On today’s program: Casey Harper, Managing Editor for Broadcast at The Washington Stand and Host of the “Outstanding” podcast, reports on the latest Democrat government shutdown, the 20-point plan for Gaza, speeches by the President and Secretary of
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From the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 01 :
We stand at the precipice of a government shutdown because they’re afraid to talk about the real issue, which is health care for American citizens.
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That was Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor opposing the continuation of current funding of the federal government, which sets the stage for a government shutdown at midnight tonight. Welcome to this September 30th edition of Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins, your host. Thanks so much for tuning in. Well, coming up, President Trump said today that if Democrats shut down the government, people will lose their jobs. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma will join me shortly. Texas Congressman Keith Self will also join me later to discuss President Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, which Hamas is still reviewing. The question is, will they be smart and accept it? Well, with the clock ticking down to midnight, Congress remains deadlocked. Republicans say Democrats are holding up a simple funding deal by pushing unrelated Obamacare expansion demands and others, risking a shutdown that could disrupt government services worldwide. Joining me now is Washington Stand reporter Casey Harper, who has been following this story all day. So, Casey, what’s the latest?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, Tony, you know, this feels familiar. You’ve been around a little longer than I have, but we’ve seen this before. We’ve actually seen about half a dozen government shutdowns averted. You know, it’s always at the last minute in the last two decades. But in this case, if we’re going to avoid a shutdown tonight, it’s only going to happen if the Senate agrees to what the House has already passed. They don’t seem inclined to do that. Democrats in the Senate are demanding that over a trillion dollars in new spending be added, Tony. Here’s what President Trump had to say about it.
SPEAKER 21 :
We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.
SPEAKER 20 :
So that was President Trump earlier today at the White House. And he went on to warn that, quote, a vast number of people will lose their jobs if Democrats shut down the government. And of course, if no deal is reached by tonight, that’s probably true. Critical services will grind to a halt. And Tony, Republicans say voters are going to believe that Democrats are the ones who forced the shutdown.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, Casey. Well, obviously, we’re going to be watching that one very, very, very closely. Anything else making headlines today?
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah. So from Quantico, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, He criticized generals and diversity efforts in a pretty fiery speech today, and he blamed them for the decline of the military. He was standing next to President Trump, really adding gravitas to the speech, and he told commanders that if they don’t back his reforms, they should resign.
SPEAKER 07 :
No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusions. No more debris.
SPEAKER 20 :
Strong words from the secretary. He went on to defend firing top officers. He called the military culture broken and even promised to change how discrimination and misconduct cases are handled. As far as the international front, President Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, it’s being reviewed by Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, he accepted the plan after meeting with President Trump. But whether Hamas will remains a mystery, Tony.
SPEAKER 05 :
Very, very interesting. So let’s talk about Louisiana is stepping up its enforcement of pro-life laws with a rare criminal case targeting out-of-state abortion pill providers. Now, Casey, this is something we’ve been tracking as we see these abortion pills going into pro-life states. What can you tell us about this latest legal action by Louisiana officials?
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, Tony, this is a rare but important case. Louisiana, they’re taking a strong stand on illegal abortion practices. And what they did was the state issued a criminal arrest warrant for a California doctor who’s accused of mailing abortion pills out of state to a woman in Louisiana. Now, the doctor involved in all that is charged with violating Louisiana’s pro-life laws by sending those abortion drugs to a woman in 2023. The woman in question, she says she was pressured into taking the pills and that they were actually ordered without her permission, her full consent. Now she says that this experience was traumatic, and she says it actually wouldn’t have happened if telehealth prescriptions were banned. So it’s an interesting case. It’s one of the first since Roe v. Wade was overturned, and it digs into this question of empowering states like Louisiana to protect the unborn, Tony.
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All right. Thanks, Casey. Actually, coming up later in the program, Louisiana State Attorney General Liz Merrill will join me to discuss this case. In July, Family Research Council led Southern Baptist leaders across the country in a letter to President Trump on this. And we urged him to restore FDA safety rules requiring ultrasounds before abortion pills like Mifeprestone are given and enforce the federal law that prohibits these things from being sent through the mail. All right. But we’re going to talk more about that a little bit later. But now joining me to discuss the latest on the government funding battle is Oklahoma Senator James Langford. He serves on several Senate committees, including the Finance Committee. He’s also the vice chairman of the Senate Republican Conference. Senator Langford, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks, Tony. All right, give us the latest. What is happening on Capitol Hill? Is the government going to turn the lights off at midnight?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, so the lights won’t go off, but the clock is definitely ticking at this point. Democrats are having to decide if they’re going to leave the government open for the next seven weeks while we negotiate or if they want to try to close it down. Once they close it down, if they fight off literally the proposal that’s sitting in front of them, the House has already passed, just maintain the status quo for the next seven weeks while we negotiate. If they turn that down, then it becomes a challenge of how do they reopen the government? What is it that they can then vote and say, no, just kidding, now I want to open the government up? They did this under the first Trump administration. They demanded DACA citizenship for all of the DACA recipients. We were closed for a weekend, and then they came back and said, just kidding, we’ll just go ahead and open it and leave it open. My concern is they’re going to do the same kind of thing again, where they’re going to demand some big thing, which they’re doing right now, a trillion-dollar spending rollback and to take away the one big, beautiful bill and to wipe that away. That’s what they’re demanding. There’s no way that’s going to happen, obviously. And so now we’re trying to be able to get to the end and say, just vote to keep the government open, straightforward, and let’s keep negotiating.
