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NOT ON MY WATCH!
A Mom's Fight for the Heart and Soul of Her Country
By MONICA BOYER iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Monica Boyer
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-4379-5
Chapter One
The Call
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" ~ Esther 4:14 NIV
March 8th, 2004, was the day that forever changed my life ...
Words still echo through my mind as if I were still sitting in that very spot.
Words that will remain with me until the day I die.
Words that, when spoken, would mean nothing to an average person on an average day.
Words that still bring tears to my eyes when I let my mind drift back to that day sitting on a bench on the third floor of the Indiana Statehouse.
Words that resounded over and over in my ears as my heels clanked down the marble steps and out to my car. It would be a long trip home, and a long conversation with God.
The words you ask?
"I have to go."
Strange words to most, but they will make sense as I tell you my story.
As a business owner, wife, and mother, I was living the best of both worlds. For ten years, I had been fortunate enough to own and operate a successful home daycare business. I was a stay-at-home mom who was both contributing financially to our family and raising our children. My husband Brian and I were blessed with three boys. Our fourth, a baby girl, had just made her grand appearance in the Boyer home. It was a good life.
I was living the American Dream.
Politically, however, I was mostly oblivious to what was going on in the world around me. Sure, I would vote. Voting was a privilege, and I recognized it as such. Outside of that, I took little interest. That is, until my piece of the American Dream began to change.
There are procedures and guidelines in place when it comes to operating a small business. I understood that. Indiana, however, started to take their policies a bit too far. The state began to over-regulate, not only my modest daycare facility, but small business in general. Our freedoms were being choked. I felt compelled to do something.
It was a wintry day in March of 2004 when I set out on my trip to the Indiana Statehouse. It was there that I met a wonderful legislator, State Representative Jackie Walorski. Jackie recognized the need for businesses to be able to operate without the heavy hand of government choking the life out of them. Through numerous meetings, she patiently taught a like-minded group of us how our state government worked. It was then that I first discovered the power of unity.
We spent long days walking bills through their exhaustive legislative course, testifying before House and Senate committees, negotiating, praying and watching endless hours of proceedings via the Internet. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would sit across the table from Governor Mitch Daniels, pleading our case and asking him to veto the heavy-handed regulations. Those days were exciting. Soon, however, it became apparent I was treading in deep waters. I had little knowledge of what I, or my family was heading into.
Around 2:30 in the afternoon, shortly after pleading our case before the House Committee on Childcare, I sat on a bench with Representative Walorski as we rehashed the day's events. We'd had a successful day. I briefed her on the Childcare Committee we had testified in front of just minutes before. I expressed my fear about where Indiana was headed in our fight to protect conservative values. She agreed. She told me about how, in her short time serving as an elected official in the Indiana State Legislature, there had been massive pressure to dismantle the conservative values we hold so dearly. She explained how quickly innocent-sounding words could be slipped into bills without the knowledge of the public. Harmless words such as "Familial Status" could actually cripple the pro-family movement.
This very thing had happened during the previous legislative session. The words "Familial Status" had been slipped into a civil rights bill. Unbelievably, when interpreted, these two words would have allowed incest to become legalized in the state of Indiana. Thankfully, the watchdogs for the pro-family movement caught the amendment, and it was defeated on a party line vote.
I was stunned. I asked myself, "How does a conservative state even consider a bill with an amendment legalizing incest?" The answer was so carefully and deceptively hidden by the phrase: "Familial Status." I realized then how vital it was to have watchdogs policing each bill every step of the way. Had that little phrase gone unchallenged and appeared in the final bill, children would have been denied protection in Indiana. That phrase would change the direction of my life.
Who would stand up for our children? Who would take on the mantle to protect family values? That chilly afternoon in March, a powerful call burned inside of me. I've heard missionaries say there comes a day when they must surrender and simply say, "I have to go." As I sat on a cold, hard bench, overlooking the marble floors of our beautiful statehouse, with the swirling bustle of state business going on around me, I realized I too, 'Had to go.'
Chapter Two
Boot Camp
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." ~ James 1:5 ESV
I didn't know it at the time, but the next four years would be a training ground to prepare me for the ultimate battle of a lifetime; a battle for the heart and soul of my country. During that period, I learned more about the legislative process and what it would take to play in this game called politics.
