Owning a business is a big responsibility. On top of managing all the administrative tasks, business owners must set guidelines that align with their values. Lorie Smith, a website designer from Colorado and owner of 303 Creative, wanted to start creating wedding websites, but knew she would not be able to design them for same-sex weddings as those went against her values.
But Lorie faced a dilemma when she learned that Colorado’s anti-discrimination law (CADA) would force her to design websites for same-sex weddings or face severe penalties. Lorie faced an important choice, and she knew what she had to do. I won’t spoil the whole story, but it ends at the Supreme Court and it’s one you won’t want to miss.
Join us live today to hear from Matt Sharp, Senior Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, to get an inside scoop on the story and encouragement about your right to free speech!
TUNE IN TODAY on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube
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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!
See you in the comments section!
Emma Rarden
Digital Specialist – Producer
P.S. Have you checked out our NEW podcast? We pick the brains of newsmakers and experts to break down what’s happening now on the issues YOU care about. With new episodes weekly, you’ll be up to date on all things that affect your family. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Google Podcasts.
Family Policy Alliance is sharing your concerns with the Biden Administration.
When the federal government proposes changes to its administrative rules, citizens have the chance to respond. Here at FPA, we’ve made it simple for you to submit your comments – and you’ve delivered! In five separate proposed rules, FPA provided a sample message and notified each of you that you could send in a response. Thousands of you responded! See below for the final tally of how many comments you submitted.
THANK YOU for letting the administration know your concerns with these rules. Each time you raise your voice, you make a difference.
FPA also submitted five in-depth comments of our own on these proposed rules that you can view below.
#1: CONSCIENCE RULE
In March, FPA submitted this comment to tell the administration that the Proposed Rule would open a pandora’s box for medical professionals who refuse to perform abortions. We also noted that the rule would strip strong conscience protections that the Trump administration established for medical professionals.
Comments YOU submitted: 6,277
#2: REJECTING RELIGIOUS CAMPUS ORGANIZATIONS RULE
Also in March, FPA submitted this comment to the Department of Education when they released a rule that would unfairly leave religious student organizations at risk of being compelled to speak or operate under a standard outside of their core beliefs or even being completely removed from their campus.
Comments YOU submitted: 4,182
#3: CONTRACEPTION RULE
In April, FPA submitted this comment opposed to the administration’s actions to revoke protections for organizations with non-religious moral objections to Obamacare’s Contraception Mandate. This proposed rule would also create a contraception funding scheme without protections to keep funds from being diverted to organizations like Planned Parenthood.
Comments YOU submitted: 2,726
#4: TITLE IX RULE
In May, FPA submitted this comment in support of women and girls in sports, despite the administration’s attempt to force schools to include biological males in women’s sports. Thankfully, more than 20 states have passed bills to save girls’ sports, but the administration is now trying to sidestep those protections by this proposed rule.
Comments YOU submitted: 4,276
#5: HIPAA RULE
In June, FPA submitted this comment opposed to the administration’s attempts to redefine an unborn child as less than a human and reduce protections for women and children within the healthcare system. The rule would accomplish this by altering how doctors comply with HIPAA, the current law that protects patient privacy.
Comments YOU submitted: 4,986
For those of you counting, that’s a total of 22,447 comments!
The departments that release these proposed rules have a portal open for 30 to 60 days where the American public, including people like you and organizations like FPA, can make comments on rules.
It is extremely important that presidential administrations hear from people like you on how these rules will impact your everyday lives as they deliberate on how to finalize a proposed rule. We will continue to notify you of opportunities to speak out to the Biden Administration.
Please continue to stand, fight and make your voices heard!
The Biden Department of Health and Human Services wants to strip religious freedom—and even basic conscience and moral rights—from health care providers
Should doctors be forced to perform abortions? The Biden administration thinks so!
Unfortunately, HHS issued a new rule in January under the guise of increased “conscience protections.” Ironically, that is EXACTLY what the administration will undermine if they finalize this rule.
The rule would force doctors to perform abortions or gender transitions on children in violation of their deeply held moral or religious beliefs.
HHS admits the purpose of the newly proposed rule, in part, is to enforce the idea that “health care systems must effectively deliver services—including safe legal abortions—to all…” (emphasis added)
But doctors should never be forced to perform an abortion.
How can you help?
When a federal agency proposes a rule, they allow the public to comment online in a simple form. This is one of the most effective ways we can make our voices heard to the Biden administration. The more comments they receive, the more they will get the message that the American public does NOT want doctors to be forced to perform abortions.
That’s where you come in!
