Family Council

09/25/2026

Family Council is pleased to support the work of the ARFuture Foundation, led by Charisse Camp. On Thursday, the ARFuture Foundation received grant funding as part of the governor's Rural Health Transformation Program.

In a statement, Camp said, "We believe every family deserves the opportunity to thrive, no matter where they call home. This is why the ARFuture Foundation is deeply honored to partner with Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ Arkansas Rural Health Transformation to build a compassionate, community-driven network of care. Rooted in faith and shared purpose, this partnership is dedicated to meeting families where they are and breaking down barriers to nutritious food, healthcare, and the life skills needed to flourish. Together, we are embracing a brighter, healthier future for rural Arkansas where the needs of every rural Arkansan are met with dignity, compassion, and unity."

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09/24/2026

Polygamists Still Making Progress in the Wake of Same-Sex Marriage

09/24/2026

Our federal government needs to take immediate steps to protect Americans from abortion drugs. That's why Family Council is encouraging pro-lifers everywhere to ask the federal government to stop letting abortionists deliver abortion drugs through the mail.

Go to abortioncrimebymail.com today to ask leaders in Washington to reverse the Biden Administration’s policy of abortion-by-mail.

PRESS RELEASE: Pro-Life Leaders Call on FDA to Restore Abortion Drug Safeguards

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Ahead of FDA Commissioner nominee Dr. Heidi Overton's confirmation hearing before the Senate HELP Committee, 50 pro-life leaders released a lettercalling on the nominee to commit to restoring the safeguards governing mifepristone that existed before the Biden administration while the FDA completes its ongoing review of the drug.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins offered the following comments on the letter: "Those who advocate for women and the unborn have patiently awaited the end of the Biden-era abortion by mail scheme, which was designed to undermine the Dobbs decision. It is time for the Trump FDA to take action."

The letter reads in part:

"Dr. Overton's confirmation hearing provides an important opportunity for her to make clear what she plans to do about the FDA's extremely permissive policy governing mifepristone.

"There are good reasons the FDA policy should not be this permissive.

"First, there are serious concerns about the safety of the drug. As just one example, a recent study found that nearly 11% of women taking mifepristone have a serious "adverse event" within 45 days of taking it.

"Second, the permissiveness of the current policy is increasing the risk of abuse, especially by men who seek to force women to have abortions without their consent or knowledge. By allowing mifepristone to be obtained without an in-person medical visit, the current FDA policy makes it more difficult to screen vulnerable women outside the presence of potential abusers.

"Third, mail-order abortion is undermining state laws enacted to protect unborn life and women.

"Despite the enactment of new pro-life laws in approximately 20 states since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion numbers nationwide are still increasing. The Biden administration removed the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone and allowed pharmacies to dispense the drug. Abortion drugs are now being mailed from pro-abortion states into pro-life states, as well as being sent to the United States from overseas.

"Shield laws protecting abortionists are facilitating approximately 14,770 abortions in states with pro-life laws each month, meaning that around 177,240 lives could be saved annually in pro-life states if their laws were respected. State governments attempting to protect life are being undermined by abortion drugs mailed in from outside their borders.

"The FDA is central to this system because it is the federal agency responsible for the approval and protocol governing mifepristone, the most common drug used to kill children in the womb and the only drug designed with abortion as its primary purpose.

"We are told that the FDA is conducting an ongoing study of mifepristone. However, that study has supposedly been ongoing for nearly two years.

"The question is straightforward: Will Dr. Overton at least agree to revert to the policy in place before the Biden administration, a policy that provided at least some minimal safeguards and medical oversight for women until that elusive review is complete?"

Read the letter at the link below.

09/24/2026

WA Teenage Wrestler, Her Mom Ask 9th Circuit to Protect Girls’ Sports, Parental Rights

ADF attorneys represent female athlete and her mom following sexual assault by male opponent

Wednesday, Sep 23, 2026

SEATTLE – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing a teenage female wrestler and her mother filed their opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit Tuesday asking it to require Washington state officials to respect parental rights and protect girls’ sports.

