It’s been a busy time in the US House of Representatives. Over the past couple of weeks, the Speaker of the House was voted out, and Congressional members have spent the days since negotiating and voting over who should be the next Speaker – arguably the most powerful position in Congress.

What’s going on? What’s at stake? And what happens next? Join us as our very own Director of Government Affairs, Ruth Ward, shares the inside scoop from Capitol Hill.  She’ll be joined by Family Policy Alliance President Craig DeRoche, who formerly served as Speaker of the House in Michigan and will shed light on what’s at stake with this role.

TUNE IN TODAY on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube,
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10:00am PT / 11:00am MT / 12:00pm CT / 1:00pm ET

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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
Communications 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Friends,

I just had to send a quick note to let you know that you once again proved that together, we really can make a difference. Even in a messed up DC!

Here’s what happened. A few weeks ago, Congress passed their “infrastructure” bill with their so-called “gender identity” language in it. If lies could fill potholes, we might have a use for them! 19 GOP senators voted with every democratic member to pass this bill.

The GOP was then allowing this crazy language in the NDAA (defense funding) bill, and even had language to require our daughters (I have three in this age range) to register for the draft. We asked you to contact senators to oppose both these measures. I personally flew out and talked with Senators Lee, Cruz, Hawley and Representatives like Rep. Steve Scalise. The bottom line — they heard the message and took these provisions out of the Defense Act!! Thank you, God! And thank you for your help. Many thousands of you called/emailed your representatives in DC and it shook them.

Second- you have heard we launched the “After Roe” campaign. Our idea is to have all the pro-life organizations come together in an alliance — to rise up and meet the challenges and opportunities that come with the potential reversal of Roe and with SCOTUS allowing the Texas Heartbeat bill to stand. So far, Concerned Women for America, Susan B. Anthony List, Americans United for Life, Students for Life and many others have joined. God has blessed Family Policy Alliance with hosting this alliance of so many amazing national and state organizations — to save as many lives as possible by combining our efforts.

We are humbled and honored – and preparing to serve the Lord well as we head into 2022. Just wanted to thank you! Your voice and your support made a huge difference in the past few weeks.

God bless you-

Craig DeRoche

PS- This is a thank you email, not a fundraising email, but many of you have been calling and emailing every day asking how you can help. The answer is, yes, we do need that help to make the most of the opportunity the Lord has put before us. If you want to contribute to our work to organize national and state orgs, educate our elected officials and inform Christian voters, you can help by clicking here. Thanks again!

Today, the Senate will consider the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Unfortunately, the current version of the bill contains language that would force women to register for the draft.

In July, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate Armed Services Committee added language to the NDAA that will force women to register for the draft.

The NDAA also contains dangerous “Equality Act” language. Another Democrat amendment could add even more “Equality Act” language to the legislation.

Your voice is critical to stop these dangerous policies from becoming law.

Urge your Senator to OPPOSE NDAA language that would draft our daughters and push the radical “Equality Act” agenda.

In addition, please urge your Senator to SUPPORT these four amendments:

  1. Senator Hawley’s amendment #4140- removes the section requiring women to register for the Selective Service.
  2. Senator Inhofe’s amendment #3944- removes the section requiring women to register for the Selective Service.
  3. Senator Lee’s amendment #4542- removes the section requiring women to register for the Selective Service.
  4. Senator Lankford’s amendment #4103- ensures the Department of Defense will not force any member of the Armed Forces to participate in a medical procedure that violates the service member’s conscience based on a sincere religious or moral belief, or because it is against the service member’s best medical judgement.

Here are four reasons to OPPOSE forcing women to register for the draft:

Tell your Senator: Don’t draft our daughters, stop the “Equality Act” agenda, and protect conscience rights in the military by clicking this link to our Action Center!

For family and freedom,

Nicole Hudgens
Government Affairs

Woke Capitol is more woke than ever.

If you recall, our team found nearly 100 bills containing the term “gender identity.” What does that mean? Democratic leadership realizes that the full Equality Act doesn’t have enough support. That is in heartfelt thanks to many of you who have helped stall that dangerous bill with your prayers, taking action, and financial support!

Now, Democratic leadership has employed their backup plan: force through the tenets of the Equality Act piece-by-piece. In many ways, this is even more dangerous because there are so many bills to keep track of that touch nearly every area of law.

For instance, just this week, the House passed the Appropriations Bill for the Departments of Labor, Health, and Education that includes Equality Act language. Specifically, this language could punish or deny federal grants to faith-based child welfare providers that hold Biblical beliefs about marriage and biological sex.

