Dear Friends,

This afternoon, I had the privilege of attending an event with Vice President Mike Pence called Life Is Winning to celebrate all the accomplishments in the pro-life movement over the past four years.

And I assure you—none of these incredible accomplishments would have happened without you. Through your biblical citizenship, you have faithfully voted for pro-life leaders, advocated for pro-life laws through our Action Center, and supported mothers and babies in your own communities.

By God’s grace, and because of you, the list of accomplishments Vice President Pence and other leaders in the Trump Administration were able to share was a long one. Here are just a few examples:

• President Trump became the first sitting president in U.S. history to speak at the March for Life, stating: “Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God.”
• President Trump appointed more than 220 conservative judges and justices, including Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who will uphold our God-given liberties–including the right to life.
• President Trump, with Vice President Pence casting the deciding vote in the Senate, passed a law to allow every state to defund Planned Parenthood, and the President also issued a rule to prevent taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood through federal family planning grants.
• The Trump Administration has taken many steps to protect healthcare professionals or faith-based employers like Little Sisters of the Poor from being forced to participate in or provide coverage for abortions.
• President Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services ended federal research using fetal tissue from abortions.
• And so much more!

These are amazing accomplishments, and I am rejoicing with you! But, most importantly, Vice President Pence reminded us today of why we work so hard together to advance the dignity and worth of every human life in culture, law, policy, and elections:

He who said before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. This is about life. We do well in this movement to always remind ourselves that when we make the cause for life our cause, we make His work on this earth our very own. So do not grow weary in doing well because in the last four years we’ve shown when men and women of faith and conviction come together to stand up for the unborn and to speak out for the voiceless, life can win in America, and with your help and God’s help life will keep on winning in the United States of America.

Indeed. We are in the pro-life movement not for political wins for their own sake—but because the value of every human life made in the image of God is at stake.

President Trump’s press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, also joined us at the event. She shared how the cause for life has become even more near and dear to her heart as a new mom this year. It was a powerful moment when she said:  “This is not about a woman’s right to choose. It is about a human being’s right to live.” We are image-bearers of the living God, and that must mean something in America’s law and culture.

At the end of the event, Tom McClusky, the Vice President of Government Affairs for our friends at March for Life, presented a letter to Vice President Pence thanking him and President Trump for all their work advancing the right to life over the past four years. The letter was signed by over 70 organizations, including Family Policy Alliance.

I hope you’ll join us in “not growing weary in doing good,” because we have much work to do advancing the cause of life in 2021!

I will end this letter to you with the encouraging words Vice President Pence shared with me today:  “We will see the sanctity of life restored to the center of American law in our time.”

For all created in His image,

Craig DeRoche
President and CEO

 

 

 

Last night may have been the most important vice presidential debate in our nation’s history, for two reasons.

First, it offered a chance to reset the campaign after last week’s abysmal presidential debate that was widely panned as the worst of all time.

Indeed, last night’s debate succeeded in offering a discussion that was understandable (generally one person talking at a time), more civil and fairly substantive on issues. In succeeding on those levels, it seemed to reinvigorate interest in the campaign and hope in the process.

But it was also a critical debate for a more practical reason: age. Whether Trump or Biden wins, we will have our oldest-serving president come January. Trump’s bout with COVID – though he seems to have come through it well – was a sharp reminder of his elevated age and the associated risks.

And Biden is four years Trump’s senior. His frailty, especially of mind, has been unavoidable.

So it’s hardly a wild notion that, within a couple of years, the leader of the free world could be one of the candidates who was on that stage in Utah.

What then did we learn about them?

Vice President Pence is a fairly known quantity. He is well known for his faithful honoring of his wife and marriage. And his history of supporting pro-life and pro-family causes is well documented. That includes past service on the board of Family Policy Alliance’s longtime allied group in Indiana.

Those who really observed him for the first time last night saw that he is polite, thoughtful and well spoken, even if his answers ran long. Though there wasn’t a heavy focus on social issues, he certainly  reiterated his support for school choice and for the sanctity of life. “I couldn’t be more proud to serve as Vice President to a President who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life,” he told the audience, adding “I am pro-life. I don’t apologize for it.”

