Family out for a walk

Dear Friends,

We have a request for your help. This week, Senator Tim Scott introduced the Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act.

You can help by asking your Representative in Congress to cosponsor this important legislation today.


Parents know their children best and love them more than anyone else. But recent years have seen unprecedented attacks on parents’ fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children. The Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act will ensure this fundamental right is not ignored or overruled by government officials simply because the government disagrees with the parents.

The Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act will also protect parents’ rights to choose schools and make medical decisions for their children.

The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently recognized parental rights as fundamental, and this Act will ensure that courts treat parental rights with the highest legal standard of “strict scrutiny” when federal policies burden parental rights.

Along with our friends in the Promise to America’s Parents Coalition, we need your help to ensure Congress passes this Act and protects parental rights.

Send a message to your Congressional Representative today and tell them you expect them to sign on as cosponsor of the Families Rights’ and Responsibilities Act!


Getting as many cosponsors on the bill as possible will help ensure the House votes to pass it. Contacting your Representative only takes a minute in our Action Center; by doing so, you will ensure parental rights are protected in federal law.

For families,Joseph Kohm
Joseph Kohm
Joseph Kohm
Director of Public Policy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Friends,

As we begin 2024 and look ahead, there are many topics looming large as major cultural, political and spiritual issues in our country. That’s why we want to start this year inviting you to join the Family Policy Alliance team in prayer for our nation.

Here are four of the most important issues that we are praying over as we have entered into the new year. (Be sure to see the end of this email for an opportunity to join us for prayer in a live online event tomorrow.)

Life

Pro-abortion forces are diligently and persistently seeking to challenge pro-life laws in nearly a dozen states this year by placing the outright legalization of abortion for any reason directly on the ballot. (So far, these are the states facing this challenge: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York and South Dakota.) If these efforts follow previous patterns, the abortion industry’s tactics will be dishonest and deceptive. Pro-life voters must push back with the truth and most importantly, show up to vote for life!

We are praying that:

Transgender Agenda

The transgender agenda is fiercely aggressive, and its messages lurk everywhere seeking to entice children into life-long decisions that lead to pain, regret and suicide. The hollow promise to children is one of ultimate self-determination as the solution to the challenges they face. In the end, however, it is a lifetime of dealing with the consequences of denying the reality of God’s creation of them as male or female.

We are praying that:

Parental Rights

Related to the prior topic, parents have, in recent years, become more aware of how schools are pushing numerous harmful agendas on their children. Whether it is transgender indoctrination, critical race theory, normalization of homosexuality or provision of pornography in reading materials, parents must be aware and vigilant when it comes to not only schools, but also doctors’ offices, libraries, social media and the entertainment industry, among many others who actively seek to push harmful ideas and abnormal worldviews on innocent children.

We are praying that:

Elections

This year brings us to another presidential election. We have seen nearly three years of radicalism, whether it be the taxpayer funding of abortion, attempts to erode religious freedom or the proliferation of transgender mandates throughout the entire federal government. This election has the chance to determine whether or not these dangerous abuses of power will be allowed to continue.

We are praying that:

These are but four issues (among many) that we see as critical for this year and they are just a beginning of where we would invite God’s influence in our culture.

Please add your own prayers to these as we move through the coming months. We encourage you to share these with your family and friends as well as your prayer groups, small groups and Sunday school classes.

You are invited to join us online tomorrow for a prayer livestream as we talk about and pray over these issues as well.

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

9:00am PT / 10:00am MT / 11:00am CT / 12:00pm ET

We hope you can join us tomorrow, but if not, please do keep these things in prayer and watch for periodic prayer updates from us as 2024 progresses.

Prayerfully,

Robert Noland
Director of Audience Engagement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you imagine your elementary-school-aged child or grandchild going to their school’s book fair and finding pornographic material available to purchase and take home? That could be happening in a school near you, if your local school hosts Scholastic book fairs.

