American Family News / Bronson Woodruff / March 13, 2024
In Massachusetts, elementary schools are offering sexuality themed clubs for children.
Jess Richardson, communications and research assistant for the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), says the Rainbow Club and the similar Rainbow Alliance have nothing to do with the biblical meaning of a rainbow.
“It’s an LGBTQ club for students in elementary school,” she relays.
Richardson says her team started investigating when they began getting Facebook messages from parents about these clubs, which generally target students as young as third grade, though some schools open the clubs up to kindergartners.
“There’s a couple different examples of lessons that are online,” she references. “They’re doing things like talking about LGBTQ history, they’re reading books that have transgender characters, [and] there’s one that we found in Cambridge Public Schools where they were having the kids make trans awareness posters and personal pride flags.”
“Little kids are not old enough to be thinking about sexual attraction and things like that,” Richardson asserts.
As MFI continues to look for other public schools in Massachusetts that offer these clubs, Richardson urges parents to stay aware.
“Some of the schools are looking for parental consent before children can participate in these clubs,” she notes. “Others don’t seem to require that.”
NBC Boston / Matt Prichard / February 7, 2024
With another Massachusetts legislative session came another attempt to cement the Healthy Youth Act into law.
Senate leadership brought the sexual education revamp to the floor on Thursday, aiming to create new teaching guidelines encompassing human anatomy, reproduction, the benefits of abstinence and information on LGBTQ+ identities and experiences.
“We’ve been fighting this battle to get it across the finish line,” said Sen. Sal DiDomenico.
Proponents of the legislation have faced resistance from groups like the Massachusetts Family Institute.
“It’s really just a euphemism for sex ed that teaches kids are sexual from birth, have a right to sexual pleasure and that it’s normal for them to explore their sexuality,” argued Sam Whiting, an attorney for the Christian advocacy group.
Boston Herald / Rick Sobey / February 7, 2024
Middleboro student Liam Morrison, now in 8th grade, last year was barred by school officials from wearing a shirt to school that read, “There are only two genders.” The 7th grader then wore a shirt that stated, “There are censored genders,” and again, he was ordered to take off the shirt.
Liam, with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom and Massachusetts Family Institute, filed a federal free speech lawsuit in the wake of the shirt controversy last year.
After the U.S. district judge ruled in favor of the Middleboro school officials, Liam’s case is now heading to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in Boston on Thursday.
Zero Hedge / Tyler Durden / February 2, 2024
Sam Whiting, a staff attorney at the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), told The Epoch Times that the mandate potentially puts foster parents who also have biological children in danger of being labeled abusive and could even lead to the state attempting to take custody of their children.
“If you have a foster family that doesn’t believe in teaching gender-affirming ideology to their own kid, the next step could be to refer them to CPS,” said Mr. Whiting.
Critics call the development unsafe for female students, and it could result in discrimination against potential employees of college health centers who are pro-life.
“This action by the Massachusetts Department of Health will put young women at risk,” Mariah Newell, communications specialist for Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), told The Lion. “Thousands of women have reported severe side effects as a result of the abortion pill. Some women have even died.
“Not only will these directives injure women and kill innocent unborn babies, but they will also encourage discrimination against pro-life voices on campus by weeding out those opposed to abortion during the interview process for jobs at university health centers.
“MFI is ready to take legal action on behalf of anyone who is denied a job at these university clinics because of their opposition to abortion. Such individuals should reach out to us immediately.”
New Boston Post / Tom Joyce / November 27, 2023
Old Rochester isn’t the only school district in Massachusetts that uses the genderbread person in its sex-ed curriculum. Among others: Mansfield High School uses it to teach its freshmen and juniors, Hanover Middle School teaches it to its seventh-grade students, and Chelmsford teaches it to sixth-graders.
Mary Ellen Siegler of the Massachusetts Family Institute told NewBostonPost that the graphic misinforms children by denying biological reality.
“The genderbread person graphic teaches children that their gender is not determined by their biological sex, but by their subjective feelings,” Siegler said by email. “This lesson is not based on science and confuses children about their identity which sets some students on the path to irreversible transgender treatments causing permanent damage to their young bodies. No child is born in the wrong body. Schools must stop victimizing children. Parents must collectively demand these lessons no longer be taught in school.”
Catholicism.org / Joe Doyle / October 19, 2023
Catholic Action League Executive Director C.J. Doyle made the following comment: “While the vote was a victory for human life, religious freedom and constitutional government, its proximate cause was a cold and calculated appreciation of the legal liabilities, and consequent fiscal burdens, that the City of Worcester and its taxpayers would have to bear defending this untenable and extremist legislation in court.
The Massachusetts Family Institute, in threatening a lawsuit against Worcester, no doubt contributed to the more reasonable frame of mind that the council majority eventually settled upon.
There is a lesson to be learned here for the pro-life movement. While the Legislature, the Constitutional Officers and the congressional delegation may be wholly owned subsidiaries of Planned Parenthood, the tentacles of the abortion industry do not seem to reach down as deeply and completely into the political lives of local elected officials.
That means the pro-life movement may still have room to maneuver in the corridors of municipal government in Massachusetts.”
Fox News / Sarah Rumpf-Whitten / September 19, 2023
Conservative organizations have disagreed with the governor, saying that she is not listening to the concerns of Massachusetts parents and prioritizing “activist ideologies.”
“Despite receiving thousands of comments from parents who did not approve of the draft Framework, BESE forged ahead, making no substantive content changes in the topics of human sexuality and gender identity,” Massachusetts Family Institute President Ian Huyett told Fox News Digital. “Our educational leaders have sent a message that they prioritize activist ideologies over constituent feedback.
“Massachusetts Family Institute will continue to stand with parents to protect their kids from sexualization and gender confusion in schools.”
Boston.com / Abby Patkin / September 19, 2023
The updated framework has faced some controversy and backlash from groups like the Massachusetts Family Institute, a conservative Christian organization arguing that conversations about sexuality and gender should be happening at home, rather than at school.
When Gov. Maura Healey announced the draft framework back in June, MFI labeled some of the learning objectives as “highly disturbing,” asserting that sex ed lessons aligned with the framework “will groom vulnerable youth toward early sexual debut and transgender identifications that set them up for mental, emotional, and physical harm.”
Notably, while public schools in Massachusetts are required by law to teach health and physical education, districts have the final say on what curriculum and materials to use. State law also allows parents to opt their children out of sex education if they choose.
New Boston Post / Tom Joyce / September 8, 2023
And, according to a report from the Massachusetts Family Institute, fatherless teen-age girls are five to seven times more likely to become pregnant than those who have a father in the home.
That is startling, and it’s troubling. It seems to indicate that one way to reduce the number of abortions that occur in Massachusetts and elsewhere across the globe is to promote two-parent families with a father and mother living in the home with their children.
While the report does not directly address abortions, it says the teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher in Bay State municipalities that have high fatherlessness rates compared to those where two-parent households are the norm.
Patch / Neal McNamara / August 22, 2023
The MFI letter from attorney Samuel Whiting urged councilors to side with Batista and Traynor and not adopt the ordinances.
“I write to echo the statements of the solicitor, to provide additional information on the unconstitutionality of these draft ordinances, and to warn the council that should either of these ordinances pass, the city will face litigation,” Whiting wrote.
The two ordinances are almost identical to ones passed in Somerville and Cambridge, where no CPCs operate. There are two CPCs in Worcester: Clearway Clinic, which has been sued by a woman who claims a nurse at the clinic misled her about the viability of an ectopic pregnancy that later required surgery; and Problem Pregnancy, which is located across the street from the Pleasant Street Planned Parenthood clinic.
One of the proposed ordinances would regulate deceptive advertising, effectively prohibiting CPCs from mimicking abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. The second proposed ordinance requires CPCs to prominently disclose that they are not licensed medical centers, and they do not provide abortions.
“Forcing PRCs to put unnecessary disclaimers on all of their published materials would place an undue burden on them. It would require them to expend thousands of dollars rewriting their materials and signify government disapproval of their operations,” Whiting wrote.
The Ohio Star / Susan Berry / August 22, 2023
LGBTQ activists are seeking to ensure Massachusetts public schools are celebrating their agenda’s events throughout the academic year, Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) warns parents.
“Sex on the school calendar has become commonplace all over the nation,” a downloadable document from MFI states.
The pro-family organization urges parents to be aware of sexually-themed events that may be celebrated and discussed in their school districts.
“Sexuality-themed events are cropping up in MA schools, often facilitated by GSAs (Gender and Sexuality Alliances),” the organization says. “Will any of these dates be observed in your district? Find out. Oppose the sexualization of children in school.”
“Across the state, student clubs like the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) set aside a day, a week, or sometimes even a month to promote sexual ideology,” MFI explains. “From Bisexual Awareness Day and LGBT History Month to International Pronouns Day, GSAs promote national and international observance days to a captive audience of students in MA K-12 schools.”
“These promotions represent a real and persistent agenda aimed at sexualizing our children and pushing harmful sexual and transgender ideology on them,” the group cautions.
Daily Citizen / Emily Washburn / August 10, 2023
The local attorney on the Burkes’ case serves on the board of the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), a non-profit, Focus on the Family-allied organization “dedicated to strengthening the family and affirming the Judeo-Christian values upon which it is based.” The Institute emphasizes the importance of the case in a comment to the Daily Citizen, saying:
“It would be hard to imagine a clearer example of overt discrimination against Catholics based on their sincerely held religious beliefs. This type of prejudice would never be tolerated if we were talking about race, gender, or sexuality, but when it comes to people of faith, and especially Christians, it’s fair game here in Massachusetts. We are confident that the Burkes will prevail.”
The Ohio Star / Susan Berry / July 20, 2023
“HB1599/SB1114 would eliminate nearly all restrictions on abortion in Massachusetts, would make an abortion more dangerous for women, would allow girls of any age to obtain abortions without parental consent, and more,” states Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI).
“If passed this bill would undermine parental rights, eliminate conscientious objections to performing abortions and safety regulations for dangerous late-term abortions, and target pregnancy resource centers,” the pro-life, pro-family organization explains further its opposition to the measure.
In its brief about the bill, MFI specified that removing the requirements of parental notification and consent for a young teen’s abortion can have dangerous consequences.
“Current law requires parental consent or a judge’s permission for abortions when the pregnant girl is under 16 years of age,” MFI notes, which is “also the legal age of consent for sexual activity in MA, which means this new provision would specifically remove protections for victims of statutory rape, making it exponentially easier for sex traffickers and child rapists to hide their crimes by forcing their victims to obtain abortions.”
The brief adds the bill would also “require school-based health centers to keep information or treatment related to minor students’ abortions confidential from parents.”
Daily Signal / Virginia Allen / July 20, 2023
The Massachusetts Legislature’s Committee on Public Health was prepared to hold a hearing Wednesday to discuss bills that would either restrict or eliminate the religious exemption for vaccines for K-12th grade students at public and private schools. The hearing was postponed due to a fire at the Statehouse and is expected to be rescheduled soon.
For decades, Massachusetts’ vaccine statute has allowed parents to apply for religious exemptions from the vaccines schools usually require, such as influenza type B; diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis; polio; hepatitis B; measles, mumps, and rubella; and varicella (chickenpox). Now, the state legislature is considering removing the religious exemption altogether, or requiring that all exemptions be processed and approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
“No one should be forced to violate their sincere religious beliefs in order to send their kids to school,” Sam Whiting, staff attorney for the Massachusetts Family Institute, told The Daily Signal.
“But by eliminating the religious exemption to school vaccine requirements, that is what these bills would do. Massachusetts lawmakers clearly learned nothing from the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents want their rights to be honored and their religious beliefs to be respected,” Whiting said, adding, “These bills do neither, and need to be rejected.”
Life News / Micaiah Bilger / July 19, 2023
For example, the bill prohibits organizations that provide pregnancy-related services from making “deceptive” statements, coupled with a $1,000 fine per violation. However, the language only applies to pro-life organizations; abortion facilities that deceive women about abortion risks or their unborn baby’s development would not be penalized.
Another problem is that the bill does not define “deceptive.” Many pregnancy resource centers provide medical referrals to women for prenatal and maternal care, but some abortion activists claim that is deceptive because pro-life organizations do not refer women for elective abortions, according to the Massachusetts Family Institute.
“If passed this bill would violate the First Amendment free speech rights of PRCs and benefit Big Abortion at the expense of vulnerable mothers and babies,” the organization warned. “We can stop this bill but only if you contact your legislators, provide testimony, or both. … No one should be censored for supporting life in MA, most especially charitable organizations that help women and babies.”
