The Family Beacon

Protect Counseling Freedom in Minnesota: True North Legal's Legislative Testimony

Renee Carlson

This week True North Legal General Counsel Renee Carlson and Minnesota Family Council’s Assistant Policy Director Rebecca Delahunt submitted written testimony for the House Preventive Health Policy Division’s hearing on HF 2516, a so-called “conversion therapy ban” that would threaten First Amendment rights and would infringe on the client-counselor relationship by limiting what licensed therapists and counselors can say to clients who are struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria. You can read True North Legal’s testimony below and Minnesota Family Council’s testimony here.

True North Legal is a non-profit legal organization that advocates for life, family, and religious freedom on behalf of all Minnesotans. We offer the following high-level analysis regarding significant legal and policy concerns relating to HF 2156.

“Conversion Therapy Ban” proposals prohibiting licensed mental health professionals in the state from practicing so- called conversion therapy raise significant legal and policy concerns relating to medical access for all Minnesotans. These bans are unnecessary, unconstitutional, and cause more harm than the good these bills propose to remedy.

Pray for Ukraine

MFC Editor

After months of posturing, we have now seen Russia invade its neighbor Ukraine.

This violent invasion is already affecting Ukrainian families who have been displaced or lost loved ones just in the hours since the attacks began. And it will continue to harm families in both Ukraine and Russia, as they bear the far-reaching consequences of Putin’s decision to invade.

Keep Critical Theory Out of Minnesota's Classrooms

Rebecca Delahunt

This week Minnesota Family Council’s Assistant Director of Public Policy submitted the following testimony to the House Education Policy Committee urging them to oppose HF 3434, a bill that would bring critical race theory into Minnesota’s classrooms.

Minnesota Family Council represents tens of thousands of families across the state, and we urge you to oppose HF 3434.

The history of ethnic minorities within the state of Minnesota and the United States at large should be taught, including the lived experiences of racism and discrimination. However, this lived history is not “ethnic studies” as defined by HF 3434. As defined in the bill, ethnic studies “means the critical and interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity with a focus on the experiences and perspectives of people of color within and beyond the United States.”1 In other words, the study of history would be through the lens of critical theory, also referred to as critical race theory.

Critical race theory (CRT) is a subject area derived from critical theory which claims that the United States was founded upon racism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. The theory states that racism was a foundational ideal of the nation and still directs every relationship of civil society. According to CRT advocates, the solution to this society supposedly founded upon racism and discrimination can be found in various pursuits of so-called racial equity.

Minnesota Planned Parenthood CEO Stepping Down After 20 Years of Abortion Expansion

Luke Mueller

Sarah Stoesz, CEO of Planned Parenthood in Minnesota for the past twenty years, will be stepping down later this year. Stoesz has led Planned Parenthood in creating more clinics, expanding its reach to other states, and impacting local politics. A replacement will be selected this fall. Her roots in Minnesota go deep, especially with the Democratic party.

Liberal leaders from across the state have been quick to commend her. Senator Tina Smith, a former Planned Parenthood executive who worked with Stoesz, praised her for influencing how health care professionals treat abortion. Sadly, instead of putting effort towards building Minnesota up, Stoesz and her team attempt to carefully pull apart what holds our state together — the family.

While Stoesz may be leaving Planned Parenthood permanently, her impact on the abortion landscape in our state will remain. Under Stoesz, Planned Parenthood has been preparing for the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the eventual abolition of abortion in neighboring states. She says when Roe v. Wade is overturned “we will be welcoming people from other states to Minnesota.” The ugly truth is that Minnesota will become a haven for so-called “health care access” that only leads to the death of the unborn.

Announcing Ryan Bomberger at LEAD 2022

Guest User

We are so excited to announce that Ryan Bomberger of the Radiance Foundation will be speaking at LEAD 2022! Ryan is an Emmy Award-winning creative professional, international public speaker, columnist, and author of Not Equal: Civil Rights Gone Wrong. He is also the co-founder of RadianceFoundation.org, a life-affirming organization that illuminates that every human life has purpose. As one of ten children who were adopted and loved in a family of 15 and a father of four, he enjoys illuminating the intrinsic worth we all possess.

