Category

Sexual Exploitation

Soft on Crime Efforts Always Hurt Women

By | Legislative Updates, News and Events, Sexual Exploitation | No Comments

There are few things harder to hear than a woman sharing her experience of being sexually assaulted or raped. Where there is room to be grateful that we live in the United States where women can call for help and for justice to be restored, the horrors of sexual assault still exist and need to be properly addressed. In fact, one out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. Women make up the largest percentage of rape victims, as nine out of every ten victims are female.

 

Yet despite these abysmal statistics, the Washington, D.C., City Council thought it was a good idea to reduce the maximum penalty of rape in D.C. from life in prison without patrol to a measly 24 years. The D.C. City Council passed their revised criminal code last November that went on to be vetoed by Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser. This is not to paint Mayor Bowser as a conservative crusader but proves just how radical this revised criminal code is. Despite Mayor Bowser’s veto, which should have given space for her City Council to reevaluate the measure, the City Council overrode her veto with a 12-1 vote. The one no vote was cast by Democrat Trayon White whose ward is riddled with crime.

 

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia) was approached by a concerned D.C. resident, Denise Krepp. Krepp, a Democrat, is a neighborhood commissioner who has actively been raising the alarm on this dangerous effort. Because Congress has the constitutional duty to govern Washington, D.C., Rep. Clyde decided to lead the effort against the D.C. legislation. Krepp shared that she has seen firsthand how crime has increased over the past couple of years in the city, like how an armed carjacking happened outside of her house that left her and her neighbors fearful. Another motivator for Krepp is the rape penalties that would have been severely reduced under this legislation. In a recent Fox News interview, she shared that rapists should be serving their sentences and not be released early from prison. It is important we remember that jail time is not only for a criminal to reflect on their crime, but to protect law-abiding citizens from their crimes, like rape.

 

The morning that Rep. Clyde’s resolution was to be voted on, horrifically, a female member of Congress, Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minnesota), was attacked by a homeless man in her apartment building. Thankfully Rep. Craig was able to escape and suffered little injury. Understandably, she went on to vote in favor of Rep. Clyde’s disapproval of the D.C. revised criminal code. Although, we never wish these attacks on anybody, this is a reality of living in the city and it undoubtedly convinced Democrat members to vote for Rep. Clyde’s resolution. Unfortunately, 173 Democrats still voted against Rep. Clyde’s effort of disapproval. See if your member of Congress voted against the disapproval of D.C.’s revised criminal code here.

 

In Romans 13 we know that God has ordained government to “bear the sword” to ensure that evil is punished and righteousness is rewarded. However, it seems that there has been a recent movement of people calling for the government to avoid righteous punishment. This only ever hurts those who are law abiding citizens and specifically those who are the most vulnerable, women and children.

 

Last week, Speaker Kevin McCarthy held an enrollment ceremony for Rep. Clyde’s legislation nullifying the D.C. revised criminal code that the Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee’s Government Relations team was able to attend. View the ceremony here. Sexual exploitation is one of Concerned Women for America’s core issues. We commend Rep. Andrew Clyde for leading this effort and thank all the Members who saw just how radical and dangerous this revised criminal code could have been.

Exposing the Lies of the Left

By | News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, Vulnerable Children | No Comments

In her latest op-ed published in The Washington Examiner, Concerned Women for America Senior Advisor Doreen Denny exposes the lies being told to young girls that if they are dissatisfied with their bodies, they should become a boy. “We’re learning firsthand that the safety and dignity of youth, especially girls, identifying as the opposite sex is not the priority of the Biden Administration nor medical advocacy groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and Big Pharma.” The piece reveals the procedures witnessed by a whistleblower at a “gender-affirming clinic” who called it “morally and medically appalling.”

March 12 is “Detransition Awareness” Day

By | News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, Vulnerable Children | No Comments

Last year, Detransition Awareness Day on March 12 (the second of its kind) was a breakout moment for a movement exposing the exponential trend of young people “identifying” as the opposite sex. Helena Kirschner was among the first in the U.S. to tell her story of being captured in the cult of gender identity deception and a medical industry all too eager to assist with destructive chemical and surgical treatments. Her courage led to others like Chloe Cole speaking out and directly challenging medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics promoting so-called “gender affirming care.” 

