The National Education Association, the nation's largest labor union,
voted July 5 to reject a proposal officially to remain neutral on the
issues of abortion and family planning.
Also during its annual meeting in San Diego July 1-6, the NEA went on
record as supporting laws legalizing civil unions and "gay marriage" --
it said either are acceptable -- and it backed efforts to repeal
federal legislation that "discriminates" against same-sex couples,
which presumably could target the Defense of Marriage Amendment.
The proposed bylaw amendment regarding abortion would have invalidated
NEA Resolution I-16 on family planning, which says NEA "supports family
planning, including the right to reproductive freedom."
The defeated proposal said the NEA takes "no position" on the issues of
abortion and family planning. It would have prohibited the NEA from
filing a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in
litigation seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade, and it would have kept the
NEA from "lobbying for or against legislation regarding the
dissemination of birth control information, the funding of birth
control procedures, or the sale of birth control products."
"Right now they say they have a neutral position on abortion, which
means let the woman choose," Jeralee Smith, cofounder of the
Conservative Educators Caucus within the NEA, told Baptist Press.
"'No position' means that they could be sued if there was any evidence
that they were spending any money or making any effort to help the Roe
v. Wade decision. So 'no position' is a much stronger retreat from the
current position," she said.
Debate over the issue was significant, Smith said, and a representative
from the conservative caucus appealed to the union's local leaders who
have been losing members who opt out as religious objectors.
"He said the union just shouldn't be involved in this, and there were a
lot of people who agreed with him," Smith said of the delegate.
In a ballot vote, 61 percent were against the bylaw amendment and 39
percent were for it in what Smith described as a no-win situation for
the liberal NEA leadership.
"If they had voted for it, they wouldn't have been able to spend any
money on abortion," she said. "But since they voted against it, it's a
much clearer case for anyone who wants religious accommodation, that
the union supports abortion."
Teachers who have religious objections to paying NEA dues -- which can
be used to fund the pro-choice and homosexual agendas -- have the right
in some states to give money to a charity instead, Smith said.
Information is available from the National Right to Work Legal Defense
Foundation at nrtw.org.
"People don't realize -- because they're told otherwise -- that they
have a right to get out of the union," Smith said.
A loss of membership dues also played into the discussion over "gay
marriage" when one state leader got up and said he's a liberal who
supports "gay rights" but doesn't believe the NEA should be involved in
the issue because they're losing members over it.
Smith said the executive committee, one of NEA's two top
decision-making bodies, drafted the same-sex proposal because the
committee expected proposals to come from the delegates on the floor
and it wanted to preempt them with language that wouldn't be as
divisive.
At previous meetings, the NEA has supported "obtaining, preserving, and
strengthening basic civil and human rights under law" and specifically
called for "passage of a federal statute prohibiting employment
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity
and expression."
By voice vote delegates in San Diego adopted the following action plan
July 3:
-- "NEA will support its affiliates seeking to enact state legislation
that guarantees to same-sex couples the right to enter into a legally
recognized relationship pursuant to which they have the same rights and
benefits as similarly-situated heterosexual couples, including, without
limitation, rights and benefits with regard to medical decisions,
taxes, inheritance, adoption and immigration.
-- "NEA does not believe that a single term must be used to designate
this legally recognized 'equal treatment' relationship, and recommends
that each state decide for itself whether 'marriage,' 'civil union,'
'domestic partnership,' or some other term is most appropriate based
upon the cultural, social, and religious values of its citizenry.
-- "NEA will support its affiliates in opposing state constitutional
and/or statutory provisions that could have the effect of prohibiting
the state and its political subdivisions from providing the same rights
and benefits to same-sex couples as are provided to similarly-situated
heterosexual couples.
-- "NEA will take such actions as may be appropriate to support efforts
to (a) repeal any federal legislation and/or regulations that
discriminate against same-sex couples, and (b) enact federal
legislation and/or regulations that treat same-sex couples and
similarly-situated heterosexual couples equally with regard to social
security, health care, taxation, and other federal rights and benefits.
-- "NEA recognizes that the term 'marriage' has religious connotations
and that same-sex marriages may not be compatible with the beliefs,
values, and/or practices of certain religions. Because of its support
for the separation of church and state and the right to religious
freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution, NEA supports the right of religious institutions to
refuse to perform or recognize same-sex marriages."
The fourth bullet has been interpreted by some conservatives as aiming
at the Defense of Marriage Amendment, Smith said. Signed into law in
1996, DOMA gives states the option of refusing to recognize "gay
marriage" from other states.
"It was implied at both the state and the federal level that they would
be interested in overturning DOMA, but they didn't say that directly.
The way they described it, it was pretty clear that's what they had in
mind," she told BP.
During discussion preceding the vote, a representative from the gay and
lesbian caucus wanted to remove the fifth bullet protecting churches,
but "the Representative Assembly very definitely refused to do that,"
Smith said.
Also during debate, a representative from the conservative caucus spoke
against the action plan.
"As soon as she mentioned the words 'marriage should be between a man
and a woman,' she got booed," Smith said. "The chair stopped the booing
and reminded everybody that in a democracy everyone gets to have their
say."
After about five speeches on each side of the issue, the assembly voted
to end debate despite 20 or 30 more people lined up to speak on each
side, Smith said.
"They did a voice vote and the nays were pretty strong, but you could
tell that they weren't winning. It was probably again around that 60/40
split, I would imagine," she said.
NEA's executive committee will monitor the implementation of the action
plan on "gay marriage" and will keep NEA affiliates informed of actions
taken to achieve its objectives, the organization said.
Smith said the conservative caucus was prepared to speak further
against the action plan but didn't get the opportunity.
"People don't recognize that this issue goes way beyond both equality
and religious liberty," she said. "It has to do with what the next
generation of children will face as far as stability and nurturing.
"The French government, a very secular government, spent a whole year
studying it and decided not to grant 'gay marriage' because of the
children," Smith said. "Our speech was to get away from the tug-of-war
between equality and religious liberty and say it's really all about
the kids and can't we all be adults and do what's best for them."
Also of interest, she said, is that for the second year in a row
someone from the floor moved that a creation science exhibit not be
allowed at the NEA convention.
"It lost again big time," Smith said. "Last year when they brought it
up, they wouldn't even allow discussion on it. But this year, they did
allow discussion, and there was one lady who got up and said, 'What is
this? Christians are now the enemies of the NEA?' Some people clapped.
It failed because I think the membership at large believes that people
should have their say."
NEA's 3.2 million members work at every level of education, from
preschool to university graduate programs. NEA has affiliate
organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across
the United States.
Contact: Erin Roach
Source: BP
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Date: July 6, 2009
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