For Sen. Kamala Harris, however, Wednesday night was by far her biggest stage and broadest exposure to voters. More Americans got to see what political observers have long recognized about her: She’s politically gifted with a penchant for throwing sharp elbows, as she did to Joe Biden during the primaries. Her supporters would call it tenacity; others see it as rudeness.

But while leaders’ behavior matters — just look at last week’s debate — ultimately it’s what they do in regards to policy and personnel that matters most.

Harris’s policy statements last night were socially liberal, to be sure: supporting abortion and declaring that she and Biden “will decriminalize marijuana and expunge the records of those who have been convicted of marijuana.”

That, however, merely touched the surface of her social issues agenda – one that is as radical, or more so, than any member of the U.S. Senate. As I’ve written in more detail, Harris is so extreme on abortion – anything goes – that she wants to pre-emptively stop states from passing new pro-life legislation.

She checks every box, and more, for the LGBT lobby – even pushing to force taxpayers to subsidize so-called “sex-change” surgeries. And on religious freedom, her agenda is simple: limit it.

Last night, we also got to see her dodge repeatedly on the question of whether she would push to pack the Supreme Court with additional liberal justices. Her evasion spoke volumes – and is an eerie indicator of the kind of radicalism that we will face if the Left takes over the White House and U.S. Senate.

Thankfully, voters still have a choice, including a very stark one between Pence and Harris.

Sincerely,

John Paulton
Mobilization Manager

 

This afternoon, I was grateful to join Vice President Pence on an important update call, along with other conservative, pro-life, and faith leaders.

The most encouraging thing I heard on that call was that the Vice President and President care about you. They care about saving lives, especially the most vulnerable, from the womb to natural end of life—and everyone in between. They care about how COVID-19 is impacting families and their livelihoods. They care about ensuring that families can get the food and supplies they need. They care about protecting our healthcare workers on the front lines. And, they care about the impact COVID-19 is having on churches, pastors, and the entire faith community.

I am deeply grateful we have a Vice President who, being a man of faith himself, considers it important enough to reach out specifically to pro-family, pro-life, faith-based leaders and communities during a time of national crisis—even as he leads the Coronavirus Task Force.

It is during a time of crisis that character and leadership is tested. COVID-19 could have pushed the President and Vice President away from their strong pro-life positions and efforts to protect religious freedom. Instead, COVID-19 has proven their commitment to protecting life and ensuring that their responses to the crisis don’t leave out the faith community in America.

I’d like to share with you the update from Vice President Pence, along with some ways we can all help.

UPDATES

Vice President Pence somberly shared that the latest modeling from experts showing potential loss of life in America in the hundreds of thousands over the next few weeks was the reason the President extended the Slow the Spread guidelines through April. Vice President Pence emphasized that the collective goal of every American for the next 30 days must be to prevent loss of life, protect the most vulnerable among us, and preserve the capacity of the healthcare system.

He shared that they have been especially encouraged by the response of American businesses stepping up to provide critical medical supplies, communities of faith meeting needs and easing burdens, and those ensuring that we continue to have the food supply we need such as truck drivers, grocery store workers, farmers and distributers.

He reported that now over 100,000 are being tested for COVID-19 every single day, over 26 million masks and thousands more ventilators have now been distributed, and medical supplies are arriving through a series of flights coordinated by FEMA.

The Vice President’s staff also shared that they are very aware of the concerns of Americans that while non-essential medical care and even entire industries are shut down, abortion providers continue to push forward. They share those concerns and continue to monitor and work on the situation.

They also hope to expand the relief offered in the COVID-19 package to help churches and other non-profits, underscoring the commitment to not exclude the faith community from the conversations surrounding COVID-19.

Though Vice President Pence recognized that April will be challenging for us as Americans, he also said that the virus is expected to peak mid-April and that by Memorial weekend our country can be in a very different place if we all do our part.

He said: “There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it will take all of us to meet this moment.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP

• Vice President Pence asked that all Americans follow the 30-day Slow the Spread guidelines, as well as state and local directions, in order to protect Americans for whom the COVID-19 threat is very serious (senior citizens and those with compromised immune systems) because COVID-19 is three times more contagious than the flu.
• Because the Vice President and President have been so encouraged by the response of churches and other faith-based nonprofits, please consider how your local church might be able to help during this time. Check out this article about how churches are rising to the moment, even with sanctuaries closed, for some ideas.