 

Over the past year, the “detrans” movement has been a breakthrough force propelling lawmakers across the U.S. to act on legislation banning the use of damaging puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-change surgeries on minors struggling with identity. Already this year, four states – Utah, South Dakota, Mississippi, and Tennessee – have acted to protect minors from this destructive approach to a crisis in mental health, especially among teen girls, adding to previous actions in five others:  Arkansas, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, and Texas. Many other state legislatures are moving bills forward.    

 

Despite liberal media outlets suppressing their voices, the heart-wrenching stories of depressed teen girls caught in the social deception of gender ideology are forcing a reevaluation of practices and legislative initiatives at the state and federal levels. They are also emboldening whistleblowers like Jamie Reed, a queer transgender clinic case worker in Missouri, to come forward, prompting investigations of children’s hospital gender clinics.  

 

An article in The Economist reporting on the first legal action in the U.S. by a detransitioner – a lawsuit against medical provider Kaiser Permanente for medical negligence – captures the important moment we are experiencing. Teens harmed by a complicit, unethical medical establishment are the tip of the spear for turning the tide. A similar case involving Keira Bell was the pivotal moment in the United Kingdom that led to the closing of the Tavistock Clinic, the pioneering pediatric center promoting destructive “gender affirming care.” Even liberal media like The New York Times can no longer ignore the truth.

 

Join Concerned Women for America in recognizing Detransition Awareness Day on March 12, 2023, as an opportunity to educate others on the truth about gender ideology, how it is infecting the minds of youth, and how institutions are peddling this deception.

YWA Testifies on Kansas Female Sports Bill

By | News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, Women's Sports, YWA | No Comments

On March 6, 2023, Young Women for America (YWA) ‘s Southern Regional Coordinator Julia Campbell testified before the Kansas Senate Committee on Education Hearing in support of HB 2238, a bill presented to ensure that all athletes in female sports are indeed biological females.

 

Though Julia is no longer an athlete, she did dance for nine years, and as a woman, she shares the concern for the dangers of letting males compete in female sports. As a Regional Coordinator for YWA, Julia believes that “The role assigned by God to men is to protect women, not trample on them by taking advantage of their giftings, dreams, and platforms. Having men in women’s arenas only further pits males and females against each other. The two sexes prosper when they work in complementary tandem, not disparaging tension. Each should prosper in their giftings, not sell themselves so short that they believe they can only achieve success by taking someone else’s reward.”

 

Read Julia’s statement in full here.

Play Video

Julia cares deeply about the issue of keeping female sports for females only because it is one issue in the larger picture of preserving the dignity of being a woman. She bases this belief on how God made man and woman, in His own image, with distinct purposes and identities; we as humans do not have the authority or wisdom to change what God has designed.

 

HB 2238 passed the Committee on Education on March 7, 2023, and we are looking forward to the day when the option to protect women’s sports in Kansas ends up on Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk.

Left to right: Riley Gaines with Julia Campbell. Riley is one of our friends in the fairness in women's sports coalition.
Left to right: Julia Campbell with Brittany Jones, the Director of Policy and Engagement at Kansas Family Voice.

Don’t ERAse Women Press Conference

By | Erasing Women, News and Events, Sexual Exploitation | No Comments

Today,  Concerned Women for America joined forces with other women’s groups and Rep. Mary Miller (R-Illinois) at a Capitol Hill press conference following the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

 

You can view the press conference here.

 

The ERA would allow federal courts and legislative powers to reinterpret every law making a distinction based on “sex” or “gender.” This means that any limits on abortion or denying taxpayer-funded abortions would be seen as sex discrimination. Women-only safe spaces like sex-segregated bathrooms, locker rooms, or domestic violence shelters could be seen as a form of sex discrimination. A woman could potentially be forced into military service against her will.

 

Don’t ERAse Women with an Equal Rights Amendment

By | Erasing Women, News and Events, Press Releases, Sexual Exploitation | No Comments

For Immediate Release
February 27, 2023

Contact:  CWA Communications Team
[email protected]

MEDIA ADVISORY:

Don’t ERAse Women with an Equal Rights Amendment

Women’s Groups will Hold Press Briefing Tuesday, February 28 before Senate Hearings

Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, February 28, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) will join with other women’s groups at a Capitol Hill press conference before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment.

 

First introduced in 1923 and heavily debated in 1972, the ratification of an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution has emerged once again and will be the subject of a hearing in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. The U.S. House of Representatives voted to remove the time limit on the ratification in 2021, and Leftist organizations are pushing again to get it passed.