SPEAKER 05 :
Now, we know that the coming up this week, Yom Kippur starts. So Congress is out the end of this weekend. House is not in. So if the Democrats do not go along with the clean CR that was passed by the House last week, there’s Congress is not going to be back in till next week to deal with this.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, that’s correct. So Yom Kippur, we’re going to honor the Jewish holidays, obviously. And so that begins at sunset on Wednesday night. And so we’ll be closed down. And so that’s the challenge that we have here is that Democrats choose to be able to shut this down. We may be down for several days just with the Jewish holiday and all that’s around that. So we don’t know where it’s going, nor do we know what they would say to be able to just come back and to be able to vote for the straight seven-week extension that we’re already doing.
SPEAKER 05 :
Now, you may see it differently, Senator, but you were in the House before going to the Senate. And the House often got rolled by the Senate. And the House speaker has talked to him about this over the weekend. I mean, he basically said, we did our work. We went home. And that’s why he has not called the Republicans back into session this week, because he doesn’t want to be forced into these false negotiations. The Democrats have what they have. Either they take it or they don’t.
SPEAKER 03 :
THAT’S CORRECT. BUT THE CRAZY THING ABOUT THIS IS THERE WERE 13 OF THESE IN THE FOUR YEARS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WHERE THEY WERE JUST SHORT-TERM, WE’RE ALMOST DONE WITH NEGOTIATIONS, WE NEED JUST A FEW MORE WEEKS ON IT. THIS PASSED WITHOUT AN ISSUE ON THIS. THERE WERE ALWAYS VOTES HERE IN THE SENATE AS WELL THAT GAVE We’re just going to keep open. We’re going to keep negotiating.” Now suddenly Democrats are determining they don’t want to do that. This, I think, goes back to the March of this year, when Chuck Schumer and about 10 Democrats voted to be able to keep the government open at that time. Their far-left liberal base just went apoplectic on them and attacked them and said, you can’t do anything with Trump. You shut the government down. You fight him at every time. Be the resistance. But the problem is, it just hurts the country. It doesn’t hurt President Trump. It just hurts the country.
SPEAKER 05 :
So one more question and then I want to move on to another topic. Is this more about Democrats, in particular Chuck Schumer’s personal politics in the state of New York where he’s vulnerable to his left?
SPEAKER 03 :
Is that really what’s driving this? This is all about Chuck Schumer’s personal politics, all about it. Multiple Democrat senators that I’ve talked to have said, hey, we should just keep it open, we should keep it going, except for Chuck Schumer and his politics that he’s in right now. So we’re there. I get it for that. I mean, we’ve got the socialist that’s leading the mayoral race in New York City right now. The New York politics have shifted hard, hard, hard to the far, far, far left. And Chuck Schumer is trying to be able to fight off the far left socialist in his own party on it. And we’ll see where that goes.
SPEAKER 05 :
Senator, I know you just have a couple of minutes left. I want to get your your thoughts on yesterday’s meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump and the agreement on this 20 point plan. You and I have been to Israel together. We share the same concern over Judea and Samaria. Your thoughts on the latest developments.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it was interesting to be able to get this description where the president was saying, OK, there would be a stop at hostilities, release all the hostages. But then he kind of turned towards having a Palestinian state at the end of it in the final part of that agreement and saying, hey, we don’t want Israel to annex any of the West Bank. Well, that Judea and Samaria is historic Israel. Some of those areas are referred to as Area C. Israel already does all the security there. But we’re talking towns like Jericho and where Shiloh is, the historic place for the tabernacle. This is biblical Israel here, and it’s areas where Israel already provides security. And so what I’m trying to be able to communicate to everybody in the administration is, Hey, let’s allow Israel to be Israel and to be able to deal with its own boundaries and its own history and future here and not try to be able to impose something on them as they’re trying to be able to work towards long-term agreements. But long-term agreements are hard with the Palestinian Authority there. There is no lead negotiator for them. So they don’t have anyone to even make an agreement with at this point that would count.
