Dear Friends,
For over thirty years, FRC has worked tirelessly to end legal abortion in American public policy. Our commitment to this cause is rooted in the belief that no nation that legally allows the God-given gift of future generations to be killed in the womb can last.
But the pro-life movement to end abortion can and should be fought on all fronts, not just the legal and political side. Efforts to stem the demand for abortion in the first place are equally important. A recent article in Family Studies astutely explores this issue by pointing out that “three-fourths of all abortions are performed on women living at or below the poverty line,” and most of these women are single. What researchers have found is that “rarely do[es] a young woman and her community find abortion justifiable … It is often the pressure of the father that introduces abortion.”
This clearly points to the fact that a cultural change must occur in America in order to help reduce the number of abortions. That is why FRC has funded the compilation of empirical evidence to point out the value of marriage and why it is so important for the flourishing of families, which are the foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue, and the wellspring of society. As the evidence shows, when men do not marry, they earn less money. One reason for this is obvious: single men have less incentive to work toward getting higher-paying jobs because they don’t have a wife and child to support. In today’s self-centered culture, many single men still want the sexual benefits of marriage in a relationship without the perceived “restrictions” on their bachelor lifestyle that marriage would cause. So when a single man’s girlfriend becomes pregnant, it’s cheaper for him to pay for an abortion than it is to support the mother of his child and the child for the rest of their lives. As the Family Studies article illustrates, this scenario plays out mostly in low-income unmarried relationships.
A goal for believers should now become crystal clear: In order to help reduce abortion, we must do all we can to help low-income men and women in particular see the value of God’s design for marriage and sexuality. Our modern culture scoffs at such “antiquated morality,” but God’s design for sexuality is beautifully simple because He knows it will bring about our happiness. When one saves sex for marriage and then marries, a vow is taken to love and stay true to the spouse until death. This means that adequate means of financial support must be worked hard for to accomplish this goal. This will most likely lead not only to a stable financial setting for any future children to be born into, but also a loving relationship that fosters virtue in the child, who then pass this tradition on to their children, and so on. When we follow God’s plan for marriage and sexuality, abortion not only becomes morally unthinkable, it becomes culturally and economically irrelevant.
Thank you for your prayers and for your continued support of FRC and the family.
Sincerely,
Dan Hart
Managing Editor for Publications
Family Research Council
FRC Articles
Donald Trump Won the Respect Vote – Ken Blackwell
What Americans Want In Their Next Supreme Court Justice – FRC Action
The Condescension of the Establishment Media Regarding Life – Chris Gacek
The Pro-Life Movement Cares About All Babies, Born and Unborn – Dan Hart
Pro-Life Bills You Should Know About in 2017
Was Manning’s Sentence Too Long - Or Too Short? – Peter Sprigg
Women’s March is Out of Touch with Today’s Feminists – Brynne Krispin
Planned Parenthood Goes Hollywood, But Can’t Escape Reality – Dan Hart
Obama’s Farewell Praised “Democracy” — But His Support for Judicial Tyranny On Marriage Shows He Doesn’t Mean It – Peter Sprigg
Religious Liberty
Religious Liberty in the Public Square
NFL columnist believes faith in God is biggest under-covered story in football – Philip Kosloski, Aleteia
Atheist Group Sues West Virginia School District Over 'Bible in the Schools' Classes – Michael Gryboski, The Christian Post
Religious freedom fight returns to Colorado; opponents line up – Brian Eason, The Denver Post
Fake News on Religion: Pew Continues to Confuse – Tom Trinko, American Thinker
International Religious Freedom
Christians Not Welcome in India – Eric Metaxas, The Christian Post
Life
Abortion
In the Debate Over Abortion, Let’s Talk to the Poor – Meg T. McDonnell, Family Studies
We Know They Are Killing Children — All of Us Know – John Piper, Desiring God
3 Ways the Pro-Life Movement Can Help End Abortion – Scott Klusendorf, The Gospel Coalition
Trump bans foreign aid to groups that provide abortions – Robert King and Paige Winfield Cunningham, Washington Examiner
I Thought Planned Parenthood Protected Family Values – Rosaria Butterfield, The Gospel Coalition
‘Greatest genocide in history’: Groundbreaking report finds 1 billion abortions in past 100 years – Pete Baklinski, LifeSiteNews
New Poll: Majority of Americans Want Bans on Late-Term Abortions and Abortion Funding – Casey Fiano, LifeSiteNews
Adoption
She’s One of the Rare Pregnant Moms to Go Into Planned Parenthood and Come Out With a Baby. Here’s How – Jay Hobbs, LifeNews
Meet 4 Pro-Life Lawmakers Who Chose to Adopt – Philip Wegmann, The Daily Signal
Bioethics
Awful Study Says Euthanizing More Patients Will Save the Government Money – Alex Schadenberg, LifeNews
Panel clears Dutch doctor who asked family to hold patient down as she carried out euthanasia procedure – The Telegraph
Disabled Lawmaker: “People Like Me Are Facing Extinction From Abortion” – Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews
Congressmen introduce bill to block DC assisted suicide – Claire Chretien, LifeSiteNews
Psychiatrist Euthanized Six Mentally Ill Patients Who Had Dementia – Micaiah Bilger, LifeNews
Obamacare
How We Can Repeal the ACA and Still Insure the Uninsured – John C. Goodman, Pete Sessions, Bill Cassidy, Independent Institute
Republicans roll out their Obamacare replacements – Paige Winfield Cunningham, Washington Examiner
Covered California Misery Still Getting Worse – K. Lloyd Billingsley, Independent Institute
New Data Show Obamacare Insures Less Than 20 Million, Most on Medicaid – Alyene Senger, The Daily Signal
Family
Economics/Education
Could a Renewal of Thrift Education Help Young Americans Save More? – Amber Lapp, Family Studies
The Unintended Consequences of Minimum Wage Hikes – Abigail R. Hall Blanco, Independent Institute
Our Economy Is Barely Growing. Here’s 4 Steps We Can Take to Change That. – Timothy Doescher, The Daily Signal
America’s Great Divergence – Alana Semuels, The Atlantic
Women, We’re Co-Workers, Not Competitors – Bethany Jenkins, The Gospel Coalition
Marriage
The art of patience in a marriage – Zyta Rudzka, Aleteia
Marital Fidelity and God’s Fidelity – Fr. Timothy Vaverek, The Catholic Thing
Making the Case for Married Parenthood to Millennials – Jennifer Murff, Family Studies
Faith/Character/Culture
Families, Schools, and Churches: The Building Blocks of a Healthy Social Ecology – Erika Bachiochi, Public Discourse
How a hungry boy taught me the ugly truth about myself – Simone Lorenzo, Aleteia
Affirming Life and Family in Hollywood – Ashley McGuire, Family Studies
Human Sexuality
Time For Parents To Resist Transgender Activism – Emily Zinos, First Things
Is There an ‘Unmet Need’ for Family Planning? – Rebecca Oas, The New Atlantis
Human Trafficking
In-N-Out Burger Matches Donations To Fight Human Sex Trafficking – Fight the New Drug
Pornography
South Dakota’s Senate Just Declared Pornography a Public Health Crisis – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation
How Shame Made My Struggle With Porn Worse, Not Better – Fight the New Drug