MassLive / Juliet Schulman-Hall / July 6, 2023
Sam Whiting, staff attorney at the Massachusetts Family Institute, told MassLive before the meeting that he is particularly concerned about how the ordinance will allow the city to publicize and help create any complaints against a limited-service pregnancy center.
According to the ordinance, reproductive health care centers could also receive complaints sent to the attorney general’s office.
“We’re concerned that now the city of Easthampton is going to use its resources to point people to something that is essentially propaganda against pro-life organizations,” said Whiting on Monday.
Whiting, who called the ordinance an “unethical piece of legislation,” told MassLive before the meeting that he believes the intent of the measure is to smear the work of limited-service pregnancy centers.
Daily Mail / Alex Hammer / June 29, 2023
Michael King, director of community alliances at the Massachusetts Family Institute, is one of many who is speaking out against the new lessons – which seek to ‘explain how one’s outward behavior or appearance does not define one’s gender identity.’
Appearing before the state Education Board Tuesday, King urged members to refrain from putting the framework out to the public, out of fear it would influence students to identify as transgender and pursue related treatments.
He questioned whether it was ‘medically accurate to tell students that they can change their gender’, and forecast a potential mass migration of families from the state school system once the guidance goes through.
Since sex ed is not mandated, parents can opt their children out of lessons related to the subject.
‘If this framework is implemented, it will only increase the growing opt-out of sex ed movement,’ King said.
CBS News Boston / Brandon Truitt / June 28, 2023
Governor Maura Healey drafted the proposal, which would not need the approval of the legislature to go into effect.
The revised framework includes changes for all ages, and advocates say it includes medical data that did not exist more than two decades ago.
“It’s a really big deal,” said Megara Bell with the Partners in Sex Education organization. They help school districts draft curricula based on existing DESE framework and are in support of the proposed changes. “Since the last frameworks were updated, we have had a million students go from kindergarten to twelfth grade and not get updated health education.”
Part of this revised plan includes working gender and sexuality language into the curriculum – a hotly debated topic in states across the country. Some organizations, like the Massachusetts Family Institute, spoke out against the proposed plan. Michael King is with the MFI and said, “If this framework is passed and implemented, it will only increase the growing opt-out-of-sex-ed movement across the state, not just in Worcester.”
Fox News / Teny Sahakian / June 1, 2023
Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) filed a federal lawsuit last month against Nichols Middle School (NMS) officials and the town of Middleborough, Massachusetts on behalf of Liam Morrison, a seventh grader who was forbidden to wear a T-shirt to school that reads “There are only two genders.”
In a Wednesday hearing the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston denied Morrison’s attorneys’ request for a temporary injunction, or restraining order, which would have suspended the school’s ability to prohibit Morrison from expressing his views about gender before the court issued its final decision.
Boston.com / Melissa Ellin / May 23, 2023
Celeste Bruno, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Library Association, said the local increase in challenges reflect attitudes nationwide. Across the country there were 1,858 unique challenges to books in 2021, and 2,571 in 2022, according to the ALA.
Some of the most challenged books nationwide last year were “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” “All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto,” and “The Bluest Eye,” the ALA says. All of these books were also challenged in Massachusetts.
Unlike in previous years, Bruno said she has seen efforts from organized groups, including Massachusetts Informed Parents, to challenge books at libraries.
In a May Newsletter, the group urged parents to find out if “Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human” was in their child’s school library, and if so to make noise about it. They also provide a “Parental Advisory Book List.”
“Many MA school districts are adding books containing pornographic descriptions of sex acts, violence, drugs, drinking, transgenderism, and more to school library collections,” the group claims on its website.
Daily Mail / Kamal Sultan / May 18, 2023
Christopher Morrison and his wife Susan filed the lawsuit via attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom and the Massachusetts Family Institute.
The lawsuit, filed in the District of Massachusetts Eastern Division, asks the court to issue an injunction to ban the school from stopping their son from wearing his T-shirt or others like it.
It also demands a declaratory judgement that the school’s dress code is unconstitutional, ‘actual and nominal damages’ which the court deems appropriate and attorneys’ fees.
Fall River Reporter / Ken Paiva / May 6, 2023
It appears that legal action is coming after a Massachusetts boy was asked to change his shirt for a second time after school officials say its content was causing an issue with classmates.
The Middleborough School District is doubling down after middle school student Liam Morrison was sent home after wearing a shirt that says, ‘There Are Only Two Genders”.
When Liam was sent home from school earlier this year for wearing the shirt, Massachusetts Family Institute sent a demand letter informing the district that it had denied Liam’s constitutional right to free speech and that legal action was coming if it happened again.
Christianity Daily / AJ Paz / May 1, 2023
According to the article in Spiel Times, Morrison expressed his disagreement with the school’s decision, questioning, “Who is this protected class?” and “Are their feelings more important than my rights?” He also emphasized that he did not object when he saw Pride flags and diversity posters displayed throughout the school because he believed others also have a right to their beliefs.
No one personally complained about the young student’s outfit, and he told the committee that he didn’t see any people acting overtly disturbed about it. Morrison said that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution had permitted him to wear his shirt, wherein it guaranteed that he could have the freedom to express his beliefs.
The Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), a non-profit group devoted to supporting families and upholding Judeo-Christian values, has expressed its support for Morrison despite the Middleborough School Council’s lack of response. The ongoing discussion around inclusivity and freedom of expression in schools was brought to light by MFI’s announcement that it will offer legal assistance to middle school students.
The Sun Chronicle / Marissa Walker / April 11, 2023
The Healthy Youth Act has been consistently met with opposition from the Massachusetts Family Institute, a non-partisan public policy organization based in Judeo-Christian values.
“This bill would remove local control over curricula from districts choosing to teach sex ed. It will force them to comply with a Health Framework from the MA Department of Education that will mandate what’s called a comprehensive sexuality education model for sex ed curricula. And not comprehensive in the positive sense of the word,” said Mary Ellen Siegler, a Massachusetts Family Institute spokesperson..
“Parents do not want their child’s school to groom their children to engage in high-risk sexual activity through graphic sex ed lessons, but that’s exactly what will happen to MA students if our legislature passes this bill,” Siegler added.
Heartland Daily News / Eileen Griffin / April 4, 2023
A Massachusetts library scheduled to host a Pastor Story Hour cancelled the event claiming it violated library policies. After being contacted by the pastor’s attorney, the library reversed course.
Public backlash and the threat of legal action forced the Chelmsford Public Library in Massachusetts to withdraw their opposition to the pastor’s event, The Blaze reports.
The Chelmsford library first allowed the pastor, Kendall Lankford, to schedule his event. Then they cancelled the program claiming that Pastor Story Hour would be a violation of library policy which states that proselytizing is not allowed.
Lankford’s attorney, Andrew Beckwith, told the library that their interpretation of the policy was incorrect and could be viewed as a pretext for anti-religious discrimination.
Fox News / Brianna Herlihy / March 28, 2023
Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for parental rights in the state, told Fox News Digital in a statement they are grateful the AGs “recognize the harm that far-left gender ideologues are doing to children and parents in states like Massachusetts and have joined us in taking a stand against their destructive and unconstitutional actions.”
“As the brief emphasizes, we are seeing more and more school policies popping up in states around the country that sacrifice parental rights – and children themselves – at the altar of radical gender ideology, and we hope that this strong statement by the attorneys general will make the First Circuit Court of Appeals think twice about green-lighting these policies and practices,” Beckwith said.”
Life News / Micaiah Bilger / February 15, 2023
A Massachusetts Democrat leader is facing criticism for making discriminatory comments about children with disabilities, suggesting they should be aborted because they are a drain on public school funding.
Framingham Democratic Committee Chair Michael Hugo made the comment Feb. 7 during a Framingham City Council meeting as the city leaders considered a proclamation to condemn the work of pro-life pregnancy resource centers. The proclamation “for the protection of reproductive rights” claims the pro-life charities are “deceptive” and “misleading,” and aborting unborn babies is a “fundamental right.” The city is located just west of Boston.
“The City of Framingham wanted to pass an ordinance that would accuse pregnancy care centers of deceptive marketing practices because they offer reproductive healthcare but not abortion,” King told LifeNews. “This is absurd. More than that, it’s unnecessary, unethical, and unconstitutional. Knowing that such an ordinance could spark a lawsuit, the city council decided instead to virtue signal their dogmatic and intolerant ideology and pass a proclamation that only defames the great work of pregnancy care centers. Mike Hugo’s remarks that reflect eugenics are honestly not surprising.”
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Blaze Media / Candace Hathaway / January 13, 2023
A library in Massachusetts abruptly canceled a pastor’s story hour scheduled for Friday, claiming the church had violated library policies. However, late Thursday evening, after receiving public backlash and being contacted by the pastor’s lawyer, the library agreed to reinstate the event, the Boston Globe reported.
Lankford told the Daily Wire he was “disappointed” that the library appeared to cave under mounting community pressure to cancel the event.
Andrew Beckwith, president and general counsel of the Massachusetts Family Institute, sent an email to the library on Thursday challenging the accusations it made against the church.
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Boston Globe / Jeremy Fox / January 12, 2023
The Chelmsford Public Library has reinstated a pastor’s story hour that was planned for Friday morning but abruptly canceled Thursday afternoon after library officials said the church that organized the event misrepresented its plans.
A lawyer for The Shepherd’s Church had claimed the library bowed to public pressure after it became known that the event was planned in response to drag queen story hours.
A lawyer for the conservative Massachusetts Family Institute sent a letter to the library Thursday challenging the library officials’ assertions.
“First, your interpretation of the library’s prohibition on proselytizing is demonstrably incorrect, to the point that your reliance on that policy can only be seen as a pretext for anti-religious discrimination,” Andrew Beckwith, president and general counsel of the institute wrote in the letter.
“The clear purpose of the policy is to prevent a patron from proselytizing to other patrons in a way that is disruptive,” he said. “There is no basis to believe that Mr. Lankford holding an event in a closed room, physically separated from patrons who do not want to hear his message, could be disruptive to other patrons.”
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Daily Citizen / Bruce Hausknecht / December 28, 2022
The judge criticized the school district even as his ruling exonerated it.
“Students and parents would almost certainly be better served by a more thoughtful policy that facilitated a supportive and safe disclosure by the student, with support and education available for students and parents, as needed and when accepted,” Judge Mastroianni wrote.
The parents are considering an appeal, according to their attorney, Andrew Beckwith, who also serves as president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, an ally of Focus on the Family.
“We are disappointed and disagree with the treatment of parental rights in this decision, and we are strongly considering filing an appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals,” Beckwith told the National Catholic Register.
The case is Foote v. Ludlow School Committee.
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Salem News / Christian M. Wade / November 23, 2022
Gov. Charlie Baker will have the final word on blocking state funding for a public education campaign targeting pregnancy crisis centers — for now.
Two weeks ago, Baker vetoed an earmark from a $3.76 billion economic development bill that called for spending $1 million for an education campaign about crisis centers, which critics say are misleading pregnant women.
Baker said the spending was unnecessary because the state already posts public information about legitimate family planning services operating in the state.
Anti-abortion groups say the centers are providing options to women other than abortions and being unfairly targeted by a “smear campaign” by proponents of the procedure.
The conservative Massachusetts Family institute says it has documented acts of vandalism and intimidation at pregnancy centers across the state in recent months.
“Planned Parenthood and pro-abortion radicals have come unhinged since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and they are lashing out at the most visible parts of the pro-life movement, increasingly with physical violence,” Andrew Beckwith, the group’s executive director, said in a recent statement.
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Fox Business / Brianna Herlihy / November 16, 2022
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly using Google technology to covertly install tracking apps on over one million Android phones as part of the state government’s efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 through contact tracing.
Andrew Beckwith, attorney and president of a conservative grassroots group, Massachusetts Family Institute, told Fox News Digital the actions by DPH outlined in the lawsuit are “yet another example of government bureaucrats using the COVID hysteria to run roughshod over clear Constitution rights.”
“They need to be held accountable,” Beckwith added.
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National Catholic Register / Matthew MacDonald / November 4, 2022
As the Register reported earlier this year, the Ludlow case is one of several pending around the country in which parents have sued school officials claiming that teachers and administrators have encouraged students to transition to a different gender without informing the parents.
“We’re seeing these types of cases, where schools are publicly saying that they are secretly transitioning children. It would be hard to believe if we weren’t seeing it all over the country. And it’s not that schools are being accused of this and denying it. Schools are sort of bragging about it,” said Andrew Beckwith, a lawyer representing the parents in the Ludlow case who is also president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, in a telephone interview with the Register. “Parents have a right to know what’s going on in their children’s lives and to make medical and mental-health decisions for them.”
