Our theme verse at Family Policy Alliance® is from the book of Daniel (11:32): “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.”

It’s amazing what happens when we faithfully do that. Sometimes the results are very encouraging – even in the midst of chaos around us.

In fact, that aptly describes this month’s election. The pundits had predicted all along that it would be a bad year – maybe even a disaster – for those of us who care about life, family, and religious freedom.

But with your help – and with that verse from Daniel on our lips – Family Policy Alliance stood firm and took strategic action on key races where voter data and on-the-ground reports indicated that we could have an impact.  You helped make possible more than a million communications with voters in those targeted races!

And the results were encouraging. On a night that brought lots of sobering news, Family Policy Alliance won nearly two-thirds of targeted races. Since most of those were state-level races that don’t get as much attention, let me share a few highlights of how your support for Family Policy Alliance paid dividends.

Electing Statesmen

As you may know, our sister organization, Family Policy Foundation®, trains on-the-rise Christian legislators and candidates at the annual Statesmen Academy®. Some of those Statesmen alumni need help winning difficult elections.

This year, we provided assistance – ranging from mailers to digital ads to phone calls – in 17 key Statesmen races. Thankfully, we won 14 of those races. That’s an 82 percent win rate!

Of course, many Statesmen didn’t need our help and won their elections. So all combined, more than 50 trained Statesmen alums will be serving in key elected positions in January!

Big Wins in the States

But your support also allowed us to invest in other key state-level races. For example, you may have heard about the very tight race for governor in Georgia. Democrat Stacey Abrams received massive support from Hollywood for her ultra-progressive agenda. Her victory would not only have meant bad news for the people of Georgia, but it would have been a big national win for the pro-abortion and anti-religious freedom agendas.

Family Policy Alliance of Georgia® jumped in early during a primary runoff – helping conservative Brian Kemp when he still badly trailed the moderate Republican. After he won the primary, we continued our support – helping him pull out a come-from-behind victory, avoiding a runoff by just two-tenths of a percent!

Your support also helped pave the way for a host of strategic wins in a number of other states. That means pro-family champions will be headed to state capitols in Bismarck, Boise, Columbia, Santa Fe, St. Paul, Topeka and more.

Surprising Beauty in Ashes

In some cases, what the media may have reported as good news for the Left actually had a surprising twist. For example, despite Family Policy Alliance of Kansas® winning 9 of 15 races, the overall media narrative was that Republicans had big losses in the state House.

But a closer look shows that 15 of the 18 Republicans who lost their House seats had voted against the Adoption Protection Act. That was the FPA-supported legislation that was the biggest religious freedom victory in the country this year. So much for the idea that pro-family, pro-life and pro-freedom laws are bad politics!

Improving the U.S. Senate

You also helped us engage in several U.S. Senate races – most notably in North Dakota, where Family Policy Alliance’s on-the-ground presence made our work especially strategic.

Family Policy Alliance of North Dakota® identified 35,000 pro-life North Dakotans who are inconsistent about getting to the polls, especially in non-presidential years. They reached those voters with live phone calls from volunteers, with mailers, and with targeted digital ads that featured a strong video exposing the radical pro-abortion record of the incumbent senator, Heidi Heitkamp.

The result was a resounding win for Kevin Cramer, who previously served on the board of the organization that became Family Policy Alliance of North Dakota. Pro-lifers around the nation will benefit from having a new pro-life champion in the U.S. Senate!

Facing Attacks and Tough Challenges Head On

Naturally, those engaged in this arena will face strong opposition. For example, Family Policy Alliance of New Mexico was directly attacked by the Democratic Party of New Mexico and labeled “Far-Right Social Crusaders.” The reasons they gave? We support protecting the religious freedom of adoption agencies, and we oppose drag queen storytimes for children in libraries.

But we turned these attacks into victories by publishing these statements. As a result, we received an outpouring of support from Christian Democrats who publicly rebuked their own state party for attacking our organization and Christian values.

