, that are being carried to the slaughter.
13:11
And we're here not to walk by sight or to say, oh, wow, well, they've got all the power, they've got all these people.
13:18
We're here to walk by faith. We're here to walk by faith, what God says, because if God is for us, who can be against us?
13:28
If God's for us, we'll put a thousand to flight. That's what God says.
13:35
If he's for us, who can be against us? So we're here to walk by faith and not by sight. We're here to follow the golden rule and do unto others as we would have done unto us.
13:43
We're here to love our neighbor, how? As ourselves. What law protects us?
13:50
We want that law to protect our preborn neighbors as well. And James says that that's called the royal law, as Jesus calls the second greatest commandment.
13:59
And James says, if you do love your neighbor as yourself, you do well.
14:05
But if you show partiality, then you're a transgressor of the law. That's what
14:10
James says. So if you say, I love my neighbor as yourself, but you show partiality in judging your neighbor, you don't really love your neighbor as yourself.
14:19
That's what the Bible says. This bill also fulfills part of what it means to be a
14:25
Texas Republican. The Republican principles of the Republican Party of Texas say, we believe in the sanctity of innocent human life created in the image of God, which should be equally protected from fertilization to natural death.
14:40
House Bill 2709, Senate Bill 2198. They do that. They fulfill that.
14:47
The Republican Party platform here in Texas says, equal protection for the preborn. We urge lawmakers to enact legislation to abolish abortion by immediately securing the right to life and equal protection of the laws to all preborn children from the moment of fertilization, because abortion violates the
15:04
U .S. Constitution by denying such persons the equal protection of the laws. That's our Republican Party state platform.
15:10
And it even goes on. There's one more part of the platform. This is in every single part of what it means to be and act like a
15:16
Republican in Texas, because there's also a legislative priority calling upon this 88th legislature to do something.
15:23
And it says, quote, abolish abortion by ensuring the right to life and equal protection of the laws to all preborn children from the moment of fertilization, including adopting effective tools to ensure the enforcement of our laws to protect life when district attorneys fail to do so.
15:41
This bill does that. It fulfills that. This is the only bill that fulfills all of that.
15:48
This bill even provides for private enforcement if district attorneys will not enforce the law.
15:54
This bill fulfills the Republican Party principles, platform, and legislative priority, and it's the only bills in the
16:01
House and the Senate that do. Some people say, well, we're not there yet. We need to change hearts and minds, because we've got a heart problem in this state.
16:11
Absolutely, we do. I agree. We need to change the hearts and minds of the people out there, and we have a heart problem out there, but we also need to change the hearts and minds of the people in here, because there's also a heart problem in here, in this building, and a need for repentance right here, and these things go together.
16:31
It's not an either -or. Culture influences law, but law also influences culture.
16:38
It's a both -and, and anyone in this building who says, we'll go, well, go change the culture, and then come talk to me, that's a cop -out.
16:47
That's a cop -out. They're not willing to do their duty. They're part of that, and I'll tell you a little bit later about some more excuses that I've heard come out of here, some real humdingers.
16:59
Good morning. Thank y 'all for being here. I have a broken leg, and I'm in pain right now, so I'm gonna sit, and I'm gonna read a letter to you that I've written.
17:12
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, for a decade now, I've shared my deepest regret and most grievous sin here at this
17:20
Capitol, in hopes that someone would listen and stop what is not only destroying children, but is deeply wounding and often destroying the hearts, minds, bodies, and souls of each individual involved in any way in sacrificing a child's life.
17:36
Two sessions ago, we finally had a chance, a bill that would give what God requires and what our nation's
17:43
Constitution promises, equal protection under the laws for all, for those born and almost born.
17:50
I camped out here with many of you until the wee hours of the morning, waiting to speak and listening to more than 300 testimonies from Texans pleading for God's children and for the soul of this state and nation.
18:04
But God's sovereign hand held us back, and I believe if I could hear an audible voice, I would have heard him say, not yet, children.
18:12
You have more repenting, more growing and changing, and more work yet to do.
18:17
So here we are. I'd like to read my testimony from that day and then conclude with a few more details, thoughts, and a call to action.
18:26
I am a rape survivor and have been waiting 30 years to have this opportunity to support a bill that treats abortion as murder, even and especially in the case of rape.
18:36
That may sound strange, but just as I didn't deserve to be pregnant against my consent, my daughter did not give consent to her murder.
18:46
She did not deserve the death penalty I and my government gave her for my rapist crime.
18:52
And as a teenager, I didn't deserve to carry the guilt of knowing what I had done to my child for the rest of my life.
19:00
Earlier, Becky Leach talked about the need to create a culture for the victim rather than a culture for the offender.
19:06
I couldn't agree more. In my case, the offender got off scot -free on two counts.
19:11
First, when I kept my pregnancy hidden and secretly had my baby aborted. The evidence for my rapist crime was destroyed and he did not have to face prison for sexual assault.
19:23
And I did not have to pay the penalty for murder when I paid to have my daughter killed.
19:29
After my abortion, I spent 19 days in a psychiatric hospital, traumatized after coming home from the abortion and finding remains of my baby's mangled body.
19:41
There was no way I could deny what I had done to my child. I spent 30 years suffering with PTSD, an autoimmune disease, and most recently, an aggressive form of cancer that I believe came on as a result of ongoing trauma and broken relationships due in part to my shame and struggle to accept
20:01
God's forgiveness. Add to that the grief of the reality that when my own biological mother was faced with an unplanned pregnancy with me, she gave me life and a family through adoption.
20:14
And I didn't do the same for my daughter. Today, I refer to my daughter as Hannah after receiving loving help from a
20:23
Christian ministry that helped me to fully embrace the forgiveness God had for me in Jesus Christ.
