Last Tuesday, Americans voted decisively in hopes of changing the direction that our country is headed. But what does the election outcome mean for us here in Massachusetts? While MFI typically focuses on state-level political issues, we have never shied away from engaging issues at the federal level when they have the potential to help or harm Massachusetts families. The past four years under the Biden-Harris administration have unfortunately been marked by policies that have undermined religious liberty, diminished free speech, denied biological reality, eroded education, and threatened the right to life. We are hopeful that the Trump-Vance administration will quickly reverse course on these policies. Here are ten ways that it could do so:
Biological Truth
- Ending the Biden Title IX Changes: We sounded the alarm earlier this year about the new Biden-Harris Title IX regulations. These would have used that federal law, which was designed to provide equal educational opportunities to women and girls, to instead force public schools to let men into women’s locker rooms, mandate that girls to sleep in the same rooms as boys on field trips, require students and teachers to use transgender pronouns, and more. The Trump administration should not only to rescind these regulations, but issue new regulations banning men from women’s sports and women’s spaces in public schools. President Trump has committed to doing so.
- Refusing to Fund Gender Transitions for Minors: Boston Children’s Hospital is arguably the epicenter of the pediatric “gender affirming care” scandal, and MFI uncovered last year that Massachusetts spent over $7.6 million of taxpayer money from 2012 to 2022 on gender transition treatments for minors. The new administration should strip Medicare and Medicaid funding for any hospital that performs such barbaric procedures. President Trump has pledged to do so.
- Penalizing Schools that Promote Gender Ideology: We’ve messaged many times on the gender insanity that is going on in Massachusetts public schools, from elementary schoolers being indoctrinated in transgender ideologyto schools lying to parents when their child is struggling with gender dysphoria. President Trump has stated that his administration will “inform states and school districts that if any teacher or school official suggests to a child that they could be trapped in the wrong body, they will be faced with severe consequences—including potential civil rights violations for sex discrimination and the elimination of federal funding.”
Religious Liberty
- Enforcing Protections Against Religious Discrimination: Christian employees in Massachusetts are frequently disciplined or even fired for holding to their religious beliefs regarding gender, life, vaccines, and more. Title VII is a federal law that is supposed to prevent this type of discrimination, but the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under the Biden-Harris administration has failed to effectively enforce the law. The Trump administration should use the EEOC to enforce Title VII to its fullest extent.
- Upholding Healthcare Providers’ Conscience Rights: Both state and federal laws protect the rights of religious healthcare providers to opt out of performing abortions or sterilization procedures in Massachusetts. Under the Biden-Harris administration, however, federal conscience protections were not enforced. The Trump administration should ensure that no hospital that forces employees to violate their beliefs gets federal tax dollars, as it did in its first term.
Speech
- Banning Censorship on College Campuses: Students at public universities in Massachusetts who do not buy into the radical agendas that their schools are pushing have been silenced, and religious student groups have sometimes even been forced off of campus. The incoming administration has signaled that any public university that engages in censorship will lose federal research dollars and federal student loan support. It should also use the Department of Justice to crack down on violations of students’ First Amendment rights.
Education
- Expanding School Choice: Many public schools in Massachusetts are failing to educate students in the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, opting instead to indoctrinate children in the radical political causes of the day. Parents need better options. The incoming administration should support school choice, including federal bills like the Educational Choice for Children Act.
- Supporting Homeschoolers: One of the primary ways that parents are opting out of the public school system in Massachusetts is by homeschooling their children. MFI has been a leader in promoting homeschool church-based learning centers across the Commonwealth. President Trump has pledged to allow homeschool families to spend up to $10,000 a year per child, tax free, from 529 Education Savings Accounts on education expenses. This would be a step in the right direction.
Life
- Protecting Pregnancy Resource Centers: In the wake of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, many PRCs across Massachusetts were subjected to vandalism and violence. Attacks on pregnancy clinics, including PRCs, are illegal under federal law. Yet, under the Biden-Harris DOJ, not one of the attackers were brought to justice. Instead, pro-life protestors, including young mothers and the elderly, have been prosecuted and thrown in jail for trying to stop abortions. The incoming administration should reverse course and vigorously enforce federal law to stop attacks on PRCs.
- Restricting Abortion Pill Access: In Massachusetts last year, 65% of abortions were performed using the abortion pill. Even though this deadly pill has ended millions of human lives and can have life-threatening side effects for mothers, in 2021 the FDA removed safeguards that required the pill to be prescribed in-person after a visit with a doctor. Now, the pill can be prescribed via mail after a telehealth appointment. It appears that Massachusetts is now exporting abortion pills to thousands of women in other states. The Trump FDA should ban the abortion pill or, at the very least, reinstitute the pre-2021 restrictions to protect both women and babies.
We are hopeful that the change in administration will lead to the reversal of the destructive federal policies of the past four years and the promotion of biological truth, religious liberty, free speech, quality education, and life in the Commonwealth and across the nation. Regardless of what happens at the federal level, however, MFI will continue fighting for state and local victories to defend your rights and promote flourishing families in Massachusetts.
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