Christians for Personhood ( CP )
Columbia, South Carolina
April 16, 2016
SC Personhood Amendment – Surprise Senate Vote to give open Special Order slot to H.3189 (not S.719) on Thursday, April 14 failed 2/3 required by just ONE vote, 28-16 !
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10 Republicans* joined by all 18 Democrats voted for Special Order for H.3189 April 14.
Thankfully, 28 was at least ONE vote short of the 29 required 2/3 super majority (29 of 44 Senators present and voting), because 16 Republicans voted against this surprise Motion for Special Order for H.3189 by Senate President Pro-Tempore, 35-year incumbent Senator Hugh Leatherman (Darlington, Florence).
Thanks be to God !
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* The 10 Republican Senators who voted to give away the one open Special Order slo to H.3189 (not S.719) on Thursday, April 14 were:
1) Thomas C. Alexndera – District 1 – Oconee & Pickens Counties – Map
2) Paul G. Campbell, Jr. – District 44 – Berkeley, Charleston & Dorchester Counties – Map
3) Raymond E. Cleary, III – District 34 – Charleston, Georgetown & Horry Counties – Map
4) Ronnie W. Cromer – District 18 – Lexington, Newberry & Union Counties – Map
[ Senator Cromer is a co-sponsor of S.719 and has signed the S.719 pledge ]
5) Robert W. Hayes, Jr. – District 15 – York County – Map
[ Senator Hayes has signed the S.719 pledge ]
6) Hugh K. Leatherman, Sr. – District 31 – Darlington & Florence Counties – Map
7) Larry A. Martin – District 2 – Pickens County – Map
8) Luke A. Rankin – District 33 – Horry County – Map
9) Paul Thurmond – District 41 – Charleston & Dorchester Counties – Map
10) Tom Young, Jr. – District 24 – Aiken County – Map
[ Senator Young is a co-sponsor of S.719 ]
Contact information for all SC Senators is here: http://www.scstatehouse.gov/member.php?chamber=S
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Strategy and Action going forward through this Tuesday, April 19:
1) Born-again Christians, Pray . Thank God for His sovereign intervention Thursday afternoon, April 14, defeating the surprise Motion for Special Order for H.3189. Thank God for using the 16 Republican Senators who voted against Senator Leatherman’s Motion. Pray God would turn the hearts (Proverb 21:1, KJV) of especially the three Republican Senators who are S.719 co-sponsors and/or pledgers (Cromer, Hayes, Young), but who voted to give away the open Special Order slot to H.3189.
2) The Senators supporting Special Order for H.3189 are planning to try again next week; it is possible another Special Order vote for H.3189 could be taken as early as Tues., April 19.
[ Notice at the end of the Senate Journal for April 14, right after the Special Order vote for H.3189, the record of remarks made by Senator Joel Lourie (D), Senator Hugh Leatherman (R), and Senator Larry Martin (R) noted in the Senate Journal as “Expression of Personal Interest”. These were essentially pleas/challenges/reproofs for not setting H.3189 for Special Order in the 28 – 16 vote just taken, and exhortations to do so in the future. The archived videotape of the April 14 Senate Session is located here [ click on Thursday, April 14, 2016 11:00 am Senate, begin at videotape time 1:15:10 ]. Note that embedded within these Senators’ remarks are also remarks by other Senators who also supported Special Order for H.3189 – Senator Paul Thurmond (R), Senator Luke Rankin (R) [ Luke Rankin welcomed Larry Martin to the “Gang of 28” ], and Senator Vincent Sheheen (D). Senator Larry Martin (R) is facing three Republican Primary opponents June 14, and he wishes to see the so-called “dark money” bill H.3189 passed, to take effect in the future after 2016. Senator Larry Martin (R) began his remarks ( begin at videotape time 1:23:00 ) with these words: “… I don’t think anybody in here has had a bigger target on their back regarding the expenditure of third party money, than I have.” Realize therefore the significance of this “campaign funding/ethics” bill H.3189 in the mind of 23-year incumbent Senator Larry Martin, in the future after 2016. During Larry Martin’s remarks, fellow H.3189 supporter, Democrat Senator Vincent Sheheen even “humorously” offered to come up to Pickens County to endorse Larry Martin’s opponent (the thinking being that endorsement of the opponent(s) by a Democrat would hurt the opponent in that opponent’s run as a Republican, thus helping incumbent Larry Martin).
3) Instead, we pray a Special Order vote for S.719 will be taken and will succeed on Tues., April 19. So please call and e-mail the Republican and Democrat Senators further below, as many as you are willing, by NLT Tuesday morning, April 19 when the Republican Senate Caucus meets at 11AM prior to the 12 noon Session in the Senate chamber, saying to them words to this effect:
“Please vote to give the open Special Order slot to S.719, and please do not vote to give the open Special Order slot to H.3189. The vote for Special Order for S719 is being counted as a vote for or against the Personhood Constitutional Amendment. Let the People of South Carolina vote on the ballot November 8, 2016 .”
[ Notice also at the very end of the Senate Journal for April 14, after the “Expression of Personal Interest” by Senator Larry Martin, is one more “Expression of Personal Interest” by Personhood Amendment supporter Senator Kevin Bryant (R). Senator Bryant’s remarks included these welcome words: “… I did vote No on Special Order for a couple reasons. One reason is … Another reason is, we’ve got a bill, S719, called Personhood Bill, and if we can save lives of the unborn, I would much rather save lives of the unborn than some of our re-elections.” The archived videotape of the April 14 Senate Session is located here [ click on Thursday, April 14, 2016 11:00 am Senate, begin at videotape time 1:34:15 ].