 

“It feels like we are going back in time; the new ERA will erase women’s progress and erase legal distinctions based on sex, leaving women completely unprotected,” said Penny Nance, CEO and President of CWALAC, the nation’s largest women’s public policy organization. “Women have made huge strides in the last 100 years in education, employment, politics, sports, and many other aspects of society through established laws. Women don’t need a new law to be equal.”

 

EVENT DETAILS:

What:  Equal Rights Amendment Press Conference

 

Who:

Penny Nance, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee

Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL)

Jennifer C. Braceras, Independent Women’s Forum

Karen Cross, National Right to Life Committee       

Savanna Deretich, Students for Life of America           

Meg Kilgannon, Family Research Council

Britton Miller, Young Women for America

Kris Ullman, Eagle Forum

 

When: February 28, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. EST 

 

Where: Senate Dirksen, Office Building,  Room G-11 (ground floor)

 

The ERA would allow federal courts and legislative powers to reinterpret every law making a distinction based on “sex” or “gender.” This means that any limits on abortion or denying taxpayer-funded abortions would be seen as sex discrimination. Women-only safe spaces like sex-segregated bathrooms, locker rooms, or domestic violence shelters could be seen as a form of sex discrimination. A woman could potentially be forced into military service against her will.

##

Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) is the legislation and advocacy arm of Concerned Women for America. Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization with a rich 40-year history of helping our members across the country bring Biblical principles into all levels of public policy.

Normal vs. Crazy

By | News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, Special Feature | No Comments

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in her response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, laid out the case that Americans are facing a battle between “normal and crazy.” In her latest op-ed, Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America (CWA) explains in more detail the kind of crazy we are facing, from satanic rituals at the Grammy’s to drag queen story hour at an elementary school and so much more. Christians need to prepare for more battles ahead, and CWA continues to fight on the frontline.

Don’t Let Congress Undo Dobbs, Erase Women: Update

By | Erasing Women, Legislative Updates, News and Events, Sexual Exploitation | No Comments

This article has been updated (1) to include additional findings and (2) to correct an incorrect reference to Colorado, which should have been a reference to Connecticut.

 

State of play. This Congress, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) reintroduced a resolution in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in support of the so-called Equal Rights Amendment.

 

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) has already moved the measure onto the Senate’s Legislative Calendar for potential consideration in April. There are rumors that supporters will also attempt forced consideration on the House Floor.

 

Dobbs‘ undoing, erasing womenIf it was ever properly ratified, the Equal Rights Amendment could constitutionalize abortion and radical gender ideology. It could undo the historic victory in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), the U.S. Supreme Court case that correctly concluded that there is no right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution, and it could erase women from the Constitution.

 

Procedural defects. The only good news is that this current effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment—in the tradition of the past efforts—will fail. As a proposed constitutional amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment is bound by a unique set of procedural requirements for ratification. Currently, supporters are pursuing ratification outside of these bounds and through improper means.

 

Substantive issues. That said, we remain vigilant because of the Amendment’s dire consequences. Of course, the text sounds good: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” But as we have explained before, “the amendment could have a reverse effect on women’s progress.” Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), for example, expertly revealed in a 2019 House Judiciary Committee hearing that activists will use the Equal Rights Amendment to constitutionalize abortion and gender identity.

 

Abortion. Any difference in treatment between men and women can be considered denial or abridgment of equality. This even includes natural, common sense differences, such as pregnancy and birth. Connecticut and New Mexico have Equal Rights Amendments in their state constitutions. Supreme courts in both states interpreted these Equal Rights Amendments to require abortion access in their state health programs.[1] In New Mexico, for example, the court said:

 

  • “women’s biology and ability to bear children have been used as a basis for discrimination against them.”
  • “Since only women become pregnant, discrimination against pregnancy by not funding abortion when it is medically necessary and when all other medical[ly necessary] expenses are paid by the state for both men and women is sex oriented discrimination.”

 

Further, as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Rep. Johnson explained, groups that support abortion access—NARAL Pro-Choice America, National Organization for Women, and Planned Parenthood—have explicitly stated that they would use a federal Equal Rights Amendment to strike down laws that protect the unborn. Should it become law, the Amendment could insert a right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution.

 

Gender Identity. Equality could also mean reinterpretation of the law that makes distinctions based on sex, such as registration for the Selective Service. The Equal Rights Amendment could be used to force women to register for the Selective Service, and the legality of women-only spaces would be thrown into question.