Scholastic Books, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, recently decided to offer a collection of books to elementary school students that covered controversial topics including pornographic LGBTQ+ material. After controversy with the Left, Scholastic buckled under pressure, possibly resulting in an even more dangerous policy regarding these books.

Join our Joseph Kohm and Amanda Banks as they take a deep dive into this controversial story and provide you with the information you need to take action and help protect kids. Tune in to our video podcast and ask your questions LIVE this morning!

TUNE IN Tuesday November 14 on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube
SoconReport or by clicking the image below
7:00am PT / 8:00am MT / 9:00am CT / 10:00am ET

You might be thinking, “I’ll watch the podcast and share it with my friends, but what can I do now?” Sign our open letter to Scholastic Books, telling them that selling sexualized, pornographic material in schools is unacceptable. You can do that here.

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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See you in the comments section!

Emma Rarden
Communications Specialist – Producer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Friends,

Earlier this week, we alerted you to the story that iconic Scholastic Books had scrapped plans to protect elementary children from certain pornographic and sexually explicit titles appearing in their school book fairs. If you missed it, you can read more about the situation HERE.

Already, thousands of our readers have taken action by signing our open letter to Scholastic! If you have done so, thank you!

If you have not yet signed the open letter to Scholastic, please do so by clicking HERE now. (But please come back to finish reading this important message…because there is more!)

Right now, we do not know if Scholastic will do anything. That means that we need to continue to press upon them how dangerous it is to sell sexualized, pornographic content to children of any age.

Much like Target and Bud Light, some large corporations really don’t care what people think until they see their bottom line being affected. Ultimately, it’s all about the money.

But we have a plan, and you can help.

Family Policy Alliance is asking you to help in one more simple way – and this one will require just a little homework from you, but we think it will be worth it.

Because schools must invite Scholastic into their buildings to sell a single book, school board members have the power to tell Scholastic that they cannot sell books to any student. The message is that Scholastic must change their policy, or they will not be allowed back into schools.

To send that message, we must notify school board members who share our values and want to protect children. They must be informed about the harmful material Scholastic sells in schools and they must be willing to take action to stop it.

Here is where you can make a difference.

We need to know who the strong, reliable, conservative school board members are in your area so we can provide them with the background material and tools they need to protect children from harmful materials.

There are over 90,000 local school board members in 14,000 school districts across the nation, and knowing who to reach out to is a daunting task. Your help in narrowing our focus to those best positioned to take action on this issue will be immensely helpful.

Here is where your homework comes in.

For any school board member whom you feel should be involved, CLICK HERE and provide the following: Their name, an email address and the name of your school district, city and state. If you do not have all of this information, share as much as you can! If you are fortunate enough to have several good school board members, please send us contact information for all of them.

We appreciate your help in firing up elected officials at the grassroots level!

Your input here is key to activating what we hope is a national effort to stop schools and corporations from pushing pornography on schoolchildren of any age.

Again – click HERE to give us contact information for any reliable, conservative school board member(s) in your area and we will reach out right away to equip them with the tools they need to take action on this issue.

Thank you,

Robert Noland
Director, Audience Engagement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Friends,

Recently parents across the country have been taking action to eradicate pornographic material in school libraries and curricula. Such content simply has no place in our schools. Pornography is deeply destructive in a child’s life; and in a time when the average age of first exposure to pornography is between 8 and 11 years old, schools need to be sure they are not facilitating such exposure.

But can you imagine your elementary-school-aged child or grandchild going to their school’s book fair and finding that same pornographic material available to purchase and take home?

What school would allow this and ask parents to pay for such content?

Scholastic Books, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, has been iconic in the school book fair realm, having sold books to young readers for over 80 years. Scholastic is, however, not the wholesome company you might think.

Scholastic recently decided to offer a collection of books to elementary school students that covered controversial topics including LGBTQ+ material. Scholastic had proposed steps to ensure that these controversial, pornographic titles were segregated as a special category of books. Schools could even decline to sell the titles in this category outright if they wished.

