By  Katie Franklin (https://bit.ly/2DKBGvO)

Adding to a mounting pile of fees for unconstitutional state mandates against pro-life organizations, California has been ordered to pay three pregnancy help centers and a conservative law firm $399,000 following a major loss at the Supreme Court last summer.

The order comes four years after California enacted the “Reproductive FACT Act” (AB 2775), which forced pro-life medical clinics to promote abortion by posting advertisements on their websites and waiting room walls. That mandate sparked a legal battle that was eventually brought to a halt in a 5-4 ruling by the Supreme Court in NIFLA v. Becerra last June.

Writing for the Court, Justice Clarence Thomas said the law “unduly burdens protected speech.” 

In October, a district court declared the law unconstitutional, granting a permanent injunction against it.

Drawing the case to a close last week, U.S. District Court Judge Terry Hatter for the Central District of California said the state would have to pay $399,000 in legal fees and other costs to the Pregnancy and Family Resource Center of San Bernardino, His Nesting Place of Long Beach, Birth Choice of the Desert in La Quinta, and the Liberty Counsel.

The California order comes just as the state of Hawaii prepares to pay $60,000 in legal costs to pro-life pregnancy centers for their own law that violated free speech rights, and five months after the city of Baltimore’s spending board voted to pay $1.1 million to cover the legal fees of Greater Baltimore Center for Pregnancy Concerns for a similar city ordinance.

“Big Abortion is costing taxpayers extraordinary amounts of money to deny women accurate information about their options,” said Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, a global network of 2,600 pregnancy help organizations. “If they truly believe in ‘choice,’ they will listen to the courts and let pregnancy centers serve women and their unborn children, unhampered by dictates that contradict their deeply held beliefs.”

As costs climb for taxpayers across the country, the abortion lobby continues to target the free speech rights of pregnancy help centers. Right now, Connecticut is considering a measure that would ban pro-life pregnancy centers from advertising themselves in a way that the state deems “false, misleading or deceptive.”

Jeanneane Maxon, J.D., associate scholar for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, submitted testimony against the bill last week, arguing that the legislation discriminates against pregnancy centers and highlighting the financial costs that will come with a lawsuit against the legislation.

“The proposed regulation raises clear Constitutional concerns,” Maxon wrote. “When successfully challenged in a court of law, the Raised Bill will result in the unnecessary waste of public resources and funds that could be used to provide for the citizens of Connecticut.”

In 2017, pregnancy help centers in the United States served nearly 2 million clients with free services (such as ultrasound scans, material resources, and parenting classes), saving their communities over $161 million. There are approximately 2,750 serving families all across the country.

“Pregnancy service centers are credible institutions held to high standards set by professionals in the industry,” Maxon said. “Pregnancy service centers comply with laws and offer a tremendous service to their communities saving millions of dollars annually. The proposed regulation seeks only to unfairly discredit these worthy organizations and will ultimately harm the clients and communities they serve.”

Criminals impersonating SDG&E work year-round to come up with new ways to defraud people, and recently there’s been a spike. These criminals threaten to turn power off if their victims don’t make an immediate payment.
 
SDG&E will never do that. They never contact customers to get their credit card, banking or other financial information over the phone, nor does SDG&E send employees to go door to door to ask for immediate payment.
 
If you have a past-due balance, remember, SDG&E will always provide past-due notices in writing before shutting off service. And there are  programs in place to work out payment arrangements with people  who are struggling financially.
 
Avoid becoming a victim of utility scams with these tips.
 
Phone impersonation
If you receive a phone call from a person claiming to work for SDG&E and the caller asks for payment over the phone, it is a scam. Hang up the phone. 
 
Imposters at your door
If someone claims to work for SDG&E, ask them to show their ID badge. Make sure they are wearing an authentic SDG&E uniform and arrived in an SDG&E-marked company vehicle. If you are still suspicious, please call SDG&E at 1-800-411-7343.
 