20:31
If you had an abortion, there is forgiveness. And I need to shout that from the rooftops.
20:37
But wouldn't it be far better if we found more kind and compassionate love and support for women who are victimized rather than further victimizing them and their babies by encouraging and legalizing their murder?
20:50
It may seem cruel to ask a woman to endure nine months of pregnancy she didn't choose.
20:57
On face, it would seem that way. But please hear me when I tell you that the real cruelty was telling an already traumatized teenage girl that ripping apart and killing a child would end her suffering.
21:09
For me, it was only the beginning. I wish I could turn back time and suffer for nine months rather than for 30 years.
21:18
Abortion is the ultimate example of creating a culture for the offender. It enables rape, abandonment by the father, sex trafficking, and many other kinds of oppression.
21:28
And we cannot forget the 63 million innocent children who have died as we have made legal their murder by the one created to love and nurture them.
21:39
Please support the only bill that helps create a culture that is for all victims. Thank you for your time.
21:46
So what many in the pro -life movement don't understand is that the kindest thing they could do is take this terrible choice off the table for us.
21:56
I still vividly recall the agony of having to choose whether to put my baby first or myself first.
22:03
Even though I considered myself to be a committed pro -life Christian as a young college student, honestly, somewhere in the back of my mind,
22:11
I always knew if I got in trouble somehow as I was taking risks drinking in the presence of young men, abortion was legal.
22:20
I mean, if I really had to, not that I wanted to, I knew it was wrong, but had it been illegal and had
22:27
I faced prison, I never would have done it. Over the past 10 years of testifying with other post -abortive women, our stories have been so similar.
22:36
And in every case, the fallout after the abortion was an unrelenting grief, shame, and trauma that snowballed into more and more trauma and illness, physical and mental.
22:48
I was asked to speak again a week after that hearing. My senator and former representative hosted a listening session for the legislators to come and hear the truth about how abortion not only kills babies, but is destructive to mothers.
23:04
Only a handful came, but at the end of our time, our former rep asked us all if we would have done it had it been illegal and we faced prison.
23:15
The answer was a unanimous no. But there are many women who aren't negatively impacted, some will say.
23:23
I would submit to you that it's unavoidable. And just because after 50 years, many hearts are hardened, we denial and are desensitized, that does not mean that they aren't being impacted.
23:37
The ripple effects are overwhelming us. And as we withhold justice from the most vulnerable and innocent, we see justice in our nation becoming a thing of the past.
23:47
Please pray with me that these thousands of mothers aborting at home who see their child like I did are moved to compassion, to repentance, and to action against this crime against humanity.
23:59
Please pray that we as a church will realize how long -suffering our merciful
24:04
God has been and get to work fighting this evil and many others because we know the days are evil and God's righteous judgment has begun.
24:14
He promises to begin with us. And many of you may sense like I do that we don't have much time to repent before God unleashes the full force of his wrath, his just wrath, upon this state and nation.
24:27
We absolutely deserve no less. Christian, let us take a step back and repent of the sexual immorality, abuse, self -centeredness, and gross lack of love so many are guilty of that is leading women who end up pregnant to believe the lie that they have no choice but to end their pregnancies.
24:47
Brothers and sisters, we must tell those who make our laws that it is misplaced sympathy and a trap for women to excuse them from punishment for murder.
24:56
If we don't want women to suffer after abortion, then we must stop allowing them to do it in the first place.
25:03
It just seems so plain to me after what I suffered. Don't they know most women are not lawbreakers and are resourceful and will look for help?
25:11
Don't they know that a real man will think twice about his sexual behavior if he knows it could lead to prison for himself and the woman should she become pregnant and then choose to end their baby's life?
25:23
Don't they know that the answer to protecting women from being victimized does not lie in allowing them to kill their babies but with passing stronger laws against sexual abuse, assault, and serial rape as in trafficking, against abandonment of mothers and children and against domestic abuse?
25:40
What will you do, child of God, to fight for laws against these things and to repent of them yourselves?
25:47
What will you do to help warriors like Abby Johnson who is not only lobbying for this bill but working tirelessly to help remove any barrier a woman faces to bringing her unplanned but fiercely loved and cherished by God child into the world to bless us?
26:04
It's hard to think about the millstones waiting to adorn the necks of millions of American men and women alike and also millions of people from around the world.
26:14
Tragically, this American Holocaust started right here in what so many like to call the great state of Texas.
26:20
It started here only to be legalized in the entire country and exported around the world.
26:27
It started here and we must end it here. Will you help us make
26:34
Texas truly great again and plead with those inside that building to end the bloodshed and damage to our children, adults, families, and our institutions?
26:44
Please let them know that we no longer want to reap the evil we are sowing and we will support them as God has placed them here for such a time as this.
26:53
Their job is not easy. They must swim against a strong tide that is swiftly moving our nation against God, a current of principalities and darkness.
27:02
The trials they face as little Davids fighting this Goliath are great. Some may need a firm rebuke and pressure placed on them but mostly they need our prayers, our encouragement, and our unwavering love and support.
27:17
Please join me in praying and standing. Ask God what he has planned specifically for you to do in this desperate hour.
27:25
None of us is here by accident. Indeed, we may face trials of many kinds as we do his will and seek his justice.
27:32
So let's meditate on and take to heart Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength and ever -present help in trouble.
27:41
Therefore, we will not fear though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
27:47
And verse 10 says, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations.
27:53
I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress.
28:00
Now let us repent and get to work. God doesn't need us but we need him and we are privileged to be his hands and feet and a voice for those who have no voice of their own.
28:13
Thank you. Hello, my name is
28:35
Natalie Sims and I'm 18 years old. First, I need to say that abortion is murder and it must be abolished.