A federal district court denied preliminary relief to Kallie Keeler and her mother, Stephanie Brown, who are suing state officials after those officials directed Keeler to take the mat without telling her or her mother that her opponent was a male. During the match, the male sexually assaulted Keeler and Keeler allowed herself to be pinned after a second unconsented-to touching. Brown quickly reported the assault, with video evidence showing Keeler’s in-the-moment reaction, to coaches and school staff, but district officials did little.

“A 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted because of political cowardice. Washington state officials insist on pushing gender ideology, even at the expense of girls’ safety, privacy, and fairness,” said ADF Senior Counsel Hal Frampton, director of the ADF Center for Conscience Initiatives. “Our client’s injury shows the grave harms caused by lying about biology. Washington’s policies subject Kallie to an unfair athletic disadvantage and to safety risks because they would require her to wrestle males again—unless she leaves the sport she loves. We’re urging the court to require state and school officials to respect parental rights and prioritize girls’ safety in sports.”

Keeler, who was 15 at the time of the incident, was matched against a male athlete without her or her mother’s knowledge during a high school girls’ wrestling tournament under the aegis of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association in December 2025. During the match, when the more powerful male athlete sexually assaulted Keeler, she appeared visibly distressed while competing and tried to communicate what was happening to her mother, who was recording the match. Keeler left the mat crying.

After the match, another team’s coach informed Keeler that her opponent was male. District officials failed to timely report the assault. They then told Brown and her daughter that they would continue to allow males in girls’ wrestling and would not provide Brown with notice before matching Keeler against a male in the future or opt Keeler out of those matches. Brown and her daughter are asking the Ninth Circuit to protect their rights not to be unknowingly forced to compete against a male athlete.

The brief filed in Brown v. Washington Interscholastic Activities Association explains how “absent a preliminary injunction, Brown will continue to be deprived of her constitutional rights, and [Keeler] will miss another season of high-school sports—and the equal opportunity Title IX guarantees—because of [Washington state officials’] unlawful policies.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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09/24/2026

Homeschooling Mother Sues Oregon School District for Discriminating Against Her Faith

ADF attorneys are challenging Hillsboro School District after it denied reimbursement of homeschooling curricula because of religious worldview

Wednesday, Sep 23, 2026

PORTLAND, Ore. – Representing a Christian mother of five who homeschools her two oldest children in Oregon, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys are suing the Hillsboro School District for discriminating against the mother’s choice to use religious educational materials for her children. Tessa Bulzan homeschools her children because she believes that God calls her to do so, instilling her faith in her children through her chosen homeschooling materials and curricula.

Hillsboro School District offers a Homeschooling Partnership that reimburses parents for educational materials the parents choose and offers in-person learning opportunities to supplement home instruction. The program’s representative told Bulzan that she could use any curriculum, including a religious one, so she chose a combination of Abeka and Classical Conversations for her homeschooled instruction and enrolled her children in classes through the Firmly Planted Hillsboro co-op. All three provide God-centered academic instruction.

After enrollment, the school district had very little interaction with Bulzan, providing virtually no oversight for her instruction. When the homeschooled mother went to submit her expenses for reimbursement at the end of the first semester, however, district employees denied reimbursing any of the Abeka or Classical Conversation costs and any of the Firmly Planted Hillsboro co-op fees “due to the Christian and biblical worldview that is taught” and the “Christian beliefs and themes [that] are integrated throughout core subject areas.”

“Religious families who choose to homeschool aren’t second-class citizens, yet Oregon treats them as such by denying them a public benefit available to other families,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson, director of the ADF Center for Parental Rights. “Mrs. Bulzan, like every other parent, should be free to choose the best education for her children. Hillsboro School District is right to offer homeschooling families a much-needed stipend, but it’s wrong—and unconstitutional—to deny that benefit to those who choose curriculum from a Christian and biblical worldview.”