SPEAKER 05 :
A minute left, and now you got to go. Can you really look at this region of the world without having a biblical, historical, and spiritual understanding in terms of managing peace?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, there’s a lot of history in that region and a lot of things you’ve got to be able to look at, not just the last 10 years or the last 75 years. You look at the last thousands of years to be able to see the pattern and the path that’s in that area. We also can impose a Western concept of what governance looks like over a Middle Eastern tribal community clan. SHAKES, ALL OF THAT CONCEPT, FAMILY-DRIVEN CULTURE, VERY, VERY DIFFERENT IN THAT REGION THAN IT IS IN AMERICAN CULTURE. AND AT TIMES THERE’S AN AMERICAN IMPLEMENTATION OF WHAT THINGS WILL LOOK LIKE RATHER THAN AN ACTUAL MIDDLE EASTERN MINDSET.
SPEAKER 05 :
RIGHT. IT’S THAT WESTERN VIEW THAT’S BEEN PLACED ON THEM. SENATOR JAMES LANGFORD, ALWAYS GREAT TO SEE YOU AND HAVE YOU ON THE PROGRAM. THANKS FOR TAKING TIME TO JOIN US. THANKS, TONY. GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN. Senator James Langford of Oklahoma, as I made reference to when he was in the House, we took one of the first two official congressional delegations into Judea and Samaria and visited those areas that he made reference to that prior to, I think that was in 2012 or 2013, prior to that, there had been no official congressional delegation. And then we talked about this on the program, but in August last month, House Speaker Mike Johnson was the first House Speaker to ever go into Judea and Samaria. And why is this important? Judea and Samaria, often referred to as the West Bank, and I know this is repetitive to those who listen to the program a lot, but that’s 80% of what we read about in the Bible took place in that area. In fact, Judea, it’s where the term Jew came from. But yet this is what the international community, under a two-state solution, wants to give away and create a Palestinian state. And my concern about the 20-point plan is that buried deep in there is the plan from 2020, which does call for a future Palestinian state if certain criteria is met. Now, it’s unlikely that that criteria will be met, and that’s what people often say, but we should not be promoting policy that runs counter to the Word of God. All right? And I don’t know when all that’s going to be fulfilled in the Word of God, but I think we ought to be moving in the same direction, not in the opposite direction. All right. When we come back, we’re going to continue Washington Watch. But I mean, I’m going to be joined by Texas Congressman Keith Self. We’re going to talk a little bit more about Israel, but also about an unprecedented gathering of top U.S. military leaders at Quantico, Virginia, this morning, where the president and the secretary of defense or secretary of war spoke to them. So don’t go away.
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The Supreme Court issued its historic Dobbs decision, a ruling that overturned Roe versus Wade, which for nearly 50 years imposed abortion on demand, silencing voters and bypassing the democratic process across the country. The Dobbs decision was a huge step forward against abortion, but it didn’t outright ban it. It returned the power to the people. Now, 29 states have laws on the books protecting life. However, there’s a catch. Abortion numbers since Dobbs have actually gone up with an increase of 12% since 2020, climbing from 930,000 to over 1 million in each of the most recent years. So how can this be? The answer is simple, the abortion drug. Today, over 60% of US abortions involve abortion drugs, many of these without medical oversight. In 2021, the Biden administration quietly removed bare minimum longstanding safety protocols for the abortion drug that have existed for 20 years to protect women from life-threatening risks and ensuring informed consent. The Biden DOJ then declared that they would not enforce the Comstock Act, which prevents the mailing of anything that causes an abortion. This is not only illegal, but also dangerous. A study shows nearly 11% of women who take the abortion drug end up in the emergency room with serious complications. Unless the Trump administration reverses these reckless Biden-era policies, pro-life laws will remain largely symbolic. Without a full review and repeal of Mifepristone, unborn lives will remain in grave danger, and pregnant mothers will remain at risk. Let’s stand for life and end this mail-order abortion drug pipeline. Sign the petition urging the Trump administration to take action at frc.org slash stop chemical abortion.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new year. Find our Bible reading plan and daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us and stand on the word.
SPEAKER 05 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us today. Let me encourage you to download the Stand Firm app and share that with your friends because you might have some friends that are not within the reach of one of the 850 radio stations that carries Washington Watch, but they can listen and watch on the app Stand Firm. Not only do they get the Washington Watch program, but they get our news feed as from commentary and news from a biblical perspective, the Washington Stand, and my morning devotional, Stand on the Word. All of that can be found on the Stand Firm apps. Go to the App Store and get the Stand Firm app. Share it with your friends. Earlier today, President Trump told reporters that he will give the Hamas terror group three to four days to respond to his 20-point peace plan, which Israeli’s prime minister accepted yesterday during his visit to the White House. And if Hamas doesn’t accept it, President Trump says it’s going to be a very sad end. With the second anniversary of the October 7th terror attack just one week away, are we on the verge of seeing an end to the war one way or another? Joining me now to discuss this and a bit more is Congressman Keith Self, who served our country for 25 years in the United States Army, retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel. He is a member of several House committees, including the Foreign Affairs Committee. He represents the 3rd Congressional District of Texas. Congressman Self, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. You bet, Tony. Great to be here. Let me start with this question. Do you think Hamas will be smart enough to accept this plan?