HOW YOU CAN PRAY

• Vice President Pence asked us to pray for families who have suffered loss or have loved ones facing serious illness.
• Vice President Pence also asked us to pray for the front lines—healthcare workers, first responders, and their families.
• Please also make time to pray for Vice President Pence, President Trump, your state’s Governor, and other leaders as they make difficult decisions.

I was encouraged by the Vice President’s deep care for families, for protecting life, and for people of faith. I was encouraged that the outreach of the faith community has meant so much to him and President Trump at this time.

After the call, I renewed my commitment to pray for the Vice President, President, and other leaders who need the Lord’s wisdom and guidance at this time.

The call with the Vice President also reminded me of one of my favorite Bible verses, John 1:5:

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There’s certainly a lot of darkness in the world today, but there’s never enough darkness to overshadow the true Light of Jesus Christ. And certainly, God’s people are already shining the light of Christ if even the Vice President and President have noticed from the White House! Let’s see what we can do to make it even brighter during this time.

Shining the Light with you,

Autumn Leva
Vice President for Strategy

The vice-presidential debate is now long over and forgotten. But toward the end of the debate, both candidates—self-proclaimed Christians—were asked to “discuss in detail a time when you struggled to balance your personal faith and a public policy position.”

Democratic candidate Tim Kaine responded: “I try to practice my religion in a very devout way and follow the teachings of my church in my own personal life. But I don’t believe that in this nation, a First Amendment nation, where we don’t raise any religion over the other, and we allow people to worship as they please, that the doctrines of any one religion should be mandated for everyone.” He went on to say that he and Hillary Clinton support Roe v. Wade and “a woman’s right to choose.”

In contrast, Republican candidate Mike Pence, now vice president-elect, said: “I would tell you that for me the sanctity of life proceeds out of the belief that . . . where God says before you were formed in the womb, I knew you, and so . . . I sought to stand with great compassion for the sanctity of life.” He continued, “so for me, my faith informs my life.”

One’s natural response was to paraphrase the Constitution and a Supreme Court ruling to justify his support for abortion on demand. The other’s was to cite God’s Word and how it directs his steps.

Both men’s faith teaches personhood at conception. Yet, only one aligns his actions with his faith.

We saw during that debate the contrast between a politician and a statesman—a person who stands firm and takes action (Dan. 11:32b) regardless of the personal consequences.

Your sacrificial gifts are training and discipling people like Mike Pence as Family Policy Foundation Statesmen. What a hopeful future we are building together!

Paul Weber
President and CEO
Family Policy Alliance

Family Policy Alliance and many other groups are urging the new administration to address sexual exploitation as they take office in January.

The group, which includes Paul Weber of Family Policy Alliance, Alan Sears of Alliance Defending Freedom and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, has penned a letter to help the new leadership understand that “America is suffering from a sexual exploitation crisis.”

They are asking that “through the presidential appointment process, presidential directives and policies,” the federal government address “the full spectrum of harm” being done to our society.

The letter will be sent to Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

Planned Parenthood took a shot at Mike Pence prior to the vice presidential debate, calling him the “most extreme lawmaker of the 21^st century.”

The honor was bestowed on Pence because he has worked tirelessly to protect the sanctity of life in the state of Indiana. He has supported a partial birth abortion ban, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and he led the fight to defund Planned Parenthood in Indiana.

“The fear of losing their federal funding has led them to target me for my pro-life positions,” he said several years ago when the group was attacking him. “They’ve even named me to their 2010 Election Hall of Shame for advocating a pro-life agenda on Capitol Hill, but I refuse to back down.”

After signing a law this year that makes sex selection and disability selection abortions illegal in his state, Pence summed up his work on behalf of life.

“I believe that a society can be judged by how it deals with its most vulnerable—the aged, the infirm, the disabled and the unborn,” he explained. “Reports show that Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion provider, receives nearly one-third of its $1 billion annual budget from the federal government. Our tax dollars should not be spent on abortions. I know it. You know it.”