Vermont senators banned a pastor from giving devotions to the legislative body after he spoke in January about the precious value of every human life.
The Rev. Rosaire Bisson, assistant pastor at Christ Community Alliance Church in Barre, recently was suspended from the Vermont Senate for a year, according to True North Reports.
The state House and Senate frequently invite religious leaders to give short, non-political devotions at the beginning of most session days. Bisson spoke on Jan. 30, around the time when state lawmakers began debating a radical pro-abortion bill to keep abortions legal for basically any reason up to birth, the report states.
Though Bisson did not mention abortion, pregnancy or unborn babies at all in his devotion, some senators apparently thought his message about “everyone’s right to life” was too controversial and banned him.
Bisson began his devotion by quoting the Declaration of Independence, which emphasizes that human beings have an unalienable right to life, according to the local news, which reprinted the pastor’s remarks.
“There is a reason that among those unalienable rights listed that life is first, for without life, it is impossible to enjoy these other rights,” the pastor said. “Indeed, the Equality and Human Rights Commission also states in Article 2, ‘Everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law.’”
He quoted Old Testament passages that demonstrate that human beings are valuable to God, and then brought up stories about the lengths to which society goes to save lives.
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Bisson continued:
“Recently, in a joint House and Senate resolution, Sgt. La Rose was honored for the saving of a woman. In a recent incident in West Virginia, untold numbers of people spent over a million dollars to bring out of an abandoned coal mine, three people. We spend millions over decades to find a cure from cancer. And an important part of our law enforcement’s mission is the maintenance of safety on our highways, to protect life and limb.
“We have rightly criticized nations who have historically disregarded life. The Romans as they abandoned their infants and were entertained by gladiatorial fights. … And in the last century with Hitler and Stalin, as they killed millions for racial reasons or because they were considered feeble.”
Bisson concluded by urging the government to fulfill its key purpose to protect human life.
Vermont already is one of the few states that allows unrestricted abortions up to birth, but House Bill 57 would keep it that way if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
The bill passed the state House by an overwhelmingly majority in February. Lawmakers also rejected 12 amendments that would have allowed some minor, common-sense abortion regulations, including parental notification for minors and counseling, News 44 WFFF reports.
Similar to a law that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed in January, the Vermont bill would recognize abortion as a “fundamental human right” and ensure that the government does not deny, restrict or infringe upon a woman’s “right” to abort her unborn baby.
Pro-life leaders in Vermont said the bill also could hurt women because it prohibits “any individual” from being prosecuted for an abortion or attempted abortion. This would include back alley abortionists and abusers who try to force women to abort unborn babies.
Earlier this month, state lawmakers introduced a second pro-abortion bill to amend the Vermont Constitution and further ensure that women can still abort their unborn babies in the state if Roe is overturned.
Polls indicate that few people support such radical pro-abortion measures. A May 2018 Gallup poll found that 53 percent of Americans oppose all or most abortions. Similarly, a national poll by Marist University found that three in four Americans (75 percent) say abortion should be limited to – at most – the first three months of pregnancy. This includes most Republicans (92 percent), Independents (78 percent) and Democrats (60 percent). It also includes more than six in 10 (61 percent) who identify as “pro-choice” on abortion.
ACTION: Contact Vermont state senators.