A group of concerned conservatives came together during this time of growing and learning to form an organization called Indiana Voice for the Family. I was elected as president. We followed issues our local and state legislators were considering. We became part of a group of policy watchdogs for family values on the state and national level. This pro-family movement shaped my life for the upcoming years when we would have to fight for the very life of our Constitution and our freedoms.
Here in Indiana, we found ourselves playing defensively, at odds with a Democrat-controlled legislative body. In their pursuit to tear down the family structure, there was seemingly nothing that liberals wouldn't try. Every session brought a new skirmish in the fight for family values—sometimes multiple clashes.
We worked with a variety of family decency groups in an effort to tackle the issues. Helpful people "in the know" encouraged the value of partnering with organizations such as the American Family Association of Indiana, Advance America, Indiana Right to Life, and the Indiana Family Institute. These groups already fought daily on the front lines for the family.
Each year, so many issues assaulted our socially-conservative stance. We discovered the key to tackling all of them was to have each of the various groups concentrate on a single issue. Then, we could combine our efforts as needed to support each other when legislation moved toward passage.
"Divide and conquer" was our motto.
One of our toughest battles was over what most conservatives call the most dangerous bill in America—Hate Crimes. The Indiana House of Representatives tried to pass it every year. Hate Crime laws create a special group of victims based on some aspect of their group identity. The most common aspect of new Hate Crimes legislation is based on sexual orientation. In this legislation, penalties would increase for crimes against minorities and special interest groups. In other words, there is a greater punishment for someone who kills a homosexual vs. someone who kills a grandmother.
This would open the door to thought crimes. Equal protection under the law would no longer exist.
In Indiana, defeating this bill proved a never-ending battle. Each session found us developing new and creative ways to fight it. It amazed me to watch how God would supply our leaders and legislators with new and fresh ideas to bring about its demise. During one session, I received a call from Representative Jackie Walorski.
"Monica," she said, "I have the answer! I was up late last night and it hit me. We need to add an amendment to this bill that states it is a Hate Crime to kill a viable fetus!" Representative Walorski knew that in the conservative heartland of Indiana, a number of pro-life Democrats feared to reject such an amendment. It would pass because these pro-life Democrats would be forced to vote for it. They wouldn't want to go on record as not supporting life. On the flip side, if the Hate Crimes bill passed with the amendment, there were enough pro-abortion Democrats who wouldn't want this language in it and would vote to kill the bill. We created a "no win" situation for the Democrats. She added the brilliant amendment, and it worked. As expected, the Speaker of the House was too afraid to call the bill to the floor. Hate Crimes died that day! In fact, every year the Democrats tried to pass Hate Crimes, Jackie would think of killer amendments. She used the viable fetus amendment several years in a row. One year she even used an amendment stating it was a "hate crime" to rape a woman.
We experienced many victories in those years working as Indiana Voice for the Family, and the defensive strategies we developed trained us for what we would face in 2009 when the TEA party movement faced the most evil Presidential administration this country has ever seen. We won lots of battles during those days, but the most important outcome however, was our self-taught education in lobbying. We learned how a bill becomes a law, and how to work with our lawmakers. We learned the victory that came with killing bills could be even more effective than passing a bill for a positive impact on our state and our liberties. It took strategy and work but I grew to love the art of killing bills, since each one we defeated meant another victory for our liberty.
One of the most exciting bills I played a part in dismantling was the mandatory HPV vaccination bill in 2007. The State of Indiana wanted to mandate all sixth grade girls receive the vaccine for HPV. While there are more than a hundred strains of HPV (Human Papillomavirus) the vaccination targeted a specific strain that causes genital warts, a sexually-transmitted disease. The vaccine, called Gardasil, had only been on the market for six months when Indiana decided they wanted to use our little girls as guinea pigs for a behaviorally-transmitted disease. Well, as Sarah Palin so accurately stated, this "mama grizzly bear" rose up and said, "Not on my watch ... not to my little girl!" We didn't know it at the time, but the death of this bill would have implications that would have a ripple effect across the nation, even affecting the presidential election of 2012.