Ryan has done incredible work in the pro-life movement, from Congressional briefings on Capitol Hill to speaking at the March for Life in Washington D.C. to billboard and multimedia campaigns, including TooManyAborted.com, an ad campaign addressing the hugely disproportionate impact of abortion in the black community.

Parental Rights in Minnesota: Our Legislative Testimony

Renee Carlson

Parents’ rights to direct the education of their children does not end when their child goes to school. But are Minnesota schools allowing parents to exercise that right? History is telling. Over the last decade local state agencies, educational organizations, lobbyists, school boards, and administrators have created policies that undermine parental rights. Consider these few examples:

· Minnesota State High School League’s (MSHSL) decision to allow males to play on female sports teams despite significant parent testimony opposing the board’s changes;

· The Minnesota Department of Education’s (MDE) implementation of the Transgender Toolkit over the objections and concerns of many parents;

· The Public Educator Licensing Standards Board’s (PELSB) lack of transparency with regard to changing teacher licensing standards and cultural competency as statutorily defined.

Practically, these changes opened the door to school policies that: Circumvent parental notice in matters relating to students’ physical and emotional health, discipline students for acting consistent with various religious and moral upbringings, teach students about sexuality and how to obtain contraceptives without parental knowledge, and allow teachers to use curriculum that would be considered pornographic in almost any other context outside of diverse literary content.

Nearly 100 years ago the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the constitutional right and responsibility of parents over their minor children, especially in matters relating to their child’s education and upbringing, holding “a child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations…” After all, as the Court later affirmed, “parents possess what a child lacks in maturity, experience, and capacity for judgment.”

Universal Pre-K Does More Harm than Good

MFC Editor

The Biden administration is continuing its push for “universal” Pre-K, arguing that “the earlier our children begin to learn in school, the better.” President Biden’s spending bill even devotes $200 billion to expanding access to pre-schooling. While universal pre-k sounds beneficial, leading many voters to support the idea, a newly released study shows these programs actually worsen student outcomes.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University recently released a study on Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre-K (TN-VPK) program and its effect on children’s academic success through 6th grade. The long-term study followed 2,990 low-income children and randomly assigned some of them to attend Pre-K.

Students who participated in the TN-VPK program performed worse overall than students who did not. Specifically, from third through sixth grade, students in TN-VPK received lower scores on state assessments than those who were not part of the program. Researchers also noted that TN-VPK participants had lower attendance rates and a higher frequency of expulsions and suspensions. The authors of the study claimed that these findings “are not at odds with findings from other studies of children who experience group care in childhood.”

Vic and Mary Anna: 66 Years of Marriage and Counting!

Guest User

Ecclesiastes tells us that a cord of three strands is not easily broken, and as we celebrate National Marriage Week, that could not be truer than in the lives of Vic and Mary Anna Eaton, who celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary in December. Marriages like Vic and Mary Anna’s are a reminder of the beauty of marriage and its vital role in shaping flourishing families and communities. After four years at the same college, the two of them met during the final week of their senior year at the University of Missouri. Throughout the summer and fall their relationship grew through letter correspondence. “I must have been a really good letter-writer,” laughed Vic. “God was leading us and took care of us.”

With just 1% of marriages making it past 60 years, 66 years is an incredible milestone! What makes the Eatons’ story even more incredible is that almost 28 years ago, Mary Anna was told that she had only 6–9 months left to live after being diagnosed with metastatic melanoma that rapidly spread to her brain. At the time, the aggressive form of cancer had only a 1% survival rate. Vic quit his job to spend time with her and care for her during her treatment at the Mayo, living out the commitment they had made to one another to love, honor, and cherish one another in sickness and in health. Against all odds, Mary Anna won her cancer battle, leading her oncologist to ask the couple, “Do you have a lot of people praying for you?” She has been cancer-free ever since and years later at an annual follow-up her oncologist attributed her healing to the prayers of the people around her.

