WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council's Center for Human Dignity released today an updated issue brief, Born-Alive Abortion Survivors: Just the Facts, and an updated Born-Alive Protections Map.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court failed to uphold the right of Idaho to protect the unborn in the case of Idaho v. U.S. The case was a challenge to an Idaho law which "prohibits abortions unless necessary to prevent a pregnant woman's death."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council president Tony Perkins released the following statement in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision holding that the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine lacked standing to challenge the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the abortion drug mifepristone.
GENEVA, Switzerland -- Family Research Council's Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs and Policy Editor for The Washington Stand, Travis Weber, is attending the World Health Assembly that will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, May 27-June 1. The Assembly is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO). This gathering will mark the 77th World Health Assembly. This year's theme will be "All for Health, Health for All." The meeting will also consider adopting a pandemic agreement, drafted as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The purpose of FRC's presence in Geneva is to represent and communicate numerous concerns about the WHO pandemic agreement and its process.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In light of recent events--where Ireland, Norway, and Spain announced their decisions to recognize a Palestinian state; the International Criminal Court sought unjust arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant; and as American Jews face unprecedented antisemitism here in the United States--Family Research Council reiterates the organization's unwavering stance with the Jewish people and seeks to bring clarity to the confusion around a recent bill concerning antisemitism moving through Congress. FRC has released a new resource: Frequently Asked Questions: The Antisemitism Awareness Act (H.R. 6090).
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On May 19, Family Research Council, along with a coalition of organizations, is encouraging churches nationwide to Pray For & Stand With Israel. The event is meant as a call for the Christian community to unite in prayer and stand in unwavering support for Israel on Sunday, May 19, by dedicating a portion of their worship services to pray for Israel's peace, prosperity, and protection.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, April 2, Family Research Council (FRC) Senior Vice President Jody Hice, published a new book, Sacred Trust: Election Integrity and the Will of the People. In addition to being a former Member of Congress and former pastor, Hice serves as president of FRC Action, the legislative affiliate of FRC.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Tuesday, April 2, Family Research Council (FRC) Senior Vice President Jody Hice, will publish a new book, Sacred Trust: Election Integrity and the Will of the People. In addition to being a former Member of Congress and former pastor, Hice serves as president of FRC Action, the legislative affiliate of FRC.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council (FRC), together with Dr. Michael New, Assistant Professor of Social Research at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America, released the first phase results of a study of 11 perinatal hospice programs surveying 82 mothers who participated in these programs.
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins delivered his "State of Faith, Family & Freedom" address, further exposing the record on President Joe Biden's handling of all issues related to faith, family, and freedom. The address comes one day before Biden is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) along with post-abortion expert Dr. Martha Shuping submitted an amicus brief last week in the case of U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court and will be argued on March 26. At issue in the case is the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of the abortion drug mifepristone and the agency's 2016 and 2021 removals of health safeguards for women and girls. Dr. Shuping, a North Carolina psychiatrist, has witnessed first-hand the psychological trauma women have experienced because of abortions, including through the effects of intimate partner violence.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today announced a new mobile billboard campaign that is traveling around Politico's DC headquarters and its New York bureau in response to recent comments from POLITICO national investigative correspondent Heidi Przybyla on MSNBC claiming that anyone who believes their rights are derived from God are "Christian nationalists."
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council (FRC) today released the newest edition of its Hostility Against Churches report, updated to include hostility incidents from calendar year 2023. The report's findings suggest that the rise in hostility against U.S. churches that were identified in FRC's inaugural December 2022 report has neither slowed nor plateaued; rather, it has accelerated rapidly. FRC identified 436 hostility incidents in 2023-more than double the number identified in 2022 and more than eight times the number identified in 2018, the first year for which FRC collected data.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday Family Research Council President Tony Perkins delivered remarks at U.S. Rep. Chris Smith's press conference on "Growing concerns over the WHO 'pandemic treaty.'" The press conference called out the World Health Organization's (WHO) unprecedented rush to ratify the so-called "pandemic treaty" at their May meeting. As more attention has focused on the accord, which in effect is a legally binding treaty, a multitude of concerns have arisen over such issues as individual free speech rights, the opaque nature of negotiations over this treaty, the treaty's disregard for each nation's sovereignty, and the treaty's promoting of abortion.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council's Center for Religious Liberty today published an updated edition of its report "Free to Believe? The Intensifying Intolerance Toward Christians in the West," which seeks to provide a better understanding of religious freedom violations perpetrated by Western governments against Christian individuals, organizations, and churches. Between January 2020 and December 2023, FRC identified 168 such incidents across 16 countries.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council (FRC) submitted a comment to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concerning the World Health Organization's (WHO) Pandemic Preparedness Agreement. The agreement has the potential to seriously undermine American national sovereignty, free speech, and human dignity among other troubling implications.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Earlier today, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced his decision to veto House Bill 68, also referred to as the Saving Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act. If enacted, the bill will protect Ohio minors from gender-transition procedures (including chemical procedures, surgical procedures, and psychological inducement) or from being diagnosed or subjected to gender transition counseling without the consent of at least one parent, legal custodian, or guardian. It also protects parents from losing custody over this issue--a known problem in Ohio since at least 2018.
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data showing abortions increased by five percent between 2020-2021. Family Research Council's Director of the Center for Human Dignity, Mary Szoch, released the following statement in reaction:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) president Tony Perkins sat down for an interview Wednesday with the new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-La.). The interview aired this afternoon on FRC's nationally syndicated program, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, which broadcasts every weekday on DIRECTV, nearly 100 Christian TV stations, various streaming channels, and more than 800 radio stations across the country.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This Sunday evening, Family Research Council (FRC) and Faith Wins will gather Christians from across the nation for a special Pray Vote Stand Townhall to stand with and pray for Israel. The special townhall meeting will be held at Village Church in Blythewood, South Carolina at 6:00 P.M. Eastern Time.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today Family Research Council (FRC) and the Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE) announced the release of a joint report titled: The Trans Youth Phenomenon: Critiques & Hard Questions. This joint publication answers the hard questions concerning the ideological underpinnings of gender-transitioning minors, the physiological procedures currently being employed on minors, the ability of minors to consent, and the deficient justifications for increasingly intensive interventions. Specific areas covered within the report include:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council announced today that Walt Heyer will be joining the organization as a Senior Fellow, bringing his powerful testimony and life story to assist those facing one of the most prominent lies of our age - a lie that goes to the core of our being and identity.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council's George Barna, Senior Research Fellow for the Center for Biblical Worldview, published a new book this month titled Raising Spiritual Champions: Nurturing Your Child's Heart, Mind and Soul. Barna is also a professor at Arizona Christian University (ACU) where he leads their Cultural Research Center as Director of Research.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Later this week, Family Research Council and FRC Action will hold the third annual Pray Vote Stand Summit, which replaced FRC Action's previous flagship event since 2006, the Values Voter Summit. The Pray Vote Stand Summit will address issues such as protecting the unborn, the importance of the nuclear family, religious freedom, the growing indoctrination in our nation's schools, gender ideology, the military, election integrity, and much more. The summit will return to the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. from September 15-17, 2023.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Next week, Family Research Council and FRC Action will hold the third annual Pray Vote Stand Summit, which replaced FRC Action's previous flagship event since 2006, the Values Voter Summit. The Pray Vote Stand Summit will address issues such as protecting the unborn, the importance of the nuclear family, domestic and international religious freedom, the growing indoctrination in our nation's schools, gender ideology, the military, election integrity, and much more. The summit will return to the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. from September 15-17, 2023.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council's Dr. Jennifer Bauwens, Director of the Center for Family Studies, testified before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government. The hearing was titled, "The Dangers and Due Process Violations of 'Gender-Affirming Care' for Children," and analyzed and exposed how adults in authority have used their influence in children's lives to lead them into life-altering, medically unsound, permanent gender transition procedures without full understanding of the future impact on their lives.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Wednesday, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and Bob Fu, FRC's Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom and President of ChinaAid, will participate in an interfaith roundtable event on Capitol Hill. The event is hosted by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Fu will also be joined by Pastor Pan Yongguang who leads the Mayflower Church of China. Pan, along with his congregation fled China and were granted asylum by the U.S. earlier this year due to Fu's efforts. The discussion will center on the experiences religious Chinese people have faced under the Chinese Communist Party's government.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Building on research released in 2021 that revealed that only 21 percent of those who regularly attend evangelical churches have a biblical worldview, Family Research Council's Center for Biblical Worldview has published a new resource titled, "An Introduction to Worldview: Refining the Lens Through Which You See Everything." The booklet examines the concept of worldview, examines the world's leading worldviews, and makes the case for why Christianity offers the most satisfying answers to life's biggest questions. The new resource is the fifth installment in FRC's Biblical Worldview Series and answers questions like:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council president Tony Perkins released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision today in 303 Creative v. Elenis: "As Christians, we are instructed to do everything, including what we speak and how we work, as unto the Lord for His glory. We cannot check our biblical faith at the door of our vocation. That understanding of free speech and religious freedom has long been protected by the First Amendment. I am grateful that the U.S. Supreme Court strongly reaffirmed this today." FRC also submitted an amicus brief in the case in support of 303 Creative: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21-476/226880/20220602102911906_FRC%20Final%20Draft.pdf?bcs-agent-scanner=ea445ced-c546-9542-8045-1bf99dfffb38
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last night, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), pro-life leaders, and Iowa voters gathered at Experience Church in Des Moines for a Townhall Meeting for Life.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tonight, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Bob Vander Plaats, president of The Family Leader, Mayra Rodriguez, former Planned Parenthood director and whistleblower, along with Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, will host a townhall event in Des Moines, Iowa to discuss the role of federal and state policymakers in the wake of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tomorrow, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Bob Vander Plaats, president of The Family Leader, Mayra Rodriguez, former Planned Parenthood director and whistleblower, along with Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, will host a townhall event in Des Moines, Iowa to discuss the role of federal and state policymakers in the wake of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Bob Vander Plaats, president of The Family Leader, Mayra Rodriguez, former Planned Parenthood director and whistleblower, along with Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, will host a townhall event in Des Moines, Iowa to discuss the role of federal and state policymakers in the wake of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council today released a new report, titled "Exporting LGBT Ideology: The Biden Administration's Foreign Policy Priority." The report was authored by Arielle Del Turco, FRC's Director of the Center for Religious Liberty and Dr. Chris Gacek, JD, FRC's Senior Fellow for Regulatory Affairs. The authors argue: "Since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, his administration has systematically elevated the importance of LGBT ideology in American foreign policy, utilizing the resources and platform of the U.S. government to promote LGBT policies abroad...The Biden administration's ideological colonialism sometimes strains our relationships with other countries and diverts U.S. attention from focusing on human rights issues. LGBT-identifying persons are already (rightly) protected by international human rights treaties by virtue of their personhood, not their sexual orientation or gender identity. Pushing LGBT-specific policies around the world is a coercive attempt to change foreign cultures and laws from afar and displaces human rights like religious freedom."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement regarding the passing of Dr. M. G. "Pat" Robertson earlier today. Robertson served as founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network; as well as founder, chancellor, and CEO of Regent University. Robertson was 93 years old.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council president, and former Louisiana state legislator, Tony Perkins released the following statement regarding Louisiana's Stop Harming Our Kids Act:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Arielle Del Turco, Family Research Council's (FRC) Director of the Center for Religious Liberty, testified before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government. During the hearing, titled "Revisiting the Implications of the FACE Act," Del Turco testified on the recent, concerning trend of attacks against churches and houses of worship, attacks which fall under the jurisdiction of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. During her testimony, Del Turco highlighted her report on the recent string of attacks, titled: "Hostility Against Churches Is on the Rise in the United States."
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council today released a new update to our December 2022 report, titled "Hostility Against Churches: Supplemental Report - First Quarter 2023."The new report "indicates that criminal acts against churches have been steadily on the rise for the past several years, and the first quarter of 2023 has continued the upward trend. The first three months of 2023 saw approximately three times the number of acts of hostility perpetrated against churches in the same timeframe last year."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last week, Family Research Council, along with its legislative affiliate FRC Action, delivered nearly 51,600 petition signatures from FRC constituents urging the leadership of the Walgreens Boots Alliance pharmacy chain to stop acting as de-facto abortion facilities by dispensing abortion inducing drugs. The petitions were successfully delivered by Matt Carpenter, FRC Action Director, and Worth Loving, FRC Action's Political Engagement Manager, to the office of Walgreens' Washington, D.C. lobbyist G. Joel Baise.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Family Research Council's David Closson, along with co-authors Denny Burk and Colin Smothers released a new book Male & Female He Created Them: A Study on Gender, Sexuality & Marriage from Christian Focus Publications. Closson also serves as FRC's Director of the Center for Biblical Worldview.
Port Wentworth, GA - Family Research Council hosted a rally this morning on behalf of former Port Wentworth, Ga. police officer Jacob Kersey. Kersey was forced to quit his dream job as a police officer --with an otherwise spotless record -- after being pulled off duty and threatened with termination for expressing a biblical view of marriage on his private Facebook account.
Port Wentworth, GA--On Friday March 10, former Congressman Jody Hice, now senior advisor to Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, Bishop Garland Hunt of The Father's House, and former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran will join Georgia pastors in delivering more than 20,000 signed petitions to the mayor and city council of Port Wentworth calling on them to apologize for violating the First Amendment freedoms of former Port Wentworth police officer Jacob Kersey.
WASHINGTON--Family Research Council President Tony Perkins delivered his 'State of Faith, Family & Freedom' address last night, correcting the record on President Joe Biden's handling of all issues related to faith, family, and freedom. The address was given at FRC's headquarters one day before President Biden is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Monday, February 6, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins will deliver an address on the "State of Faith, Family & Freedom." The speech will highlight key issues of concern and policy solutions in the areas of the protection of human life, marriage, and religious liberty. Several individuals and families directly affected by President Joe Biden's far Left agenda will be present and mentioned during the address.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council, along with a coalition of thirteen other pro-life organizations, sent a letter addressed to the leadership of Walmart Inc. calling on them not to seek certification to dispense chemical abortion drugs, as well as a letter to the leadership of Rite Aid Corporation calling on them to stop acting as de-facto abortion centers by seeking certification to dispense abortion inducing drugs.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council, along with thirteen other pro-life organizations, today sent letters addressed to the leadership of CVS Health and Walgreens Boots Alliance pharmacy chains calling on them to stop acting as de-facto abortion centers by dispensing abortion inducing drugs.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council today released a new report, titled "Hostility Against Churches Is on the Rise in the United States." The report argues: "Criminal acts of vandalism and destruction of church property are symptomatic of a collapse in societal reverence and respect for houses of worship and religion-in this case, churches and Christianity. Americans appear increasingly comfortable lashing out against church buildings, pointing to a larger societal problem of marginalizing core Christian beliefs, including those that touch on hot-button political issues related to human dignity and sexuality." The report noted several trends including (but not limited to):
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Joe Biden today signed the so-called "Respect For Marriage" Act into law. The law will now accelerate and intensify the already-existing attacks on religious liberty (by creating a private right of action); legislatively cement anti-family policies harmful to children; make faith-based adoption and foster-care agencies a greater target for frivolous litigation, curtailing or ending their ability to help children find homes; threaten the tax-exempt status of adoption and foster care agencies (and other vitally needed non-profit organizations, whether religious or secular); and tacitly vilify millions of Americans who believe in natural marriage by labeling that belief as "sex discrimination," tantamount to racism. Family Research Council president Tony Perkins released the following statement after the (Dis)Respect for Marriage Act was signed into law:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last week, the U.S. Department of State released its list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC). This year's list included Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The list, again, notably left off Nigeria which over the past couple of years has seen unprecedented amount of persecution of its Christian population.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives voted today on final passage of the (Dis)Respect for Marriage Act. The bill passed 258-169.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Tonight, the U.S. Senate voted on final passage of the (Dis)Respect for Marriage Act. Yesterday the Senate cleared the 60-vote threshold by a vote of 61-35, paving the way for another 60-vote threshold vote today on final passage (a modified process was agreed to by Senate leadership in exchange for votes on three proposed amendments to the bill). The bill passed 61-36.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Senate today voted to proceed to the so-called Respect for Marriage Act, clearing the 60-vote threshold for cloture by a vote of 62-37 and paving the way for a simple majority vote on final passage. Sens. Roy Blunt, Richard Burr, Shelley Capito, Susan Collins, Joni Ernst, Cynthia Lummis, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman, Mitt Romney, Dan Sullivan, Thom Tillis, Todd Young voted for the bill. Senate Democrats needed 10 Republicans to cross the aisle and vote to redefine marriage. A previous version of the bill passed the House in July; if it passes both chambers and is enacted by President Biden, it will further exacerbate already-existing attacks on religious liberty (by creating a private right of action); legislatively cement anti-family policies harmful to children; make faith-based adoption and foster-care agencies a greater target for frivolous litigation, curtailing or ending their ability to help children find homes; threaten the tax-exempt status of adoption and foster care agencies (and other vitally needed non-profit organizations, whether religious or secular); and tacitly vilified millions of Americans who believe in natural marriage by labeling that belief as "sex discrimination," tantamount to racism.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) and Summit Ministries are pleased to announced a partnership launching a new biblical worldview video series, titled "Now We Live," responding to the tumultuous cultural upheavals our nation is currently experiencing. The series features prominent Christian leaders including FRC President Tony Perkins, Summit President Dr. Jeff Myers, actor Kirk Cameron, author Lee Strobel, and Christian music artists John and Korey Cooper among others highlighting why God's Truth is the answer to the tumult caused by a woke and broken society.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council and the Regent University School of Government announced today a Pray Vote Stand Townhall on 'The Rise of the Term Christian Nationalism: Where did it come from and why is it being used?' The townhall will be broadcast live from Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Virginia.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council's Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin and Dr. Kenyn Cureton released a new book this week titled Strong & Courageous: A Call to Biblical Manhood from Fidelis Publishing. In Strong & Courageous, a sequel to his book Man to Man: Rediscovering Masculinity in a Challenging World, Gen. Boykin and his co-author, FRC's Vice President for Christian Resources, Dr. Kenyn Cureton offer a battle plan for men-a call to biblical manhood-where they can be reminded of their God-given responsibility in a culture swiftly turning away from God's Design. The authors offer the Old Testament book of Joshua and his leadership as the focus of their study, asking readers to consider the five principles of biblical manhood: Man as Provider, Instructor, Battle Buddy, Defender, and Chaplain.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council and FRC Action today announced the second annual Pray Vote Stand Summit, which replaced FRC Action's previous flagship event since 2006, the Values Voter Summit. The Pray Vote Stand Summit builds on the foundation laid by the Values Voter Summit, addressing issues such as protecting the unborn, the importance of the nuclear family, domestic and international religious freedom, the growing indoctrination in our nation's schools, and much more.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council's Lela Gilbert, Arielle Del Turco and Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin released a new book Heroic Faith: Hope Amid Global Persecution from Fidelis Publishing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today at the second annual International Religious Freedom Summit, Family Research Council's Center for Religious Liberty released a new groundbreaking report on the extent of religious persecution in the U.S., Europe, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. The report titled "Free to Believe? The Intensifying Intolerance Toward Christians in the West," points to a concerning trend of intolerance that has developed over the past two years: In addition to increasing government hostility toward the expression of religious faith, the pandemic gave governments worldwide increased discretion to tighten restrictions on religious practice, ushering in alarming displays of secular intolerance toward religion. The recent attacks and vandalism of churches we are seeing at this very moment are but the latest evidence that many are feeling emboldened to go after religion in the public square.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council president and former USCIRF Chair, Tony Perkins, will be hosting a media availability Thursday, June 30 after Family Research Council's "Free to Believe? The Intensifying Intolerance Toward Christians in the West" luncheon. A new FRC report by the same name will be released at the lunch.