Bulzan appealed the denial to the district superintendent’s office, but the district doubled down on the denial due to the religious nature of the curricula. The superintendent’s report stated that the district’s policy followed the Oregon Department of Education’s instructions. Knowing that her chosen curricula more than satisfied the state’s academic standards, and that it was wrong for the district to deny reimbursement simply because the curricula included a religious worldview, Bulzan challenged the decision all the way through the district’s complaint process, highlighting recent U.S. Supreme Court cases holding that exclusions from generally available benefits because of religious character “‘penalize[] the free exercise’ or religion” and are “odious to our Constitution.” But the district refused to budge.

The lawsuit explains that by discriminating against Bulzan’s choice to use religious educational materials for her children, the district violated the mother’s constitutional rights under both the First and 14th Amendments.

ADF attorneys filed Bulzan v. Hillsboro School District in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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09/24/2026

83-year-old Brigitte Stegemann, a devout Christian grandmother with stage 4 stomach cancer, was euthanized against her will, despite repeatedly refusing euthanasia due to her faith.

Her family alleges she failed a basic cognitive test, wept that she’d “made a mistake,” and died with her hands clasped in prayer after a botched IV left her covered in blood.

Euthanasia is state-sponsored murder.

09/24/2026

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09/23/2026

On September 15, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance to recognize polyamory in city code.

In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state marriage laws nationwide with its Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. The decision effectively legalized same-sex marriage across the country. But it also unintentionally opened the door to polygamy and polyamory.

We have seen multiple examples of polygamists riding the coattails of the same-sex marriage movement in court and elsewhere.

Seattle’s polyamory ordinance grants special protections to “consensual relationships involving multiple partners” in city code concerning housing, employment, places of public accommodation, policing, and human rights.

The ordinance also removes the words “male or female” from the definitions of “sexual orientation” in Seattle’s municipal code, and it expands the list of sexual orientations to include pansexuality and asexuality.

Same-sex marriage’s fundamental argument is that a person should be able to marry whoever they want. If that’s true, polygamists argue, then a person also should be able to marry as many people as they want.

Back in 2015 Chief Justice John Roberts made this point when he wrote his dissenting opinion on Obergefell, saying:

“One immediate question invited by the majority’s position [regarding same-sex marriage] is whether States may retain the definition of marriage as a union of two people. . . .

“It is striking how much of the majority’s reasoning would apply with equal force to the claim of a fundamental right to plural marriage.”

But Americans as a whole may not be as supportive of polygamy, polyamory, and pro-LGBT ideology as the City of Seattle.

Gallup’s 2026 “Moral Acceptability” survey found that among Democrats, support for changing a person’s gender is down 11 points and support for polygamy is down 10 points since last year.

Among Republicans, Gallup found only 5% support sex-change procedures, and 7% say polygamy is morally acceptable.

It’s important for Christians to remember that the Bible does not support polygamy. The biblical design for marriage is the union of one man to one woman for a lifetime. The Bible does tell stories about people who practiced polygamy. In nearly every one of those stories — from Abraham to Elkanah to Solomon — polygamy is tied to serious problems.

Marriage is about more than the rights and privileges of adults.

It’s also about the rights and welfare of children. The best place for a child is in a stable home with a married mother and father.

Polygamy and polyamory have a consistent history of demeaning women and hurting children.

Most Americans seem to understand that. Cities like Seattle should recognize it as well.

09/23/2026

“Prediction market” gambling platforms have suffered a series of blows in court over the past few weeks.

Prediction markets are companies that exploit loopholes in federal law to bring casino-style gambling to anyone with a smartphone. While traditional gambling operates under state oversight and state law, prediction market platforms claim protection under federal commodities laws.

But instead of letting people invest in futures for gold or crude oil, companies like Kalshi and Polymarket let people “invest” in the future outcome of a ballgame, tomorrow’s weather, foreign policy, and so on.

But calling it an “investment” does not change reality. When prediction market platforms let users “trade” hundreds of millions of dollars on who will win the Super Bowl, that’s gambling. But unlike other forms of gambling, prediction markets are not accountable to state gambling laws.