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SBA List / Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America / November 3, 2022
Democrats in the Massachusetts Legislature are considering legislation that would budget at least $1 million in taxpayer dollars for spreading harmful misinformation about pregnancy centers.
SBA Pro-Life America joined local allies in slamming the bill:
“Planned Parenthood and pro-abortion radicals have come unhinged since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and they are lashing out at the most visible parts of the pro-life movement, increasingly with physical violence. Yet, instead of addressing the vandalism perpetrated against several MA pregnancy resource centers this summer, Beacon Hill wants to use tax dollars to fund a million dollar smear campaign attacking the life-saving work of PRCs with lies and harassment,” said Massachusetts Family Institute President Andrew Beckwith.
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Live Action / Laura Nicole / October 4, 2022
A group of Massachusetts-area Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRC), under attack from abortion groups like Jane’s Revenge, is reaching out to a hostile state Attorney General to demand equal protection under the law.
The Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) recently teamed up with the First Liberty Institute and sent a letter to the Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on behalf of a coalition of Massachusetts-based PRCs. In the letter, the PRCs plead for help, reminding the Attorney General of her duty to protect all Massachusetts citizens.
The public interest groups have gotten involved in the wake of a spate of attacks on local PRCs, which are part of an increasing pattern of nationwide violence against pro-life institutions since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The letter cites a number of local attacks – some of which are federal crimes – consisting of violence, vandalism, and threats.
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MassLive / Kiernan Dunlop / Thursday, September 15, 2022
Massachusetts crisis pregnancy centers are pushing back against a consumer advisory Attorney General Maura Healey’s office issued against them in July.
Massachusetts Family Institute, a non-profit law firm that describes itself as “dedicated to defending and restoring religious liberty for all Americans” announced its representing crisis pregnancy centers, which it refers to as pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), across the state in a letter addressed to Healey published Monday.
The centers they represent include Boston Center for Pregnancy Choices, Abundant Hope Pregnancy Resource Center in Attleboro, Clearway Clinic in Worcester and Springfield, Bethlehem House in Easthampton and You Options Medical Centers in Revere, Sturbridge, Fall River and Brookline.
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Christian Broadcast Network News / Talia Wise / Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Pro-life pregnancy centers have been targeted, vandalized, and firebombed in the aftermath of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, and now a coalition of pro-life centers in Massachusetts is calling on their state attorney general to walk back on labeling them as a threat to pregnant people and protect their facilities.
First Liberty Institute and the Massachusetts Family Institute sent a letter Tuesday on behalf of a coalition of pregnancy centers to Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.
“What General Healey has done has licensed threats against these reproductive health facilities,” Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute told CBN News. “We are simply asking her to enforce the law for all citizens in the state of Massachusetts, not just the ones she politically favors.”
“No one should suffer violence for simply providing counseling and desperately needed baby supplies to women and their babies. The Attorney General’s singling out of pregnancy resource centers exhibits hostility toward faith-based pregnancy centers that should be repugnant to everyone,” said Massachusetts Family Institute President Andrew Beckwith.
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Boston Globe / Stephanie Ebbert / Monday, September 12, 2022
They have been vandalized in Worcester and Easthampton, vilified by Senator Elizabeth Warren, and put on notice by Attorney General Maura Healey, who warned consumers that most crisis pregnancy centers are not licensed medical clinics and may mislead patients about abortion.
Now, they’re pushing back.
A newly formed coalition of faith-based crisis pregnancy centers, backed by the Massachusetts Family Institute, warned the attorney general Monday that any sanctions taken against them would be unconstitutional. In a letter from the Family Institute and First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to defending religious liberty, the centers urged Healey to lift the consumer advisory against them. And they demanded that she begin to defend them against the public attacks they’re facing in a political landscape upended by the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
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CNN Politics / Elle Reeves / Friday, August 19, 2022
CNN’s Elle Reeve talks to anti-abortion advocates in Boston who are working to modernize the movement following the fall of Roe v. Wade.
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The Daily Signal / Virginia Allen / Thursday, August 18, 2022
Vandals painted pro-abortion messages late Wednesday or early Thursday at a pro-life pregnancy center in Massachusetts.
The vandals splattered red paint across the white exterior of Bethlehem House Inc. Pregnancy Care Center in Easthampton, 99 miles west of Boston.
“The vandalism must be publicly condemned by our state legislators,” Michael King, director of community alliances for Massachusetts Family Institute, told The Daily Signal, adding: “We haven’t heard anything from state legislators on this issue.”
Warren is “culpable, she’s responsible,” King told The Daily Signal, adding: “Her words have encouraged … domestic terrorist groups like Jane’s Revenge to feel justified in their intolerant and dangerous actions.”
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American Family News / Charlie Butts & Billy Davis / Thursday, August 18, 2022
A pro-family group is asking if there is one physician at Boston Children’s Hospital who will denounce the well-respected pediatric hospital that is bragging about performing life-altering surgeries on mentally-confused children as if it found a cure for cancer.
Speaking for the Massachusetts Family Institute, Andrew Beckwith tells AFN it is sad and tragic to witness the well-respected children’s hospital follow the twisted ideology of “gender-affirming care,” instead of science-based medicine, because children are being permanently harmed by the former.
Among its supposed accomplishments, BCH is boasting its surgeons are making fake penises and fake vaginas for mentally-confused teens and young adults. In a now-viral video, an OB/GYN happily explains in a half-minute ad the hospital performs “gender-affirming hysterectomies” on teen girls who want to live as a teen boy.
“They believe they know what is best and yet they’ve just been taken over by this ideology,” Beckwith tells AFN. “And it’s tragic that no one at the hospital is willing to stand up to the gender clinic there and put a stop to this.”
“It’s unconscionable. It’s anti-science in the true sense,” Beckwith says. “Yet I’m sure most – if not all – doctors who are there, and a lot of good doctors in the hospital at large, are terrified to say anything.”
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The New American / Alex Newman / Monday, August 8, 2022
A growing number of conservative victories in deep blue Massachusetts show that there is hope even in radically liberal jurisdictions, explained Massachusetts Family Institute Director of Community Alliances Michael King. Speaking to The New American magazine’s Alex Newman at Camp Constitution, King said that churches and pastors were helping lead the way toward rescuing children from government sexualization and indoctrination. Many churches are creating Christian schools and learning “pods” to help families desperate to get out. And thanks to recent U.S. Supreme Court wins, King said, the courts are also quickly becoming a useful tool for protecting religious freedom and other liberties in the state and beyond.
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Epoch Times / Alex Newman / Wednesday, May 11, 2022
In Ludlow, Massachusetts, a major lawsuit by parents against the school district is alleging that education officials encouraged children to experiment with alternate gender identities and hide it from their parents.
Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute who is involved in the case, is dealing with a surge in such cases in his state.
“We see the same aggressive attack on the integrity of the parent-child relationship here in Massachusetts,” he told The Epoch Times when asked about parallels between Lee’s story and what’s taking place there.
“Many of the LGBTQ activists want to brand traditional sexual morality as ‘child abuse,’ and their accomplices in child services terrorize families who won’t just go along with this agenda,” he said, calling these sorts of policies an “appalling and dangerous violation of the rights of parents.”
“What is happening in Ludlow is part of a larger national agenda to deliberately circumvent the authority of parents over the mental health and religious beliefs of their children,” Beckwith said. “School officials around the country are secretly affirming, or even promoting, discordant gender identities in young children.”
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Epoch Times / Alice Giordano / Friday, May 6, 2022
Controversy over a drag queen-hosted teen dance initiated by the City of Newburyport in Massachusetts has escalated with state officials and the country’s oldest fraternal organization jumping into in debate.
“Drag queens are adult sexual performers and they do not belong at events for kids, I don’t care what drag queen it is,” Mary Ellen Siegler, director of Communications for Massachusetts Family Institute, told The Epoch Times. Siegler, who is also the Founder of the online group Massachusetts Informed Parents, added that her group would be as much opposed to having a stripper host a teen dance party or anyone involved in sexual work, “homosexual or heterosexual.”
WBUR / Martha Bebinger / Thursday, May 5, 2022
The post-Roe era looms large for Baker and others this week after a draft opinion was leaked from the Supreme Court that says Roe v. Wade must be overturned. Protesters across the nation hit the streets. And here in Massachusetts, elected leaders emphasized abortion will remain legal in the state, regardless of what the high court does.
“We’re going to fight back against abortion for people from other states,” says Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute. “Making Massachusetts a hub for abortion, I mean, that’s just horrible.”
Beckwith says an expected victory from the Supreme Court will energize his backers.
“It prompts us to work harder because now it means we have one less layer of bad law that we have to push through,” he says.
He mentions the fight for crisis pregnancy centers, which some cities in Massachusetts are moving to limit or ban. Some clients have said they felt duped by these centers, which offer counseling and adoption assistance but not abortions.
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Boston 25 News / Robert Goulston / Tuesday, May 3, 2022
Massachusetts already has abortion rights legislation and judicial precedent, but both sides of the issue are watching what comes of the U.S. Supreme Court decision.
On the steps of the State House – leaders, legislators and abortion rights groups all lined up voicing their frustrations with the potential of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
“Even if the Court does adopt this as their official ruling, abortion up to the point of infanticide will tragically still be legal in Massachusetts,” the Massachusetts Family Institute said in part.
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National Catholic Register / Kevin J. Jones / Monday, May 2, 2022
A Massachusetts school committee has fulfilled its duty and approved the application of a private Christian school despite controversy when committee members questioned the planned school’s religious beliefs in a way that drew accusations of impermissible hostility to religion.
Christian Cole, a pastor at Vida Real Church, welcomed the approval.
“This is a time to celebrate for us! After months of battling with the school committee, we will finally have a private CHRISTIAN school in Somerville where parents can send their children to learn in an environment that reflects their values,” Cole said, according to the Massachusetts Family Institute.
“We’ve heard from so many parents concerned about the perverted sexual ideologies their children are being force-fed in the public schools and who are desperate for a healthy educational alternative with a Biblical worldview. We encourage all churches to work towards the goal of making Christian education accessible for every family in New England. Both as a pastor and a parent, I rest assured knowing I will soon be able to send my children to Real Life Learning Center.”
Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, on April 27 said the approval of the school was “an important victory over anti-Christian bigotry specifically and for freedom of religion in general.”
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Epoch Times / Alice Giordano / Sunday, May 1, 2022
A government-run drag queen dance party for high school kids has set off outrage among parents in an affluent seacoast New England community.
The Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), a statewide organization, also decried the city-run drag-queen-hosted dance party.
“Local municipalities should not be endorsing adult sexualized entertainment for minors,” MFI director of communications and research Mary Ellen Siegler told The Epoch Times, “this is crazy to be promoting someone in the adult entertainment business as a fun time for kids.”
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CNHI News Statehouse Reporting / Christian M. Wade / Friday, April 29, 2022
House Democrats have reignited a battle on Beacon Hill over women’s reproductive rights with a provision in the state budget to expand abortion access.
Tucked into the $49.7 billion spending package for the fiscal year that begins July 1, which was approved by the House of Representatives Wednesday night, is an amendment calling on the state to spend $500,000 to expand abortion access.
“It’s outrageous — we’re already one of the highest abortion states in the nation. This will only make the problem worse,” said Andrew Beckwith, MFI’s executive director. “How many more dead babies do the politicians on Beacon Hill want? They’re creating a culture of death.”
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Christian Post / Michael Gryboski / Thursday, April 28, 2022
A Massachusetts school district accused of previously stonewalling the creation of a church-affiliated private school over its Christian worldview has agreed to allow the school to open.
The School Committee of Somerville Public Schools approved the creation of the Real Life Learning Center at its regular meeting, which was held virtually on Monday evening.
Last month, the First Liberty Institute and the Massachusetts Family Institute sent a letter of concern claiming that the school district was going to reject the application because committee officials disliked the church’s beliefs.
“We are grateful that Somerville officials recognized that the government cannot ban a religious school because they disagree with its religious beliefs,” said First Liberty attorney Ryan Gardner in a statement Wednesday.
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Western Mass News / Leon Purvis and Ryan Trowbridge / Tuesday, April 19, 2022
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Fox News / Timothy H.J. Nerozzi / Saturday, April 16, 2022
Parents are taking their children’s school to court, alleging teachers encouraged their children to change their pronouns and names without the parents’ knowledge.
