This week on The Liberty Alert, join Dr. Gregory Seltz and his special guest, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, MO, leader of the Values Action Team of the Congress, talking the Dobb’s ruling and what comes next for instilling “the sanctity of life” for all in America. Also, we’re talking about the challenges and opportunities in education especially protecting parental authority and parental involvement in education as well as educational choice for all. Listen in for the political, the cultural, the moral, and the faith perspective on these vital issues and their impact on our culture and our mission….as we continue to grow in the wisdom needed to be 2 Kingdom citizens for the country we love. Join us!

Welcome to Liberty alert with Gregory selves, sponsored by our friends at the Lutheran center for religious Liberty here in Washington, DC, a program that cuts through the chaos and confusion in the culture today by talking to kingdom, citizenship, old biblical principles for a robust public Christian luck. And now your host Dr. Gregory sell

Good day, good day, Washington DC. I'm Gregory. Seltz welcome to our program. The Liberty

Alert where every week we try

To cut through the noise and take on the issues, especially the public issues that matter to people of faith. We're privileged to have on the program today. Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler of Missouri's fourth district and where I've gotten to know her well, especially is in her leadership on the values action team, uh, the congressional side, and she's a tremendous leader for the things that we at the LCR L hold dear religious Liberty, the sanctity of life, the defense of marriage, and of course, educational freedom. Welcome Congresswoman Hartzler.

Well, thank you. I'm so glad to be here.

Well, listen, two of the four things I just mentioned, I want to talk to you about today. Um, first of all, the sanctity of life, and then secondly, education, cuz I know you have some legislation that you're putting forward as well. First, the sanctity of life, um, Dobbs, the end of Roe V. Wade, why is this vital to our nation going forward?

Right. And you know, the, one of the things that often gets thrown our way and by the way, you know, we were, we've been a part of this all the way back to, I guess, the early eighties, um, my wife, she served in clinics in New York city. We worked with Cardinal O'Connor and our work in New York city. You know, we've been on the streets of this and we've seen the damage that it's done to our culture, to women, to men. I think the one argument that always gets brought up and it really bothers me it's that, that somehow pro-life is chauvinistic. And, and really, if you think about it, I think pro-choice, or abortion is the most chauvinistic thing. What happens to women is they're either abandoned or they're supposed to get an abortion. And the guy says, that's all, you know, I have no responsibility. I guess the point I'm saying is strong. Women are pro-life. And, and, and we've gotta take back that narrative. And as a strong woman, this is a movement led by women.

You're so right. And, um, I think women know that, that the devastation that occurs after an abortion, uh, and many people know women who made that choice and like, you're, you pointed out many times they are coerced to doing it by a boyfriend. Uh, they think they have no choice. They're not aware of the crisis pregnancy center or the pregnancy help center in the area. Um, and, and, uh, they regret it their whole life and studies have shown that women who have had abortions and it could be as high as one in four women have had one, but they have increased depression, uh, mental health, anxiety, um, problems, the rest of their life, right. Uh, guilt. And of course those things can be overcome through the power of Jesus Christ, uh, and what many women have received that healing from it. But they are in some ways, victims of this, uh, uh, abortion industry as well, that's made a lot of money off of them.

And, uh, now they're gonna be hopefully supported and be able to bring that baby to term if they have, uh, an unplanned pregnancy. And I've talked to several men though, as well, who have grieved their whole life, absolutely. For their role that they played in abortion, they may have paid for one or in, or took their, uh, girlfriend to an abortion clinic. And so, you know, abortion ultimately is death. And people know that deep down and many times they try to cover that up, uh, through, you know, other means. And, uh, sometimes it comes out as anger and rage that we see when people, um, you know, marching. But I, I think ultimately their heart needs healed

Well, and you're right. And I think what we've seen, you know, if you really take the notion that, um, it's not a life, if you say it's not a life, there's a callousness that builds both in men and women. And like I said, I've seen your leadership. We're trying to reinstill life. Reinstill the sanctity of all life. Men take their responsibility. Seriously, women take their responsibility. Seriously. How do we start to reinstill this? So the, the Supreme court said, okay, it's not constitutional, but now in we've, we've had a, a culture that actually had a Vene of respectability over abortion for over 50 years, that veneer is gone, but now the real debate begins. So how do we re reinstate that I know your job as a Congress, uh, woman is, is not, I mean, it's, it's our job of the church, the family that as well, but you know, how do we, reinstill going forward from your perspective?