 

The New Mexico Supreme Court’s reasoning once again raises these concerns by stating that it is “erroneous to rely on the notion that a classification based on a unique physical characteristic is reasonable simply because it corresponds to some ‘natural’ grouping…we must ascertain whether the classification ‘operates to the disadvantage of persons so classified.’” This reasoning—which could be the reasoning used for a federal Amendment—opens the door to judicial Monday morning quarterbacking that introduces today’s radical gender ideology.

 

The Amendment only uses the word “sex.” But as we have seen, Rep. Johnson exposed through congressional questioning that activists would use it to force the same treatment of women and men who identify as women.

 

  • Kathleen M. Sullivan, Partner, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan: “The proper textual reading of the term on account of sex does include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender identity, and that is just a textual reading of the term on the basis of sex.”
  • Pat Spearman, Co-Majority Whip, Nevada Senate: “When you talk about on the basis of sex, gender identity is a new way of saying this is who I am.”
  • Patricia Arquette, Actor and Advocate: “That is going to be argued in court.”

 

Then-House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney hosted a hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment, which included men who identify as women as within the scope of coverage for women’s new legal status under the Equal Rights Amendment.

 

And as many of you know, Mrs. Beverly LaHaye, Concerned Women for America (CWA) Founder, started CWA and mobilized thousands of women across the country because of her concerns with the Equal Rights Amendment. She spoke out against not just the Amendment’s harms for the unborn but the unfair characterization of women as a monolithic block of pro-abortion feminists. Radical gender ideology presents new challenges, but our mission remains the same to advocate for Biblical values in public policy and through that, “speaking the truth in love,” Ephesians 4:15.

 

[1] Doe v. Maher, 40 Conn. Supp. 394, 515 A.2d 134 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1986); New Mexico Right to Choose/NARAL v. Johnson, 975 P.2d 841 (N.M. 1998).

Local Bookstore Hosts Book Reading with a Drag Queen

By | News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, YWA | No Comments

By Young Women for America Ambassador, Hannah Gebhardt

 

On Saturday, February 11, local Morganton, North Carolina, business Adventure Bound Books hosted the Rainbow Readers Story Time event. The store invited young readers to “Join us as we welcome local Drag Queen Chloe Capri to the story time stage to read The You Kind of You. Craft to follow story.”

 

According to the TikTok page @chloecaprithequeen, Chloe Capri is a drag performer with Just Two Guys Productions. Capri has taken part in various drag events, including several shows at another local Morganton restaurant, Moondog Pizza, where multiple “kid-friendly” drag events have taken place. Capri was invited to Adventure Bound to take part in a read-aloud of The You Kind of You by Nina West, a children’s book that teaches “kindness, community, love, and inclusion.”

 

Author of the book, Nina West, is a drag queen and advocate of the Disney Pride initiative. According to an article by Sabina Graves, “West aims to spread awareness that kindness is needed more than ever, especially with legislation all over the U.S. with the potential to endanger LGBTQ youth.”[1] West’s book exposes children to the LGBTQ+ movement, teaching them to embrace who they feel to be on the inside.

 

Events like these rob children of their innocence by teaching them that they should explore sexual preferences and desires at a young age. The LGBTQ+ movement is based entirely on redefining the biological standards of sexuality, and therefore, any material in relation to this movement should not be given or discussed in front of young, developing minds. Today’s youth are statistically the gayest generation in history because our society continues to desensitize morality by redefining objective truth.

 

Ephesians 4:14-15 explains, “So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ.” Our God is not a God of confusion, but rather He has given us His Word to lead us in grace and truth. The LGBTQ+ movement calls children to love themselves by a worldly standard, leaving them empty as they look upon their depraved state. But true love comes from the truth of the Word of God; that we have been intentionally designed by our Creator and have been called to glorify Him. It’s time to stop exploiting children, and instead begin loving by guarding them with grace and truth.

 

[1] Graves, Sabina. “Nina West on the Importance of Kindness and Being a Fantastical Fan.” Gizmodo, 25 Nov. 2022, https://gizmodo.com/nina-west-drag-star-disney-pride-icon-new-kids-book-1849817738.

 

 

Protecting Female Athletes Remains a Top Priority as the NCAA and Biden Double Down Against Women

By | Legislative Updates, News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, Women's Sports | No Comments

A year after the NCAA’s shameful promotion of University of Pennsylvania trans-swimmer Lia Thomas in women’s swimming, federal and state lawmakers are stepping up to the plate. 