Parents Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri claim their child was encouraged by Ludlow Public School officials to adopt a new name and different gendered pronouns. Parents Jonathan Feliciano and Sandra Salmeron, who are also involved in the suit, allege the school’s policies to withhold information from parents about children’s gender identities violates their parental and religious rights.
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New Boston Post / Tom Joyce / Tuesday, April 5, 2022
What kinds of books does the librarian at Tucker Elementary School in Milton read to young children?
Two weeks ago, librarian Joshua Coben read the following titles to first and third-grade students: William’s Doll by Charlotte Zolotow (1972); I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel (2014); and Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders (2018).
Massachusetts Family Institute communications director Mary Ellen Siegler told NewBostonPost in an email message that the titles the school read to first and third-graders are not age-appropriate. Here is what she wrote:
Schools should not be reading books to young impressionable children that indoctrinate them in harmful transgender ideology. Books that normalize unscientific ideas like sex is changeable confuse children about their gender. This is child abuse. These activist efforts by schools also undermine parental rights. If you research Jazz Jennings, the male-to-female transgender person the book “I Am Jazz” is about, you will see that he has been transparent about his mental health issues and his struggle with severe depression and anxiety. Is this the kind of distress Milton school officials want to introduce into the lives of their young students? The Milton school district should stop reading books that groom children toward sexual and gender identities immediately and should stick to teaching reading, writing, and math.
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WORLD Magazine / Steve West / Tuesday, April 5, 2022
A large church outside Boston wants to open a new school, but it is facing off with a local government committee it says is hostile to its religious beliefs. Vida Real church in Somerville, Mass., says the committee is prepared to reject its proposal for a Christian school because of its views on creationism, among other things…
At a subsequent meeting of the subcommittee, attorneys said, committee member Sara Dion “equated teaching sincerely held religious beliefs regarding creationism to teaching that ‘2 + 2 = 5’ and described creationism as being ‘factually incorrect.’” Dion also reiterated the report’s conclusion that the proposed school could not adequately teach on sexuality and health given its religious beliefs.
“It is illegal and unconstitutional for city officials to question the religious beliefs of Vida Real, let alone use those beliefs to stop the church from opening a school,” said Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute…
Beckwith said he was encouraged to hear Assistant Superintendent Chad Mazza repeatedly say that he believes the church’s application and curriculum plan meet the criteria and that he would approve them. “That really should be all the committee needs to hear,” he said. “Any denial of the school’s application now would be a result of hostility to the church’s religious beliefs that, disturbingly, we again heard voiced by some of the committee members last night.”
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Family Research Council / FRC Staff / Monday, April 4, 2022
The headline could read, “Local officials wage LGBT culture war, illegally discriminate against minority community,” but you won’t find this story covered by Slate or Buzzfeed. That’s because the facts of this story turn the Leftist media’s preferred narrative on its head. The school board of Somerville, Massachusetts delayed, and has moved to deny, an application by a large, Hispanic, immigrant church to found a religious school for grades K-8. “Here you have a church just trying to offer a ministry to its own people [and] to the surrounding community,” said Massachusetts Family Institute President Andrew Beckwith on “Washington Watch.”
“Frankly, [RLLC] will probably be even better academically than the Somerville Public Schools,” said Beckwith. Test scores in Somerville schools “are below the state average in every category for every grade.” Perhaps they should spend less time on woke indoctrination…
Any “initial ignorance,” Beckwith continued, “was cleared up by district council, who presented at both of the two most recent school committee meetings.” The district council did his best “to advise his clients… that they need to follow the law,” said Beckwith. “There’s a constitutional right… to have private religious education under both Massachusetts law and federal law.” “At the most recent Committee meeting,” said the complaint, “members criticized Vida Real’s religious beliefs on human sexuality, creationism, and mental health. Members even went as far as to challenge RLLC’s inclusion of Christian authors in its curriculum solely because of those author’s status as Christians.”
(CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE)——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
New Boston Post / Matt McDonald / Saturday, April 2, 2022
About 75 pro-lifers protested Friday near the hotel where Catholic Memorial honored former Boston mayor Marty Walsh, a supporter of legally and publicly funded abortion.
Walsh, the current U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Joe Biden, received the Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice Award, named after the founder of the Irish Christian Brothers, a religious order that administers the grades-7-through-12 Catholic school in West Roxbury…
The sponsor of the protest was the Massachusetts Pro-Life Coalition, which includes nine organizations that oppose abortion: Operation Rescue Boston; Mass Resistance; the Massachusetts Alliance to Stop Taxpayer Funded Abortions; the Pro-Life Legal Defense Fund; the Boston Church Militant Resistance Chapter; the Boston Chapter of Helpers of God’s Precious Infants; American University Women for Life; the Massachusetts Family Institute; and the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts.
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New American / Michael Tennant / Saturday, April 2, 2022
A Massachusetts school board has repeatedly delayed approving a church’s application to open a private school because of the church’s religious beliefs, attorneys for the church claim.
The Vida Real Internacional church, which consists largely of Hispanic immigrants, applied to the Somerville School Committee in September, requesting permission to open a faith-based school in Somerville called the Real Life Learning Center (RLLC). (Massachusetts law requires private schools to gain pre-approval from their local school boards.)
According to a letter to the Somerville school superintendent and board from Ryan Gardner of the First Liberty Institute and Andrew Beckwith of the Massachusetts Family Institute, the committee waited two months to tell Vida Real “its application was deficient and needed to be resubmitted.”
That was just the beginning of a long process of delays and requests for more information. In February, a subcommittee submitted a list of 35 questions to which it wanted the church to respond at its next meeting. Some of the questions asked for information Vida Real had already provided, while others delved into its religious beliefs.
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Christian Post / Michael Gryboski / Friday, April 1, 2022
Officials in a Massachusetts city have denied allegations that a local school committee rejected an application for the launch of a private Christian school due to the beliefs of the predominantly Hispanic church sponsoring the institution.
A letter of complaint sent Wednesday to Superintendent Mary E. Skipper and Mayor Katjana Ballantyne alleges that the Somerville School Committee rejected the application by the church to create a private school because officials disliked the church’s beliefs.
The letter was sent on behalf of the church by the conservative legal nonprofit First Liberty Institute and the Massachusetts Family Institute.
“Despite Vida Real’s expressed desire to open RLLC as quickly as possible, the Committee has repeatedly stonewalled Vida Real’s efforts to provide private, religious education for its community for over five months now,” wrote Ryan Gardner of First Liberty and Andrew Beckwith of the Massachusetts Family Institute.
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The Christian Post / Brandon Showalter / Saturday, August 15, 2020
Parents are being urged to protect their children from sexualization and gender confusion by way of graphic sex education curricula in public schools.
Scholars and activists say parents must find out what their children are being taught and equip themselves to combat such programs…
Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, said that on a weekly basis, he receives phone calls from parents who are scandalized by the content their kids have been exposed to at school.
“Parents have a right to opt their children out of sexual health education,” Beckwith said, noting that in Massachusetts, elements of the curricula they oppose have been inserted into other subject areas that parents cannot opt their children out of.
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New Boston Post / Tom Joyce / Wednesday, July 15, 2020
If he wins the Democratic Primary on September 1, Jake Auchincloss will most likely be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November — and bring a far-reaching Massachusetts abortion expansion bill with him to Washington…
Andrew Beckwith, the president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, told New Boston Post in a telephone interview that he was not familiar with Auchincloss, but that he could not see a bill as extreme as the ROE Act passing at the federal level.
He said that the bill would put late-term abortions in abortion clinics that have no equipment to resuscitate babies that are born alive, and that eliminating parental consent laws for those under 18 who seek abortions would benefit sex offenders who impregnate underage girls.
“If you look at what the ROE Act does, it streamlines their profit pipeline for seedy abortion clinics,” Beckwith said. “The girls can come straight to them and be driven by their boyfriends, or abusers. They can be done quicker, more cheaply, and sacrifices the health and safety for women in addition to the lives of the unborn.”
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LifeNews.com / Micaiah Bilger / Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Abortion activists renewed their push Tuesday to pass a radical pro-abortion bill in Massachusetts that would legalize abortions through all nine months of pregnancy.
In a virtual rally, pro-abortion groups and Democrat lawmakers demanded that state lawmakers pass the ROE Act (House Bill 3320/Senate Bill 1209) before the legislative session ends on July 31, The New Boston Post reports…
…“This would mean teens could obtain an abortion behind their parent’s backs without even having to secure a judicial bypass from a judge. An abuser or pimp could take an underage girl to get an abortion and NO caring, or even impartial, adult would be involved to stop it,” said Andrew Beckwith of the Massachusetts Family Institute.
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Fox News / Caleb Parke / Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Several churches in Somerville, Mass., plan to defy the mayor’s “arbitrary” coronavirus restrictions on in-person services.
Mayor Joseph Curtatone is requiring all places of worship to limit attendance to no more than 10 congregants, despite Gov. Charlie Baker’s May 18 order allowing churches to open at 40 percent capacity if they follow health and safety guidelines.
First Liberty Institute, the nation’s largest religious liberty law firm, and the Massachusetts Family Institute, a conservative nonprofit, sent a letter Wednesday to the mayor on behalf of four area churches: Christian Fellowship of Boston, International Church, Safe House Baptist Church and Igreja Comunidade Batista Shalom Internacional.
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The Daily Signal / Ken McIntyre / Monday, January 20, 2020
Dear Daily Signal: As one of the principal organizers of the defeat of Washington state’s “comprehensive sexual health education bill” in 2018, I am writing to thank you for Michael King’s commentary about Massachusetts, “In a Blue State, Parents Beat Planned Parenthood’s Sex Ed Push.”
This “comprehensive” sex ed bill will be up again in Washington (backed by Planned Parenthood and our state superintendent of education), so I appreciate The Daily Signal’s covering the efforts in Massachusetts.
I founded the Washington Women’s Network (now called the Network-WA), a women’s advocacy organization focused on defeating Planned Parenthood’s legislative initiatives (and others threatening conscience rights and the safety of women and children).
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Commonwealth Magazine / Sarah Betancourt / Thursday, January 17, 2020
THE SENATE PASSED a sex-ed bill on Thursday with more Republican support than in the past, but it’s heading to the House where Speaker Bob DeLeo has not yet committed to taking it up…
…Organizations like the Massachusetts Family Institute and Mass GOP oppose any statewide legislation related to sex-ed, with the Family Institute’s president, Andrew Beckwith, saying it takes away control from school districts, and promotes contraception that some parents might deem inappropriate.
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Gloucester Daily Times / Steve LeBlanc / Thursday, January 17, 2020
The Massachusetts Senate approved a bill Thursday that would require school districts that offer a comprehensive sex education curriculum rely on “medically accurate, age-appropriate” information…
…Critics say the bill introduces explicit information about sex to students who may be too young.
Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, faulted the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, saying it is giving Planned Parenthood more influence over what children are being taught about sex than their parents.
“Senators voting for this bill apparently want to instruct 12-year-olds on the finer points of anal sex,” Beckwith said. “The proper term for teaching a child that age how to perform sexual acts is not education, it’s ‘grooming.’”
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MassLive / Steph Solis / Thursday, January 16, 2020
The Senate passed a bill on Thursday that requires school districts offering sex education to use a curriculum they described as medically accurate, age-appropriate and inclusive of students regardless of their sexual orientation…
…The bill had support from health advocates and victim’s rights advocates who say the curriculum empowers students to learn about communication and healthy relationships, but critics called the legislation a “sex-ed mandate.”
“This takes control over sex-ed out of the hands of local schools and parents and gives it all to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education,” the Massachusetts Family Institute wrote earlier this week, arguing the curriculum does not have age-appropriate material.
“The overwhelming majority of the content actually instructs children in how to engage in explicit sexual activity, making the abstinence message ineffective,” the institute’s website states.
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NECN / John Moroney / Thursday, January 17, 2020
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One News Now / Charlie Butts & Billy Davis / Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Massachusetts Superior Court ruled last week there is no constitutional right to assisted suicide and kicked the volatile issue back to state lawmakers, a decision applauded by many.
Andrew Beckwith of the Massachusetts Family Institute says the legal fight dates back to a lawsuit filed by Dr. Roger Kligler, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer, given six months to live, but was alive this week to learn the court ruling.
“The good news for the doctor, not good news for his legal case,” Beckwith explains, “was that about three years ago he got an updated diagnosis where the cancer levels had gone down. So now his prognosis had changed from less than six months to live to years.”
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One News Now / Bob Kellog / Wednesday, January 15, 2020
A vote coming as early as this week would force the current health curriculum to be used by all public schools if the Healthy Youth Act passes.