Pro-Life Men Make a Difference and That's Why the Abortion Industry Hates Them

Guest User

A recent study from Care Net and Lifeway Research found that nearly 4 in 10 men whose partners have had an abortion said that, of the people their partners spoke to before having an abortion, they had the most influence on her decision. This is consistent with past research from Care Net finding that the same percentage of post-abortive women said that their baby’s father was the most influential in their decision to abort. Despite the enormous influence that men play in abortion decisions, the abortion movement continues to insist that this is solely a women’s issue and that pro-life men must be silent on the matter. Men’s influence on abortion decisions also shows why it is so important for men to stand up for the lives and rights of the unborn. Pro-life men make a difference, and the abortion industry knows it.

The supposedly “male feminist” talking point from men who claim that their support for abortion is pro-woman falls apart considering the reality that 38% of post-abortive fathers and the same number of post-abortive mothers acknowledge that the baby’s father played the most significant role in the decision to abort.

Shrinking Number of Americans Say Couples Who Have Children Together Should Marry

Guest User

A recent Gallup survey found that just 29% of Americans believe it is very important for a couple who has children together to be married, down from 49% in 2006. The survey also found that only 38% of Americans said that it is very important for a couple that plans to stay together for the rest of their lives to be married — a disparity that indicates a shift in how Americans think about marriage and family, with fewer Americans seeing the two as going hand in hand.

Several commentators have pointed out that while marriage rates have been dropping for some time, and our culture increasingly minimizes the importance of marriage in forming stable families, Gallup’s research shows a significant and alarming decline in support for marriage among groups that have traditionally been pro-marriage and family, including conservatives, Americans over the age of 55, and people who attend church weekly. While 67% of weekly church attendees said that it is very important for a couple who plans to stay together for the rest of their lives to be married, only 45% of weekly church attendees said that it is very important for a couple who has children together to be married. Even in the church, a shrinking number of people recognize how important it is for couples who have children together to be married.

Major Medical Associations Promote "Treatments" That Endanger Kids

Guest User

Amid growing international pushback on the transgender movement’s so-called “gender affirmative” approach to gender dysphoria and the rush to give minors experimental treatments including puberty-blockers, cross-sex hormones, and irreversible surgeries, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has released new draft guidelines recommending a less radical approach than they have held to in the past. Rather than immediately rushing adolescents into a lifetime of hormone “treatments” and surgeries, the draft guidelines recommend mental health evaluation and several years of monitoring for adolescents with gender dysphoria, although they continue to encourage harmful and irreversible procedures after that.

WPATH, an international organization headquartered in Minnesota, plays an extremely influential role in the use of so-called “treatments” such as cross-sex hormones and “gender transition” surgery. Throughout the rest of the draft guidelines, WPATH continues to recommend so-called “gender affirmative treatments” that have caused permanent harm to young people and adults, yet the proposed draft offers slightly more protection to adolescents struggling with gender dysphoria than recommendations from major medical associations in the U.S. WPATH’s shift, slight though it is, also shows that on an international level, the transgender movement is recognizing that they may be held accountable for the damage they have caused.

WPATH’s draft guidelines added a chapter on adolescents requiring a full mental health evaluation and several years of monitoring before receiving cross-sex hormones or surgery. The guidelines continue to recommend irreversible surgeries for minors, including mastectomies for girls as young as 15 and “bottom surgery” for 17-year-old girls, although they do not recommend similar surgery for boys under 18. The guidelines also removed requirements that adults receive mental health evaluation, despite the fact that many adults who have detransitioned have spoken up about how the mental health struggles that were driving their gender dysphoria were not adequately addressed when they sought help.

Breaking: Supreme Court Blocks Vaccine Mandate for Businesses

Guest User

The Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses on Thursday. The vaccine mandate for healthcare workers at federally funded facilities has been left to go into effect.

In striking down the OSHA mandate for businesses, the Supreme Court recognized that the mandate was an instance of government overreach. In a statement, Renee Carlson, General Counsel of Minnesota Family Council’s True North Legal initiative said,

The Court correctly decided that OSHA engaged in significant government overreach, with an unprecedented broad general public health regulation, to the detriment of millions of Americans. Indeed, the Court correctly opined there is a “crucial distinction” between “occupational risk” and general risk we all face in our daily lives. And it is not for OSHA to assert itself beyond its authority as it did in this mandate.