SPEAKER 04 :
That is exactly the question, Tony. I doubt it. If they do, they will give up their sole leverage point, which are the hostages, dead and alive. So that is the decision. And look, Hamas is on the clock. 72 hours. They’ve got less than 50 hours left. And you might remind them, Iran was on the clock. And look what happened in Iran when they ran the clock out.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I think they’re trying to hide behind a lot of civilians as well there in Gaza City. But looking at the plan, I will say there are some things that concern me about the plan, especially as it pertains to the way forward, because the 2020 peace plan that was put forward by the last Trump administration calls for the creation eventually of a Palestinian state, which I think is problematic. But I have to say, Hamas would have to be stupid not to accept this plan. This is their only way out. And it’s a very generous plan, quite frankly.
SPEAKER 04 :
It certainly is. But remember, they’ve had a state known as Gaza with elected leadership known as Hamas, and they destroyed their state. They took their aid. They built tunnels with it. So, look, two-state solution, if you talk to the Israelis and the people in Gaza, the two-state solution, I think, is dead. So let’s set that one aside. But yes, if they do accept it, though, I go back to the fact that they would have to give up their leverage. And do we really believe the people who train their children, indoctrinate their children to hate Jews are going to make the change to living peacefully and changing their mindsets, as it says in this plan, that quickly? I find it hard to believe. Tony, I’ve worked in the Middle East with the Israelis. I’ve been on the ground there, and I find it’s hard to believe.
SPEAKER 05 :
I was just going to mention that. I know you’ve served there working alongside the IDF. You and I have talked about this before. And I just asked this question to Senator Lankford. He was just on the program talking to it. It’s really hard to understand the complexity of the Middle East, Israel in the midst of all of that without having a biblical and quite frankly, spiritual understanding.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely it is. The land is talked about quite a bit in the Old Testament. And I know you and I share a view on that, that the land has been promised. And we don’t know how God is going to work this out. But we do know that his promises stand firm across time in ways we don’t understand. And all of this goes back to those two half-brothers and is continued down through the millennia.
SPEAKER 05 :
You make a really good point, Congressman. We don’t know when God fulfills that plan. My point has always been, but we know it will be fulfilled at some point in time, so we shouldn’t be moving in the opposite direction. We should be moving in the direction of that plan.
SPEAKER 04 :
I will point out one more thing, Tony. That’s the right to return. The right to return in Israel is very, very contentious, because it goes back to 1948. If we put the right to return into this agreement, would it then be extrapolated to Israel proper? That also concerns me.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I share some of those concerns. I want to switch gears a little bit. I want to go to the president, secretary of war today, meeting with unprecedented meeting of military brass. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with what the secretary had to say and how forceful he was as a as a Marine veteran. I think the military is there to fight and win wars, period, full stop.
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely, Tony. Lethality is the single measure whether we win or lose, and we cannot lose. We cannot lose the next war. But I will tell you, words, this was important for the general officers to hear directly from the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of War. But words do not make a lethal military. We also need to focus on the technologies that are coming, space, hypersonics, drones. We need to make sure that we can supply the weapon systems and the ammunition for the next war. Look, amateurs talk tactics. Professionals talk logistics. Let’s make sure that we back up the words that we heard today with a lethal military that is able to win the next war.
SPEAKER 05 :
And the reality is we’re a little bit behind the curve when you look at China.
SPEAKER 04 :
We are.
SPEAKER 05 :
This is a very dangerous world.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s a very dangerous world in Europe as well. They have already lost more people in Europe than they did prior to the lead-up of World War II. We are in a shooting war that is very dangerous in Europe. China is on the horizon. This is a dangerous world, Tony.
SPEAKER 05 :
And to the Secretary’s point, our military in many ways have been playing these games with, you know, DEI games as opposed to preparing for these conflicts that are on the horizon.
SPEAKER 04 :
You cannot take your eye off the ball, and that’s what we’ve done for the last four years. Our eye has been taken off of the ball of a lethal military ready to go in harm’s way and do damage to our enemies, our adversaries, and protect the American way of life. The eye has been taken off the ball. Let’s get it back on the ball. Let’s get ready to fight the next war. I don’t know when we’re going in harm’s way again, but our young men and women will go in harm’s way again.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, the stronger we are, the less probability that that does happen. I mean, it is a dangerous world, but if we’re strong, nobody wants to pick on us. Congressman Keith Self, always great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us today. Thank you, Tony. You know, during my time in the Marine Corps, which was in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan was president, you know, he came in pulling ships out of mothballs because it was peace through strength. And he built up our decimated military. Guess what? No conflicts. All right. Don’t go away. We’re coming back with more after this.
