{"id":266,"date":"2010-03-22T15:42:22","date_gmt":"2010-03-22T15:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/from-congress-to-the-courts.html"},"modified":"2010-03-22T15:42:22","modified_gmt":"2010-03-22T15:42:22","slug":"from-congress-to-the-courts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/from-congress-to-the-courts.html","title":{"rendered":"From Congress to the Courts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barry,<\/font><\/p>\n

It wasn’t want the American people wanted – but it’s what they got.  <\/span>President Obama<\/a> – with a last minute deal to secure the necessary votes – agreed to issue an Executive Order on the abortion funding issue in the health care plan. <\/font><\/p>\n

The reality is that the Executive Order doesn’t change a thing.  <\/span>It doesn’t trump the legislation that was approved – legislation that becomes law with the President’s signature.  <\/span>This legislation contains the language that clears the way for federal funds to be used for abortion.  <\/span>That’s what becomes law – that’s the controlling language – not some promise put in an Executive Order.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Even abortion rights supporter Rep. Diana DeGette <\/a>(D-Colo) said she doesn’t have a problem with the Executive Order because “it doesn’t change anything.”<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

And, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich) – who traded his vote for the president’s promise – admitted today that the Executive Order is fragile and told FOX News that there’s nothing – as he put it – that would stop this president from a month from now, a year from now, ten years from now, of repealing this Executive Order.<\/font><\/p>\n

If an Executive Order is so effective, why didn’t President Obama just draft one up on the whole health care issue and sign it?  <\/span>That’s because it’s Congress – not the President – that has the constitutional obligation and authority to enact legislation – to create laws.  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

What is clear is that the legal challenges <\/a>are coming – and there will be many.  <\/span> <\/span>Nearly 40 states are lining up to file suit.  <\/span>There will be direct challenges to the individual mandate that will force Americans to a buy a product they don’t want – in this case a health care plan.  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font>The individual mandate requirement violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution and will affect a wide variety of Americans who opposed this package.  <\/span>It will include pro-life Americans who understand that being forced to purchase a pro-abortion health care plan – something they reject – is unconstitutional.<\/font><\/p>\n

We will be involved in the litigation<\/a> challenging this health care package.  The constitutional issues at stake are significant.  <\/span>And, it’s likely this ultimately will end up before the Supreme Court.<\/font><\/p>\n

There’s also plenty of action on the legislative front where members of Congress are already working on bills to repeal this measure<\/a>.   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Any way you look at it, Barry, this is a bad move that translates into bad law. <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