HHS is accepting your comments on this rule for a limited time, so FPA has prepared a letter to help get you started. Below is an excerpt from that letter:
“A doctor should never be forced to harm one of his two patients…The bottom line is this rule will only hurt the medical community’s ability to provide moms and their children real medical care and will force them to violate their consciences.”
Here are two steps you can take TODAY!
- Head to our Action Center and tell the Administration today that you demand they cancel this rule and provide strong protections for the conscience rights of the medical community!
- Share this commenting opportunity with other friends and family who will also speak out.
I hope you will take a moment to raise your voice to the Biden administration.
For life,
Ruth Ward
Director, Government Affairs
Dear Friends,
We are writing to you with good news! This fall, we asked for your help to stop a radical rule pushed by the Biden Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It forced any healthcare entity participating in ObamaCare to provide abortions and gender transition procedures—and forced federal health insurance plans to cover them.
The rule modified section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) by removing Trump Administration policies. It also attempted to force healthcare providers to perform abortion and gender transition procedures, even if they opposed them on moral or religious grounds.
Biden’s HHS put healthcare providers and their conscience rights in its crosshairs, but YOU helped defeat it! In the last two weeks, not one, but TWO Federal Appeals Courts decided against the proposed rule! The 5th and 8th Circuit Courts of Appeals both slapped permanent injunctions on the rule.
Even better than that, Biden’s HHS declined to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, officially ending the rule!
This could not have happened had you not responded to our urgent call to action and submitted thousands of public comments opposing the rule. Without your voice, Biden’s HHS would not have declined to appeal to the Supreme Court. You spoke up and made them listen!
Finally, you have helped create a favorable legal environment for our Help Not Harm legislation, which has been passed either in full or in part in both Arkansas and Arizona and introduced in many other states. Help Not Harm protects vulnerable children from harmful gender transition procedures and ensures they get the proper healthcare they need.
These rulings, and the Administration’s submission to them, set a standard: doctors cannot be forced to provide gender transition procedures. And through this standard, these rulings help make the case that gender transition procedures are harmful to minors. This creates a hopeful outlook for states that pass laws protecting minors!
Thank you for your support of healthcare workers and their conscience rights, vulnerable children, and the unborn. When you speak up, the world listens!
We encourage you to continue to make your voice heard with us on behalf of the least of these!
Sincerely,
Joseph Kohm III
Director, Public Policy
Perhaps you’ve heard a story like this before: a person seeks a meal at a restaurant but is denied service. You might associate that story with the 1950s. But it just happened in Virginia, and not for the reasons you’re thinking.
In 2022, a Christian organization was denied service due to their religious convictions.
Our friends at The Family Foundation (our state ally in Virginia) believe life is a basic human right, and that marriage is a lifelong union between one man and one woman. Because of those beliefs, they were denied service at Metzger’s Bar and Butchery in Richmond, Virginia.
In our newest live video, hear from The Family Foundation’s President Victoria Cobb as she explains how they handled the last-minute discrimination debacle.
Tune in on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube or watch below.
10:00am PT / 11:00am MT / 12:00pm CT / 1:00pm ET
Not on Facebook? Watch on YouTube!
See you in the comments section,
Emma Rarden
Communications Specialist – Producer
P.S. In case you missed it yesterday, I am including a message from Victoria Cobb below!
Banned from a restaurant: My story & what you can do
Cancel culture just hit home in a whole new way. You may have read about it or seen me interviewed on Fox News.
First, let me introduce myself. I’m Victoria Cobb, President of The Family Foundation in Richmond, Virginia – one of the nearly 40 state groups served by Family Policy Alliance. I’m also privileged to serve on the board of Family Policy Alliance.
The other night, as I was about to head to a restaurant in Richmond for a dinner with a group of supporters of The Family Foundation, one of my team members got a call from an owner of the restaurant. He said staff members had looked up our organization and discovered our leading role in defending life and marriage in Virginia. As a result, they would not be serving us dinner that night.
While my team was able to quickly find another restaurant that gladly served our group a great dinner, the ugly reality hung in the air – we were canceled because of our work to protect life and to uphold God’s design for the family.
It’s not the first time we’ve been canceled.
The Family Foundation and some of our sister groups in other states were recently forced to find a new database provider because of those pro-life and pro-family positions. Some of our allies have suffered bank or insurance cancellations. And that’s not to mention physical attacks, such as when our Wisconsin ally was firebombed on Mother’s Day because of their pro-life work.
