Only a hermit would be unaware of, much less have an opinion on, the contemporary culture war smoldering over the last few decades in America, a spirited political and social debate on the state of the family and its importance to social cohesion and community well-being.

Ask journalists and academics who follow such things about the origins of this culture war debate over family and you will likely get the time frame of its birth as the late 1970s / early 80s and the names Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, Phyllis Schlafly, Pat Buchanan and Pat Robertson as its most prominent founders.

This is common knowledge. But is it correct knowledge? It is not. The contemporary culture war on the importance of the natural family was,

1. not started in the late 70s/early 80s
2. not started by religious conservatives, or religious folk at all
3. not started by Republicans

So when and how was the first shot fired in the modern culture war on family? It was fired in March 1965 when President Lyndon Johnson’s Assistant Secretary of Labor, the young Daniel Patrick Moynihan, released his groundbreaking research report The Negro Family: The Case for National Action. Full of charts, graphs and concerning sociological data, it was a shout from the roof of the White House that important parts of our society were facing increased trouble and hardship because of one central but unrecognized problem: the dramatic decline of the married, two-parent family, particularly in the black community.

Focus on the Family has joined 27 pro-life groups and individuals in filing an important brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, urging it to block the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) approval of the abortion pill.

The brief was filed just days before the Fifth Circuit is set to hear oral arguments in a crucial case brought by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), on behalf of four medical organizations and four doctors. Oral arguments are being held on Wednesday May 17, 2023.

The organizations and ADF argue that the FDA violated the law when it approved mifepristone, the first drug in the two-drug regimen known as the abortion pill, in 2000.

The amicus brief (friend of the court brief) was spearheaded by Advancing American Freedom, a nonprofit organization founded by former Vice President Mike Pence committed to advocating for conservative values and policies.

Also joining the brief are 40 Days for Life, My Faith Votes, Young America’s Foundation, Minnesota Family Council, The Family Foundation and many others.

In the brief, the organizations argue that the FDA violated the law when it first approved mifepristone. The FDA approved the drug under Subpart H, a section of law that permits the agency to approve drugs that treat “serious and life-threatening illnesses” as long as they “provide meaningful benefits over existing treatments.” However, there’s a problem here for mifepristone.

Young people are dying at an alarmingly high rate these days, a phenomenon that’s being attributed to a myriad of issues, including drug overdoses, suicides, car accidents and homicides.

An analysis of the death rate for those 19 and under found a 10.7% jump of early death between 2019 and 2020, and an additional 8.3% increase between 2020 and 2021.

It was Neil Sedaka who sang that “Breaking up is hard to do” — but apparently growing up is even harder — and far more dangerous.

Why?

To peruse the popular press, you might be led to believe it’s easy access to guns, insufficient education funding, pandemic-related closures or restrictions, a reduction in afterschool programs, out-of-control social media, or a variety of economic factors.

Rarely will you see its root cause explained for what it is: a spiritual and family crisis that’s been like a dangerous storm brewing and strengthening in full sight. Experts have been warning about it for years, and it’s now manifesting in the worst way possible.

What we’re seeing in this tragic and precipitous rise in early deaths are the consequences of a culture unmoored from absolute truth, unconcerned with the decoupling of marriage and children, and seemingly unaware of or uninterested in dealing with the big issues that we face.