Issue Brief
Stop the Co-opting of PEPFAR: HIV/AIDS Relief Should Not Fund Abortion or LGBT Ideology
The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the most substantial governmental effort to address a single disease in American history. Since 2003, the U.S. government ... (more)
Hostility Against Churches: Supplemental Report - First Quarter 2023
Hostility Against Churches: Supplemental Report - First Quarter 2023
Born-Alive Abortion Survivors: Just the Facts - 2023 Edition
On the 46th memorial of Roe v. Wade, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Reproductive Health Act which repealed legal protections for infants who survive abortion. The celebration of this law in New York City, followed by comments by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam which seemed to endorse infanticide has launched the question of born-alive abortion survivors into the conscience of America.
The Real Planned Parenthood: Leading the Culture of Death - 2022 Edition
In September 2022, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) released its annual report for 2020-21, or Fiscal Year 2020.
The Holding of Roe v. Wade Was Never In Line with American Attitudes on Abortion
Under Roe, no restrictions on abortion in the second or third trimesters are mandated. Abortion through all nine months of pregnancy is the default unless Congress or the individual states pass laws restricting it. This common misunderstanding of Roe has caused great confusion about abortion laws in America.
Roe v. Wade: An Explainer
The Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973 ruled that abortion is protected under the U.S. Constitution, striking down many state abortion restrictions and severely limiting the extent to which states could write their own abortion laws.
Maternal Mortality: A Case Study in Washington, D.C.
During pregnancy, death is the last thing mothers want to have on their minds. However, the rising rate of maternal deaths in the United States means that the issue cannot be ignored. ... (more)
Religious Freedom and International Development: An Explainer
A strong correlation exists between religious freedom and economic growth. Because of this correlation, the U.S. government's foreign assistance efforts would greatly benefit from promoting international religious freedom programming and projects. If the U.S. government wants to have a long-lasting impact in the countries it seeks to strengthen, then promoting religious freedom must be a part of the solution.
Diagnosing Gender Dysphoria in Children: An Explainer
Gender dysphoria is a clinical term used in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to describe children and adults who experience a psychological condition marked by an incongruence between their experienced gender and the gender associated with their biological sex.
Assisted Suicide: An Explainer
In the United States, assisted suicide allows a patient with a six-month terminal diagnosis to request and ingest legally prescribed medication for the explicit purpose of ending their own life.
Preparing for a Post-Roe America: The History and Context of Pro-Life Laws in the States
Since the very beginning of the American experiment, our nation has cherished the right to life.
Women Should Not Be Drafted into Selective Service
Currently, all male U.S. citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register with the Selective Service System, a government agency that manages any potential military drafts. Women are exempt from registering with the Selective Service. However, in July 2021, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) voted in favor of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would require both men and women to register.
Protecting the Vulnerable: A Call to Uphold Ethical Standards in Treating Gender Confusion
We are at a time that requires a thoughtful examination of how we ethically care for and protect our children. Right now, in the United States, there are an estimated 13,000 people who started a pharmaceutical treatment as minors to block the natural maturation process of their biological gender.
Human-Animal Chimeras: Unethical and Unnecessary
In the United States, the ethical considerations regarding human-animal chimeras and human embryo research are intertwined. Understanding the regulations on human-animal chimeras the United States ought to have requires a review of the United States' policies on human embryo research, an overview of what human-animal chimeras are, an analysis of the purported benefits of human-animal chimera research, and a synopsis of the ethical questions posed by creating these creatures.
How the United States Can Address China's Uyghur Genocide
The Xinjiang region in northwest China is the location of the most totalitarian crackdown on a religious group in the world today. The Chinese government has herded over one million Uyghurs and other ethnic Turkic Muslims into what they call "vocational education training centers."
How the “Equality Act” Is Actually Unequal, Unfair, and Unjust
The "Equality Act" is legislation that would massively overhaul our federal civil rights framework in order to mandate special privileges in the private sector for sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). It would add these SOGI categories alongside characteristics in civil rights statutes that are innate, inborn, involuntary, and immutable, such as age, race, national origin, or protected under the Constitution, such as religion.
Rebels Without A Clause: When Senators Run Roughshod Over the "No Religious Test" Clause of the U.S. Constitution
Recent senate confirmation hearings have revealed a troubling pattern of questioning posed to presidential nominees by senators. These questions display a hostility toward religion and people of faith, highlighted most significantly in the treatment of those nominated for office by President Donald Trump.