28:44
I am here today to call to the kids, the teens, the young adults and the parents to support
28:50
HB 2709 and SB 2198 and to abolish abortion. The Bible tells us the children are an heritage of the
28:58
Lord, an inheritance. They are a blessing from God. Children are not a burden.
29:04
That's one of the reasons that my family has nine kids. That's why my family has been ministering out at the abortion mills for the past eight years.
29:14
Psalms 127 was where that came from. It says that the fruit of the womb is God's reward.
29:21
Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of the youth.
29:29
That is why we started our group, the Next Generation of Abolitionists. We are to minister side by side with our parents against child sacrifice.
29:38
The influence that kids have is very vital. One of the founding members of our group heard that my family was ministering out at the mills and as a 12 year old girl, she got her family to start going out with us to abolish abortion.
29:52
Parents, this is a fight that your children can and must be a part of. Children are arrows.
29:58
They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies at the gates. The gate at the
30:03
Valley of Hennem where child sacrifice was carried out in the book of Jeremiah is one of those gates. Our gate today, the child sacrifice centers.
30:11
Those centers are no longer open in the state of Texas, but that does not mean that abortion has stopped.
30:17
Innocent blood is still being shed on our watch. It's been eight years since I started ministering outside of the mills with my family.
30:24
Seeing the horrors of abortion firsthand changed me completely. As a kid, we have to get involved against the fight for abortion.
30:34
We are the next generation and if we do not get involved, then who will? The gates we are to speak to are not just the child sacrifice center.
30:43
In the book of Second Chronicles, Ruth and Deuteronomy, we learned that the gates were also seats of authority where the judges and the leaders congregated.
30:50
Our gates in Texas are right behind me where the judges, the rulers and the legislators are.
30:56
Jeremiah went to the King of Judah and his servants and the people that entered in the gates and pleaded with them to execute judgment, righteousness and justice, to deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, to do no wrong, no violence to the stranger, the fatherless or the widow.
31:13
Neither shed innocent blood in this place. Legislators, do not allow innocent blood to be shed in Texas with your iniquitous decrees.
31:22
The government's priority should be to protect all human life. And if you are not doing all that you can to protect human life, legislators, you are not doing your job.
31:32
Parents, your children are your arrows. Go with them to the gates, take them to the gates.
31:38
Kids, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example to the believers. It is imperative that we stand in the gap for the unborn and those that would take away their life.
31:47
Don't let the death of these children be met with silence. Before I formed thee in the belly,
31:53
I knew thee and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
32:00
Then said I, ah, Lord God, I cannot speak for I am a child, but the Lord said unto me, say thou not
32:06
I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak.
32:13
Be not afraid of thou faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 1, five through eight.
32:20
Abortion is murder and it must be abolished. It's a great day to abolish abortion in Texas.
32:36
Well, I have had the privilege of speaking to your legislators about four different days.
32:43
I've talked to over 45 in this building, over 75 between Texas and Oklahoma. And I wanna tell you what we've been talking about.
32:51
When I march into an office and I say, hey, I'm Christine and I'm here to talk about the bill, the only bill here that can abolish abortion, the legislators tend to give me a bit of a puzzled look.
33:04
And they say, didn't we already do that? And I say, let me talk you through that and tell you why we need these bills.
33:13
And I talk them through this flyer that I've been giving out and you can get one too if you come up to me after the rally here.
33:20
And I tell them, we are post -Roe. We have a trigger law. And yet I personally, as a woman in Texas, can still abort my baby and I will get away with it legally.
33:32
I tell them every single baby who could have been aborted prior to the overturn of Roe can still be aborted post -Roe in the state of Texas.
33:43
And they say, educate me. And I say, gladly. And so I tell them that I have been ministering to actively aborting mamas in Texas for over 15 years.
33:53
When we have an aborting mother who's thinking about her abortion and thinking about what she's going to do, she often will go online into what's called a pre -abort support group, where she will post and ask questions like, should
34:06
I use the pills or should I go with the vacuum? Should I tell my boyfriend if I'm just going to kill the baby anyway?
34:13
And they have all these questions. And so when the mothers from Texas are now posting, they post things like,
34:20
I'm in Texas. I need an abortion. What do I do? Help! Exclamation point. And I've been showing our legislators a screenshot of what the moderator abortionist, the abortionist is now serving as the moderator.
34:34
And I've been telling them and showing them in this screenshot what she is counseling the mothers to do.
34:40
Do you know what that abortionist moderator is saying? She's saying, girls, honey, you don't have to worry about it in Texas.
34:49
Because in Texas and in most trigger law states, there is a carve out in the law that allows for you as the pregnant person, and they use that word person now, because we're now counseling pregnant men, biological females posing as men.
35:06
And she says, and that carve out says that you will never be punished. You will never be prosecuted.
35:13
And so she tells the mothers, you can simply do the pills at home. And they're counseling the woman into ordering even more doses of the pills to keep those pills on hand for future abortions.
35:24
Well, I don't know about you, but that's called pre -planning your abortion. It's wicked, and it needs to end.
35:31
The trigger law exception language that they're referring to is the same exception language in our criminal homicide code.
35:38
It's in our Heartbeat Act, and it's in our trigger law that is active right now. And it says something to the effect of a pregnant woman on whom an abortion is performed will never be prosecuted, will never be punished, will never be penalized.
35:53
And you know what? Those Democrats, those abortionists that used to operate in our abortion clinics here in Texas, they're not stupid.
36:01
They know that laws without enforcement are as if there is no law in the first place for half of Texas, all
36:10
Texas women when we're pregnant. And so they're coaching the mothers into the pills. And so I've been showing the legislators screenshots of what that looks like.
36:18
I'm showing them screenshots from the pre -abort groups where the mothers say, oh, we know it's illegal, but we're going to do it anyway.
