“Nil ultra” is Latin for “nothing beyond” or “none higher.” It is the motto of the South Carolina Supreme Court. Wait … before you read on, let the meaning of that phrase sink in. Think about it in the context of a Constitutional Republic, where three branches of government form the checks and balances that […]
Legislative Update: Congress Divorces Traditional Marriage, Forms Union with LGBTQ
The so-called Respect for Marriage Act is now the law of the land. What began with the Defense of Marriage Act, which passed Congress in 1996 — 342/67 in the House and 85/14 in the Senate — has now ended with this very bad bill that passed the Senate with the help of 12 Republicans, […]
Legislative Update: The Church Must Re-Engage in the Battle for Life
According to geologists, an earthquake is the result of the shifting of tectonic plates underneath the earth’s surface. These plates of rock usually move slowly, unnoticed by us because they cause little more than a ripple of the earth’s surface. But occasionally, they move more abruptly, releasing a large amount of energy that surges through […]
Legislative Update: S.C. Senate votes to ‘insist’
More than 12O people, many carrying signs that simply read “recede,” gathered at the Statehouse in Columbia on Oct. 18 to encourage the Senate to pass the House version of the Human Life Protection Act (H5399). Since late August, the Senate and House have been passing H5399 back and forth, with neither chamber willing to […]
Legislative Update: Abortion Ban Fails, Heartbeat Bill Gets New Life
H5399 — a bill that would have banned all abortions beginning at conception, with the exception of the life of the mother, rape, incest, and fatal fetal anomalies — failed to pass in the South Carolina Senate. Instead, the Senate passed a “strike and insert” version of the 2021 Fetal Heartbeat Bill that contains language […]
Legislative Update: Choosing Life Should Be Followed by Choosing Light
If you have been anywhere near the pro-life movement in the last 50 years, you have probably quoted, preached from, or in some way referenced Deuteronomy 30:19: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and […]
Legislative Update: Marriage should be more than respected … it should be sacred
One of my favorite contemporary Christian artists is Mylon LeFevre. I try to listen, at least once, every day to his classic “Crack the Sky” because it reminds me that this world is temporary — and as believers, we look to the sky with joy and expectation of Jesus’ triumphant return. Mylon once said, “Anyone […]
Legislative Update: What Happens If Roe Goes?
The pro-life movement has been working, praying, and waiting impatiently for the day Roe v. Wade would be relegated to the trash heap of history. On Jan. 22, 1973, seven of nine Supreme Court Justices created a brand new constitutional right known as a “woman’s right to privacy.” This mysterious right that is not mentioned […]
Legislative Update: Legislation Still to be Considered
It sounds like it could be the name of a Bruce Willis action movie. But sine die is simply Latin for “without date.” The South Carolina Legislature ended its 2022 session on May 12 at 5 p.m. The day before adjournment, the House adopted the Senate sine die resolution, which set the parameters for both […]
Legislative Update: Legislature nears end of session
If politics in South Carolina were a football game, we would be in the fourth quarter. The House and Senate convened Jan. 11, and they are scheduled to adjourn June 15. At this writing, the House was taking the week off for spring break, and the Senate had adjourned to focus on committee work related […]