LEESBURG, VA - This Sunday, July 3rd, Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) are hosting a live special event in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The Court's decision in Dobbs overturned the 49-year old Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. The event titled "Celebrating Dobbs, Celebrating Life" will be livestreamed this Sunday starting at 7 PM Eastern. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who led the state's efforts asking the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, will address the event alongside many other pro-life leaders.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Regent University and Family Research Council released a new report today titled "Why International Religious Freedom is Vital to International Development: Causal Connections and Policy Recommendations." The report focuses on how agencies responsible for administering America's foreign development assistance should promote religious freedom abroad. This report also points to the evidence that economic growth can only be fully realized for developing nations when religious freedom is protected.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council president Tony Perkins released the following statement reacting to former Bremerton School District high school football coach Joe Kennedy's win at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court voted 6-3, upholding Kennedy's right to practice his faith while coaching football.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the U.S. Supreme Court released its 6-3 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The Court's decision in Dobbs completely overturned Roe v. Wade, the Court's landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. A Reuters article published yesterday details what propelled Tony Perkins into the pro-life movement and political movement.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) today is launching a brand-new digital media outlet named The Washington Stand. Like FRC, The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. The platform will feature multiple types of content, including original reporting, news analysis, political and biblical commentary, videos, podcasts among others. The FRC-branded outlet was created to address a void in the lack of a digital news outlet to help inform Christians from a biblical worldview.
Washington, DC - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement in response to the violent attack on the Wisconsin Family Action's headquarters this morning:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A coalition of 32 pro-family policy council leaders, including Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, sent a letter today to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik urging that any commitment made to America as the nation awaits the U.S. Supreme Court's impending decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization "must include a bold strategy to protect unborn life."
Washington, D.C. -- Family Research Council today called for the D.C. medical examiner to conduct an autopsy of the five aborted babies whose remains were recovered from Washington Surgi-Clinic. These five aborted babies may have been killed in violation of the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act or the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council today released an updated map and research showing the status of abortion laws in the states across the nation. The Mississippi abortion case before the Supreme Court could lead to an overturning of Roe v. Wade which would once again allow state legislatures the ability to enact and enforce their own state laws protecting unborn life.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tuesday evening the nation will hear President Biden's take on the state of our union. Whichever direction he takes with his address, the president's assessment of our national state is likely to fall far short of offering an adequate remedy to a nation-and a world-in crisis. America was built upon the faith of its people, the cornerstone of the family, and the freedom for faith and families to thrive. So, what is the state of faith, family, and freedom? And how can we together advance these pillars of our democracy?
WASHINGTON--Family Research Council President Tony Perkins delivered a State of Faith, Family, and Freedom address this evening, exploring the most pressing issues of our time, along with policy solutions, regarding the protection of human life, parental rights, religious liberty, and international religious freedom. The address was given at FRC's headquarters one day before President Biden delivers his State of the Union address.
HELSINKI, Finland - Today, Family Research Council Special Advisor for Religious Freedom and pastor who was wrongly imprisoned in a Turkish prison for two years, Andrew Brunson, met with Finnish MP Paivi Maria Rasanen. MP Rasanen is currently awaiting a verdict in three criminal charges of alleged "hate speech" brought against her by Finland's Prosecutor General. The criminal case arose from a 2019 tweet directed at her church leaders, a 2019 radio interview, and a 2004 pamphlet she authored. Outside the courtroom in Helsinki on the day of closing arguments, Brunson delivered 14,341 prayer pledges to MP Rasanen from FRC's supporters who are committing to pray for her as the case continues.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council submitted a comment to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services entitled, "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2023." This proposed rule would force insurers to cover "gender transition" procedures such as cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and sex reassignment surgery.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today released a new map and research showing the status of abortion laws in nations around the world. The map is based on data compiled by FRC and is included in our report, "U.S. Abortion Law in Comparison with the Globe." According to the report, "The United States is one of only six nations that currently allow abortion on demand through the entirety of pregnancy. The other five are Canada, China, Vietnam, and North and South Korea."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This Friday, Family Research Council will release its annual ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit, the premier annual conference for digital pro-life activists. This year's summit convenes as the Supreme Court considers the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, a case with the potential to overturn Roe v. Wade and send the issue of abortion back to the states.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) and a coalition of more than 50 individuals and organizations sent a letter today to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in opposition to President Biden's nomination of Nancy Abudu to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Abudu is currently the strategic litigation director for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), infamous for its decades-long managerial corruption and notorious for unscrupulously designating its political opponents as "hate groups" or "extremists." In the first conviction under the post-9/11 District of Columbia terrorism statute, the convicted terrorist, who targeted FRC's headquarters, was shown to have been motivated by the SPLC's "hate group" designation and related identifying information.
Contempt Vote of Mark Meadows is Politics at its Worst says FRC's Tony Perkins
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council, along with 46 interfaith international religious liberty groups and individuals, signed onto a letter calling on President Biden to re-designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern (CPC) after a recent spate of targeted violence against Nigerian Christians. The calls for the re-designation came after the Biden administration's State Department removed the country from its CPC list in November. The country was first put on the countries of particular concern list in December 2020.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council Executive Vice President Lt. Gen. (ret.) Jerry Boykin released the following statement reacting to the announcement today by U.S. House and Senate leaders that they had reached an agreement on revised language for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). FRC had previously voiced concerns over an amendment in the draft NDAA that would have forced women to register with the Selective Service, and FRC supporters sent over 200,000 emails to members asking for it to be removed.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As the U.S. Senate debates the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week, a proposal to mandate that women register for the draft has received increasing pushback from the American people. In the last eight weeks, Family Research Council has facilitated nearly 200,000 messages to Congress opposing this dangerous mandate. The message FRC supporters are sending is clear. They want their representatives to oppose the NDAA, unless this mandate is removed. They understand the repercussions of this change, should it become law.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ahead of the oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the first direct challenge to Roe v. Wade in a generation, Family Research Council published a new comprehensive issue brief identifying the United States as one of only six nations that allow abortion on-demand through the entire of span of pregnancy. The U.S. joins human rights violators China, North Korea, and Vietnam, as well as Canada and South Korea in their extreme abortion policy. The FRC report indicates that across the globe the vast majority of countries, 130, completely prohibit or only allow abortion in specific cases. Seventy-seven nations outlaw abortion completely or only allow abortion where the mother's life or physical health is at risk-making this by far the most common type of abortion law in the world. Twenty-three nations only allow abortion for some additional rare cases like rape, incest, or a fetal abnormality. This means 100 nations-over half of countries surveyed-completely outlaw abortion or only allow abortion in rare cases to protect the life of the mother or in cases of rape, incest or because of a fetal abnormality.
Jackson, Mississippi - Pro-life leaders from across denominational, political, and ethnic lines came together yesterday, Sunday, November 28, for a national prayer gathering hosted by Family Research Council. Pray Together for Life took place at New Horizon Church in Jackson, Mississippi, home of the pro-life law at issue in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, three days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case. For decades, pro-life Americans have prayed and worked to see the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy. The forthcoming decision in the Dobbs case could be the one that sends Roe to the dustbin of history.
JACKSON, Mississippi -- Pro-life leaders from across the nation will come together this evening, Sunday, November 28, for Pray Together for Life, a nationwide prayer gathering-coast to coast and border to border. The event, hosted by Family Research Council, will take place at New Horizon Church in Jackson, Mississippi, home of the pro-life law at issue in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, three days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case. For decades, pro-life Americans have prayed and worked to see Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy, overturned. This decision could be the case that sends Roe to the dustbin of history.
Jackson, Mississippi -- Pro-life leaders from across the nation will come together this evening, Sunday, November 28, for Pray Together for Life, a nationwide prayer gathering-coast to coast and border to border. The event, hosted by Family Research Council, will take place at New Horizon Church in Jackson, Mississippi, home of the pro-life law at issue in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, three days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case. For decades, pro-life Americans have prayed and worked to see Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy, overturned. This decision could be the case that sends Roe to the dustbin of history.
JACKSON, Mississippi -- Pro-life leaders from across the nation will come together this evening, Sunday, November 28, for Pray Together for Life, a nationwide prayer gathering-coast to coast and border to border. The event, hosted by Family Research Council, will take place at New Horizon Church in Jackson, Mississippi, home of the pro-life law at issue in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, three days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case. For decades, pro-life Americans have prayed and worked to see Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy, overturned. This decision could be the case that sends Roe to the dustbin of history.
Jackson, Mississippi -- Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves will join pro-life leaders from across the nation on Sunday, November 28, for Pray Together for Life, a nationwide prayer event. The event, hosted by Family Research Council, will take place in Jackson, Mississippi, home of the pro-life law at issue in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization three days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case. For decades, pro-life Americans have prayed and worked to see Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy, overturned. This decision could be the case that sends Roe to the dustbin of history.
Jackson, Mississippi - From coast to coast, border to border, pro-life leaders and activists will join Family Research Council in Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday, November 28, for Pray Together for Life. The nationwide prayer event will take place three days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. For decades, pro-life Americans have prayed and worked to see Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy, overturned. This decision could be the case that sends Roe to the dustbin of history.
Washington, D.C. - Mary Szoch, Director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, spoke earlier today at the U.S. Supreme Court after the Court heard oral arguments on the Texas Heartbeat Act, a law that protects unborn babies from being aborted once a heartbeat is detected. The case before the Court concerns the Texas Heartbeat Act's unique enforcement mechanism allowing private individuals to sue, and the question of whether the Biden administration's U.S. Department of Justice could intervene at this point in the case.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council's (FRC) daily radio and TV program, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, continues to expand its reach, now airing on NRBTV--available in more than 39 million households across the United States on DIRECTV® channel 378 and through Roku®, Apple TV®, and Amazon Fire TV® streaming services.
Leesburg, Va. - Family Research Council and FRC Action today announced Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) will speak on Friday at the Pray Vote Stand Summit. Other confirmed speakers for the final day of the summit include former Acting Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, former Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, President and CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom Mike Farris, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, and Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.).
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council and FRC Action today announced speakers, including Leesburg Elementary School teacher Tanner Cross, for a panel titled "Power to the Parents: Virginia's Education Uprising" at the inaugural Pray Vote Stand Summit. Other confirmed and invited speakers on the panel, moderated by FRC Senior Fellow for Education Studies Meg Kilgannon, include Loudoun County High School teacher Monica Gill, ADF Senior Counsel and Director of the Center for Academic Freedom Tyson Langhofer, Executive Director of Fight for Schools Ian Prior, and Smart's Mill Middle School teacher Kim Wright. ADF CEO Mike Farris will also be speaking at the event.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council and FRC Action today announced the inaugural Pray Vote Stand Summit, replacing FRC Action's previous flagship event, the Values Voter Summit. For the past 15 years, FRC and FRCA held the annual Values Voter Summit which served as a forum to help inform and mobilize citizens across America to preserve our nation's bedrock values.
Washington, D.C. - Family Research Council today criticized President Joe Biden's mandate that federal government employees and contractors take the Covid vaccine, as well as his plan to order private businesses with 100 or more employees to take the vaccine or undergo weekly testing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a new issue brief, Family Research Council explains why, "Women Should Not Be Drafted into Selective Service." Since the Selective Service System was created, only male U.S. citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 were required to register for the draft. But in July, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would require women to register as well.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council submitted a public comment to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding the proposed rule with the deceptively innocuous title, "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Updating Payment Parameters and Improving Health Insurance Markets for 2022 and Beyond." Under the proposed rule, insurers would be able to collect payments for both abortions and legitimate healthcare in a single payment. In Section 1303 of the Affordable Care Act, Congress required insurers to collect "a separate payment" for abortions, a provision which the Obama administration did not enforce. During the Trump administration, HHS complied with the law, requiring transparency and separate payments for abortion.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council filed an amicus brief yesterday with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, in one of the most significant challenges to the Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade. The Court's decision in Roe held that a woman had a constitutional right to abortion under the Fourteenth Amendment, striking down many state abortion restrictions and severely limiting the extent to which states could write their own abortion laws.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - YouTube has restored a video interview conducted by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins that was removed by the Big Tech giant on Monday for "medical misinformation." The video was restored three days after YouTube rejected an appeal filed by FRC over the video's removal and one day after the press was notified of YouTube's actions.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Big tech giant YouTube has removed a video interview from a YouTube channel which features interviews conducted by Tony Perkins, who serves as president of Family Research Council and is host of Washington Watch, a program that broadcasts on nearly 800 Christian radio stations as well as Christian TV. YouTube removed the video citing alleged "medical misinformation," likely related to mention of the COVID-19 vaccines.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Earlier today, Meg Kilgannon, Senior Fellow for Education Studies at Family Research Council, joined lawmakers, pro-life activists, and experts at a Capitol Hill news conference announcing the introduction of new legislation to fight taxpayer-funded chemical abortions on college campuses.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Family Research Council (FRC) is disappointed that a federal judge today temporarily enjoined the newly enacted Arkansas law that protects minors from harmful, irreversible gender transition procedures, prevents taxpayer funds or medical insurance mandates from paying for them, and provides legal remedies for minors who have been permanently disfigured and/or sterilized by them. However, FRC is still hopeful that truth will prevail and the facts about harm to children from these procedures will come out. The law, called the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act, was overwhelmingly approved by the Arkansas legislature, including (for the first time) overriding Governor Asa Hutchinson's veto.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council launched a new tracking website titled "America's Direct Deposit to Planned Parenthood" that shows taxpayer funding and abortion data of Planned Parenthood since 1994. This new analysis combines information from Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports which track federal tax dollars and Planned Parenthood's own annual reports that cover all government funding as well as service information. Over the 25 years between 1994-2019, Planned Parenthood has reported performing 7,059,206 abortions and receiving $9.7 billion in total taxpayer funding.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council is pleased to announce that Pastor Andrew Brunson has joined FRC as Special Advisor for Religious Freedom. For 23 years, Andrew and Norine Brunson dedicated their life to the mission of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Turkey by planting churches, starting a house of prayer, training Christian leaders, and providing aid to refugees. In October 2016, Andrew Brunson was falsely accused of terrorism and held for two years in Turkish prisons. Following a worldwide prayer movement and significant political pressure from the U.S. government, he was dramatically released in October 2018. Brunson, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, joins FRC at a critical time, as the persecution of Christians continues to increase around the world.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council is pleased to announce Dr. Jennifer Bauwens has joined the FRC team as Director of the Center for Family Studies. Jennifer has a Ph.D. from New York University and has taught on psychological trauma and research methods in several graduate programs, including Rutgers University and Princeton Seminary. She has worked extensively as a clinician providing trauma-focused treatment to children in foster-care and behavioral health settings and to adults who've experienced interpersonal traumas, such as sexual abuse and assault. Jennifer has also created programs to mitigate the effects of traumatic events for survivors of domestic violence and abuse, and she is trained on violence prevention for youth and adults in both national and international contexts. In her role at Family Research Council, she researches and advocates for policies that will best serve the health and well-being of families and communities.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council published a new issue brief publication today titled, "Human-Animal Chimeras." Human-animal chimeras are creatures created by combining genetic material from both animals and humans. A restriction since 1979 has prohibited developing this type of creature beyond an arbitrary limit of 14 days gestation, longer than the period for which scientists were able to sustain such an embryo. As soon as researchers discovered how to keep human-animal chimeras alive beyond nine days in 2016, the NIH reviewed the 14-Day Rule, but kept it in place. This year, following the "successful" 20-day development of a human-monkey chimera in vitro, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), an international ethics board, recommended that the 14-Day Rule be removed. Under President Biden, the NIH is once again reviewing the 14-Day Rule on human-animal chimeras with an eye toward repealing the restriction.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council praised the 9-0 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Fulton vs. Philadelphia today, which unanimously upheld the First Amendment right of Catholic Social Services (CSS). Although CSS has provided foster care services in Philadelphia for more than 200 years, in 2018 the city of Philadelphia stopped referring children to CSS because of the organization's religious belief in one-man, one-woman marriage. The court's decision today prohibits Philadelphia or any other government entity from discriminating against any organization because of their religious beliefs.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today launched the Center for Biblical Worldview (CBW). The Center for Biblical Worldview is an exciting new ministry of Family Research Council whose mission will to be to help Christians develop and live by a biblical worldview. CBW will also train Bible-believing Christians to advance and defend the faith in the workplace, in the schools, in their communities, and in the public square.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced today an "update" regarding the enforcement and interpretation of Obamacare Section 1557, indicating that it will now interpret discrimination "on the basis of sex" to include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity." The Obama administration first adopted a similar definition in 2016, six years after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, but it was blocked by federal courts. In 2020, the Trump administration restored the original, plain, historical meaning of "sex" in the law. Now, under President Biden, the Department of Health and Human Services has reverted back to putting science and patient care aside in pursuit of the Left's agenda.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council released today an issue analysis, "Prenatal Nondiscrimination Acts: Why They Are Essential." Prenatal Nondiscrimination Acts (PRENDAs) seek to prevent abortion being used as a tool of eugenics. These laws prohibit anyone from knowingly aborting an unborn child solely on the basis of his or her sex or disability. FRC's new issue analysis explains how these laws address the long shared history of abortion and eugenics in America; which states have passed legislation to ensure unborn children are not aborted on account of their race, sex, or disability; and the challenges these laws have faced in court.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council is pleased to announce that Meg Kilgannon has joined the FRC team as Senior Fellow for Education Studies. Meg formerly worked as Director of the Office of Faith and Opportunity Initiatives at the Department of Education for the Trump administration and comes to us with significant experience working on contemporary issues in the education arena. Before joining the Trump administration, Meg worked with FRC and others on education-related issues of importance to social conservatives; her previous work included producing FRC's brochure, "The SPLC's Teaching Tolerance: What Parents, Teachers, and Administrators Need to Know."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Coinciding with President Biden's 100th day in office today, Family Research Council is releasing a new resource, "Tracking the Biden Administration," that reports President Biden has made at least $479.9 billion available that can subsidize abortion and abortion businesses - more than 19 times the level set under President Obama.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council released a new resource today, "Tracking the Biden Administration" that details 62 total executive actions, including 40 executive orders, taken by President Biden in his first 100 days - including 32 that undermine life, family, and religious freedom.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced a policy to resume taxpayer funding for research using fetal tissue from aborted babies. This move overturns a historic policy put in place under President Donald Trump that halted all internal NIH research using aborted fetal tissue, and severely restricted outside fetal tissue research funded by taxpayers. This announcement goes so far as to disband a nonpartisan ethics advisory board that was tasked with reviewing proposals for research using fetal tissue from aborted babies.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - For years Speaker Nancy Pelosi has refused to allow the House of Representatives to vote up or down on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (H.R. 619). Family Research Council is urging Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to sign onto a discharge petition filed today by Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) to force the Speaker to allow a vote. In the 116th Congress, the discharge petition received 205 signatures of the required 218, 191 of those signatures coming on the first day.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Arkansas became the first state in the nation to enact legislation that prohibits gender transition procedures on minors, prevents taxpayer funds or medical insurance mandates to pay for them, and provides legal remedies for minors who have been permanently disfigured and/or sterilized by them. On Tuesday afternoon, in quick succession the Arkansas House (72-25) and Senate (25-8) overrode the governor's veto of the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act. Family Research Council praised the state legislature for its effort to protect minors.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - After the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act passed overwhelmingly through both chambers of the Arkansas legislature, unfortunately, Governor Asa Hutchinson appeared to yield to the sirens of the Left and issued a last-minute veto. Family Research Council urges the legislature to override the veto and provide children with critical protections from experimental gender transition procedures. If enacted, the SAFE Act would prevent gender transition procedures for minors, protect taxpayers and medical insurance providers from being mandated by government to pay for such procedures, and provide legal remedies for minors who have been permanently disfigured and/or sterilized by them.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council is praising the Arkansas legislature for overwhelmingly approving the Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act which prohibits physicians from administering gender transition procedures to minors, prohibits taxpayer funds and medical insurance policies from paying for them, and provides legal remedies for minors who have been permanently disfigured and/or sterilized by them.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Earlier today, the South Dakota House of Representatives by an overwhelming vote of 67 - 2 soundly rejected Governor Noem's "style and form" veto of HB 1217, the Fairness in Women's Sports Act. Governor Noem quickly responded today by again refusing to sign HB 1217, effectively killing the bill. Despite Governor Noem's veto of this bill and refusal to take a strong stand for women's sports, the House's nearly unanimous vote is a strong rebuke of the NCAA and the tentacles of Big Business that pressured Governor Noem to retreat from her earlier support of the bill in the first place.