This sponsored post is a press release from the Mark Baker for A.G. Campaign.
Today, conservative Republican Attorney General candidate Mark Baker explained his commitment to upholding Mississippi laws shielding faith-based agencies from having to compromise their values, especially those upholding traditional marriages and families.
“Bowing to legal pressure from the leftist special interests like the ACLU, other states have already begun to strip away provisions which protect a conservative group’s religious beliefs and practices,” Baker said.
An ACLU lawsuit filed in Michigan essentially sought to force faith-based adoption and foster care agencies into placing children with gay and lesbian couples, regardless of the agencies’ religious objections to such practices.
“So, any group hostile toward Christian organizations which favor traditional marriages and families can now force religious groups to adhere to the left-wing agenda or get out of the arena,” Baker said.
Left wing activists in Michigan have already chosen their first targets: St. Vincent Catholic Charities and Bethany Christian Services, two Christian groups in Michigan that place children with adoptive families in accordance with their religious conscience.
“The plaintiffs in this case had to drive past two secular adoption agencies that would have been happy to help. This isn’t about getting access to adoption services, it’s a way to enable left-wing groups to force their secular, anti-religious beliefs upon all of society,” Baker continued.
According to Baker, by working with the ACLU to overturn Michigan law, the Michigan Attorney General gave liberal groups a legal hammer to force faith-based groups favoring traditional families out of their adoption and foster care efforts, unless they agree to place children with gay and lesbian couples.
“We’re seeing liberal Attorney Generals around the country use lawsuits to legislate without a vote,” Baker concluded. “We need an Attorney General who’ll focus on protecting basic Constitutional rights, like religious freedom, free speech and free association rather than conspiring with the ACLU. Faith-based, pro-family organizations are under attack, and as Attorney General I will unapologetically defend them and our values.”\\
Representative Baker has served as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives for four terms, representing District 74 which currently includes parts of Rankin County and which previously included parts of Madison County. Representative Baker is Chairman of the House Judiciary En Banc and Judiciary A Committees and is a member of the Ways and Means, Banking and Finance, Transportation and Investigate State Offices Committees. Mark graduated from the University of Memphis and Mississippi College School of Law. He has been an active member of the Mississippi Bar since 1987 and currently engages in private practice in Brandon. He has practiced law for over 30 years and has extensive courtroom experience as an attorney in private practice, a prosecutor and a judge. He is a former member of the Rankin County Republican Executive Committee and is a member and past president of the Rankin County Bar Association and the Rankin County Rotary Club. Today, he, his wife Lady, and their son Chase live in Rankin County and attend Lakeside Presbyterian Church.
