Theodore “Butch” Baker
Election Information:
Party:
Republican
District:
17
Office:
State Senate
Contact Information:
butchbaker.com
Survey Responses:
S = Support
O = Oppose
NR = No Response
O = Oppose
NR = No Response
|
Life
|
S | O | NR |
|---|---|---|---|
1.Protecting Life: Protecting the right to life of an unborn baby with a beating heart. |
X | ||
2.Taxpayer Funded Abortion: Allowing taxpayer dollars to fund organizations that provide abortion. |
X | ||
3.Physician-Assisted Suicide: Allowing voluntary physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. |
X |
|
First Amendment
|
S | O | NR |
|---|---|---|---|
4.Conscience Rights for Professionals: Prohibiting the government from denying required licensure or certification to individuals because of their religious or political beliefs. |
X | ||
5.Conscience Rights for Faith-Based Organizations: Exempting faith-based organizations (e.g. adoption/foster care providers, private schools) from regulations that cause them to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs. |
X | ||
6.Prohibiting De-Banking/Insuring Based on Beliefs: Prohibiting financial institutions from shutting a customer’s bank account or canceling their insurance because of their religious or political views. |
X |
Candidate's Comments:
Religious freedom and free speech are foundational constitutional rights. The government should never weaponize professional licensing or regulatory mandates against citizens or faith-based ministries for holding traditional beliefs. Furthermore, debanking or denying essential services based on political or religious views is a dangerous overreach that must be prohibited by law.
|
Family
|
S | O | NR |
|---|---|---|---|
7.Protecting Kids from Social Media: Requiring platforms to by default prevent underage accounts without parental permission, preserve parents' authority when access is allowed, and remove addictive design features and data exploitation from underage accounts. |
X | ||
8(a).Parental Rights: Allowing parents to obtain professional counseling for a child struggling with gender confusion to help the child find comfort with his or her biological sex. |
X | ||
8(b).Parental Rights: Protecting parents from losing custody of their child solely because they treat their child consistent with his or her biological sex. |
X |
Candidate's Comments:
God gave children to parents, not to the state. Parents must retain fundamental authority over their children's upbringing, healthcare, emotional development, and online safety. I firmly support protecting parental rights and ensuring state authorities or social media platforms never bypass or penalize parents for raising their children according to their biological sex and family values.
|
Education
|
S | O | NR |
|---|---|---|---|
9.School Choice: Allowing the use of tax credits, vouchers, and/or education savings accounts to cover the cost of children attending the school of their parents’ choice, including private religious schools. |
X | ||
10.Free Speech at School: Protecting teachers and students from being forced to refer to a person by inaccurate pronouns that do not align with the person’s sex. |
X | ||
11.School Healthcare Disclosure to Parents: Requiring schools to inform parents of any mental, physical, or emotional health information and treatment that a child is receiving at school. |
X | ||
12.Transparency in School Curriculum & Activities: Giving parents access to the curriculum, presentations, and activities that their children are learning in school and allowing them to opt their children out of school extra-curricular activities, presentations, or specific lessons to which the parents object. |
X |
Candidate's Comments:
Parents are the primary stakeholders in their children's upbringing and education. I support full educational freedom, including school choice options like Education Savings Accounts, which empower families to choose the best learning environment for their kids. Furthermore, public schools must remain transparent with parents regarding curriculum and healthcare, while respecting the First Amendment rights of students and educators alike.
|
Health and Welfare
|
S | O | NR |
|---|---|---|---|
13.Medical Rights of Conscience: Protecting health care workers from losing their jobs if they decline to participate in a procedure or treatment that violates their personal beliefs and conscience. |
X | ||
14.Women’s Privacy: Preventing males who identify as female from entering sex-separated spaces intended for females, such as showers, locker rooms, bathrooms, dormitories, women’s shelters, prisons, etc. |
X | ||
15.Protecting Pregnancy Centers: Ensuring pregnancy centers that provide life-affirming support to women and their families are not targeted or penalized by government officials. |
X |
Candidate's Comments:
Every human life is sacred, made in the image of God, and deserves full legal protection from conception to natural death. I stand unshakably against taxpayer-funded abortion and any legislation that degrades human dignity, including physician-assisted suicide.