Of course, we know that there will be plenty of challenges in this coming year – in Washington, D.C., and in many state capitols. But we know that, just as with this year’s election, our job as the people of God is to “stand firm and take action.”

It was for such a time as this that Focus on the Family allowed Family Policy Alliance to spin off as an independent organization – to be able to grow and to more effectively take action. Will you continue to stand with us – or join us for the first time – as we move into 2019?

After all, as this election showed, good things happen when we stand firm and take action.

Chad Griffin, head of D.C.’s largest LGBT lobby group, arrives in the Kansas capitol to turn up the heat. But thousands of messages from Family Policy Alliance supporters helped religious freedom win … by one vote.

By John Paulton, mobilization manager for Family Policy Alliance®

It all came down to one vote.

The country’s biggest religious freedom battle so far this year was taking place at the Kansas capitol this month, and it had all the makings of a bad sequel to other religious freedom tussles that haven’t turned out well for people of faith.

The president of the largest LGBT lobbying group in the nation had just been in Topeka, and his well-funded group was running full-page newspaper ads to confuse the people and scare the politicians. They were joined by the ACLU and all the usual forces in opposing a common-sense bill protecting the religious freedom of faith-based adoption providers.

Family Policy Alliance of Kansas staff were working the Capitol hallways, persuading legislators and imploring them to hold firm.  Statesmen Academy™ alumnus Rep. Susan Humphries, as lead sponsor in the House, was strategically maneuvering the bill to give it the best shot at passage. But still, the bill had earlier come up a few votes short of the 63 votes needed to pass it.

But thousands of emails and phone calls from Family Policy Alliance supporters in Kansas – many of them targeted to key legislators – helped write a good ending.  The bill passed with exactly 63 votes and was later signed into law by the Governor.

That’s just one of dozens of legislative battles that Family Policy Alliance team members like you have been engaged in all around the country this year.  Late last week, Family Policy Alliance team members like you reached a milestone for 2018 – more than 100,000 messages emailed or faxed to elected officials through the Family Policy Alliance online Action Center! That’s the fastest since we launched the Action Center several years ago.  And it doesn’t count untold numbers of phone calls, emails and other communications not sent through the Action Center.

Most importantly, it makes a difference.  As former U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen was known for saying, “When I feel the heat, I see the light.”  When you click to send a message through the Action Center, you may not be able to tell if it’s making an impact, but Family Policy Alliance staff often get to hear the comments by legislators about the calls, faxes and emails that they are getting from back home – and see the impact in legislators’ words and votes.

In some cases, those messages directly change votes. But those messages can also make a difference by emboldening elected officials who are already supportive of the pro-family position.  Likewise, legislators who are hostile to pro-life and pro-family values can become less proactive in their opposition.

“These numbers and these stories show the team effort that is really making a difference,” said Paul Weber, President and CEO of Family Policy Alliance. “Team members in the capitol working with Statesmen – combined with folks back home providing the “air cover” of calls and emails – that’s a powerful combination that, with God’s grace, is making an impact.”

Take Action: Check the Action Center to speak up on key bills, such as supporting this bill in Congress to protect adoption and opposing these bills in Congress that attack religious freedom.

Thanks to hundreds of you who spoke up through our Action Center, a Colorado Senate committee took favorable action on two bills late Monday night, with some of our Family Policy Alliance team in attendance.

On a 3-2 vote, the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee defeated the bill that would have pushed sexually confused kids toward transgenderism and homosexuality. Bills like this – banning counseling that would help kids accept their God-given birth sex – are a top priority of the LGBT lobby nationwide.  Thankfully, these three senators upheld free speech, parental rights and religious freedom by voting to defeat the bill:

Sen. Owen Hill (R-Colorado Springs)
Sen. Vicki Marble (R-Ft. Collins)
Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg (R-Sterling)

The two votes in favor of this dangerous bill were Sen. Lois Court (D-Denver) and Sen. Steve Fenberg (D-Boulder).

