The Family Beacon

Pro-Lifers Arrested After Receiving Permission to Continue Sidewalk Counseling

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Imagine being deemed an essential service and being encouraged to continue operating, only to be arrested for doing so. That’s exactly what happened to pro-life sidewalk counselors in Charlotte, North Carolina earlier this month when they were arrested for offering sidewalk counseling outside of an abortion facility. David Benham is chairman of the board of Cities 4 Life, a pro-life organization that offers counseling, housing assistance, baby showers, groceries, and financial support to expectant mothers. On the morning of April 4, he received a call from one of the sidewalk counselors outside of Preferred Women’s Health Center letting him know that the police had shown up. Shortly after arriving on the scene, Benham was arrested.

Under both state and local guidelines Cities 4 Life, as a federally recognized 501(c)(3) charity that provides social services, had permission to continue operating and was encouraged to do so. They had even confirmed with local police officials that they had permission to continue offering sidewalk counseling just a few days earlier. The same order that gave Preferred Women’s Health Center permission to operate also gave Cities 4 Life permission to operate, but only Cities 4 Life faced targeting from local authorities. As Benham has rightly observed that “This is nothing less than viewpoint discrimination.”

MFC Urges Trump Administration to Maintain Restrictions on Abortifacients During Pandemic

MFC Editor

Thirty-two Family Policy Council directors across the nation, including Minnesota Family council CEO John Helmberger, have issued a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) urging them to uphold the current policy restricting telehealth doctors from prescribing chemical abortion drugs. This letter comes in response to a separate letter that was submitted by twenty-one state attorneys general—including Minnesota’s AG Keith Ellison—to DHHS Secretary Azar and FDA Commissioner Hahn, asking for loosened restrictions on mifepristone, the drug that causes an abortion by starving a developing baby of a critical hormone called progesterone.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, abortion activists have called for lifting of the FDA’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS), which prevents mifepristone from being prescribed via a telehealth consultation with an abortionist. These activists argue “the REMS create unnecessary delays for women who need access to time-sensitive healthcare and force them to travel unnecessarily.” During this pandemic, our nation’s healthcare system has labored to serve and heal its citizens, and doctors have expanded telehealth services to achieve this goal. But lifting this REMS restriction would mean that women do not have to leave their homes in order to procure drugs for an abortion, and, as the FPC directors argue in their letter, this would have disastrous implications.

Porn Industry Using COVID-19 to Exploit Children

MFC Editor

The abortion industry isn’t the only one exploiting the COVID-19 crisis for their own bottom line. Pornhub, the world’s largest pornography website, is also jumping into the fray by making its premium content free worldwide. Amidst the coronavirus crisis, media accounts estimate over 1 billion people are in lock-down and Pornhub has declared their content is an “enjoyable way to pass the time.”

The adult website has been working hard to bolster its public image by engaging in other grand gestures of “philanthropy” during this pandemic. But let’s not forget that there is a clear link between pornography and human trafficking, something that the state of Minnesota has officially recognized, and before the coronavirus outbreak Pornhub was embroiled in controversy because it has consistently and repeatedly failed to remove obscene and illegal content from its site—content that depicts children and sex-trafficking victims. Pornhub itself has not denied its top searches involve the word “teen,” but they’re not doing much because their business model relies on those searches to make them billions of dollars. But others are doing something. To-date almost one million people have signed a petition to shut down Pornhub because of its inextricable connection to the trafficking industry.

Commercial Surrogacy: Womb-Buying Now Legal in New York State

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Earlier this month New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the state’s 2021 budget, and, thanks to an additional measure inserted into the bill, signed the legalization of commercial surrogacy in the Empire State, effective February 15, 2021. This move leaves only three states where commercial surrogacy is legally prohibited, although, in many states, including Minnesota, commercial surrogacy resides in a legal grey area where it has not been declared legal or illegal, and surrogacy contracts have not been declared legal or illegal by the courts.

