Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser

There's lots to cover in this week's Family Beacon! Click on the links below or scroll down to continue reading.

• REGISTER NOW - With all Boldness - MFC's Annual Dinner, June 3rd
• Unwoke - Episode 4: Helping Kids and Teens Who Struggle With Gender Identity
• Blog: Many Americans Still Support Abortion. Let's Change That.
• Blog: Xavier Becerra Lies to Congress, Asserts that Partial-Birth Abortion is Legal
• LEAD - our Christ-centered summer camp - is happening this July! Register your teen now!
• Use Smilematic to support Minnesota Family Institute with Amazon Prime!

One quick note: if you don't normally get the Family Beacon and want to get pro-life, pro-family news every week, click here to sign up.

If Abortion Were Put to a Vote Today, America Might Keep It. Let's Change That.

Recent polling data from the Pew Research Center suggests that 59% of Americans support legalized abortion in all or most cases. This is one percentage point lower than it was at this time in 2020, but it is still a tragically high number. If this poll is representative of real views, a majority of Americans would vote to keep this murderous practice legal.

The pro-life movement has spent decades fighting to make abortion not just illegal, but unthinkable, and we will continue to fight until that is the case. In order to successfully eradicate abortion, the fact that the majority of Americans are ambivalent or supportive of abortion needs to change. So we have to ask ourselves, what can we do to change people’s hearts and minds on abortion?

First, we need to recognize opportunities. While it is true that many Americans would describe themselves as pro-abortion, it is also true that the majority of Americans have given little thought to the subject, have had few, if any, opportunities to discuss abortion, and often lack a solid understanding of what abortion does. Last summer Dr. Tricia Bruce at Notre Dame released an analysis of Americans’ attitudes toward abortion. In her conclusion, she wrote,

Most Americans don’t know for themselves what they believe about abortion. No one has ever asked them, beyond a narrow dichotomy. Many are still figuring it out. Americans also find themselves bereft of scientific, legal, and moral lexicons to reason through difficult topics. Most work with a limited set of facts and tools in moral reasoning, leading them to positions without having contemplated the extent of implications.

Xavier Becerra Lies to Congress, Asserts that Partial Birth Abortion is Legal

When HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra was nominated to his current role, pro-life leaders rightly pointed out that Becerra has a longstanding record of abortion extremism. During his confirmation hearings, when he was asked directly why he had voted against a ban on the gruesome practice of partial-birth abortions, Becerra refused to give a straight answer. Now, in a House subcommittee hearing, he has denied that partial-birth abortions are illegal.

In a hearing for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Health Subcommittee on Wednesday, Representative Gus Bilirakis asked Becerra if he agrees that partial-birth abortion is illegal. In response, Becerra claimed that “there is no law that deals specifically with the term partial-birth abortion.” This is not true. Partial-birth abortion is specifically prohibited in U.S. Code § 1531. Representative John Joyce pointed this out later in the hearing and also drew attention to the fact that the law gives a clear definition of partial-birth abortion. Even though Representatives Bilirakis, Joyce, and Dan Crenshaw all pressed Becerra on the issue, he refused to say that partial-birth abortion is illegal or that he would enforce the law. 

Our IN-PERSON Summer Leadership Camp is Open for Registration!

Does your teen know how to separate truth from lies in the public arena?

LEAD, a summer camp for future culture-shapers created by Minnesota Family Council, recognizes that we need strong Christians in every area of culture. Our teens are the next generation of politicians, doctors, lawyers, writers, moms and dads. LEAD was created for the purpose of equipping the next generation to be salt and light in a culture that celebrates death and teaches moral relativity. 

LEAD empowers teens to change the world by equipping them to fight for life, family, and religious freedom with biblical conviction. 

Hear what LEAD alumni (’18) Ethan Korte has to say about his experience at LEAD:

If you go to any camp this summer, go to LEAD. It is literally a life changing experience. I went without any interest and absolutely loved it. I met some of my best friends though this camp, and it changed my perspective on Christian leadership. The worldview and life skills I learned through LEAD have been amazing. Please check them out!

Give your teens the gift of leadership this summer so that they will rise up to be winsome voices of truth in our culture. Sign up now! Early bird registration 

You can support our work at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! But sometimes it's hard to remember to navigate to smile.amazon.com instead of just typing "Amazon" into your search bar. That's where SmileMatic comes in - it's a free browser extension for Chrome, Safari, and other browsers that takes you right to smile.amazon.com so that a percentage of the sales price goes to the charity of your choice at no cost to you. Click below to add SmileMatic to your browser today, and make sure to choose Minnesota Family Institute as your charity of choice! Click here to add it to Google Chrome directly!

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,