Legislation Made Simple
Dr. Quentin Van Meter, Atlanta pediatric endocrinologist and past-president of the American College of Pediatricians
In part 1 of our discussion with Dr. Quentin Van Meter, he told us the history of transgender ideology and why it’s medically unsound. In this episode, he expands on the severe problems that can result from medical interventions to “affirm” a child’s confusion about his sex. He also gives advice about what parents can do if confronted with this situation.
Resources
- Information about the American College of Pediatricians
- Information from the American College of Pediatricians website on gender confusion and transgender identity
- Video titled The terrible fraud of ‘transgender medicine’ - a presentation by Dr. Quentin Van Meter at the Teens4Truth Conference held in Ft. Worth, TX, on Nov. 18, 2017. Dr. Van Meter who was in the Johns Hopkins Univ. Hospital group where “transgender medicine” was developed describes the lies, bad medicine, and fraud behind that movement.
- Article: “Dr John Money and the sinister origins of gender ideology”
Dr. Quentin Van Meter, Atlanta pediatric endocrinologist and past-president of the American College of Pediatricians
Dr. Van Meter explains the origin and history of the “transgender” phenomenon and outlines the medical risks – physical and psychological – of “gender-affirming treatment” for children and teens who identify as transgender. He relates why the American College of Pediatricians has labeled use of puberty blockers, wrong-sex hormones, and surgeries for these young people as “child abuse.”
Resources
- Information about the American College of Pediatricians
- Information from the American College of Pediatricians website on gender confusion and transgender identity
- Video titled The terrible fraud of ‘transgender medicine’ - a presentation by Dr. Quentin Van Meter at the Teens4Truth Conference held in Ft. Worth, TX, on Nov. 18, 2017. Dr. Van Meter who was in the Johns Hopkins Univ. Hospital group where “transgender medicine” was developed describes the lies, bad medicine, and fraud behind that movement.
- Article: “Dr John Money and the sinister origins of gender ideology”
A wrap-up report on the legislative session that ended March 29, 2023
We discuss the bills that passed (some protections for trans-identifying youth, a ban on mandatory Covid vaccinations) and those that failed (expanded gambling, school vouchers, and massive mental-health overhaul). We also preview the 2024 session to predict what issues might be revisited. We encourage listeners to use the off-season to get to know their legislators.
Resources
- Visit www.legis.ga.gov for information on bills, committees, and legislators.
A look at shenanigans as the end of the session approaches
Learn about legislative high jinks that are running rampant as the legislature moves into the last few days of the session. We discuss shenanigans to revive a sports-betting bill, passage of a compromise bill to partially protect kids from the transgender industry, poorly understood “mental health” legislation, and state and local education issues. We also discuss how a Senate-House dispute over an unrelated bill affecting hospital construction may hold up some bills we’ve spotlighted in the Senate so they don’t pass before the end of the term (midnight on March 29, 2023).
Resources
- Visit www.legis.ga.gov for information on bills, committees, and legislators.
A look at bills still in the running as the legislative session winds down.
We discuss shenanigans with gambling bills, compromises on protecting kids from the transgender industry, poorly understood “mental health” legislation, and local education issues.
Resources
- Visit www.legis.ga.gov for information on bills, committees, and legislators.
A look at bills that made it through the Georgia House or Senate
Join us as we analyze the results of Crossover Day, Monday, March 6, 2023 (the day by which a bill must be passed by one chamber, the House or the Senate, to be considered this session by the other). Find out which of the bills that we’ve been following made it through the House or Senate. Learn what happens to those bills that didn’t make it through; could they reappear?
Resources
- Visit www.legis.ga.gov for information on bills, committees, and legislators.
Updates on bills across several categories
Listen in as we plunge into the maelstrom of bills and hearings at the Georgia Capitol as we approach Crossover Day on Monday, March 6 (the day by which a bill must be passed by one chamber, the House or the Senate, to be considered this session by the other chamber). Get the latest updates on the status of bills from several categories: gambling, education, public health, medical interventions on trans-identifying minors, and religious freedom.
Status of bills from several categories
We take a look into the maelstrom of bills and hearings at the Georgia Capitol and update the status of bills from several categories: gambling, education, public health, medical interventions on trans-identifying minors, and religious freedom. Things change on a daily if not hourly basis, so we’ll be posting a spreadsheet to keep you up to date. In the meantime, go to legis.ga.gov for information.
Mary Clauson, Catholic parent activist
This week’s episode featured Part Two of our conversation with Catholic parent activist Mary Clauson. Following up on last week’s discussion of radical sex education and school obscenity, Mary explained the problems with school - based clinics and the overall “therapeutic” model of education – which treats children as patients rather than students. She also
highlighted some good legislation pending in the Georgia State Senate (protecting children’s well - being and parental rights). Finally, she offered practical advice on what parents can do to protect their kids in schools.
Resources
- Protect Student Health Georgia website
- Protect Child Health Coalition website
- Legislation - HB 173 - mandatory pre-K/kindergarten
- Legislation - HB 174 - information on adolescent vaccinations
- Legislation - HB 177 - sex education – “age-appropriate,” consent
- Legislation - HB 141 - universal suicide screenings for ages 8 and up
- Legislation - SB 88 - child & parental protection
- Article: “Parents beware. Georgia’s student health survey is invasive and insidious”
- “Social-Emotional Learning: K-12 Education as New Age Nanny State” study from Pioneer Institute Public Policy Research
- Chart comparing types of sex education, comprehensive vs. abstinence-based sex education
Mary Clauson, Catholic parent activist
Working with Protect Student Health Georgia, Catholic parent activist Mary Clauson educates families and policymakers about the various threats our children are facing in schools. In this part one of a two-part interview, she focuses on several bills currently pending in the Georgia House of Representatives, including one that would cement radical “comprehensive” sex education, and on obscenity in school instructional materials.
