Brandi vs. Newcomb update

Brandi sent out another email today, elaborating on her version of events last week at the Capitol Building:

Statement from Bill Sali regarding Speaker Newcomb
Recap of Brandi's Meeting with Bruce Newcomb
Recap of Brandi speaking at Christian Attorney's Luncheon
Brandi heads to Ireland
Brandi's Blog is now set up with an RSS feed and XML feed

Dear friend,

Statement from Bill Sali regarding Speaker Newcomb

Many of you received my e-mail last week regarding the disappointing meeting I had with Bruce Newcomb. He is on the record with the media as saying, "I heard Brandi holler to Bill Sali that the Speaker is a real b***." This is a complete fabrication by the Speaker, and it is simply not true. He has also denied that he used profanity in the closed door meeting with between he and I. The Speaker is not giving an accurate description of what happened. I assure you that at no time did I lose my composure or reduce myself to his level by using profanity. I would never jeapordize my role as a representative of the pro-life community or the important legislation by being disrespectful to Mr. Newcomb.

Here is a statement from Rep. Bill Sali on 3/17/06:

"I was sitting outside the house floor at approximately 1 p.m. on Thursday afternoon when Miss Swindell and Speaker Newcomb came out of a close door meeting. Speaker Newcomb immediately went to the House floor. At no time did I hear Miss Swindell shout or use profanity. Miss Swindell did not appear to be angry but was visibly shaken and in shock. For the record I did not hear Miss Swindell say anything disrespectful nor did she used profanity, and this is consistent with what I know of her character."

Recap of Brandi's Meeting with Bruce Newcomb

On a positive note, my meeting with the Speaker has created momentum down at the State Capitol. We had many credible sources that said the Speaker was planning on stalling two important pieces of legislation - Parental Consent and Informed Consent (also known as A Woman's Right to Know). The Supreme Court has upheld both pieces of legislation.

We also know that there have been many pro-life interest groups and pro-life lobbyists that have been trying to meet with the Speaker for several weeks and have not been granted a meeting. That is why 6 other women and myself felt it was important to send out a press release requesting a meeting with the Speaker.

A state representative working on this legislation requested an Attorney General's opinion on Jan 25 for both proposed bills. For some reason, there seemed to be a delay in receiving an opinion from the Attorney General as well. Within 24 hours of my meeting with the Speaker the AG handed down his opinion on both the Parental Consent and the Informed Consent legislation. We are now working to move this legislation forward.

Again, we are calling on Speaker of the House, Bruce Newcomb to move these important bills forward in the legislative process. It is important to the people of Idaho, and again, both Parental Consent and Informed Consent have been upheld by the US Supreme Court.

Barbara Gough, who is the director of Post-abortive outreach for Generation Life will be lobbying for this legislation while I am in Ireland.

Recap of Brandi speaking at Christian Attorney's Luncheon

I had a great opportunity to speak at the Christian Attorney's luncheon last week. It was awesome to share my experiences in Washington DC and here in the state of Idaho. We had a good discussion on South Dakota's ban on abortion and how that will impact Roe v. Wade. I enjoyed their feedback and it was very encouraging to see so many life-affirming attorneys.

Brandi heads to Ireland
In just a few days, I will head to Ireland to be a keynote speaker at the 4th annual International Pro-Life, Pro-Family Conference held in Dublin, Ireland. I have the privilege to be leading a delegation of 20 Americans to this amazing, international conference. Expected conference attendance is over 5,000, so I am looking forward to connecting with a large group of energized, motivated young people from across the world.

In fact, Alive!, Ireland's Biggest free paper with a circulation of 300,000 features my photo and an article about my involvement in the conference and my work with Generation Life.

I will be speaking along with some other great speakers. I encourage you to check the conference brochure out at: Conference Brochure at: http://www.brandiswindell.org/CONF_IRELAND_2006.pdf
Press Release at: http://www.brandiswindell.org/Conf_PR_01.pdf

One of the other keynote speakers is Bobby Schindler, the brother of the late Terri Schindler Schiavo. Read about our involvement in the conference on my website at: http://www.brandiswindell.org/news.asp?id=4