Mail-Order Abortion, Homeschool Rules, and More: New This Week

Current Events,
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Here’s a quick recap of the week’s top stories from Family Council and our friends:

From Family Council

⚖️ Family Council Asks U.S. Attorney’s Office to Enforce Federal Law Against Mail-Order Abortion Drugs: Last week, Family Council sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas respectfully asking the office to enforce federal law as it applies to mail-order abortion drugs. Keep Reading.

📅 Lawmakers Could Vote on EFA Homeschool Rules at June 15 Meeting: The Arkansas Legislative Council’s Administrative Rules Subcommittee could vote on a proposed set of Educational Freedom Account (EFA) rules at its June 15 meeting at 1:30 P.M. in Little Rock. Arkansans who want to make their voices heard on these rules should contact their lawmakers as soon as possible. Keep Reading.

🌊 Atheist Group Opposes Inmate Baptisms in Arkansas: Earlier this month, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to Drew County Sheriff Tim Nichols complaining about inmate baptisms after Sheriff Nichols posted on the Drew County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page about 13 inmates who were baptized at Pauline Baptist Church in March. Keep Reading.

🍼 Investigation Shows Birth Tourism Centers Operating on American Soil: A new investigation shows Chinese birth tourism centers are operating on U.S. soil — and the problem may be bigger than most Americans realize. Keep Reading.

📱 Concerns Over Addiction Grow as Gambling Becomes as Easy as Sending a Text: Concerns are growing nationwide about a new wave of gambling addiction from sports betting and online “prediction markets.” Keep Reading.

💵 U.S. Senators Working to Protect Kids from Gambling Ads: The Wall Street Journal reports two U.S. Senators are working on a bipartisan effort to protect children from gambling ads. Keep Reading.

🏛️ Leaders Call for Congressional Inquiry into SPLC Fraud Allegations: The SPLC has spent decades opposing white supremacy while also branding Christian organizations like Family Research Council and Focus on the Family as “hate groups” on par with Neo-Nazis and the KKK. The organization has also urged financial institutions to de-bank conservatives. But last month an indictment from a federal Grand Jury said the SPLC has secretly funneled more than $3 million to a covert network of informants affiliated with groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Keep Reading.

From Our Friends

Boys Atop Girls’ Podiums: Where Are the Dads? From Daily Citizen.

Woman needed ‘advanced life support’ after abortion at Rhode Island Planned Parenthood. From Live Action.

Human Exceptionalism and Artificial Intelligence. From Breakpoint.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Leaders Call for Congressional Inquiry into SPLC Fraud Allegations

Current Events

Leaders are calling for congressional inquiries following accusations of fraud by the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

The SPLC has spent decades opposing white supremacy while also branding Christian organizations like Family Research Council and Focus on the Family as “hate groups” on par with Neo-Nazis and the KKK.

The organization has also urged financial institutions to de-bank conservatives.

But last month an indictment from a federal Grand Jury said the SPLC has secretly funneled more than $3 million to a covert network of informants affiliated with groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

According to the indictment, the SPLC laundered donations through fictitious companies to people in the very groups the SPLC claimed it was working to dismantle. In some cases, the SPLC allegedly gave money to individuals listed on its “extremist” website.

On May 20, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins testified before the House Judiciary Committee in a hearing titled ‘The Southern Poverty Law Center: Manufacturing Hate.’ The hearing examined the role SPLC has played in “distorting civil rights policy in recent years” — and the real-world consequences that followed.

Perkins testified that in August of 2012, a gunman entered FRC’s Washington, D.C., headquarters carrying a pistol and fifty rounds of ammunition. The attack was thwarted by a building manager who was seriously in the process.

The gunman later confessed to investigators that he selected FRC because of the SPLC’s website listing Family Research Council as a “hate group.” The attack cost FRC more than $6 million in security-related expenses.

Perkins also testified that around 2016, the SPLC began pressuring financial companies and tech platforms to deplatform and defund organizations it had labeled extremist.

Arkansas families and churches should pay close attention to this hearing. The SPLC’s “hate group” list isn’t trustworthy. Congress and federal officials are finally saying so out loud. Arkansans should encourage their representatives to support a full and thorough investigation — one that follows every spoke on that wheel.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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U.S. Senators Working to Protect Kids from Gambling Ads

Gambling,

The Wall Street Journal reports two U.S. Senators are working on a bipartisan effort to protect children from gambling ads.

Sports betting and other forms of gambling are now legal across most of the U.S., and more than half of men ages 18 – 49 report having an active sportsbook account online. Arkansans wagered a record $86.5 million in March alone this year. But evidence shows teens and young adults may be getting hooked on sports betting through predatory advertisements.

The proposed Gaming Advertisement to Minors Enforcement (GAME) Act by U.S. Sens. Katie Britt (R — Alabama) and Richard Blumenthal (D — Connecticut) would prohibit social media platforms and other websites from advertising sports betting to children and teens.

We have written in the past how some sportsbooks have actually produced ads that seem to promote compulsive gambling and other problem-gambling behavior.

For example, in 2024, FanDuel released one commercial that showed people so focused on sports betting that they ignored everyone else around them.

Another ad promoted taking advantage of every opportunity to gamble.

Last year, FanDuel aired commercials encouraging people to gamble on “surprising” hunches — including powerful hunches that strike between football plays.

More recent commercials advertise “playoff mode” with aggressive promotional offers like hundreds of dollars in “bonus bets.”

The ads may seem silly, but gamblers who ignore loved ones, wager nonstop, or place bets “on a hunch” quite possibly suffer from a gambling problem.

We have said before that placing reasonable restrictions on advertising is one thing Arkansas could do to address predatory gambling. It’s good to see congressional leaders taking this issue seriously as well.

Sports betting is corrupting sports and ruining lives. The NFL and sportsbooks have actually faced lawsuits over the harm from gambling addiction and in-game micro-bets.

As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for policymakers to protect its citizens and families from predatory gambling. Otherwise gambling addiction will simply continue wrecking lives and hurting families in our state.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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