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Here at Family Research Council, we face many threats to the family, threats that have been with us for some time. Abortion, the gender ideology threat, the attacks on marriage, the attacks on parental authority, and the attacks on religious freedom. We have to promote, support, strengthen, and incentivize family growth so families take their place in society in a place of honor.
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I’m defending the family by working in the Center for Biblical Worldview to provide cutting edge research and resources for pastors, ministry leaders, and Christian parents.
SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
All right, welcome back. In just, actually less than three weeks, like-minded Christ followers from across the country are going to gather at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills in California for our Pray, Vote, Stand Summit. Now given what’s happening in our country today, I tell you, there’s never been, I think, a greater need for God’s people to cry out to God to move in our nation. It’s a great opportunity, but great challenges. And so I encourage you to join us, because we’re gonna pray, we’re going to talk about affecting our culture and our government by voting and ultimately standing for truth. So I encourage you to join us October 17th and 18th in California for a powerful, powerful gathering. To find out more and to register, go to PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org. Attorneys representing a pro-life journalist who was assaulted on camera earlier this year will be filing a civil lawsuit against the Office of Manhattan’s District Attorney. That’s Alvin Bragg, a name that you’ve heard before. Well, he failed to prosecute the felony assault charge, although the entire assault was recorded in a video that went viral on social media. The DA’s office downgraded the original second-degree assault charge against the assailant to a misdemeanor before the case was completely dismissed. New York apparently just loves lawlessness. Well, considering the political climate we find ourselves in today, what message does that send? Joining me now to discuss this is Christina Bennett, a news correspondent at Live Action and a colleague of the woman who was assaulted. Christina, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, so the attack on your colleague, Savannah, was shocking. I mean, how can someone get away with what was clearly, clearly an assault, a sucker punch on camera?
SPEAKER 12 :
It was shocking, and I think that’s why it got national attention, because people were horrified to see that type of violence. Savannah was questioning her about her pro-life opinions, and this woman, Breonna, she sucker punched her. And after that, she repeatedly mocked the situation, made jokes about it online, and now she’s making light of the fact that her charges were dropped, and it’s really just unjust.
SPEAKER 05 :
So what message does this send, not just to pro-lifers, but just in terms of civility in our society today? I mean, you’re having a conversation. Look, she could have walked away. She’s like, I don’t want to answer your questions. I don’t want to talk to you about this. I mean, I get it all the time on the streets of New York. I mean, on the streets of D.C., you’ve got Planned Parenthood and all these others wanting to talk to you about abortion. I say, look, I don’t have time to talk to you. And I just walk on. I don’t hit them.
SPEAKER 12 :
Exactly. Violence is never acceptable. We fight with words and ideas and debate and civil dialogue. And that back and forth is a beautiful thing. And that is a gift that we have as Americans, a protected right that we have for freedom of speech. And so violence is never the answer. And it really shows people this dropping of the charges, shows people that you can commit an act of violence and get away with it. And that is not the message that we need right now in America.
SPEAKER 05 :
You know, Christina, you bring up a very good point, and that is having dialogue and discussion, even when we disagree. And I know you’re a little younger, but there was a time in this country when that’s what we did left and right. We had conversations. We had debates. I mean, there were debates, but we had conversations. We were in dialogue now. What we’ve seen, it seems like those on the left have gone so far out, and there’s probably even some on the right as well, have gone so far out they can’t defend their positions, and so they resort to violence to shut the other side up. That’s no way to run a country.
SPEAKER 12 :
You’re right, it’s not. But I want you to know that there is still hope for dialogue today. Our president and founder, Lila Rose, just a few weeks ago, she came to Yale University and she had a debate on abortion. And she won that debate in a room full of students. Earlier in the spring, I went to Dartmouth University and I debated a Black pro-choice activist. And we had a respectful dialogue about the issue of abortion. And so you can still have these conversations. Of course, not everyone wants to have them. But many of us do. And we are going to continue doing that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. Last time I was invited to Harvard, I went. But the other side didn’t show up. They didn’t want to have a conversation. They didn’t want anyone to have a debate. So I just took the opportunity to have a conversation myself. I do think we have to show up and I think we have to be willing to engage people in a conversation. as I would describe a Christ-like manner. I mean, I like to have conversations with people. They don’t have to agree with me, but let’s have a conversation about it. And I’ve actually built a number of relationships with people on the other side of issues just by treating them with kindness. I mean, they’re human beings. They carry the image of God, and so they’re worthy of interacting with. By the way, you mentioned Lila. Lila is going to be one of our speakers at the upcoming PrayVote Stand Summit in Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills. So we look forward to having her there. She’s been a champion on this life issue, and we’re so grateful for live action. And I want to thank you, Christina, for joining us today as well. Appreciate all that you all are doing to help communicate the message of life.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yes, we’re honored to do this work. We’re honored to fight to save lives. And I thank you so much for having us. We are not giving up. We’re not going to be silent in the face of oppression. We’re going to continue to speak and continue to fight for pre-born lives to be saved.
