2018 | Week of August 27 | #1270

In which branch of our government have those pushing a leftist, secular, humanistic, socialistic, ungodly agenda been most successful? You are right if you answered the judicial branch. Powerful people with seemingly unlimited resources have found courts at every level of our system of government to be very friendly to their beliefs and desires, regardless of the long-term, and sometimes even short-term, consequences of their decisions.

Why this happens is fairly easy to understand, at least from my non-rocket-scientist mind’s perspective. First, judges are attorneys, most of whom have been educated in institutions of higher learning that pride themselves on hiring professors who are absolutely besotted with liberal ideologies, which they are only too happy to pass on to those under their tutelage.  And, of course, the vast majority of those going to law school have been through 16-plus years of government schools where they were first indoctrinated in this liberal mind-set.

Second, all federal judicial positions are appointed, not elected. Many states follow that pattern. Wisconsin does not. Currently, we elect our judges from municipal right on through our state supreme court.  Many federal judges today have been appointed by liberal presidents, some going back to Bill Clinton.  Liberal presidents appoint liberal judges. That’s just how it is. And at the state level, liberal governors or liberal lawmakers appoint after their kind as well.

Even in a state like Wisconsin where we elect judges, it’s difficult for voters to find solid, actually helpful information about judicial candidates; and thus many voters vote pretty much blindly, which can result in liberal, activist judges easily getting elected, especially since they are elected in the spring non-partisan elections when we have notoriously low voter turnout.

No matter how they get on the bench, liberal activist judges are very real and liberal activists know who they are and where they are and are very happy to use them to accomplish what they so often can’t get done through state legislatures—or even Congress—or through the court of public opinion on referendum votes.

Sadly, we are experiencing this dastardly use of the courts right now in Wisconsin.  Recently two low-income individuals sued the state of Wisconsin in federal court for denying them funds from the publicly funded Medicaid program for surgeries to supposedly “change their gender.”

Over twenty years ago, Wisconsin determined Medicaid funds could not be used for such surgeries. As a reminder, Medicaid is a publicly funded program, which means taxpayers pay every penny that goes into that program.  But I digress.

Federal judge William Conley in the Wisconsin’s Western District Federal Court heard the case and determined late last month that the state could not deny payment for the elective surgeries for these biological male and biological female individuals. Conley said denying payment violated the Affordable Care Act and the equal protection rights of these two; and ordered the state to pony up your money and my money for these, and I repeat, purely elective surgeries.

The idea that these are elective surgeries is important. Denying public funding for such procedures is not denying paying for legitimate health care.  Gender confusion is not biological; it’s psychological. Irreversible, destructive surgeries are not the answer. They don’t do anything to help the person with the core issue, but they do mutilate the body. Just as abortion is an elective procedure and is not health care, neither are these surgeries—and taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for them.

However, the governing and oversight body on state insurance policies, the Group Insurance Board, now suddenly doesn’t agree. Running scared because of this lawsuit and apparently not wanting to defend our very appropriate and very reasonable current law, the Group Insurance Board on a 5-4 vote this past Wednesday kowtowed to this liberal, activist federal judge who took it upon himself to determine what the law should be and decided accordingly.  Bullying other government entities is another fallout from court decisions, and you can be sure those pushing these agendas know that very well.

We have a lot of work to do with our courts at every level. When you hear there will be a judicial election or an appointment, don’t ignore it or sit on the sidelines. Get informed and use your vote or your influence. Your freedom, your way of life and your finances may very well depend on the outcome.

This is Julaine Appling with Wisconsin Family Council, reminding you the Prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”