Why is this happening? Because this network of nearly 40 state “family policy councils” is having huge impact. In the last legislative cycle, they played a key role in passing more than 200 new pro-life, pro-family and pro-parent state policies – and defeating hundreds of anti-life, anti-family and anti-parent bills.
I’m so thankful we have a great national ally in this work. Family Policy Alliance, which helped start many of these state organizations over the years, is standing with us and equipping us to not only endure, but to thrive through cancel culture.
This year, Family Policy Alliance convened like-minded leaders in the fields of technology, insurance and banking to establish best policies and cancel-proof options for organizations like ours. I believe this ongoing work is critical to protecting freedom and continuing the progress on the issues that you and I care about.
That’s why I’m asking you to support Family Policy Alliance with your generous donation today.
You often see the work of the Family Policy Alliance team on key issues around the nation. But I’m here to tell you that their behind-the-scenes work in supporting the network of state policy organizations like the one I run is critical for the direction of our nation. Thanks for making this work possible with your support!
For life, family and freedom,
Victoria Cobb
President, The Family Foundation of Virginia
Board Member, Family Policy Alliance
P.S. It was a surreal feeling to be told that we couldn’t dine at a restaurant because of our beliefs. But cancel culture threatens far more than our restaurant choices. That’s why it’s critical that we prepare for it and push back against it. Your gift to Family Policy Alliance will help us continue to stand unapologetically for life, for family – and for freedom!
Cancel culture just hit home in a whole new way. You may have read about it or seen me interviewed on Fox News.
First, let me introduce myself. I’m Victoria Cobb, President of The Family Foundation in Richmond, Virginia – one of the nearly 40 state groups served by Family Policy Alliance. I’m also privileged to serve on the board of Family Policy Alliance.
The other night, as I was about to head to a restaurant in Richmond for a dinner with a group of supporters of The Family Foundation, one of my team members got a call from an owner of the restaurant. He said staff members had looked up our organization and discovered our leading role in defending life and marriage in Virginia. As a result, they would not be serving us dinner that night.
While my team was able to quickly find another restaurant that gladly served our group a great dinner, the ugly reality hung in the air – we were canceled because of our work to protect life and to uphold God’s design for the family.
It’s not the first time we’ve been canceled.
The Family Foundation and some of our sister groups in other states were recently forced to find a new database provider because of those pro-life and pro-family positions. Some of our allies have suffered bank or insurance cancellations. And that’s not to mention physical attacks, such as when our Wisconsin ally was firebombed on Mother’s Day because of their pro-life work.
Why is this happening? Because this network of nearly 40 state “family policy councils” is having huge impact. In the last legislative cycle, they played a key role in passing more than 200 new pro-life, pro-family and pro-parent state policies – and defeating hundreds of anti-life, anti-family and anti-parent bills.
I’m so thankful we have a great national ally in this work. Family Policy Alliance, which helped start many of these state organizations over the years, is standing with us and equipping us to not only endure, but to thrive through cancel culture.
This year, Family Policy Alliance convened like-minded leaders in the fields of technology, insurance and banking to establish best policies and cancel-proof options for organizations like ours. I believe this ongoing work is critical to protecting freedom and continuing the progress on the issues that you and I care about.
That’s why I’m asking you to support Family Policy Alliance with your generous donation today.
You often see the work of the Family Policy Alliance team on key issues around the nation. But I’m here to tell you that their behind-the-scenes work in supporting the network of state policy organizations like the one I run is critical for the direction of our nation. Thanks for making this work possible with your support!
For life, family and freedom,
Victoria Cobb
President, The Family Foundation of Virginia
Board Member, Family Policy Alliance
P.S. It was a surreal feeling to be told that we couldn’t dine at a restaurant because of our beliefs. But cancel culture threatens far more than our restaurant choices. That’s why it’s critical that we prepare for it and push back against it. Your gift to Family Policy Alliance will help us continue to stand unapologetically for life, for family – and for freedom!
Friends,
Arkansas voters are being bombarded with misleading and confusing information regarding Ballot Issue 3.
Our allies in Arkansas at the Family Council Action Committee have provided the information below, and we wanted to forward it to you because it is important to cut through the misinformation and get to the truth.
Issue 2 has been endorsed by religious freedom proponents from across the nation and it is supported by our Arkansas Allies at The Family Council Action Center.
Please read the message below to learn more and then and share it with your friends and family. For more information please reach out to Family Council Action Committee.