36:26
I've been showing them screenshots because a lot of people think that the abortion pills are not as bad as a surgical abortion.
36:34
We've been trained to think those surgicals are so gory and graphic. I've been showing them, these mothers, and their screenshots and how they can sometimes see their little baby's arms and legs and their little baby's head and umbilical cord.
36:48
I've been showing them how the mothers sometimes need burial boxes. Why? Because sometimes they're doing late terms at home with those pills.
36:58
And I'll get into that here in a little bit. And when I tell them what the answer is, they sometimes they stop and listen to me.
37:06
And sometimes they think that this is mean to a woman. But I tell them the answer to all of this yuck, yuck, yuck, all this graphic, gory stuff that I hate dealing with, the answer is equal protection.
37:19
And when they say, what does that mean, I tell them, it means to take the same laws that protect you and me from being murdered and simply extend that protection to protecting all
37:31
Texans, regardless of age, size, or location in the womb. And you know what they usually say?
37:40
Many of them will look at me and say, well, we can't do that. We can't take that exception clause out of our trigger law.
37:47
We can't take that exception clause out of our criminal homicide code. That's criminalizing woman.
37:54
Guys, learn this line. We are not criminalizing woman. We're criminalizing abortion.
38:00
Without exceptions, for me as a woman to be able to violate the law willfully and knowingly.
38:05
The other thing that they tend to tell us inside of this capitol is, well, we don't have to do that.
38:12
We don't have to establish equal protection. We can simply go after the pills.
38:19
And I tell them, boy, we do have a pill problem, but let me talk to you about why we can't just criminalize the pills.
38:25
So let me talk you through that. First of all, you should know that out in the open, in the public eye, professionally selling to aborting mothers in Texas, post row, under our trigger law, is the following.
38:39
Kids, I want you to start counting. These are the companies, Aid Access, MedSci24, Secure Abortion Pills, Private Emma, AbortionRx, Get Myfaprex, His Blue, Generic Abortion Pills, MTP Pharmacy, BuyMTPKits, Abortion Ease, Best Abortion Pill, PrivacyPillRx, TelephoneMexico, PillsOnlineRx, RedStateAccess, AbortionPrivacy, and OnlineAbortionPillRx.
39:06
Were you counting? That's 18 companies selling to our Texas mothers just right out in the open.
39:14
This is not the secret underground groups. This isn't the pill swapping sites on Facebook. These are the ones selling as open, as out there in the open as Planned Parenthood used to be with their clinics on the corner.
39:26
Folks, do we have an abortion problem in Texas? Yes, we do. Does it need to be abolished?
39:32
Yes, it does. Guess what? All of these sites will sell to all ages. If an 11 -year -old wants to order her abortion pills online, there's nothing stopping her.
39:43
Several of these sites will send more pills if the mother is deemed to be above 10 weeks so that she can do that late -term abortion at home.
39:52
And just one of those sites in that list of 18, the Journal of American Medical Association has recorded over 19 ,000 abortions ordered by pregnant mothers in Texas post -Roe.
40:07
Just one of all of those on the list. We have a massive abortion problem.
40:13
And I tell them, even if you were able to completely stop the pills, which is a good thing to do, the
40:18
Democrats are already out in the open with plannedcpills .org, and they're already telling us that they will do mail forwarding, having women in other states like Illinois order the pills for Texas women so that they can kill on Texas soil, still legal under the trigger law, still legal post -Roe until we have equal protection.
40:36
They're coaching them into driving across state borders into the abortion clinics, using general delivery post office addresses, pickup in Mexico.
40:46
And even if they were able to stop all of these pill companies selling to Texas mothers for do -it -yourself -at -home abortions, the
40:55
Democrats, the pro -abort groups are still counseling the mothers into herbal abortions, veterinarian drugs meant for horses and other animals, vitamin
41:04
C flushes, bleach, coat hangers, bicycle spokes, umbrella rods, alcohol overdose, illegal drug use, telling each other to party hard.
41:15
They will always find a way until there is equal protection. I'm even showing your legislators here, and I'll show you if you come up to me afterwards, a screenshot, a picture of a mother who did her late -term abortion at home, killing her 24 -week -old son with a smile on her face.
41:33
And we beg of these legislators to do what is right for these little ones. But many times they look at me and they say, "'We just can't do that "'because it's just mean -spirited to women.'"
41:46
And I tell them, it is not only good and right and loving for Texas babies, but it is good and right and loving for us
41:57
Texas women as well. Abolish abortion and give us equal protection under the law.
42:02
Thank you. Greetings, fellow
42:16
Texicans. Grace and peace be unto you, amen? Well, typically in a setting like this, a rally to abolish abortion at the state level, my inclination is to encourage you to complete the work.
42:38
Amen? Now, since we're in Texas, it is somewhat personal in the sense that four years ago,
42:51
Governor Abbott made a promise to my dying son, Jeremiah Thomas, that he would fulfill that promise and abolish abortion in the state of Texas.
43:09
And so, how many know integrity is important when it comes to the
43:14
Lord our God? There was a promise made and we are still waiting for that promise to be fulfilled.
43:23
And these bills in the Senate and in the House would finally fulfill that promise to my dying son,
43:33
Jeremiah Thomas. Amen? When Bradley asked me to speak, he asked me to give a word of encouragement.
43:49
I have personally been in this battle since the fall of 1988.
43:55
A lot of trial and error, a lot of good, bad, and ugly, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears have gone down since we put our hand to this kingdom plow and we have not looked back.
44:14
And by God's grace, we continue to press on. Something's gonna happen very soon on April 9th in the year of our
44:22
Lord, 2023. What's gonna happen then, brothers and sisters of Christ? What are we celebrating?
