All

The Obama administration announced Monday that it would drop its fight to maintain age restrictions on the sale of emergency contraceptives. The Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins and Anna Higgins of FRC’s Center for Human Dignity responded on yesterday’s Washington Watch by outlining the supposed consequences this decision will have on young girls.

Perkins lamented that “inappropriate sexual behavior,” such as “date rape” and relations between adults and minors, “can easily be dealt with” now that the pill is available to minors without parental consent, while Higgins warned that the pill will now “be available to people who are preying on young girls,” despite the fact that allowing minors to purchase Plan B has no relation to its availability to adult predators.

Higgins: This over the counter access is really- another health concern is it’s going to be distancing girls who are at high risk for contracting sexually transmitted diseases or being sexually abused from accessing medical care or from talking to their parents about these issues.

Perkins: Let me zero in, Anna- Anna Higgins is my guest, you’re listening to Washington Watch, I’m your host Tony Perkins. We’re talking about a decision that came from the Obama administration last night to drop their appeal of a judge’s ruling out of New York that would require over-the-counter sale of Plan B, the one-pill version that’s sold by Teva. The issue of sexual exploitation, now that this drug is available over the counter, it’s easy if there is a case of inappropriate sexual behavior, whether it’s a date rape or something else, it can be, or an adult that’s having relations with a minor, that can easily be dealt with without any participation of a parent or other medical experts or guidance provided that could protect that child in the long run.

Higgins: Yeah that’s a grave concern that’s being glossed over by the proponents of this decision. You know they’re really not addressing this. It’s a very serious concern. Because what we have here is a way for this kind of emergency contraceptive or Plan B to be available to people who are preying on young girls and these young girls are avoiding their first line of defense which is parents and doctors, you know, and protecting them against people who would prey on them. So you know this is available like you said to any age, there’s no age limit now, so you know these young girls could be potentially eleven, twelve years old and the idea that they’re being preyed upon by sexual predators is a very real possibility.

Reps. Michele Bachmann, Steve King, and Louie Gohmert are reportedly planning to revolt over comprehensive immigration reform legislation and "are planning a politically risky showdown with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to try to force additional debate on an immigration bill they say will mean amnesty for illegal immigrants and have dire consequences for the country."

So, naturally, Bachmann decided to reach out to the reasonable folks over at WorldNetDaily in an effort to rally support for the effort, warning that if immigration reform passes, "we will never again have a Republican president" because the entire political power structure will forever fall under Democratic control and "you will never again be able to see our country return to its constitutional foundations":

• Rand Paul and Ted Cruz will be joining David Barton and other Religious Right activists in mobilizing pastors in Iowa next month.
• Samuel Rodriguez calls on Christians to pray for passage of immigration reform.
• Greg Laurie senses that we are moving into the Last Days and the rise of the Antichrist.
• The Family Research Council says the Obama administration is engaged in a "chilling suppression of religious freedom" and "is driving faith underground in our military and will eventually drive it out. "
• Apparently E.W. Jackson is not receiving tons of criticism because he has said tons of crazy things, but rather simply because he is black.
• Finally, "Coach" Dave Daubenmire is fed up with all the "sissified men and their poofed-up hair and their little tight jeans":

Mike Huckabee delivered a politically charged speech at the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting on Monday, telling attendees that “holy matrimony” will be “twisted into perversion” and “formed into an unholy pretzel” as a result of same-sex marriage. Huckabee went on to criticize the armed forces and the Boy Scouts for becoming “test labs for social experiments” and Jason Collins, whom he mockingly called “a hero for announcing his sexual proclivities.”

Baptist Press, the media arm of the SBC, further reports that Huckabee urged pastors to speak out against the “ungodly and unholy” culture and put the Republican Party on notice in case they “ease off” on “issues like the sanctity of life and the holiness of marriage.” The future of abortion rights, Huckabee said, would determine “whether or not our civilization will survive as a nation” and if “our nation will stand or fall.”

"Jesus is talking about good food, biblical food," Huckabee noted, lamenting that "we are living in a time of biblical ignorance."

"People who attend church, especially young people, have an extraordinary lack of biblical depth," he said. "According to recent surveys, the kids who grow up in our evangelical churches do not really know the biblical definition of marriage, and that really does concern me."

"We need to be clear that, when holy matrimony is formed into an unholy pretzel, twisted into perversion -- and when the military and the Boy Scouts become test labs for social experiments -- we need to be very clear that, male and female, [God] created them," Huckabee said.

…

Citing veteran NBA center Jason Collins, who revealed his homosexuality on a sports website, Huckabee said the national media called Collins "a hero for announcing his sexual proclivities."

Huckabee asked, where are the "accolades for Tim Tebow who announced that he follows Jesus? He was told to shut up."

"It should concern us that we're living in a culture where a person announces a sexual preference and it's heroic" and another "announces he loves Jesus Christ, and he's told ... to keep that to yourself."

…

Clarifying that the hope of America is not in the next election, Huckabee said, "I would never suggest, ever, that you would turn your pulpit into some political podium. But I would urge that the pulpit would be a powerful, prophetic and purposeful punch in the gut to a culture that is ungodly and unholy."

Huckabee then lamented abortion, where "every year more than a million babies lose their lives in what ought to be the safest place on earth in their mother's own womb. How can we be silent?"

Abortion is not a political issue, but is one of "whether or not our civilization will survive as a nation that honors the God who created that precious life" or whether that life is "expendable, disposable."

"This is an issue upon which our nation will stand or fall," he said, "and the pulpits of America must not be silent." Christians must have "broken hearts not just for the babies, but for the mothers who are often exploited and twisted and turned and forced and cajoled into having the abortion that deep down in their maternal souls they know they don't want to have."

Regarding evangelicals' stance on social and moral issues, Huckabee said some in the Republican Party are saying "that maybe we need to dial it back a little bit when it comes to issues like the sanctity of life and the holiness of marriage, and maybe just ease off."

The crowd erupted into sustained applause when Huckabee said, "Well, I've got a news flash for the GOP: I plan to take my last ride in life on a white horse, not on an elephant and not on a donkey. And I will stick with the Word of God. And if the party, any party, goes a different way, I stick with Jesus. I believe He is forever."