But that’s not all. For the first time in nearly 45 years, House Democrats eliminated the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer dollars paying for abortion. House Democrats also eliminated the long-standing Mexico City policy, meaning taxpayers will be forced to fund abortions overseas.

We are thankful 208 House Republicans fought back and called for a vote to include the Hyde Amendment, but their effort was opposed 208 – 217. Now, all eyes are on the Senate to determine if taxpayers will be forced to pay for the deaths of preborn children.

If you haven’t spoken up to save the Hyde Amendment yet! Sign our petition HERE.

Speaking of the Senate, you’re probably hearing a lot of talk about the Infrastructure package. This week, the Senate voted to move this legislation forward in the process- without being able to read the text of the bill. Yes, you read that correctly- they’re moving forward a bill that the Senators haven’t seen! Our team will be monitoring this major piece of legislation (once they finally have the language!) for impacts on important family values.

This week, the Senate Armed Services Committee also voted to add an amendment to the big “National Defense Authorization Act” (NDAA) that would require women to register for the draft. It’s another misguided proposal from DC that not only demeans, but also erases women.

Family Policy Alliance and the alliance of state-based family policy councils released a joint statement in response and will continue to oppose this amendment as the NDAA heads to the full Senate floor for consideration.

“Now Woke DC is canceling Rosie the Riveter? Men and women are equal under the law and equally made in the image of God, but Woke DC has an agenda to erase any differences between men and women. Insisting that women need to be drafted in order to fully participate in our nation’s defense demeans women who have kept our country safe and on track on the front lines in our manufacturing plants and labor force, with our families, and by their voluntary service in the armed forces.“To win a war but have no American families left at home would be doing the enemy’s job for them…

 

Read our full response HERE.

Now, Representatives and Senators head back to their states for August break, which means we’ll all get a break from the steady stream of “wokeness” in Congress. And, hopefully they will be reminded of how real America feels about the issues at stake today.

However, the Biden Administration has been hard at work implementing a radical agenda through administrative action—getting around doing the hard work of the legislative process. Be assured, we will continue to watch, respond, and bring believers together to take action when the Administration attempts to write rules that harm life, religious freedom, and families.

Thank you for your ongoing support and prayers!

The Family Policy Alliance Team

This month, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on whether to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. The bill is even worse than you may think: please contact your representative TODAY through our Action Center.

Currently, marijuana is an illegal substance under federal law. (While some states have legalized recreational marijuana in their own states, this only “works” to the extent that federal law enforcement turns a blind eye to offenses.) Still, the federal status of marijuana hasn’t stopped Pelosi’s House from trying to support Big Marijuana: last fall they attempted to fund the illegal industry through the SAFE Banking Act, and they tried the same trick with emergency COVID funding this spring.

Now, Pelosi’s House wants to go further by legalizing marijuana at the federal level. While that doesn’t automatically make marijuana legal throughout the states, it would certainly send a strong message that marijuana just isn’t a big deal. But we know it is a big deal. That’s why it’s on Schedule I, a federal list of drugs that have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”*

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY THROUGH OUR ACTION CENTER!

Indeed, marijuana is not the harmless drug some paint it to be. Here are the facts:

And it’s not just medical concerns. Here’s what happened in Colorado when it legalized pot:

The bill would open the floodgates for what happened to Colorado to begin to happen nationwide. And the bill isn’t just about removing criminal penalties. Here are some of the other things the bill would do:

The bottom line? This bill is dangerous.

Representatives have been asked to indicate by Thursday whether they will support the bill. Please visit our Action Center today to contact your Representative and ask them to NOT support this dangerous legislation!

Pressing On,

Meridian Baldacci

*Hemp, a cannabis plant with a very low content of THC, is sometimes used for medical reasons and is already exempt from the Controlled Substances Act.

It seems like an odd question to ask – surely anyone would be against infanticide, right??

Turns out, some in Congress have tried to vote on the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act nearly 30 times this year alone. Each time, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has blocked the entire House of Representatives from voting on it.

The Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (HR962) simply requires that any infant that survives an abortion should be given proper, life-saving medical care. As astounding as it sounds, such care is not required by law and does not necessarily happen.

While it is rare, babies do survive late-term abortions. And while most states do not report on these instances, five states do (Florida, Michigan, Arizona, Minnesota and Oklahoma). In these states alone, 25 babies survived abortion attempts in 2017. In other states, it is possible that as many (and more) survive attempted abortions.

