The Family Beacon

An Aitkin County jury ruled in favor of religious freedom last week by affirming that Christian Pharmacist, George Badeaux, did not discriminate against his customers based on sex. The jurors found that the plaintiff failed to prove that Badeaux “intentionally refused to do business with her because of her sex,” but required that the pharmacist pay his customer $25,000 in emotional damages. Even so, this decision from Atkin County is a breath of fresh air in the fight for religious freedom and affirms that the Unites States Constitutions is still recognized as the law of the land.

In 2019, after realizing that an earlier contraceptive did not work, Andrea Anderson sought a morning-after pill from Thrifty White drugstore in McGregor, Minnesota. This drug prevents a woman’s ovaries from releasing eggs and changes the lining in the uterine wall. Citing research, pharmacist George Badeaux denied Ms. Anderson the drug because it could end the life of an unborn child. “If I do anything that prevents that egg from implanting in the uterus … the new life will cease to exist,” he said.

Some believe that Mr. Badeaux’s religious convictions have no place in his work. The Minnesota-based Gender Justice advocacy group filed a lawsuit in 2019, and the case was heard three years later. This case isn’t about contraceptives – it’s about the fundamental “first freedom” to act according to the dictates of one’s conscience, guaranteed to all Americans. Our Constitution protects the rights of anyone to exercise their religious beliefs at home or in the workplace. This right, which is unknown in many other countries, does not only benefit Christians but people of every faith or none.

Today marks the end of LEAD, a week-long, labor-intensive, thrilling roller coaster ride for both students and staff. Our students were some of the best we have ever seen, and it will be hard to say goodbye. We pray the skills and friendships that they discovered this week will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

As students began to trickle onto the University of Northwestern’s campus on Sunday evening, the energy and excitement became tangible. Students bid goodbye to their parents and turned their attention to Riley Hall, the academic hub for the week. In room 2308, our newly elected student Representatives found their seats and prepared to drink from the firehose. Senator Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton) led the students in their first introduction to the world of legislation. Questions shot out from the audience, showing exactly how eager each student was to learn how our Minnesota’s legislature really works. As the lights shut off across campus signaling the end of our first day, the excitement felt by students reverberated through the halls.

Monday morning started with an odd sight. As the leaders entered UNW’s dining hall, we saw students bent over the morning newspaper (a strange phenomenon in our screen-addicted generation). Thanks to the diligent work of our Media Track student Eli Johnson, daily editions of the LEAD Examiner were made possible. Each day, the paper included important topics such as world events, the weather, and hilariously misquoted students.

Vice President Kamala Harris thinks that the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson is comparable to slavery. “Our country has a history of controlling bodies,” she said in a speech to the NAACP. “Today,” she said, “extremist so-called leaders are criminalizing doctors, punishing women from making healthcare decisions for themselves.” Her remarks were met with thunderous applause. But a post-Roe world is not one of slavery-in fact, it is the opposite. A world without abortion grants the right to life and self-determination to millions of children, including black and brown children, who would never have made it if Kamala Harris had her way.

Slavery is an abhorrent and dangerous evil. In the United States, slavery was a part of our society until almost 100 years after our founding. A slave, as defined by Merriam-Webster is “a person held in forced servitude” and by extension, a person whose rights have been removed, or has no choice in how they live. So Vice President is correct to say that slavery is the ownership of human bodies. But is she correct to say that abortion is much the same thing? Let’s dive deeper.

Certain rights have been established in our nation. Our founding documents remind us that God has given us the rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” which cannot be taken away by state and federal governments without due process of law. Enslaved people in the United States were certainly denied all these rights, without due process. One right that is not guaranteed in the constitution, however, is the right to choose to kill your child. If a woman does not have this right (which she most certainly does not), then abortion is morally abhorrent. Pro-lifers, then, are not controlling a woman’s body; we are merely protecting the body of an innocent child whose life is under threat.

In 2018, Keith Ellison won the Minnesota race for Attorney General against Doug Wardlow. He ran, as the Washington Post recorded, on the platform of taking on the Trump administration and protecting so-called abortion rights. Today, his view on the right to abortion has become even more radical in the face of the recent Dobbs v. Jackson decision. In a recent press meeting, Ellison said that he would defend the rights of any woman or doctor who received or preformed an abortion in Minnesota. This included, he said, denying extradition requests from surrounding states.