CryptoCurrencies and prepaid cards
The con artist calls the victim and then emails him or her an online payment method with SDG&E’s logo and a QR code (akin to a bar code). The customer is directed to buy Bitcoin with GreenDot prepaid debit cards online.
 
Caller ID-spoofing
One of the especially convincing techniques that con artists use is known as caller ID spoofing. The caller alters the caller ID information to make it look like someone legitimate is calling. In the case of utility scams, the criminals would make it look like SDG&E is calling.
 
Text message and mobile app scams
Some scammers solicit money from customers via mobile devices. Mobile apps and text messaging make it easy for criminals to demand and collect payment. Mobile payment apps are convenient, and busy or distracted customers can fall prey to scams. 
 
Don’t be the Next Victim
New scams arise every day. Arm yourself with information by visiting sdge.com/avoid-scams. If you believe you might have been a victim of fraud, please call SDG&E immediately at 1-800-411-7343 to report it.

I'm seeing a lot of posts on Facebook about how outraged people are with the law that was passed in New York legalizing abortion through the full nine months of pregnancy - and again, this week, when a legislator in Virginia was questioned about her bill that would do the same there.  People are angry - horrified - distraught - and I wonder why.  Not "why are they reacting so negatively to the thought of a full term baby being aborted" - but why now?

Abortion has been legal "on demand" since the 1973 Supreme Court decisions Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton.  Since 1973, abortion has been legal the full nine months of pregnancy - for any reason.  New York's law didn't change anything (other than to make it legal for a non-physician to provide abortion services) - and the proposed Virginia law wouldn't have changed anything, either.

There's also been a great deal of anger over what the Governor of Virginia said about this bill - he virtually condoned infanticide - allowing an aborted baby that had the misfortune of surviving the attempt on his/her life to "be comfortable" until the parents and doctors could decide what to do - to either resuscitate or allow the baby to die "comfortably."  This isn't anything new, either.  Late term abortions often result in an "unintended live birth" - and the policy has been to put the baby aside (like in a closet so no one has to listen to their pitiful cries for help) - and to do nothing until the baby has finally expired.  

SO - my question is - why now?  And - will anything change as a result of all this angst?  I think people are reacting now because the pro-aborts are becoming increasingly demonstrative and vocal about how far they're willing to take this.  Those of us who have been involved in the pro-life movement for awhile have heard and seen this so often that it doesn't surprise us - but for those who are more comfortable NOT knowing, it's becoming more difficult to ignore what's been going on for decades.  I've seen this cycle happen before - most recently after the Planned Parenthood undercover videos were released a few years ago.  People were upset - outraged - angry - for awhile. There was a lot of talk about "doing something," but we didn't see a huge uptick in the number of people who wanted to volunteer or financially support our work "in the trenches."  And - sadly - the church went back to ignoring the moral decay not just around it, but that is often in its midst.

I wonder how long this latest surge of anger will last.  A few more weeks?  Maybe a month?  And then - back to "normal" - back to letting the killing continue unchallenged and unabated?  Back to voting for a political party that supports abortion at every level because they've always voted for that party?  Or - will people finally say "enough" and really get involved?

Women NEED our help!  The pressure to abort is often unrelenting - and is always overwhelming.  Women need to know they can  count on us to be there in time of need - and that takes resources - time - talent - and treasure.  We can't just say that abortion is wrong - unless we're willing to walk alongside a pregnant woman who feels that abortion is her only option.  Jesus expects us to be His arms/legs/hands and HEART for the broken, wounded, desperate and abandoned.

Only time will tell if this is the tipping point in the dialogue about abortion.  What side will you find yourself on when the dust settles?

It seems that everywhere you look this week, people are talking about the "new" law passed in New York legalizing abortion up to birth.  The legislators in New York celebrated this "new" law - and Andrew Cuomo ordered the Empire State building lit pink in honor of this "historic" legislation.  There's also a lot of outrage from the public - most people are horrified by this "new" law - and rightly so.

