The Family Beacon

Abortion Industry Uses Apps to Get Around Parental Consent Laws

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The abortion industry is partnering with the ACLU to encourage minors to work around laws requiring parental consent for abortion. According to the pro-abortion website Rewire, a North Carolina abortion group has partnered with the state’s ACLU to set up a text line where minors can receive help outmaneuvering the state’s abortion laws. The text line called Text Abby targets teens in North and South Carolina and is modeled after a similar text line based out of Texas, Jane’s Due Process. Currently 21 states require consent of one or both parents before a teenager may undergo an abortion, and 11 states, including Minnesota, require parental notification. All of these states have a judicial bypass provision that allows a judge to excuse minors from meeting this requirement. Text lines like Text Abby and Jane’s Due Process go behind parents’ backs to obtain permission from a judge for teens to get abortions without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

The abortion industry thrives on building distrust between teens and their parents. Parental consent laws, on the other hand, provide an opportunity for teens to communicate with their parents and receive help and support. Circumventing these laws erodes teens’ relationships with their parents, and also places young women in harm’s way by taking away an important safeguard in the fight against abuse and human trafficking.

Trust is a Two-Way Street

MFC Editor

In the most recent Executive Order 20-56 addressing Minnesota’s COVID-19 rules, Governor Walz made significant changes for some and not others. The basis for these orders continues to be "predictability." Ironically, the governor is still prohibiting some of the most predictable and controlled events and gatherings - the order expressly prohibits “gatherings of 10 or more” including “faith-based gatherings.” But other industries, businesses, and big box stores are opening soon pursuant to suggested state and federal guidelines. Even the Mall of America is predicted to reopen in some capacity on June 1st, along with some bars and restaurants.

In his announcement Wednesday evening, Governor Walz commented that it is easier to predict interaction in the aisles of a store than it is to predict or control interactions in other settings, including “faith-based gatherings”. For a moment I thought I misheard him, which was not the case. Two emotions were most prevalent following this statement and throughout the rest of the announcement. First, I’ll admit, I was quite baffled. Ask any Pastor, even under these fluid circumstances, and he or she can tell you their exact location at any given moment throughout a worship service. The location and interactions of most any church staffer and member of the congregation is equally predictable. Even more, any church pastor, staffer or congregant can also tell you a number of other specifics that no retail or business can "predict", including but not limited to: 1) a specific time in which the service commences and concludes; 2) traffic flow of persons entering and exiting the building; 3) the exact number of people allowed to enter and exit the building, while also closing and limiting capacity; 4) deliberate space and cessation of movement between individuals; and 5) specific hygiene and sanitary regimens before, during and after each service. If any predictable ordered gathering exists it is worship services. Arguably, this applies to all types of worship services - Mosques, Synagogues, and all Catholic and Protestant denominations.

California Wants to use Taxpayer Funds to Pay for "Gender Transition" Hormones and Surgery

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The California legislature is considering a bill that, if passed, would establish a taxpayer fund that would pay for “gender affirming healthcare services” such as hormone therapy and “gender reassignment” surgery. Assembly Bill 2218, which is expected to be brought to a vote on May 18, would put $15 million toward “treatments” that have never been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. In a letter to California lawmakers, Family Research Council’s Peter Sprigg points out that this bill also funds “programming that essentially amounts to ideological indoctrination” by funding educational materials from organizations that affirm transgender ideology while denying funding to groups that do not encourage people to “transition.”

Earlier this year, The Public Discourse pointed out that the best studies on the effects of transgender “treatment” have shown the worst results. Despite the evidence of the harm caused by ideology-driven practices, California’s bill would require healthcare providers receiving grant money to partner and consult with trans-led organizations in order to implement a “trans-inclusive healthcare program.”

Connecticut Judge Refuses to Let Attorneys Refer to Male Transgender Athletes as Males

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Attorneys helping three high school girls fight to protect girls’ sports in Connecticut are asking a district judge to recuse himself after he forbid them from referring to two biological males as males. In February, three high school girls filed a lawsuit against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, challenging the decision to allow male athletes who identify as female to compete in female sporting events. During the 2018-19 competition season, two male athletes had dominated high school girls track, costing Selina Soule, Alana Smith, and Chelsea Mitchell competitive opportunities and chances at scholarships. Attorneys are asking district judge Robert Chatigny to recuse himself after he informed them that they must refer to the two male athletes as transgender females. According to Chatigny, referring to them as males is inaccurate, inconsistent with science, and “needlessly provocative.” He went on to say, “This isn’t a case involving males who have decided that they want to run in girls’ events. This is a case about girls who say that transgender girls should not be allowed to run in girls’ events.”

The problem with Chatigny’s statement is that this is a case involving males who have decided they want to run in girls’ events. By requiring the attorneys to use the term “transgender females” instead of “males,” Chatigny has already taken a side, and his claim that this is consistent with science is simply not true. Science confirms that men and women are different, and that these differences give male athletes a competitive advantage over female athletes. Men have larger heart and lungs than women, denser bones, and more muscle mass, and hormone therapy does not remove these physiological differences. Asking for these differences to be recognized in order to protect girls’ sports is not discriminatory, but refusing to protect competitive opportunities for women and girls will spell the end of women’s sports.