44:31
The resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
44:39
Hallelujah! Now, brothers and sisters, the
44:47
Bible tells us if he has not been raised from the dead, there's no validity to our
44:55
Christian faith at all. We are still in our sin. And every message you ever heard from the state house to the church house that mentions the truth of God's word is absolute gobbledygook.
45:11
It is nonsense and it has no meaning and no power to change a single person in this world.
45:21
But I'm here to tell you the great and glorious good news. Christ is risen and he is risen indeed.
45:29
The apostle
45:35
Paul gives one of the most amazing, outrageous statements in all the
45:43
Bible. And you can find it in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where he makes this incredible boast in the face of harsh, unrelenting, vicious enemy.
46:00
He says, death, where is your sting?
46:06
Grave, where is your victory? How many understand abortion is akin to death?
46:17
It's a close relative. It is an extension of this enemy in the earth.
46:27
Now stay with me, brothers and sisters, every human soul that was ever born of men since Adam and Eve, how many know all have succumbed to this unrelenting, vicious enemy called death?
46:44
How many know that's true? It didn't make a difference how beautiful you were, how handsome you were, how strong you were, how smart you were, all the seed of man that has been born into this world has been defeated by death, except one.
47:06
And it's in his name we come here today. And that is the name that is above all names.
47:14
And at that name, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess, Jesus Christ is
47:20
Lord to the glory of the Father. And so what does it mean when it comes to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the future of this poor, fallen world?
47:43
Understand, brothers and sisters, and this is not just a slogan, a Christian saying, there is victory in Jesus Christ, our
47:53
Lord. So when
48:00
Christ goes before the kangaroo court in Matthew chapter 26, and the high priest's case is falling apart, the witnesses don't agree, he lowers the boom, and he addresses our
48:17
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Are you the Son of God?
48:22
Are you the Christ? Are you the Messiah? Up to that point, our
48:28
Lord was silent, but he finally spoke, and he said this, it is as you say.
48:33
Now listen, and he said, you, speaking to the high priest, not a generation, 2 ,000 years in the future, to the high priest and every
48:42
Jew that was in that room, he said, you will see the Son of Man at the right hand of power coming in the clouds.
48:55
Listen, listen very carefully. They were asking him, are you the
49:01
Christ? Are you the Messiah, the promised one? He says, I am, that I am.
49:09
And he said, you, and what he is quoting is the premier, dominating prediction of the
49:19
Messiah. Every Jew in that room knew what passage of scripture he was quoting, and it was
49:28
Daniel 7, 13, and 14, where it says, the
49:36
Son of Man came with the clouds, and the Son of Man, this cloud did not take him from heaven to earth, this cloud took him from earth to heaven, and he was presented before the
49:52
Ancient of Days, and that is our Heavenly Father, and it says, at that point, a mighty transition, transaction went down.
50:03
Heavenly Father gave to his Son, Jesus Christ, a kingdom and a dominion that all people, all nations, all tribes, all tongues should worship and serve him.
50:19
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion shall never, ever end.
50:28
Now listen to me, it is not a coincidence that on that morning, they went to the tomb, and they were looking for our
50:41
Lord's body, and the angel said, why are you looking for the living amongst the dead?
50:49
And that's what's wrong with us. We're always looking for life in the midst of death.
50:56
He's not here, he is risen. Listen, and Jesus says, based upon his resurrection, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
51:19
Now church, you go, you disciple the nations, you baptize them in the name of the
51:25
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and you make sure the nations obey my commandments.
51:35
And what are those commandments? Texas, thou shall not murder.
51:45
Texas, you are in disobedience to your king.
51:55
We must repent. Now hear me on this. I don't know what the future holds.
52:02
It looks very bleak. God's judgment is upon the land, and it's only gonna increase.
52:13
And I don't know what we're gonna have to negotiate through, but I do know this, that Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the
52:22
Father, expecting henceforth till all his enemies, including death, comes as his footstool.
52:34
God's going somewhere, folks, and don't believe the lie.
52:40
Don't believe the sources of the world, the gates of this world, those conspiracies, you know, smoke -dog -filled rooms where they're buying and selling humanity.
52:55
Understand, evil men inspired by the devil do not control the future.
53:04
The sovereign king controls the future. And I'm here to tell you, abortion and all its evil will go the way of every bloody tyranny of man that has rebelled against the
53:20
Lord our God. And let me tell you something, the church can fail in her duty, the state can fail in their duty, but God will not deny himself.
53:31
He will crush this thing under his foot. You and I just have the honor and privilege to serve our
53:40
Lord and our king in this process. Can I get an amen? Press on,
53:46
Church of Jesus Christ. God's going somewhere, and this will end in Jesus' name. Amen.
54:02
So do not grow weary, right? Do not grow weary. Galatians 6 .9,
54:08
let's not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
54:17
Do not lose heart, church. Don't wall by sight, wall by faith.
54:23
Wall by this promise that we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
54:29
It's easy to grow weary, I know. This bill in the House, House Bill 2709, has been assigned to a committee.
54:40
It's been assigned to a committee where it could get a hearing. But it's been assigned to a committee chaired by a
54:48
Democrat, representative Joe Moody. Now the committee chair, if you're not aware, the chair of the committee has the power, 100 % discretion to give this bill a hearing or not.
55:04
And if he does not, the bill is dead. That's how it works. So right now, the
55:11
House bill is in the hands of a Democrat committee chair, who has the power to kill it, and so far has not granted it a hearing.
55:22
And Joe Moody is not just any Democrat. After last session, Planned Parenthood named him a legislative champion for abortion.
55:36
The next session is not for two years. That means if abortion is not abolished by Equal Protection this session, then you've already heard 19 ,000 on Texas soil being killed.
55:50
That's 38 ,000 over two years on Texas soil. If Joe Moody does not give this bill a hearing in the
55:57
House, how did he get to be a committee chair? Wow, how is it?
