As Momentum Builds, Leading Family Organization Identifies Policy Priorities for Next Session
MANCHESTER, N.H.—With the release today of its new Families First Pledge for State House candidates, Cornerstone Action begins its campaign to endorse, elect and educate the next group of conservative leaders for the New Hampshire Legislature who will build from the current Legislature’s momentum and help restore New Hampshire’s founding principles and prosperity.
“Cornerstone has a long history of successfully advocating for traditional values and protecting the natural rights of families all across New Hampshire,” said Shannon McGinley, chairman of Cornerstone Action and Cornerstone Policy Research. “With the release of our Families First Pledge, Cornerstone is setting a clear direction for legislators in the coming term and positioning itself as the organization best suited to advance the interests of New Hampshire families and children.”
All candidates running for a seat in the New Hampshire House or Senate will have an opportunity to sign Cornerstone’s Families First Pledge. By doing so, they will be making a promise to their constituents that upon election, they will:
• Vote to preserve the right of conscience for all citizens, including their freedom to practice the tenets of their faith,
• Vote to protect human life from conception to natural death,
• Vote to defend the natural family and traditional marriage, the foundational building blocks of society,
• Vote to restore the natural right of parents to determine the best way to educate, raise and care for their children, and
• Vote to enact free market economic policies that empower New Hampshire families to achieve their highest potential.
“The Obama administration is telling people they must pay for medicine they morally object to; liberals are promoting abortion as birth control and teaching our children that two men can have the same relationship as their mom and dad; state bureaucrats are attempting to stop parents from teaching their children according to their own moral upbringing; and statists are working to direct private business operations and create barriers for entry to the marketplace,” McGinley said. “Conservatives have no choice but to speak out and explain why these ideas are killing our prosperity and freedom, and to point back to the ideals that lead to the success of our families, which in turn leads to the success of our communities, our state and our nation.
“Cornerstone is committed to preserving the rights of moms and dads to chart their own course and make their own decisions, both for the good of their households and their children,” McGinley added. “We are dedicated to encouraging the unity of traditional families, which are best suited to raise and educate children according to their own best judgment. We will discourage divorce, but protect both parents’ rights in the case of divorce, because research shows children need both a mom and a dad. We will fight to prevent the state from using other people’s money to intrude into the business of family life or enable a culture of death. We’ll work to protect the lives of the most innocent, pre-born children or the lives of the elderly and disabled who will still have more to give to the world until their natural death.”
Before the primary, State House candidates will have an opportunity to sign the Families First Pledge and indicate their support for proven, common sense principles so voters will have no doubt where their elected officials stand on the issues that matter most. Cornerstone will support candidates who sign the pledge and work with them once they are in office to advance the policies culminating from it. Besides the recognition from Cornerstone they will receive, candidates who stay true to their word once serving in elected office will have the added benefit of making New Hampshire the best place to live in the Northeast.
Cornerstone has a long history of successful legislative action under the former leadership of Gubernatorial Candidate Kevin Smith, founder Karen Testerman and others. The organization has helped support New Hampshire bills to defund abortion factories such as Planned Parenthood, require parental notification when children want to have an abortion, stop physician-assisted suicides that would have enabled elder abuse, prevent expanded gambling, advance the right to work without interference from a union and other business deregulation, oppose Obamacare and its deterioration of individuals’ health choices, prevent a liberal bill that would have allowed men to use women’s bathrooms, and eliminate no-fault divorce.
“With a membership of more than 5,000 people today, Cornerstone stands as a conservative force that will help keep the state moving in the right direction by protecting families and traditional values all across New Hampshire,” McGinley said.
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About Cornerstone Action
Cornerstone-Action and Cornerstone Policy Research are non-partisan, non-profit organizations dedicated to preserving New Hampshire’s traditional values, limited government, and free markets through education, information and advocacy. Our vision is to create an environment in which strong families—the foundation of our society—can lead New Hampshire into a new era of prosperity and strength. For more information, please visit nhcornerstone.org.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 08:47AM 
