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Many people, even politicians creating or trying to change law, have given little thought to the purpose of law or what it actually does.
We've all heard the repeated phrase, "you can't legislate morality" which is an oxymoron because you want law to reflect morality. Otherwise, it reflects immorality.
Law is by definition a moral code by which we live. The first laws recorded in Scripture were given by God Himself to help people govern themselves. Exodus 20 reads:
And God spoke all these words:
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Thou shalt not kill innocent human beings, covet or steal what belongs to someone else, tell lies about someone, sleep with someone else's wife, ... these are basic tenets that have helped guide civilized nations for thousands of years in human history. Countries who have not abided by them have been dangerous places to live and many of them through the centuries have been wiped off the planet.
The purpose of law is to prevent people from harming other people. It says where my freedom ends and yours begins. My right to swing my fist ends where your face begins. My right over my own body ends where the body of another human being begins.
Law is by nature moral. It is in fact, a standard of behavior. It says, "these things we will tolerate" and "these things we will not tolerate". These things are right to do by lawful standards, and these things are not right to do by lawful standards.
With every law, there are consequences. If you break the speed limit, you can expect if there is a police officer around, you can get pulled over and given a ticket that can result in a fine or time before the judge explaining why you shouldn't pay a fine. Or, you might get lucky that day and not get caught. But you are putting yourself and others in danger because you are not obeying a law put in place for reasons of safety. For instance, there could be a curve in the road ahead you cannot see and exceeding the speed limit, you could lose control of your vehicle and end up in a ditch, endangering yourself and other cars around you. If there were never tickets for exceeding the speed limit, it would not be a law. It would be a suggestion.
Laws apply to everyone. At least, fair and just laws do. They protect everyone and they restrict everyone equally, regardless of income, social standing, age, gender, skin color, or race. No law exempts someone from obeying it, nor should it. If there is a stop sign at the end of the street, it isn't for men only to obey.
Our current law says it is acceptable to kill your own children based on their location. In the womb, it's alright. In the crib, that's illegal. Because children already born are more valuable and worth protecting than they were the month before, right? Isn't that what God says? Oh, wait, it doesn't line up with God's perfect law, so maybe something is amiss, here?
The legislature is elected to represent the will of the people to put just and fair laws in place that do not infringe on our God-given rights such as the right to live, freedom to speak, freedom to practice our religion, peacefully assemble, to petition the government for a redress of grievances, etc. We elect our legislators to work for us. They are our employees. And when they do not do their job, we fire them through our vote (which is why a fair election is so important; otherwise, they don't care what citizens want). This is how a constitutional representative form of government works, which is absolutely brilliant, and the United States was the first of its kind, based on the 400 years of example by the Hebrews who governed themselves before asking God for a king to rule them.
When in a state like Colorado, where our representatives are blatantly ignoring us, there is another process in place that is more of a direct democracy, where we can sign official petitions that make the will of the people the law. These are called ballot initiatives. The process to get a ballot initiative in front of the people is not easy. It goes through several hoops. It can only have one subject. And it follows a process, including defending it before a review of state attorneys to make sure that it does what you want it to do. Any proposed law typically has several sections, including a premise for creating it, the law itself, and then the enforcement of the law, which means what is going to happen if someone breaks the law. Without the enforcement, it's not worth the paper it's written on or the tremendous funds, effort, and time it takes to get 125,000 signatures and 51% of the population to vote for it.
All laws have consequences. Consequences can be anything from the speeding ticket illustration to potential large fines or jail time. Typically, the worse the crime, the larger the potential penalty. For instance, premeditated murder has a potential higher penalty than accidentally running over someone walking in the middle of the highway.
I understand there is a law with a fine of ten thousand dollars if you pick up an eagle's feather and it is against the law to touch or destroy an eagle during its fetal development. (But there is currently no penalty for destroying a human being during fetal development.)
Once someone breaks the law, there are provisions of protection written into law for the judiciary to follow called due process, as well as judicial precedent which is how courts have typically handled these kinds of cases in the past.
When someone is accused of breaking a law, it doesn't mean they are automatically guilty. In the United States, our courts have typically considered someone "innocent until proven guilty". We have the right as citizens in this country to be secure in our homes against search and seizure, to have a quick and speedy trial, and to know who our accusers are and what we are being accused of. We have a right to an attorney at no charge. And we can ask for a jury of our peers to hear the testimony and evidence of the crime we are being accused of rather than one judge making the decision. As long as we continue with the same government under the US Constitution being the highest law of the land, there are many protections in place for our citizens.