To subscribe to “Lynn v. Sekulow” click <\/font>here<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/span>.<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/span> <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barry, It wasn’t want the American people wanted – but it’s what they got.  President Obama – with a last minute deal to secure the necessary votes – agreed to issue an Executive Order on the abortion funding issue in the health care plan. The reality is that the Executive Order doesn’t change a thing. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8,109,2,217,123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abortion","category-congress","category-constitution","category-courts","category-health-care","category-president-barack-obama"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Congress to the Courts - Lynn v. Sekulow<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/from-congress-to-the-courts.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Congress to the Courts - Lynn v. Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Barry, It wasn’t want the American people wanted – but it’s what they got.  President Obama – with a last minute deal to secure the necessary votes – agreed to issue an Executive Order on the abortion funding issue in the health care plan. The reality is that the Executive Order doesn’t change a thing. …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/from-congress-to-the-courts.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lynn v. Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-03-22T15:42:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jay Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From Congress to the Courts - Lynn v. Sekulow","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/from-congress-to-the-courts.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From Congress to the Courts - Lynn v. Sekulow","og_description":"Barry, It wasn’t want the American people wanted – but it’s what they got.  President Obama – with a last minute deal to secure the necessary votes – agreed to issue an Executive Order on the abortion funding issue in the health care plan. The reality is that the Executive Order doesn’t change a thing. …","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/from-congress-to-the-courts.html","og_site_name":"Lynn v. Sekulow","article_published_time":"2010-03-22T15:42:22+00:00","author":"Jay Sekulow","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/from-congress-to-the-courts.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/from-congress-to-the-courts.html","name":"From Congress to the Courts - Lynn v. Sekulow","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-03-22T15:42:22+00:00","dateModified":"2010-03-22T15:42:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/#\/schema\/person\/d09bc4c4bba2ac87034ee529f100fbaf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/from-congress-to-the-courts.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/from-congress-to-the-courts.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/03\/from-congress-to-the-courts.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From Congress to the Courts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/","name":"Lynn v. Sekulow","description":"A debate blog about church, state, faith and politics with Jay Sekulow and Barry W. Lynn","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/#\/schema\/person\/d09bc4c4bba2ac87034ee529f100fbaf","name":"Jay Sekulow","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/574\/574bc7f1605fea9a78a1b3bac65ceb15x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/574\/574bc7f1605fea9a78a1b3bac65ceb15x96.jpg","caption":"Jay Sekulow"},"description":"Jay Alan Sekulow is Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a law firm and educational organization that focuses on constitutional law.  He is also Chief Counsel of the European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ). Jay Sekulow has also served as a faculty member for the Office of Legal Education at the United States Department of Justice.  As a member of the faculty he instructed Assistant United States Attorneys and investigators in the First Amendment issues associated with prosecution of obscenity. An accomplished and respected judicial advocate, Sekulow has presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in numerous cases in defense of constitutional freedoms. Several landmark cases argued by Sekulow before the U.S. Supreme Court have become part of the legal landscape in the area of religious liberty litigation.  In the Mergens case, Sekulow cleared the way for public school students to form Bible clubs and religious organizations on their school campuses.  In the Lamb's Chapel case, Sekulow defended the free speech rights of religious groups, ensuring that they be treated equally with respect to the use of public facilities.  And, most recently, in McConnell v. FEC, Sekulow ensured that the constitutional rights of young people remain protected with a unanimous decision by the high court guaranteeing that minors can participate in political campaigns. A nationally recognized and respected defender of religious freedom, Sekulow has assembled one of the most prestigious law firms in the nation.  Founded in 1990, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses in constitutional law.  The ACLJ, under Sekulow's direction, is involved in public interest and public policy issues working to protect religious and constitutional liberties. In 2007, the Chicago Tribune concluded that the ACLJ has \"led the way\" in Christian legal advocacy.  In 2005, TIME Magazine named Sekulow one of the \"25 Most Influential Evangelicals\" in America and called the ACLJ \"a powerful counterweight\" to the ACLU.  Business Week said the ACLJ is \"the leading advocacy group for religious freedom.\"  Sekulow's work on the issue of judicial nominees - including possible vacancies at the Supreme Court - has received extensive news coverage including a front page story in The Wall Street Journal.  In addition, The National Law Journal has twice named Sekulow one of the \"100 Most Influential Lawyers\" in the United States (1994, 1997).  He is also among a distinguished group of attorneys known as \"The Public Sector 45\" named by The American Lawyer (January\/February 1997).  The magazine said the designation represents \"45 young lawyers outside the private sector whose vision and commitment are changing lives.\" Sekulow brings insight and education to listeners daily with his national call-in radio program, Jay Sekulow Live!, which is broadcast throughout the country on nearly 850 radio stations.  Sekulow also hosts a weekly television program, ACLJ This Week, which tackles the tough issues of the day and is broadcast on a number of networks nationwide including the Trinity Broadcasting Network and FamilyNet.  Sekulow is also a popular guest on nationally televised news programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC, and PBS.  He frequently contributes articles and commentary to national publications and is often quoted in the nation's leading newspapers including USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Washington Times. A graduate of Mercer University, Sekulow graduated cum laude receiving both a bachelor's degree and doctor of jurisprudence from Mercer University where he served on the Mercer Law Review as an editorial staff member.  Following graduation, Sekulow served as a tax trial attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service.  In that capacity, Sekulow prepared and brought to trial tax cases on behalf of the United States Department of Treasury in United States Tax Court. He also received a Ph.D. from Regent University, with a dissertation on American Legal History, and is the author of numerous publications and law articles. Sekulow serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, DC.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/author\/jsekulow"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}