Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President Donald J. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, was back before members of the Senate last week to make his case to be head of the critical government department.

In an exchange with Senator Josh Hawley, Kennedy expressed his opposition to sexually confused minors being allowed to mutilate their bodies.

“We don’t let children drink,” he told the Missouri lawmaker.

“We don’t let them drive an automobile. Because they have bad judgment. They are flooded with hormones. Their brains are still in formation. Their sexuality is still in formation. To allow them to make judgements about, that are going to have life-changing, forever implications for the rest of their life at that age are unconscionable.”

Inexplicably, the American Medical Association has supported the destructive policy of permitting children to maim their bodies. They claim doing so will help reduce the risk of suicide.

Dr. Jay Greene, senior research fellow at Heritage’s Center for Education Policy, suggests fair research demonstrates the exact opposite.

“Increasing minors’ access to cross-sex interventions is associated with a significant increase in the adolescent suicide rate,” writes Dr. Greene. “Rather than facilitating access by minors to these medical interventions without parental consent, states should be pursuing policies that strengthen parental involvement in these important decisions with life-long implications for their children.”

I spent the March for Life chatting with some of the young people at the 52nd annual National March for Life.

The energy on the National Mall spoke to marchers’ excitement about the Trump administration’s early support for life, including releasing 23 peaceful pro-life protesters from prison and enforcing a ban on tax dollars funding elective abortions.

With speakers like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Vice President J.D. Vance set to address the march, the people I interviewed also expressed excitement about the pro-life movement’s prospects in 2025.

They also had some ideas.

Here’s what I found out.

Many wanted to see more pro-life legislation on the books. Abby was one of several who wanted state officials to pass more heartbeat laws. Others told me they’d like to see a federal ban on abortion — though they’re unsure if it can be accomplished in a year.

“I’d like to see a federal abortion ban,” Jefferson told me. “I’m not sure how likely that is, but it’s really a culture shift we can work on.”

Margaret thinks the government needs to stop funding Planned Parenthood.

“It’s weird that we fund it on a government level. It’s just weird. Why would you do that?”

In a new report, State of the Nation, 14 university-based and think tank scholars provide a look into how the United States is in relation to other leading countries around the world.

This study comes from a mix of conservative, moderate and liberal contributors.

The report examines 37 measures across 15 different categories. Topics like children and families, citizenship and democracy, mental health, life satisfaction, physical health, education and attitudes of trust in various social institutions.

The Daily Citizen will examine their measures on children and families.

In terms of family formation, they only look at children living in single-parent families.

This is an important measure of child and societal well-being, but it is only one among others like marriage rates, divorce, out-of-wedlock births and cohabitation.

This report correctly admits that “growing up in a single-parent household is associated with a wide range of negative consequences during adolescence, including lower academic achievement, higher dropout rates, increased aggression in school, fewer social connections, risky behaviors (e.g., drug use), and a higher chance of teen pregnancy.”

They add, “When they become adults, these children tend to have lower incomes, higher rates of anxiety and depression, difficulty engaging in their own stable relationships (e.g., they have higher divorce rates), and increased rates of incarceration.

Keynoting the International Religious Freedom 2025 Summit in Washington on Wednesday, Vice President J.D. Vance pledged ongoing support and enthusiasm for America’s first freedom.

“This administration is intent on not just restoring but expanding the achievements of the first four years and certainly of the last two weeks,” Vance declared.

“In recent years, too often has our nation’s international engagement on religious liberty issues been corrupted and distorted to the point of absurdity. How did America get to the point where we’re sending hundreds of thousands of dollars abroad that are dedicated to spreading atheism all over the globe? That is not what leadership on protecting the rights of the faithful looks like, and it ends with this administration.”

In his first administration, President Trump signed numerous executive orders advancing religious freedom across numerous federal agencies. He also affirmed the posting and distribution of religious symbols and literature, assured the fair treatment of religious organizations when dealing with the government, liberated groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor from onerous and discriminatory policies, and unapologetically directed the Justice Department to protect religious liberty at every level.

On Wednesday, Vice President Vance observed,

“One of the wonderful apparent paradoxes of religion is that in connecting us to the sacred and to the universal, it deepens our commitment … to our neighbors, to our obligations to one another, to the individual communities that all of us call home.”