John Stonestreet – Page 20

Commercial Surrogacy and Modern-Day Slavery: Guest Column

May 13, 2024John StonestreetSurrogacyCommercial Surrogacy

According to Britain’s The Independent, calls to an anti-slavery hotline grew from just under 10,000 in 2022 to nearly 12,000 last year. Whether the increase in calls reflects an actual increase of slavery in the U.K. or an increase in awareness of the hotline, it’s a reminder that an ancient evil is still very much part of the modern world.

Today, slavery can take the form of things like organ harvesting, or even surrogacy-based slavery, when women are warehoused, financially pressured, or otherwise coerced into providing children for paying Western customers.

This booming market, child advocate Katy Faust says, “is the real #HandmaidsTale,” with customers and “providers” willing to go to unconscionable lengths to secure the “product.” With so much money to be made and little to no legal restrictions, women and children are dehumanized and made commodities.

Make no mistake, this is one of the great human rights crises of our day.

Gender Ideology Coming for Courts: Guest Column

May 10, 2024John StonestreetLGBTLGBT, Transgender

Judges in the state of California who oversee child abuse and neglect cases are now required to take an annual training course entitled “LGBTQ+ Considerations.” The training urges judges to “use the name and gender of the youth they request” and “insist the Department use their requested name and gender.” And, recently in Ohio, a state-backed function featured a workshop in which activists told judges to affirm the transgender identity of youth.

Adopting language amounts to adopting ideas. When gender ideology shapes the courtroom, both the health and wellbeing of vulnerable young people and the God-given responsibility and prerogative of parents are threatened. Young people who struggle with gender are already at a higher risk of depression or suicide. Affirming their confusion does not lead to better mental health outcomes.

If the courts really hope to protect young people, they will protect the family and not undermine it with bad ideas.

British MP Acknowledges Truth of the Cass Review: Guest Column

May 6, 2024John StonestreetLGBTLGBT, SAFE Act, Transgender

The Cass Review, “the most extensive and thorough … evidence-based review of treatment for children experiencing gender distress ever undertaken,” landed like a bombshell in the U.K. The report’s main conclusion is that science is not settled about “gender-affirming” treatments of minors. In fact, Dr. Cass concluded that “for most young people, a medical pathway will not be the best way to manage their gender-related distress.”

As expected, the reaction from LGBTQ advocates was swift and shrill, attempting to discredit The Cass Review. For example, British MP Dawn Butler claimed that Dr. Cass left out 100 studies from the report. It turns out she simply repeated a social media post of a pro-LGBTQ organization without fact-checking the claim or reading the report.

After being corrected by Dr. Cass and others, Butler admitted her mistake and apologized for “inadvertently [misleading]” the House. Good for her. She’s given us an example of the power of truth to change hearts and minds.