Ellison’s recent statements exacerbate the need for new leadership in our state. Now, Minnesotans are faced with a choice, and abortion will be a key factor in the upcoming November election.

On the Republican side of the issue, there are two candidates vying to replace Ellison. The two candidates will face off in an August 9 primary, and the winner will take on Ellison in the general election in November. The Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the state, and it is their role enforce laws where necessary. Both Republican candidates are pro-life, but they approach the topic in different ways.

This week, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) began a crusade against pregnancy resource centers. In doing so, she made it clear that her goal is not to help women in trouble. Instead, she intends to control them by ensuring that abortion clinics are the only option for women in crisis pregnancy situations.

Let’s look at what pregnancy resource centers actually do. Save the Storks, a mobile resource center for pregnant women works non-stop to inform women about alternatives to abortion. They provide safe, free, and accessible healthcare to women who are in need, including ultra-sounds, counseling, STI screenings, and pregnancy tests. Organizations like these are working towards promoting life by providing alternatives to abortion. And it is organizations like these that Senator Warren wants to shut down. Warren authored a bill with Senator Menendez (D-NJ) that would financially penalize centers that she says “mislead and deceive patients seeking abortion care.” According to a NARAL undercover investigation, misleading patients means referring to the child in the womb as a “baby” and telling a pregnant woman that she is now a mother.

Warren’s plan includes using the Federal Trade Commission to act as an “abortion disinformation board” that will shut down any organization that violates its standards, according to the National Review. This Orwellian bill gives the FTC the power to press penalties up to $100,000 dollars, a huge sum for non-profit organizations.

Some of our fellow countrymen haven’t realized that the overturn of Roe v. Wade is the beginning of one of the greatest civil rights movements in our nation’s history. In one document signed by five individuals, the rights endowed by the God and granted through the constitution ceased to be threatened by our federal government. This gives us reason to celebrate, but it has also unleashed the full wrath of the pro-abortionists, who seem to think they have gained politically from this decision. In reality, however, the momentum is on the side of LIFE.

The last two weeks have taught us of both the incredible fanaticism of the pro-abortion movement, and the great hurdles we still have before us. Our work is not done but we know that truth is on our side, and truth will always win. The side that advocates for abortion has nowhere to stand. They maintain that a woman has the right to snuff out her child’s life at any stage in pregnancy. “Abortion at any time, on demand and without apology” is their slogan. But we know the truth. We know that every child is a unique human being even from conception onward (Psalm 139, Jeremiah 1:5).

God has shown us this truth in His Word and His works. The heart starts to beat 22 days after conception. In the second trimester, a child the ability to kick and move about, the eyes begin development, and the ears can hear your voice. This is the truth that the pro-abortion movement suppresses. This is the truth that, if shared, can change the heart of even the most avid abortion activist, even those in leadership at abortion centers.Abby Johnson, once a Planned Parenthood clinic director who dramatically changed her view after seeing a human being ripped apart in the womb, spoke at our 2020 Annual Dinner about her experience. The knowledge that a human life begins at conception can change lives.

We have been living in the shadow of Roe v. Wade for almost 50 years. In that time, more than 63 million children have been murdered by abortion. Our nation has been living in darkness, but today, we see the light shining through the clouds. Today marks the overturn of Roe v. Wade. This decision that has given us fresh hope in our battle for life. But our work in Minnesota is not done: in fact, it is just beginning.

Now that Roe v. Wade is overturned, the question of the legality of abortion will fall to individual states. Some states, such as North and South Dakota are working as we speak to ban abortion permanently. Other states like Tennessee, Utah, and Texas will soon follow suit in their attempt to preserve life.

Minnesota, unfortunately, will not become one of their number immediately. Instead, it will become an abortion mecca in the Midwest, with mothers seeking abortion flocking from neighboring states. This is the sad truth: abortion in Minnesota will increase, not decrease, in the short term. Sarah Stoesz, the former CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, has worked for decades to make Minnesota a sanctuary of abortion, aided by the 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court Doe v. Gomez decision, our own state’s mini-Roe v. Wade. But we have hope: Minnesota Family Council and other pro-life organizations will work tirelessly by every peaceful avenue to make sure that our state constitution does not promote a culture of death. Let us pray for that day to come quickly.