Abortion Pills are the Next Front in the Fight for Life

Guest User

The FDA finished out the year by permanently lifting safety restrictions on the abortion pill regimen, an unsafe abortion procedure that is made more dangerous by the removal of in-person requirements. For over two decades, the abortion pill regimen was regulated under the FDA’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) program. In that time, thousands of women who have undergone chemical abortions have experienced adverse effects and 24 have died, and there is evidence that abortion pill complications are significantly underreported. Under the FDA’s new rules, “DIY” at-home abortions can be distributed by mail after a telehealth visit without so much as meeting the prescribing provider face-to-face.

Recent data from the CDC revealed that chemical abortions made up 44% of reported abortions in 2019. CDC data for 2020 has not yet been made available, but the influence of lockdowns and temporary lifting of REMS protocols likely contributed to an even further increase in chemical abortions, as was seen here in Minnesota.

This is the next front in the fight for life. For decades, pro-life sidewalk counselors and pregnancy resource centers have done incredible work offering hope to abortion-minded women. While the need for their work will continue, increasingly, women who feel like abortion is their only option will be making that decision without even leaving their home or dorm room. The pro-life movement needs to reach these women, as well, and help them see that abortion is not the answer.

2021 in Review: The Family Beacon's Top Stories

MFC Editor

2021 was quite the year and throughout the ups and downs, Minnesota Family Council continued to stand for life, family, and religious freedom here in Minnesota and across the U.S.! As we enter a new year and look back on the year we are leaving behind, we are revisiting our top stories from 2021 here on the Family Beacon blog. We are so grateful for each one of our supporters for making our work possible and we are excited to continue fighting for families and keeping you informed in the new year!

10 The “Equality Act” is Back in a Big, Bad Way

The so-called “Equality Act” compromises the safety and privacy of women and labels Christian beliefs about marriage, sexuality, and family “discriminatory,” empowering the federal government to punish disagreement on this important issue. Similar laws have been passed in many states and municipalities and the results have been disastrous.

9 Austin City Council Removes Human Rights Commissioner for his Conservative Views

In July, Austin, Minnesota’s city council voted to remove Dan Mueller from the city’s Human Rights Commission, citing concerns over his views and his involvement with groups whose missions, according to the Human Rights Commission, do not align with the Commission’s values. One of the groups in question is Minnesota Family Council. Although members of the City Council and the Human Rights Council insisted that this is “not about politics” and nothing against Mueller personally, their interviews and statements to the press did not offer specific critiques but instead mentioned vague concerns about his social media involvement and his views not aligning with the Human Rights Commission.

8 The “Right to Die” Erodes the Right to Life

A culture that begins by accepting assisted suicide as an answer to suffering will eventually accept assisted suicide and euthanasia on demand for any reason. We must expose the lies behind this distorted view of autonomy and hopeless response to suffering and help people see the value of life, pointing them to the One who came that we may have life and have it abundantly.

7 Twitter Suspends Minnesota Family Council for Truth-Telling on Trans Issues

Minnesota Family Council was temporarily suspended from Twitter in January for telling the truth about President Biden’s pick for Assistant Health Secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine. Levine is a man and his self-identification as a woman can never change that reality. Twitter claimed that MFC’s tweet was “hate speech.”

6 Radical Sex Education Does Not Belong in Children’s Classrooms!

As a radical sex education bill made its way through the Minnesota House in February, Minnesota Family Council pointed out the harms of “comprehensive sex education” and the inappropriate and agenda-filled content in CSE curricula.

5 Justice, Compassion, and Hope

As the Chauvin trial came to a close, Pastor Jeff Evans of Minnesota Family Council’s Church Ambassador Network encouraged readers to pursue justice, compassion, and hope.

4 Biden is Already Advancing the Trans Agenda

In one of his first acts in office, shortly after calling for national unity and healing, President Biden compromised the safety and privacy of women and threatened the conscience rights of faith-based organizations by signing an executive order advancing the transgender agenda.