Harvard's Dishonest Attack on Homeschooling

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The most recent issue of Harvard Magazine features an article titled, “The Risks of Homeschooling,” illustrated with a picture of a forlorn-looking child looking out of the barred windows of a house made of books (“Reading,” “Writing,” “Arithmetic,” and “Bible”) at the children happily playing outside. Offering a foretaste of Harvard’s upcoming Homeschooling Summit, an invitation-only event featuring a lineup of speakers who are openly hostile toward homeschooling, the article is a dishonest and alarmist attack on homeschooling.

Attorney General Ellison Uses a Crisis to Promote Mail-Order Abortion

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Abortionists and their friends in Minnesota have been making the most of this crisis. Less than a week after Governor Walz gave abortionists special treatment by exempting them from his stay at home order, Attorney General Keith Ellison joined with 20 other attorneys general in sending a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar and FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn requesting the removal of safety regulations on the abortion pill. In the letter, current regulations were referred to as “burdensome,” dismissing the known dangers of the abortion pill.

Legalized in 2000, the “abortion pill” is a chemical abortion procedure in which the mother takes two pills, the first one killing the baby, and the second to expel the child from the womb. Since legalization, there have been 4,200 reports of adverse effects, including severe hemorrhaging, infection, septic shock. Additional risks are involved in cases of ectopic pregnancy or if the mother is more than ten weeks pregnant, which is why a medical exam is required. As of 2018, the abortion pill has resulted in 24 maternal deaths, including two in 2018 alone.

Local Governments Are Targeting Lawful Church Gatherings

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“I’ve never stayed at home on Easter morning before,” is a comment that I heard from several people over the weekend over text messages, Zoom calls, and around the dinner table. While staying at home during Holy Week may have been a first for many of us, a much more troubling first awaited church goers in multiple states in the past week.

As churches have worked to find creative ways to worship together and hear the preaching of the word while keeping members of their congregations safe and honoring governing authorities, many churches throughout the country have opted for drive-in church services, which enable people to stay in their cars and maintain social distancing while still gathering together as a church body. Unfortunately, the reasonable precautions taken by churches did not prevent government officials in multiple states from targeting and discriminating against churches during Holy Week.

In Louisville, Kentucky, On Fire Christian Church had planned to have a drive-in Easter service when Mayor Greg Fischer singled out specifically targeted drive-in church services, claiming that preventing people from gathering together six or more feet away from each other in parked cars was necessary “in order to save lives” and vowing to have police officers take down license plate numbers of church-goers, with Governor Andy Beshear supporting this move. On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Justin Walker blocked Mayor Fischer’s order. Oral arguments were heard yesterday/on the 14th. Although his order on hold, Fischer is still urging churches not to hold drive-in services, even as elsewhere in Kentucky on police and firefighters gathered in their parked vehicles in a hospital parking lot in honor of healthcare workers.

Federal Court Sides with MFC and Other Pro-Life Organizations: Abortion is Not Essential in a Pandemic

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Last week the Fifth Court of Appeals ruled issued a ruling allowing Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s executive order to halt abortions during the COVID-19 pandemic to stand. At least for the time being, unborn Texans are safe from abortion.

On March 21, Governor Abbott issued an executive order suspending all non-essential surgeries and procedures, including elective abortion. Three abortion groups immediately responded with an emergency lawsuit, resulting in the order being temporarily blocked by federal district judge Lee Yeakel.

Minnesota Family Council joined with 11 other family policy councils, as well as the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, in submitting an amicus brief regarding Judge Yeakel’s decision. The brief pointed out that allowing abortion facilities to use up important personal protective equipment (PPE) on elective procedures when hospitals are already facing shortages endangers healthcare providers and their patients, and argued that states may suspend the “right” to abortion in order to protect lives during a pandemic. On Saturday the abortion providers involved asked the Supreme Court to take up the case and it is now pending before the Supreme Court.