Sadly, when a baby who was supposed to die in a late-term abortion does miraculously survive, there is often no effort to care for them or give them medical attention. Presumed to be “unwanted” in the first place, these babies are left on the abortion room table to die from neglect, are placed in closets until they bleed or starve to death or are killed by other means. It’s a terrible, horrific scar on the character of our nation.

If the scourge or abortion was not bad enough already, to further devalue life by refusing any care to a newborn is perhaps as appalling as human nature can possibly be.

Because the Democrat leadership of the US House of Representatives refuses to allow a vote on HB962, the House Republican leadership has decided to take charge by introducing a discharge petition for the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act – a seldom-used option to force a vote on legislation in Congress.

Today, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), House Minority Whip, along with Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) are asking their Congressional colleagues to sign the discharge petition to bring this bill to a vote. The discharge petition requires the signatures of at least 218 Members of Congress in order to force a vote on the Floor of the House.

We need your help! In order to end the killing of abortion survivors, please send a message to your Representative asking them to sign the discharge petition for the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. It only takes a few seconds in our Action Center.

Your Representative needs to hear from you on this matter – let them know that you want the law to require that we protect the most helpless of the helpless in our nation.

So, where does your Representative stand on infanticide? Whether they sign the discharge petition or not will tell you what you need to know.

Yours for life,

Robert Noland
Communications Manager

P.S. Please find this story on our webpage and share it with your friends and family on social media. When you do, remember to use these hashtags: #letusvote and #endinfanticide – your work to increase awareness of this travesty will only help to turn the tide in the long run.

By Autumn Leva, VP of Strategy

As Christ-followers, by now we know what love looks like at the very beginning of life. We’ve learned how to fight for preborn babies for the last 45 years of Roe v. Wade’s existence.

But what does love look like at the end of life—when you or a loved one receives the medical diagnosis no one expected, when there’s pain and suffering?

We believe that love looks very much the same at the end as it does at the beginning. We believe that every life is worth fighting for—regardless of medical diagnosis, health condition, age, disability, socioeconomic status, or any other factor.

Sadly, proponents of legalizing assisted suicide do not believe this—they believe that the solution for loved ones who have been diagnosed with a serious medical condition and (in theory) six months left to live is for a doctor to provide a prescription for their patient to take a lethal dose of pills at home.

Rather than working with family members, counselors, medical professionals, and others to provide the best care when a loved one needs it most, it seems easier to give him or her access to a lot of pills to end it all. But that’s not caring—that’s abandonment.

We believe that we can do better than assisted suicide when it comes to caring for those approaching the end of life.

Our friend Jean has an amazing story of how God proved His love to her after a terrible accident—and she says better than anyone that we need to find policy solutions that “eliminate the problem, not the patient.”

Thankfully, 30 States have rejected over 200 attempts to legalize assisted suicide since 1994. Now, Representative Brad Wenstrup, who represents Ohio’s 2nd District in D.C., has introduced a resolution in Congress (H. Con. Res. 80) declaring the position of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate as opposed to assisted suicide.  The last words of Rep. Wenstrup’s resolution are:

Representative Brad Wenstrup (OH, District 2)

“[I]t is the sense of the Congress that the Federal Government should ensure that every person facing the end of their life has access to the best quality and comprehensive medical care, including palliative, in-home, or hospice care, tailored to their needs and that the Federal Government should not adopt or endorse policies or practices that support, encourage, or facilitate suicide or assisted suicide, whether by physicians or others.”

But, Congress won’t prioritize passing Rep. Wenstrup’s resolution without our help and encouragement.

Family Policy Alliance is sending a letter to Congress this week, asking them to swiftly pass Rep. Wenstrup’s resolution. Will you help by asking your own U.S. House Representative to pass Rep. Wenstrup’s resolution?

We’ve made it easy through our Action Center.

Simply fill in your contact information for the letter, click send, and your letter will be automatically sent to your Representative.

Thank you for your help, and thank you for helping our leaders understand what love looks like at the end of life!

Every life is worth fighting for.

 

TAKE ACTION: Send a message your member of Congress telling them that you think all life is worth fighting for.

 

Leaders from 10 pro-life groups, including Family Policy Alliance, sent a letter to members of the U.S. House and Senate asking them to honor their promise to stop taxpayer funding of abortion.

“This Republican Pro-life Congress made a promise to American voters to stop taxpayer funding for the largest abortion chain in the nation, Planned Parenthood,” the letter explains. “It is now well past time to deliver on that promise.”