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Senate today confirmed Rachel Levine as Assistant Secretary of Health by a vote of 52-48. Family Research Council warned Levine will use his new position to target and punish parents and people of faith for their beliefs on gender and abortion. While serving as Pennsylvania's secretary of health, Levine, a biological man identifying as a woman, has advocated sex changes for children and adolescents and failed to competently manage Pennsylvania's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today stated the U.S. Senate's confirmation of Xavier Becerra as Secretary of Health and Human Services by a vote of 50-49 makes abundantly clear the Biden administration and the Democratic Party are using health care and the coronavirus as a cover for their political agenda.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As President Biden today signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319), Family Research Council criticized the $1.9 trillion spending package. Without a single Republican vote, Democrats pushed through a bill that used the Covid-19 health crisis as a cover to promote policies harmful to human life and the family.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council published a new issue brief publication today titled, "How the United States Can Address China's Uyghur Genocide." The publication was released ahead of Wednesday's U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom hearing that will discuss "ways in which U.S. companies facilitate the persecution of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in China through forced labor and other practices that undermine international human rights standards in that country."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - By a vote of 224-206, the U.S. House of Representatives gave approval to H.R. 5, the deceptively titled "Equality Act."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today released its analysis of Planned Parenthood's 2019-2020 (fiscal year 2019) annual report. The analysis, titled "The Real Planned Parenthood: Leading the Culture of Death," incontrovertibly reveals that abortion is not a small part of Planned Parenthood's mission --- performing 354,871 abortions in the 2019 fiscal year.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) held a nomination hearing for Xavier Becerra, President Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Today, the Senate Finance Committee will hold its nomination hearing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Thursday on H.R. 5, deceptively titled "The Equality Act." When it was introduced last week, the bill had 223 Democratic co-sponsors and no Republican co-sponsors. Several Republicans who cosponsored the bill in 2019 have declined to cosponsor this year's reintroduction of the bill. Family Research Council released a new issue brief today, "How the 'Equality Act' Is Actually Unequal, Unfair, and Unjust."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council responded today to the White House giving support to H.R. 5, deceptively titled "The Equality Act," which was introduced yesterday in the U.S. House of Representatives and is scheduled for a vote next week.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Wednesday, February 10, at 7:30 PM ET, Family Research President Tony Perkins, along with Pastor Gary Hamrick and Alliance Defending Freedom's Mike Farris, will host "Pray Vote Stand Townhall: The Way Forward," an interactive, in-person event at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, Va., that will be live streamed on PrayVoteStand.org.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Mary Szoch, Director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, submitted testimony on a bill (SB 835) in the Connecticut Senate that would unfairly target pro-life pregnancy centers under the guise of restricting deceptive advertising.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Democratic President Joe Biden, among his first official acts, today rescinded the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance Policy (PLGHA), which prevents federal funds from going to foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that perform abortions or "actively promote" abortion as a method of family planning in other countries.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Joe Biden, in one of his first official acts, reinstated President Obama's military transgender policy. The president did so without any kind of systematic study of the consequences of allowing men and women in the military to live as the opposite sex and even obtain gender reassignment procedures paid for by the military. This stands in stark contrast to the DoD review that was conducted of President Trump's policy. The Department of Defense reported that medical costs for service members with "gender dysphoria" were three times higher than for other service members before the Trump administration repealed the Obama era rule.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council issued a statement warning one of President Biden's first executive orders would target people of faith and religious organizations. The executive order demands that all federal agencies redefine "sex" to include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" in their policies against sex discrimination. The order expands upon the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which redefined "sex" in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo today announced the determination that the "People's Republic of China is committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, China, targeting Uyghur Muslims and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) today applauded the U.S. State Department for adding Nigeria to its list of "Countries of Particular Concern" (CPCs) for the first time. A CPC designation is given by the U.S. Secretary of State to a nation whose government is engaged in or tolerates severe violations of religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tomorrow House Democrats will hold a hearing before the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee in order to attack and undermine the Hyde Amendment. The Hyde Amendment prevents tax dollars from being used to pay for abortions and has been included in every federal spending bill since 1976, saving an estimated 2.4 million unborn lives. Family Research Council today published an issue analysis titled "Taxpayer Funding of Abortion and Abortion Businesses" which makes clear just how our taxpayer dollars prop up the abortion industry and what can be done to stop it. Over 60 percent of Americans, including 35 percent of Democrats, oppose taxpayer funding of abortions.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) is pleased to announce that Mary Szoch has joined the FRC team as Director of the Center for Human Dignity, where her work will focus on advancing a culture of life and developing policies upholding human dignity.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) today praised the recent decision by a federal appeals court striking down two local ordinances banning sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) for minors. In the case of Otto v. City of Boca Raton, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled on November 20 that "these ordinances are content-based and viewpoint-based restrictions on speech," and thus "violate the First Amendment."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council on Thursday released the updated publication, "Criminalizing Conscience: The Status of Apostasy, Blasphemy, and Anti-conversion Laws Around the World." Since the last edition of the report, released in 2019, three countries have repealed laws that threaten religious freedom for their people. Along with other positive changes that helped to remove it from the U.S. State Department's list of "Countries of Particular Concern," Sudan repealed its apostasy law, which prohibited leaving the Muslim faith and could carry the death penalty. Two European nations, Ireland and Greece, repealed their blasphemy laws. Meanwhile, there are efforts to broaden anti-conversion laws in India and anti-conversion laws continued to be actively enforced in Nepal. Of the countries listed in the report, 17 countries have apostasy laws, 70 countries have blasphemy laws, and 6 have anti-conversion laws.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In the final Sunday of the 2020 election cycle, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins will be preaching in Miami-Dade County at one of the state's largest multi-ethnic churches, King Jesus Miami. Perkins, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, will be challenging evangelical voters to take a stand for the sanctity of human life, religious freedom, and the family by voting biblical values on Tuesday, November 3.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council applauded the U.S. Senate vote to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy left by the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Pacific Justice Institute, representing Family Research Council (FRC), sent a letter today to MobileCause CEO Victor Limongelli regarding their termination of their contract with FRC. Last month, in a stunning incident of big tech censorship and religious discrimination, MobileCause terminated the contract one hour before the conservative religious organization's Pray Vote Stand broadcast. The termination, based upon Family Research Council's religious views, prevented the broadcast from reaching thousands of Christian voters with information about the 2020 election.
Washington, D.C. -During today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Judge Amy Barrett's nomination to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) entered into the record a letter by Family Research Council (FRC) urging senators to confirm Judge Barrett.
Chino, CA - On Sunday, October 11, at 8:00 PM ET, Family Research President Tony Perkins will join Pastor Jack Hibbs in hosting Freedom Sunday, an in-person church service at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Chino, CA that will be live streamed to churches and homes across the country. Freedom Sunday is a call for the resumption of in-person church services in obedience to Scripture (Hebrews 10:25) and a freedom guaranteed by the Constitution. Across the nation, many state and local government officials continue to take unconstitutional steps to restrict worship services even as they've allowed the reopening of casinos, tattoo parlors, abortion centers, liquor stores, and most all other businesses.
WASHINGTON, DC - President Donald Trump today announced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the nation's highest court.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins called out the ongoing anti-Christian smear campaign against prospective Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett, currently under consideration for Justice Ginsburg's vacant seat. Among others, members of the Left and the media have attacked Judge Barrett in the last few days for her religious beliefs. Barrett has made clear in multiple statements that her Catholic faith does not dictate her duties as a judge, but this still has not stopped those on the Left from imposing what amounts to a religious test.
Family Research Council Statement on the Passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a stunning incident of big tech censorship and religious discrimination, MobileCause's CEO Victor Limongelli terminated Family Research Council's contract one hour before the conservative religious organization's Pray Vote Stand broadcast. The termination, based upon Family Research Council's religious views, prevented the broadcast from reaching thousands of Christian voters with information about the 2020 election.
Washington, D.C. - Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at Family Research Council, spent the last two nights testifying in opposition to a proposed municipal ordinance in Anchorage, Alaska, No. AO 202-65, which would make it unlawful for any professional counselor to engage in sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts (SOCE or GICE) with a patient who is a minor.
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Family Research Council released a new publication today titled "Biblical Principles for Human Sexuality: Survey of Culture, Scripture, and Church History." The publication comes on the heels of the Supreme Court's decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which has accelerated the sexual revolution and empowered other activist judges to rule in ways that will have far-reaching effects throughout society.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today Family Research Council released the fourth in a series of interactive pro-life maps, tracking state funding of the abortion industry through three principal funding streams: Medicaid, Title X family planning funds, and state appropriations.
Washington, DC - The Nebraska State Legislature this afternoon approved by 33 to 8 the Dismemberment Abortion Ban, a bill that bans a late term abortion practice that involves pulling the arms and legs off of a living unborn baby. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins responded with the following comments.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council is pleased to announce that Joseph Backholm has joined the FRC team as Senior Fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement. Recent research has shown that only 6 percent of Americans have a biblical worldview. In his role, Joseph will help explain, equip, and engage the American public on a biblical worldview on matters of faith, family, and freedom.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council's Cathy Ruse received the Ruth Institute's "Activist of the Year" award for "exposing radical, anti-science sex ed and transgender mandates in public school systems, especially in Fairfax County, Virginia." The Ruth Institute seeks to inspire survivors of the sexual revolution. Cathy Ruse continues to trailblaze on this topic; she most recently authored FRC's publication, "Sex Education in Public Schools: Sexualization of Children and LGBT Indoctrination."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council is pleased to announce that Bob Fu has joined FRC's Center for Religious Liberty as Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom. As religious persecution continues to spread around the world, and as China in particular continues to play a troubling role, Bob will bring to FRC his specific expertise handling religious freedom issues in that country.
WASHINGTON, D.C. --Family Research Council released a new report today titled "The Crisis of Christian Persecution in Nigeria." It describes one of the worst human rights situations of our day-one which the mainstream media rarely discusses-a possible genocide of Christians emerging in Nigeria. Nigeria is Africa's economic frontrunner and most populous country. The country's population is about 53 percent Muslim and about 47 percent Christian. Just today, we learned that 1,202 Nigerian Christians were killed in the first six months of 2020.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins applauded the decision handed down today by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, in which a teacher responsible for leading students in prayer and religious preparation sued a Catholic School that desired to discontinue working with her.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins applauded the U.S. Supreme Court's verdict in favor of the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious charity who have been fighting a legal battle for survival for the past nine years. In 2011, President Obama's Department of Health and Human Services threatened fines reaching into the tens of millions of dollars unless the sisters violated their religious convictions by covering free abortion-causing drugs and services in their health insurance plan. Although they won after a 5-year battle, the Little Sisters were dragged back before the highest court in the land after multiple states tried again to force them to violate their religious convictions. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:
FRC praises Supreme Court decision to protect school choice and religious liberty in Espinoza vs. Montana
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins was shocked and deeply disappointed in the decision handed down today by the U.S. Supreme Court in June Medical Services v. Russo, which allowed abortion providers and activists to once again successfully challenge a state pro-life law. With Chief Justice Roberts joining the Court's four liberals to deliver a 5-4 vote striking down the law as unconstitutional, the silver lining in this case is that President Trump's two Supreme Court appointments - Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh - dissented from the opinion.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council Executive Vice President Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William G. Boykin joined 46 retired flag-rank officers in signing an open letter published in today's Washington Times that supports President Trump's authority to stop the ongoing rioting and lawlessness in America's cities. The signatories include 42 Army officers, four Air Force officers, and one retired Navy officer.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the federal prohibition of employment discrimination based on sex in the 1964 Civil Rights Act also prohibits discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation" and "gender identity." The court's insistence that a Christian funeral home must retain a transgender employee threatens its freedom to operate according to its understanding of sexuality that is rooted in the facts of science and human history. The Harris Funeral Homes, a family operated business for more than a hundred years, was challenged by a male employee who said that he would no longer follow the company dress code of wearing sex-specific clothes for work. This led to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suing the funeral home, and the case made its way to the Supreme Court.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Health and Human Services finalized a rule today that revises 2016 provisions of the Obamacare section 1557 rule that had redefined discrimination "on the basis of sex" to include "gender identity" and "pregnancy termination."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council and 21 partnering state family policy councils released a publication today titled "Biblical Principles for Political Engagement: Worldview, Issues, and Voting." It aims to provide pastors and Christians with Biblical wisdom to help them navigate a stormy political landscape in an election year. Family Research Council plans to start by distributing 15,000 copies of the brochure, and hundreds of thousands more will be distributed digitally.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement praising President Trump's announcement that he is identifying houses of worship as "essential places that provide essential services":
WASHINGTON, D.C. -Family Research Council released a new publication today titled "Sex Education in Public Schools: Sexualization of Children and LGBT Indoctrination." It outlines the radical changes that have occurred in the way sex education is taught in America's public schools, and why parents should be concerned:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council religious freedom experts reacted to today's release of the 2020 Annual Report from the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom, which documents the worst religious freedom violators worldwide and makes recommendations to the administration regarding what should be done about them.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a newly released issue brief, "Restrictions on Religious Freedom During the Coronavirus Crisis," Family Research Council documents the extent to which government social distancing mandates to slow the spread of the virus have also restricted the free exercise of religion. Some of the key findings include:
Central City, LA.-Family Research Council President Tony Perkins will, along with the Central Area Pastors Association (CAPA), host a special Sun Rise service Easter Sunday at the Central football stadium parking lot, located at the corner of Hooper Road and Sullivan Road in Central. The community worship service begins at 7 am and will conclude by 8:00 am. The special drive-in service will be broadcast on FM 89.7 Sound Radio. Everyone is invited to attend and participate from the comfort and convenience of their cars.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Several state legislatures are considering stronger "born-alive" protections, after Family Research Council released a set of online, interactive maps last fall showing the status of pro-life laws in the states, including those that protect infants born alive after surviving botched abortions. West Virginia recently passed a bill into law that took the state from the category of "no protections" to "strong protections" on FRC's map, with all Republicans and 49 out of 55 Democrats in the West Virginia legislature voting for the bill. Currently, bills to strengthen protections for born-alive abortion survivors are pending in Kentucky, Ohio, and Wyoming. Yet, due to almost exclusively Democrat opposition, repeated attempts to pass legislation to protect born alive abortion survivors have failed in the U.S. House and Senate during this Congress.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins attended this morning's oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of June Medical Services v. Russo, in which an abortion center is challenging a state law that requires abortionists to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. When he was a state legislator in Louisiana, Tony Perkins authored the first version of this law. Family Research Council filed an amicus brief in the case.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins will be attending the Supreme Court oral arguments for June Medical Services v. Russo, a case about whether abortionists in Louisiana must have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. During his time as a state representative in Louisiana, Tony Perkins authored the state's first abortion clinic regulation act, which was among the first measures of its kind in the nation. Tony Perkins now serves as President of Family Research Council, which filed an amicus brief in this case.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Senate rejected the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act and Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, despite the best efforts of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other pro-life leaders. On the same day the Senate voted on these bills, Family Research Council released a newly-updated version of its publication, "Born-Alive Abortion Survivors: Just the Facts." Based on data from the only eight states that require reporting on babies born alive after an attempted abortion, FRC has identified at least 170 additional born-alive abortion survivors, beyond the 143 abortion survivors reported in the CDC's death statistics. Earlier this month, FRC's Director of Life, Culture, and Women's Advocacy, Patrina Mosley, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the need for stronger protections for babies born alive after botched abortions.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Katherine Johnson, FRC's Research Fellow for Legal and Policy Studies, will emcee the Virginia March for Life on February 13, 2020. The March for Life is hosting the event in partnership with the Family Foundation, the Virginia Society for Human Life, and the Virginia Catholic Conference.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council's Patrina Mosley, Director of Life, Culture, and Women's Advocacy, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. She offered testimony on "The Infant Patient: Ensuring Appropriate Medical Care for Children Born Alive."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement in response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union Address:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Wednesday, February 5, Family Research Council will host an event titled, "Stories from Iran: Religious Freedom and the Secret Growth of the Underground Church." The event will feature two Christian women, Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh, who were imprisoned for their faith in Iran. Dabrina Bet Tamraz, daughter of Assyrian Christian pastor Victor Bet Tamraz, who is appealing his sentence, will also be speaking.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Patrina Mosley, FRC's Director of Life, Culture, and Women's Advocacy will speak at the National Pro-Life Summit on January 25, 2020. Mosley will participate in a panel titled, "How Defunding Planned Parenthood Impacts the Black Community," alongside fellow pro-life advocates Christina Bennett from the Family Institute of Connecticut, Ryan Bomberger from the Radiance Foundation, and Elizabeth Parker from Students for Life of America.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Hours before President Donald Trump made history as the first president to appear in person at the March for Life, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar announced at Family Research Council's ProLifeCon that the agency is taking more pro-life actions. The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at HHS has enforced the Weldon amendment by issuing a notice of violation against California for their mandate forcing every health insurance carrier to cover elective abortion. The Weldon Amendment, which has passed in every federal HHS appropriations bill since 2005, prohibits federal funds from going to states that discriminate against any health care entity which does not pay for or provide coverage for abortions.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On January 24, Family Research Council will host the 15th annual ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit, the largest annual gathering of digital pro-life activists. This year's event will focus on the plight of Born Alive Abortion Survivors, babies who are left to die after surviving an attempted abortion.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, Family Research Council released a new pro-life map showing the strength of state laws protecting the human dignity of unborn children. These "fetal dignity laws" recognize the inherent dignity of the unborn by reaffirming their basic humanity. The new map tracks five different types of fetal dignity laws.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council applauds President Trump's announcement today that his administration will protect religious organizations and reinforce the freedom of public school students across the country to pray and express their religious beliefs. Local education agencies receiving federal education funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) must certify in writing to its state educational agency that "it has no policy that prevents, or otherwise denies participation in, constitutionally protected prayer in public schools as detailed in this updated guidance." The administration also issued nine proposed rules that protect religious organizations from being discriminated against by the federal government.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Thursday, January 16, Family Research Council will host an event that will highlight China's ongoing repression of the Uyghurs, a Turkic mostly-Muslim minority. The event will feature Jewher Ilham, daughter of Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur scholar promoting ethnic reconciliation, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2014. Besides Tohti, 1-3 million Uyghurs are currently detained in China without a judicial process for nothing but maintaining a distinct cultural and religious identity.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) responded Monday to Planned Parenthood's annual report for fiscal year 2018. Planned Parenthood released the report in early January, and FRC staff devoted several days to reviewing and analyzing its statistics. Some of FRC's key findings include:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council strongly opposes the coercive and deceptively-named "Fairness for All Act" that was introduced today in the House of Representatives. Intended as a compromise between religious liberty and those advocating for unrestrained sexual liberty, this bill is in reality an "Equality Act-lite" that would impose a sweeping, anti-Christian ideological mandate on our entire country.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council (FRC) and the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) announced the results of their sixth annual review of elective abortion coverage in individual health insurance plans offered on state exchanges under Obamacare. Since open enrollment began on November 1, FRC and CLI research staff have diligently examined healthcare.gov and state-based exchanges for information on abortion coverage in health insurance plans.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Townhall.com has uncovered an IRS 990 form showing that the Chick-fil-A Foundation contributed $ 2,500 in 2017 to the anti-Christian Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). On August 15, 2012, a terrorist shooter stormed Family Research Council's (FRC) headquarters armed with a loaded semi-automatic pistol, 100 rounds of ammunition, and 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council applauds the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for announcing a proposed regulatory change to ensure that the government may not punish adoption providers who operate according to their faith, including their belief that children do best in a home with a mom and dad, which empirical evidence supports.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This evening, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 330 stations across the country. On the show, Secretary Carson explained the reasoning behind a recent exchange with Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10). In the exchange, Carson declined to apologize for acknowledging that males who try to infiltrate women's shelters are still men.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 330 stations across the country. On the show, Secretary Pompeo shared about the Trump administration's creation of the Commission on Unalienable Rights, which "will provide fresh thinking about human rights discourse where such discourse has departed from our nation's founding principles of natural law and natural rights." The Commission held its first public hearing today and announced plans to draft a document on unalienable rights that can be used by people all around the world.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Patrina Mosley, Director of Life, Culture, and Women's Advocacy at Family Research Council, prepared testimony in opposition to District of Columbia Bill 23-0318 for a hearing yesterday. The bill would fully decriminalize the sex trafficking industry within the federal district. Some activities that would be allowed by the poorly-named "Community Safety and Health Amendment Act of 2019" include brothel owning, prostitution and pandering. Over 100 groups and individuals across the political spectrum are scheduled to testify against the bill in a hearing today. Laura Grossberndt of FRC's Department of Policy and Government Affairs delivered the remarks on Mosley's behalf.