SPEAKER 05 :
And I know you will. And that’s why we’re honored to partner with you. Christina, thanks so much for joining us today.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thank you. God bless.
SPEAKER 05 :
And folks, I want to encourage you, come join us at the PrayVoteStand Summit. I think in the wake of all that’s been happening in our country, people are, they realize life is fragile. They realize that there are things happening, quite frankly, they don’t completely understand. But there is a battle raging. And it’s not a political battle. I mean, I know it’s manifesting itself in the political realm, but it’s spiritual. And we must use our spiritual weapons. That’s why we changed the values voter summit to the pray vote stand. We have to pray first. Then we engage in the political realm. But ultimately, it’s up to us to stand for truth, just like live action and so many others are doing. All right. Don’t go away. We’re coming back with more Washington Watch right after this.
SPEAKER 16 :
Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. May we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 22 :
Jennifer, it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God’s Design. Who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view?
SPEAKER 14 :
There are so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
SPEAKER 22 :
This is really magical to have the therapist and the individual who suffered come together and write about why this is happening and why we’re seeing this.
SPEAKER 14 :
And we brought all of that experience to the table. We want to see people walking in the fullness of who God has called them to be and not a false identity.
SPEAKER 22 :
Order today at embracethedesign.com.
SPEAKER 10 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture. and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, welcome back to Washington Watch. Hey, if you’re a Newsmax watcher, a viewer, I’ll be on tonight with Todd Starnes, who’s filling in for Greg Kelly on Greg Kelly Reports, so tune in tonight. Our word for today comes from 1 Corinthians 10. Paul writes, “‘Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware “‘that all our fathers were under the cloud, “‘all passed through the sea, “‘all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.’ All ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now think about that. They began with great spiritual advantages, God’s protection, his provision, even his presence. Yet they still fell short. Why? Well, Paul lists the reasons they lusted after evil things, longing for Egypt’s food while despising the manna. They bowed to idols. They committed sexual immorality. They spoke against God. And they murmured, questioning his justice.” Then Paul says this, quote, now these things became our examples. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. That’s a strong reminder for us. Past blessings don’t guarantee future faithfulness. We must walk humbly, depending daily on Christ. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text Bible. to 67742, that’s Bible to 67742. All right, the decision by the Biden administration’s FDA to roll back safeguards on the abortion drugs after or during COVID is getting pushback from a growing number of officials in states where pro-life laws are being violated by out-of-state doctors. Now, this policy put in place by the Biden administration still remains in effect. Well, the latest is coming from my home state of Louisiana, a very strong pro-life state, which I’m proud of. And it revolves around the abortion drug because the abortion drug is accounting for a large and growing majority of abortions in America. We’re going to talk about that coming up just a little bit. Pro-life states are doing what they can to stop those who are undermining their ability to enforce their pro-life laws. Now, could this case… be the one that turns the tide. Joining me now to discuss this is the Attorney General of Louisiana, Liz Murrell. Liz, thanks so much for joining us here on Washington Watch once again.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thanks. It’s great to be with you, Tony.
SPEAKER 05 :
So, General, I want to thank you for stepping into this legal battle, and I know that this is not – well, you’re passionate about this. You have a long track record of being pro-life, but here you’re supporting the laws of the state of Louisiana, and you’re being joined – in trying to help women who are being, in this particular case, coerced into taking the abortion drug. Tell us about what happened to her in the steps that you’re taking to try to stop this.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, Rosalie’s story, you know, is similar to some of the others that we’ve seen in some other states and here where the pills were obtained by somebody else and they coerced her into taking them. And You know, she is someone now who speaks about it and her regret and that she still, you know, is sad about the loss of her child. And, you know, Tony, the biggest problem is that the Biden administration never should have withdrawn the restrictions on these pills to begin with. I’ve been litigating in this space from the day I walked into the attorney general’s office in 2016. And, you know, the abortion lobby and cartel was trying to basically take down all of our abortion laws and all restrictions on access to these pills. It’s dangerous. And now we have drug dealers basically from other states who are mailing them illegally into our states to anybody who asks for them. And it’s just—we’ve seen a number of cases where coercion is involved. A couple, you know, Thomas Presley, one of our state senators, his sister was poisoned with them when her estranged husband tried to abort their child by putting the pills into her food.