The night before the big hearing, a group of six moms gathered in Jackie Walorski's Indianapolis apartment to plan our attack. These women were moms. None of them had ever made that terrifying walk up the isle to the microphone to speak before a group of lawmakers on behalf of their children. Most of them had never even been to our state capital. That didn't make any difference that night. Jackie's living room was filled with passion and drive to see this bill taken down. I felt like we were in the locker room with the coach right before the biggest game of our lives. These women were nervous, but they were confident because they knew what needed to be done.
The next day, when my turn arrived to sit in front of the microphone, I felt as though my words were inspired. I felt as if someone else spoke through my mouth. Passionate pleas came from the depths of my soul. "Leave our girls alone," I said. "Our families are not tools to be used as experiments by the government!" I could feel the daggers and disappointed glares being shot my way, by the author of the HPV bill, Senator Connie Lawson, who sat right next to me on the stand. I was just as disappointed in her. We'd always been able to count on her to stand up for our conservative values, and she had helped us a great deal on childcare issues, but this time she was dead wrong.
A lot more was riding on this bill than the protection of our children. That year, our legislators had their backs to the wall. Merck and Glaxo-Smith-Kline, two major pharmaceutical companies were in a race to see who could release their vaccine first. They knew the only way to succeed in this venture was to go through the heartstrings of our lawmakers. These pharmaceutical companies wined and dined them. They launched a nation-wide ad campaign, warning the public about the devastation of the HPV virus. They lobbied and grabbed the heart of the national organization called "Women in Government," a non-partisan organization of female state legislators who meet together to work on various initiatives across the nation. Anita Perry, the wife of Texas Governor Rick Perry, spoke before this group one evening and promised the help of her husband in getting this mandate passed. Only a few months later, Governor Perry issued an executive order mandating all sixth grade girls be vaccinated. State legislators all over the nation fell victim to the lie, with Indiana leading the way. "Big Pharma" had succeeded in convincing lawmakers all over the country that the HPV vaccination would eradicate cervical cancer
Here in Indiana, there was a brave reporter who took on this "Big Pharma" lie and exposed this operation for what it was. That reporter, Cindy Bevington, did not know it at the time, but she was on the brink of exposing the truth to Hoosiers in an effort to protect our girls from being used as public health experiments. Bevington shed light on all of the dangers this drug inflicted on our children. She went where no reporter was willing to go. Against all odds, she took on a giant.
Later, when the dangers of this drug were confirmed as TRUTH, her articles were printed nationwide. Her series of HPV stories, "A Big Public Health Experiment," won a first place award from the Associated Press in Indiana, a national first place community service award from Inland Press, and a state public health service award from the Society for Professional Journalists. Reporters should take note of the good that comes out of telling the truth no matter what the consequences. Bevington exposed the fact that Merck and Glaxo-Smith-Kline were valuing private wealth over public health.
In the end, six moms, a legislator and a reporter changed the outcome of a national health issue. The Indiana legislature expected to pass the bill that day. The usual rhetoric of "who would not want to protect children?" and "who would not want to eradicate cancer?" was the other side's selling point, but, our little group of moms put the fear of God in the legislators and they killed the bill that day. As we left the room, we overheard the author of the bill answer her phone. It was Governor Perry's office asking what went wrong in Indiana. We had struck fear into the heart of Governors everywhere.
Several years later, during the GOP presidential primary in 2012, this issue came to haunt Governor Rick Perry in his run for President of the United States. Moms everywhere took note of this mandate. I have to wonder if he wished he had thought twice before mandating the drug in Texas!
As exciting as those days were, they were also hard. This new way of life impacted my family deeply. My husband and children were involved every step of the way. We took many trips to Indianapolis. My family learned the legislative process as they watched bills become laws. We learned how to campaign, by helping our friend Representative Walorski. She was heavily targeted by the left for her conservative stand, and her seat was coveted by liberals year after year.
My children learned first-hand what government looked like. I remember one morning, as I got the children ready for school and prepared to make the trip to the statehouse, our oldest son asked, "Mommy, what bill are you going to pass today?" I laughed. They knew the process. They could go to school and tell their class, "No, it doesn't really happen the way the book says, this is really how it happens ..."
Our lives were turned upside down, inside out, and right side up through those years. Little did we know we had only just finished boot camp.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from NOT ON MY WATCH! by MONICA BOYER Copyright © 2012 by Monica Boyer. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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