International Religious Freedom: What It Is and Why You Should Care
International Religious Freedom What is it and why you should care By Arielle Del Turco
Why Every Church Should Start a Christian School
Why Every Church Should Start a Christian School
Restrictions on Religious Freedom During the Coronavirus Crisis
Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, many Americans (for whom faith is essential) are grappling with how to adapt to government gathering restrictions--policies which have transformed how many ... (more)
Title X Rule Changes Protect the Unborn and Increase Health Care Options
In 1988, President Reagan issued new regulations for the Title X family planning grant program created by Congress during the Nixon administration. The Title X statute prohibits abortion as a method of family planning. Reagan's regulations require recipients of the grant to have complete physical and financial separation from any abortion services performed by the recipient, and bar recipients from referring for abortion. The Clinton administration rescinded these pro-life regulations in 1993, but the Trump administration reinstated them in March 2019. Read the Full Publication
Why Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Should Never Be Specially Protected Categories Under the Law
With increasing fervor, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) activists are urging local, state, and federal governments to expand the protected categories under existing laws to bar "discrimination"-in areas such as employment, housing, and public accommodations-on the basis of "sexual orientation" and "gender identity."
One Year Later: The Impact of President Trump's Executive Order Protecting Religious Liberty
May 4th of this year marks the one-year anniversary of President Trump issuing his Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty-an achievement that has had a tangible impact on the protection and priority of religious freedom throughout the executive branch over the past twelve months.
Summary of Trump Administration Policy on Transgender Military Service
Brief Timeline of Military Transgender Policy - Before 2016 -- Persons who identify as transgender are generally prohibited from serving in the military. - July 1, 2016 -- In final ... (more)
The SPLC's Incursion into Education
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) calls itself a nonprofit civil rights organization "dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry" by using "litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy." It was founded in 1971 as a small civil rights law firm that fought the Ku Klux Klan for financial damages for the victims of Klan violence.
Chai Feldblum Should Not Be Reappointed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
On December 11, 2017, President Trump transmitted to the Senate the nomination of Chai R. Feldblum for reappointment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), for a five-year term that would not expire until 2023.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Phony Lists, and Intimidation
The SPLC calls itself a nonprofit civil rights organization "dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry" by using "litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy." It was founded in 1971 as a small civil rights law firm that fought the Ku Klux Klan for financial damages for the victims of Klan violence.
Prohibiting Trafficking of Baby Body Parts and Federal Funding for Fetal Tissue Research from Induced Abortions
The 2015 videos from the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) uncovered an industry of trafficking of aborted baby body parts for profit and research.
Transgender Policy Could Cost Military Billions Over Ten Years
On July 1, 2016, without any systematic study of the consequences, the Obama administration reversed longstanding policies that excluded those who identify as transgender from serving in ... (more)
Religious Liberty and the Wedding Vendor Cases
People of faith increasingly find themselves facing lawsuits (along with censure and hostility) when they refuse to renounce their religious beliefs on marriage and sexuality in living out ... (more)
Free Speech Fairness Act
The Johnson Amendment is a tax provision that prevents 501(c)(3) organizations from participating in political campaigns on behalf of, or in opposition to, a candidate for public office. The Johnson Amendment is an unconstitutional restraint on free speech, and is a tool the IRS uses to threaten and censor the First Amendment free speech rights of churches, charities, and their leaders. The Johnson Amendment was passed in 1954 and since then, has caused great confusion and concern regarding what tax exempt organizations and their leaders may say about moral issues and political candidates, partly because of the IRS's inconsistent enforcement of the law.
How to Amend the Johnson Amendment
In 1954, to help stop his political opponents, then Senator Lyndon Johnson introduced an amendment to the tax code to bar tax-exempt entities from involvement in political campaigns. The "Johnson Amendment" was passed and became part of federal law
The First Amendment Defense Act Should Not Protect Multiple Views of Marriage
Since the introduction of the First Amendment Defense Act ("FADA"), Family Research Council has been a strong supporter, advocating for co-sponsorship, a hearing, and markup on the bill. ... (more)
Women in Special Ops and Selective Service
In the First World War, trench lines extended hundreds of miles throughout Europe. Enemy armies faced one another in fixed positions, with networks of tunnels and exit pathways clearly distinguishing the front lines from the rear areas.