BUT - is it really "new?"  The answer is a resounding NO.  Abortion was legalized "on demand" in 1973 with the US Supreme Court decisions Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton.  Those two decisions resulted in abortion being legal at ANY time - for ANY reason.   Over the years since those decisions, some states have been able to pass restrictions, but they are routinely challenged, and in some cases (like in California) they are enjoined and never enforced.  More recently, the Supreme Court has indicated that they believe states do have the right to place some limits/restrictions on abortion, and there are a number of states that prohibit abortion after 20 weeks, or that require waiting periods, or alternatives counseling before a woman can have an abortion.  But let's be clear - late term abortion occurs all over this country - and it's LEGAL, and has been since 1973.

I'm glad people are outraged - that they're thinking about abortion in ways they've not thought about it before - especially if it moves them to do something.  A few years ago we saw undercover videos of Planned Parenthood doctors talking about how they preserve "specimens" so they can sell "fetal tissue" - how they get paid more if they ensure intact organs - they were almost giddy with excitement about it.  People were horrified then, too - and we hoped it would mean that they would step up and do something.  A few did...but over time, the furor died down, and those videos are ancient history now.

Will the response to this "new" law be any different?  Only time will tell...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo vowed to protect and expand abortion access for women in the state, promising Monday to nix a state budget that doesn’t include looser abortion laws.

Cuomo, a Democrat, promised to add abortion protections to the state constitution and vowed to reject a budget that doesn’t include expanded abortion access while speaking at Barnard College in New York City. Members of the state legislature and abortion advocates attended the event, CBS News reported.

“We have led the way on women’s rights like no other state, period,” Cuomo said, according to CBS.

Abortion is legal up until 24 weeks in pregnancy in the state. Cuomo seeks to pass the Reproductive Health Act, which will provide exceptions for circumstances where a woman’s health is at risk or where a baby will be born with a fatal fetal abnormality. The legislation also seeks to allow nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants and qualified health care professionals to provide abortions.

The governor is also looking to pass a bill requiring insurance companies to provide free contraceptive care, The New York Times reported Monday.

Cuomo vowed Monday not to sign the state’s budget plan in April unless both bills are included. He also demanded that the bills’ provisions be codified into the state constitution, according to TheNYT.

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also spoke at the event.

“Advancing the rights of women and girls is the great unfinished business of the 21st century,” Clinton said, TheNYT reported. “It continues to be the fight of our lifetime.”

Roughly 10 percent of women in New York resided in a county that had no abortion center in 2014, according to a May 2018 Guttmacher Institute report. Women seeking abortions in the state do not face any major restrictions like waiting periods, mandated parental involvement or public funding limitations, according to the report.

Cuomo did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

SOURCE:  Lifenews.com

Whether you use natural gas at home or work, pipelines are needed to deliver it to you safely. SDG&E routinely patrols, tests, repairs and replaces pipelines, and conducts ongoing training and testing for employees.
Our goal is to identify and resolve potential problems to help prevent major problems. These preventive actions include:
•Managing a rigorous pipeline integrity safety program in highly populated areas.

•Using advanced safety inspection tools to monitor pipe condition and verify that pipelines are being maintained safely.

•Monitoring areas around pipelines to maintain proper clearance from shrubs, trees, fences and other obstructions that could hinder these important inspection activities.

Markers indicate the general location of major pipelines.

You can find the approximate location of major pipelines near you in two ways:
•Pipeline markers, such as the one shown above, indicate the general location but not the depth or number of buried pipelines in the area. These yellow markers display the pipeline operator's name and a phone number to call in case of emergency.

•Online maps are posted on our website at sdge.com/pipelinemap and on the National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS) website at www.npms.phmsa.dot.gov.

These maps and markers should never be used as substitutes for contacting DigAlert at 811 or digalert.org.