SPEAKER 05 :
What’s happening is that this is, Louisiana is like one of a dozen states that is resolute in protecting the unborn, strongest pro-life laws in the nation. And the Dobbs decision, which you were very much involved leading up to that, acknowledged the states have a right to protect the unborn and the women from exploitation. The Dobbs decision said that. So Louisiana’s got some very strong laws as a result of that recognition that the court gave. But they’re being undermined by these abortion pills that are coming in from New York and California, are they not?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and it’s not just that. I mean, I think that, you know, we certainly have seen these doctors and other organizations like Aid Access who are willing to facilitate obtaining the pills. Now, they’ll give them to anybody that asks for them. I mean, you can lie. You can set up fake Facebook accounts. You know, they’re not careful. There is no medical, you know, relationship here. They take your money and they mail you these pills and you don’t know where they came from. And And they don’t know who they’re sending them to. So that’s concerning enough. But when we try to enforce our laws, as we have against the doctors in other states who are participating in this illegal scheme, we’ve been blocked by the governor of New York from trying to extradite a doctor who was indicted here for violating our criminal laws. And I expect that we will be blocked by Governor Newsom when we try to extradite a California doctor who also sent the pills to Rosalie’s boyfriend.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. So there’s about eight states, including California, New York. They have these shield laws. In fact, I think it was yesterday or last Friday, California passed an even more of a broader shield law for physicians there so that they can send these abortion pills into states without the doctor’s name even being on the prescription. What can the federal government do? I mean, since this was a Biden era policy, can this not be undone?
SPEAKER 15 :
Absolutely can be. And that’s what we’ve asked the Biden administration to do. And so, you know, we have requested that they do that. They have indicated that they are reviewing the rule. I don’t think this is hard. The data was never there for the rule that they put in place in the first instance. So, you know, I think they need to withdraw it based on the the complete lies that were relied on to withdraw the REMS protocols that used to be in place on these pills. You know, before the Biden administration basically took all these restrictions away, the rules required a face-to-face relationship with a doctor who conducted an ultrasound to ensure that there was not an ectopic pregnancy, and they required a follow-up visit three weeks later to make sure that the woman wasn’t going to potentially be subject to developing sepsis or some other kind of life-threatening… So, I mean, even under circumstances where someone takes them by consent, it is very dangerous for women. Right. And if you do it without checking to see whether you have an ectopic pregnancy, then you can… You can cause extremely, you know, you could become infertile. So, I mean, it’s terrible.
SPEAKER 05 :
So, General, it’s pretty simple what you just described there. If if those protocols were put back in place that were there before the Biden administration changed them during covid, that means that. They couldn’t send pills from California or New York because it would require a in-person consultation. And so they’re not going to fly up to New York and fly back and then fly back again. I mean, and it’s not going to undermine the laws of the pro-life states, correct?
SPEAKER 15 :
And to be clear, it is illegal to send these pills by mail, even under federal law. That violates the Comstock Act. But that’s not being enforced. It’s not. And that would be federal, you know, federal officials that would have to enforce it. And so it is frustrating. It’s never been legal to mail these pills. Under the prior law, there were restrictions. And if a doctor prescribed them in this state legally, they still had to comply with all of those restrictions.
SPEAKER 05 :
So in the meantime, last question for you, General Merle. All of the work that Louisiana and like-minded states have done to protect the unborn is now being assaulted by states like, blue states like California, like New York, and in large part because of the policy that is currently in place at the federal level.
SPEAKER 15 :
Right. And I don’t think another state should have the ability to nullify the laws of this state when someone is committing a crime in this state intentionally. You know, I mean, it is no different than if they were dealing fentanyl or anything else that we’ve declared illegal or subject to very, very restrictive use under only certain circumstances.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s because it’s abortion.
SPEAKER 15 :
It’s treated differently. All the rules go away when it involves abortion, and it’s incredibly dangerous to women. It’s just appalling.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, General Merle, I want to thank you because you have a long track record of fighting for the unborn and fighting for women in our state of Louisiana. So I want to thank you, and I want to thank you for joining us today. And keep up the fight and let us know how we can help.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thanks. It’s great to be with you.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right. Attorney General Liz Merle from Louisiana. By the way, we need you to help weigh in on this. The Trump administration could could change this policy. I know they’ve announced that they’re looking at it, but look, we’ve got to change this. It’s not that difficult. Text the word LIFE to 67742 and sign our petition that we’re going to be delivering to the Trump administration. LIFE to 67742 to deal with what we were just talking about with Attorney General Merrill. All right, I want to continue this discussion very quickly as we wrap up the program today. The abortion drug Mifeprestone, and I’m going to bring in Dr. Michael New, Senior Associate Scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Dr. New, welcome back to Washington Watch. I want to ask you this question. First, the Guttmacher Institute released some new data today, and they’re saying that the number of abortions provided by abortionists have declined for the first time since the Supreme Court Dobbs decision. Now, I think we got to take that with a grain of salt because what they leave out of that, they’re talking about brick and mortar institutions that are doing physical surgical abortions. But 63 percent plus of abortions are now being done by the abortion pill that we were just talking about with Liz Merle. So the this may not be an accurate picture.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, I certainly don’t think it’s an accurate picture at all. Right now, policy regarding chemical abortions is the Wild West. You have women getting telehealth abortions, ordering pills from other states with shield laws that aren’t reporting. You have women ordering pills from other countries. So the data presented by Guttmacher is not the complete picture. I’m not confident at all that numbers actually are, in fact, going down.
