Strong “culture war” bills filed in Mass. Legislature – Good and bad
Bills filed by MassResistance, LGBT lobby, Planned Parenthood, & others.
POSTED: April 17, 2015 UPDATED: August 23, 2015
The Massachusetts State House often leads the country in radical legislation -- but also with pro-family people fighting back! This session some extremely good pro-family bills have been filed -- and also a number of terrible, destructive anti-family bills. As usual, MassResistance is in the thick of the battle.
Below are bills to watch this session. What happens: Each bill has a public hearing in its original committee. At some later date (it could be months later) the committee decides to move it forward or not. If it moves forward it usually goes to at least one other committee first and then to the House or Senate floor. [NOTE: Some bills have been filed with identical language in both the House and Senate. Only one is acted upon - usually the House version.]
Major pro-family bills – filed by MassResistance
An Act regarding parental notification and consent
H439 Sponsor: Rep. Joe McKenna Co-Sponsors: Jim Lyons, Shawn Dooley, Marc Lombardo, Donald Humason, Angelo D'Emilia, Donald Berthiaume, Randy Hunt, Kevin Kuros, Nicholas Boldyga
This is an effective Parents Rights Opt-In bill that has been badly needed for years. It amends the current parental notification law, Ch. 71 Sec. 32A, written by Parents' Rights Coalition (now MassResistance) and passed in 1996, expanding upon it and modernizing it to address current conditions. The current law is outdated and prone to abuse, particularly on homosexual and transgender issues.
See further description of bill here.
Status: Currently in Joint Committee on Education. Public hearing was on June 3. No action taken by committee yet.
An Act regarding surveys in public schools
H382
This requires parental notification and consent for questionnaires, surveys, and similar evaluations given to schoolchildren regarding certain private, personal, and family issues. Many of these surveys are also quite graphic and sexually explicit. It's become a huge problem for parents.
See further description of bill here.
Status: Currently in Joint Committee on Education. Public hearing was on May 6. See our report here. No action taken by committee yet.
An Act protecting children and parents
H2781
This bill would dismantle the state-funded Massachusetts Commission for Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Youth. That widely-reviled group includes some of the most radical homosexual and transgender activists in the state. This "Commission" receives hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money to push explicit homosexual and transgender programs in the public schools, as well as at off-campus “Youth Pride” day activities.
See a further description and text of bill here.
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight. No public hearing has been scheduled yet.
Other pro-family bills
An Act relative to parental notification for out-of-school-district counseling referrals
H408
This bill was written to protect parents from school officials steering vulnerable kids to hardcore outside homosexual organizations without parents’ knowledge or consent. There was a last-minute phrase added to this bill that we’re not comfortable with, but this bill still should still be passed.
Status: Currently in Joint Committee on Education. Public hearing was on May 12. No action taken by committee yet.
An Act relative to privacy and safety in public accommodations
H1320
This is a well-meaning bill, but it doesn’t go far enough. It basically protects single-sex public facilities and education facilities from the transgender/cross-dressing agenda and the latest push to extend the current transgender rights law into public accommodations. (We think that ALL areas of life, including employment, housing, etc., should be protected from this government-forced lunacy.)
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on the Judiciary. No public hearing has been scheduled yet.
Major anti-family bills – filed by LGBT lobby & Planned Parenthood
Last session these bills were stopped with the help of MassResistance!.But they are back with more lobbying force this year.
An Act relative to abusive practices to change sexual orientation and gender identity in minors
H97
This cruel and dangerous bill is being aggressively pushed by the LGBT lobby across the country. It would ban all professional counseling to youth who want help with their unwanted homosexuality or transgender issues. Many youth in this situation have been sexually molested and desperately need help. This is basically the same bill we helped defeat last year, and they're back again.
Status: Currently in Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. Public hearing was July 28. No action taken by committee yet.
