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Help, Not Harm

Help, not harm.

That’s what our children need.

Even though over 80% of children suffering from gender dysphoria eventually desist and accept their God-given, biological sex, radical progressives (including those in the medical community) are rushing to prescribe harmful puberty-blocking drugs to these children. Rational, cautionary doctors are warning that these drugs can result in degenerative disc disease and fibromyalgia, and we don’t have many long-term studies on the effect of the drugs on children.

Prescribing puberty-blocking drugs to children is reckless and violates the honor of God’s design. The vast majority of children suffering from gender dysphoria have diagnoses of other psychiatric illnesses before they announce they are transgender. Rushing to give our children puberty-blocking drugs does not treat the underlying health issues they are suffering from.

In addition to Fairness in Women’s Sports and the bill to increase transparency in our school board elections (requiring candidates to declare a political party affiliation), the Indiana Family Institute will help introduce a bill to protect children from dangerous puberty-blockers, making sure our children receive help, not harm.

The IFI team depends on your support which enables us to bring this important legislation to Indiana. We want all children to receive help, not harm.

Thank you for your generosity as we work to make Indiana a place where Hoosier families can thrive. We are incredibly grateful for your support and commitment this past year and we are excited to see what we can accomplish together in 2022.

Happy New Year! We wish you and your families an abundance of blessings in the new year.

God bless,

Ryan McCann
Executive Director
Indiana Family Institute

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Legislation to Increase Transparency

Another major issue that’s been brought to our attention is the lack of transparency in school board elections. Currently, local school board candidates in Indiana do not have to declare a party affiliation when entering a race. Though neither major political party is perfect, candidates selecting a party platform to affiliate themselves with will increase transparency and better inform local citizens (especially parents) about how they want to cast their vote.

Any school board candidate can claim they want to “improve our children’s education,” but what does that mean? It’s a completely subjective statement if not backed up with further context. To a radical leftist running for office, improving children’s education might mean enshrining Critical Race Theory into our children’s curriculum and forbidding any mention of God or faith. Or, it could mean ridding our schools of the wildly divisive and racist CRT agenda.

It is essential that school board candidates declare a political party affiliation so Hoosier citizens have a clearer idea of what a candidate stands for. Indiana Family Institute will be pursuing this legislation in 2022.

Please pray for the wisdom of our legislators as we work to pass important bills that will make Indiana a better place for Hoosier families!

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Legislation to Increase Transparency

Last week, I wrote to you about how Indiana Family Institute will be pursuing Fairness in Women’s Sports legislation during this next legislative session starting on January 4. Fairness in Women’s Sports is just one of several items IFI is bringing to the table!

Please pray for the wisdom of our legislators as we work to pass important bills that will make Indiana a better place for Hoosier families!

Ryan McCann
Executive Director
Indiana Family Institute

P.S. Your generosity enables IFI to get this type of legislation on the floor in Indianapolis! Thank you for your commitment to Hoosier family values.

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UPenn Story Exactly Why We Need Legislation

Controversy surrounding transgender athletes’ demand that they be allowed to participate in sports based on their “chosen” gender rather than their biological sex has erupted again in recent weeks after a biological male UPenn athlete swept women’s swimming records at a competition recently. This conflict at UPenn is the latest in a string of similar incidents and highlights the importance of protecting athletes around the country and specifically in Indiana through legislation.

Transgender swimmer “Lia” Thomas has been competing in collegiate sports this year as a woman after swimming for three seasons on the men’s team and is consistently breaking the records set at UPenn by female swimmers in years past. At a meet in November, Thomas broke both the 200-meter and 500-meter freestyle records for UPenn and the times would have placed Thomas in second and third, respectively, in NCAA Women’s Championships.

The decision of the school to allow Thomas to begin competing in women’s sports has raised questions about its legitimacy, especially considering that NCAA rules require use of testosterone suppression treatments for at least a year before becoming eligible to compete in women’s sports. Thomas went through this treatment, but clearly, biological males are simply built different.

Both parents of UPenn student athletes as well as Thomas’s teammates are demanding change. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one of those teammates shared that virtually every other member of the team had spoken to coaches individually to express displeasure with the decision. “Our coach [Mike Schnur] just really likes winning. He’s like most coaches. I think secretly everyone just knows it’s the wrong thing to do,” she said.

Even those who support transgender athletes competing in sports outside their biological sex have conceded that they do have an advantage over their biologically-female competitors. Fellow athletes and parents have sent letters to UPenn and to the NCAA asking for a change to the policies that allowed this, but have seen little success thus far. It is imperative that additional steps be taken to protect women’s sports. We don’t want this to happen to athletes in Indiana, which is why we will be pursuing Fairness in Women’s Sports legislation this year.

Nine states already have legislation like this in place, and nineteen others are actively considering it in their state legislatures. The effort to protect women’s sports spans nationwide, and countless groups are working tirelessly to ensure that situations like the one happening in Pennsylvania are stopped. Not only is it unfair to the female athletes who have dedicated themselves to training and excelling at these sports, but it casts a shadow over college sports in general.

The Fairness in Women’s Sports legislation that we will advocate for this year is a crucial step in protecting women’s sports and preserving equal opportunity for female athletes.

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Life After Roe is Coming

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on December 1st, and the day did not bode well for the abortion industry. The majority of the court appears to be in favor of upholding the Mississippi abortion ban after the 15^th week of gestation, meaning Roe v. Wade is in danger.

The abortion clinic’s attorney argued that their client should win the case and Roe v. Wade should stand simply because Roe is already precedent. However, the judicial system has a duty to go against the precedent when it’s clearly faulty. Justices have done this in the past when a previous decision was clearly erroneous. A major case noted by the justices was Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, the earlier decision which allowed racial segregation.

During the hearing, Justice Brett Kavanaugh mentioned other celebrated cases that overruled prior decisions and Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart also referenced Plessy v. Ferguson in his arguments. “Our constitution neither knows nor tolerates distinctions on the basis of race,” Stewart said. “It took 58 years for this court to recognize the truth of those realities in a decision. And that was the greatest decision that this court ever reached. We’re running on 50 years of Roe. It is an egregiously wrong decision that has inflicted tremendous damage on our country and will continue to do so and take innumerable human lives unless and until this court overrules it.”

Stewart is absolutely right. Our justices have a duty to reexamine precedent and rule against it if it’s faulty. As Justice Clarence Thomas once said, “When faced with a demonstrably erroneous precedent, my rule is simple: We should not follow it.”

The justices made plenty of excellent arguments during the hearing that should excite pro-lifers. Justice Brett Kavanaugh repeatedly cited his position that the issue of abortion should not be decided by the Supreme Court. The “Constitution is neither pro-life nor pro-choice on the question of abortion” and thus the issue “should be left to the people, to the states or to Congress.” Chief Justice John Roberts argued that Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban is similar to laws in “the vast majority of other countries.” Referencing the liberal abortion laws in the U.S., which allow abortion up until birth, Roberts said, “We share that standard with the People’s Republic of China and North Korea.”

Justice Amy Coney Barrett noted that opponents of the Mississippi law are worried about the “consequences of parenting and the obligations of motherhood that flow from pregnancy.” In response to that argument, she noted the existence of infant safe haven laws, which allow a mother to give up her child at a safe location without facing repercussions.

Pro-lifers definitely have reason to be excited, and even those with pro-abortion views admit that from a strictly constitutionalist perspective, Roe was a bad legal decision.

If the right to make laws on abortion returns to the states, Indiana still has plenty of work to do in changing hearts and minds. We need you to stay engaged!

Thank you for your partnership in this work.

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