27 Apr Update and Referendum 90
My friends,
I come to you with some bad news, some good news, and something powerful you can do to stand up for life.
A Bad Law:
As you know, Governor Inslee signed ESSB 5395 (“Comprehensive K-12 Sex Education”) into law on March 27th, despite the vehement opposition of thousands of educators, churches, health officials, and over 58% of Washingtonians polled by the state Superintendent of Public Instruction.
While sex-education is not explicitly a part of Human Life of Washington’s mission, we have been involved in this fight from the beginning for two principle reasons:
Firstly, the curriculums approved in this law were designed by Planned Parenthood and affiliated organizations. They promote both abortion and the broader cultural mindset which contributes to abortion.
Secondly, we understand the connection between dangerous and abusive sexual practices and the increase in abortions. The curriculums promoted in this law teach children a kind of sexual hedonism which is so explicit that it could not be shown on public broadcasting, and so extreme that people on both sides of the sex-ed debate united to oppose 5395.
For more information on the contents and health hazards of these curriculums, click here for our white paper and here for additional resources on the topic.
Regrettably, 5395 was signed into law over the protests of Washington citizens.
A Good Referendum:
Fortunately, the fight is not over yet.
Referendum 90 is our chance to overturn 5395 and resume the sex-ed conversation. If we can get enough signatures on the petition, we can put it on the November ballot and challenge 5395.
It will take 129,811 more signatures of registered voters to get Referendum 90 on the ballot. They need to be submitted to the Secretary of State by June 10, 2020. This means, practically, that signed petitions need to be returned by June 2 to Parents for Safe Schools, who are spearheading this effort.
That doesn’t give us much time, but I am confident we can do it!
The limitations of social distancing make signature collection a challenge. However, the R-90 sponsors have developed a creative and easy mechanism for signature collection.
What You Can Do:
- Request at least one R-90 petition form at https://www.parentsforsafeschools.com. Click on REQUEST PETITION –– The petition form(s) will be mailed to you within a few days.
- Upon receipt of the petition form, collect as many signatures as you can, while observing all social distancing requirements (see below for practical tips). Each petition has 20 signature lines, but even if you are only able to secure one or two signatures, please return the signed petition to the address provided on the form as soon as you can.
- Immediately forward this email to like-minded friends and family, asking them to do the same.
- Share signature gathering opportunities on social media; this is a great chance to connect with folks in the community who may not yet be part of our grassroots efforts. Let us know if you’re organizing one so that we can help you promote it!
It is important to observe safe sanitary procedures when gathering signatures. The recent White House briefing indicated that invisible airborne saliva droplets from normal speaking, which travel several feet, can carry the live virus SARS-CoV-2 for sixty minutes indoors, but in direct sunlight (outdoors), the virus will die in sixty seconds. You can watch the briefing here or view the transcript here. Additional resources attached at the bottom.
Take proper precautions, and please wear your face mask if gathering signatures face-to-face!
We encourage you to reach out to your church and community groups for signatures. For our Catholic members, we have been informed that the bishops of Washington have formally given their support to Referendum 90 and published instructions (see attached) for how to manage signature gathering in parishes (these obviously do not apply to personal signature gathering). We are not aware of formal instructions being issued by other denominations, but we encourage those of you who are religious to enlist the aid of your church leadership.
Human Life of Washington is tremendously grateful all organizations, both religious and secular, which have joined with us in this critical fight to protect the health of our young people and to prevent the rise in abortions.
COVID-19 has brought great hardship to our country and our state. Yet it is often in hardship that the greatest deeds are done. We thank the hardworking people at Parents for Safe Schools and the other sponsors for giving us all this chance to stand up for our children and grandchildren even in the midst of this crisis.
And, of course, we thank you. We thank you for hearing us, for standing with us in spite of the odds against us. Together, we stand for children, for truth, and for life.
Stay safe and stay healthy my friends.
For Life,
Esther Ripplinger
Executive Director
Esther@humanlifewa.org
253-517-7733
Official head of the referendum 90 Campaign: Parents for Safe Schools
Informed Parents of Washington
The Network-WA
Family Policy Institute of Washington
Human Life of Washington
Theresa Schrempp/Gene Slagle: Blessed Sacrament Parish Respect Life Committee
Washington State Catholic Conference
…and many more!
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, Human Life of Washington is making an increased effort to optimize our website and other online resources. As such, our Flocknote communications will be coming out more frequently for the foreseeable future. To join our general Flocknote mailing list, please text HLW to 84576 or follow this link: https://humanlifewa.flocknote.com/everyone. If you wish to join additional sub-groups, click the relevant options when prompted. If you only wish to be added to the general group, simply proceed without selecting additional sub-groups. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at info@humanlifewa.org.
*The views expressed in the attached materials are representative of their parent organizations and do not necessarily reflect the view of Human Life of Washington and its affiliates.
Bishops’ Letter Half Life of SARS-CoV-2, White House Briefing April 23, 2020 White House Press Briefing April 23, Best Practices Slide (doc #2) What Parents Should Know – CSE in WA