Andrew Beckwith of the Massachusetts Family Institute says the state Senate has passed similar legislation in the past but it has never come up for a vote in the House, where one lawmaker has publicly vowed to take action if his colleagues debate the bill.
“And during the debate,” Beckwith says of lawmaker, “he will just start reading from some of these curricula the bill would mandate, and so they won’t bring it up for a vote.”
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Family Research Council / Tony Perkins / Tuesday, January 14, 2020
What in the world is a “gender snowperson?” Ask your fourth grader. In Massachusetts, that’s how schools are teaching nine-year-olds to “never assume boys have penises.” Welcome to sex education, Planned Parenthood-style. And, if the state’s extremists get their way, Frosty’s friend is just the beginning.
“Is it age-appropriate to introduce twelve-year old children to anal sex?” the New Boston Post asks. “Is it medically accurate to encourage students to protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by using Saran Wrap as a prophylactic during oral sex?” The state department of education thinks so. And so do its pals at Planned Parenthood.
Thanks to our friends at the Massachusetts Family Institute, parents are getting quite a sneak peak of the “pornographic content” their kids are about to learn if the Healthy Youth Act passes the state house. Until now, sex education has been optional for local districts. That will all change if HB 410 and SB263 make their way to the governor’s desk. From normalizing abortion and gender confusion to jaw-dropping descriptions of various acts, Planned Parenthood’s “Get Real” curriculum is so controversial that parents are furious it’s even being considered. When they found out that the country’s largest abortion provider might be put in charge of their kids’ sex education, they pitched a fit. And if it’s anything like the uproar in other communities, the Massachusetts legislature is about to have a bigger debate than it bargained for.
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The Salem News / Christian Wade / Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Students will be taught sex education in a “medically accurate, age appropriate” way under a proposal working its way through Beacon Hill, but critics say the move will strip local school districts of their authority…
…Andrew Beckwith, president of the conservative Massachusetts Family Institute, opposes the measure because he says it takes away local control from school districts and promotes the use of contraception and other standards that some parents might find inappropriate.
“The bottom line is it takes away local control from school committees and parents and puts it in the hands of state bureaucrats,” he said. “If you look at the type of curriculum schools would use, some of it is extraordinarily offensive and not appropriate for kids.”
Beckwith had pushed for provisions to the bill that would require parents to “opt in” for their children to participate, but lawmakers didn’t include that in the Senate version.
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State House News Service / Matt Murphy / Thursday, January 9, 2020
After an eight-week recess, the Senate will spring back to life next week when it plans to take up two pieces of legislation concerning school breakfast for low-income students and comprehensive sex education, which has been a controversial topic in recent years and one that has stalled out despite significant legislative support.
Senators on Thursday teed up the two bills for debate next Thursday in what will be the branch’s first substantive session since it broke for the holidays in late November…
…The Massachusetts Family Institute has objected to what it believes will be some of the options taught to respond to unwanted pregnancies, and argues that local communities should be able to decide what to teach.
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Valley Advocate / Luis Fieldman / Wednesday, January 8, 2020
As the constitutional right to an abortion is threatened in various states and in the country as a whole, the Massachusetts Legislature may soon consider an expansion of abortion rights in the state…
…Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), were advocates for the signature-gathering drive for the anti-abortion petition. According to the organization’s website, MFI “is dedicated to strengthening the family and affirming the Judeo-Christian values upon which it is based.”
“We were encouraged that once again they gathered over 50,000 certified signatures and it shows a lot of people in Massachusetts — wherever they stand on abortion — don’t think it’s proper for public funds to end lives of unborn children.”
Beckwith referred to the ROE Act as “radical anti-life, anti-parent” and as the “infanticide bill.” He said the bill would remove requirements to protect a baby’s life if they are born in a failed abortion.
“It would remove the requirement to save the life of an unborn,” Beckwith said.
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New Boston Post / NBP Staff / Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Do you think of Massachusetts as the most left-tilting state in the country? Many people do.
Yet during the past decade conservatives in Massachusetts have scored some surprising victories. Here are five:
…2. Voters Reject Assisted Suicide
Massachusetts isn’t one of the American states that allows physician-assisted suicide, thanks in part to an unlikely electoral victory in 2012.
A Yes vote for on a so-called “Death With Dignity” ballot question was leading by 31 percentage points – 60 to 20 percent – in late May 2012, less than six months before the general election, according to a poll.
Another poll, in mid-August 2012, less than three months before the election, had Yes up 58 to 24 percent – about 34 points.
Advocates for the disabled, the Massachusetts Family Institute, and the Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, were among the opponents of the ballot question arguing that life is precious and mustn’t be undermined by suggesting suicide as an option for the seriously ill and those who may be depressed.
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WGBH / Greater Boston Staff / Monday, December 23, 2019
After the magazine Christianity Today published an editorial this weekend calling for President Donald Trump’s removal from office, many white evangelicals sharply pushed back, defending their support for the president.
In for Jim Braude, Adam Reilly was joined by Peggy Bendroth, executive director of the Congregational Library & Archives, and Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute.
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Freedom Project Media / Duke Pesta / Wednesday, December 11, 2019
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World Tribune Staff / World Tribune / Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Parents in Massachusetts scored a “huge victory” over Planned Parenthood when the abortion provider’s sex-education curriculum was voted down by the Worcester school board.
The parents, along with church leaders, joined with the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) to protest what they said was Planned Parenthood’s disturbingly graphic “Making Proud Choices” sex-ed curriculum which seeks to “normalize abortion” to middle school and high school students.
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Elizabeth Johnston / Activist Mommy / Monday, December 9, 2019
Thanks to the tireless work of the Massachusetts Family Institute, parents in Worcester, Massachusetts have won a tremendous victory in the battle against Planned Parenthood’s perverted, unscientific sex education curriculum…
…Mary Ellen Siegler, MFI’s consultant on comprehensive sex education, told Breitbart News that many parents and school officials are ignorant of what children ultimately are taught in programs like Making Proud Choices.
Seigler reported that often receive “cursory or evasive” answers from school officials when they seek details on what their children will be taught. “They’re being sent back this information that, honestly, if you are not educated on the issues or haven’t done the deep research, it looks like what they’re being presented is totally fine,” she explained.
Thankfully, MFI’s vigilance paid off.
In a testimony before the Worcester school board committee after reviewing the “Making Proud Choices” sex-ed curriculum materials, MFI director Michael King revealed the disturbingly graphic nature of the curriculum.
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WND Staff / World Net Daily / Saturday, November 30, 2019
An official for a pro-family organization that recently blocked Planned Parenthood’s radical “Making Proud Choices” sex-ed curriculum from a public school says the victory was obtained by employing the truth and the abortionists’ own words.
Michael King, director of community alliances at the Massachusetts Family Institute, wrote in a Daily Signal column that parents in a “blue state” defeated Planned Parenthood at least partly by quoting from its own definition of “abstinence,” or “safe sex,” at a public meeting in February.
Only a few of the descriptions of “safe sex” can be mentioned in print, among them are “grinding, sex with clothes on, rubbing bodies, body massage, strip tease.”
King said Worcester, the second largest city in Massachusetts, was the scene of a “sex-ed showdown between Planned Parenthood and concerned parents and church leaders.”
(CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE)
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Martha Bebinger / WBUR / Friday, November 29, 2019
Massachusetts officials are struggling to understand why the state has been blacklisted by San Francisco over the state’s abortion laws.
Last month, San Francisco officials announced a ban on travel by city employees to Massachusetts and 21 other states whose abortion laws were deemed too restrictive by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The ban starts Jan. 1, 2020. San Francisco will not allow city contracts with Massachusetts-based companies after that date either…
…The blacklist is triggering a wide range of reactions, from business leaders who mutter about crazy times in San Francisco, to this from Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, a group that opposes abortion rights.
“Massachusetts already loses over 18,000 of its unborn children every year to abortion,” he said. “How many more will it take to satisfy the mayor of San Francisco?”
(CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE)
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Dr. Susan Berry / Breitbart News / Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Parents and church leaders in Worcester, Massachusetts, joined with Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) to defeat a Planned Parenthood-implemented sex-ed curriculum in public schools.
In a column at the Daily Signal, Michael King, MFI director of community alliances, referred to the joint efforts of his organization, parents, and church leaders as a “sex ed showdown” with Planned Parenthood and its supporters.
He told Breitbart News in a phone interview that the Worcester school board committee ultimately voted down the curriculum because of the outreach of both parents and church leaders who outnumbered supporters of Planned Parenthood.
King explained MFI has reached out to about 125 different churches across the state throughout the past three years.
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Virginia Allen / The Daily Signal / Monday, November 25, 2019
Andrew Beckwith calls a proposed law in Massachusetts what it is—a prescription for infanticide. Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, explains why this bill would endanger women’s health and allow abortions to occur up to, and even during, delivery.
Beckwith also discusses his institute’s effort to stand against transgender legislation. And he explains a new Massachusetts law that places a counseling ban on licensed mental health professionals, stopping them from helping children feel comfortable in their own bodies. Read the lightly edited transcript below or listen to the podcast:
(CLICK HERE TO READ FULL TRANSCRIPT)
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John R. Ellement / Boston Globe / Friday, Novemeber 22, 2019
The Lynn School Committee has agreed to let a community health center that works in the schools provide birth control, including emergency contraception, to middle and high school students without parental approval, a move that has drawn sharp reaction…
…Michael King, the director of community alliances at the Massachusetts Family Institute, said he does not think free birth control will decrease the number of teenage pregnancies.
“We feel like doing this onsite is indirectly making it even more of an acceptable behavior to have sex as a teenager that can lead to many of these problems that young girls end up facing,” King said.
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Mark Ockerbloom / Boston25News / Friday, Novemeber 15, 2019
The Lynn School Committee voted unanimously on Thursday night to make contraceptives free and accessible to students across the district.
Condoms, birth control and emergency contraception will be made available soon to students at the district’s three high schools – Lynn Classical, Lynn English and Lynn Tech. Parental consent will not be a requirement for students to obtain these contraceptives…
…Others, however, only think this will further increase the problem of teen pregnancy and STD spreading. However, that has been proven wrong, and even the CDC says there is evidence to support that educating teens about sexual health decreases the rate of teen pregnancies.
“It’s crazy that you would need parental consent for a Tylenol but not for something that can have such great health risks,” said Michael King of the Massachusetts Family Institute.
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Douglas Hook / MassLive / Friday, November 15, 2019
High school students in one Massachusetts city will now have regular access to condoms, birth control and emergency contraception through the public school district.
Lynn School Committee members voted unanimously to approve stocking different methods of birth control to be provided to students upon request.
Lynn Community Health Center clinicians can now offer condoms, dispense oral contraceptives, inject Depo-Provera and provide Plan B emergency contraception to students…
…A study by the Massachusetts Family Institute has shown that young mothers are less likely to attain a high school diploma or college degree and achieve economic security. They are also more likely to be in need of government benefits than young women from similar backgrounds who delay motherhood.
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Kathryn Sotnik / NBC Boston / Thursday, November 14, 2019
A unanimous vote by the Lynn school committee Thursday night will make condoms, birth control and emergency contraceptives available at high schools in the Massachusetts city.
The meeting room was packed with parents giving their input, many concerned it’s taking away their parental rights…
… Also in attendance was Michael King of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which is disappointed with the outcome.
“If you look at the New England Journal of Medicine, they came out with a study in 2017 with the increased risk of breast cancer for prolonged use of these hormonal contraceptives, so there’s a lot to talk about, and we don’t think that information is getting to the kids,” King said.
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Jacqueline Tetrault / The Boston Pilot / Friday, Novemeber 8, 2019
Speakers from across the country, including an adult woman who survived her mother’s abortion, joined local pro-life organizations for Massachusetts Citizens for Life’s third annual Celebration of Life at the Statehouse on Oct. 30…
…Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, also shared some anecdotes about his work in the pro-life movement.
“When I grew up, I was told there are three things you don’t discuss in polite company: sex, religion and politics. Abortion is the intersection of all three,” Beckwith joked.
He said his first interaction with pro-life people was in law school, when a pro-choice group planned a celebration of the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Beckwith and about a dozen peers responded by making and wearing pro-life T-shirts on the anniversary. They were nervous about the reactions they would get, but to their surprise, people thanked them for wearing the shirts.
“What that taught me is that, as loud as the pro-abortion industry is, they don’t represent as many of us as they would like us to think they do, and there are a lot of people out there that are hungering for the truth,” Beckwith said.