Also, on the same 3-2 vote, the committee passed SB 241, a bill that ensures that faith-based adoption agencies can continue to serve families in Colorado.  This is great news for religious freedom and, ultimately, for protecting the life and well-being of kids who need a forever home.  That bill continues through the process, hopefully reaching the full Senate soon.  If you haven’t yet reached out to your own senator in support of this adoption bill, do it in just seconds at our Action Center.

We hope you’re encouraged with these results.  We certainly are – not only by the votes on the bills, but by the involvement of you and hundreds of other Coloradans.  Please be on the lookout for other updates as the legislature winds down.

The Family Policy Alliance Team

The Maine House of Representatives is about to vote on a bill that would push many minors towards transgenderism.  Your quick help is needed to stop it!  The vote is likely to happen on Thursday.

LD 912 is what is known as a “therapy ban.”  It would ban professional counseling for children and teens who are struggling with their gender identity.  But the ban would ONLY forbid counseling that is designed to help them identify with their birth sex.

In other words, counseling that encourages them to change their gender – even to go through irreversible sex-change operations – would be protected by the state.  But counseling to help them accept their God-given birth sex would be outlawed.

Incredibly, such laws have already passed in California and a few other states.  But it has also been stopped in many.  That’s why your help is so urgently needed!

The bill would also affect counseling for unwanted same-sex attraction.  This type of counseling has helped thousands of young people deal with unwanted same-sex attraction, which often arises out of sexual abuse.  But if LD 912 passes, these young people will only be allowed to get counseling that encourages homosexuality.

Here’s what you can do:

Thank you for taking action!

The Family Policy Alliance Team

 

The bill that would push many minors towards transgenderism is now at the Governor’s desk.  If he signs it, it will become law.  Your quick help is needed to stop it!

Senate Bill 1028 is what is known as a “therapy ban.”  It would ban professional counseling for children and teens who are struggling with their gender identity.  But the ban would ONLY forbid counseling that is designed to help them identify with their birth sex.

In other words, counseling that encourages them to change their gender – even to go through irreversible sex-change operations – would be protected by the state.  But counseling to help them accept their God-given birth sex would be outlawed.

Incredibly, such laws have already passed in California and a few other states.  But it has also been stopped in many.  That’s why your help is so urgently needed!

The bill would also affect counseling for unwanted same-sex attraction.  This type of counseling has helped thousands of young people deal with unwanted same-sex attraction, which often arises out of sexual abuse.  But if SB 1028 passes, these young people will only be allowed to get counseling that encourages homosexuality.

Here’s what you can do:

Thank you for taking action!

The Family Policy Alliance Team

Inexplicably, the Republican tax-cut bill has a glaring problem for those who care about families and life: the elimination of the Adoption Tax Credit.

The credit, which costs a relatively small $355 million, has had an enormously positive effect by making it more manageable for families to handle the exorbitant financial costs of adoption.  That not only blesses parents, but more importantly from a social standpoint, it allows tens of thousands of needy children to find permanent homes each year.  In 2015, for example, more than 53,000 children were adopted from foster care.

However, there is still a chance that the Republican tax-cut bill could be amended to restore the Adoption Tax Credit.  Committee work on the bill has begun, and such an amendment could be voted on at any time.

Please take a moment right now to contact your US Representative and urge them to support the amendment to restore the Adoption Tax Credit.  Family Policy Alliance has made it easy.  Through our Action Center, you can send a message to your representative.

Thank you for making your voice heard!

Action needed to protect free speech for teachers and students

The Trump Administration has issued a memo directing that civil rights investigations be launched against schools that don’t enforce the use of “preferred pronouns” of transgender students.

This federal pressure means that schools are likely to force teachers and students to refer to a boy as a “she” or refer to a “gender-neutral” person as a ze or a zir.

This comes as something of a surprise, given that the Trump Administration earlier reversed President Obama’s edict requiring schools to open up bathrooms based on gender identity.

