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Welcome to the Friday Five! Every Friday we share our top five articles, stories, and quotes for you to read and share with your friends and church families.

We would be very grateful if you could make a donation of $100, $50, $25, or $10 today towards our work producing these Friday Fives and fighting for your values on the public square!

1. YOU'RE INVITED: Join us for a pro-life rally at the US Supreme Court to stand for women's health and safety

The FDA betrayed women when it removed the in-person doctor visits and ongoing care it originally deemed necessary for the use of abortion drugs. The Supreme Court is now considering whether to require the FDA to honor its duty to protect women's health and reinstate its safety standards.

You can stand with women harmed by the FDA's actions—like those featured in this moving video—by joining us for the Women's Health Matters rally at the end of the month. We'll be rallying from 8am-12pm on Tuesday, March 26th, at the steps of the United States Supreme Court (1 First Street NE, Washington, D.C., 20543), on the day oral arguments begin for the FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine case.

NC Values Executive Director, Tami Fitzgerald, will be speaking at the event. If you would be interested in driving up with us, let us know by contacting [email protected].

For more information on the case, check out this amicus brief filed by our sister organization, the Institute for Faith and Family (IFF).

2. DAILY ADVANCE: NC Values' Laura Macklem Op-Ed: NC law impedes medical rights of parents

"Little did we know that North Carolina law allows minors at any age to consent to physician-provided care for mental health issues and life-altering conditions connected to social behaviors. Because of this law, federal privacy laws prevent parents from seeing their children’s medical records without their consent. The law gives minors the right to consent to physician-provided care for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of pregnancy, STDs, AIDS, drugs, alcohol abuse and undefined 'emotional disturbance.' Even though I wanted to see my daughter’s records unrelated to this law, along with federal privacy laws, the hospital’s inability to separate these treatments from others barred me without her consent."

3. FOX 8: North Carolina swimmer among women athletes suing NCAA over transgender competitors

"At a time when March Madness is taking over, and NCAA basketball is heating up, a lawsuit that’s been brewing for years was just lobbed at the collegiate athletics organization. 'Frankly, the real March Madness is what happened in March of 2022 at the Women’s Swimming Championship, when the NCAA allowed men to compete against women,' said Bill Bock, the lead attorney on the suit. At the center of the lawsuit was transgender swimmer Lia Thomas competing for the University of Pennsylvania. She famously upstaged decorated female Olympians on the way to winning the 500 freestyle for the Division 1 national championship. The women who filed the lawsuit allege the NCAA knowingly violates federal statute Title IX, which protects women’s right to equal opportunity in athletics."

4. CAROLINA JOURNAL: NC lawmakers could boost Opportunity Scholarship funding in short session

"Leaders in the General Assembly say they are in discussions over whether to boost funding for the Opportunity Scholarship Program due to surging demand. Around 72,000 new applications were received for the upcoming school year for Opportunity Scholarships, a program that provides between $3,360 and $7,468 a year to allow families to choose a private school education for their kids. Beginning this year, scholarships are prioritized based on four income tiers, with the lowest earning households receiving first priority. Lawmakers are set to convene for the short session of the General Assembly in late April."

5. COLSON CENTER: CVS and Walgreens Become Abortion Providers

"Walgreens and CVS, the two largest U.S. pharmacy chains, recently announced that they will begin offering the abortion pill mifepristone at select stores this month. Walgreens plans to sell the pill at locations in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California, and Illinois, with hopes to expand to other locations and states soon. CVS will offer the pill in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and then expand to other states. President Biden, whose pro-abortion agenda is “the strongest abortion rights platform of any general election candidate,” praised the pharmacy chains’ decision as an “important milestone in ensuring access” to chemical abortion. The pharmacy giants’ push marks the latest in a cascade of anti-life efforts to expand chemical abortion."

Weekly Prayer: NC Officials

LORD, you also have instructed us to pray for our governing officials, and we come to you in the spirit of this petition. We pray for our state government and its executive, legislative, and judicial servants. May they indeed be servants unto the people, and govern in a manner that protects liberty and virtue. In the same spirit, we pray for public servants across our local governments. May they all heed your mandate in Romans 13:4 to be in positions of authority as "God's servant" and for the "good" of the public. They govern in what we confess are difficult times. May they plead with you to give them wisdom, and may your grace to govern wisely be poured out on them.

Protect us from the oppression and loss of freedoms that other countries have experienced, and help us to value and preserve freedom, which we know comes only from You.

"I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free." Acts 7:34

Amen

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Sincerely,

Tami & Team
NC Values