House to Vote on Legalizing Assisted Suicide
🚨 Act now: contact your representatives and ask them to oppose HB 254.
Last week, the House Judiciary Committee held an executive session on HB 254, relative to options for end of life care, a dangerous bill that would legalize physician-assisted suicide for those facing an illness which a physician has determined would likely be terminal within 6 months.
The Judiciary Committee voted OTP (Ought to Pass) on the HB 254. The bill will now go before the full House for a vote.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: ❌ We urge you to contact your representatives to register your opposition to the bill and urge them to vote
NO on HB 254.
📖 Read our blog post describing how assisted suicide would empower the state, not personal liberty.
📩 Share this email using the link here with faith leaders and members of the disability, suicide prevention, and brain injury communities and ask them to oppose HB 254.
Support Expanded Legal Protection for Constitutional Rights Violations
Last week, the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on HB 614, an important piece of legislation that addresses past constitutional rights violations in New Hampshire.
Currently under New Hampshire case law, courts can hear your case and give you a remedy if your constitutional rights are going to be violated in the future or are currently being violated in an ongoing way. However, if any of your constitutional rights were violated in the past, and the violation is over, the justice system can provide no assistance.
HB 614 seeks to rectify this discrepancy by asserting that if your constitutional rights were violated in the past, you still have a legal path to having that violation addressed in the court system.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
📩 Please contact the House Judiciary Committee and ask them to vote OTP (Ought to Pass) on the bill. You can email the committee here.
🔗 Watch Cornerstone Attorney Ian Huyett’s testimony in support of HB 614 here.
Senate to Vote on Church Rights and Discrimination Protections
Last week, the Senate Ways and Means Committee held an executive session on SB 291, a much-needed bill to protect churches from discrimination and ensure that they can operate without being burdened by unjust taxation measures. Additionally, the bill strengthens New Hampshire’s zoning protections for churches, ensuring that those providing rental housing on their property are protected from unfair zoning discrimination.
Unfortunately, the bill was weakened by a committee amendment limiting housing used for religious purposes to just six units, and the bill will now proceed to the Senate floor with this change.
In her gubernatorial campaign platform, Gov. Kelly Ayotte stated a key way to solve the housing crisis in New Hampshire is to empower churches and religious organizations to provide more housing. This bill in its original form removes one key roadblock to realizing that vision.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
✍️ Ask the Senate to amend the bill to restore it to its original form, or to raise the number of religious housing units to 25.
📧 You can contact your Senator here.
Senate Democrat Bill Would Legalize Discrimination Against Churches.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is currently considering SB 265: repealing the provision related to religious use of land and structures, a dangerous bill that would allow discrimination against churches, mosques, and all places of worship.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
⏰ SB 265 has been scheduled for a public hearing Tuesday, March 11, at at 1:15pm, in the State House, Room 100.
✅ We urge you to sign in in opposition to the bill. The process of signing in takes a minute or less. You can find step-by-step instructions here.
✍️ Submit written testimony. You can send written testimony by email to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
⛪️ Organize your churches to sign in and contact the committee. Please ask your pastor or priest specifically to contact the committee.
Ask Committee to Restore Law Banning Teaching Discrimination
Our current law against teaching discrimination prohibits teaching critical race theory (CRT) in public schools. Unfortunately the law is unenforceable due to agency non-enforcement as well as a court injunction.
Cornerstone has been the leading organization helping parents report violations of the law; we have also been working to restore the law through requiring agency enforcement and overcoming the district court injunction. Unfortunately the current HB 50 amendment, while well intentioned and harmless, would not get the law up and running.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
🎓 We ask you to contact the House Education Policy and Administration committee and urge them to pass a robust amendment restoring and strengthening the CRT ban.
📩 You can email the committee here, or using the button below.
