Family Policy Alliance joined with California Family Council and Exodus Cry at the California Capitol on the day of the first committee hearing to protect kids from porn

 

You don’t have to be a political expert to know that California Gov. Gavin Newsom is no pro-family ally. And the California legislature is even further to the left.

But this week we were at the state capitol in Sacramento to testify and lobby for a bill to protect California kids from online pornography through age verification requirements.

Crazy? It might sound that way, especially in the state that’s the biggest producer of pornography.

But we didn’t think it was crazy for three reasons:

1. Kids EVERYWHERE need protection from the onslaught of online pornography.
2. Momentum is on our side! The Age Verification Coalition that we’re blessed to lead has now helped eight states pass this cutting-edge legislation in 2024!
3. Our savvy allies at California Family Council saw an opportunity and urged us to join them and invest our time and resources in the Golden State.

So what happened? The first committee heard the bill this week. Joseph Kohm, an attorney and Family Policy Alliance’s Director of Public Policy, spent time meeting with legislators and was one of three expert witnesses in favor of the bill. The result: the committee PASSED the bill by a vote of 10 to 0!

FPA’s Joseph Kohm prepares to give expert testimony to California lawmakers.

The bill still has a long way to go to become law, but this stunning result is remarkable! California legislators finally acknowledging the threat pornography poses to kids is a victory that cannot be overstated.

Please know it is YOUR support that makes this success possible! You enabled Family Policy Alliance to organize, train and equip a coalition of allied organizations, legislators, and expert witnesses to get bills like this passed. And your support allows us to be on the ground in state capitols at the most critical times.

We’ll stand and fight ANYWHERE for our kids and our values. But we do need your help. Thanks for making it possible with your prayers and your support!

Sincerely,

Craig DeRoche
President & CEO

Dear Friends,

Does your child have a phone? It’s a tough decision for many families, especially families of older children. As parents, we want to protect our children from the dangers of social media and the internet at large – dangers that range from screen addiction to depression to explicit content and even abuse.

We recently asked you to tell us what your biggest pain points and questions were around tech for your family. Repeatedly, one thing stood out: even when we do our best to keep phones away or limit screen time, our kids are still exposed to screens on a regular basis.

What’s a parent to do?

Family Policy Foundation has got you covered. NEXT WEEK, we will launch a brand-new course for parents, grandparents, and others who want to keep kids safe online.

The Tech-Ready Family will answer the hard questions and provide strategies to tame the tech in your home in 30 days or less! It will help you become tech savvy in all of these areas:

• How do I limit screen time for my kids?
• How do I access parental controls?
• How do I find out if my kid has been exposed to pornography?
• What are the dangers of social media?
• Are there safe apps my kids can use?
• Isn’t just turning off all tech the best option in the long run?

Beginning next week, you can get answers to these questions and many more.

The Tech-Ready Family is a series of short (3-7 minutes), informative lessons that parents can put into practice immediately. Tech wizards need not apply! This course is for any adult who cares about keeping kids safe online. The course features bite-sized lessons that you can watch at your own pace and re-watch as often as you wish.

Any family can do this.

The Tech-Ready Family is a $199 value but for a limited time only, because this is the first time we have offered it, you can access The Tech-Ready Family for 50% off – that is just $99 for all lessons, bonus content and helpful downloadable guides.

Let us know you are interested, and we will tell you as soon as this deal is available next week!

No one else is offering this kind of content for that price and it won’t last long.

Click here to be the first get this offer as soon as it’s launched next week. Then we let you know the moment it is available.

Best regards,

Amanda Banks
Vice President, Education

 

PS This offer won’t last long – claim yours today!

Dear Friends,

God has never made a throw-away person. Not once. Everyone counts – or eventually no one will.

By now, you’ve probably seen or heard former President Trump’s statements about protecting life in a post-Roe America, and that he believes it is up to the “will of the people” at the state level only.

While we at Family Policy Alliance applaud the attention he has given to our state governments – the true “laboratories of democracy” as our Founding Fathers envisioned – we know state-level solutions can’t settle an issue of this magnitude.

Just as with the issue of slavery, a state-by-state patchwork of policy on protecting life – or enabling the medical murder of our most vulnerable citizens – won’t work. The “will of the people” will demand we are either a prolife nation or one where people are thrown away.

The beauty of our system of government is that there are multiple sets of checks and balances. Yes, the state governments are responsible for protecting the lives and civil rights of their own citizens. But the federal government is ultimately responsible for safeguarding the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for all citizens in this country.

Our founding documents, our Constitution and our remaining pro-life federal statutes and regulations all need to be enforced and strengthened by the next president, not disregarded.