Want to save energy this winter? There are many steps you can take that will help reduce your overall energy costs. The more efficient your home is and the less energy that is transferred from inside to outside, the less energy it’ll take to keep your home comfortable – even in the coldest part of the year.
Greener Ideal, an environmental news publication, recommends these winter energy-savings tips:

1. Sunshine is your friend! It’s an excellent natural warmer for your home. Open the curtains and blinds on west- and east-facing windows during the day to allow as much sunshine as possible into your home. Then draw your curtains closed at night to insulate your home from the winter night chill.
2. Check your insulation. Insulation is like the winter coat for your house. The heavier it is, the warmer it will be. If your home is poorly insulated, it may be time to add some eco-friendly insulation. Add insulation blankets to the attic floor or wrap your water heater in fiberglass insulation.
3.  Seal leaks. A leaky home in a wasteful home, so find those vulnerable areas of your home where cold air gets in and warm air escapes. The most likely culprits are unsealed doors and windows. Seal leaks with weather stripping to prevent warm air leaving your home. Ensure seals around ducts are in good condition, too. Cover unused fireplaces to prevent passage of air through the flue.
4. Turn down the thermostat. Perhaps the most energy-conscious choice a homeowner can make is to have a programmable thermostat installed. You can set the unit to run at one temperature when you’re home and awake, another while you’re sleeping, and yet another when you’re not home. Save $75 through SDG&E’s instant rebate program by visiting sdge.com/instant.
5. Keep those tootsies warm. An energy-efficient way to keep your home warm in the winter is to switch to underfloor heating or a radiant heating system. Underfloor heaters use radiant heating to warm the entire room from the ground up. Heat travels upward which makes a floor heater more efficient than a heater with ducts placed near the ceiling. 

​#espsdge

The following quotes may be attributed to the leadership team of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates regarding a federal district court’s Friday order that permanently ends enforcement of AB 775 —  a California law which attempted to force pro-life pregnancy centers to advertise for abortion and was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in NIFLA v. Becerra:

“NIFLA v. Becerra is not just about whether or not to hand out abortion information on a piece of paper or post it on the walls of pro-life centers. It is about the right belonging to all American citizens to be free from government-compelled speech, and from being coerced into promoting a message that contradicts their values,” said NIFLA Vice President Anne O’Connor, J.D. who acted as co-counsel in the lawsuit on behalf of NIFLA and its pregnancy centers.

“The right of free speech protected in the First Amendment not only includes the right to speak, but also the right to not be compelled by government to speak a message with which one disagrees and which violates one’s conscience,” added NIFLA president Thomas Glessner, J.D. “We are pleased with this permanent injunction and what it means for the many pregnancy centers that serve and empower women in California and throughout the country.”

About NIFLA

The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, known as NIFLA, is a national nonprofit organization providing legal counsel, education, and training for pro-life pregnancy centers and medical clinics. Representing a network of nearly 1,500 pregnancy centers across the United States, NIFLA has recently challenged laws in California, Hawaii and Illinois that target its members.
​
NIFLA Vice President Anne O’Connor, J.D., acted as co-counsel on NIFLA v. Becerra before the Supreme Court in March. The NIFLA v. Becerra ruling in favor of pro-life pregnancy centers and free speech was released on June 26 of this year.

What's happening to Brett Kavanaugh is outrageous - and is purely motivated by the Liberal Left's obsession with keeping abortion legal "on demand."  Make no mistake - this isn't about what he's been accused of doing in High School - this is about Roe v. Wade.  The Democrats are terrified that they might lose their grip on abortion - and they'll do anything to stop anyone from sitting on the bench who might undermine that "right."  They'll destroy this man - his family - his reputation - his ability to work - simply because they disagree with his position on abortion.

There was a time in our history when these antics wouldn't have been tolerated - but things have changed.  Now the only way we can reign these people in is by voting and electing representatives who aren't driven by their lust for power and control.  We need people of character leading our country - people who can truly "agree to disagree."  If we don't vote, then we deserve what's coming.