In order to be found guilty of a crime, a just judge will require at least two witness testimonies and hear all testimony both for and against the accused. In order to be accused of a crime, a District Attorney must believe there is enough evidence and want to bring the charge to court. The judge must also be willing to hear the case. At that point, the defendant has their day in court.
There are protections in place and lesser judgement for those being coerced or forced to break the law, mistake of fact, and extenuating circumstances where the judge or jury may find the defendant guilty but provide a lesser sentence or even send them home on probation.
The defendant's attorney may work a plea bargain to get his client from having consequences by giving up the names of others breaking bigger laws. For instance, a woman taking the life of her child through an illegal abortion can give the name of the abortionist committing many abortions or the drug company illegally selling abortion drugs.
Historical precedent is that women were not taken to court even when abortion was illegal throughout all the states and in the history of the United States prior to 1967 when abortion began to be allowed in limited circumstances.
Understanding how law works is important when you want to change it. I've had many people tell me they want abortion illegal, but they don't want anyone to have consequences for breaking the law. That's like saying it's good to have speed limit laws but you don't want anyone to get a ticket. Well, of course, we don't want anyone to get a ticket! But that is up to the individual if they will choose to obey or break the law. To not get a ticket, they just need to go under the speed limit law. Likewise, if we don't want women to have to go to court to explain why they illegally killed their preborn child, we can encourage them to obey the law.
For women being trafficked and abused, pregnancy becomes their ticket out when abortion is not readily available. The twelve and thirteen year old children currently being brought to abortion clinics by their abusers could find a way to get away from their abusers when abortion becomes illegal again.
One of the many advantages to a law prohibiting mothers from taking the lives of their children prior to birth is that women would not be advertised to by abortion clinics. There would not be billboards and social media ads titled "Reproductive Health Clinic" if that clinic happens to be slaughtering children by taking them away from their pregnant mothers through abortion. Mothers would not feel the societal pressures they feel now (they can blame the law for not killing their child). And most families will not pressure their daughter or wife to break the law. It is much more difficult to deceive or coerce someone to do an activity they know is illegal. Most people assume if something is illegal, there's a reason it is illegal. And most law-abiding citizens obey the law. Many people are alive today because it would have been illegal to abort them. If you talk with them, they'll probably tell you they are pretty glad about it, too!
A law is only as good as its enforcement. The good news is that a law is a tool citizens can use to keep their communities clean of abortion clinics and keep the state from forcing abortion into our communities. With the current abortion amendment on the ballot this fall, our communities are at risk for having abortion clinics we cannot keep out. It also makes us participate in paying for killing these precious, innocent infants by paying for abortions to which we are morally opposed. I actually know people who for good conscience will leave the state if their tax funds will go to pay for abortions. It's a moral dilemma, for sure, if we stay and fight to get this state right again, or do we leave it to the immoral and degenerate people running it? Probably something we could each seek the Lord about.
Led by pastors and a dedicated and hard working team of state Task Force members and Co-Proponents, we speak the truth in love, giving voters the opportunity to repent, and God the opportunity to forgive and help us overturn these horribly oppressive and violent laws in Colorado that ignore the most innocent and beautiful human beings on the planet. Children are dependent on adults to protect them. It's about time we start acting like adults and protect them.
Have you held a newborn in your arms? That's who we are talking about. Protecting "the least of these" that Jesus talks about in Matthew 25.
The next time someone tells you that they want to make abortion illegal but they don't want anyone to have consequences for breaking the law, they either don't know what they are talking about or they really don't want to end abortion. By reading this article, you now know more than most.
So as you go, please make a difference by spreading the truth. When God says, "Thou shalt not kill (murder innocent human beings)" there are no exceptions to His command. There are no incremental steps for getting there. It's a command He expects us to follow. And Jesus' prayer was that God's will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. It all comes down to trust and obedience to God's Word. Just like it always has been since the beginning.
My people are destroyed
for lack of knowledge.
(Hosea 4)
Here are the enumerated Bill of Rights for every United States citizen according to the highest law of the land, our US Constitution. All laws created in the states come under the US Constitution. If they do not, they may be tried by the United States Supreme Court.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
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