Above the Law: Abortion Clinics Continue to Reveal True Motives Amidst Covid Crisis

MFC Editor

By Renee Carlson, General Counsel, True North Legal

While most of the country is working to conserve medical resources for hospital workers treating COVID-19 patients, the abortion industry in Minnesota and across the country is carrying on business as usual. In fact, as COVID-19 restrictions and Executive Orders continued to be introduced and adapted to meet daily medical changes and updates, Sarah Stoesz, CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, made clear the abortion industry will continue to provide abortions in this perilous time, stating “all abortions, if women seek them, are essential.” The national abortion front is not backing down either, as the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization dedicated to advancing and preserving the right to abortions, actually encouraged abortion advocates to “guard against” the “coercive track record” of the current presidential administration, “against the possibility that [the administration] will seize the opportunity of COVID-19 to further restrict people’s fundamental rights and access to healthcare.”

Minnesota’s Governor Walz has made clear that the COVID-19 crisis represents an “unprecedented challenge to our state.” One of the gravest threats posed by the virus is that “local resources are inadequate to address the [COVID-19] threat…[as] cases in Minnesota are rapidly increasing and risk overwhelming the healthcare system.” The Governor’s Stay at Home order is specifically designed to lower the amount of infections so that there are enough masks and other protective equipment to keep patients and healthcare workers safe.

An Unusual Easter: How to Celebrate During a Pandemic

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With a viral pandemic spreading across the globe and stay at home orders in place as our state and national authorities work to address COVID-19, we are all preparing for an unusual Easter. This year we celebrate our risen Lord separately in our own homes, without gathering together with our local church body and without welcoming family and friends into our homes. While it is true that it could be worse, and we are grateful that it is not, the sense of loss that we feel as we navigate Holy Week while sheltering in place is a real cause for grief. But even as our celebrations take on a quieter and lonelier tone, our reason for celebration remains unshaken.

The COVID-19 outbreak has been a source of suffering, in one degree or another, for everyone, whether that be job loss, sickness, anxiety for an at-risk loved one, anxiety over being at-risk oneself, the strain of social isolation, or some combination of the above. The loss of our ability to gather is one that weighs especially heavily during Holy Week, when we would normally be coming together with our Christians brothers and sisters to remember, reflect on, and celebrate Jesus’ sacrifice and victory. This virus is causing us to feel deeply the reality that we live in a broken world and right now, this week, that reality is a reminder of our Savior’s sacrifice.

Many have pointed out the ironic fittingness of first social distancing and then sheltering in place during Lent, with Abby Johnson commenting recently, “This is the lentiest lent ever,” and Andy Crouch noting “[I] hadn’t planned on giving up this much for Lent.”

Lent is a time to reflect on what our Savior endured for our sake. He endured poverty, weakness, loss, and finally a cruel and unjust death on the cross that the wrath of God might be satisfied and death would be defeated. Many Christians fast from certain foods or activities during this time to remind themselves of that sacrifice. This year, without having planned to, we are all giving up activities, routines, and socialization. The losses that we feel right now are a reminder of the suffering that our Lord endured for our sake.

Don't Forget The Good News During the Pandemic

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The past weeks have brought plenty of bad news as COVID-19 sweeps across the globe. While we should take the time to be aware of what is going on in the world, we should also take the time to be refreshed with good news. Last week, we looked at five practical ways to love our neighbors during a pandemic. This week, here are five good things that have come about as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Families spending time together.

As most states, including Minnesota, are under shelter in place orders, the importance of family is more evident than ever. With everyone at home, families are turning toward one another and finding creative ways to spend time with each other. Justin Coulson at the Institute for Family Studies has pointed out that this could be a time of growth for families. As high numbers of people move to remote work at this time, some have suggested that this could lead to a long-term shift in the way that Americans think about work and family. any of us have hectic work schedules that make us wish for more time with family. Now we have that chance - how will we use it?