Well, the, the church and the family and the local communities is key to this certainly, and, and reaching every man and woman with the love of Christ. Um, and let 'em know that a life has a plan and a purpose for them, but in Congress, this, uh, we're gonna continue this battle. You know, I have sponsored the defund planned parenthood bill for several years, right. And I'm gonna continue that fight cuz they do not deserve a dime of our taxpayer dollars. I also am the sponsor of the women's right to know act. And we know that with this decision, it's up to this states as well as potentially elected representatives in Washington DC to make these decisions. But right now we have several states who still are promoting abortion even so much that there, some companies are paying for people to go there and putting it in their benefit package and to have an abortion.

It's unbelievable, right. Uh, what is occurring, but, um, that's why we could pass a law at the federal level saying that women have the right to know about the health ramifications and be able to see an ultrasound and to know these things before they make that decision. I'm also co-sponsor of other bills that we're gonna continue to move forward with that says, uh, the born alive infant protection act. If a child is born alive during an abortion, they deserve the same healthcare, an emergency treatment as a baby. Uh pre-born you know, from a family who wants to keep that baby down the hallway. Uh, we also, I'm also co-sponsor for the pain capable bill. That's saying there's no abortion in America. If there is, uh, the baby, once they can feel pain, but I'm also the ghost sponsor of the life at conception act and the heartbeat bill and, and which says no abortions after that.

So we're gonna continue to fight at the federal level, uh, for life, but we also need to fight at the local level and at the state level, all of this is gonna be turned over, uh, a lot of to state decisions as well. And I'll mention something else. People may not be aware of that 40% of the abortions in our country right now are occurring through what we call chemical abortions, right? Which is, uh, a, a pill regiment. There are two different pills that a pregnant woman takes. The first pill stops the baby. Uh, and, and from being able to be implanted, continue to be implanted in the uterus and it, and it comes a away from the uterus it separates from, and then the second pill, uh, forces the body to expel the, the baby and it's, and it's a horrific thing for a woman to go through on her own in home by herself. And it's very painful. It can be very, very dangerous. Uh, women have died using this. And so there's also legislation trying to prohibit the, using the postal service to send out these male, uh, these pills, which are certainly cause the death of a baby, but they can cause the death of mother as well.

And like you said, I think that's one of the things that people are starting to wake up to that, that the pro-abortion movement, you know, is it's actually using women to its advantage too. And there's all kinds of downsides for the mother, as well as for the child. Obviously the child loses its life. So when you said that, it, it just brought back to me. Um, you know, people don't realize that Europe, I think it's like 12 to 14 weeks tops all throughout Europe. I mean our abortion laws in some of our states and even the one that they tried to pass in Congress, uh, would've made us akin to China and North Korea, how we value life. And that's just not American. Uh, especially when we, we need to reinstill the, the fact that each life is important, the life of the unborn, the life of the age, the life in between valuing marriage, valuing sex as something between committed people who see babies, not as a medical emergency, but as a blessing.

I mean, there's a whole lot of work of getting back to where we need to be on this issue. That's for sure. Now folks, can you hear, see, listen to all the stuff that she's sponsoring? I mean, when I think about those, the pain capable bill, the born alive bill, I don't know why anyone would vote against those things. Uh, I would love to see more of those come to a vote, but that's what Congresswoman Hartzler is all about. And she's been a really staunch leader, uh, in the Congress on this. And we pray that, uh, some of those bills actually, again, come to the vote and, and actually show where people are in our Congress and in our Senate now onto a second issue. And I know this one's really, uh, important to you cuz you were a teacher, correct?

That's right.

Well, the parent is the best arbiter of their child's education and whether they choose to homeschool that child or, uh, make a decision and put it in a Christian school or have the public school, they are the one that has the greatest influence as well as a stake in their child's education. And the thought that some of our schools across the country are saying that parents need to sit down and be quiet. And, and that the, the teachers are, the experts is really, really concerning. And especially when parents started, uh, exercising their right to speak up at school board meetings, which is the representative body that's elected by them to oversee the school district when our federal government started calling them terrorists, domestic terrorists, exactly. And trying to sick the FBI on them. Right. Unbelievable. Right. Unbelievable. And, uh, I'm just so proud of the parents who are running and have run successfully for school board and taking their schools back.