WASHINGTON - Yesterday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 24. SB 24 would require student health centers on all 34 state universities in California to dispense without charge the drugs used in a chemical abortion. California is now the first state to dispense abortion pills on public college campuses.
WASHINGTON - On Friday, Family Research Council presented the 2019 Sam Adams Award for State Policymaker of the Year to Virginia House of Delegates Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-15).
WASHINGTON -- On October 12, President Donald Trump will address the 14th annual Values Voter Summit taking place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. This will be Donald Trump's fourth trip to the Summit, including in 2017 when he became the first sitting president to attend.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Earlier today, FRC's Sarah Perry spoke outside the U.S. Supreme Court at a news conference held jointly by the Women's Liberation Front (WoLF) and Concerned Women for America (CWA). WoLF is a radical feminist organization, and CWA is a conservative advocacy group, but both oppose the erasure of women's protections threatened by the transgender movement. The news conference coincided with the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments in the case of a Christian funeral home sued for basing its understanding of sexuality on biology and the Bible-Harris Funeral Homes v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council will present Pastor Andrew Brunson with the Cost of Discipleship Award during the Faith, Family, and Freedom Gala at the 14th annual Values Voters Summit. The gala will take place on the one-year anniversary of Pastor Brunson's release from wrongful detainment in Turkey, on Saturday, October 12, 2019.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today released a first-of-its-kind set of maps showing the strength of born-alive abortion survivor protection laws and the legal status of late term abortion in every state. Protections for born-alive abortion survivors became a national conversation when New York and Illinois walked back their protections earlier this year, removing existing protections for infants born alive during failed abortion attempts.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - New York Times #1 bestselling author and speaker Eric Metaxas will address the 14th annual Values Voters Summit - an event that draws thousands of grassroots activists to the nation's capital each year. U.S. Congressmen, grassroots activists, conservative thought leaders, and others will speak at this event to discuss the fundamental issues for social conservative voters today.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council praised President Trump's speech today promoting religious freedom around the world. The president outlined specific actions that the administration will take, including committing $25 million in funds to protect religious freedom, religious sites, and relics. Protecting houses of worship was one of the top recommendations by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's (USCIRF) 2019 annual report. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins attended the speech in his capacity as chair of USCIRF.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tomorrow, Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at Family Research Council, will be a keynote speaker this weekend at "Hope Gathering 2019"-the 9th annual conference of Help4Families. The conference, co-sponsored by Living Stones Ministries, will be held in Fort Worth, Texas on Friday and Saturday, September 20 and 21.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council filed a comment today in support of a proposed rule by the Trump Administration's Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance (OFCCP) which will protect religious liberty. The rule is titled "Implementing Legal Requirements Regarding the Equal Opportunity Clause's Religious Exemption" and will require federal agencies to allow faith adherents to compete for federal contracts on an equal footing with anyone else.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council applauds the Republican Minority in the U.S. House of Representatives for scheduling a hearing on the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House leadership have blocked a vote on the bill more than 80 times and have refused to schedule a hearing or sign the discharge petition for the bill.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tomorrow, Patrina Mosley, Director of Life, Culture, and Women's Advocacy at Family Research Council, will speak in Richmond, VA at the National Day of Mourning event to commemorate the millions of black lives lost to abortion. Pro-life advocates from all across the country will gather in protest of Planned Parenthood opening three new mega-abortion centers in historically black neighborhoods. Other speakers include: Alveda King of Civil Rights for Unborn, Catherine Davis of the Restoration Project, and Dean Nelson of The Douglass Institute. The processional will continue on with stops in other heavily African-American cities, including Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, and Birmingham.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council applauded the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for issuing a Notice of Violation against the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) for unlawfully forcing a nurse to assist in an abortion. The OCR found UVMMC's policy required employees to assist in abortion procedures even after recording religious or moral objections. OCR also determined the UVMMC has repeatedly forced staff who have registered religious or moral objections to participate in abortion procedures in violation of the Church Amendments and has refused to cooperate with the investigation or conform its policies to federal nondiscrimination law.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William G. Boykin, Family Research Council's Executive Vice President, made the following comments in response to former Senator Jon Kyl's interim report on bias concerns on Facebook's platform:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council released today the comment filed in support of a proposed rule by the Trump Administration's Department of Health and Human Services regarding "Nondiscrimination in Health and Health Education Programs or Activities." The new rule interprets Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") in a manner consistent with the clear meaning of the text passed by Congress, reversing parts of a previous rule adopted under the Obama Administration.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Mary Beth Waddell, Family Research Council's Senior Legislative Assistant released the following statement in response to a proposed rule by the Department of Labor that protects religious employers from government discrimination:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - An en banc panel in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Trump administration's regulations governing the Title X family planning program can go into effect while court proceedings play out. On Monday, July 15, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced they will begin implementing the Protect Life Rule which ensures the integrity of the Title X program by preventing the "co-location" of federally funded family planning clinics with abortion facilities.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- An interview with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will air this evening on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which broadcasts on more than 240 stations across the country. Secretary Pompeo gave a preview of the second annual "Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom," which the State Department is hosting this week from July 16-18, bringing together government officials, representatives of international organizations, religious leaders, human rights advocates, and members of civil society organizations from around the world.
WASHINGTON, DC -- On Tuesday evening, July 16, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who was recently elected as Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, will host an event that will highlight the blossoming religious freedom for people of all faiths in the northeastern autonomous region of what used to be Syria, the constant threat Turkish and Iranian forces pose to this religious freedom, and the implications for American and Israeli security interests in the region.
WASHINGTON, DC - A new video released by Family Research Council is calling out big entertainment companies Disney, Amazon, and Netflix for their virtue signaling and hypocrisy. All three companies-Disney, Amazon, and Netflix-do business in China - where serial human rights abuses occur, while claiming they cannot do business in U.S. states that pass pro-life laws. Family Research Council pointed out this hypocrisy in a social media ad, titled "It's All an Act."
WASHINGTON, DC -- On Tuesday evening, July 16, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who was recently elected as Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, will offer opening remarks on the blossoming religious freedom for people of all faiths in the northeastern autonomous region of what used to be Syria, the constant threat Turkish and Iranian forces pose to this religious freedom, and the implications for American and Israeli security interests in the region.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -Family Research Council President Tony Perkins applauded the State Department for announcing today the formation of a Commission on Unalienable Rights. The Commission will advise Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on how to advocate for human rights in international diplomacy according to America's founding principles.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit just ruled that the Trump administration's regulations governing the Title X family planning program can go into effect while court proceedings play out. The Protect Life Rule at issue in this case ensures the integrity of the Title X program by preventing the "co-location" of federally funded family planning clinics with abortion clinics. The announcement comes a day after the Department of Health and Human Services strongly defended the new Title X regulations in front of a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C) appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins to discuss the decision by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to end research contracts using fetal tissue through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Congressman Meadows serves on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, as well as the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
HHS Decision to End Fetal Tissue Research Contracts is Pro-life, Pro-Science says Family Research Council
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Travis Weber, Vice President for Policy and Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at Family Research Council, spoke in Taiwan at the Taiwan International Religious Freedom Forum (TIRFF) on the importance of promoting religious freedom around the world, particularly in China. The forum is a joint effort of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, the Heritage Foundation, and Taiwan Association for China Human Rights. Other forum speakers include: U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, USCIRF Commissioner Nadine Maenza, former U.S. Solicitor General Ken Starr, and Founder of ChinaAid Bob Fu.
WASHINGTON, D.C., - Yesterday, evangelist Franklin Graham appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Graham explained why he has called for Sunday, June 2 to be a day of prayer for President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Earlier today, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule that would revise 2016 provisions of Obamacare Section 1557 rule that had redefined discrimination "on the basis of sex" to include gender identity and termination of pregnancy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last night, the California Senate passed Senate Bill 24, which would require the state's 34 public universities to dispense the abortion pill from their student health centers. Patrina Mosley, Family Research Council's Director of Life, Culture, and Women's Advocacy, debunked the arguments for this bill in her latest publication, "California's Campus Abortion Mandate is Bad Model Legislation."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins issued the following statement after passage of the Equality Act (H.R. 5) in the U.S. House of Representatives:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council spoke this morning at a press conference on Capitol Hill to oppose the Equality Act (H.R. 5). Other speakers at the press conference included Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Miss.), Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.), Penny Nance, Kara Dansky, Michael Farris, and Marilyn Musgrave. The press conference was livestreamed.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last night, twenty-one prominent Christian leaders delivered a letter to Republican and Democratic leadership in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, opposing the poorly-named Equality Act (H.R. 5). H.R. 5 is scheduled for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, May 17. The pastors and other evangelical leaders who initially signed the letter include: Tony Perkins, Michele Bachmann, Paul Blair, Stephen Broden, Carter Conlon, James Dobson, Jim Garlow, Franklin Graham, Jack Graham, Jack Hibbs, Harry Jackson, Jr., Robert Jeffress, Guillermo Maldonado, Eric Metaxas, Robert Morris, Ramiro Peña, Everett Piper, Ralph Reed, James Robison, Todd Wager, and Tim Wildmon.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council will speak tomorrow at the 70th commencement ceremony of Truett McConnell University (TMU) in Cleveland, Georgia. A Baptist institution in North Georgia, TMU is devoted to following the Bible and living out the Great Commission "From the very first verse to the very last tribe." The ceremony will be both open to the public and livestreamed.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Cathy Ruse, Senior Fellow for Legal Studies and Director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council, will chair a U.N. Conference commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Year of the Family on May 15 in New York City. The conference is sponsored by the Civil Society for the Family, a coalition of organizations that includes Family Research Council. Invited conference speakers include ambassadors from countries on four continents, academics, and NGO leaders.
?Washington, D.C. - President Trump announced today on this National Day of Prayer new regulations through the Department of Health and Human Services that will more effectively enforce existing federal laws that protect the conscience rights of healthcare providers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council's Center for Religious Liberty today unveiled a new publication, "Apostasy, Blasphemy, and Anti-Conversion Laws," which documents these types of laws, their consequences, and the countries that still countenance these constraints on religious liberty. Travis Weber, Family Research Council's Vice President for Policy and Director of the Center for Religious Liberty, announced the new publication during a live-streamed event featuring a conversation on international religious freedom with Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council and a Commissioner with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
WASHINGTON, DC -- On Tuesday, April 30, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who also serves on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, will host a discussion with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on his new role as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and what he is doing to promote religious liberty, both at home and abroad. As part of this discussion, we will also hear from Senator Graham on the judicial nominations process.
WASHINGTON, DC: Family Research Council went public today with a campaign in the Wall Street Journal exposing the "hypocrisy" of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and calling upon the media and tech companies that use the SPLC's tainted labeling of Christian groups to stop immediately. The ad, purchased in conjunction with the American Family Association and in cooperation with SPLCexposed.com, calls on Spotify, MSNBC, CNN, YouTube, Amazon, and PayPal to stop aligning with the SPLC after former SPLC employees exposed the wealthy "charity" as a "con," raising millions of dollars by expanding the definition of "hate" while operating an organization rife with racism and bigotry.
WASHINGTON, D.C., - Yesterday, Alice Lin appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Lin spoke out publicly for the first time about her father, Pastor David Lin, who was imprisoned in China for his faith more than a decade ago.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Alice Lin, the daughter of a U.S. pastor held hostage by the Chinese government for more than a decade, will give her first media interview on today's edition of ... (more)
WASHINGTON, DC -- Family Research Council (FRC) today joined a coalition of 67 conservative leaders and organizations in releasing an open letter to news organizations, calling on the media to stop using data from the discredited Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) which has been exposed from within as having a culture of long-standing, long-ignored racial discrimination and sexual harassment. The unraveling scandal has so far claimed the organization's founder, its president, and a top attorney.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council's Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies, will be in Verona, Italy March 29 - 31 to speak at the World Congress of Families XIII. The World Congress of Families XIII will gather advocates of pro-family policies and allied organizations from around the globe to discuss marriage, family, growth and demographic decline, women's dignity and health, defense of life and family, and policies promoting birth rates and families. On Friday, March 29, Peter will discuss the findings of his latest paper, "Evidence Shows Sexual Orientation Can Change: Debunking the Myth of 'Immutability.'"
WASHINGTON, D.C., - Yesterday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Secretary Pompeo shared about the Trump administration's decision to expand the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits foreign aid dollars from funding abortions, by applying it to subcontractors as well.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council is urging Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to sign onto a discharge petition set to be active on April 2.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Trump administration's State Department today issued an expanded layer of protection in the Mexico City Policy preventing subcontractors from using American taxpayer dollars to perform or promote abortions overseas.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement praising President Trump's announcement that the U.S. will recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Patrina Mosley, Director of Life, Culture, and Women's Advocacy at Family Research Council, testified today before the Health and Government Operations Committee in the Maryland House of Delegates in support of House Bill 975, which would protect unborn children who can feel pain during an abortion.
WASHINGTON, DC -- On Wednesday, February 27, Alexandra McPhee, FRC's Director of Religious Freedom Advocacy, and an author of our amicus brief in the case, will give her reaction to the oral arguments in American Legion v. American Humanist Association. She will be available for comment on the steps of the Supreme Court immediately following the arguments in the case, which concerns the future of a historic cross-shaped veterans memorial in Bladensburg, Maryland.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Patrina Mosley, Director of Life, Culture, and Women's Advocacy at Family Research Council, testified today before the Health and Government Operations Committee in the Maryland House of Delegates in support of House Joint Resolution 4, which would declare exposure to pornography is a public health hazard.
Washington, D.C. - In response to the U.S. Senate's rejection today of the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Act, Family Research Council is launching a campaign to deliver thousands of baby hats to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Each hat will be accompanied by a message urging the House of Representatives to end birthday abortions and take decisive action to protect all babies born alive from being killed outside the womb.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, U.S. Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebr.) appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country to discuss the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Family Research Council is urging Members of the U.S. Senate to vote to close debate on the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, introduced by Sen. Sasse.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Health and Human Services announced today finalized regulations for the Title X family planning program that reinstates President Ronald Reagan's "Protect Life Rule" which protects the integrity of the program by preventing the "co-location" of federally funded family planning clinics with abortion clinics.
Richmond, VA -- Strengthening the Black Family is a forum that will be held this Saturday in Richmond, Virginia to celebrate the importance of family in the black community while highlighting the challenges facing many children due to single-parent households, divorce, and poverty. Coming from the political and policy world, this leadership training is transforming the lives of participants as they work in the business and political world.
Family Research Council released a new publication today that documents ten incidents in the past two years where U.S. senators have interrogated nominees concerning their personal religious beliefs.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council is urging Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to sign onto a discharge petition introduced yesterday by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) that is intended to force a vote on the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (H.R. 962).
WASHINGTON, DC -- Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement in response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union Address:
Senator Patty Murray Blocks Vote on Infanticide as Democratic Party Goes Extreme on Abortion Until Birth Laws
WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will allow the Trump administration's transgender military policy to go into effect while litigation continues.
Washington, D.C. - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed a motion today to proceed to the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" (S. 109). sponsored by Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Senator James Lankford (R-OK).
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) has submitted an amicus brief in the case of June Medical Services v. Gee, which is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. At issue is a Louisiana law (Act 620) that protects women's health by requiring persons who perform abortion procedures to also maintain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Abortion facilities in Louisiana sued to block the law from taking effect.
CAIRO, EGYPT - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, also a Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, joined fellow commissioners Nadine Maenza and Johnnie Moore as a part of a delegation of evangelical leaders at last night's inauguration of the Cathedral of Nativity outside of Cairo. At the invitation of the Egyptian government and the Coptic Church, the delegation attended the opening of both the Cathedral, which is the largest in the Middle East, and the Al-Fattah Al- Aleem mosque, both in the new administrative capital east of Cairo.
WASHINGTON, DC - Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William Boykin, Family Research Council's Executive Vice President, released the following statement in response to a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decision vacating a temporary injunction against the Trump administration's transgender military policy:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) has submitted an amicus brief in the case of American Legion v. American Humanist Association, which is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. This case arose when the American Humanist Association (AHA) sued for the removal of a 93-year-old cross standing in Bladensburg, Maryland, that memorializes 49 Prince George's County sons and comrades who died in WWI. The AHA claimed that the cross-shaped memorial is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion in violation of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.
Washington, D.C. -- Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement after the House of Representatives gave approval to the Retirement, Savings, And Other Tax Relief Act of 2018 (H.R. 88) along party lines:
Washington, D.C. -- Today, President Donald Trump indicated that he would veto a short-term deal to fund the federal government unless the bill adequately addresses border security. Congress and the president have already funded agencies like the Department of Defense and Health and Human Services to ensure both our nation's military is funded as well as key programs like those which fund our nation's social safety net.