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Chris Van Buskirk / State House News Service / Wednesday, October 30, 2019
“When I grew up, I was told there are three things you don’t discuss in polite company: sex, religion, and politics. Abortion is the intersection of all three. So, it can be tough to speak out about this issue at work, at school,” Massachusetts Family Institute president Andrew Beckwith said Wednesday at a “celebration of life” event in the State House Great Hall.
ROE Act opponents gathered Wednesday to rally against legislation that would remove obstacles and expand access to abortion and women’s reproductive health.
Billerica Republican Rep. Marc Lombardo, Renew Massachusetts Coalition, and Mass. Citizens for Life and the Mass. Family Institute hosted the third annual “celebration of life” to update the public and share information about pregnancy centers in the state. Over 100 attendees listened as speakers promoted pro-life sentiments and denounced the act that one attendee called the “infanticide bill.”
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Micaiah Bilger / Life News / Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Massachusetts abortion activists upped the pressure this week on state lawmakers to pass a bill legalizing abortions for basically any reason up to birth…
…On Wednesday, Massachusetts Citizens for Life, the Massachusetts Family Institute and other pro-life organizations plan to hold a press conference in the State House to oppose the Roe Act and affirm the need for pro-life options for women and children.
The bill is similar to legislation that passed earlier this year in New York, Vermont, Rhode Island and Illinois.
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Chris Woodward / One News Now / Wednesday, October 30, 2019
The head of a public policy organization dedicated to strengthening families tells why pro-lifers in Massachusetts are gathering today in the Great Hall of the State House.
“We are bringing pro-life activists from across the commonwealth to the State House to do two things,” says Andrew Beckwith, president of Massachusetts Family Institute. “One, we really want to promote and raise awareness about the phenomenal work that so many of our pregnancy resource centers are doing. But also, this is all being done in the context of these infanticide bills, radical late-term abortion bills that are sweeping different parts of the country.”
In Massachusetts, legislators are discussing a measure known as the Roe Act.
“That would get rid of the requirement under current law for parental consent for a minor to have an abortion,” Beckwith explains. “It takes late-term abortions out of hospitals and puts them into clinics, [and] it also removes the requirement that doctors do their best to preserve the life of a child who survives abortion at age 24 weeks or beyond, which is why it’s appropriately called by our side the Infanticide Act.”
State Representative Marc Lombardo (R-22nd Middlesex), Friends of the Unborn, Massachusetts Citizens for Life, and Renew Massachusetts Coalition are joining Massachusetts Family Institute for a press conference today.
“Come to the State House and be prepared to talk with the pregnancy resource center volunteers and staffers, and then take that message to your state representative and state senator,” says Beckwith. “Use it as an opportunity to talk to the elected officials that represent you, to make sure they’re aware for the great work that these pregnancy resource centers are doing, especially if their district or community.”
Finally, he encourages pro-lifers to let the representatives know they are not in favor of this Roe Act.
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Jeff Kuhner / The Kuhner Report / Friday, October 25, 2019
Jeffrey T. Kuhner, “Liberalism’s Worst Nightmare,” is a conservative nationalist, who champions God, country and family. His show deals
with cutting-edge, hot-button political, social and foreign policy issues.
[Tune to minute 28:30 to hear from MFI President Andrew Beckwith].
(CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO FULL INTERVIEW)
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Christian Wade / Newburyport News / Monday, September 16, 2019
Donato and Rausch’s legislation is expected to face less opposition, though it has yet to be scheduled for a committee hearing.
Even the Massachusetts Family Institute, which strongly opposes the medical society’s stance on religious exemptions, doesn’t have a problem with the new proposal as written.
“It seems the intent of this bill is not eliminating an important example of parental rights and religious freedom, but rather emphasizing awareness of the potential health risks of vaccine exemptions and better data collection,” Andrew Beckwith, the institute’s president, said in a statement. “To that extent, it is consistent with the fundamental right of parents to direct the health care of their children.”
He said immunization rules “should continue to balance public health concerns with these parental rights and religious freedom for the relative few that seek exemptions.”
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Bob Katzen / Taunton Daily Gazette / Saturday, September 14, 2019
GENDER X (H 3664) — The State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee held a hearing on a proposal that would allow Bay Staters to choose the gender-neutral designation “X” in lieu of “male” or “female” on state identifying documents including birth certificates, marriage licenses, driver’s licenses, learner’s permit, identification cards and liquor purchase identification cards. The Senate approved a similar proposal in April. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia currently allow a gender-neutral option on driver’s licenses…
…“If you look at your Massachusetts driver’s license, it lists ‘sex,’ not ‘gender,‘” said Massachusetts Family Institute President Andrew Beckwith. “The concept of ‘gender identity’ is based on internal feelings, but sex is binary (male or female) and grounded in biology. And we believe that a state ID should reflect that objective fact.”
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Mary Markos / Boston Herald / Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Advocates for a gender “X” designation on state documentation say making people chose male or female is akin to making them lie, while opponents argue that a person’s sex is a biological fact.
“If you look at your Massachusetts driver’s license, it lists ‘sex,’ not ‘gender,’” Andrew Beckwith of Massachusetts Family Institute told the Herald. “The concept of ‘gender identity’ is based on internal feelings, but sex is binary (male or female) and grounded in biology, and we believe that a state ID should reflect that objective fact.”
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Matt Murphy / State House News Service / Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Critics of the legislation, including former House lawmaker and Massachusetts GOP Chairman Jim Lyons, have raised concerns regarding public safety and confusion for law enforcement, while Massachusetts Family Institute Executive Director Andrew Beckwith said driver’s licenses should reflect a person’s sex, not their gender.
“The concept of ‘gender identity’ is based on internal feelings, but sex is binary (male or female) and grounded in biology, and we believe that a state ID should continue to reflect the objective fact of sex, not gender,” Beckwith said.
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Rick Sobey / Boston Herald / Sunday, September 8, 2019
Advocates for a bill to let people choose “X” as a gender on driver’s licenses and birth certificates plan to show up in full force for a hearing this week on Beacon Hill, but opponents said they’re gearing up to push back against the “radical left” legislation…
…President of Massachusetts Family Institute Andrew Beckwith said that IDs should reflect “objective facts, not someone’s mental or emotional state.”
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Bob Katzen / Wicked Local Hanover / Sunday, September 8, 2019
Mental health experts and LGBTQ groups charge that the practice is scientifically unproven and unsound and can trigger depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts in these youngsters.
“We can offer assurances to those still struggling with coming out, or whose parents are still coming to terms with their orientation or identity, that that they will not be sent to a licensed therapist to change who they know themselves to be,” said Rep. Jack Lewis (D-Framingham) at the time of the vote.
“This vote was an appalling assault on parental rights in the commonwealth,” said the president of the Massachusetts Family Institute Andrew Beckwith who opposed lifting the ban. “Over 140 of our state legislators apparently believe that parents should not be able to get gender-confused children any treatment, even counseling, that might help them avoid cross-sex hormone injections, sterility or ‘transition’ surgery.
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Christian Wade / The Salem News / Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Healey’s office also certified a proposal to put a question on the November 2022 ballot asking voters to amend the state Constitution overturn a 1981 Supreme Judicial Court ruling that requires the state to fund abortion services. Backers of the proposal, which includes the Massachusetts Family Institute, proposed a similar initiative for the 2020 ballot but fell short of required signatures.
To get on the ballot, that proposal also needs approval from 50 members of the 200-member Legislature, meeting in two successive constitutional conventions.
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Adam Miller / Songtime Radio / Saturday, August 31, 2019
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Charlie Butts / One News Now / Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Once upon a time, Massachusetts did not use state revenue to terminate unborn children. But that was before the courts got involved. In 1981, the Supreme Judicial Court, the state’s highest court, ordered that the state had to fund abortions through Medicaid.
Now, nearly 40 years later, the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) has launched a third petition drive.
“What we’re trying to do is amend the state constitution to correct that injustice and make sure that the people of the Commonwealth are not forced into being complicit with abortion by funding it with tax dollars,” MFI President Andrew Beckwith tells OneNewsNow.
He recognizes the challenge the Massachusetts Alliance to Stop Taxpayer Funded Abortion has ahead of it.
“This time around, they’re going to need to gather over 80,000 certified signatures to get it on the ballot, so that’s a big lift,” Beckwith relays. “They’ll have 90 days to do it this fall, and I’m hopeful they’ll be successful.”
If they are, supporters will have to obtain at least 25 percent of the votes from both houses of the legislature in two consecutive state constitutional conventions before voters will have a chance to decide the issue. The earliest that would likely happen is the year 2022.
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Hank Stolz / Talk of the Commonwealth / Thursday, August 1, 2019
The debate surrounding Sex Ed in Worcester Public Schools has reignited In the wake of the Planned Parenthood endorsements for Worcester City Council and School Committee.
One of the major players in the debate surrounding comprehensive sex ed in WPS was the Massachusetts Family Institute. MFI was instrumental in the pushback against the implementation of comprehensive sex ed in WPS.
We had the President of MFI Andrew Beckwith on the show to talk about the issue.
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Mary Markos / Boston Herald / Friday, June 28, 2019
Opponents of a bill to legalize medical aid in dying, known as death with dignity, argue that insurance companies could opt for the “cheaper” option and stop covering expensive medical treatments.
“At the legislative hearing on Tuesday, we heard testimony about insurance companies refusing to pay for life-giving treatments and offering much cheaper suicide drugs as an alternative,” Andrew Beckwith of Massachusetts Family Institute said. “We have the best health care in the world here in Massachusetts, and this bill would be a huge step backwards for quality of care and the rights of patients.”
Beckwith and other organizations are pushing back against the legislation, pointing to testimony from people like Stephanie Packer, a California woman who said her insurance would no longer cover chemotherapy after physician-assisted suicide was legalized in her state. She traveled to Massachusetts earlier this week to testify against the bill in a Joint Committee on Public Health hearing.
“I can’t describe what it feels like when someone tells you that they’re no longer going to pay for drugs that will extend your life significantly, that will give me more time with my kids,” Packer said. “But for a buck I can go ahead and make it stop if I kill myself.”
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Chris Woodward / One News Now / Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Lawmakers in Massachusetts are debating today about doctor-assisted suicide.
Today’s discussion will take place in the Joint Committee on Public Health, where advocates for the proposal call it “death with dignity” but Andrew Beckwith of Massachusetts Family Institute says the method is still assisted suicide.
“They’ve been after this for years,” he advises. “They took it to the vote of the people on a ballot referendum in 2012 and it was defeated in large part due to the great work of the Church, particularly the Catholic archdiocese of Boston.”
The ballot measure was defeated 51-49 percent after a “ferocious political battle,” The Boston Globe reported at the time.
Opponents of the “death with dignity” referendum organized in the final weeks after a poll showed support for the measure, the newspaper reported, and the public was flooded with messages of opposition from religious leaders, pro-life activists, and a physicians group.
The bill requires two witnesses to sign a written request for the lethal drugs. However, one of the witnesses can legally be someone who stands to enjoy an inheritance from the person that is about to die, which creates an obvious scenario for greed.
Beckwith gives one chilling example: a dying woman’s grandson convinces her to swallow the poison pill while scheming with a girlfriend to sign as witnesses. But there is little evidence of their misdeeds.
“There would be no record for the rest of the family members to know what actually happened,” Beckwith says, “because doctors are prohibited from putting anything on the death certificate other than the underlying disease.”
Beckwith expects pushback this time around and is urging the public to contact their legislators and tell them to oppose the “death with dignity” legislation.
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Mike LaCrosse / CBS (Boston) / Wednesday, June 19, 2019
The Gender Identity Bill passed the Senate this spring and is now waiting for consideration in the House.
If passed it would allow someone to check “X” instead of “Male” or “Female” for a license, ID or birth certificate. It would also require the Office of the Attorney General to create a report detailing all state documents where someone is required to indicate their gender…
The Massachusetts Republican Party is against the bill.
“Implementing this added regulation will just be another unnecessary cost to the hardworking taxpayers of Massachusetts. The added bureaucracy will also make the tough job of law enforcement even tougher,” said Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jim Lyons.
The Massachusetts Family Institute is also opposed.
“If you’re male or female that’s a biological fact that your identification should reflect,” said Massachusetts Family Institute President Andrew Beckwith.
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Dr. Susan Berry / Breitbart / Wednesday, June 19, 2019
“In a video clip of testimony provided by Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), both Dr. Carole Allen, vice president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and Dr. Luu Ireland, OB/GYN at UMass Memorial, are heard telling members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary they support S. 1209, titled An Act to Remove Obstacles and Expand Abortion Access (ROE).”