An Act relative to healthy youth
H448 S265
This “comprehensive sex ed” bill is Planned Parenthood’s major legislative goal for this session. It requires public schools to teach broad sexuality and "relationship" issues, both normal and homosexual, in all grades, as well as abortion information. It also requires compliance with the infamous radical Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Frameworks,which is currently optional for schools. Throwing a bone to pro-family groups, the bill directs schools to teach about abstinence -- but in conjunction with the “importance” of using contraception and “safer sex activity,” which defeats the purpose. The bill also waters down the current Parental Notification Law.
Status: Currently in Joint Committee on Education. Public hearing was June 3. No action taken by committee yet.
An Act relative to gender identity and nondiscrimination
H1577 S735
This bill is a major goal of the LGBT lobby this year. It extends the infamous transgender rights and hate crimes law passed a few years ago to also cover public accommodations – including restrooms, locker rooms, gyms, and anything used by the public. If this passes, men dressed as women can use all womens’ restrooms and locker rooms, and vice versa. This is also being pushed across the country.
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on the Judiciary. Public hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 6, in Gardner Auditorium 1:00-5:00 pm..
Other anti-family bills
These are very dangerous bills. But they are not the major ones being pushed by the anti-family lobby, so they might creep by under the radar.
An Act to protect access to confidential healthcare
H871 S557
This bill, sponsored by Planned Parenthood, allows children to get contraception and other sexual related “health” services (including abortions) that are paid for by health insurance, without the knowledge of the health insurance subscriber (i.e., the parent).
Status: Currently in Joint Committee on Financial Services. Public hearing was held on July 21. No action taken by committee yet.
An Act An act relative to youth emancipation
S860 n
This insidious anti-parent bill initiates a program where “youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning” can declare themselves “unaccompanied and without a guardian” and be handed over to the care of homosexual groups. The parents will have no more parental rights over their child. The homosexual groups can use state funds for housing and support services to "care for" the child.
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on the Judiciary. No public hearing has been scheduled yet.
An Act to improve health care for young women
H2070
This is an evil bill that would allow a girl fifteen years old or younger to get an abortion without the consent of her parents. A “medical professional” (i.e., Planned Parenthood employee), other adult family member, or a judge could authorize the girl's abortion instead of the parents.
Status: Currently in Joint Committee on Public Health. No public hearing has been scheduled yet.
Various bills to repeal the “sodomy laws” and similar morals statutes still on the books
H1568 H1569 H1572 H1573
H1653
Most people aren’t aware that Massachusetts law still refers to homosexuality as “the abominable and detestable crime against nature.” There are also a number of similar laws still on the books. Some examples are found in: Chapter 272, Section 34 (“Crimes against nature”) and Chapter 272, Section 35 (“Unnatural and lascivious acts”). Every session the “progressives” try to repeal them, often by filing multiple bills to do the same thing. So far, we’ve managed to keep them all from passing.
Status: Currently in Joint Committee on the Judiciary. The public hearing for bills H1568, H1569, H1572, and H1653 was held on July 14. No action has been taken on these bills. No public hearing has been scheduled yet for bill H1573.
An Act providing health education in schools
H339 S248
This bill requires all schools to teach “age-appropriate” sexuality education and requires compliance with the infamous Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Frameworks, which is currently optional. It also waters down the current Parental Notification Law.
Status: Currently in Joint Committee on Education. The public hearing was on June 3. No action taken by committee yet.
An Act regarding comprehensive sexual education and violence prevention programs
H366
Another “comprehensive sex” bill targeting children. This bill uses the excuse of “violence prevention” to require that schools in all grades teach about HIV/AIDS, reproduction, sexual health, "family life," and similar topics.
Status: Currently in Joint Committee on Education. The public hearing was on June 3. No action taken by committee yet.
An Act affirming a terminally ill patient’s right to compassionate aid in dying
H1991
This is the “Assisted Suicide” bill that was thankfully voted down by in a state-wide referendum in 2012. Kafka files it every session, but we doubt it will get traction this time.
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Public Health. No public hearing has been scheduled yet.