When we go to the polls this November, we will be voting for state and local offices. But we will also be voting for our federal representatives and senators, and for president. Those votes also express the “will of the people” and those individuals bear just as much responsibility for protecting life as every member of every state legislature and every governor.

As a pro-life organization, our allegiance is to the Giver of Life and to the principle that all people are created in His image and deserve protection, starting in the womb. Our loyalty is NOT to politicians or parties.

In fact, as a ministry whose sister organization, Family Policy Alliance Foundation, trains state legislators how to govern well in office, I can tell you that they know they are responsible to protect life in their own states. But their work can’t – by definition – spread beyond their own borders.

They need prolife partners at the federal level to help them protect life from “sea to shining sea.” They need Congressmen and women, Senators and a President who will stand up and fight for life in Washington, D.C.

As Americans, we are each responsible before God to steward our votes to the best of our ability, and to do so in a way that aligns with our faith. In the months and weeks to come, Family Policy Alliance and our state-based Family Policy Council allies will be keeping you updated about this critical issue and how you can vote your values.

After all, FPA was created for a moment just like this: As a Christian organization that educates, motivates and engages social conservative voters in America, we are the largest state-based multi-issue social-conservative infrastructure in America. Together with our Family Policy Councils, we engage with more than 50,000 churches and millions of socially conservative advocates each week.

I hope you will join me in prayer for our nation, for the men and women who are seeking our votes this November, and for life to be cherished in policy and practice in our country.

For life,

Craig DeRoche
President & CEO

Our friends at Kansas Family Voice are working hard to defend family values at the state level. Join us as we take a closer look at some major efforts that have enjoyed great support this year.

Brittany Jones, the Director of Public Policy and Engagement at Kansas Family Voice shares the prospects of Kansas enacting important protections for children and parental rights. Tune in to find out what this could mean and why Kansas may be joining other successful states in these efforts.

Watch on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
SoCon Report or by clicking the image below

At Family Policy Alliance, our vision is a nation where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive, and life is cherished. To stay up to date on the fight to protect families and learn how to take action, follow us on social media!

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Sincerely,

Robert Noland
Director, Audience Engagement

Dear Friends,

A few weeks ago, we sent you an exciting update on FPA’s major policy focus this year: protecting children from pornography. Pornography is as harmful to children as a hard drug, and most children stumble upon it on the internet accidentally, without their parents ever knowing about it. FPA set out to change that in 2024—and we’re succeeding.

We are so excited to give you another positive update on that success: with Kentucky and Georgia passing FPA-endorsed bills through their legislatures last week, a total of seven states have passed bipartisan legislation protecting children from pornography in 2024! That’s in addition to the seven states that passed such bills last year.

There are many people and organizations to recognize for this success, but first and foremost is YOU: because of your support, FPA was able to organize a Coalition of allied organizations, legislators, and expert witnesses all committed to working together to get these bills passed. This Coalition is part of our Let Parents Parent campaign, because parents are the primary guardians of their children’s innocence. Your support has made this incredibly fruitful effort by FPA possible!

We also want to publicly thank our primary national allies on this issue: Institute for Family Studies (IFS), Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), and Center for Renewing America (CRA). Their partnership has helped empower our state Family Policy Councils (FPCs) to get these bills passed and protect children from the harms of pornography.

One last bit of great news: we’re not done–13 more states could still pass these bills in 2024! If you’re like us and you want to see that happen, please consider continuing or beginning to partner with us.

Your support directly results in children being protected and parents being empowered to guard their children’s innocence. We thank you for your support and look forward to continued success protecting children!

For our kids,

Joseph Kohm
Director, Public Policy

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, the most consequential abortion case since the overturn of Roe v. Wade was argued before the Supreme Court. The case is called Food and Drug Administration (FDA) v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM). FPA joined many other pro-life organizations in a rally outside the Court to demand that the FDA protect American mothers.

Over the past 20 years, the FDA has progressively deregulated the abortion drug regimen. These are high-risk drugs, as the FDA itself admits: their own warning label on the drugs says that one in 25 women who take them will end up in the emergency room. The FDA removed safeguards such as required in-person examinations before the drug can be prescribed and after it is taken to ensure a woman’s safety.

As one of the speakers at the rally, I spoke about how the plaintiffs in this case are simply asking the FDA to follow their own science and reinstate these common-sense safeguards to protect American mothers from dangerous drugs. By deregulating the abortion drug regimen, the FDA has endangered American mothers, who deserve better from their government.