2. Churches and Christian organizations are meeting needs and ministering to their local communities.

From local churches meeting the tangible needs of people in their communities by running errands for elderly and at-risk individuals, providing food to families facing economic uncertainty, offering their parking lots as testing sites, and providing meals and encouragement to first-responders and medical workers, to Christian organizations like Samaritan’s Purse setting up field hospitals in New York, the church is at work serving as the hands and feet of Christ during this time of crisis. [As a reminder, MFC is deeply involved in these efforts. Please forward this invitation for our webinar on Tuesday, April 7, to pastors and ministry leaders at your church: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aHiNOrviS4Kfqdda8IFF0w].

No Joke: Saint Paul City Council to Consider Counseling Ban on April 1 Without Public Comment

Guest User

With the disruption of the past few weeks, it can be easy to forget what day it is, so let us do you a favor by reminding you that tomorrow is April Fools’ Day, that delightful day dedicated to pranks and jokes. Unfortunately, it is no joke that tomorrow the Saint Paul City Council is introducing a counseling ban that would prohibit licensed therapists from helping their clients explore all options to address questions over sexual orientation. Due to the remote nature of this meeting, the public is able to listen, but not to comment and voice their concerns over the proposal.

Offering Help and Hope: Opportunities for the Gospel During a Pandemic

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In a very short time, the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. has upended everyone’s daily lives. In addition to the spread of the virus itself and over 1,000 deaths in the United States so far, many are out of work and facing economic uncertainty. Graduations, recitals, sporting events, church services, weddings, and even funerals have been postponed, rescheduled, or moved to live-stream. We should grieve the human cost of this pandemic, as well as the losses and disappointments that have come about as collateral damage. But in the midst of grief, let’s also look for the gospel opportunities that have come about during this time.

God is doing more in any one moment than any of us could possibly imagine. As our nation responds to COVID-19, let us remember who is in control and continue to put our trust in him. God has shown his faithfulness to his people since the very beginning. We know we can trust him to bring us through this.

Pandemics and economic uncertainty shatter our delusions of self-sufficiency by reminding us that we are not in control. As believers, this causes us to turn to God in faith, trusting in him as our provider and protector, but in an increasingly secular society, many of our neighbors do not know this hope, so now more than ever we should be reaching out and proclaiming the gospel. Times of crisis create gospel opportunities as the body of Christ mobilizes to minister to the material and spiritual needs of the people around us. We should make the most of this time, offering God’s eternal truth to a world in crisis.

Sacrificing the Elderly or Making Sacrifices FOR Them? How the COVID-19 Crisis Shows the Value of All Human Life

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Times of crisis often bring what we really believe to the surface. Our actions in the midst of an emergency tend to reveal where our priorities lie and what is most valuable to us, and it is in these moments that treasuring human life proves essential because it is those who are most vulnerable who are at risk. To be pro-life is to care for all of life, from conception until natural death. It is to see that the worth of every individual is rooted in the fact that they are stamped with the image of our Creator, and created and loved by him. Because every life is valuable, every individual ought to be treated with care and dignity, regardless of their age or ability. When we value life, we are willing to inconvenience ourselves for the sake of the people around us.

In the past week, we’ve seen communities mobilize to protect those who are at high risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19. Grocery stores are setting aside designated times for elderly and at-risk shoppers, while churches and communities are mobilizing to meet needs that have arisen in the past week.

Tragically, our society isn’t always consistent in its care for the most vulnerable. Shortly after Oregon began to see confirmed cases of COVID-19, they moved to inform the public of how to protect older adults during the COVID-19 outbreak. Ironically, Oregon has also led the charge in pushing increasingly lax Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) legislation. Assisted suicide has been legal in Oregon since 1997, and the state has recently been chipping away at the few protections that were in place. Oregon isn’t alone in this, as an increasing number of states have legalized assisted suicide in recent years.