It spells out how legislation to stop Medicaid funding to abortion was vetoed by then-president Obama. Seeing that only the White House stood in the way, the letter makes the case that that’s one of the reasons America elected President Trump, who had pledged to sign such legislation.

Paul Weber, president and CEO of Family Policy Alliance, signed the letter. He said If we learned anything from this past election, it’s that we’re all tired of talk and political spin.

“We want to see action. Defunding Planned Parenthood is one of the biggest actions Congress can take to show that they’re not out of touch with our families in America,” he said. “That’s why we’re proud to join with other pro-life leaders in sending this letter to Congress — calling on the House and Senate to follow through on legislation defunding Planned Parenthood that they were able to pass even under the Obama Administration.

“As the letter makes clear, this isn’t a piece of pork barrel legislation that doesn’t matter. Ending taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood means ending the taxpayer-funded gravy train that subsidizes the killing of 900 pre-born children every single day.”

Also signing the letter were leaders from Susan B. Anthony List, Concerned Women for America LAC, Students for Life of America, March for Life Education and Defense Fund, Live Action, Family Research Council, Americans United for Life, American Values and the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

LEARN MORE
Read the letter to Congress.

Congress is currently considering the future of assisted suicide in the District of Columbia.

The U.S. House has a say in what goes on in the District, so no matter what state you live in, your voice can have an impact.

Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee have voted to repeal the law. Now it’s critical that all members of the U.S. House hear from people who support the repeal when the bill moves to the House floor.

Jean Swenson has a unique perspective on such laws.

In 1980, her car was hit by a semi-truck. Her head went through the windshield, breaking her neck, and she was paralyzed from the shoulders down. This powerful video shares her thoughts on assisted suicide.

The House members who voted in committee to protect life understand that there’s no dignity in assisted suicide. As Jean explained: “I’m really grateful that people didn’t take my cries that my life was over seriously and they provided what I really needed – which was support, encouragement, prayers. … The road hasn’t always been easy, but it’s been good. And it’s definitely been worth fighting for.”

TAKE ACTION: Please take a few moments to send a message through our Action Center to your member of Congress. Ask them to support the repeal of D.C.’s assisted-suicide law.By calling on Congress to repeal DC’s harmful law, you help send the message that all lives, including Jean’s, are worth fighting for.

 

 

by Stuart Shepard

Here’s what surprised me most: The sheer number of people on social media who found it impossible to write “It’s wrong to shoot members of Congress” – without adding – “but…”

I was scanning the reaction to the news this week that a gunman targeted a baseball field full of Republican lawmakers practicing for a friendly game against their Democrat rivals.

I’ll share a few social media posts I saw, but out of mercy, I will not share their names:

“I’m very sorry these people were shot… I suppose it’s too much to think that this might be a learning experience…”

“Not happy that anyone was shot. The irony (given their position on gun laws) is inescapable, however.”

“Funny my thoughts were this is not good… (but I) bet they never thought a gun would have Sacalise in it’s sites. Swift recovery and I hope some mediation on gun laws.” (sic)

“I can’t muster empathy for them. I just can’t.”

“Congress has viciously turned on all of us. If they continue to ignore the needs of the people they best expect more of this.”

“These people who were shot, voted to be shot.”

Okay, so some of them skipped right past the “It’s wrong to shoot members of Congress” part.  But these are all actual comments by ostensibly actual human beings on a rather gracious post by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a group that regularly opposes much of what conservative members of Congress stand for.

But some followers of SPLC took issue with that expression of goodwill. One example:

Yikes.

Here’s a question for you: How do you respond?

Do you match name-calling with name-calling? When dark money pays people to pick fights at conservative rallies, do you swing back? Do you respond to ALL CAPS COMMENT with ALL CAPS RETORT, YOU CHUCKLEHEAD!

Oh, I know, it’s tempting. I fight that urge all the time – with varying degrees of success.

But, I’m convinced of this: It’s best simply to reply with a winsome, unassailable argument. To treat our friends who would “slap you on the right cheek” with surprising, unmerited grace, respect and courtesy. Because, in the end, our ultimate goal is not to beat them, it’s to win them to our point of view. And the proper way to nudge them gently in the right direction is by being salt and light – as opposed to, say, a sledgehammer.

Here, let me show you an example. Here’s a winsome, unassailable argument that has no need for a clarifying remark, footnote or “but…”:

“It’s wrong to shoot members of Congress.”