Sincerely,
Autumn Lava, Esp
Director of Strategy
Family Policy Alliance
_______________________
Winston Churchill is credited with saying, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth even gets its pants on.”Unfortunately, that seems to be the case with religious freedom amendment Issue 3: Gossip and lies about the measure have made the rounds on social media much more than the truth has.Here is the truth about Issue 3:Issue 3 is a good amendment that will protect the free exercise of religion in Arkansas. That is why attorneys at Focus On The Family, Family Research Council Action, Alliance Defending Freedom, and Liberty Counsel have endorsed Issue 3, and that is why liberals at the ACLU and atheists at the Freedom From Religion Foundation oppose Issue 3. The Arkansas Baptist State Convention and Family Council Action Committee also have endorsed the amendment.Unfortunately, some conservatives—including a few of our friends—on social media have claimed that Issue 3 will give the government more power to restrict religious freedom. A self-proclaimed constitutional expert from Florida has posted videos online making that claim.But stop and ask yourself: If Issue 3 makes it easier to restrict religious freedom, then why would the Freedom From Religion Foundation oppose Issue 3? They attack the free exercise of religion every time they have the opportunity.What seems to bother some people is that Issue 3 says the government may burden the free exercise of religion if it has a compelling governmental interest at stake and if it behaves in the least restrictive manner possible.I understand why some people would ask questions about this language, but here’s why Issue 3 contains that exception:Over the past 200 years, courts have had to address situations where cult leaders wanted to commit crimes in the name of their religion, where cities and counties denied building permits to churches, and where conscientious objectors wanted to avoid military service during times of war.In situations like these, courts traditionally asked two questions:First, does the government have a “compelling interest” at stake in this situation—like providing for national defense or protecting people from violent crime?And second, can the government protect that compelling interest while burdening the free exercise of religion as little as possible?Under this test, cult leaders who broke the law went to prison, conscientious objectors in the military were assigned to non-combat duties, and churches that were denied a building permit typically were allowed to build anyway.In the 1980s and 1990s courts began abandoning that standard and issuing rulings that made it easier for the government to run roughshod over religious freedom—even when it did not have a compelling interest at stake or could operate in a less restrictive manner.In response, states began passing laws like Issue 3 to protect religious freedom.In fact, Arkansas passed a religious freedom law similar to Issue 3 in 2015. Issue 3 simply improves on that good law, and it writes the protections into the Arkansas Constitution.If Issue 3 fails to pass this year, it probably will be because conservatives who did not understand the amendment sided with the ACLU and the Freedom From Religion Foundation in voting against the measure.Normally when we disagree with our friends, we simply agree to disagree. In this case, I have to tell you why I am standing with the growing list of highly credible, Christian organizations that support Issue 3 and why I am voting for Issue 3 and urging everyone else to do the same.If you have questions about Issue 3, please feel free to reach out to me or my staff.
Sincerely,JerryJerry CoxFamily Council President
414 S. Pulaski, STE 2Little Rock, AR 72201(501) 375-7000
Dear Friends,
We have an urgent request for your help. In just days, the comment period will close for a radical rule the Biden Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is pushing. If enacted, the rule would require any healthcare entity that participates in ObamaCare to provide abortions and gender transition procedures—and require federal health insurance plans to cover them. The rule modifies section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) by removing Trump Administration policies to force federal health insurance plans to cover abortion and elective gender transition procedures.
We need your help to stop this latest effort from Woke DC!
Your voice can make a difference! Right now, you can submit a comment on this proposed rule urging Biden’s HHS to rescind the rule.
TELL HHS YOU OPPOSE USING THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM TO PUSH THEIR WOKE AGENDA.
The proposed rule also rescinds the Trump-era Conscience Protection ensuring that the rights of healthcare providers who oppose abortion and gender transition procedures on moral or religious grounds would not be violated. Biden’s HHS seeks to put these providers in their crosshairs with this rule and run roughshod over their First Amendment freedoms.
This comment period is only open until 11:59 pm ET Monday, October 3, so we need you to act fast!
Please submit a public comment opposing this dangerous rule! Tell the HHS you STRONGLY OPPOSE using our healthcare system to promote abortion and gender transitions (even on children)—and disregarding any providers who prefer not to provide those procedures.
We’ve provided some comments for you to use, but the more personal you can make your comments, the better! The federal rulemaking process requires the Administration to respond to “unique” comments, so use our sample comments to make yours as individualized and specific as possible!
For example:
Tell HHS how this will impact your doctor.
Tell HHS how this policy violates the conscience rights of healthcare providers.
Tell HHS how this will impact your healthcare.
Tell HHS how this will endanger women through the spread of abortion.
Tell HHS how this harm children through dangerous gender transition procedures.
Tell HHS that abortion and dangerous gender transitions are NOT healthcare.