 

Since 2020, 18 states have enacted laws ensuring that the women’s category of sports is based on female sex, not an athlete’s self-identified “gender identity.” Some fifteen additional states have bills on the table, with more on the horizon. Federal legislation sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Florida) has been introduced in the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives, where it will receive high billing in the 118th Congress.

 

Already this year, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee and Young Women for America (YWA) leaders have been at work in Virginia, Texas, North Dakota, Missouri, Colorado, and on Capitol Hill testifying on the importance of these bills in legislatures, at rallies, and in the media. While the Biden Administration works to gut equal protections for women and girls with new rules that use “gender identity” to overrule sex, elected representatives in states and Washington, D.C., are working to thwart the impact.  

 

Getting bills into law will be an uphill battle in many of these jurisdictions, but that is not the only measure of progress. A full court press requires action across branches of government and vigorously challenging the Biden Administration and the NCAA and sport-specific policies that allow biological male athletes to compete in women’s sports. Female athletes will not have their rights restored until laws and policies explicitly ensure that women’s sports are for women only.   

 

Here’s a brief overview of the current state of play:        

 

Congress: Legislation has been introduced in the new Congress, clarifying that it is a violation of federal law to permit a person whose sex is male to participate in athletic programs designated for women or girls. Challenges to Biden’s rulemaking that would gut Title IX protections for female athletes are also anticipated. Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted an event on National Girls and Women in Sports Day to discuss the injustice, intimidation, and emotional blackmail female athletes are experiencing at the hands of sports authorities forcing compliance with policies that prioritize inclusion of trans-identifying males over female athletes in the women’s category of sport.      

 

States:  Across the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii, state legislators are sponsoring bills to ensure that sports remain sex-specific and to guard female athletes from the inequity and mental abuse they face when forced to compete and undress alongside male athletes self-identifying as women. The Virginia House of Delegates was the first chamber to pass legislation this year.    

 

Courts:  In a landmark federal court victory, West Virginia’s law to base participation in sports on biological sex at all levels of schooling has been upheld in court. The presiding judge reversed his previous injunction and ruled the law was constitutional and consistent with Title IX. In a related win, the federal Eleventh Circuit ruled that policies limiting access to school locker rooms and restrooms based on biological sex are fully consistent with the Constitution and Title IX. These court decisions lay a positive foundation for ongoing action in the courts.    

 

NCAA:  CWA has expressed optimism that newly-appointed NCAA President Charlie Baker could offer a new day for protecting college women athletes from the injustice of its current policy. However, nothing in the NCAA’s posture or practice offers promise. Our rally outside the NCAA convention in January was met by silence as officials inside pushed diversity, equity, and inclusion reviews and doubled down on denying the science of the sex binary in slick guidance documents on “inclusion.” Last year, the NCAA passed the buck to national sports governing bodies to determine participation rules involving trans-identifying athletes. But that doesn’t absolve college sports from the obligation of all NCAA member institutions to comply with Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Sports-specific policies are reflecting the woke culture favoring gender identity over a sex-based standard, thus sidelining female student-athletes in their own sports in a direct attack on the equality of opportunity required under Title IX.   

 

This landscape will continue to be shaped by CWA’s leadership and advocacy in coalition with partners across the political spectrum, providing a backbone of support for courageous female athletes like YWA’s Macy Petty, Chloe Satterfield, and Halli Gravely stepping up to the front line of the fight.   

Whistleblower Exposes Harm to Children Committed by “Transgender Clinics” and Medical Facilities

By | News and Events, Press Releases, Sexual Exploitation, Vulnerable Children | No Comments

For Immediate Release
February 9, 2023

Contact:  CWA Communications Team
[email protected]

MEDIA ADVISORY:

Whistleblower Exposes Harm to Children Committed by “Transgender Clinics” and Medical Facilities

Mutilating drugs and surgeries are irreversibly damaging

Washington, D.C. – Today, a former youth transgender clinic case manager in St. Louis revealed the horrifying truth taking place at “transgender clinics” and medical care facilities around the country.   Jamie Reed, a self-described “queer woman” and a liberal, told her story to The Free Press, saying, “I Thought I Was Saving Trans Kids. Now I’m Blowing the Whistle.”