[ Members of the SC Senate – http://www.scstatehouse.gov/member.php?chamber=S ]
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Please Call and E-mail as you are willing to the South Carolina Senators below.
Recommend you call each Senator’s Gressette Building phone number first; then if you are willing to send an e-mail, that can be done two different ways: 1) Go to the webpage of each individual Senator ( click on links below, or go to www.scstatehouse.gov, click on “Senators” and then on each individual Senator’s name ), and on the individual Senator’s webpage, click on, “Send message to Senator ________” ), fill out and “Send” the e-mail, or 2) use the e-mail addresses below. If you want to go another step, call the other numbers which the Senator has listed in their biographical information on their Senate webpage, such as home and/or business number(s). This last option is probably the best if you wish to try to speak personally with the Senator yourself. If you have the opportunity to do so,
leave messages on any voicemail.
When you call / e-mail any of these Senators, please say to them words to this effect:
“Please vote to give the open Special Order slot to S.719, and please do not vote to give the open Special Order slot to H.3189. The vote for Special Order for S719 is being counted as a vote for or against the Personhood Constitutional Amendment. Let the People of South Carolina vote on the ballot November 8, 2016 .”
1) Please first contact these three Republican Senators who are S.719 co-sponsors and/or pledgers, but who voted among the 10 Republicans to give H.3189 Special Order on Thursday, April 14:
Ronnie W. Cromer – E-mail: RonnieCromer@scsenate.gov
Robert W. Hayes, Jr. – E-mail: RobertHayes@scsenate.gov
Tom Young, Jr. – E-mail: TomYoung@scsenate.gov
2) Please next contact your own Senator, Republican or Democrat:
[ Members of the SC Senate – http://www.scstatehouse.gov/member.php?chamber=S ]
3) Then next contact these other seven Republican Senators who voted among the 10 Republicans to give H.3189 Special Order on Thursday, April 14:
Thomas C. Alexander – E-mail: ThomasAlexander@scsenate.gov
Paul G. Campbell, Jr. – E-mail: PaulCampbell@scsenate.gov
Raymond E. Cleary, III – E-mail – RayCleary@scsenate.gov
Hugh K. Leatherman, Sr. – E-mail: HKL@scsenate.gov
Larry A. Martin – E-mail: LarryMartin@scsenate.gov
Luke A. Rankin – E-mail: LukeRankin@scsenate.gov
Paul Thurmond – E-mail: PaulThurmond@scsenate.gov
4) Then next contact these five Republican Senators who voted on the right side with the 16 Republicans who voted against giving H.3189 Special Order on Thursday, April 14, but who are presently neither co-sponsors, nor pledgers in support of S.719:
Sean Bennett – E-mail: SeanBennett@scsenate.gov
George E. “Chip” Campsen, III – E-mail – ChipCampsen@scsenate.gov
John E. Courson – E-mail: JohnCourson@scsenate.gov
Greg Hembree – E-mail: GregHembree@scsenate.gov
Harvey S. Peeler, Jr. – E-mail: HarveyPeeler@scsenate.gov
5) Then next contact these three Democrat Senators who have co-sponsored Personhood Bill in the past, and who once voted in support of a Personhood Bill Recall from Committee:
Darrell Jackson – E-mail: DarrellJackson@scsenate.gov
Glenn Reese – E-mail: GlennReese@scsenate.gov
Kent Williams – E-mail: KentWilliams@scsenate.gov
6) Then next contact this Democrat Senator who abstained from voting against S.71 in the full Judiicary Committee vote on April 12, 2016:
J. Thomas McElveen, III – E-mail: ThomasMcElveen@scsenate.gov
[ Note: A vote tally for the April 12, 2016 Senate Judiciary Committee vote on favorable passage of S .719 received from the Senate Judiciary Committee staff is reporting Senator Karl Allen (D) and Senator Gerald Malloy (D) also voted against S.719. If this is accurate, the April 12 vote would be 11 – 7, not 11 – 5. ]
7) Then next contact these 12 Republican Senators who are co-sponsors and/or pledgers in support of S719, and who were among the 16 Republican Senators who voted correctly against Special Order for H3189 on April 14 ( except Shane Martin who was on leave from the Senate), if you would like to thank and encourage them to stand in the battle which is expected next week:
Lee Bright – E-mail: LeeBright@scsenate.gov
Kevin L. Bryant – E-mail: KevinBryant@scsenate.gov
Thomas D. “Tom” Corbin – E-mail: TomCorbin@scsenate.gov
Tom Davis – E-mail: TomDavis@scsenate.gov
Michael L. Fair – E-mail: MikeFair@scsenate.gov
Chauncey K. Gregory – E-mail: GregGregory@scsenate.gov
Lawrence K. “Larry” Grooms – E-mail: LarryGrooms@scsenate.gov
Shane R. Martin – E-mail: ShaneMartin@scsenate.gov
A. Shane Massey – E-mail: ShaneMassey@scsenate.gov
Katrina Frye Shealy – E-mail: KatrinaShealy@scsenate.gov
Ross Turner – E-mail: RossTurner@scsenate.gov
Daniel B. “Danny” Verdin, III – E-mail: DanielVerdin@scsenate.gov
8) Finally contact the remaining 14 Democrat Senators:
Contact information for all SC Senators is here: http://www.scstatehouse.gov/member.php?chamber=S
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“The king’s heart is in the Hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water:
He turneth it whithersoever He will.”
Proverb 21:1, KJV ( with deity capitalized )
“… with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26, KJV
In Christ,
Steve Lefemine
Christians for Personhood
PO Box 12222
Columbia, SC 29211
