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The Most Radical Secretary of Health in U.S. History

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Xavier Becerra, President Joe Biden's most radical nominee, to become the next Secretary of Health. Here's our statement:

“President Biden’s nomination – and the Democratic Senate’s confirmation – of Xavier Becerra gives the lie to the new administration's talk of 'unity' on Capitol Hill. Xavier Becerra is an ideologue known for his extreme positions in support of abortion and in opposition to religious freedom. Even Vanity Fair magazine has called him a ‘strident supporter’ of abortion rights. He proved that reputation time and again during his stint as California Attorney General. He even targeted the Little Sisters of the Poor to force them to pay for services that directly violate their religious convictions – and litigated to remove their religious exemption in the state of California.

“However, today’s rare, nearly unanimous opposition from Republicans shows that they recognize the extremity of Becerra’s agenda. Further, it reflects a galvanized grassroots opposition from supporters of Minnesota Family Council and many others across the country - we're wide awake and ready to defend against the attacks that we expect to be forthcoming from the Department and the Biden Administration as a whole. Minnesota Family Council is pleased to have been a part of informing and mobilizing Minnesotans against this nomination, and we look forward to continuing to working with you on the battles ahead.”

John Helmberger, CEO

Minnesota Family Council & Institute

The Equality Act: An Existential Threat to Religious Freedom

The so-called Equality Act is continuing to make its way through Congress — after passing the House last month, it was heard this week by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Equality Act is a serious threat to the safety and privacy of women and children, the lives of unborn babies, the health and welfare of children and adults with gender dysphoria, and the First Amendment rights of Americans everywhere. 

Defenders of the Equality Act have consistently dismissed religious freedom concerns as alarmist. But the Equality Act, by specifically excluding itself from the religious freedom safeguards in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, would force faith-based foster care and adoption agencies to either stop practicing in accordance with their religious beliefs or close their doors altogether, would attempt to bully private religious schools into touting the LGBT agenda, and would threaten conscience protections for healthcare providers and religious hospitals. This Act would be disastrous for religious freedom.

Furthermore, the Heritage Foundation reports that the Equality Act would “prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity within “places of public accommodation,” which, in a break with legal tradition, would include churches, mosques, temples, and other places of worship.” In Wednesday’s hearing, Mary Hasson of the Ethics and Public Policy Center pointed out that expanding the definition of “places of public accommodation” to include places of worship opens them up to discrimination suits. Hasson notes that the Equality Act “ties the hands of religious believers and says, ‘You are not welcome to live your faith in the public square.’”  

The right to practice one’s beliefs is essential to religious freedom. As Andrew T. Walker has pointed out, those who insist that the Equality Act does not harm religious freedom “so narrowly define religion as to make it reducible to a time and place, not a fundamental commitment that informs all aspects of life. 

Meet the Minnesota Athlete Fighting for Women's Sports

Minnesotan Beth Stelzer walked into her first powerlifting match expecting to encounter a room full of individuals who were there to support strong women. Instead, a biological male who “identified” as a woman distracted from the competition by protesting throughout the event because he was not permitted to compete with the women. 

As a result of the experience, Stelzer took action to protect women’s sports from transgender athletes.  

Stelzer is the founder of Save Women’s Sports, an organization dedicated to protecting the right of every woman and girl to compete on a level playing field. 

Stelzer joins The Daily Signal's “Problematic Women” podcast to discuss President Joe Biden’s recent executive order that opens the door for biological men to compete in women’s sports.

Minnesota Senate Advances Pro-Life Bill

On Tuesday the Minnesota Senate Health and Human Services Committee advanced a pro-life bill subjecting abortion facilities to licensure and inspection requirements. This bill would require any facility that commits 10 or more abortions per month to be licensed by the health commissioner in order to operate. To be licensed, the abortion facility would be required to pass an inspection at least once every two years. The bill would also allow the attorney general, a county attorney, or a woman upon whom an abortion has been performed at an unlicensed facility to seek an injunction against that facility.

There is no good reason that abortion facilities should not be subject to these licensure requirements and routine inspections. Until abortion facilities can be completely shut down, they should be subject to rigorous licensure requirements and routine inspections. Perhaps these inspections would prevent the sort of situation that caused an Alabama woman to die from a botched abortion this week. The abortion industry has consistently demonstrated their disregard for women’s health and safety. This bill would hold them to account by requiring them to comply with licensing standards

A recently released report found that 184 abortion facilities in 32 states had failed to follow basic sanitary procedures. The report found instances of staff wearing dirty scrubs and failing to wash their hands before or after procedures, blood and body fluids spattered on the floor and walls, single-use vials being used on multiple patients, failure to clean equipment and surfaces between patients, and storing clean and soiled equipment together. These violations were caught because they happened in states that have inspection and licensure requirements. This raises serious concerns about what kind of violations are going undetected in states that do not have licensure and inspection requirements for abortion facilities.  

Abortion facilities should not be allowed to operate unlicensed and uninspected. Holding the abortion industry accountable is good news for women and babies, and is a step toward the total abolition of abortion. Laws regulating abortion facilities have played a key role in shutting down dangerous abortion businesses in other states and stunting the growth of the ever-expanding abortion industry.

Thank you for sharing Minnesota Family Council’s vision for strong families, communities and culture through Christ. As we rise to meet challenges at the state and federal level, we need your support now more than ever. Click here to give now. We are grateful for your partnership with us through prayer and financial support.

For life, family, and religious freedom,