I've said for too long that we've been on the defense and we need to go on the offense. I wrote a book several years ago, that's available on Amazon called running God's way step by step to successful political campaign, trying to encourage people of faith, to run successfully for office at all levels. And especially at the local level of school, board and county office and city council, where many of our cultural battles are taking place. And too many times we wait until something happens that we don't like. And then we all go en mass to the meeting and try to get them to reverse their vote instead of being proactive and getting our people there on that board, making those decisions to begin with. So I applaud those who are stepping up and doing that, but we've got to take back our schools. Uh, they should be teaching as, as you have said, which is a quote of mine. Yeah. We should be teaching the ABCs, not the CRT, not

The CRTs. Yeah, exactly. Well, and you know, go and let me jump in too. And just say, when, when you talk about these things, there is a, there is a moral framework to good education. You know, there is. So there is a battle there and that's actually where this battle is at. There's a secularization coming into our schools, a racialization that's being hoisted on our schools, a sexualization that's being hoisted on our schools and people are saying, wait a minute. You know, true wisdom comes when I am educated within a moral framework. That actually is correct. And the Judeo Christian one has serviced this country so well for so long. And like you said, let's, let's at least get back to making sure they can think properly and then we'll get into the philosophies that we're talking about. So go ahead. Yeah. The ABC's not the CT.

Well, I'm concerned that our kids are falling behind other countries, uh, students in their reading and science and math and these basic things that schools are supposed to be teaching. Uh, we are falling behind in that. And I think part of it is because some schools and I don't wanna paint all schools this way or all teachers, right? Cuz I know many great teachers and many great public school teachers as well as certainly Christian school teachers. But there are, there are some out there and we know it who have a, a mission of indoctrination and they think it's their job to, to indoctrinate and change students opinions, uh, uh, to their worldview. Mm-hmm . And this sexualization that you talk about is extremely concerning the thought that we are encouraging kids in some, some places to choose their own gender. Once they get to school, change their gender and not tell the parents, uh, this is ludicrous.

The parents are in control of their children and need to be involved in all these very important decisions. The school shouldn't be going behind their back, uh, changing the child's gender, affirming that, encouraging that. I mean, this is, this is serious stuff and that's why I've, I've been banned, uh, from my Twitter account. Uh, my campaign Twitter account, uh, because I simply said women's sports should be for women, not men pretending to be women, right? And we have this move now to allow biological males to participate in girls sports, but the Biden administration has issued a rule to change. So every title nine school, uh, has to consider for discrimination, not discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity, which has huge ramifications for girls, locker rooms, bathrooms, sports, scholarships, you name it very, very concerning. And it's gonna be to the detriment of our girls if we don't stand up and speak up for them.

Yeah. Again, you know, like you just pointed out again, uh, women suffer, you know, these, these are supposed to be these egalitarian notions and everyone's supposed to profit from this. But really what happens is as our girls are actually, uh, hoisted on this again, and they're the ones who are most vulnerable, they're the ones who are now gonna lose opportunities, but they're also gonna be, um, they're gonna be open to things that we used to protect them from. And I think that's what the sexualization stuff is all about as well. And that's why the abortion movements connected to this pro-life and all this stuff is undergirding a different way of going at these things and not only ABCs, but then understanding that there's a dignity that we need to teach our children. Uh, there's a moral, uh, framework that actually deals with a lot of these issues and puts them in their proper place.

And all of that should be part of a good education. I, I don't know if you think about it this way, but you know, I used to get involved in these issues a lot. And I said, look, if the state wants to involve itself in our educational system, that's fine, but they should limit themselves to good civics. I mean, that's what they should be concerned about. They should be concerned that we have a good civics program and people know how to be good citizens. That's the state's involvement. Uh, the rest of it comes from a different place. It comes from free people. It comes from church people. It comes from moral people and, and people who strive for the truth. We don't need the state to dictate those kind of things to us. How did they get ahold of all of this stuff?

Yeah, it is been going on for a long time. I think ever since the sixties, when they took prayer out of the schools and said, no, we don't wanna have anything to do with God. We're gonna be a hundred sec secular. Uh, and then, you know, our universities have been taken over by by liberals, uh, or socialists and that's, what's educating our teachers and I as a teacher, I'll say all the teachers, I know have a big heart. I mean, they're there because they care about kids and they want to, uh, make a difference, but some with a liberal mind and who don't have a biblical worldview, think it's their mission. And they think it's good to, to be open and encourage and affirm kids in all kinds of, uh, strange ways, but that's not, um, compassionate, right? To encourage a child to switch their gender.