WASHINGTON, DC -- In a recent interview with Science Magazine, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins said that fetal tissue research "will continue to be a mainstay" and claimed those who are pro-life can support funding research involving tissue from aborted babies.
WASHINGTON, DC - Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins joined other international religious freedom advocates and Members of Congress at the White House today to witness President Trump's signing of the "Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018." The new law will, among other things, fund organizations, including faith-based groups, that provide humanitarian aid to genocide survivors from religious and ethnic minorities.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement on President Trump's nomination of Heather Nauert as the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations:
WASHINGTON, DC - Today Family Research Council (FRC) and Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI), the research arm of Susan B. Anthony List, announced the results of their fifth annual comprehensive review of elective abortion coverage in Individual and Family health insurance plans offered on healthcare.gov and state-based exchanges under the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"). Open enrollment began on November 1 and continues until December 15.
WASHINGTON, DC - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement reacting to the resignation of United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions:
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Oct. 30, 2018 -- This week, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins was a member of a delegation of U.S. evangelical leaders that traveled to Abu Dhabi for meetings with the UAE's leadership including a two hour meeting with his Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The delegation learned about the country's efforts to promote regional peace, freedom of worship, tolerance, inclusion and moderation. Also discussed were the threats posed by Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who is traveling in the Middle East, released the following statement calling for a national day of prayer and reconciliation:
ISTANBUL, TURKEY - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, in his capacity as a Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, attended this morning's hearing near Izmir, Turkey where Pastor Andrew Brunson was released to return to the United States. The pastor spent nearly two years in prison before being transferred in July to house arrest. The Trump administration had imposed sanctions on two Turkish officials who were linked to the arrest and detention of the pastor along with other economic actions against the Turkish government.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. Sen. Grassley shared his perspective from the front lines of the Kavanaugh hearings and his uniquely positive outlook on the direction of the court.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley announced her resignation. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:
WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Senate today voted to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement after the U.S. Senate voted for cloture on the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh:
WASHINGTON, D.C., - Today, Vice President Mike Pence warned of the grave threat China poses to the United States and, indeed, to the freedom of the entire world. Speaking at the Hudson Institute, the Vice President focused his remarks on China's efforts to interfere in the domestic affairs of the United States among other matters. Vice President Pence observed:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. Sen. Cotton shared why he called for Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office to be investigated in regard to Dr. Christine Ford's confidential letter being leaked to the media.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote to approve the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council praised the House passage of the Family Savings Act of 2018 (H.R. 6757). The legislation expands 529 education savings plans to recognize unborn children for the first time in the tax code by allowing parents, grandparents, or other relatives to open a 529 plan for an unborn child and begin to save for that child's education.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Graham gave an update on the allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the proceedings to confirm him to the U.S. Supreme Court.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Saturday, September 22, Vice President Mike Pence will address the 13th annual Values Voter Summit taking place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. Pence will be the first sitting Vice President to address the Summit taking place September 21-23. Last year, President Donald Trump was the first sitting president to address attendees at the Values Voter Summit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 ... (more)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, September 21, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will address the 13th annual Values Voter Summit. This will be the first time Sen. McConnell has spoken at the Summit as Senate Majority Leader. The Values Voter Summit will be held September 21-23 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council gathered 92 petition signatures from Missouri pastors in support of Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley who came under leftwing criticism for a recent address to pastors in which he said the government shouldn't be telling pastors what they can and can't say from their pulpit. AG Hawley made the remarks last month at a pastors conference hosted by the Family Research Council. On August 31, the Missouri attorney general joined Tony Perkins on the radio to explain why he will continue to call for repealing the Johnson Amendment and its attempt to silence pastors.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday evening, September 21, actor Dean Cain will address the 13th annual Values Voter Summit before a special screening of his new movie, Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer. Cain and fellow cast member Alonzo Rachel will participate in a panel discussion about the film, which is based on real-life abortionist Kermit Gosnell. The Values Voter Summit will be held September 21-23 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Graham offered remarks during the opening day of the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. He joined the show with highlights from the hearing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement in response to this morning's U.S. Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today welcomed the news that the California state legislature will not take final action on AB 2943, a bill which would have declared all forms of sexual orientation change efforts, or SOCE (sometimes referred to as "conversion therapy") to be a form of "consumer fraud" if performed for a fee. Such counseling or therapy is designed to assist people who experience unwanted same-sex attractions to achieve their own self-chosen goal of overcoming those attractions or abstaining from same-sex conduct.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, AG Hawley discussed the backlash he's received from the Left for remarks he recently made at a pastors event hosted by Family Research Council. In his address he discussed his opposition to the Johnson Amendment and how it violates pastors' religious liberty and freedom of speech.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Former U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf will be honored at next month's Values Voter Summit for his tireless fight for international religious freedom. Wolf is the author of the International Religious Freedom Act and a longtime advocate for international religious freedom and human rights. Wolf will receive Family Research Council's Vision and Leadership Award on Saturday, September 22th at 7:30 pm eastern at the Summit's Faith, Family and Freedom Gala. The Values Voter Summit will be held September 21-23 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Army announced it would be rejecting the conclusions of an investigation into U.S. Army Chaplain Scott Squires, a career soldier with a 25-year history who served multiple tours in Afghanistan, Africa, and the Middle East. The original investigation accused Squires and Chaplain's Assistant, Staff Sergeant Kacie Griffin, of "dereliction of duty" stemming from Squires' decision to step down from leadership of a marriage retreat that included a same-sex couple. Despite having followed DOD regulations that require a chaplain to follow their endorsing agency's religious tenets, and despite having found another chaplain to lead the retreat, an Equal Opportunity complaint was filed.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Ambassador Brownback gave an update on the case of Pastor Andrew Brunson who continues to be held hostage by the Turkish government.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Trump announced this morning a doubling of steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey and also tweeted, "Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!" Earlier this month, the Trump administration sanctioned two Turkish officials who were both involved in the arrest and detention of American Pastor Andrew Brunson.
WASHINGTON, DC - This afternoon it was reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "signed a new contract on July 25 to acquire 'fresh' human fetal tissue to transplant into 'humanized mice' so that the mice will have a functioning 'human immune system.'"
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Sen. Graham weighed in on the Trump administration's sanctions imposed on Turkish officials who were involved in the arrest and imprisonment of American Pastor Andrew Brunson. After nearly two years in prison, the pastor was released last week to house arrest.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Trump administration today sanctioned two Turkish officials who were both involved in the arrest and detention of American Pastor Andrew Brunson.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Attorney General Sessions highlighted the formation of a Religious Liberty Task Force. The task force, which will be chaired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, "will continue the Department's ongoing work to implement the Religious Liberty Memorandum and the implementation memorandum. The Task Force will also consider new initiatives that will further the Department's work to protect and promote religious liberty."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced the formation of a Religious Liberty Task Force. The Task Force, which will be chaired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, "will continue the Department's ongoing work to implement the Religious Liberty Memorandum and the implementation memorandum. The Task Force will also consider new initiatives that will further the Department's work to protect and promote religious liberty."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Donald Trump tweeted this morning that the "United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian family man, and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" Vice President Pence echoed the president in an address this morning before the State Department's first-ever "Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom."
State Department's Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom Could be a Turning Point for Millions of Persecuted People, says Family Research Council
WASHINGTON, D.C., - Yesterday, Cynthia Dunbar, an RNC National Committeewoman from the Commonwealth of Virginia appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Committeewoman Dunbar highlighted last weekend's unanimous adoption of a Republican National Committee resolution calling on public schools to obtain written consent from parents before exposing children to sex education.
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 19, 2018 - Today, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Secretary Pompeo shared about the State Department hosting the first-ever "Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom" next week. The event will be held July 24 - 26, bringing together government officials, representatives of international organizations, religious leaders, rights advocates, and members of civil society organizations from around the world.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council applauded the House Appropriations Committee for approving the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act (HR 1881), as an amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill. Rep. Robert Aderholt's (R-Ala.) amendment was approved by a vote of 29-23. Members speaking in support of the bill included U.S. Reps. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Evan Jenkins (R-W. Va.), Andy Harris (R-Md.), John Carter (R-Texas), Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) and Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.).
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Donald Trump today announced Judge Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee to the nation's highest court.
WASHINGTON, June 28, 2018 - Yesterday, Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Pastor Graham highlighted "Call2Fall" set for Sunday, July 1st - a day where across America thousands of Christians will join in kneeling to pray for our nation.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement on the retirement of Justice Kennedy:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 5-4 decision in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, ruling in favor of pro-life pregnancy care centers and their First Amendment right to free speech.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari in the case of Arlene's Flowers, Inc. v. Washington. The lower court's judgment was vacated, and the case was remanded to the Washington state supreme court for further consideration in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement after President Trump signed an executive order that will allow children to stay with parents who are arrested for entering the United States illegally:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) today joined a coalition of 47 other conservative leaders and organizations in releasing an open letter to government agencies, news organizations, corporations and social media platforms to "dissociate themselves from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and its ongoing effort to defame and vilify mainstream conservative organizations."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the Supreme Court handed down a victory for the Bladensburg, Maryland World War I Veterans Memorial in the case of American Legion v. American Humanist Association. While the ruling protected the Peace Cross memorial and similar historic, religiously-themed public monuments, it stopped short of overhauling our confused Establishment Clause jurisprudence - a step which is long overdue. Travis Weber, Vice President for Policy and Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at Family Research Council, who co-authored and filed an amicus brief in favor of the Bladensburg Peace Cross, responded today in a statement:
WASHINGTON, June 19, 2018 - Today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Atty. Gen. Sessions highlighted a discussion he had with Tony and other evangelical leaders earlier today on reforming immigration policy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins released the following statement in response to the Southern Poverty Law Center's announcement that the organization had settled a defamation lawsuit for nearly $3.4 million:
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the ... (more)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, the Department of Justice announced the "Place to Worship Initiative," which will "focus on protecting the ability of houses of worship and other religious institutions to build, expand, buy, or rent facilities-as provided by the land use provisions of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Earlier today, the Department of Justice announced the "Place to Worship Initiative," which will "focus on protecting the ability of houses of worship and other religious institutions to build, expand, buy, or rent facilities-as provided by the land use provisions of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council praised thousands of Delaware parents for putting pressure on Delaware Gov. John Carney and the Department of Education to reverse portions of a proposed policy that was in violation of parental rights. The policy, titled "Regulation 225 Prohibition of Discrimination," would have allowed students to make determinations on their gender and race without informing or gaining the permission of their parents.
WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled 7-2 in favor of Jack Phillips, a baker who declined to create a wedding cake to celebrate a same-sex ceremony because doing so would violate his religious belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.
WASHINGTON, May 24, 2018 - Last night, Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins was pleased to honor Pastor Jeremy Schossau, Senior Pastor of Metro City Church in Riverview, Michigan, with the "Watchman Award." The award was presented during the Watchmen on the Wall briefing, an annual pastors conference sponsored by Family Research Council that draws over 500 participants from across the country to the nation's capital.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Representative Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) will address the 15th annual Watchmen on the Wall briefing, an annual conference sponsored by Family Research Council that draws hundreds of pastors to the nation's capital.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week, Texas pastors Garrett Booth, Todd Wagner and Dr. Hernan Castano will address the 15th annual Watchmen on the Wall briefing, an annual conference sponsored by Family Research Council that draws hundreds of pastors to the nation's capital. The mission of FRC's Watchmen on the Wall is to "champion pastors to transform America." The goal is to raise up spiritual leaders who will become "Watchmen" along the lines of Isaiah 62:6-7 - pastors who will watch what is going on in the culture, pray for the wisdom to engage biblically, courageously and winsomely, sound the alarm from the pulpit at the threats to faith, family and freedom, and lock arms in partnership with like-minded pastors in their communities to make a positive salt and light difference. On the second day of the briefing Todd Wagner, Senior Pastor of Watermark Church, will join a panel to highlight the topic of "repentance," Garrett Booth, Pastor of Grace Church, will join fellow pastors to discuss serving the community in times of crisis, and Dr. Hernan Castano, Director of Hispanic Church Development at Houston Area Pastors' Council, will join a panel on the importance of uniting where we have common ground. This year's Watchman on the Wall Briefing will feature Members of Congress and other faith leaders who will address pastors who exercise substantial influence in their churches and discuss how they can be difference makers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week, Representative Jody Hice (R-Ga.) will address the 15th annual Watchmen on the Wall briefing, an annual conference sponsored by Family Research Council that draws hundreds of pastors to the nation's capital.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week, California pastors Dr. Jim Garlow and Art Cena Jr. will address the 15th annual Watchmen on the Wall briefing, an annual conference sponsored by Family Research Council that draws hundreds of pastors to the nation's capital.
President Trump Taking Major Step Toward Ending Taxpayers' Forced Partnership with Abortion Industry, says Family Research Council
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Next week, House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows and Republican Study Committee Chairman Mark Walker (R-N.C.) will address the 15th annual Watchmen on the Wall briefing, an annual conference sponsored by Family Research Council that draws hundreds of pastors to the nation's capital.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) today announced the appointment of Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as its newest commissioner, for a two-year term. Mr. Perkins will remain FRC president during his time with USCIRF. Majority Leader McConnell appointed Perkins to the independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission which is tasked with reviewing "the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations and makes policy recommendations to the president, the secretary of state, and Congress." USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the president and the congressional leadership of both political parties.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) today announced the appointment of Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) as its newest commissioner, for a two-year term. Mr. Perkins will remain FRC president during his time with USCIRF. Majority Leader McConnell appointed Perkins to the independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission which is tasked with reviewing "the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations and makes policy recommendations to the president, the secretary of state, and Congress." USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the president and the congressional leadership of both political parties.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Kellyanne shared her thoughts on the importance of recognizing a national day of prayer.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Texas Senator Ted Cruz appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Sen. Cruz discussed a myriad of topics including Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's recent presentation on Iran's nuclear program, NAFTA renegotiations, and media bias.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins attended today's White House National Day of Prayer event where President Trump signed an executive order creating a White House faith initiative. The event also commemorated the one year anniversary of President Trump's executive order protecting religious expression throughout the federal government. A Family Research Council analysis released yesterday finds that the order enabled charities and other entities to provide up to 13.7 million people with health care and other social services. The order has enabled at least 44 schools that provide an education for more than 148,000 students to continue operating.
WASHINGTON, DC - This week (May 4th) marks one year since President Trump signed an executive order protecting religious liberty - an order which has led to multiple federal agencies rolling out religious freedom protections. A Family Research Council analysis released today finds that the order enabled charities and other entities to provide up to 13.7 million people with health care and other social services. The order has enabled at least 44 schools that provide an education for more than 148,000 students to continue operating.
WASHINGTON, DC - This week (May 4th) marks one year since President Trump signed an executive order protecting religious liberty - an order which has led to multiple federal agencies rolling out religious freedom protections. The case of Col. Leland Bohannon, an Air Force Colonel suspended last year for seeking a religious accommodation to exempt him from having to sign a "certificate of spouse appreciation" for an airman in a same-sex marriage, is one case positively impacted by the order highlighted in Family Research Council's analysis released earlier today. The analysis finds the executive order enabled charities and other entities to provide up to 13.7 million people with health care and other social services. The order has enabled at least 44 schools that provide an education for more than 148,000 students to continue operating.
WASHINGTON, DC - This week (May 4th) marks one year since President Trump signed an executive order protecting religious liberty - an order which has led to multiple federal agencies rolling out religious freedom protections. The case of Donald Vander Boon, a small business owner in Michigan whose business was threatened to shut down by the USDA for displaying literature on biblical marriage, is one of the successful cases highlighted in Family Research Council's analysis released earlier today. The analysis finds the executive order enabled charities and other entities to provide up to 13.7 million people with health care and other social services. The order has enabled at least 44 schools that provide an education for more than 148,000 students to continue operating.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Wednesday, May 2, Family Research Council is hosting a panel discussion on the intersection of religious freedom and national security and the opporunities for newly confirmed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to address in his tenure. The panel will feature the President of the Religious Freedom Institute, Dr. Thomas Farr, and Prof. Robert Destro, Professor of Law and founding Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Law & Religion at Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law, and co-director of the Iraqi Kurdistan Religious Freedom Project. Family Research Council president Tony Perkins will deliver the opening remarks for this event.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the Senate voted to invoke cloture on the nomination of current CIA Director Mike Pompeo to become the new Secretary of State. Pompeo was confirmed to become Secretary of State shortly thereafter. Family Research Council yesterday delivered 33,656 petitions to the U.S. Senate urging senators to reject Sen. Cory Booker's efforts to impose a religious test on the nominee.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Trump's nominee for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Kyle Duncan, was confirmed by the Senate today. Duncan's confirmation is another brick in President Trump's lasting judicial legacy. Family Research Council (FRC) scored in favor of the vote on the motion to proceed.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council hosted a panel discussion today on the question of: Losing our voices: who owns free speech on the internet? In an era when 69 percent of American adults use social media platforms to express themselves, the free market powers of digital giants like Facebook, Google, and Twitter have collided with the free speech rights of citizen internet users. In the wake of a consistent pattern of censorship by tech companies of lawful but politically incorrect viewpoints-particularly those of conservatives and Christians-what is the legal status of digital free expression? Is big tech entitled to the information of its platform users? Panelists sought to answer questions such as: in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, can the tech giants be trusted to regulate themselves? What are the benefits and pitfalls of government intervention? And will Silicon Valley be the final arbiter of opinions and information in the virtual sphere?
WASHINGTON, April 17, 2018 - Today, Republican Study Committee Chairman Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Rep. Walker gave an update on the case of Andrew Brunson, a North Carolina native and American pastor imprisoned in Turkey. Pastor Brunson ran a Protestant church in the western city of Izmir and has been detained by Turkish authorities since October 2016. Following the pastor's hearing on Monday, he will be sent back to prison and if convicted, he risks up to 35 years in prison.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council, along with a coalition of 31 organizations and individuals, released a letter sent today to Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson thanking her for overturning a punishment that was imposed on Col. Leland Bohannon after he sought a religious accommodation exempting him from having to sign a "certificate of spouse appreciation" for an airman in a same-sex marriage.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Michigan pastors delivered over 23,000 petition signatures to state legislators in support of Pastor Jeremy Schossau of Metro City Church and FORGE Ministries. The petitions were addressed to Rep. Camilleri and Rep. Zemke who called for an investigation into the church and ministry for hosting "The Unashamed Identity" Workshop - an event offered for teenage girls to learn what the Bible teaches about sexuality.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A coalition of 50 international religious liberty leaders, including Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, sent a letter today to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) urging support for President Trump's Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo. Leaders joining the letter include Franklin Graham, President and CEO of Samaritan's Purse; Matias Perttula, Advocacy Director of International Christian Concern; Ann Buwalda, Esq., Executive Director of Jubilee Campaign USA; David Curry, President and CEO of Open Doors USA; Bob Fu, President and Founder, China Aid; and former Congressman Frank Wolf among others.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, Elizabeth Johnston, also known as the "Activist Mommy," appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Elizabeth Johnston discussed the outrage of parents across the nation in response to pornographic sex education curriculum being pushed on their children. She and other brave moms from North Carolina have rallied together in such a way that they have gathered the support of parents across the nation, Canada, and Australia to join them in their Sex Ed Sit Out on April 23rd to fight against the exposure of this sexually explicit material to their children.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On April 17th, Family Research Council is hosting a lecture on the question of: Losing our voices: who owns free speech on the internet? In an era when 69 percent of American adults use social media platforms to express themselves, the free market powers of digital giants like Facebook, Google, and Twitter have collided with the free speech rights of citizen internet users. In the wake of a consistent pattern of censorship by tech companies of lawful but politically incorrect viewpoints-particularly those of conservatives and Christians-what is the legal status of digital free expression? Is big tech entitled to the information of its platform users? And in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, can the tech giants be trusted to regulate themselves? What are the benefits and pitfalls of government intervention? And will Silicon Valley be the final arbiter of opinions and information in the virtual sphere?