 

Reed, who worked at The Washington University Transgender Clinic at St. Louis Children’s Medical Hospital, explains that the treatment she saw there was “morally and medically appalling.” She said that there were few protocols for treating patients and that they had a variety of disorders, including depression, anxiety, ADHD, eating disorders, obesity, and autism. Yet, doctors pushed treatments that result in “life-altering consequences including sterility.”

 

“This is the wake-up call America needs that no politician or responsible media outlet can ignore,” said Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America, the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization. “These same health-destroying practices are happening in children’s hospitals across the country and are the reason so many state legislatures are working to block the use of mutilating drugs and surgeries ‘permanently harming’ vulnerable youth.  Reed’s first-hand account is every reason to shut down the transactivism infecting our country peddled by the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Big Pharma, corporate America, and the Biden Administration.  Now is the time for courage, like Ms. Reed has displayed, to challenge this madness.”    

 

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Biden called on Congress to pass the Equality Act “to ensure LGBTQ Americans, especially transgender young people, can live with safety and dignity.” 

 

“There is nothing safe or dignified about disfiguring and mutilating children’s bodies,” says Nance. “Even more disturbing in Reed’s story is that this ‘transitioning’ trend is a social contagion and doctors know it. They also know that children can’t make decisions about medical care at such ages and any parent who pushes this on their child should be prosecuted for child abuse.”

 

Concerned Women for America is challenging that the “safety and dignity” of youth with gender dysphoria is the outcome of medical activism embracing gender ideology and the rabid promotion of transgenderism in our culture through social media, drag shows, school curriculum, secret gender support plans, and pediatric gender clinics.  And this brave whistleblower makes the case.

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Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy organization for women; we are dedicated to promoting Biblical values and Constitutional principles. More information is available at ConcernedWomen.org.

Don’t Let Congress Undo Dobbs, Erase Women

By | Erasing Women, Legislative Updates, News and Events, Sanctity of Life, Sexual Exploitation | No Comments

State of play. This Congress, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) reintroduced a resolution in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in support of the so-called Equal Rights Amendment.

 

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) has already moved the measure onto the Senate’s Legislative Calendar for potential consideration in April. There are rumors that supporters will also attempt forced consideration on the House Floor.

 

Dobbs‘ undoing, erasing women. If it was ever properly ratified, the Equal Rights Amendment would constitutionalize abortion and radical gender ideology. It would undo the historic victory in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), the U.S. Supreme Court case that correctly concluded that there is no right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution, and it would erase women from the Constitution.

 

Procedural defects. The only good news is that this current effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment—in the tradition of the past efforts—will fail. As a proposed constitutional amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment is bound by a unique set of procedural requirements for ratification. Currently, supporters are pursuing ratification outside of these bounds and through improper means.

 

Substantive issues. That said, we remain vigilant because of the Amendment’s dire consequences. Of course, the text sounds good: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” But as we have explained before, “the amendment could have a reverse effect on women’s progress.” Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), for example, expertly revealed in a 2019 House Judiciary Committee hearing that activists will use the Equal Rights Amendment to constitutionalize abortion and gender identity.

 

Abortion. Any difference in treatment between men and women can be considered denial or abridgment of equality. This even includes natural, common sense differences, such as pregnancy and birth. Rep. Johnson explained:

  • [I]n 1988, the Colorado Supreme Court held that Colorado’s ERA in its state constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.
  • Ten years later in 1998, the Supreme Court of New Mexico took the next step and relied on New Mexico’s state-level ERA to strike down a state reg[ulation] that restricted state funding of abortions for Medicaid-eligible women. In New Mexico, Right to Choose/NARAL v. Johnson, the court held as follows:
    • “Neither the Hyde Amendment nor the federal authorities upholding the constitutionality of that amendment bar this court from affording greater protection of the rights of Medicaid-eligible women under our state constitution in this instance. Article II Section 18 of the New Mexico Constitution guarantees that equality of rights under law shall not be denied on account of the sex of any person.” “We construe,” the court said, “the intent of this amendment is providing something beyond that already afforded by the general language of the equal protection clause.”
  • More recently, NARAL Pro-Choice America, in a March 13, 2019, national alert, admitted their belief that the Equal Rights Amendment would,
    • “reinforce the constitutional right to abortion. It would require judges to strike down anti-abortion laws.”.

 

Gender Identity. Equality could also mean reinterpretation of the law that makes distinctions based on sex, such as registration for the Selective Service. The Equal Rights Amendment could be used to force women to register for the Selective Service, and the legality of women-only spaces would be thrown into question.