The policy was short-lived when last month, Scholastic buckled under pressure from the Left to scrap the policy. They fell to outlandish (woke) claims that by protecting children, they were being discriminatory and banning books.

In fact, Scholastic apologized for their efforts to protect elementary children when they promptly reversed course.

Scholastic should not offer such content to children in the first place, but now, given this recent policy reversal, it is presumed that students of any age will eventually be able to find and preview pornographic content at Scholastic books fair without restriction. (Note: Scholastic already provides controversial, pornographic titles for sale to older children without restriction.)

What can you do?

We are asking you to sign our open letter to Scholastic Books telling them that selling sexualized, pornographic material in schools is unacceptable and asking them to stop selling pornography to children of any age.

Book fairs are usually fantastic opportunities for children to fall in love with reading, however pornography and gender politics appear to be tainting this once wholesome realm and endangering children.

Please take action by signing onto our letter to Scholastic today.

Sincerely,

Robert Noland
Director, Audience Engagement

PS Please use the buttons below to share this message on social media and with your friends and family who need to weigh in as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s officially back to school season! But, do you really know what your child is going back to? Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, or involved in another way, you may be asking “What’s happening at my child’s school?” In today’s woke culture, it’s a fair question.

Whether it’s extremely explicit books, or boys in girls’ locker rooms, or schools leaving parents in the dark about medical decisions – there are many situations to be aware of, and they could be happening at the school your child attends. In today’s podcast episode, Meridian Baldacci and Autumn Leva discuss what is happening in schools across the country, and why parents are alarmed. Most importantly, they give you practical steps you can take to protect your family.

TUNE IN Friday, Sept 22nd on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or SoConReport
Or by clicking the image below
10:00am PT / 11:00am MT / 12:00pm CT / 1:00pm ET

We’ve got you covered as your family heads back to school: meet Back to School for Parents! It’s a condensed guide for busy parents about what’s happening in your child’s school, how to identify areas of concern, and how to advocate for your child and your rights.

In the guide, you’ll learn about your rights and your child’s rights, gain suggestions about how to respectfully advocate for your child, and access links to additional helpful articles and resources.

And best of all? It’s completely free! Download your free guide here today to learn how you can start protecting your child at school.

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,

Along with our allies at North Carolina Family Policy Council, we have an update and urgent request for your help.

Governor Roy Cooper has vetoed three important bills that the North Carolina legislature passed to protect our women and children. These bills are a Health Not Harm bill (HB 808), the Parental Bill of Rights (SB 49), and the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act (HB 574). Now we need your help to get these bills across the finish line!

The effort to override Gov. Cooper’s veto could begin at any time, and we need you to contact your legislators and urge them to vote to override these vetoes.

The Help Not Harm Bill would prevent healthcare practitioners from performing dangerous, irreversible gender transition surgeries on children, including mastectomies or “top surgery.” It would also prohibit prescribing children with experimental hormones that cause irreversible effects like infertility and body changes. Finally, it holds doctors accountable by providing a way to sue doctors that perform these procedures on children.

The Parental Bill of Rights affirms parents’ Constitutional right to direct the upbringing of their children. It ensures parental involvement in their child’s education and allows parents to enforce their rights by bringing an action against the school for violations of the Act. Finally, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act protects female athletes from having to compete against biologically male athletes in K-12 education and at the collegiate level. This protects the safety and scholarships of female athletes, as males retain many biological advantages even after hormone therapy, especially following puberty.

Our kids deserve to be kept safe from harmful, experimental gender transition procedures and predatory medical procedures. Our women and girls deserve a level playing field in sports. Please send a message to your legislators today telling him or her to support the veto overrides!

Sincerely,
Joseph Kohm
Joseph Kohm III
Director, Public Policy

Over the past few years, we have witnessed a concerning, unprecedented effort to erode parental rights at all levels of government from local school boards to massive federal agencies, each in its own way.

The matter has not escaped the attention of the 118th Congress which began  in January of this year. In recent weeks, Family Policy Alliance has shared with you some of the good bills that members have introduced and passed, such as the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.