56:02
Wait, I thought Texas was a Republican state. We've got Republicans in every state office. We've got
56:08
Republicans in every statewide office in Texas. We've got a majority of the House. We've got a majority of the
56:14
Senate. How do we have Democrats chairing committees in Texas with the power to kill bills?
56:23
Because the Speaker of the Texas House, so -called
56:29
Republican Speaker, Dade Phelan, made him a committee chair.
56:36
He made a Planned Parenthood legislative champion Democrat a committee chair. That's who did that.
56:44
Well, how did this bill get assigned to the committee chair, Joe Moody? Who decides?
56:50
Dade Phelan, the Speaker, the same one who put that Democrat Planned Parenthood champion in place, is also the one who chose to send him this bill.
57:02
This bill's been sent to three other committees the past three years, past three sessions, all of them chaired by Republicans.
57:10
That's the least we can ask. That's the least. But this speaker chose to send it to a chair killed, or a chairman who's a
57:19
Democrat Planned Parenthood legislative champion. What Republican would put the lives of more than 38 ,000
57:27
Texas babies into the hands of a Democrat Planned Parenthood legislative champion?
57:35
What Republican would do that? Dade Phelan did, and he claims to be a
57:41
Republican. And I've already told you that abolishing abortion by equal protection is a
57:50
Republican legislative priority. Guess what else is a Republican legislative priority? Quote, and there's not a lot of these, there's like eight of these.
58:01
To ensure all legislative Republican priorities are given a fair opportunity to become law, the
58:08
Republican -controlled Texas legislature shall adopt a rule that would end the practice of awarding committee chairmanships to Democrats.
58:19
That's a Republican legislative priority. Dade Phelan killed that.
58:25
He killed that from becoming a rule. He killed that so he could appoint Democrat committee chairs.
58:33
So he could send Republican legislative priorities like abolishing abortion to a Democrat committee chair to be killed.
58:39
That's what Speaker Phelan has done. He's violated one Republican priority so he can violate another.
58:48
He's assigned this bill there. He's betrayed what it means to be a Republican in Texas, and he's betrayed more than 38 ,000 children whose lives are in the hands of a
59:02
Democrat Planned Parenthood legislative champion right now because of Dade Phelan. What's the call to action on this?
59:09
If you're involved in the Republican party, especially if you're involved, if you're in Dade Phelan's district where he's from in Southeast Texas, there's a process to censure him and say he is not a
59:24
Republican. This is not what it means to act like a Republican. He's not acting like it.
59:31
And I would call on people to do that. If you live in his district, come talk to me. I wanna talk to you.
59:39
On top of that betrayal, you would not believe, on top of that betrayal by the Speaker of the House, you would not believe the excuses
59:45
I've heard straight from the mouths of politicians in this building. Listen to some of these. Well, y 'all were mean to some other politician.
59:55
Mean? We just tell people the truth. Is it mean to tell voters that their representative killed the bill to provide equal protection to babies?
01:00:05
Who's the one being mean here? Oh, the poor politician. Or the, those babies, over 100 ,000 babies that were sentenced to death by that bill being killed.
01:00:19
Yeah, nevermind the babies dying by the tens of thousands in our states. We need to be more sensitive to the politicians and their feelings and what makes them look bad just when we report the truth about what they've done.
01:00:31
Here's some other excuses I've heard. Well, you really need to get a woman to sign onto the bill.
01:00:37
Okay, there's a woman that signed onto the bill, Representative Carrie Isaac. And those people who gave us that excuse, they're still not signing onto the bill.
01:00:47
Well, it needs to be a woman who's the one filing it. Why? Can't men stand up for babies too?
01:00:55
In fact, is it not the God -given duty of men to protect women and children? Men, in this building, but all men, stop abdicating your responsibilities.
01:01:07
Stand up and lead. Well, I'm okay with a man filing it, just not this man.
01:01:14
Because I have political differences with him. On what? On this issue? No, no,
01:01:20
I like the bill. I just don't want my name with his. Can you not put that aside for the sake of babies dying by the tens of thousands in our state?
01:01:29
How petty are you? Put that aside.
01:01:36
Do it for justice. Do it for these lives. And you know what? There's people that in the last election, we sent letters to these candidates running for office and we said, hey, will you promise to co -author this bill if it's the same, if it's substantially the same as the last bill that was filed?
01:01:53
Which it was on record, everybody knew what it was. And there's lots of legislators that when it came time for asking for your vote, they're like, oh yeah, absolutely,
01:02:00
I will do that. Sign my name right here. But the only one that has fulfilled that pledge has been
01:02:08
Representative Carrie Isaac. She has. She has. But let me tell you the ones that have not because they need to be hearing from you.
01:02:17
Senator Pete Flores has not. Senator Donna Campbell has not. These are people that promised that they would and they're not.
01:02:28
And we told them that they needed to sign on by last Friday. We sent them an email with a copy of their own signatures and they still have not.
01:02:39
Senator Pete Flores, Senator Donna Campbell, Representative Cecil Bell, Representative Cody Harris, Representative Terry Leo Wilson, Representative Richard Hayes, Representative Tom Craddock, Representative Carl Tepper, Representative Briscoe Cain.
01:02:55
Listen, I'm not here to win friends, okay? You do the right thing, politicians will praise you.
01:03:04
We'll applaud you, good job, attaboy. But you break your pledge and we will tell people that you broke it.
01:03:13
All we're gonna do is tell people the truth. We're gonna tell people that you broke it just like we said in the letter with the pledge.
01:03:20
We said, if you break it, we're gonna tell people. Okay, they broke it, guess what we're gonna do? We're gonna keep our word, we're gonna keep it.