SPEAKER 05 :
So it was interesting. There was some data they put out earlier on the abortion bill that showed their numbers of abortion prior to Dobbs being about 930,000 a year, now up to almost 1.1 million. But now they’re saying with the closure of these Planned Parenthood clinics as a result of the defunding and the reconciliation bill, they’re now saying, oh, women are not able to get abortions, when in fact the real picture is, and we don’t know for certain because the reporting requirements are not there, But all indications are abortion has actually gone up in the country.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, long-term, there’s certainly been an increase. I mean, once the FDA derated chemical abortions, numbers went up. It all started in 2017, where they reduced the number of in-person visits from three to one. Then during the pandemic in 2020, they said there could be no in-person visit, and women could just get these pills through the mail without any medical supervision. So ever since then, you’ve seen numbers going up. You know, I do think some of the individual pro-life laws are doing some good, but you’ve seen a long-term increase. Why? Because chemical abortions are totally unregulated. Again, the Trump administration could stop this tomorrow if they wanted to.
SPEAKER 05 :
So what happens, Dr. New, if the Trump administration did dial back the Biden policy and put back just what was in place before the Biden administration? As the attorney general was laying out, you had to have the in-person consultation. What do you think that would do to the abortion numbers in America?
SPEAKER 06 :
Oh, I think they would fall dramatically. I mean, telehealth abortions have only been with us since 2020. I mean, this is meant to be a temporary measure during the pandemic. The Biden administration unwisely continued. So if you put back the old rules in, telehealth abortions are illegal, and that means women living in pro-life states won’t obtain these chemical abortions through the mail. They’ll carry pregnancies to term. They’ll get help from pro-life pregnancy help centers. And women, children, unborn children will be protected.
SPEAKER 05 :
which would be the intent of what the Dobbs decision was, allowing lawmakers to set these policies and not just at the state level, it’s also at the federal level. I know that’s another argument to have with some people, but at a minimum, everybody agrees that Dobbs gave the states the right to regulate the sanctity, defend life through their policies. If that’s in place, And we see the nation trending toward a pro-life nation, which was the intent of Dobbs.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. I mean, pro-lifers worked long and hard to overturn Roe v. Wade. Now that Roe is overturned, we can put some policies in place that actually provide strong legal protection for pre-born children. But sadly, that’s being undermined. Again, women can go online, get these chemical abortion pills, mail them. There’s no medical supervision. And it’s just undermining all the hard work pro-lifers have done.
SPEAKER 05 :
Dr. New, it’s also, I mean, it’s keeping up with the trends. I mean, just like the big brick and mortar stores are closing, more people doing business through Amazon. I mean, this is really the abortion industry is moving in that direction. They’re saying they’re hurting because they’re closing down these clinics. But in fact, they’ve already adopted a business model that is using the abortion pill.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, they’ve been, you know, very savvy. I mean, you know, at first I think they had some trouble adjusting to things like the Texas Heartbeat Act and ADOBS, but they’ve realized that chemical abortions are a way around these good, strong, solid pro-life laws we’ve worked hard to pass. You know, they’re working with groups like Aid Access to send these chemical abortion pills into states in violation of state laws. So our opponents are always very savvy. You know, pro-lifers need to work hard and be very diligent to counter them.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, Dr. Michael New, I want to thank you for joining us. Always great to have you on the program. Appreciate the great work you do for the benefit of the unborn and their mothers.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, folks. Man, we covered a lot of ground in that segment, but I think you understand we’ve got a problem. While the states were recognized as having the right to protect the unborn and adopt decision, it’s not happening. Abortion rates have gone up. Women have been put at risk because of the abortion pill. It’s got to change. Text the word LIFE to 67742. That’s LIFE to 67742. And help us convince the administration to do the right thing and protect the unborn and their mothers. All right, I want to thank you for joining us today, and I want you to tune in again tomorrow. And until then, I want to leave you once again with the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul, found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you’ve done everything that you can do, when you’ve prayed, when you’ve prepared, and when you have taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 02 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family, and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