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across Louisiana and the country. On the show, A.G. Jeff Landry discussed the Louisiana Supreme Court's recent decision to strike down Governor John Bel Edwards' executive order on sexual orientation and gender identity.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council commends Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson for overturning a punishment that was imposed on Col. Leland Bohannon after he sought a religious accommodation exempting him from having to sign a "certificate of spouse appreciation" for an airman in a same-sex marriage.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Sen. Graham weighed in on President Trump's recent remarks that the U.S. will soon be pulling its troops out of Syria.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Former Georgia Governor Zell Miller passed away earlier today. The Democrat and former U.S. Senator was 86 years old.
President Trump's Transgender Military Policy Reflects Promise to Move Away from Political Correctness
WASHINGTON, March 21, 2018 - Yesterday, Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country and across Mississippi on the American Family Radio Network. On the show, Sen. Wicker highlighted the current debate over whether atheists can serve as chaplains in the Navy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra. In NIFLA v. Becerra, the question being argued is whether the state of California can force licensed pro-life pregnancy care centers to advertise for state-sponsored abortions and advise where to get them, and whether unlicensed centers can be forced to put up a notice saying they are unlicensed.
WASHINGTON, March 16, 2018 - Yesterday, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country and across Mississippi on the American Family Radio Network. On the show, Gov. Phil Bryant discussed how Mississippi is taking pro-life strides in becoming the most pro-life state in the nation with a 15-week abortion ban.
WASHINGTON, DC - Today President Trump announced that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be replaced by CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following reaction:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at Family Research Council, testified before the Maryland State House in opposition to House Bill 902, a bill prohibiting licensed counselors from providing minors with help to overcome unwanted same-sex attraction.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins this morning addressed the National Religious Broadcaster's 75th annual convention on the importance of evangelicals continuing to engage our culture to promote faith, family, freedom in the public square.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This afternoon, Vice President Mike Pence cast a tie breaking vote to confirm Russell Vought, the Trump administration's nominee for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought's nomination drew national attention after Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) deemed Vought unfit for public service due to his Christian belief that salvation is found through Jesus Christ alone. In response to Senator Sanders' religious bigotry, Family Research Council (FRC) launched a petition signed by more than 55,000 Americans calling on Senator Sanders to apologize for his unconstitutional religious test and urged the U.S. Senate to reject the religious test.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement on the passing of Dr. Billy Graham:
Lansing, Michigan - Today, Family Research Council's Randy Wilson joined Pastor Jeremy Schossau along with pastors and state legislators at a State Capitol news conference urging State Reps. Adam Zemke (D-Ann Arbor) and Darrin Camilleri (D-Brownstown Twp.) to withdraw their demands for an investigation into Pastor Schossau's church for offering a workshop that provides biblical answers on identity and sexuality.
Lansing, Michigan - TODAY at 2 pm, pastors will speak at a news conference at the State Capitol urging Michigan state legislators to withdraw their demands for an investigation into a church because the pastor is offering a workshop that provides biblical answers to young women struggling with thoughts on identity and sexuality.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Jeremy Schossau, Pastor of Metro City Church in Michigan, appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Jeremy shared about the threats he has received after announcing a church event available for young women struggling with thoughts on identity and sexuality. Two Michigan state legislators are demanding a state investigation into the church.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Ambassador Brownback shared his new duties as ambassador and how he will promote religious liberty internationally.
Report Shows President Trump on Track to Be Most Pro-life President
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement after attending this afternoon's swearing-in of Governor Sam Brownback as the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom:
Pres. Trump's State of the Union Address Points Way Forward on Making America Good and Prosperous
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) expressed disappointment over the Senate's failed vote on the motion to proceed to the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 1922) today. This procedural motion received a majority (51 to 46) but fell short of the 60 votes required in the Senate to end debate and proceed to a final vote. This Pain Capable bill, sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), would have saved over 13,000 human lives each year. This bill would have prohibited brutal abortions on unborn babies after five months post-fertilization, when they feel excruciating pain according to the testimony of medical experts.
GUATEMALA CITY - On Thursday, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins traveled with a small delegation of evangelical leaders to Guatemala City to meet with President Jimmy Morales, Vice President Jafeth Cabrera and key members of the Morales administration to commend Guatemala for recognizing Jerusalem as the undivided, eternal capital of Israel, and discuss other vital issues such as his administration's support for the sanctity of human life, and religious freedom. The delegation was organized by the Latino Coalition for Israel and included evangelical leaders such as Mario Bramnick, President of Latino Coalition for Israel; Dr. Jim Garlow, Senior Pastor of Skyline Church; Congresswoman Michele Bachmann; Pastor Ramiro Pena, Senior Pastor, Christ the King; and Lourdes Aguirre, director, Latino Coalition for Israel.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Earlier today Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at Family Research Council, testified before the Maryland State Senate in support of Senate Joint Resolution 1, a resolution to declare that the exposure of minors to pornography is a public health hazard within the state of Maryland.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today praised the Senate confirmation of Governor Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) to be the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, a position elevated by the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2016.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today applauded President Trump and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for announcing a new policy that will allow states to defund abortionists from state Medicaid programs. HHS is reversing an Obama era Medicaid policy that prohibited states from removing certain types of providers, including abortion providers, from their state Medicaid programs despite federal authority for states to determine standards for qualified providers. HHS also released a new regulation that will give enforcement tools to HHS's Office of Civil Rights to handle conscience violations related to 25 federal laws that pertain to the beginning of and end of life.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today commended the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for approving the nomination of Governor Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) to be the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, a job then-Senator Brownback was pivotal in creating in 1998 to address religious persecution and genocide around the world.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today applauded the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for announcing the formation of a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR). HHS announced that the division "will provide HHS with the focus it needs to more vigorously and effectively enforce existing laws protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom, the first freedom protected in the Bill of Rights."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, the same day hundreds of thousands descend on the city for the annual March for Life, the House of Representatives will vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act (H.R. 4712). This legislation would require health care practitioners to provide life-saving medical care to babies born alive who survive an attempted abortion, just as they would do for other babies born at the same age of development. It will create criminal penalties to enforce what is currently only a definitional provision in federal law. The bill expressly prohibits any prosecution under this act of the mother of a child born-alive, and gives her a private right of action to seek relief if an abortionist were to kill or neglect her born-alive infant. Although a similar measure was signed into law by President Bush in 2003, it never had the teeth needed to hold the abortion industry accountable. Family Research Council (FRC) announced plans to score in favor of both the rule to consider the legislation and final passage of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Oklahoma Senator James Lankford appeared on a Religious Freedom Day edition of Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. The special program also streamed live on Facebook.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Tuesday, January 16, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins will host a Religious Freedom Day program in front of a live studio audience at FRC's headquarters. Tony will be joined by special guests including Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.), Radiance Foundation's Ryan Bomberger, and former Representative Frank Wolf, to discuss the past accomplishments of religious freedom and what they tell us about how to confront present day issues. Religious Freedom Day, occurring each year on January 16, is the anniversary of the passage of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom in 1786. The live special radio report of Washington Watch can viewed on FRC's Facebook and FRC.org.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, January 19, just prior to the annual March For Life, Abby Johnson will join other speakers at Family Research Council headquarters for the 13th annual ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, January 19, just prior to the annual March For Life, Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) will join other speakers at Family Research Council headquarters for the 13th annual ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Next Friday, January 19, just prior to the annual March For Life, Anna Hoduski will join other speakers at Family Research Council headquarters for the 13th annual ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - - Next Friday, January 19, just prior to the annual March For Life, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) will join other speakers at Family Research Council headquarters for the 13th annual ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Next Friday, January 19, just prior to the annual March For Life, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) will join other speakers at Family Research Council headquarters for the 13th annual ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit.
WASHINGTON, January 9, 2018 - Yesterday, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Atty. Gen. Landry discussed a new guidance document, co-authored with Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), which provides answers to students religious expression rights in public schools.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the Congress took a major step forward in reforming America's tax code as both chambers passed the final conference version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1). This legislation is the first major overhaul of the country's tax code in over thirty years. The bill now goes to President Trump's desk to be signed into law. Family Research Council (FRC) commends Republican legislators in the House and Senate for advancing tax relief to millions of hardworking families.
Family Research Council Commends DOJ for Opening Investigation into Planned Parenthood Baby Parts Scandal
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement praising President Trump's plans to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and begin the process to relocate the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem: "Today is a major milestone in America's historic relationship with Israel. Under the bold and courageous leadership of President Trump, America is finally putting American interests and the interests of our key allies first. "America's foreign policy, as it pertains to Israel, is coming into alignment with this biblical truth: Jerusalem is the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish state," concluded Perkins. -30-
WASHINGTON, DC -- Family Research Council (FRC) and American Family Association (AFA) today delivered a petition with 77,024 signatures to the Pentagon in support of Colonel Leland Bohannon. After a decades-long career with the Air Force, Col. Bohannon's superior suspended him from command, withheld his decoration, and submitted a letter to the Air Force Brigadier General promotion board recommending that he not be promoted because he sought a religious accommodation exempting him from having to sign a "certificate of spouse appreciation" for an airman in a same-sex marriage.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins addressed a rally outside the United States Supreme Court in support of Colorado baker Jack Phillips. The rally sponsored by the Radiance Foundation and Alliance Defending Freedom marks the start to oral arguments for the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Tuesday, December 5, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins will address a rally outside the United States Supreme Court in support of Colorado Baker Jack Phillips. The rally sponsored by the Radiance Foundation marks the start to oral arguments for the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Travis Weber, FRC's Director of the Center for Religious Liberty will attend the oral arguments and speak at the news conference following.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the Senate passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1). This legislation is the first major overhaul of the country's tax code in over thirty years. Family Research Council (FRC) supported the House passed version of H.R. 1. FRC also announced yesterday plans to score amendments to the Senate version of the bill. FRC did score in favor of the Cruz Amendment. FRC intended to score the Daines Amendment, but it was not offered.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across Louisiana and the country. On the show, AG Landry shared his thoughts on President Trump's nomination of Kyle Duncan for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Arkansas State Rep. Jim Dotson appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Rep. Dotson talked about Arkansas school districts beginning to display "In God We Trust" posters in their classrooms.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council is disappointed by a Texas federal court's decision to rule against the state's dismemberment abortion ban, a law that prohibited unborn children from being brutally torn apart and killed.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council is expressing concern that faith-based adoption and foster care services could be forced to shut down due to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Michigan Children's Services Agency.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the House of Representatives passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1). Family Research Council (FRC) announced it supports Chairman Kevin Brady's (R-TX) Tax Cuts and Jobs Act due to multiple tax reform provisions that directly benefit the family and free speech. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would increase the child tax credit, expand education savings accounts to include unborn children, provide for free speech fairness for all nonprofits including churches and faith based groups, remove most marriage penalties and includes an adoption tax credit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council congratulated Toni Richardson and the First Liberty Institute on their hard-fought victory for religious freedom. Today, after over a year-long dispute between Richardson and the Augusta School Department, Toni's First Amendment rights were finally honored after being reprimanded and threatened by the department for privately telling a fellow employee "I will pray for you." The Augusta School Department sent First Liberty client Toni Richardson a new memorandum that removed language banning Richardson from making any "faith-based statements" and threatened further disciplinary action or dismissal if she made such statements.
WASHINGTON, DC-- Family Research Council praised the GOP's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) approved today by the House Ways and Means Committee - a bill that increases the child tax credit, expands education savings accounts to include unborn children, provides for free speech fairness for all nonprofits including churches and faith based groups, removes most marriage penalties and includes an adoption tax credit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council praised policy guidance released today by USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service that makes clear the agency will protect religious freedom and will not discriminate against anyone based on their beliefs regarding marriage and sexuality. The guidance, titled "First Amendment and Religious Beliefs: Questions and Answers," states that "[o]pinions about same-sex marriage, gender identity, and sexual morality are all matters of public importance... USDA respects the First Amendment rights of USDA personnel, as well as non-USDA personnel working at facilities inspected by USDA, to share their varying viewpoints on these topics, whether through oral discussion, the display or distribution of literature, or other means."
CAIRO, EGYPT - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins joined a delegation of U.S. evangelical leaders in Cairo on Wednesday for a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss his administration's commitment to religious freedom for all Egyptians including Egypt's Christians and other religious minorities, some of whom have been the targets of waves of terrorist attacks.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Amy Barrett for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, along with seven other senators spoke out yesterday in support of Amy Barrett ahead of the confirmation vote.Senator Dianne Feinstein, during Barrett's confirmation hearing, questioned whether Barrett would be able to perform her duties as circuit court judge because Barrett was a practicing Catholic. Feinstein was quoted commenting to Barrett, "the dogma lives loudly within you."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council criticized today's injunction by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that blocks enforcement of parts of President Trump's transgender military policy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Trump administration announced this week that it would address the needs of the Middle East's Christian community by providing assistance directly, bypassing UN aid programs which have been largely ineffective in helping displaced Christians affected by ISIS.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council praised a ruling today by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that allows government officials to decline to facilitate an abortion for a minor illegal immigrant while she is in custody of the federal government.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Family Research Council's Arina Grossu, Director of the Center for Human Dignity, spoke alongside other local and national pro-life leaders at a press conference that took place in front of a recently opened late-term abortion facility in Bethesda, Maryland. According to Operation Rescue, LeRoy Carhart is operating his new facility without a required facility license and already has a history of endangering women's health and safety.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - TOMORROW, Family Research Council's Arina Grossu, Director of the Center for Human Dignity, will join other local and national pro-life leaders to speak at a press conference in front of a late-term abortion facility in Bethesda, Maryland, that just opened this week. According to Operation Rescue, Carhart is operating his new facility without a required facility license. Carhart has a history of endangering women's health and safety. In the seven years of conducting late-term abortions at his former facility in Germantown, Maryland, at least ten women were rushed to hospital emergency rooms by ambulance suffering from life-threatening complications as a result of the risky abortion procedures he performed on them. Twenty-nine year old Jennifer Morbelli died from complications in 2013 following the abortion procedure in Carhart's office of her 33-week gestation baby girl, Madison. Various representatives will speak about the danger that Carhart is to the community and the need for passage of the 20 week pain ban to end barbaric late-term abortions.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Friday, October 13th, Senior Counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, will address the 12th annual Values Voter Summit shortly after President Trump concludes his remarks to an event that draws thousands of grassroots activists to the nation's capital.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, October 13, President Donald Trump will address the 12th annual Values Voter Summit taking place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. President Trump will be the first sitting president to address the Values Voter Summit. This will be Donald Trump's third trip to the Summit, including last year when he attended VVS as the Republican presidential nominee.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, October 13, former Deputy Assistant to the President, Sebastian Gorka, will address the 12th Annual Values Voter Summit taking place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. Thousands of grassroots activists from around the country will gather in the nation's capital to hear from Gorka and other confirmed speakers which include House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), RSC Chairman Mark Walker (R-N.C.), Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Dr. Bill Bennett, Laura Ingraham, Dana Loesch, "Duck Dynasty's" Phil Robertson, Todd Starnes, Steve Bannon, Judge Roy Moore, Lt. Col. Oliver North, and more.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today criticized a ruling by U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb declaring the clergy housing tax allowance unconstitutional. Family Research Council's "Watchmen on the Wall" pastors network is composed of over 40,000 churches from across the country for whom this issue is of great importance.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council applauded two major actions today by the Trump administration that safeguard religious freedom. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is directing federal agencies to respect religious freedom while the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is exempting religious entities from the oppressive Obama contraceptive mandate.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council's Arina Grossu, Director of the Center for Human Dignity, will visit Yale University October 6 - 7 to attend the 5th annual pro-life conference, Vita et Veritas. Hosted by Choose Life At Yale (CLAY), the theme of this year's conference is "Pro-Life Is Pro-Woman." A variety of distinguished voices in the prolife movement, including former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson, will gather to discuss the intersection of the promotion of women's rights and the right to life. Arina Grossu will add to this discussion sharing her knowledge of the dangers abortion poses to women's health and safety. Her talk is entitled "Dangerous, Legal, and Common: How Abortion Threatens Women's Health and Safety."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today Family Research Council President Tony Perkins participated in a news conference alongside U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) and other pro-life leaders to formally introduce the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in the Senate. The legislation passed the House of Representatives yesterday by a vote of 237-189.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, October 13, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) will address the 12th Annual Values Voter Summit taking place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. Thousands of grassroots activists from around the country will have an opportunity to hear about his miraculous recovery from a shooting that rocked the nation.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) praised the House passage of Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 36) today. This bill sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), would save over 13,000 human lives each year. This bill would prohibit brutal abortions on unborn babies after 5 months post-fertilization, because they feel excruciating pain as they are ripped apart in the womb.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week Family Research Council (FRC), along with a coalition of twenty other family policy organizations, submitted a joint amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Kenosha Unified School District v. Whitaker asking the nation's highest court to hear the case and rule that current law allows schools to make distinctions based on biological sex for purposes of deciding who will use private school facilities.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Nationally syndicated radio talk show host, best-selling author, and Blaze TV host Dana Loesch will address the 12th annual Values Voter Summit - an event that draws thousands of grassroots activists to the nation's capital each year. A variety of speakers, including U.S. representatives, activists, and key thinkers and leading voices of the conservative movement, have been invited to speak at this event to discuss the fundamental issues driving social conservative voters today.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The White House announced today the nominations of Louisiana's former Solicitor General Kyle Duncan and Eastern District Chief Judge Kurt Engelhardt to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today Family Research Council praised the GOP tax reform framework - released by the White House, Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker Paul Ryan, Chairman Orrin Hatch and Chairman Kevin Brady-- noting the plan will increase the child tax credit, eliminate the death tax, and provide a tax credit for caring for dependents, like ailing elderly parents, among other proposals. This tax reform framework rightly is designed to provide tax relief for families.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last night, Family Research Council's Director of the Center for Human Dignity, Arina Grossu, spoke at the kickoff candlelight vigil for the D.C. 40 Days for Life which took place outside the new D.C. Planned Parenthood location. The mission of 40 Days for Life is: "The mission of the campaign is to bring together the body of Christ in a spirit of unity during a focused 40-day campaign of prayer, fasting, and peaceful activism, with the purpose of repentance, to seek God's favor to turn hearts and minds from a culture of death to a culture of life, thus bringing an end to abortion."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - TONIGHT, Family Research Council's Travis Weber, Director of the Center for Religious Liberty, will be in Louisiana at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to speak at the Institute for Faith and the Public Square's annual conference. This year's focus is on the topic of "Rights and Sexuality: Where Individual Freedoms and Civil Rights Meet." The Institute for Faith and the Public Square is devoted to exploring the intersection of faith and politics. At this event, Travis will be speaking on religious freedom protections needed in the post-Obergefell era.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Louisiana State Rep. Kenny Havard appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Rep. Havard discussed his proposal to prevent state tax dollars from going to the NFL's New Orleans Saints after the team protested during the National Anthem.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) and Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) today announced their shared support of the FY17 reconciliation legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.). The Graham-Cassidy legislation would reapply to federal health care law the principle contained in the Hyde Amendment that abortion is not health care and should not be subsidized. It redirects taxpayer funding away from abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood and provides better state-based health insurance solutions for families than Obamacare.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) along with the North Carolina Values Coalition have submitted a joint amicus brief in the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. This case arose when Masterpiece Cakeshops' owner, Jack Phillips, was sued after respectfully declining to decorate a wedding cake celebrating a same-sex ceremony.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) and the Jewish Institute for Global Awareness issued a joint statement today questioning the Southern Poverty Law Center's deafening silence regarding an anti-semitic incident that took place this week at Tufts University. On Monday, the Washington Free Beacon reported that the university's Facebook page published a "a student-made handbook that condemned the campus Jewish center for supporting Israel, which the guide called a 'white supremacist state.'" University administrators later removed the handbook from its social pages.