“Andrew Beckwith, a Massachusetts attorney and president of MFI, told Breitbart News when his organization was present at the testimony of the doctors, he expected to see some “back and forth on what really is the infanticide provision of this bill that removes an existing requirement that’s been on the books in Massachusetts since 1974.”
“So, when this doctor, who is the vice president of the Massachusetts Medical Society testifies that her organization supports this bill and is questioned on this provision, she’s unaware that it’s even in the bill,” he said incredulously.
Beckwith said the ROE Act allows abortion “from conception to crowning.” He added the legislation would allow abortions in the latter part of pregnancy to be performed at abortion clinics such as Planned Parenthood, rather than solely in hospitals.
When he testified before the Judiciary Committee on Monday, Beckwith directed his attention at one point to the proposed elimination of the requirement of parental consent for a minor’s abortion.
“This is the day after Father’s Day and the supporters of the ROE Act are unapologetically saying, in the context of abortions for underage girls, fathers and mothers are nothing more than ‘obstacles’ to be removed,” Beckwith observed.”
https://www.necn.com/on-air/as-seen-on/sex-ed-proposal-draws-criticism-in-mass/2219309/
The Daily Signal / Ken McIntyre / Monday, January 20, 2020
Dear Daily Signal: As one of the principal organizers of the defeat of Washington state’s “comprehensive sexual health education bill” in 2018, I am writing to thank you for Michael King’s commentary about Massachusetts, “In a Blue State, Parents Beat Planned Parenthood’s Sex Ed Push.”
This “comprehensive” sex ed bill will be up again in Washington (backed by Planned Parenthood and our state superintendent of education), so I appreciate The Daily Signal’s covering the efforts in Massachusetts.
I founded the Washington Women’s Network (now called the Network-WA), a women’s advocacy organization focused on defeating Planned Parenthood’s legislative initiatives (and others threatening conscience rights and the safety of women and children).
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Commonwealth Magazine / Sarah Betancourt / Thursday, January 17, 2020
THE SENATE PASSED a sex-ed bill on Thursday with more Republican support than in the past, but it’s heading to the House where Speaker Bob DeLeo has not yet committed to taking it up…
…Organizations like the Massachusetts Family Institute and Mass GOP oppose any statewide legislation related to sex-ed, with the Family Institute’s president, Andrew Beckwith, saying it takes away control from school districts, and promotes contraception that some parents might deem inappropriate.
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Gloucester Daily Times / Steve LeBlanc / Thursday, January 17, 2020
The Massachusetts Senate approved a bill Thursday that would require school districts that offer a comprehensive sex education curriculum rely on “medically accurate, age-appropriate” information…
…Critics say the bill introduces explicit information about sex to students who may be too young.
Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, faulted the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, saying it is giving Planned Parenthood more influence over what children are being taught about sex than their parents.
“Senators voting for this bill apparently want to instruct 12-year-olds on the finer points of anal sex,” Beckwith said. “The proper term for teaching a child that age how to perform sexual acts is not education, it’s ‘grooming.’”
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MassLive / Steph Solis / Thursday, January 16, 2020
The Senate passed a bill on Thursday that requires school districts offering sex education to use a curriculum they described as medically accurate, age-appropriate and inclusive of students regardless of their sexual orientation…
…The bill had support from health advocates and victim’s rights advocates who say the curriculum empowers students to learn about communication and healthy relationships, but critics called the legislation a “sex-ed mandate.”
“This takes control over sex-ed out of the hands of local schools and parents and gives it all to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education,” the Massachusetts Family Institute wrote earlier this week, arguing the curriculum does not have age-appropriate material.
“The overwhelming majority of the content actually instructs children in how to engage in explicit sexual activity, making the abstinence message ineffective,” the institute’s website states.
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NECN / John Moroney / Thursday, January 17, 2020
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One News Now / Charlie Butts & Billy Davis / Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Massachusetts Superior Court ruled last week there is no constitutional right to assisted suicide and kicked the volatile issue back to state lawmakers, a decision applauded by many.
Andrew Beckwith of the Massachusetts Family Institute says the legal fight dates back to a lawsuit filed by Dr. Roger Kligler, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer, given six months to live, but was alive this week to learn the court ruling.
“The good news for the doctor, not good news for his legal case,” Beckwith explains, “was that about three years ago he got an updated diagnosis where the cancer levels had gone down. So now his prognosis had changed from less than six months to live to years.”
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One News Now / Bob Kellog / Wednesday, January 15, 2020
A vote coming as early as this week would force the current health curriculum to be used by all public schools if the Healthy Youth Act passes.
Andrew Beckwith of the Massachusetts Family Institute says the state Senate has passed similar legislation in the past but it has never come up for a vote in the House, where one lawmaker has publicly vowed to take action if his colleagues debate the bill.
“And during the debate,” Beckwith says of lawmaker, “he will just start reading from some of these curricula the bill would mandate, and so they won’t bring it up for a vote.”
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Family Research Council / Tony Perkins / Tuesday, January 14, 2020
What in the world is a “gender snowperson?” Ask your fourth grader. In Massachusetts, that’s how schools are teaching nine-year-olds to “never assume boys have penises.” Welcome to sex education, Planned Parenthood-style. And, if the state’s extremists get their way, Frosty’s friend is just the beginning.
“Is it age-appropriate to introduce twelve-year old children to anal sex?” the New Boston Post asks. “Is it medically accurate to encourage students to protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by using Saran Wrap as a prophylactic during oral sex?” The state department of education thinks so. And so do its pals at Planned Parenthood.
Thanks to our friends at the Massachusetts Family Institute, parents are getting quite a sneak peak of the “pornographic content” their kids are about to learn if the Healthy Youth Act passes the state house. Until now, sex education has been optional for local districts. That will all change if HB 410 and SB263 make their way to the governor’s desk. From normalizing abortion and gender confusion to jaw-dropping descriptions of various acts, Planned Parenthood’s “Get Real” curriculum is so controversial that parents are furious it’s even being considered. When they found out that the country’s largest abortion provider might be put in charge of their kids’ sex education, they pitched a fit. And if it’s anything like the uproar in other communities, the Massachusetts legislature is about to have a bigger debate than it bargained for.
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The Salem News / Christian Wade / Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Students will be taught sex education in a “medically accurate, age appropriate” way under a proposal working its way through Beacon Hill, but critics say the move will strip local school districts of their authority…
…Andrew Beckwith, president of the conservative Massachusetts Family Institute, opposes the measure because he says it takes away local control from school districts and promotes the use of contraception and other standards that some parents might find inappropriate.
“The bottom line is it takes away local control from school committees and parents and puts it in the hands of state bureaucrats,” he said. “If you look at the type of curriculum schools would use, some of it is extraordinarily offensive and not appropriate for kids.”
Beckwith had pushed for provisions to the bill that would require parents to “opt in” for their children to participate, but lawmakers didn’t include that in the Senate version.
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State House News Service / Matt Murphy / Thursday, January 9, 2020
After an eight-week recess, the Senate will spring back to life next week when it plans to take up two pieces of legislation concerning school breakfast for low-income students and comprehensive sex education, which has been a controversial topic in recent years and one that has stalled out despite significant legislative support.
Senators on Thursday teed up the two bills for debate next Thursday in what will be the branch’s first substantive session since it broke for the holidays in late November…
…The Massachusetts Family Institute has objected to what it believes will be some of the options taught to respond to unwanted pregnancies, and argues that local communities should be able to decide what to teach.
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Valley Advocate / Luis Fieldman / Wednesday, January 8, 2020
As the constitutional right to an abortion is threatened in various states and in the country as a whole, the Massachusetts Legislature may soon consider an expansion of abortion rights in the state…
…Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), were advocates for the signature-gathering drive for the anti-abortion petition. According to the organization’s website, MFI “is dedicated to strengthening the family and affirming the Judeo-Christian values upon which it is based.”
“We were encouraged that once again they gathered over 50,000 certified signatures and it shows a lot of people in Massachusetts — wherever they stand on abortion — don’t think it’s proper for public funds to end lives of unborn children.”
Beckwith referred to the ROE Act as “radical anti-life, anti-parent” and as the “infanticide bill.” He said the bill would remove requirements to protect a baby’s life if they are born in a failed abortion.
“It would remove the requirement to save the life of an unborn,” Beckwith said.
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New Boston Post / NBP Staff / Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Do you think of Massachusetts as the most left-tilting state in the country? Many people do.
Yet during the past decade conservatives in Massachusetts have scored some surprising victories. Here are five:
…2. Voters Reject Assisted Suicide
Massachusetts isn’t one of the American states that allows physician-assisted suicide, thanks in part to an unlikely electoral victory in 2012.
A Yes vote for on a so-called “Death With Dignity” ballot question was leading by 31 percentage points – 60 to 20 percent – in late May 2012, less than six months before the general election, according to a poll.
Another poll, in mid-August 2012, less than three months before the election, had Yes up 58 to 24 percent – about 34 points.
Advocates for the disabled, the Massachusetts Family Institute, and the Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, were among the opponents of the ballot question arguing that life is precious and mustn’t be undermined by suggesting suicide as an option for the seriously ill and those who may be depressed.
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WGBH / Greater Boston Staff / Monday, December 23, 2019
After the magazine Christianity Today published an editorial this weekend calling for President Donald Trump’s removal from office, many white evangelicals sharply pushed back, defending their support for the president.
In for Jim Braude, Adam Reilly was joined by Peggy Bendroth, executive director of the Congregational Library & Archives, and Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute.
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Freedom Project Media / Duke Pesta / Wednesday, December 11, 2019
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World Tribune Staff / World Tribune / Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Parents in Massachusetts scored a “huge victory” over Planned Parenthood when the abortion provider’s sex-education curriculum was voted down by the Worcester school board.
The parents, along with church leaders, joined with the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) to protest what they said was Planned Parenthood’s disturbingly graphic “Making Proud Choices” sex-ed curriculum which seeks to “normalize abortion” to middle school and high school students.
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Elizabeth Johnston / Activist Mommy / Monday, December 9, 2019
Thanks to the tireless work of the Massachusetts Family Institute, parents in Worcester, Massachusetts have won a tremendous victory in the battle against Planned Parenthood’s perverted, unscientific sex education curriculum…
…Mary Ellen Siegler, MFI’s consultant on comprehensive sex education, told Breitbart News that many parents and school officials are ignorant of what children ultimately are taught in programs like Making Proud Choices.
Seigler reported that often receive “cursory or evasive” answers from school officials when they seek details on what their children will be taught. “They’re being sent back this information that, honestly, if you are not educated on the issues or haven’t done the deep research, it looks like what they’re being presented is totally fine,” she explained.
Thankfully, MFI’s vigilance paid off.
In a testimony before the Worcester school board committee after reviewing the “Making Proud Choices” sex-ed curriculum materials, MFI director Michael King revealed the disturbingly graphic nature of the curriculum.
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WND Staff / World Net Daily / Saturday, November 30, 2019
An official for a pro-family organization that recently blocked Planned Parenthood’s radical “Making Proud Choices” sex-ed curriculum from a public school says the victory was obtained by employing the truth and the abortionists’ own words.
Michael King, director of community alliances at the Massachusetts Family Institute, wrote in a Daily Signal column that parents in a “blue state” defeated Planned Parenthood at least partly by quoting from its own definition of “abstinence,” or “safe sex,” at a public meeting in February.
Only a few of the descriptions of “safe sex” can be mentioned in print, among them are “grinding, sex with clothes on, rubbing bodies, body massage, strip tease.”
King said Worcester, the second largest city in Massachusetts, was the scene of a “sex-ed showdown between Planned Parenthood and concerned parents and church leaders.”
(CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE).
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Martha Bebinger / WBUR / Friday, November 29, 2019
Massachusetts officials are struggling to understand why the state has been blacklisted by San Francisco over the state’s abortion laws.
Last month, San Francisco officials announced a ban on travel by city employees to Massachusetts and 21 other states whose abortion laws were deemed too restrictive by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The ban starts Jan. 1, 2020. San Francisco will not allow city contracts with Massachusetts-based companies after that date either…
…The blacklist is triggering a wide range of reactions, from business leaders who mutter about crazy times in San Francisco, to this from Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, a group that opposes abortion rights.
“Massachusetts already loses over 18,000 of its unborn children every year to abortion,” he said. “How many more will it take to satisfy the mayor of San Francisco?”
(CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE).
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Dr. Susan Berry / Breitbart News / Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Parents and church leaders in Worcester, Massachusetts, joined with Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) to defeat a Planned Parenthood-implemented sex-ed curriculum in public schools.
In a column at the Daily Signal, Michael King, MFI director of community alliances, referred to the joint efforts of his organization, parents, and church leaders as a “sex ed showdown” with Planned Parenthood and its supporters.