01:03:28
And we're gonna tell people that you didn't keep yours and you haven't. It's not too late to contact them.
01:03:35
Contact them to sign on. If you know them, if that's your representative, contact them. And we're gonna be publishing it on our website abolishabortiontx .org,
01:03:41
their signed pledge. So you can print that out and go and take that to them and show them their signature right there.
01:03:47
Because some of them have said, oh, well, I don't remember signing that. Oh, really? I'm a lawyer,
01:03:53
I love bringing people evidence. Well, hey, what does this look like right here? I want you to understand, with very few exceptions, the people in this building are not leaders.
01:04:06
They're not leaders, they are followers. You have to lead, you have to lead.
01:04:14
They represent you, you have to lead. And then you have to go get other Texans to lead. You gotta go make disciples who make disciples who make disciples and tell these people what they have to do or you're gonna kick them out.
01:04:26
That's what we have to do. That's what accountability looks like. Love our enemies, but that doesn't mean we have to let them keep tyrannizing us and neglecting their duty before we can do anything.
01:04:36
We have to do it before God and under the Constitution. I love them, I love them all the way out of office and get somebody in who will do their duty.
01:04:45
So the current status is that House Bill 2709 is in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, chaired by Democrat Planned Parenthood legislative champion
01:04:53
Joe Moody. The Senate Bill 2198 is in the Senate State Affairs Committee chaired by Republican Brian Hughes.
01:05:00
So what do you do when you go from here today? Call to action. Talk to the people in this building.
01:05:06
Call and visit your own legislator. Call the Speaker's office, Dave Phelan. Urge him to reassign the bill.
01:05:16
Excuse me. Call Senator Hughes' office and urge him to give the bill a hearing. Let's at least just have the discussion.
01:05:26
It's like, hey, I know Rome was not built in a day. Slavery, the slave trade was not abolished in a day or a year or one session.
01:05:37
It's something that we've got to keep fighting over and over, but let's have a hearing. Let's have a discussion. Can you not do that?
01:05:43
You call yourself a Republican? You don't, why can't we just talk about it? What are you afraid of?
01:05:49
Even more important though than talking to this building is to go from here and to talk to your churches because these people listen to their voters.
01:06:00
Excuse me. The sunlight right here. They listen to their voters.
01:06:07
They listen to the churches that are in their district. If you come to them and say like, hey, we're so -and -so, I'm pastor of so -and -so church.
01:06:14
Here's what we want you to do. They'll listen. They listen. Tell them what you want them to do, but go to your churches because this is something that we have to change our hearts and minds and it's not just changing the hearts and minds of the pro -abortion people, it's changing the hearts and minds of all the
01:06:31
Christians that are not here. It's changing the hearts and minds of all the churches, of all the pastors, of all the deacons, of all the lay people who are not here.
01:06:41
And I don't mean just not here physically. I mean, they are not supporting this cause to abolish abortion.
01:06:50
They need to be here. They need to be supporting this. If I were your neighbor and I were being led to the slaughter and you say, be warm and filled,
01:07:02
God bless you, I don't feel loved. Unless you're backing that up with action to do what you can to save my life.
01:07:12
That's what we've got to do if we love our neighbor as ourself. So take this to your churches. After this is over, please come by our table over here.
01:07:20
We've got materials about what equal protection means. We've got materials about biblical principles of equal protection with tons of scripture references supporting every single one of those.
01:07:30
We've got materials that about the data that we talked about, 19 ,000 children. We've got all of that over here at our table.
01:07:37
We encourage you to come get that. Take it back to your church. Take as much as you think you can hand out to your church.
01:07:44
Don't take it unless you're gonna do it though. Don't take it unless you're gonna do something with it. But please come get some and go do something from here.
01:07:52
We're not just here to rally. This is important in and of itself, but we're here to rally means coming together.
01:07:58
But then when we go our separate ways, it's not over. This is, we're rallying and getting inspired and then we're gonna go do the work.
01:08:06
That's what we do when we leave here. I wanna add one more thing. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.
01:08:14
Representatives represent their constituents. But when God says to do justice to the fatherless, you should do it, regardless of whether your constituents support it or not.
01:08:24
When the constitution says provide equal protection, you do it, you keep your oath. When you take a pledge and make a promise, you keep it.
01:08:31
Are you somebody who's willing to do that? When you take a pledge and make a promise, keep it, are you willing to do that?
01:08:37
Well, I'm here to tell you, we need more godly men standing up, willing to step up and lead and run for office.
01:08:44
So I'd encourage you to prayerfully consider doing that. And we're here not just to labor.
01:08:50
We should be laboring, laboring, but we also come. It's not us that's gonna do it.
01:08:57
It's not us, we can't do it in our strength. And so we labor and we pray.
01:09:03
And I'd like to invite my brother, Pastor John Speed, to come up and close us in prayer. Before we pray,
01:09:17
I'd like to just say a word to the pastors of Texas and my brothers in ministry and just say to them that it's time that we, as men of God, lead the people of God to do
01:09:31
God's work in this regard. For far too long, we have farmed out this issue of abortion to so -called pro -life organizations who have done nothing but lobby for compromise.
01:09:47
We don't wanna address it ourselves, so we hand it off to some other organization, some parachurch organization, to do the job for us.
01:09:57
And because we have been lazy, because we have been lazy, we are exactly where we are today.
01:10:06
With all the compromise and all the deception that exists out in the evangelical world about this issue right here in Texas, we haven't taken the time to look at what's really happening to hear the things that we've heard here today.
01:10:23
We must repent. God, we must repent. It's a sad, sad thing when the president of the
01:10:31
Southern Baptist Convention, who is from East Texas, comes out on his
01:10:37
Twitter account this past week and attacks abolitionists who want to do exactly what we're talking about doing here, misrepresenting what we're saying.