However, prediction markets seem to be facing more scrutiny in court.

Earlier this summer Kentucky’s attorney general announced lawsuits against Kalshi and Polymarket for “bypassing” consumer protections and tax requirements in the state’s gambling laws.

Last month, the City of Baltimore sued Kalshi and Polymarket for violating consumer protection laws “by operating illegal, unlicensed sports-betting platforms and misleading consumers about the legality and regulatory status of their products.”

The State of Connecticut has also sued Kalshi for conducting unlicensed internet gambling in violation of state law.

In August a three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal law does not prevent states from regulating prediction markets like Kalshi.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin joined an amicus brief in that case against Kalshi. Griffin previously issued an opinion that Kalshi’s operation likely violates Arkansas law.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Iowa rejected Kalshi’s request for a preliminary injunction to block Iowa from regulating Kalshi under state gambling laws. Like the 9th Circuit, the judge said federal law likely does not prevent the State of Iowa from regulating prediction markets.

We have written before about how prediction markets are particularly troubling. Up until now, they have operated without state oversight. In particular, sports betting is big business on prediction market platforms. This type of gambling is out of control. It’s ruining lives and corrupting sports.

It’s good to see our federal courts finally taking steps to let states restrict this type of predatory gambling.

09/23/2026

Yahoo Finance reports the iconic sportswear brand Nike has lost $200 billion in market value since 2021. Financial experts point to poor sales performance domestically and internationally, but our friends at The Washington Stand ultimately trace it back to Nike’s political activism, calling the company’s financial turn a “$200 billion woke wipeout.”

Suzanne Bowdey at The Washington Stand writes:

“Millions of customers called it quits on Nike after its endorsement of anti-American Colin Kaepernick, who, along with disrespecting our national anthem, persuaded the company to shelve its idea of patriotic shoes.

“Since then, Nike’s far-left agenda has taken different forms — from a doomed Dylan Mulvaney partnership to its defense of China’s slave labor program. Now, the company seems intent on being the official sponsor of team transgenderism, refusing to back away from radical LGBT advocacy that’s at odds with 80% of America.

“And its roots in the movement run deep. In a conscious decision to trade their brand’s popularity for toxic activism, executives started sticking their necks out years ago in areas that were racing to put the brakes on gender mutilation procedures for children. In places like Alabama, where lawmakers tried to stop kids from rushing into transgender hormones and surgery, Nike led the corporate march to put the scalpel back in doctors’ hands. Fortunately, they failed.”

Nike is not the only company that has suffered financially because of its social and political activism.

In 2023, Anheuser-Busch sent transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney a novelty can of Bud Light with Mulvaney’s picture on it. Mulvaney posted a video of himself dressed like Audrey Hepburn showcasing the Bud Light can — which led to backlash and boycotts from Bud Light drinkers nationwide. That novelty can of Bud Light ended up costing the company more than $1 billion in lost sales, and the brand has never fully recovered.

Seeing a brand like Bud Light singlehandedly overthrow itself as America’s bestselling b**r caught the corporate world’s attention. Since then, many major corporations have reduced their LGBT themed marketing, rolled back pro-LGBT policies, and stopped participating in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.

However, unlike most major companies, Nike doesn’t just participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Index. This year the company earned a perfect score.

It’s worth pointing out that HRC’s Corporate Equality Index puts some heavy requirements on businesses that participate. Getting a perfect score like Nike’s means companies must agree to demands like covering the cost of gender-transition procedures for employees and their families, forcing workers to undergo ideological training, opening restrooms to both sexes, and so forth.

Corporate DEI polices and pro-LGBT pandering are deeply out-of-step with everyday Americans. These are flawed ideologies that do not ensure individuals are valued, heard, or included. Employees who hold biblical views of marriage or gender risk losing their jobs in workplaces that have adopted DEI policies. None of that is good for our economy or our country.

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