Minnesota has long been known as a trailblazer in women’s sports. By 1972, our state already had girls’ teams in both basketball and swimming, but the passage of Title IX ushered in a new era for women in sports across the country. Today marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX and a landmark victory for equality. But, even as we celebrate, we realize these hard-fought rights are being attacked by men who seek to create a false reality in which they must be allowed to compete on women’s teams.

For much of the history of the United States, higher education was dominated by men, especially in sports. Before Title IX was introduced in 1972, women seeking an education were often relegated to all-women institutions. Typically, if a woman were to come from a lower socio-economic background, their chances of receiving an education were low. Seeing a need for equality, Hawaii Representative Patsy T. Mink authored a bill that would soon become known as Title IX, which sought to allow women and girls equal access to federal funding in education. The bill was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on June 23rd, 1972. This legislation allowed for the creation of all-female sports teams that aimed to give girls the chance that they had dreamed of.

For many pro-life advocates, the excitement of the potential overturn of Roe v. Wade has been chilled somewhat by the news of vandalism and arson at our sister organizations across the country. Over the last month, three separate pro-life organizations have become the target of abortion activists’ rage. While these acts of violence should cause us to take precautions, we will never back down from this fight. We must be prepared to deal with fear, strife, anger, and destruction. But we have God on our side, who gives us unrelenting hope that allows us to face down our fears. While evil may prowl on this earth looking for prey, we know that we are secure in our Savior, and that He will return to crush sin forevermore.

When the news of the draft decision of Roe v. Wade broke, we saw pro-abortion activists take to the streets in protest. They marched through our cities, climbed skyscrapers, and claimed that abortion is a human right. But much of the violence came after dark. In a night that some referred to as the “Kristallnacht” of the abortion debate, Wisconsin Family Action saw its office burned and vandalized. “If abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either” was the slogan spray-painted on the walls. Sadly, this was not the end. Two more incidents of vandalism occurred in both North Carolina and Buffalo, NY with similar slogans. A radical pro-abortion group known as Jane’s Revenge has taken responsibility at least two of the attacks.

While these acts may instill fear in some, we should never let this fear drive us from our mission. We should heed the example of Wisconsin Family Action President Julaine Appling, who defiantly stated “We will repair our offices, remain on the job, and build an even stronger grassroots effort. We will not back down. We will not stop doing what we are doing. Too much is at stake.” Indeed, our work is too important to give up amidst these threats.

In Bill Nye’s view, sexuality is no longer a “clear cut” subject, but can now be seen as a “kaleidoscope.” A kaleidoscope that should be explored by parents and children alike. Sadly, this once-beloved science educator has joined the ranks of those who, much like in the old story of the emperor’s new clothes, have embraced a fantasy. Through Bill Nye, this fantasy has even found its way into my hometown’s High School sex ed program. This week, parents in the Buffalo school district sounded the alarm, claiming that the school had begun “force feeding a flawed ideology over reality.”

Just last year, a transgender student in the Buffalo school district claimed they were banned from using a bathroom designated for the other gender. The student’s mother filed a suit, and the Buffalo-Montrose school district agreed to a settlement of over $200,000. Unfortunately, this settlement emboldened radical educators to bring fantastical ideas about gender into the classroom. One such idea can be seen in Bill Nye’s video, which according to the school administration was meant to share the “correct” gender terminology with the class. The Buffalo high school administration also informed the public that after significant backlash they will “no longer be using the video that was initially shared,” and that parents will have greater freedom to opt their students out of sex-ed assignments.

The video in question was published in 2017 and touts the idea that gender and sexuality are no longer binary. Bill Nye says “But people, we have to listen to the science. And the science says we are all on a spectrum.” In other words, the science of X and Y chromosomes determining a person’s biological sex no longer matters. Your gender is determined simply by how you feel. It should go without saying that this is not a particularly, well, scientific approach.

Minnesota Family Council joined Family Policy Alliance, along with the Independence Law Center and 31 state organizations, in filing an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of Kerr v. Planned Parenthood. This case centers on a 2018 Executive Order issued by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster that removed abortion clinics from the state’s list of “qualified” Medicaid providers. Instead of appealing this decision through the established Medicaid process set up by Congress, Planned Parenthood challenged the South Carolina policy in federal court.

