Is this a political issue?
We feel this is a moral issue. We are asking the community of Lubbock to choose life over death.
PSALM 139:13-16 (NIV)
13 FOR YOU ARE CREATED IN MY INMOST BEING; YOU KNIT ME TOGETHER IN MY MOTHER’S WOMB.
14 I PRAISE YOU BECAUSE I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE; YOUR WORKS ARE WONDERFUL, I KNOW THAT FULL WELL.
15 MY FRAME WAS NOT HIDDEN FROM YOU WHEN I WAS WOVEN TOGETHER IN THE DEPTHS OF THE EARTH.
16 YOUR EYES SAW MY UNFORMED BODY; ALL THE DAYS ORDAINED FOR ME WERE WRITTEN IN YOUR BOOK BEFORE ONE OF THEM CAM TO BE.
What would be the cost to the city of Lubbock and its taxpayers?
NOTHING! Former Texas Solicitor General, attorney Jonathan F. Mitchell agrees the Ordinance for Life is legal and is willing to represent Lubbock at no cost to the taxpayers should any lawsuits arise from this ordinance. Twenty-three (23) other Texas cities that have formally adopted this ordinance have not seen any legal challenges because the ordinance is within Federal, State and Local law.
Is the ordinance constitutional?
YES! The US Constitution does NOT give anyone the right to take an innocent person’s life. What it does affirm is certain truths as self evident – that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Abortion destroys their people’s rights to LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Can the church speak on political issues? Will it jeopardize the church’s tax-exempt status?
In return for its favored tax-status, a charitable nonprofit promises the federal government that it will not engage in “political campaign activity” and if it does, IRS regulations mandate that the charitable nonprofit will lose its tax-exempt status. This prohibition against political campaign activity (defined as “supporting or opposing a candidate for public office”) is SEPARATE from lobbying or legislative activities, which charitable nonprofits ARE permitted to engage in. A church is allowed to take positions on issues that are important to it and its congregation. Such “issue advocacy” can even touch on topics that are central to a political campaign without running afoul of the rules.
What is the history of abortion and its current injustice in the U.S.?