Resources
- Protect Student Health Georgia website
- Protect Child Health Coalition website
- Legislation - HB 173 - mandatory pre-K/kindergarten
- Legislation - HB 174 - information on adolescent vaccinations
- Legislation - HB 177 - sex education – “age-appropriate,” consent
- Legislation - HB 141 - universal suicide screenings for ages 8 and up
- Legislation - SB 88 - child & parental protection
- Article: “Parents beware. Georgia’s student health survey is invasive and insidious”
- “Social-Emotional Learning: K-12 Education as New Age Nanny State” study from Pioneer Institute Public Policy Research
- Chart comparing types of sex education, comprehensive vs. abstinence-based sex education
Dr. John Kindt, nationally-known expert on the economic effects of gambling
We continue our discussion of legalizing gambling in Georgia by talking with Dr. John Kindt. A frequent witness before both Congress and committees in the Georgia legislature, Dr. Kindt is a nationally-known expert on the economic effects of gambling. He explains what happens to local and state economies – and to the political environment at state capitols – when gambling enterprises such as casinos and horseracing are instituted.
Resources
- Stop Predatory Gambling website
- Article by John Kindt outlining how studies show that Georgia casinos and online gambling would increase addictions, bankruptcies, crime, sex trafficking, and suicides
- Article from Newsweek Magazine: “How Washington Opened the Floodgates to Online Poker, Dealing Parents a Bad Hand”
- Article from The New York Times: “Key Findings From The Times’ Investigation of Sports Betting”
- Mom’s Against Gambling website
Mike Griffin, Public Affairs Representative of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board
The Church teaches that “games of chance” are not inherently sinful, but gambling becomes a sin when it interferes with an individual’s responsibilities and his right relationship to God. Mike Griffin, the Public Affairs Representative of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board (GBMB), has monitored the debate over casinos, horse-racing, and sports betting, and he explains the status of the law in Georgia and how it might change. He also explains why the GBMB opposes the expansion of gambling – based on increased addiction, family breakdowns, and crime, for example. Mike shares that, so far, David (people of faith) has prevailed over Goliath (the lavishly-funded gambling industry). But the gambling industry is determined to win, and Mike wants all Georgians to be educated and involved!
Resources
- Resolution opposing sports gambling in Georgia, by the Georgia Baptist Mission Board
- “Commentary: There’s no good reason to legalize sports gambling” by Mike Griffin, Public Affairs Representative of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board
- Mike Griffin testifying at a Senate hearing on a sports-gambling
- Les Bernal from Stop Predatory Gambling
Guest Frank Mulcahy from the Archdiocese of Atlanta
As executive director of the Catholic Conference of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Diocese of Savannah, Frank Mulcahy is the voice of Catholics at the Georgia legislature. In our discussion with him, he explains how he and the Catholic Conference determine the issues to be focused on each session, what those issues will be this year, and major policy triumphs – many in the pro-life arena – over the past several years. He also shares how Catholics can keep up with legislative events, both state and federal, through the Archdiocesan website, Georgia Catholic Conference.
A look at the Heartbeat Law in Georgia
In our second episode of Legislation Made Simple, we discuss the status of pro-life legal protections in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last June. By overturning Roe v. Wade, Dobbs sent the abortion issue back to the states to regulate the procedure as they see fit. In Georgia, that means the Heartbeat Law (prohibiting abortion when the baby has a detectable heartbeat) is back in effect, pending efforts by pro-abortion forces to have it struck down. We also discuss exactly how the Heartbeat Law operates – clarifying the wild claims of its opponents – and what challenges remain for the legislature.
Resources
- Dobbs fact sheet, how chemical abortion works, FDA and telemed abortions
- pro-life novena
- Georgia Heartbeat Bill
- Walking with Moms in Need
- Americans United for Life
- CVS, Walgreens announce plans to dispense abortion pill after Biden FDA loosens restrictions
- How companies offering to cover travel for out-of-state abortions might work
- Planned Parenthood mobile clinic will take abortion to red-state borders
- Planned Parenthood Grooms Girls for Abortions, Former Instructor Claims; comprehensive sex education in schools – school-to-clinic pipeline)
- Abortion on our ship
- Soros, Bloomberg pump millions into Michigan abortion push
- Biden Unveils Web Site Telling Teen Girls How to Get Secret Abortions Without Their Parents Knowing
- Abortion pill provider
- Silent no More
- Planned Parenthood now a top provider of transgender hormones after Roe
- American Assoc. of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists
- Catholic Medical Association
- Christian Medical & Dental Associations
An overview of the legislative process in Georgia
The first Legislation Made Simple show lays out the background of the legislative process in Georgia, in preparation for coming weekly discussions of specific issues being debated at the Georgia Capitol. In this background show we discuss how the Georgia legislature operates; how a bill gets enacted (or defeated) via the committee process; who runs the House of Representatives and the Senate; who runs the committees; what kinds of powers are exercised by those leadership officials and by the Governor; and the parliamentary tactics that can be used – for better or worse! – to resuscitate a “dead” bill.
We also discuss how average citizens can affect the process by meeting with their representatives/senators, attending and even testifying at committee hearings, and generating public support for their preferred position. And they can pray for everyone involved!