Unfortunately, lower courts have agreed with the plaintiffs that abortion coverage should be required under Medicaid, meaning South Carolina cannot implement its ban on Medicaid funding for abortion clinics for the time being. Hence the appeal to the nation’s highest court.

In this amicus brief, Minnesota Family Council and its allies argue that the U.S. Supreme Court should reject the abortion providers’ suit because “Medicaid is a federal-state cooperative program that must be run according to uniform standards, remedies, and enforcement mechanisms to promote the intent of Congress. Permitting private litigants to sue every time a state terminates a provider’s ability to administer Medicaid services undermines this uniformity…”

On February 14th of this year, an unknown male suspect stole a shopper’s vehicle after allegedly pulling a gun on the victim. Two days later at around 12:30 p.m., two men demanded keys from another shopper at gun point. Both crimes occurred at the Rosedale Mall on Snelling Avenue. I live less than three minutes away from where these crimes took place, and like many local residents, I became more concerned for my safety. 73% of Minneapolis residents believe that crime has increased steadily over the last couple of years—and this perception is not limited to the Twin Cities. As Minnesotans start to realize this, political candidates are scrambling to find solutions ahead of the 2022 election.

This week marks the anniversary of the George Floyd’s death and the riots and violence that followed. In 2020, Minnesota experienced a violent crime surge of nearly 17% compared to 2019. Motor vehicle thefts rose by 20%, the most since 2005 according to MPR. While the Twin Cities see the most crime by far, reports from the Center for the American Experiment and Fox News have found that violent crimes are up dramatically in suburbs like Woodbury, Oakdale, and Edina. Regardless of what steps you think should be taken, we can all agree that many Minnesotans have been personally affected by the rise in crime and that this will be an election-defining issue.

On Saturday, Dr. Scott Jensen won the gubernatorial endorsement of the Minnesota GOP at the end of a drama-filled convention. This victory came after nine rounds of voting, which gradually eliminated candidates if they received less than 20% of the vote in each round. The convention, which was held in Rochester, also saw the endorsement of underdog Jim Schultz for Attorney General, Ryan Wilson for State Auditor, and Kim Crockett for Secretary of State.

On Friday, as the state GOP convention began, delegates from across Minnesota brought up the issues that most concerned them in this election. According to the Rochester Post Bulletin, the main issues for delegates were election integrity, border security, and freedom. Debbie Siefert, a delegate from Olmsted County, made known her concerns over voting rights and indoctrination in schools. Looking toward the future, Ms. Siefert hopes to “have a lot of young people wake up and get involved and really come back and fight for America.” These issues would become key talking points for candidates as they sought to gain GOP endorsement.

Five GOP gubernatorial candidates entered the convention hoping to be endorsed: Scott Jensen, Kendall Qualls, Mike Murphy, Neil Shah, and Paul Gazelka. Each of the candidates pledged to end their campaigns if they were not endorsed. Rich Stanek, who temporarily exited the campaign trail due to a car accident in Buffalo, skipped the convention and may instead participate in the August primary.

The news of the Supreme Court’s draft decision on Roe v. Wade has swept over our nation like a tidal wave. But as we await the final decision, there is much work to do. Fortunately, pro-lifers like Minnesota Representative Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring) have been valiantly working to create a culture of life in Minnesota. On May 3rd, Rep. Demuth took on the pro-abortion establishment when she submitted amendments to a bill in order to help protect mothers and their children.

The Health and Human Services omnibus bill in the Minnesota House seeks to make “historic investments in human services” by pouring cash into the health care workforce and certain health issues. All told, the 876-page bill proposes $478.7 million for health care services and early childhood programs and $270.7 million for health programs. With this increased spending came typical questions about responsible use of taxpayer money, but some looked beyond just finances.

Representative Lisa Demuth sought to amend the bill to include protections for women and children. First, Rep. Demuth argued that abortion clinics should have regular inspections and should have to be licensed annually. In the hearing, she remarked that “This is about the health and safety of women. We require other facilities to be licensed, other health care facilities, so why wouldn’t we expect the same of these [abortion] facilities?” In a truly sad bit of irony, tanning salons undergo inspections, but abortion centers do not.