3 Are Evangelicals to Blame for the Equality Act?

This spring Christianity Today featured an article arguing that evangelicals bear responsibility for the rise of militant LGBT activism. Minnesota Family Council’s Communications Director Moses Bratrud debunks this argument, reminding readers, “Our movement to show the amazing and life-affirming truth of God’s design for our bodies is done no favors by the unrelenting insistence that Christians must, in some form, be to blame for the shape the LGBT rights movement took, and its subsequent successes and failures. We need better and broader history, which acknowledges that Christians have fought for millennia for the dignity of the traditional family, and that this fight continues today.”

2 Why We Oppose Vaccine Mandates

It is not the role of the government to mandate that a person must put something into their body. Religious-based objections to vaccines have been around almost as long as vaccines have, and employers and the state alike must follow laws that require them to honor the religious freedom of those who have sincerely held beliefs that inform them of their conviction not to get vaccinated. Part of honoring and loving fellow members of the body of Christ is learning to love one another when our consciences differ. This means choosing not to pass judgement on those who decide differently from us, as well as fighting for the freedom of conscience of all Americans to make their own healthcare decisions without coercion.

1 Minnesota School District Agrees to Adopt Transgender Policies After Lawsuit

Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose School District agreed to adopt transgender policies in a settlement with a former student who claimed she was discriminated against when the school did not allow her to use the boys’ locker room. The school district had made accommodations for her, allowing her to use a single-occupancy bathroom and changing room, but she later argued that these accommodations were not sufficient because they did not affirm her as a member of the opposite sex.

Merry Christmas from Minnesota Family Council!

MFC Editor

Dear friends,

Has it been a tough year? For many, it has. But Christmas reveals the depth of God’s grace to us: His love is sweetest when the world around us appears darkest; His humble birth in a manger, and the salvation of the world that was heralded in Bethlehem, is all the more significant when we consider the disease and discord that have troubled us this year, as they did in 2020.

We will never realize that Jesus can truly save us until we realize that we need saving. We need salvation from our own sin, from disease and death, from the power of the Devil, from a fractured nation. This is what the Lord Jesus offers to us through the mighty work He began in Bethlehem, and completed at Calvary. When we accept that, then Christ's work is truly for us. Nothing can take it away from us! We can do all things if Christ is the one who gives us strength!

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem Proposes Draft Legislation to Protect Women's Sports

Guest User

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has proposed draft legislation for a bill to protect fairness and opportunity in women’s and girls’ sports. If passed, the bill would prohibit biological males from competing on women’s and girls’ sports teams. Noem has indicated that she would like to get the bill through the legislature within the first two weeks of the 2022 session, which begins on January 11.

Supporters were disappointed earlier this year when Governor Noem vetoed the a similar Women’s Sports bill passed by the legislature, just weeks after she had expressed her eagerness to sign it. Along with other pro-family organizations, Minnesota Family Council sent a letter urging Governor Noem to withdraw her veto. At the time, Noem cited concerns about potential litigation, although many questioned if this was really her reason. South Dakota currently has an executive order intended to protect girls sports, but the South Dakota High School Activities Association allows male students to participate in girls’ sports on the basis of “gender identity.” An executive order applying to colleges and universities recommends banning biological males from women’s sports teams but provides no enforcement.

This draft legislation is a hopeful sign. Women and girls in South Dakota need better protection of their athletic opportunities than current executive orders provide. This bill offers much stronger protection than those orders and would preserve fairness and opportunity for women and girls in sports. Representative Rhonda Milstead and Senator Maggie Sutton, the sponsors of last session’s bill said in a press release,

We are pleased that the Governor confirms that collegiate athletes need to be protected as well as k-12. It is also encouraging that the Senate President Pro Temp understands the danger it is to female athletes success when any biological male participates in girls competitive sports. Getting a bill across the finish line is critical to the future of women’s sports.

Minnesota Leadership Forum Makes Waves in Governor's Race

MFC Editor

PLYMOUTH, MN - Before a sold-out crowd, five leading conservative candidates presented their vision for Minnesota at Minnesota Family Council's Minnesota Leadership Forum in Plymouth last Wednesday, under the watchful eye of moderator Hugh Hewitt. Thousands of Minnesotans tuned in through a live YouTube stream by Alpha News and radio feed on AM 1280 The Patriot, in addition to the nearly 600 conservative voters and activists in the seats at Providence Academy’s Performing Arts Center.