WASHINGTON, September 8, 2017 - Yesterday, Rev. Franklin Graham appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Graham shared what he and Samaritan's Purse are doing on the ground to help victims of Hurricane Harvey and prepare for Hurricane Irma.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) today joined a coalition of 47 conservative leaders and organizations in releasing an open letter to news organizations, calling on the media to stop using data from the discredited Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in Alabama.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) today joined a coalition of 47 conservative leaders and organizations in releasing an open letter to news organizations, calling on the media to stop using data from the discredited Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
Family Research Council Thankful for Pres. Trump's Call for a National Day of Prayer
WASHINGTON, DC -- Family Research Council (FRC) commended the Trump administration for the guidance released today that will help return our military to its core mission by the reversal of the Obama era transgender policy. A Rasmussen survey released earlier this summer finds "just 23% of likely U.S. voters think the U.S. military's decision to allow openly transgender people to serve is good for the military." Nearly 60 percent of active duty military personnel have a "negative opinion" of the Obama policy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, D. James Kennedy Ministries filed a lawsuit in an Alabama federal court against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) alleging "that the SPLC illegally trafficked in false and misleading descriptions of the services offered by D. James Kennedy Ministries and committed defamation against D. James Kennedy Ministries arising from the publication and distribution of false information that libels the ministry's reputation and subjects the ministry to disgrace, ridicule, odium, and contempt in the estimation of the public."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last week Family Research Council (FRC) along with the North Carolina Values Coalition submitted a joint amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of Arlene's Flowers, Inc., et al v. Washington et al. This case arose when Arlene's Flowers' owner Barronelle Stutzman, was sued after she politely declined to make floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement calling the nation to prayer and reconciliation as the national divide grows deeper:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement regarding Charlottesville:
WASHINGTON, DC -- Family Research Council (FRC) praised President Trump's decision yesterday to nominate Kansas Governor Sam Brownback to the post of Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom at the State Department. Created in 1998, the role has helped to highlight the issue of religious freedom around the world, but has had limited success in being able to shape foreign policy in a comprehensive manner. The Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act, signed into law last December, made changes which will result in the Ambassador-at-Large reporting directly to the Secretary of State.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the U.S. Senate rejected by a vote of 50 to 50 a procedural vote to allow consideration of Sen. Luther Strange's (R-AL) Amendment #389 to the Senate health care bill (H.R. 1628).
WASHINGTON, DC -- Family Research Council (FRC) praised President Trump's decision today rescinding the Obama era transgender policy. A Rasmussen survey released last month finds "just 23% of likely U.S. voters think the U.S. military's decision to allow openly transgender people to serve is good for the military."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Senate agreed to proceed to a debate on H.R. 1628, the House-passed American Health Care Act of 2017. In order for the Senate to debate the important elements of Obamacare's repeal and replacement, senators needed first to support a procedural motion to begin consideration of H.R. 1628. Family Research Council (FRC) scored in favor of the motion to proceed to H.R. 1628.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.), appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Sen. Strange shared about yesterday's lunch meeting between President Trump and Senate Republicans, where they discussed the path forward to repealing Obamacare.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, July 21, Michael Stokes Paulsen, a distinguished University Chair & Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas, will give a lecture at Family Research Council headquarters on the main controversies surrounding religious liberty today, which are being driven in large part due to society's declining acceptance of the premises and assumptions upon which the First Amendment was based.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the U.S. Senate released a new draft of the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (H.R. 1628, "BCRA"). BCRA, for one year, would eliminate more than $390 million (over 86%) of over $450 million in annual federal funding to Planned Parenthood, from all mandatory government spending programs. This is identical to the provision ruled to comply with the Senate's Byrd Rule in 2015. BCRA would also redirect funding to community health centers, which outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 20 to 1 and offer a wider array of health care services, but not abortion. BCRA also would provide premium credits that may not be used for health care plans that cover elective abortion, a reversal of the massive Obamacare expansion of elective abortion. It also would provide states more funds and flexibility, without subsidizing abortion, to lower healthcare costs, which have risen dramatically under Obamacare, and therefore will provide families more affordable options to obtain healthcare suited to their needs.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Hostility toward religion has continued in Colorado according to Family Research Council's recently released Hostility to Religion: The Growing Threat to Religious Liberty in America, a report documenting dozens of new incidents of government hostility to religion in America in just the past three years. The updated report, with 69 cases added since 2014, finds a 76 percent increase in religious freedom violations since the first edition. The report is available as a free download at www.ReligiousHostility.org.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council's Arina Grossu, Director of the Center for Human Dignity, joined several pro-life leaders in calling on the United Kingdom's government to intervene and allow the parents of baby Charlie Gard to take him abroad to seek potential life-saving treatment for Charlie who has mitochondrial depletion syndrome. The U.K. government and the hospital are refusing to allow Charlie's parents to take him to the United States to seek further treatment despite pleas from Pope Francis and President Donald Trump on Charlie's behalf.
Family Research Council Statement on Pentagon Decision Delaying Transgender Mandate
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council released Hostility to Religion: The Growing Threat to Religious Liberty in America, a report documenting dozens of new incidents of government hostility to religion in America in just the past three years. The updated report, with 69 cases added since 2014, finds a 76 percent increase in religious freedom violations since the first edition. The report is available as a free download at www.ReligiousHostility.org.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, Louisiana Solicitor General, Liz Murrill, appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Murrill discussed the Center for Reproductive Rights decision to file a federal lawsuit in Baton Rouge, challenging abortion clinic health standards passed by the Louisiana legislature.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This morning GuideStar USA removed the website banners on Christian organizations that it had deemed "hate groups." Last week, Family Research Council, along with a coalition of forty-one conservative leaders and organizations, released a letter sent to GuideStar USA expressing disagreement with its use of the discredited Southern Poverty Law Center's defamatory "hate group" labels.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the U.S. Supreme Court announced the Court's decision in the case of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer. This marked the first major religious liberty case since Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to the Court earlier this year. Family Research Council, as a part of a coalition, submitted an amicus brief in the case.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear the appeal of a case involving Jack Phillips, a baker who politely declined to create a wedding cake to celebrate a same-sex ceremony because doing so would violate his religious belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. Twenty years ago, Phillips started Masterpiece Cakeshop, and since that time has served thousands of customers in Colorado -- without regard to their sexual orientation or anything else. Phillips explained to the customers in this case that he would gladly make any other type of baked item for them but could not in good conscience make a cake promoting a same-sex ceremony.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser issued a joint statement today regarding the Senate GOP's Obamacare replacement bill: "The expectations of the pro-life movement have been very clear: The health care bill must not indefinitely subsidize abortion and must re-direct abortion giant Planned Parenthood's taxpayer funding to community health centers. The Senate discussion draft includes these pro-life priorities, but we remain very concerned that either of these priorities could be removed from the bill for procedural or political reasons. We are working closely with our pro-life allies in the Senate to prevent this from happening as it could result in our opposition. We are confident that the pro-life Senate will ultimately move forward with our pro-life priorities intact." -30-
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council, along with a coalition of forty-one conservative leaders and organizations, released a letter sent to GuideStar USA "to express our strong disagreement with GuideStar's newly implemented policy that labels 46 American organizations as 'hate groups.'" GuideStar bills itself as a neutral organization that seeks to "gather and disseminate information about every single IRS-registered nonprofit organization."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected a challenge to HB 1523, Mississippi's Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act. HB 1523 provides exemptions for those who have a conscience objection to being forced to facilitate same-sex marriages and other matters they disagree with, and allows them to opt out of the process while allowing other government workers or entities to handle such matters.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, Mayor of Neosho, Missouri, Ben Baker, appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Baker shared about the recent controversy that erupted in his town when the Freedom From Religion Foundation demanded that the city remove a sixty-foot cross that had been lying on the hillside of a local park since 1930.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at Family Research Council, testified before the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities at the Massachusetts General Court against H. 1190 and S. 62 - two bills prohibiting licensed counselors from providing minors with help to overcome unwanted same-sex attraction.
WASHINGTON, DC - Family Research Council thanked Texas Governor Greg Abbott today for announcing a special session that will take up legislation protecting the privacy of women and children.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, Christian comedian, Chonda Pierce, appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Pierce weighed in on Kathy Griffin's apology in the aftermath of her decision to post pictures of herself holding a fake, bloodied, disembodied head resembling President Trump.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case of United States v. Sterling. The Court was asked to decide whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) protects a Marine lance corporal's decision to post scripture verses at her workstation. The lance corporal desired to post the verses to give her inspiration and strength, but military superiors ordered her to remove the verses she posted. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces refused to protect her religious expression, interpreting RFRA in a constrained manner to protect only certain types of religious exercise and requiring that service members seek a religious accommodation, even though this is not a requirement of the statute. Family Research Council and numerous other religious freedom advocates urged the Supreme Court to take this case and overturn this harmful decision.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, president and chief counsel for the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund, Charles LiMandri, appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, LiMandri highlighted the lawsuit, filed by the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund on behalf of six San Diego Unified School District parents, in response to the district's decision to start incorporating Muslim-themed lessons into classrooms.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today a draft copy of a Department of Health and Human Services regulation was leaked that would implement President Donald Trump's executive order protecting religious liberty for all Americans. The leaked HHS regulation, if accurate, will ensure people with religious beliefs and actions are not punished by the federal government if they follow their beliefs.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Only days after the release of a new shocking undercover expose video, Planned Parenthood released its 2015-2016 annual report. Planned Parenthood generally publishes its report in January. For unknown reasons, this year it waited until the end of May to release it. The new report focuses on its 100-year anniversary. A closer look at the numbers reveals some shocking statistics.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today at 10:20 a.m., Pastor Scott Craig of BigHorn Canyon Community Church in Rapid City, South Dakota, will speak to hundreds of pastors from 42 states at Family Research Council's Watchmen on the Wall National Briefing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today at 10:05 a.m., president and founder of 3 Cord Alliance, Pastor J.C. Church of Victory in Truth Ministries, will speak to hundreds of pastors from 42 states at Family Research Council's Watchmen on the Wall National Briefing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday Arina Grossu, Director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, joined other pro-life leaders in front of a recently-opened abortion business, Capital Women's Services, in Washington, D.C. to speak at a press conference hosted by Mercy Missions. This business is already marred with a reputation of violence and death, as its lead abortionist, Steven Brigham, has previously lost his medical licenses in six states and has a long disciplinary, criminal, and malpractice history. Now he brings his dangerous practice to D.C. and will put women's lives and safety at risk.
WASHINGTON, May 26, 2017 - Last night, Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins was pleased to honor the Rev. James Robison, founder of LIFE Outreach International, with the "Watchman Award." The award was presented during the Watchmen on the Wall briefing, an annual conference sponsored by Family Research Council that has drawn hundreds of pastors to the nation's capital from 42 states.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today at 9:35 a.m., New York Times Best-Selling Author, Pastor Jentezen Franklin of Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia, will speak to hundreds of pastors from 42 states at Family Research Council's Watchmen on the Wall National Briefing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - TODAY Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) will join other speakers and church leaders at this year's Watchmen on the Wall National Briefing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Thursday, Arina Grossu, Director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, will join other pro-life leaders in front of a recently-opened abortion facility, Capital Women's Services, in Washington, D.C. to speak at a press conference hosted by Mercy Missions. This facility is already marred with a reputation of violence and death, as its lead abortionist, Steven Brigham, has previously lost his medical licenses in six states and has a long disciplinary, criminal, and malpractice history. Now he brings his dangerous practice to D.C. and will put women's lives and safety at risk.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - TOMORROW Representative Mark Walker (R-N.C.) will join North Carolina church leaders and other speakers at this year's Watchmen on the Wall National Briefing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today in Louisiana, Vice President Mike Pence, along with Congressman Garret Graves and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Seema Verma, visited the newly-renovated home of Jimmy and Olive Morgan, who were rescued on their rooftop from the August 2016 flood waters. Then-candidate Donald Trump and his running mate then-Governor Mike Pence, visited the flood-ravaged areas days after flooding began at the invitation of Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, who serves as the interim senior pastor at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church. During that visit on August 19, 2016, Perkins led Trump, Pence, and Franklin Graham of Samaritan's Purse, to survey the initial flood damage, making a stop at the Morgan's home as the debris was being removed from their house.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the Trump administration's State Department began the implementation of the Mexico City Policy, a policy dating back to every Republican administration since Ronald Reagan's. The policy ensures American taxpayer dollars are prevented from going to any foreign group that performs abortions or "actively promotes" abortion as a method of family planning in other countries. However, President Trump has expanded the pro-life taxpayer protections to include global health dollars, so that it would apply to nearly nine billion dollars in U.S. taxpayer funds to foreign non-governmental organizations. The order ensures U.S. funds will continue to go to health care, humanitarian relief, and even family planning; it only blocks funding to those groups that perform or promote abortion.
Washington, D.C. - This morning, President Donald Trump gave the commencement address at Liberty University to a crowd of more than 50,000 people - his first commencement address since becoming president.
Washington, D.C. - Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced the formation of a bipartisan Presidential Commission on Election Integrity chaired by Vice President Mike Pence. Six other members were named to the commission including former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell who also serves as Senior Fellow for Human Rights and Constitutional Governance at the Family Research Council.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled today that Blaine Adamson, owner of Hands on Originals, has the freedom to decline orders that force him to promote messages contrary to his faith. In 2012, the Kentucky shop owner was targeted by a city commission after turning down a job to print rainbow t-shirts for a local gay pride parade. At the time, the Commission's Executive Director, Raymond Sexton, infamously said it's time for Christians in the marketplace "to leave their religion at home."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council offered praise for a new policy statement issued by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue that reestablishes the "Department's commitment to safeguarding every American's First Amendment rights, particularly the right to free speech and the right to free religious exercise." The secretary goes further to say that "each and every USDA employee" is expected to uphold these freedoms and "doing so is not optional, and it is not discretionary." The statement pledges to foster a "climate of mutual respect and tolerance."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council's Travis Weber, Director of the Center for Religious Liberty, will participate as a special advisor and advocate at the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians in Washington, D.C. May 10-13. Organized by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the summit will gather church leaders, victims of persecution and advocates to discuss and bring awareness to the persecution of Christians around the globe.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA). AHCA, for one year, would eliminate more than $390 million (over 86%) of over $450 million in annual federal funding to Planned Parenthood, from all mandatory spending programs. This is identical to the provision ruled to comply with the Senate's Byrd Rule in 2015. AHCA also redirects funding to community health centers which outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 20 to 1 and offer a wider array of health care services, but not abortion. AHCA also repeals Obamacare abortion subsidies, adds reforms to give states more flexibility and lower costs, and provides families more options.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins was at the White House for the signing ceremony of an executive order protecting religious liberty. The President's new order ensures the freedom of all Americans to believe and act in accordance with their beliefs. The executive order makes clear that the administration will pursue policies that "protect and vigorously promote religious liberty."
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2017 - Yesterday, Rev. Franklin Graham appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Graham discussed the persecution of Christians around the world and the need to stand for religious liberty both at home and overseas.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tomorrow, May 4, Family Research Council Government Affairs General Counsel, Mandi Ancalle, Esq., will testify on Capitol Hill before the House Oversight Committee regarding the importance of free speech for churches, which are restricted due to the Johnson amendment. The Johnson amendment prohibits churches and non-profits from engaging in any activity that might be interpreted as participating in, or intervening in a campaign on behalf of or in opposition to a candidate for public office, including a simple oral or written statement. The repeal of the Johnson amendment was a frequent campaign theme of then-candidate Donald Trump's successful presidential campaign.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council hosted a special program on the continued need to protect the religious liberty of all Americans.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Religious liberty is an indelible thread woven into the fabric of America. Without it, the American experiment will fail. Yet time and again, the freedom of Americans to believe and live out those beliefs has been attacked by government action. Now more than ever, our First Freedom of religious liberty needs protection at the highest levels of government in the form of an executive order that protects the rights of individuals and businesses to believe and live according to those beliefs.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council's Travis Weber, Director of the Center for Religious Liberty, will be in Brussels, Belgium April 27 - 28 to attend the Transatlantic Summit of Policy Makers. Hosted by The Political Network for Values, the Second Transatlantic Summit will gather political peers and allied organizations from around the globe to discuss the institution of marriage, family, human life, human dignity, religious freedom, and freedom of conscience, all in the context of policy and politics.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) announced today it will score in favor of the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA) which may come up for a vote as soon as this week in the House of Representatives. This is the first time FRC has announced a plan to score a health care related bill in the new Congress. AHCA, for one year, would eliminate more than $390 million (over 86%) of over $450 million in annual federal funding to Planned Parenthood, from all mandatory spending programs. This is identical to the provision that was ruled to comply with the Senate's Byrd Rule in 2015. AHCA also redirects funding to community health centers which outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 20 to 1 and offer a wider array of health care services, but not abortion.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer. This marked the first major religious liberty case since Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to the Court. Family Research Council's (FRC) Director of the Center for Religious Liberty, Travis Weber, Esq., attended the oral arguments at the Court. The case will be decided later this year, likely in June.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tomorrow the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer. This will mark the first major religious liberty case since Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to the Court, restoring the Court to a full bench. Family Research Council's (FRC) Director of the Center for Religious Liberty, Travis Weber, Esq., will attend the oral arguments. FRC filed a joint amicus brief in the case with the Christian Legal Society, the Anglican Church in North America, Christian Medical Association, National Religious Broadcasters, and the Queens Federation of Churches.
WASHINGTON, April 13, 2017 - Yesterday, Congressman-elect Ron Estes (R-Kan.) appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Estes discussed his recent victory in winning a special congressional election in Kansas to take over the seat vacated by Mike Pompeo, who is now serving as President Trump's CIA director. Ron will be the newest member of Congress and is looking to change things for the better in Washington.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate today voted to confirm Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, filling the seat left vacant by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away in February of last year.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer today led his Democratic colleagues in the Senate in a filibuster attempt on the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the US Supreme Court. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell triggered the so-called "nuclear option," lowering the threshold for Supreme Court nominations to 51 votes instead of 60, following the precedent set by the Democrats in 2013 concerning lower court and executive branch nominees.