 

Further, while the Amendment only uses the word “sex,” Rep. Johnson exposed through congressional questioning that it would be used as a tool to advance gender ideology.

 

  • Kathleen M. Sullivan, Partner, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan: “The proper textual reading of the term on account of sex does include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender identity, and that is just a textual reading of the term on the basis of sex.”
  • Pat Spearman, Co-Majority Whip, Nevada Senate: “When you talk about on the basis of sex, gender identity is a new way of saying this is who I am.”
  • Patricia Arquette, Actor and Advocate: “That is going to be argued in court.”

 

And as many of you know, Mrs. Beverly LaHaye, Concerned Women for America (CWA) Founder, started CWA and mobilized thousands of women across the country because of her concerns with the Equal Rights Amendment. She spoke out against not just the Amendment’s harms for the unborn but the unfair characterization of women as a monolithic block of pro-abortion feminists. Radical gender ideology presents new challenges, but our mission remains the same to advocate for Biblical values in public policy and through that, “speaking the truth in love,” Ephesians 4:15.

CWA Takes Message Directly to the NCAA: Stop Discriminating Against Female Athletes

By | News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, Texas, Women's Sports | No Comments

Concerned Women for America (CWA) and Young Woman for America (YWA) joined allies in the fight to preserve a fair playing field for college female athletes by taking our message straight to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at their annual convention in San Antonio, Texas. The rally showcasing female champion athletes and women’s organizations representing the voices of Americans across the political spectrum received nationwide coverage and put the NCAA on notice for legal action should it continue its discriminatory policy allowing male athletes identifying as women to participate and compete in the women’s category of sport.   

 

A petition urging the NCAA to stop discriminating against female athletes was hand-delivered to NCAA officials with nearly 10,000 signatures.    

 

As reported by the Daily Signal, CWA Senior Advisor Doreen Denny, YWA Ambassador and current NCAA volleyball athlete Macy Petty, and CWA of Texas State Director Ann Hettinger spoke at the rally. They were joined by Deanna Drogan, CWA’s Digital Media Specialist, Cassidy Comer, basketball player from Midwestern State University in Texas, and other local CWA/YWA supporters.

 

Speakers also urged the Texas Legislature to pass a bill sponsored by Rep. Valoree Swanson (R-District 150, the Save Women’s Sports Act, which would protect female athletics at all levels, including college.

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Local Restaurant Hosts Disney-Themed Drag Show

By | Defense of Family, News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, YWA | No Comments

By YWA Ambassador Hannah Gebhardt

 

As a former staff member at a children’s summer camp and the wife of a children’s minister, I have had the pleasure of getting to experience the innocence and joy that comes from the mind of a child. It is for this reason that news like the following breaks my heart. On January 15, 2023, Moondog Pizza, a local restaurant in downtown Morganton, North Carolina hosted a Disney themed drag show for all ages. The show consisted of several “drag queens” who engaged in Disney themed performances, aimed at fans of the well-loved franchise. Many local supporters of the restaurant posted comments showing support of Moondog’s drag show, emphasizing how “kid-friendly” the event was. Disney was created and still is by design a company whose target audience is young children and teens. Through using a childlike theme, the restaurant encouraged parents to bring their children and expose them to indecent sexual performances under the guise of a family experience.

Businesses and individuals across the country are promoting what they believe to be a culture of acceptance, but the sad reality is that events like this attack the most vulnerable members of society, our children. Karl Marx believed that the destruction of the nuclear family was necessary for the creation of a socialist society, the stepping stone to his ultimate goal of a communist utopia. Sadly, Marx was exactly right. Whether we want to accept it or not, our culture is determined to destroy the nuclear family in order to reshape morality. But this is where every single individual should draw the line.

 

The apostle Peter writes, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) The enemy is real and as Christian’s we are called to use reason in order to discern the truth among the evil that prevails in our society. I refuse to sit back and let corrupt businesses like this destroy morality by exploiting innocent and impressionable young children. It’s time for all of us to stand together and use our voices in order to fight for the protection of children against sexual exploitation.

Loudoun County Hellscape Part I: Victims Be Damned

By | Defense of Family, Education, LBB, News and Events, Sexual Exploitation | No Comments

The weight of writing about this story has been almost unbearable. Every keystroke requires an unusual sort of effort accompanied by a prayer that God may grant the grace of a positive impact. “Positive” is not a word you would associate with the events of the past few years at Loudoun County Public Schools. And although we should be incredibly grateful to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares for appointing a grand jury to investigate these events and to the citizens who served on the grand jury, reading the report is painstakingly frustrating.