It's Time for the Department of Justice to Investigate P*rnhub

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Nearly a year after her daughter went missing, the mother of a 15-year-old was notified by a friend that pornographic photographs and videos of her missing daughter had begun to appear online. Her daughter was alive and being trafficked and abused by a man twice her age. The discovery led to the child’s rescue, but not before her abuser impregnated her and forced her to have an abortion and had uploaded 58 separate videos of her being raped and abused onto Pornhub to be consumed for other people’s sexual enjoyment.

When the news of her exploitation and rescue first broke, Pornhub tweeted that the victim had been a verified user, before quickly deleting the tweet when they realized that they had admitted to being complicit in her abuse. Their attempt to save face does nothing to change the fact that this is not an isolated incident. Other abuse survivors have come forward to point out Pornhub’s role in perpetuating their suffering, and a recent lawsuit exposed and shut down a popular channel featured on Pornhub that was illegally produced by means of coercion and deception. Even after the settlement, Pornhub has continued to circulate the videos.

The Truth About Pregnancy Resource Centers

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“You’re not really pro-life, you’re just pro-birth! You don’t care about women, you just want to control their bodies!” Chances are if you’ve spoken with someone who supports abortion you’ve heard some iteration of the above. Is it true that the pro-life movement only cares about life inside the womb? There are plenty of ways that pro-life individuals actively care for life inside and outside of the womb, but for a moment, let’s focus on one particular way that the pro-life movement cares for women and their children both during and after pregnancy: pregnancy resource centers. Pregnancy resource centers, or PRCs, offer compassionate care to women in need of resources and support. In many ways, they are the hands and feet of the pro-life movement, caring for women during and after pregnancy, and offering counseling and support to post-abortive women. And yet, despite the good that pregnancy resource centers do in their communities, abortion activists increasingly target them, harassing them and falsely labeling them as “fake clinics.” So let’s take a look at the truth about pregnancy resource centers.

Pregnancy resource centers are non-profits that provide resources to women who are experiencing unplanned pregnancies. In the three largest networks there are over 2,300 centers serving over 1.9 million women every year. As well as equipping women with the truth about abortion, these pro-life centers also offer adoption resources, parenting classes, and supplies such as diapers, formula, and clothing. Additionally, some, but not all, offer medical services. Those that do not offer them do not pretend that they do. Pro-life pregnancy resource centers also state on their websites, as well as in their interactions with clients, that they do not perform or refer for abortions.

The abortion industry consistently fails vulnerable women, disregarding their needs and even their safety as they put their bottom line above human life and dignity. As The Public Discourse has pointed out, while pregnancy resource centers will invest significant time and resources into serving abortion-minded women, abortion activists do not offer the same kind of support to women who do not want to abort. When a woman walks through the doors of an abortion facility, the staff typically have a financial interest in persuading her to abort her child, and often offer very little support if she does not. A PRC, on the other hand, will pour resources into women who need help, including post-abortive women who have been harmed by the abortion industry.

We're Fighting for Life - at the Supreme Court!

Moses Bratrud

On March 4th, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case, June Medical Services v. Russo, a case that could affect abortion laws across the country. Renee Carlson, General Counsel of True North Legal (TNL), a legal initiative in partnership with the MFC, was present in the courtroom for oral arguments. TNL also filed an amicus brief to weigh in on this case. “At True North Legal, we’re working to make sure that every woman and child in the state of Minnesota is safe from abortion, and that our legislature and courts in Minnesota follow the dictates of the highest court.” said Carlson in a video taken in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.

This case is so significant that the general public was camping out on the sidewalk outside of the Supreme Court for days prior, in hopes of getting a seat inside of the Court room. The June Medical Services case presents a constitutional challenge to a law that was passed in Louisiana, which simply requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges to hospitals within thirty miles of a facility where an abortion takes place. This law was passed to ensure the safety of women and children who are often victims of unsafe abortion practices. Many brave women shared their stories on the steps in front of the United States Supreme Court – stories of medical abandonment by abortion providers following medical complications. Abortion always kills a child, and often hurts a woman. That’s why laws like the one passed in Louisiana are critical for protecting women and children. Although we’re a long way from Louisiana, we believe strongly that this case could have significant legal implications in the fight to end abortion.

