Wow! Things have been moving at the State House faster this year than ever before. This update is a mixed bag of issues – some needing prayer and some demanding praise.
Joe MackMarch 22 was the date that the South Carolina marriage amendment was ratified and became law. Because it was a referendum issue and the Senate and House of Representatives passed the bill of ratification, no signature was required by Gov. Sanford. According to The Heritage Foundation, 27 states have adopted a constitutional amendment preserving traditional marriage.
We also rejoice in the recent State Supreme Court decision to block the Catawba Tribe from peddling video poker on the Rock Hill reservation.
Catawba attorneys planned to parlay the video poker decision into a bargaining tool. They wanted to swap reservation video poker for an electronic bingo casino site on I-95 at Santee. Earlier statements indicated that they wanted to open the electronic casino with at least 1,000 machines running 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
The Supreme Court decision will surely be appealed, but we continue to pray that gambling will not expand in South Carolina.
While we’re on the topic of gambling, let me update you on the casino boat issue.
The Horry County Council met on April 3 and voted 7-5 to pursue barring casino boats from their county. This is a tremendous victory in the Lowcountry. While this preliminary vote is cause for much praise, we must be diligent to continue to pray that the final vote on May 1 will be to ban the boats.
If you live in Horry County, please contact your county councilman and ask him to vote for the ban. I can assure you that the gambling managers will be working overtime and lobbying hard in order for their boats to remain on our coastline.
The final prayer item this week is H. 3355, named the Informed Choice Act. This bill requires an abortion provider to perform an ultrasound to accurately determine the gestational age of the baby in utero. It also requires the abortionist to review the findings with the woman.
The abortion industry fears that the woman will look at the image of her baby and change her mind about the procedure. This bill is being hotly debated in the Senate Medical Affairs Committee. Pray that it will be reported out to the full Senate for a vote this session.
Thank you for praying about these moral issues facing our legislators and our courts. Together we are making a difference and working to strengthen families in South Carolina.