Please SHARE this information with your family and friends–every comment can help slow down and may even stop this rule!
SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT OPPOSING BIDEN’S 1557 RULE NOW!
Standing with you,
Joseph Kohm III
Director of Public Policy
Our nation’s birth certificate – the Declaration of Independence – states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
It is a bold declaration of truth that must be remembered today, and always – God created us, and our rights come from Him. But we also have a responsibility to ensure those rights are protected.
On this Fourth of July, we have so much to celebrate: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness:
Life
On June 24th, after nearly 50 years of American’s relentless prayer, hard work, volunteering, giving, and more, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a 6-3 decision. God heard the cries of his people over the injustice that has taken place against babies in the womb, answering by overturning an unconstitutional U.S. Supreme Court ruling
Liberty
Days ago, in a victory for religious liberty, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Coach Joseph Kennedy, a high school football coach who lost his job after he prayed briefly at the 50-yard line. In the 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court held that Kennedy’s prayer was protected by the First Amendment.
Pursuit of Happiness
18 states have now passed Save Girls’ Sports laws. This is a movement with momentum to ensure American girls can pursue their dreams and opportunities through sports, without the fear of losing them to a male competitor.
As President Ronald Reagan stated, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.”
We still have much more work to do to protect freedom in our generation. With the overturning of Roe, the power has been returned to the states and federal government to determine what will happen to America’s most vulnerable children. Religious liberty is still under attack. And the Biden Administration is attempting to redefine “sex” through numerous federal policies.
But today, we remember our nation’s founding. We remember the precious freedoms we have been given by God’s grace. And we remember the sacrifices of so many brave men, women, and their families who have fought for freedom. Let us resolve to ensure freedom will not be lost in our generation. And may America remain a bastion of freedom, dedicated to protecting our God-given rights, for generations to come.
For Independence,
Nicole Hudgens
Government Affairs
Just this morning, the Supreme Court sided with the coach who lost his job for praying after football games.
Today, in a significant decision for religious freedom, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Coach Joseph Kennedy, a high school football coach who lost his job at a public school in Washington state after he prayed briefly at the 50-yard line. In the 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court held that Kennedy’s prayer was protected by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, and that it was not in violation of the same amendment’s Establishment Clause.
After the ruling was announced, Craig DeRoche, CEO and President of Family Policy Alliance, issues the following statement:
“Today’s decision is a monumental victory, not only for Coach Kennedy, but for every American who wants to live their faith. The U.S. Constitution has never, and will never, require Americans to abandon their faith. We applaud the six justices of the Supreme Court who today firmly upheld that truth.”
In March, Family Policy Alliance filed an amicus brief in the case together with 29 state family policy councils from around the country, including Pennsylvania’s Independence Law Center (which authored the brief). Family Policy Alliance is pleased to host this alliance of independent state-based family policy councils around the country. Together, the alliance represents more than a million people across the nation.
A copy of Family Policy Alliance’s brief can be found at the Supreme Court website here.
The case has drawn significant national attention, especially from people of faith. In April, Family Policy Alliance and Focus on the Family called on Americans to pray for Coach Kennedy on 50-yard lines near them in advance of the case’s Supreme Court arguments. Americans across the country participated in the event.
Background
- Establishment Clause: Modern Supreme Court cases have observed that the Constitution’s Establishment Clause is meant to foster a neutral approach toward religion.
- Yet in Coach Kennedy’s case, the government’s approach was far from neutral.
- Case background:
- Today, teachers are permitted to make controversial statements on all kinds of topics, including critical race theory, sexuality, and other politically charged topics.
- Yet Coach Kennedy’s short, individual prayer resulted in a “do not re-hire” recommendation from the school district.
- Coach Kennedy began saying a brief prayer following games years ago. Initially he did so alone, but some students asked him what he was doing. When they asked if they could join, he responded, “This is a free country,” and “You can do what you want.”
- When the school learned what he was doing, it demanded he stop, but he felt responsible to thank God for the games in that way. As a result, he lost his job.
- This prayer hardly amounts to an establishment of religion, particularly when the school was clear that it had nothing to do with Kennedy’s activities.
- Instead of neutrality, the school demonstrated hostility toward religion.
- Lemon Test: Today the Court finally dispensed with the notorious “Lemon Test,” a deeply flawed, inhibitive legal doctrine that restricted American’s First Amendment rights. Instead, the Court has instructed that the Establishment Clause must be interpreted in the simple light of American history and tradition. This is an additional victory for Americans’ religious freedom rights.
Sincerely,
The Family Policy Alliance Team