Half-way Point
by Christopher Dodson
Executive Director
North Dakota Catholic Conference
March 2006
We have reached a halfway
point. The last North Dakota Legislative Assembly met a
year ago and the next legislative session will convene in
January 2007. Now is a good time to take a look at what has
happened with some of the laws passed in the 2005 session.
Most state laws do not take effect until the first August 1
after the session. Some laws, such as unambiguous criminal
statutes, take effect on that date with no delay. However,
sometimes it takes awhile for agencies to launch new
programs. Other laws must wait for rules or legal
interpretations before they are fully implemented.
Assessing how legislation is carried out is just as
important as watching how legislation is enacted. Here is a
look at what has happened with some of the bills passed
last session.
Senate Bill 2409 created a program to give financial
assistance to private organizations that provide
alternatives-to-abortion services. The state Department of
Human Services has the responsibility for implementing the
program. The department reached out to faith-based and
community organizations and sought their help with
designing the program. All participating agencies had to
agree not to counsel or refer for abortion and not to
knowingly refer a client to another place for those
services. Pursuant to the federal rules for faith-based
charitable entities, the centers are not required to change
their religious identity to participate in the program, but
they cannot be reimbursed for activities that include
worship, religious education, or proselytizing.
The program started in January. Preliminary reports show
that about 70 women were provided pro-life alternatives to
abortion during the program’s first month. So far,
this initiative appears to be off on a good start.
On another matter, the legislature directed an interim
committee to study the state’s marriage laws and
methods for strengthening marriage. More specifically, the
committee is to:
“Study the state's
marriage laws and methods for strengthening the institution
of marriage in the state, including premarital
requirements, such as marital education and counseling,
waiting periods, and marital blood tests; the availability
of marriage counseling and parenting education in the
state; and the implementation of predivorce requirements,
such as divorce-effects education.”
Admittedly, that is a tall order, but the strength of
marriage often results from the combination of many
factors. Unfortunately, it looks like the committee has
accomplished very little. According to the minutes for the
committee’s only two meetings, most of the discussion
so far has focused on the cost of a marriage license.
The lack of activity by the committee might be intentional
on the part of some committee members. Some legislators
appear to either not understand or not accept the
importance of marriage as a social institution –
which would justify the state’s interest in how laws
and government programs strengthen or weaken marriage. To
them, marriage is merely a private contract and the state
has a limited, if any, role in the matter. This view
certainly does not reflect the view of most North Dakotans
and can dire consequences for society, especially our
children.
The committee plans at least one more meeting before next
session. Let us hope that it takes the initiative to give
marriage the serious consideration it warrants.
As many other states have done, the 2005 Legislative
Assembly authorized the creation of an Office for
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives within the
governor’s office. The office would act as an
ombudsman to facilitate and further the involvement of
faith-based and community organizations in providing social
services. The legislation also created an advisory
commission for the project. Governor Hoeven appointed
commission members last July. The commission did not meet,
however, until the last week of February – a full
eight months later.
When it did meet, commissioners discovered that none of the
members held leadership positions in their respective
churches. Nevertheless, the commissioners appear to want to
reach out to faith-based and other nonprofit organizations
and sponsor an informational conference in the near future.
One law that went into effect on August 1 and did not need
to wait for work from a government agency was the revision
to the state’s laws on living wills and durable
powers of attorney for health care. The old statutes were
combined, authorizing the creation of a “health care
directive.” The new law also clarified that people
did not need to use the example form contained in the
statute.
Although the new law did not need action by a government
agency, it does need a public education effort. Work began
almost immediately on a guide to the new law that could be
widely distributed across the state. Interested persons
developed a draft of such a guide last fall, but the guide
is still not published.
Some, like the state’s Catholic bishops working
through the North Dakota Catholic Conference, have gone
ahead and published their own guides. The Catholic health
care directive and guide has proven very popular. If you do
not have it, check out the conference’s web site at:
ndcatholic.org/CHD/