 

The report finds leadership failures at the highest levels of school administrations that are appalling, immoral, and should be criminal. Yet, no indictments have been issued. We will, therefore, examine these failures in a series of posts meant to stress the gravity of these events and amplify the victim’s continued cry for justice. Part I: Victims Be Damned.

 

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about the grand jury report is its lack of focus on the victims. But before I get into that, a quick summary of the events is in order…

 

Click here to read the rest of Mario’s exclusive Substack column. And be sure to subscribe below to never miss one of his posts again!

Even Lawyers Deserve Free Speech

By | News and Events, Press Releases, Religious Liberty, Sexual Exploitation | No Comments

For Immediate Release:

November 03, 2022    

Women’s Groups File Joint Amicus Brief to Protect

Free Speech in Legal Profession

 

Lawyers cannot be held hostage by political activism”

 

Washington, D.C. – Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) and Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) have filed a joint amicus brief calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit to uphold rights to freedom of speech under the First Amendment in the case of Greenberg v. Lehocky.

 

In 2020, Pennsylvania’s Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(g), a rule limiting attorney speech rights, was struck down by the  U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court approved a revised version of Rule 8.4 (g) imposing a sweeping restriction on conduct that is harassment or discriminatory based upon race, sex, “gender identity” or expression, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status, or socioeconomic status. CWA and WoLF urge the 3rd Circuit to uphold the U.S. District Court decision that Pennsylvania Rule 8.4(g) violates free speech protections under the First Amendment. 

 

“WoLF and CWA see eye to eye that a direct threat to women in Rule 8.4(g) is intimidating attorneys from truthfully declaring what a woman is,” said Penny Nance, CEO and President of CWALAC, the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization. “Protecting the status and dignity of women and girls on the basis of immutable sex characteristics is a shared interest that transcends politics. CWA proudly joins with our allies on the Left in this brief to fight for the fundamental right to speak freely and openly that a male is male and a female is female. Lawyers cannot be held hostage by political activism that seeks to redefine basic facts as harassment or hate speech.”   

 

“Attorneys must be allowed, both inside and outside the courtroom, to speak freely and clearly about basic facts, including the fact that men are male and women are female,” said Mahri Irvine, Executive Director of the Women’s Liberation Front. “This new rule endangers legal professionals; they could be accused of ‘harassment’ simply for making factual statements about men and women in the courtroom and in a wide variety of professional or social settings. Under this new rule, practicing law has become a more perilous profession for attorneys who do not believe in gender ideology.”

 

As the brief explains, the impact of speech codes is evident in current court cases seeking to protect the sex-based rights of female athletes who are displaced by males identifying as women:  “A lawyer’s assertion that a particular competitor is not female, for instance, may be viewed by some as ‘denigrating’ the competitor based on ‘gender identity’ and therefore subject to sanction under Rule 8.4(g).”

 

“Rule 8.4(g)’s prohibitions create a viewpoint-based chilling effect that will make it harder for lawyers to engage in the very thing that CLE’s, bench-bar conferences, and similar events should contain: free and open discussions and debates about important issues,” the WoLF and CWALAC amicus brief concludes.

 

For more information or to schedule an interview, contact [email protected] or [email protected].

 

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Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee is the legislation and advocacy arm of Concerned Women for America, the Nation’s largest public policy organization for women; we are dedicated to promoting Biblical values and Constitutional principles. More information is available at www.ConcernedWomen.org

 

WoLF is the country’s largest radical feminist organization; WoLF’s mission is to restore, protect, and advance the rights of women and girls through legal argument, policy advocacy, and public education. More information is available at www.womenarefemale.org.

Trans Insanity: Ulta Beauty Pushing Gender-Bending On Minors

By | News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, Vulnerable Children | No Comments

Trans Insanity: 
Ulta Beauty Is Just The Latest Big Business To See
Dollars Signs In Pushing Gender-Bending On Minors

 

In this timely article in The Federalist,  Doreen Denny, Concerned Women for America’s Senior Advisor reports on the heartbreaking account of a young woman’s realization that “gender affirmation” deception has ruined her life and exposes how teen girls have become prey to the booming medical and retail industries marketing gender ideology.