Army Chaplain Facing Backlash for Sharing Book Written by Minnesota Pastor

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A senior Army chaplain stationed at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea, is facing backlash for sharing Coronavirus and Christ, a book written by the former pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, with several other military chaplains. In late March John Piper, who currently serves as Chancellor at Bethlehem College and Seminary, wrote Coronavirus and Christ, a short book to encourage believers amidst the unknowns of COVID-19. After reading it, Senior Chaplain Col. Moon H. Kim passed a PDF of the book along to several of his fellow chaplains. In his email he wrote, “This book has helped me refocus my sacred calling to my savior Jesus Christ to finish strong. Hopefully this small booklet would help you and your Soldiers, their Families and others who you serve.”

Although there was nothing out of line in Kim’s actions, he is now facing calls for disciplinary action to be taken against him. Michael “Mikey” Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation penned a letter on behalf of 22 clients who have chosen to remain anonymous describing Kim’s email as “shocking” and calling his choice to send Piper’s book to other military chaplains “egregious and deplorable.” Weinstein writes that MRFF “demands that Army Chaplain (Colonel) Kim be officially, swiftly, aggressively, and visibly investigated and disciplined in punishment for his deplorable actions...” He told the Christian Post that he is calling for Kim to be subject to general court-martial.

Join us in Praying for our Nation Today

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Today is the National Day of Prayer, a day for Christians across America turn to focus on turning to God in prayer and asking him to make himself known in our nation and around the world. Scripture calls us to pray for our government leaders as they exercise God-given authority. In 1 Timothy 2 Paul writes, “I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” Romans 13 tells us that governing authorities are instituted by God for our good. As we pray for our nation, let’s pray for our local and national leaders that God would use them and guide to govern in a manner that honors him.

Let’s also pray for our neighborhoods and communities, asking God to be at work in the hearts and lives of the people around us, and that because of the work he does to transform hearts and lives our communities would become places where life is cherished and God’s design for family is embraced. Prayer is powerful and God works through the prayer of his people. In James we are reminded,

The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for six years and six months it did not rain in the land. Then he prayed again and the land produced its fruit.

Elijah prayed for God’s glory to be displayed in a nation that had turned away from God, and God answered that prayer. Let’s set aside time today to pray that God would be known in our neighborhoods, our state, and our nation and that he would use his people to spread the hope of the gospel. Political involvement and community engagement matter, but we do nothing apart from God. As we seek the good of our state and nation, we must turn to God every step of the way, relying on him to meet our needs and to transform hearts.

Department of Justice Sides with Church Being Targeted for Palm Sunday Service

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Pastor Kevin Wilson of Lighthouse Fellowship Church in Virginia received a criminal citation after holding a Palm Sunday service with 16 people in a sanctuary that can hold up to 293 congregants, potentially facing a year in jail and a fine of $2,500. On April 5, police entered the sanctuary and informed those gathered that, even with everyone amply spaced, they could not hold a service with 16 people. After the service Pastor Wilson was served a summons and informed that if he held services on Easter, everyone in attendance would face the same charges.

In response to this incident, Lighthouse Fellowship filed a lawsuit against Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, with the help of Liberty Counsel. The complaint points out that, while religious gatherings are not allowed to have more than 10 people, even if they are able to maintain social distancing, non-religious entities, such as retail stores, businesses, and law firms, are not subject to that same 10 person limit if social distancing guidelines are being followed. It goes on to note that Lighthouse Fellowship does not have the resources or equipment to offer internet-based services, and even if they did, many in their congregation have limited internet access and would not be able to utilize internet-based church services. Lighthouse Fellowship also requested a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of Northam’s orders, but was denied on Friday.

U.S. Marriage Rates Reach an All-Time Low

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Marriage rates in the United States reached an all-time low in 2018, according to a recent report from the National Center for Health Statistics. Looking at marriage rates from going back to 1867, the earliest year on record, the report found that marriage rates dropped to 6%, or 6.5 new marriages per 1,000 people in 2018. The Wall Street Journal points out that instead of marriage, many couples are choosing cohabitation.

This trend is expected to continue. The report noted that a record number of youth and young adults are projected to completely forgo marriage. Curtin also predicts that COVID-19 could negatively affect marriage rates, pointing out that many couples who put off marriage cite economic concerns as a driving factor for their decision.

Doctors, Activists File Lawsuit Against MN Governor, Planned Parenthood, for Allowing Abortions During Pandemic

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Since mid-March, hospitals across Minnesota have been postponing elective surgeries in order to conserve personal protective equipment (PPE) during COVID-19, but throughout this time, abortion providers have received special treatment and have been exempted from following the rules that all Minnesota healthcare workers are being asked to follow. While other elective surgeries are being put on hold, the abortion industry is continuing business as usual, using up valuable PPE with no interference from the State. Thomas More Specialty Counsel Erick Kaardal points out that this is not only unsafe, but irresponsibly wasteful.

In response to this double-standard, a coalition of doctors and concerned Minnesotans have filed a lawsuit against Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota Health Department Commissioner Jan Malcolm, and the five abortion facilities operating in Minnesota.

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].