WASHINGTON, DC - This morning the NCAA announced the end to its boycott of North Carolina after the state adopted an HB 2 compromise law.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council president Tony Perkins released the following statement after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Judge Gorsuch's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court:
WASHINGTON, March 31, 2017 - Yesterday, former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Pat McCrory discussed the repeal of House Bill 2 in the North Carolina General Assembly yesterday. The repeal bill, H.B. 142, essentially keeps the same content as H.B. 2, but puts the issue on hold until December of 2020. Pat McCrory was a supporter of the repeal bill, but the Left, who asked for the repeal, were livid that it passed.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Mike Pence, the U.S. Senate voted to overrule former President Obama's HHS regulations blocking states from defunding Planned Parenthood of federal Title X family planning funds and to prevent any future administration from re-issuing this rule. This Obama-era regulation effectively created a backdoor handout for the abortion industry. With the Senate's passage of Rep. Diane Black's (R-Tenn.) House-passed H.J. Res. 43, this legislation now heads to President's Trump desk for signature into law.
WASHINGTON, DC - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement following passage of House Bill 142:
WASHINGTON, March 29, 2017 - Yesterday, Congressman Andy Harris (R-Md.) appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Rep. Harris discussed Attorney General Jeff Sessions' announcement that U.S. jurisdictions with policies protecting illegal immigrant felons from immigration laws would not receive grants from the Department of Justice. In the Attorney General's announcement, he urged Maryland not to pass legislation that would harbor illegal immigrants or halt prosecution and detaining procedures.
NEW YORK, NY - Yesterday afternoon, Arina Grossu, Director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council, spoke at the UN's 61st Commission on the Status of Women parallel event titled "Femicide, Trafficking, and Reproductive Violence Against Women and Children." Her talk focused on sex trafficking and its relation to pornography, violence, and abortion. Others on the panel included Reggie Littlejohn, founder and president of Women's Rights Without Frontiers, who discussed forced abortion and gendercide in China as the real "war on women." Since China's installment of the one-child policy, millions of women have suffered at the hands of government violence and 400 million babies (a great majority of them being baby girls) have been aborted. Rebecca Oas, Associate Director of Research at the Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam), discussed how to ensure that women's true needs and priorities are being met instead of priorities imposed on them by international groups.
AUSTIN, TEXAS - Family Research Council praised the State Senate passage of the Texas Privacy Act by a vote of 21 to 10. Last week, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, testified before the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee in support of the Texas Privacy Act (SB 6), which would protect the privacy and safety of women and children. The bill prevents public schools and government buildings from adopting policies that would open women's showers, bathrooms, and changing facilities to men and visa-versa.
AUSTIN, TEXAS - This morning, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, testified before the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee in support of the Texas Privacy Act (SB 6), which will protect the safety and privacy of women and children. The bill prevents public schools, state government agencies, and political subdivisions from adopting policies that would open women's showers, bathrooms, and changing facilities to men and visa-versa.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This morning, Family Research Council (FRC) welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court's announcement that the court is vacating and remanding the case of Gloucester County School Board v. G.G to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. The announcement came after the Justice Department and Department of Education issued new guidance rescinding an Obama administration edict to force schools to allow biological males to use girls' showers, locker rooms, and restrooms, and vice versa.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council's Arina Grossu, Director of the Center for Human Dignity, spoke at a rally in front of a DC area Planned Parenthood facility. The rally marked the kick off of the annual 40 Days for Life campaign.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Thursday, Aaron and Melissa Klein, formerly of Sweet Cakes by Melissa at the center of a national religious freedom case, will appear before the Oregon Court of Appeals for oral arguments. The Kleins lost their Sweet Cakes by Melissa Bakery over the course of litigation on the case and were ordered to pay $135,000 for declining to create a custom cake for a same-sex wedding. Thursday will mark the first time the couple will have an official day in court. Until this week, they have been at the mercy of a patently biased administrative body which even imposed a gag order on them restricting their First Amendment freedoms.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council president Tony Perkins will be in attendance at the Capitol as President Donald Trump delivers his first address before a joint session of Congress. Mr. Perkins will be available to comment afterwards.
WASHINGTON, DC - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who attended tonight's address, released the following statement in response to President Donald Trump's first address to a joint session of Congress:
WASHINGTON, D.C. -On Thursday, Stuart Migdon and Pat Necerato of American Hero Films and other pro-life leaders will join Family Research Council guests for a panel discussion about the role of movies and media in motivating churches to take an active role in promoting a culture of life. Care Net and Human Coalition will join to discuss practical ways that churches can become equipped to provide compassion, hope, help, and discipleship to women and men considering abortion.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council applauded a joint letter issued today by the Department of Education and Department of Justice withdrawing the Obama administration's edict to force schools to allow biological males to use girls' showers, locker rooms, and restrooms, and vice versa.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Earlier today Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at Family Research Council, testified before the New Hampshire House of Representatives against H.B. 587, a bill to prohibit minors from seeking the help of a licensed counselor to deal with unwanted same-sex attractions and H.B. 478, a bill providing special rights on the basis of gender identity which would allow biological men to access women's bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at Family Research Council, will testify tomorrow before the New Hampshire General Court against H.B. 587, a bill to prohibit minors from seeking the help of a licensed counselor to deal with unwanted same-sex attractions, and H.B. 478, a bill providing special rights on the basis of gender identity (including nondiscrimination law in public accommodations) which would allow biological men to access women's bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Pro-life champion, Norma McCorvey, passed away today at the age of 69. Under the pseudonym of Jane Roe, McCorvey was used in the sweeping 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that imposed legalized abortion on-demand in all fifty states. In the latter part of her life, McCorvey became a leading advocate for the unborn.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council (FRC) expressed outrage after the Washington State Supreme Court issued a ruling today that puts at risk the home and personal assets of Barronelle Stutzman, a florist shop owner who told two men that she'd be happy to sell them flowers but couldn't -- in good conscience -- arrange them for a wedding ceremony that violated her faith.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In December 2016, former President Obama's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized a regulation blocking states from defunding Planned Parenthood from federal Title X family planning funds, effectively creating a backdoor handout for the abortion industry.
WASHINGTON -- Today, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins hosted a special program with Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, North Carolina Lt. Governor Dan Forest, and abuse survivor Kaeley Triller Haver. They talked about what states are doing to protect the safety and privacy of women and children, and how they plan to defend the freedom to believe.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Wednesday, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins will host a special program with Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, North Carolina Lt. Governor Dan Forest, and others to talk about what states are doing to protect the safety and privacy of women and children, and to defend the freedom to believe. Guests include victims and experts.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council commended the Trump administration's decision to end the federal government's court battle to overturn a nationwide injunction that blocked enforcement of the Obama administration's edict to force schools to allow biological males to use girls' showers, locker rooms, and restrooms, and vice versa.
WASHINGTON, February 9, 2017 - Last week at the National Prayer Breakfast President Trump vowed to "totally destroy the Johnson Amendment." The Johnson Amendment bars tax-exempt entities from involvement in political campaigns, preventing non-profit organizations, such as religious non-profits and churches, from taking action or making statements for or against a candidate running for public office. During President Trump's campaign he promised the evangelical community that he would take down this amendment, and he reiterated that promise with his statement at the National Prayer Breakfast.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council (FRC) is pleased to learn the news that First Liberty Institute has reached a settlement agreement between the State of Georgia and its client, Dr. Eric Walsh. First Liberty reported that the State of Georgia agreed to pay $225,000 to settle Dr. Walsh's religious discrimination lawsuit.
WASHINGTON, February 9, 2017 - Yesterday, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, the Lieutenant Governor discussed the Texas Women's Privacy Act (SB 6), which will protect women and children. The bill prevents public schools, state government agencies, and political subdivisions from adopting policies that would open women's showers, bathrooms, and changing facilities to men and visa-versa. It also prevents political subdivisions from forcing private entities, including contractors, to open their showers, locker rooms and bathrooms to people of the opposite sex. It leaves private entities free to determine their own policies regarding the use of shared bathrooms and showers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Arina Grossu, Director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, will testify today before the Washington State legislature against H.B. 1523. Ms. Grossu will make a case for religious freedom and the right of conscience.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - -- This morning, President Trump, in his remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast, said, "I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely without fear and retribution. I will do that. Remember."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This evening, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins will attend President Trump's Supreme Court nomination announcement at the White House.
Family Research Council Welcomes Judge Gorsuch as Pres. Trump's Supreme Court Nominee
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tomorrow, prior to the annual March For Life, Rebekah Buell will join other speakers at Family Research Council headquarters for the 12th annual ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tomorrow, prior to the annual March For Life, Melissa Ohden will join other speakers at Family Research Council headquarters for the 12th annual ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tomorrow, prior to the annual March For Life, Anna Hoduski will join other speakers at Family Research Council headquarters for the 12th annual ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, activists will gather at Family Research Council headquarters for the ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit - the premier conference for the digital pro-life community. This annual event will discuss the most successful online strategies of the past year and look ahead to the opportunities under the new administration. Activists, policy experts, and legislators will be on hand to discuss the issues impacting the pro-life movement, and share practical ways to make a difference for life on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other online platforms.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tomorrow, prior to the annual March For Life, Brandi Swindell will join other speakers at Family Research Council headquarters for the 12th annual ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, activists will gather at Family Research Council headquarters for the ProLifeCon Digital Action Summit - the premier conference for the digital pro-life community. This annual event will discuss the most successful online strategies of the past year and look ahead to the opportunities under the new administration. Activists, policy experts, and legislators will be on hand to discuss the issues impacting the pro-life movement, and share practical ways to make a difference for life on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other online platforms.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Thomas Jacobson of the Global Life Campaign and other pro-life leaders will join the Family Research Council to present a global overview of abortion rates in nations around the world, what has happened since the first nation authorized abortion in 1920, major findings, and recommendations for restoring respect for human life.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -Family Research Council (FRC) hosted today the launch of a new worldwide report on abortion authored by the Global Life Campaign. The Global Life Campaign's Abortion Worldwide Report is the first to systematically track reported abortions in 100 nations and territories, from 1920 through 2015. This report contains 4,915 country years of data, major findings, and country abortion graphs showing the impact of authorization, world maps, and a policy table for 196 nations.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act," (H.R. 7) sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.). This bill would permanently prohibit taxpayer dollars from being used to pay for abortions in Obamacare health plans starting the next plan year. This bill also protects Americans of conscience by requiring the full disclosure of abortion coverage in Obamacare plans so people can make informed decisions about their healthcare plans right now.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Donald Trump, in one of his first official acts, issued an executive order today restoring the Mexico City Policy, a memorandum first issued by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 at the United Nations population conference in Mexico City. The policy halts federal funds from going to foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that perform abortions or "actively promote" abortion as a method of family planning in other countries. The order ensures U.S. aid will continue to go to health care, humanitarian relief, and even family planning in the millions of dollars. It just will not subsidize abortion overseas.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, former U.S. Army Delta Force commander and current Family Research Council executive vice president, made the following comments on tomorrow's expected confirmation of retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis as the next Secretary of Defense:
WASHINGTON, January 19, 2017 -- Parents of students at Fox Ridge Middle School are speaking out after discovering an online portal that wouldn't get past most internet filters. A local family stumbled on the pornographic material as they were checking their child's password access at school. Now, they're exposing what the district never intended moms and dads to see: a controversial sex education site filled with erotica, advice on performing certain acts, information on bondage, and much more.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Obama announced today that he will commute most of the remaining prison sentence of Bradley Manning, the national security leaker, whose espionage put Americans at risk, and who then demanded that the U.S. Army not just recognize, but finance his gender transition.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today praised House passage of the "Repeal Resolution," the budget which established the process for the House and Senate to pass a "reconciliation" bill that will repeal significant portions of Obamacare and defund most of Planned Parenthood's federal funding.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Family Research Council (FRC) and the North Carolina Values Coalition (NCVC) filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Gloucester County School Board v. G.G, which will decide the validity of the Department of Education's (DOE) interpretation that sex-separated facilities under Title IX and 34 C.F.R. § 106.33 must "generally treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity." The case will also decide whether a federal agency letter mandating the same interpretation should receive deference.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - TODAY, black pastors from Alabama and several other states will speak at a news conference on Capitol Hill in a show of support for President-Elect Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). The news conference is a coalition effort between the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Family Research Council's Watchmen on the Wall, organizations that are urging the U.S. Senate to confirm Sen. Sessions as the next United States Attorney General.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) commended Texas State Senator Lois Kolkhorst for introducing the Texas Privacy Act (SB 6), which will protect women and children. The bill prevents public schools, state government agencies, and political subdivisions from adopting policies that would open women's showers, bathrooms, and changing facilities to men and visa-versa.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, former U.S. Army Delta Force commander and current Family Research Council executive vice president, made the following comments in praising President-elect Trump's choice of retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis as the next Secretary of Defense:
Washington, D.C. - The House Energy & Commerce Committee's Select Investigative Panel announced today they have referred Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast for criminal prosecution by the Texas Attorney General. The announcement followed an investigation into whether abortion centers profited from the sale of baby body parts.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today commended President-elect Donald Trump's choice of U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council today commended President-elect Donald Trump's choice of Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as the next Attorney General in the new administration.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council, in addition to a coalition of partner organizations, announces the launch of their newly-updated website, militaryfreedom.org, a resource on all topics related to military religious freedom. The website highlights news, resources and action items related to the state of religious freedom in the nation's Armed Forces. Efforts undertaken by coalition members include letters, petitions and reports designed to inform and protect veterans and current members of the military in their free exercise of religious liberty.
WASHINGTON, DC - Family Research Council today commended President-elect Donald Trump's choice of Reince Priebus as his chief of staff.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Family Research Council today released the results of a commissioned survey conducted by WPA Opinion Research showing that nearly 60 percent of Trump voters agreed that their vote was impacted by the Republican Party platform's "strong positions on unborn human life and religious liberty."
WASHINGTON, October 27, 2016 -- Yesterday, Dr. Eric Walsh, lay pastor and public health expert, appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, a national radio show which airs on more than 240 stations across the country. On the show, Dr. Walsh and his Attorney, Jeremy Dys, discussed the State of Georgia's demand that he hand over his sermons and personal Bible. Since 2014 Dr. Walsh has been battling the state of Georgia after he was fired from a government job because of the content of his sermons. Nearly 22,000 have signed a petition to Georgia Governor Nathan Deal asking him to intervene to correct this unjust demand.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) today expressed outrage after the State of Georgia issued a legal demand that Dr. Eric Walsh, a lay pastor, hand over his sermons, sermon notes, and all pastoral documentation including his Bible. FRC launched a petition today at FRC.org/Walsh that calls on Governor Deal to "correct this egregious overreach of the state into church affairs."
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Family Research Council is joining forces with a coalition of pro-life groups launching a social media campaign today ahead of the 100-year anniversary since Margaret Sanger opened her first illegal birth control clinic, the precursor of what we know today as Planned Parenthood on Sunday, October 16. The #100YearsOfAbuse effort will expose Planned Parenthood's systematic destruction of unborn children and abuse of women and taxpayer dollars.
WASHINGTON, DC - -- This afternoon at a Capitol Hill news conference, Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins endorsed the newly introduced Free Speech Fairness Act (HR 6195) sponsored by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and U.S. Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.).
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) announced it will move the ACC championship football game to Orlando, Florida. The game was originally scheduled to be hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina, but the ACC moved the game out of Charlotte in protest over passage of North Carolina's House Bill 2.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins will speak at a news conference tomorrow, Wednesday, September 28, on the introduction of the Free Speech Fairness Act. The Free Speech Fairness Act would address the shortcomings of the Johnson Amendment which in 1954 was inserted into the tax code by Senator Lyndon Johnson without floor or Committee debate. The Johnson amendment prohibits non-profits and churches from engaging in any activity that might be interpreted as participating in, or intervening in a campaign on behalf of or in opposition to a candidate for public office, including a simple oral or written statement. Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) and Alliance Defending Freedom legal counsel Christiana Holcomb will also speak on the Free Speech Fairness Act.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Family Research Council's Arina Grossu, Director of the Center for Human Dignity, testified before the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice on the topic of Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of Veterans Affairs recently released a memorandum updating its policy guidance on religious expression and display of religious items. The policy guidance states that the VA "must remain neutral" regarding the "use of any religious or secular items in the display" offered by outside groups and individuals.The memorandum was released following a string of incidents in which Bibles have been removed from POW/MIA displays.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson will address the 11th annual Values Voter Summit on Friday, September 9th. The next day, Saturday, September 10, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will speak at the event that draws thousands of grassroots activists to the nation's capital. Both major party nominees have been invited to make their case to social conservative voters.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement on the passing of Phyllis Schlafly:
BATON ROUGE, LA - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement today responding to the fallacious internet reports regarding causes of natural disasters.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Judge Reed O'Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted a preliminary injunction blocking the Obama administration's edict seeking to force schools to allow biological males to use girls' showers, locker rooms, and restrooms, and vice versa. This ruling comes on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court's stay in the Gloucester County, Virginia schools case, and is a rebuke to the Obama administration's aggressive activism on this issue.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the NBA announced it will move the 2017 NBA All-Star Game to New Orleans, Louisiana. The game was originally scheduled to be hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina, but the NBA moved the game out of Charlotte in protest over passage of North Carolina's House Bill 2, which provides common sense protections for bathroom privacy and against government overreach.
U.S. Supreme Court's Hold on School Bathroom Ruling Is Encouraging News for Schools Resisting Obama's Bathroom/Locker Room Edict
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The last charge against pro-life activist journalists David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt in Harris County, Texas was dismissed today by Judge Brock Thomas. The felony charge was for allegedly using fake drivers' licenses to conceal their identities during their undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council and American Family Association sent the Air Force over 92,000 petition signatures in support of retired Senior Master Sergeant Oscar Rodriguez. The petitions and cover letter were addressed to the leadership of Travis Air Force Base in California concerning an incident on April 3rd involving retired Sgt. Oscar Rodriguez who was dragged out of a retirement ceremony for another service member. Sgt. Rodriguez was forcibly removed from the event by military personnel for simply reciting a speech that mentioned God in his flag folding ceremony.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council President Tony Perkins sent a letter today to the FBI Louisiana Field Office addressed to Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey S. Sallet regarding his reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in which he omitted the phrase "under God" from his recitation.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Conscience Protection Act to stop government discrimination against pro-life Americans who object to being forced to participate in abortion. Family Research Council urged Congress to pass this significant pro-life legislation.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Late last night, U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves issued an injunction blocking HB 1523, the "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act." Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Family Research Council (FRC) today criticized President Obama and the Department of Defense for lifting the longstanding ban on military service by persons who identify ... (more)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its 5-3 decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, striking down Texas' H.B. 2 commonsense regulation and enforcement of basic health standards in abortion facilities. The Texas law required that abortion facilities be held to the same standard as surgical centers and that abortionists must have admitting privileges at a local hospital not further than thirty miles from the abortion facility.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Much has happened legally and culturally in the year since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges in June 26, 2015. While the ruling itself concerned same-sex marriage licenses, it's implications for the family, the church, and religious liberty are profound.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week, Family Research Council announced plans to honor Dr. Bill Bennett, former Secretary of the Department of Education in the Reagan administration, Drug Czar, best-selling author, host of the top-rated radio show "Morning in America," with the Vision and Leadership Award to be given during this year's Values Voter Summit on September 9-11, 2016 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - One of the charges against David Daleiden in Harris County, Texas was dismissed yesterday by Judge Diane Bull, who ruled that the indictment for the misdemeanor charge against Daleiden claiming he attempted to purchase baby body parts was void. Daleiden still faces a felony charge for allegedly using a fake driver's licenses to conceal his identity during the undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood.
A Response to False Claims made by The Nation June 15, 2005 In an article in The Nation ("Justice Sunday Preachers" April 26, 2005), Max Blumenthal falsely...