We're Training Tomorrow's Leaders!

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For the past several years, my favorite part of the summer has been the opportunity to help out with Minnesota Family Council’s summer program, LEAD. LEAD encourages and equips teens to become thoughtful leaders through a rigorous week-long program, and it is always such a joy to see them rise to the occasion! Teens deserve to be challenged, and we do them a disservice when we set the bar low. Today’s teenagers are tomorrow’s leaders, and setting low expectations for teenagers fails to prepare them for that task. That’s why LEAD is focused on training and challenging teenagers to take up the responsibility of citizenship.

We are first and foremost citizens of the kingdom of God, but we are also citizens of the nation in which we live. As the people of God, we are called to live out our earthly citizenship in a manner that reflects our heavenly citizenship. This means that, in all areas of our lives, we ought to engage with our culture in such a way that we seek the good of those around us as we proclaim God’s truth. One aspect of this is training and mentoring young people so that they can be ready to engage with the world around them.

Coming alongside teens and preparing them to become citizens and leaders is a vital task. Teenagers are pelted with lies from our culture on a daily basis, all while navigating the difficulty of growing up. Students need to hear and know the hope of the gospel and be equipped to communicate biblical truth to their peers.

MN House Targets Abortion Protestors: A Sign of Things to Come?

Moses Bratrud

Today, the Minnesota House Judiciary Committee voted to send HF3749 to the House floor by party line vote. This is a bill that targets sidewalk counselors who work outside abortion clinics to help women access compassionate alternatives to abortion.

Because it’s already illegal under Minnesota and federal law to obstruct the entrance of a clinic, this bill is targeting people who are exercising their free speech rights, not getting in the way.

This bill was sponsored by Rep. Heather Edelson (DFL-Edina) and supported by Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America. Minnesota Family Council and Pro-Life Action Ministries submitted testimony against the bill, and we will keep fighting until women and babies are safe from the scourge of abortion in our state.

This dangerous bill could be a worrying sign of things to come. If pro-abortion legislators win a majority in the Minnesota Senate in November, they will immediately get to work on taking away the rights of people and organizations who are working to give women better options than abortion.

There is Nothing Moderate About Abortion

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Recently, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has been hailed as a “moderate” for calling for a “big tent” approach that makes room for pro-life democrats. Early in the Primary cycle, Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard broke with the current progressive narrative by reintroducing a mantra from the Clinton era: abortion should be safe, legal, and rare. Former Vice President Joe Biden, for much of his career, has described himself as taking a “middle of the road” position on abortion.

Some have regarded these statements and positions as evidence that “abortion moderates” are emerging in the Democratic party. The problem with this view is that it assumes a “moderate” approach to abortion can exist. This simply is not so. There is no such thing as an abortion moderate because there is nothing moderate about abortion. So-called “moderate” positions attempt to find a middle ground between two ideas that cannot co-exist.

Furthermore, Klobuchar’s voting record on abortion is not moderate in any sense of the word. She has voted in favor of abortion every opportunity that she has had, and supports abortion up until birth. She even opposes the Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act, which would make sure that abortion survivors receive medical care.

Many who claim to be abortion moderates will argue that they are personally opposed to abortion, but do not want to prevent someone else from making that choice, or that they want abortion to be allowed, but only in a small number of cases. But taking the life of another human being cannot be a “private” choice and the choice of a society or an individual to turn a blind eye to the taking of innocent lives is not neutral. If someone is only privately or personally opposed to abortion, they are either unwilling to say that it is evil and that it takes an innocent human life, or by their refusal to publicly oppose abortion they are saying that such evil is acceptable. As Kathryn Jean Lopez asked, “What good is private opposition in the face of the death of innocent life, the pitting of a mother against her child, the trail of misery that is legal abortion, with all the cultural pressures in favor of abortion?”