Regulations Regarding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
(As of August 22, 2016) Two Supreme Court cases, Obergefell v. Hodges and United States v. Windsor, recently changed the landscape for marriage, forcing every state in the union to ... (more)
Q&A on the Abortion Facility Regulations Decision
What does Texas' H.B. 2 law say? This basic, commonsense law required that 1) abortion facilities be held to the same standard as ambulatory surgical centers and that 2) abortionists must ... (more)
Bathroom Incidents
"Gender identity" non-discrimination laws--particularly those that apply to schools and "public accommodations"--authorize people to use sex-separated facilities (such as restrooms, locker ... (more)
Title IX and Transgendered Students
This Issue Brief provides FRC's response to the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education Guidance to Schools Regarding Title IX and Self-Identified Transgendered Students ... (more)
The FDA Adopts the Abortion Industry Standards for the Mifeprex (RU-486) Abortion Regimen
On March 30, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced changes to the labeling for the Mifeprex® (RU-486) abortion regimen. With these modifications, the FDA accepted wholesale the "off-label" regimen now being used by abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. These changes will greatly lower the already inadequate safety standards that had been put in place when the drug was first approved by the Clinton FDA in 2000. Below this brief description and initial analysis of the changes approved by the FDA, FRC summarizes the most recent adverse event data available, an FDA report from 2011, of the Mifeprex abortion regimen.
A Supreme Decision: Filling Scalia's Seat
The untimely passing of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia has launched an intense political debate. Essentially, the two positions are that the Senate should consider any nomination sent to it by President Barack Obama or that it should wait to consider a nomination from the next President who will have received a fresh mandate from the American people in the November 2016 election.
Should Individuals Who Identify as Transgender Be Permitted to Serve in the Military?
Current policy does not permit transgender persons (that is, those who identify with a "gender" that is different from their biological sex at birth) to serve in the U.S. military.
The Transgender Movement and 'Gender Identity' in the Law
Virtually all people have a biological sex, identifiable at birth and immutable through life, which makes them either male or female. The transgender movement represents a denial of this physical reality.
The Inequality of the "Equality Act"
The so-called "Equality Act" ("EA") is a bill introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate on July 23, 2015 which would give special protections to persons who identify as homosexual or transgender by adding "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" as protected categories under federal civil rights laws.
Can There Be 'Compromise' Between Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Laws and Religious Liberty Protections?
Those in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) movement lament that neither the federal government nor a majority of the states has yet adopted legislation to add "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the list of protected categories in laws prohibiting discrimination in markets for employment, housing, and public accommodations.
In Brief: What Science Reveals about Fetal Pain
Family Research Council's (FRC) Center for Human Dignity has published "What Science Reveals about Fetal Pain," an updated analysis paper presenting more than 30 scientific studies, testimonies, medical evidence, and real life experiences that demonstrate that an unborn child can feel pain by 20 weeks post-fertilization.
Population, Abortion, and Food
Global overpopulation and food scarcities are myths, yet these myths are received as fact by far too many people. They also are used by advocates of population control as pretexts for coercive or incentivized abortion-on-demand, sterilization, and widespread distribution of oral contraceptives. In this paper, the author argues that neither overpopulation nor shortages of food are the problems their proponents claim them to be and thus should not be used to advance anti-natalist policies, particularly in the developing world.
Pornography and Its Consequences
Pornography has spread like a plague across the nation. It has moved from the margins of our culture to the mainstream, undermining marriages, families, and communities. Worst of all, it has stolen a time of innocence from our children.
Facts About The Definition of Marriage in Maryland
1. Marriage has always been defined as the union of a man and a woman. Up to this year (2012), same-sex marriage has never been legal in Maryland. (That is, Maryland has never issued licenses for civil "marriages" between two persons of the same sex.)
Stark Discrimination Against Faith-Based Adoption Agencies
What is H.R. 1681, the so-called "Every Child Deserves a Family Act"? H.R. 1681 is a bill introduced by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) on May 3, 2011. It would "prohibit discrimination in adoption or foster care placements based on the sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status of any prospective adoptive or foster parent, or the sexual orientation or gender identity of the child involved."
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and Its So-Called 'Hate Groups'
What is the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)?
Homosexual Parent Study: Summary of Findings
There has been a great deal of media attention focused on a pioneering new study of children with homosexual parents (defined as parents who had a same-sex romantic relationship while the child was under age 18).
ANSWERING THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER'S ATTACKS UPON FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL
In November 2010, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a left-wing fundraising powerhouse, announced that it considers Family Research Council (FRC) to be an "anti-gay hate group"-lumping us together with neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.
Adoption Works Well: A Synthesis of the Literature
Adoption Works Well: a Synthesis of the Literature
The Effects of Pornography on Individuals, Marriage, Family and Community
THE EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY ON INDIVIDUALS, MARRIAGE, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY
Is Late-Term Abortion Ever Necessary?
Mary L. Davenport, MD, FACOG
Should We Legalize Voluntary Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide?
The people of the state of Washington recently voted to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Was that a good idea?
Ten Arguments From Social Science Against Same-Sex Marriage
A large and growing body of scientific evidence indicates that the intact, married family is best for children. In particular, the work of scholars David...