But perhaps the directive shouldn’t have come as a big surprise.  The person who issued the memo, Candice Jackson, is the acting director of the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Education.  Given that she was appointed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos – who has been attacked mercilessly by the Left – some may assume that Jackson is a pro-family conservative.

Yet Jackson, who has been in a same-sex marriage for more than ten years, is known for her vocal support of the LGBT movement. In January, she tweeted an article about the gay community getting an ally in Trump, adding the comment: “Reasonable LGBT citizens (as opposed to the militant leftwing LGBT movement) have reason to cheer POTUS Trump; he’s shifting the GOP.”

Regardless of the motivations, though, this directive poses a serious threat to the free speech and religious liberty of students, teachers and school administrators. After all, the Bible is clear that God created every child as a male or female. And science confirms that sex is identified not merely by genitalia, but by every cell of the human body.

But if this directive is not altered, Jackson and her army of over 550 investigators and support staff will have free rein to investigate and punish schools for allowing teachers and students to use speech that conforms with both science and their deeply held religious convictions.

And in the process, they will be using the power of compulsory speech to ingrain within this generation of young people the very uncommon-sense notion that people can change their sex.

Please speak up now – before our kids can no longer speak the common-sense truth.

TAKE ACTION: Click here to quickly send a message to Secretary DeVos – along with President Trump and Vice President Pence – asking that this directive be rescinded or altered to protect the free speech and religious liberty of all Americans.

Your voice is needed to cut millions in funding to abortion giant

Planned Parenthood’s top officials – who have enriched themselves at the expense of aborted babies and fleeced taxpayers –  know the country is growing weary of funding their abortion fiefdom.

The desperation of the nation’s leading abortionist became clear this spring, when Planned Parenthood poured more than $730,000 into the special election for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. It was an effort to elect Jon Ossoff, a die-hard abortion supporter.  But it was also a play to send a message to Congress to not cut the more than $500 million of taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood.

But then Jon Ossoff lost – thanks in part to your support that allowed Family Policy Alliance to turn out pro-life voters. And suddenly, the message to Congress is that Planned Parenthood’s marketing isn’t selling so well to voters these days.

It also draws into question the ethics of a group – which gets a huge share of its budget from Congress – spending enormous sums to elect the very members that control those purse strings.

Now members of Congress are coming under enormous lobbying pressure from Planned Parenthood and a host of liberal allies.  That’s because the Obamacare-repeal bill would stop funding to Planned Parenthood for the next year.

As pro-lifers, this is the opportunity we’ve been waiting for – to stop sending more than half-a-billion dollars to an organization responsible for hundreds of thousands of abortions every year. But to get this bill across the finish line, YOUR help – your voice – is needed!  Here’s what you can do:

  1. Send a message to your two U.S. senators, urging them to support a repeal of Planned Parenthood funding.
  2. Please share this message with as many friends as possible. To overcome the power of the abortion lobby, it will take an enormous outcry from citizens who care about protecting life.

Thanks for making your voice heard!

obama-uphold-religious-freedom-graphic

With just a few more weeks left in office, President Obama is vowing to veto a bill that would protect the religious freedoms of those who contract with the federal government.

Each year, the senate considers the renewal of the National Defense Authorization Act. The bill includes funding for the entire Department of Defense. Under language in the bill, people of faith would not have to forfeit their religious liberties just because they choose to contract with the federal government.

“Obama would compel religious organizations to hire people who do not share the organization’s religious beliefs,” said Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch. “It’s difficult to imagine a position more at odds with our heritage of religious freedom.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. House of Representatives approved their version of the bill that contains strong religious freedom protections. The senate will soon do the same.

Autumn Leva, policy director for Family Policy Alliance, said it appears the President wants to make his point one more time before leaving office.

“This boils down to the President, the Commander in Chief,” she said, “threatening to cut funding to those who fight, and at times die, to protect our freedoms, because he doesn’t want to protect religious freedom for Americans. Can anything be more un-American?”

TAKE ACTION
Contact the White House and ask President Obama to please sign the National Defense Authorization bill that contains religious freedom protections.