It, it ultimately is dangerous. And if they have a sex change operation, uh, which many liberals support them doing and when their child, uh, a young person, you know, I think that's child abuse, right? You know that 85 to 90% of these young people will ultimately settle in their biological sex. Once they get through puberty in their teenage years, it's a tumultuous time. There's, they're confused. But if you affirm them and encourage them to have, uh, surgeries to mutilate and change their bodies, it, it affects them the rest of their life. They never will be able to have kids. I mean, it's just wrong. Yeah. So I think it's misplaced compassion. That's actually hurting kids and they need to realize that and reverse course

And that's, and like you said, and that teachers and parents I think are all on the same page on this, uh, like you said, there's a bureaucracy. That's bigger that actually, I there's a book called get out now where two teachers are saying, you know, we're trying to actually teach the ABCs. We're trying to actually do what we were trained to do. And there's, there's this, these, uh, uh, challenges and these other forces that are, that are hoisting these things on through curriculum and things like that. So there's a lot of teachers who are trying to fight back as well. And that's the point it's, what's best for our, our kids. And I think the teachers in, uh, concert with parents who really care about their kids above and beyond even education, that's where the solution's gonna be. You know, the one thing too, I, I think you were just pointing this out.

There's a whole lot of issues. And I don't think, you know, we, we just had some issues over July 4th, again, where violence in our culture and, and people are immediately going to things like guns and things like that, but we're seeing a callousness in culture and that callousness has to come from some place. And I think it's when you're taught that you're a biological accident when you're taught, there's no purpose in life when, when you're taught, uh, that, uh, you know, you're not taught to be wise anymore. Manners and morals are actually somehow suspect. Now it shouldn't shock us that we create people who don't value life, who don't even value their own life. And don't see any purpose in life in pro-life and a good education. That's what that's meant to instill. And, and so again, in your leadership, what are some of the things, even in education where we can actually get back to where our kids come out of our high schools and schools with a sense of who they are with, uh, competence in who they can be?

Well, that is so true. And, um, you know, I believe that education should be based mainly at the local level and the state level and the federal government shouldn't be passing laws, dictating what should be done at our schools. But I do, uh, know that we have 160 military basis across our country that have schools on those bases. And so Congress is kind of like the school board for them. so

I, I didn't know that

Yeah, yeah. We oversee the curriculum there and have jurisdiction kind of like the local school board. So I have introduced the no CRT for our military kids act because I think critical race theory is damaging for every student in America. And I don't want any of them to be taught that our nation is a racist nation and we should be ashamed of it and that their destiny is determined by their skin color, but yet the thought that that might be taught to a child of a military, uh, member whose mom or dad is, you know, fighting for our country and potentially giving their life for our country is just abominable. Right? So that's why I have, uh, you know, proactively introduced this legislation to make sure that that doesn't happen, uh, on our military basis. And I'm gonna continue to fight for quality education for our kids and encourage that to happen at the state and local level as well.

Well, our chaplains will thank you. We have a big chaplaincy in our church as well, and they will appreciate that. And by the way, I've been in urban ministry for 25 years and, uh, black liberation theology, which is foundational to CT and things like that. It doesn't liberate it. Doesn't liberate the principles of individual, uh, empowerment and education. And, and self-discipline, those are the things that liberate in a good education will help kids of all, uh, ethnicities, uh, accomplish and, and make it in this country. And so, like you said, just making this a racial issue and teaching that some people can make it. And some people can't, that's the wrong way, uh, to go. So, um, parental choice, I know that, uh, charter schools, African American parents and Hispanic parents, and, and even poor, uh, you know, white kids, parents, they, they want this, they want that opportunity to get their kids a good education and they sure don't wanna see the racialization happen as well. Again, I just wanna say, thank you. You are on top of so many of these things, and I learned something today too. I didn't know that, that the, that you handled all that on the bases and I will make sure that I pass that word along too, but thank you for your leadership and how can people, uh, get to know more about you? Can you wanna give your website here before you go?

Sure. hartzler.house.gov is my official website where you can learn more about the bills I'm introducing and the work we're doing. Uh, but also Vicky hartzler.com is my campaign website. I am running for the us Senate in Missouri. I would love to have everybody support and they can go there and learn more Vicky, hartzler.com

And wherever you serve, whether it's in the Senate or the house, we will be proud to be there and support you. Thank you for your leadership. Thanks for tuning in today to get to know our L CRL DC work better. Check out our website@lclfreedom.org till next time. God bless you. Always I'm Greg Rez have a great week.

You've been listening to Liberty alert with Dr. Gregory Seltz executive director of the Lutheran center for religious Liberty in Washington, DC. This program has been brought to you by the Lutheran center for religious.