Today, we are pleased to update you on important movement on the parental rights front

At the end of March, FPA was present with members of House leadership as the House passed H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights. The bill is led by Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) and cosponsored by more than 120 members of the House, including members of the House Republican Leadership-a strong showing for parents!

The Parents Bill of Rights Act would:

Congress is right to address these roadblocks experienced by parents. H.R. 5 is a positive step in ensuring that parents have full control of their child’s education and upbringing.

Continue to pray for wisdom for our leaders as they defend the rights of parents in the halls of Congress. FPA will continue to fight for your family and keep you updated on what is happening on the ground in Congress!

Stay Tuned,

Ruth Ward
Director, Government Affairs

 

 

Parents asked, we listened: Training changemakers in our schools

FPF to launch nation’s first biblically based school board training

It’s not hard to see that our public schools need help.

From pandemic shutdowns that allowed parents to see concerning curriculum and ideology in their children’s classrooms, to the “new normal” of boys playing on girls’ sports teams, to students being encouraged to “socially transition” their gender without parental knowledge (much less consent), we all know our schools need better leadership.

We’ve heard from anguished parents and grandparents from across the country—and even school board members themselves—all asking for help. And we’ve listened!

That’s why Family Policy Foundation is launching the School Board Academy this December – the first national training program for pro-family school board members that will be taught from a biblical worldview. The virtual program will include training in:

We have a relevant and readily applicable curriculum, plus a highly capable faculty of veteran school board members and national policy experts, but we need your help to fill the seats of our first class. The inaugural School Board Academy will meet online Dec. 13-15, 2022, from 7-9:30 p.m. ET. All pro-family school board members and candidates are welcome to apply, however, space is limited.

If you know a school board member or candidate, or if you meet that criteria yourself, please invite them to apply here. The cost of $179 per student covers 7.5 hours of training as well as membership to the School Board Exchange, which provides ongoing community and resources to those who have graduated from the School Board Academy.

If you don’t know a school board member personally, you can still get involved and help turn our schools around by providing scholarships for those who need assistance to attend. To sponsor a school board member or support the School Board Academy in another way, visit here.

Please help us spread the word by sharing the School Board Academy webpage with your family, friends, church, and neighbors. With your support, we will equip and empower school board members to honor God, protect children, and preserve parents’ rights through their service.

Thank you for partnering with us!

Amanda Banks
Vice President, Education
Family Policy Foundation

Your daughter says she wants to “transition” to living as a boy. As a wise and loving parent, you graciously but firmly say “no.”

What happens next?

If a new bill becomes law in California, your daughter could flee to California and seek transgender drugs and surgery, getting court protection to do so – all without your consent.

According to California Family Council (our state ally leading the charge against this bill):

“Senator Scott Wiener’s bill, SB 107, would empower California courts to take ‘temporary emergency jurisdiction’ of children if they come to California for trans-drugs, surgery, or mental healthcare. The bill calls these treatments ‘gender-affirming care.’

Courts would also be instructed to ignore the fact that a child has been kidnapped from the parent or parents with legal custody, if the minor comes to the state for gender transitioning.”

All that stands between now and that reality? A governor’s signature. This is a serious threat to parental rights and to the well-being of struggling children across America.

Please sign our open letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom NOW asking him to veto this bill! This is not just a California issue—this is a parents’ issue and this is a child protection issue.

Many times we hear about radical anti-family policies advancing in California. The rest of the nation breathes a sigh of relief that they don’t live in California. Maybe they even live in Arkansas, the first state to bravely stand in the gap for children and prohibit “transitioning” on minors. But if this bill passes in California, it won’t matter where we live. California is brazenly attempting to insert its radical policies into the rest of the nation—even rubber-stamping the kidnapping of your kids for the purpose of dangerous gender transition to do it.

Governor Newsom could sign this any day – time is working against us.

Sign onto our letter NOW – it takes less than a minute, and this is a critical threat to parental rights!

Standing with you,

Craig DeRoche
CEO and President