The Leadership Forum, the largest event of the 2022 gubernatorial campaign so far, brought a focus on social issues that was missing in earlier events. “On behalf of the millions of pro-life voters in Minnesota, I was incredibly pleased to get strong assurances from the five candidates that each of them pledges, if elected, to use the ’bully pulpit’ of the governorship to protect life from conception to natural death,” said John Helmberger, CEO of Minnesota Family Council and principal organizer of the event. “We also heard strong commitments from the candidates supporting increased protections for religious freedom and better school choice options. The advantage of an event like this, early in the campaign, is that it allows conservative voters to hear from all the candidates as we approach the party endorsement process. As Minnesota’s largest Christian education and public policy group dedicated to life, family, and religious freedom, we feel it’s crucial to give conservative voters all the facts as they make their personal choice as to which candidate to support,” Helmberger continued.

This is Why Kids Don't Need Smartphones

Guest User

For many years people have insisted that the online world is not the “real world.” There are elements of truth to this —a screen avatar can never capture the fullness of who someone is and the filtered versions of ourselves that we present on the internet can often hide what is actually happening in our lives — but in the nearly two years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have found ourselves, at some point or another, living significant portions of our lives online. As we grapple with this brave new world it is important that we recognize how the shifting digital landscape affects children and teens and the ways that it can harm them.

A recent report from Thorn found that 14% of 9 to 12-year-olds had shared explicit images of themselves in 2020 and 21% said it was normal for kids their age to do so. Nearly one in five teens had shared sexually explicit images of themselves. Thorn’s report also found a rise in children using secondary accounts to avoid online supervision. In 2020, 25% of 9-12-year-olds surveyed said that they were using at least one secondary account and 73% said they would prefer not to say. This lack of supervision leaves kids vulnerable to online predators and exposure to explicit content. Of the minors who reported that they had shared sexually explicit images of themselves, half said that they had shared those images with someone they had never met in real life, and over 40% reported having shared the images with someone over the age of 18.

Family Estrangement on the Rise in America

Guest User

Earlier this year the New York Times reported that 27% of American adults are currently estranged from at least one family member. 12% of parents over the age of 65 are estranged from at least one adult child. In parent-child estrangement, the adult child is usually the one who has cut off contact. Value-based disagreements play a significant role in these estrangements, especially when the rift is between a parent and an adult child. Family therapists have pointed out that rising political tensions in the past half-decade have coincided with increased family rifts.

John Stonestreet has described the consequences of the “thinning out” of society — family breakdown and increased isolation leave people looking for a source of meaning and belonging, so they turn to politics and ideology. “To put it bluntly, our politics cannot handle the amount of weight we currently expect of it,” he writes.

Politics can never replace the family, but as the rise in family estrangement shows, far too many adults, especially younger adults, are attempting to do just that, to the point that they are willing to cut ties with family members with whom they have political and ideological disagreements. No family is perfect, but every family is valuable, and the ease with which young adults have begun cutting off family members over political and ideological disagreements is truly heartbreaking. Family is the bedrock of society, and family relationships are worth fighting for.

Notes from the Frontlines: What We Saw at SCOTUS

John Helmberger

It was thrilling to be present at a pro-life rally on the steps of the Supreme Court of the United States this week while oral arguments for the Dobbs v. Jackson case were going on inside. I had a sense that our team and I were truly living through history. I hope to soon be able to tell my grandchildren, “I was outside when the Supreme Court charted a course for LIFE in this country.”

One thing that struck me was the contrast between the pro-life crowd on one side, and the pro-abortion crowd on the other, separated by a metal barricade erected by the Capitol police, although in reality there were many pro-lifers on the other side of the fence, because pro-lifers had a vast advantage in numbers.

But the difference went beyond the size of the two crowds. You could see it on their faces and hear it in their voices. Both sides saw the same thing coming - the approaching fall of the pro-abortion regime thrust on our nation by the Court’s abominable Roe v. Wade ruling nearly 49 years ago - but they reacted very differently to that prospect.

Looking at the pro-life side, there were smiles and looks of hopeful anticipation. Voices were cheerful and I even heard hymns sung. I saw signs asking for compassion for the unborn and for women.