Thank you for partnering with us in our efforts to protect pregnant mothers and unborn life through our #AfterRoe campaign! We also encourage you to visit our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram to see the live videos we filmed with some of our state allies from the Court yesterday.

Finally, please join us in praying for the Justices on the Supreme Court: that they would follow the Constitution and ensure the administrative state protects mothers everywhere. The overturning of Roe was a historic victory for the pro-life movement, but there is still so much to do to create a culture of life in America. Thank you for continuing your partnership with us to see that vision become a reality!

For mothers everywhere,

Joseph Kohm
Director, Public Policy

In our very online world, kids are faced with new dangers every day. The internet is filled to the brim with addicting social media platforms, mind-numbing videos, violent and explicit content, and even online child predators. And yet, the internet is becoming harder and harder for children to avoid, whether at school, at home, or even on the go.

How do you protect your family and ensure that you’re tech-ready?

That’s the question you’ll get answers to in a new course we’re releasing in partnership with our friends at Protect Young Eyes. As we’re working on the course, “The Tech-Ready Family,” we want YOUR input.

What are the questions you’ve always had about how to help your family manage tech responsibly? Topics you’d love to see covered?

Click here to let us know, and you might see that topic featured in our course! Plus, when you share your input, we’ll make sure you’re the first to know about the course – and we’ll offer you a deeply discounted price as a thank you for your input!

We know protecting your family online is a priority, and we’re excited to partner with our friends at Protect Young Eyes to help you in your journey. Thank you in advance for helping us make this course everything YOU need to succeed!

Click here to share your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Amanda Banks
Vice President, Education

Dear Friends,

We want to update you on some encouraging progress.

One of FPA’s major policy focuses this year has been legislation protecting children from pornography through age verification requirements. This effort is part of our broader Let Parents Parent campaign, because parents are the primary guardians of their children’s innocence. We’re seeing some great success in this effort so far this year, and your support is making it possible.

Recently, I traveled to Nebraska to join our friends at Nebraska Family Alliance in advocating for one of these bills. I testified in a committee hearing about the danger pornography poses to children, and how easy it is for them to unintentionally stumble upon it on the internet.

We also recorded a podcast with them talking about these dangers and how parents and churches can respond to them.

Family Policy Alliance has also convened a Coalition of allied organizations, legislators, and expert witnesses dedicated to getting these bills passed in the states. Armed with model legislation and advocacy materials, this coalition has gotten these bills introduced in more than 15 states, with many likely to pass. We are actively crippling the pornography industry with these bills, and your support is what makes it possible.

Stay tuned for more updates from us on the progress of this effort. We invite you to join us in prayer and in speaking up about the threat pornography poses to children.

Finally, if you are not already partnered with us in this effort, please consider doing so.

We will not stop until the pornography industry can no longer prey on our innocent children.

For our kids,

Joseph Kohm
Director, Public Policy

One week from today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a pivotal abortion case, the first to come before the high court since it struck down Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago.

On March 26th, the Court will take up the issue of abortion pills and the risk they pose to women. Available since 2000, the Food and Drug Administration and, more recently, the Biden Administration, have loosened access to abortion pills over the years.

Originally, abortion pills could only be administered by a doctor during an in-person visit to determine the gestational age of the baby and the health of the mother. In order to safeguard a woman’s health through the medical abortion, the regimen required a second visit 3 days later and a final examination 14 days after that.

In 2016, the FDA eliminated the requirement that doctors provide follow-up visits on the 3rd and 14th days. They also eliminated the requirement that only doctors could prescribe abortion pills.

In 2021, the FDA used COVID to justify radical change these rules again. Shockingly, they removed all in-person examination requirements, permitting abortion pills to be mailed to patients regardless of what state they lived in and what their state laws said about the legality of abortion.

All of these changes put women’s health at greater risk and also further empowered sex abusers and sex traffickers by allowing them to cover up the consequences of their crimes – consequences that are compounded for their victims through medical abortions they experience alone and often with great trauma.

The Court will examine these concerns next week in a lawsuit challenging the FDA rules, brought by a number of pro-life doctors and our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom.

We are asking you to join us in prayer over the coming week and on the 26th in particular.

We will be praying that:

• Clear pro-life arguments would be made
• The justices would understand the risks posed to women by abortion pills and would value every human life, and
• Ultimately, the use of abortion pills would be reined in

Thank you for joining us in these prayers.

Sincerely,

Meridian Baldacci
Director, Strategy

 

P.S. Prayer is always needed for our nation and this year in particular with elections less than 8 months from now. Click HERE to download our election year prayer guide. It is a fantastic resource for your personal prayer time, your small group or Sunday School class