01:10:47
It's a sad day when Bart Barber will lie about what we're doing out here.
01:10:55
And there are many that are following his lead. Men, repent.
01:11:01
Repent with us. We once did it. We once did all the same things, believed all the same things.
01:11:08
We once did the same things and passed it off to someone else without investigating it ourselves to find out the truth.
01:11:16
We must repent. And so this prayer that I'm leading us in today isn't really, you know,
01:11:23
I suppose if you went to the March for Life in D .C., you'd have a pep rally. This is not a pep rally.
01:11:32
We stand here on the steps of this Capitol building today to repent, all of us, because none of us has done enough.
01:11:40
None of us has done all that we should when we should have done it. We must all repent. So let's bow together in prayer.
01:11:50
Father God, we thank you. Triune God, we thank you that you are the God of this universe and you've ordained these things.
01:11:56
And Lord God, we come before you today and we humble ourselves before you. Oh God, we are guilty as much as anyone else.
01:12:06
I'm guilty of having compromised when I should not have compromised, lied about people when
01:12:12
I shouldn't have lied about motives and things of that nature. And oh God, what can we do? We have blood on our hands.
01:12:20
And oh Lord, we cry out to you. And we're reminded of the prophet Daniel, who said,
01:12:26
I prayed unto the Lord my God and made my confession and said, oh Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant, mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his commandments.
01:12:37
We have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thine ordinances, neither have we hearkened unto thy servants, the prophets who spoke in thy name to our kings, our princes and our fathers and to all the people of the land.
01:12:57
To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him.
01:13:04
It's our only hope, oh God, for this nation. It's our only hope for the state of Texas that there would be a wave of repentance that sweeps through the land.
01:13:13
Oh God, would you be merciful. Oh God, would you raise up men of God in the pulpits of God to repent, to lead the way in brokenness and repentance.
01:13:25
Oh Lord God, we repent for writing so -called pro -life laws that are partial towards babies in the womb that are six weeks old while neglecting justice for the babies that are just conceived, newly conceived.
01:13:40
Oh Lord, we repent for denying justice by blaming our inaction right here in this
01:13:48
Capitol building on the Supreme Court of the United States rather than taking responsibility for what we can do right here in Texas.
01:13:57
Oh Lord, we are guilty. Lord, forgive us, have mercy on us for ignoring until recently the fact that most abortions happening in the state are first trimester, rejoicing about things when clinics close and yet ignoring the reality that it's happening at home.
01:14:18
Oh God, we are guilty. Oh God, forgive us for ignoring the plight of many hundreds of thousands of frozen embryos in more than 40 clinics in Texas.
01:14:30
Oh God, we are guilty. God, we have taken chemical birth control which prohibits a blastocyst from implanting on the walls of the uterus resulting in the intentional taking of human life.
01:14:45
Oh God, we are guilty. Most of all, we repent for writing laws that prosecute some who are guilty of murdering babies but not all conspirators.
01:14:57
Have mercy on us for calling ourselves pro -life and believing in life at fertilization but then treating those who murder life inside of the womb differently than life outside of the womb.
01:15:09
We have set ourselves up as partial judges. We are partial in our justice.
01:15:16
Oh God, you've called us to something better. Lord God, you are the just, impartial, triune
01:15:23
God. Do not give us, please, oh God, do not give us what our sins deserve.
01:15:30
And we beg thee, oh God, all triune God, to move supernaturally on this cold, dead, compromised legislature and Senate to pass
01:15:41
HB 2709 into law. We beg your mercy on those, even in the past, who have opposed it in previous sessions.
01:15:52
We pray for the heartfelt and genuine repentance of representatives in this place who killed our bills in the past.
01:16:02
We ask, oh God, that you would give heartfelt and genuine repentance to Dade Phelan.
01:16:09
Lord, would you please break his heart. Would you break his heart?
01:16:15
Would you help him to see that political moves and gamesmanship are foolishness in light of what it is that we're dealing with here, the slaughter of the most innocent
01:16:28
Texans among us. Oh God, have mercy on Dade Phelan. Lord, cause him to repent.
01:16:35
Cause him to do the right thing. And Lord God, we cry out to you today as Daniel did.
01:16:43
Oh my God, incline thine ear and hear. Open thine eyes and behold our desolations and the city which is called by thy name.
01:16:52
For we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
01:17:01
Oh Lord, hear. Oh Lord, forgive. Oh Lord, hearken and do.
01:17:07
Defer not for thine own sake, oh my God, for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
01:17:14
Oh God, have mercy. And Father God, we pray as we approach the resurrection of Christ this coming
01:17:23
Sunday, next Sunday. Lord, we ask that you would help us to understand that nothing will happen here unless we proclaim your gospel of Jesus Christ to those that we're dealing with.
01:17:35
Lord, help them to see that this is a gospel issue. That we must repent, this is sin. Abortion is murder and it is sin.
01:17:43
We must repent. God calls all men everywhere to repent. We pray, oh God, that we will feel the weight of that sin, the guilt, the burden, and the shame of that sin.
01:17:53
And that we would take that guilt, burden, and shame and go to the only one who can relieve it.
01:17:59
To Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords who died on the cross for sinners, rose from the dead, conquered death.
01:18:07
Lord, bring a wave of repentance across this land and let it start right here in this building.
01:18:13
We pray it in Jesus' name, amen. All right guys, praise
01:18:22
God for that. For all the speakers and just the opportunity to gather and show our support for the end of this modern genocide.
01:18:31
My name's J .R. Haas, Vice President of Abolished Abortion Texas, and I just wanted to close out in song.
01:18:37
I want those around us to know that to which we place our hope in.
01:18:44
So would you join in singing me as we depart and sing in the doxology? Everyone stand. All right, let's sing together.