He told Breitbart News in a phone interview that the Worcester school board committee ultimately voted down the curriculum because of the outreach of both parents and church leaders who outnumbered supporters of Planned Parenthood.
King explained MFI has reached out to about 125 different churches across the state throughout the past three years.
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Virginia Allen / The Daily Signal / Monday, November 25, 2019
Andrew Beckwith calls a proposed law in Massachusetts what it is—a prescription for infanticide. Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, explains why this bill would endanger women’s health and allow abortions to occur up to, and even during, delivery.
Beckwith also discusses his institute’s effort to stand against transgender legislation. And he explains a new Massachusetts law that places a counseling ban on licensed mental health professionals, stopping them from helping children feel comfortable in their own bodies. Read the lightly edited transcript below or listen to the podcast:
(CLICK HERE TO READ FULL TRANSCRIPT).
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John R. Ellement / Boston Globe / Friday, Novemeber 22, 2019
The Lynn School Committee has agreed to let a community health center that works in the schools provide birth control, including emergency contraception, to middle and high school students without parental approval, a move that has drawn sharp reaction…
…Michael King, the director of community alliances at the Massachusetts Family Institute, said he does not think free birth control will decrease the number of teenage pregnancies.
“We feel like doing this onsite is indirectly making it even more of an acceptable behavior to have sex as a teenager that can lead to many of these problems that young girls end up facing,” King said.
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Mark Ockerbloom / Boston25News / Friday, Novemeber 15, 2019
The Lynn School Committee voted unanimously on Thursday night to make contraceptives free and accessible to students across the district.
Condoms, birth control and emergency contraception will be made available soon to students at the district’s three high schools – Lynn Classical, Lynn English and Lynn Tech. Parental consent will not be a requirement for students to obtain these contraceptives…
…Others, however, only think this will further increase the problem of teen pregnancy and STD spreading. However, that has been proven wrong, and even the CDC says there is evidence to support that educating teens about sexual health decreases the rate of teen pregnancies.
“It’s crazy that you would need parental consent for a Tylenol but not for something that can have such great health risks,” said Michael King of the Massachusetts Family Institute.
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Douglas Hook / MassLive / Friday, November 15, 2019
High school students in one Massachusetts city will now have regular access to condoms, birth control and emergency contraception through the public school district.
Lynn School Committee members voted unanimously to approve stocking different methods of birth control to be provided to students upon request.
Lynn Community Health Center clinicians can now offer condoms, dispense oral contraceptives, inject Depo-Provera and provide Plan B emergency contraception to students…
…A study by the Massachusetts Family Institute has shown that young mothers are less likely to attain a high school diploma or college degree and achieve economic security. They are also more likely to be in need of government benefits than young women from similar backgrounds who delay motherhood.
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Kathryn Sotnik / NBC Boston / Thursday, November 14, 2019
A unanimous vote by the Lynn school committee Thursday night will make condoms, birth control and emergency contraceptives available at high schools in the Massachusetts city.
The meeting room was packed with parents giving their input, many concerned it’s taking away their parental rights…
… Also in attendance was Michael King of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which is disappointed with the outcome.
“If you look at the New England Journal of Medicine, they came out with a study in 2017 with the increased risk of breast cancer for prolonged use of these hormonal contraceptives, so there’s a lot to talk about, and we don’t think that information is getting to the kids,” King said.
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Jacqueline Tetrault / The Boston Pilot / Friday, Novemeber 8, 2019
Speakers from across the country, including an adult woman who survived her mother’s abortion, joined local pro-life organizations for Massachusetts Citizens for Life’s third annual Celebration of Life at the Statehouse on Oct. 30…
…Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, also shared some anecdotes about his work in the pro-life movement.
“When I grew up, I was told there are three things you don’t discuss in polite company: sex, religion and politics. Abortion is the intersection of all three,” Beckwith joked.
He said his first interaction with pro-life people was in law school, when a pro-choice group planned a celebration of the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Beckwith and about a dozen peers responded by making and wearing pro-life T-shirts on the anniversary. They were nervous about the reactions they would get, but to their surprise, people thanked them for wearing the shirts.
“What that taught me is that, as loud as the pro-abortion industry is, they don’t represent as many of us as they would like us to think they do, and there are a lot of people out there that are hungering for the truth,” Beckwith said.
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Chris Van Buskirk / State House News Service / Wednesday, October 30, 2019
“When I grew up, I was told there are three things you don’t discuss in polite company: sex, religion, and politics. Abortion is the intersection of all three. So, it can be tough to speak out about this issue at work, at school,” Massachusetts Family Institute president Andrew Beckwith said Wednesday at a “celebration of life” event in the State House Great Hall.
ROE Act opponents gathered Wednesday to rally against legislation that would remove obstacles and expand access to abortion and women’s reproductive health.
Billerica Republican Rep. Marc Lombardo, Renew Massachusetts Coalition, and Mass. Citizens for Life and the Mass. Family Institute hosted the third annual “celebration of life” to update the public and share information about pregnancy centers in the state. Over 100 attendees listened as speakers promoted pro-life sentiments and denounced the act that one attendee called the “infanticide bill.”
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Micaiah Bilger / Life News / Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Massachusetts abortion activists upped the pressure this week on state lawmakers to pass a bill legalizing abortions for basically any reason up to birth…
…On Wednesday, Massachusetts Citizens for Life, the Massachusetts Family Institute and other pro-life organizations plan to hold a press conference in the State House to oppose the Roe Act and affirm the need for pro-life options for women and children.
The bill is similar to legislation that passed earlier this year in New York, Vermont, Rhode Island and Illinois.
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Chris Woodward / One News Now / Wednesday, October 30, 2019
The head of a public policy organization dedicated to strengthening families tells why pro-lifers in Massachusetts are gathering today in the Great Hall of the State House.
“We are bringing pro-life activists from across the commonwealth to the State House to do two things,” says Andrew Beckwith, president of Massachusetts Family Institute. “One, we really want to promote and raise awareness about the phenomenal work that so many of our pregnancy resource centers are doing. But also, this is all being done in the context of these infanticide bills, radical late-term abortion bills that are sweeping different parts of the country.”
In Massachusetts, legislators are discussing a measure known as the Roe Act.
“That would get rid of the requirement under current law for parental consent for a minor to have an abortion,” Beckwith explains. “It takes late-term abortions out of hospitals and puts them into clinics, [and] it also removes the requirement that doctors do their best to preserve the life of a child who survives abortion at age 24 weeks or beyond, which is why it’s appropriately called by our side the Infanticide Act.”
State Representative Marc Lombardo (R-22nd Middlesex), Friends of the Unborn, Massachusetts Citizens for Life, and Renew Massachusetts Coalition are joining Massachusetts Family Institute for a press conference today.
“Come to the State House and be prepared to talk with the pregnancy resource center volunteers and staffers, and then take that message to your state representative and state senator,” says Beckwith. “Use it as an opportunity to talk to the elected officials that represent you, to make sure they’re aware for the great work that these pregnancy resource centers are doing, especially if their district or community.”
Finally, he encourages pro-lifers to let the representatives know they are not in favor of this Roe Act.
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Jeff Kuhner / The Kuhner Report / Friday, October 25, 2019
Jeffrey T. Kuhner, “Liberalism’s Worst Nightmare,” is a conservative nationalist, who champions God, country and family. His show deals
with cutting-edge, hot-button political, social and foreign policy issues.
[Tune to minute 28:30 to hear from MFI President Andrew Beckwith].
(CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO FULL INTERVIEW).
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Christian Wade / Newburyport News / Monday, September 16, 2019
Donato and Rausch’s legislation is expected to face less opposition, though it has yet to be scheduled for a committee hearing.
Even the Massachusetts Family Institute, which strongly opposes the medical society’s stance on religious exemptions, doesn’t have a problem with the new proposal as written.
“It seems the intent of this bill is not eliminating an important example of parental rights and religious freedom, but rather emphasizing awareness of the potential health risks of vaccine exemptions and better data collection,” Andrew Beckwith, the institute’s president, said in a statement. “To that extent, it is consistent with the fundamental right of parents to direct the health care of their children.”
He said immunization rules “should continue to balance public health concerns with these parental rights and religious freedom for the relative few that seek exemptions.”
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Bob Katzen / Taunton Daily Gazette / Saturday, September 14, 2019
GENDER X (H 3664) — The State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee held a hearing on a proposal that would allow Bay Staters to choose the gender-neutral designation “X” in lieu of “male” or “female” on state identifying documents including birth certificates, marriage licenses, driver’s licenses, learner’s permit, identification cards and liquor purchase identification cards. The Senate approved a similar proposal in April. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia currently allow a gender-neutral option on driver’s licenses…
…“If you look at your Massachusetts driver’s license, it lists ‘sex,’ not ‘gender,‘” said Massachusetts Family Institute President Andrew Beckwith. “The concept of ‘gender identity’ is based on internal feelings, but sex is binary (male or female) and grounded in biology. And we believe that a state ID should reflect that objective fact.”
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Mary Markos / Boston Herald / Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Advocates for a gender “X” designation on state documentation say making people chose male or female is akin to making them lie, while opponents argue that a person’s sex is a biological fact.
“If you look at your Massachusetts driver’s license, it lists ‘sex,’ not ‘gender,’” Andrew Beckwith of Massachusetts Family Institute told the Herald. “The concept of ‘gender identity’ is based on internal feelings, but sex is binary (male or female) and grounded in biology, and we believe that a state ID should reflect that objective fact.”
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Matt Murphy / State House News Service / Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Critics of the legislation, including former House lawmaker and Massachusetts GOP Chairman Jim Lyons, have raised concerns regarding public safety and confusion for law enforcement, while Massachusetts Family Institute Executive Director Andrew Beckwith said driver’s licenses should reflect a person’s sex, not their gender.
“The concept of ‘gender identity’ is based on internal feelings, but sex is binary (male or female) and grounded in biology, and we believe that a state ID should continue to reflect the objective fact of sex, not gender,” Beckwith said.
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Rick Sobey / Boston Herald / Sunday, September 8, 2019
Advocates for a bill to let people choose “X” as a gender on driver’s licenses and birth certificates plan to show up in full force for a hearing this week on Beacon Hill, but opponents said they’re gearing up to push back against the “radical left” legislation…
…President of Massachusetts Family Institute Andrew Beckwith said that IDs should reflect “objective facts, not someone’s mental or emotional state.”
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Bob Katzen / Wicked Local Hanover / Sunday, September 8, 2019
Mental health experts and LGBTQ groups charge that the practice is scientifically unproven and unsound and can trigger depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts in these youngsters.
“We can offer assurances to those still struggling with coming out, or whose parents are still coming to terms with their orientation or identity, that that they will not be sent to a licensed therapist to change who they know themselves to be,” said Rep. Jack Lewis (D-Framingham) at the time of the vote.
“This vote was an appalling assault on parental rights in the commonwealth,” said the president of the Massachusetts Family Institute Andrew Beckwith who opposed lifting the ban. “Over 140 of our state legislators apparently believe that parents should not be able to get gender-confused children any treatment, even counseling, that might help them avoid cross-sex hormone injections, sterility or ‘transition’ surgery.
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Christian Wade / The Salem News / Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Healey’s office also certified a proposal to put a question on the November 2022 ballot asking voters to amend the state Constitution overturn a 1981 Supreme Judicial Court ruling that requires the state to fund abortion services. Backers of the proposal, which includes the Massachusetts Family Institute, proposed a similar initiative for the 2020 ballot but fell short of required signatures.
To get on the ballot, that proposal also needs approval from 50 members of the 200-member Legislature, meeting in two successive constitutional conventions.
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Adam Miller / Songtime Radio / Saturday, August 31, 2019
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Charlie Butts / One News Now / Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Once upon a time, Massachusetts did not use state revenue to terminate unborn children. But that was before the courts got involved. In 1981, the Supreme Judicial Court, the state’s highest court, ordered that the state had to fund abortions through Medicaid.
Now, nearly 40 years later, the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) has launched a third petition drive.
“What we’re trying to do is amend the state constitution to correct that injustice and make sure that the people of the Commonwealth are not forced into being complicit with abortion by funding it with tax dollars,” MFI President Andrew Beckwith tells OneNewsNow.
He recognizes the challenge the Massachusetts Alliance to Stop Taxpayer Funded Abortion has ahead of it.
“This time around, they’re going to need to gather over 80,000 certified signatures to get it on the ballot, so that’s a big lift,” Beckwith relays. “They’ll have 90 days to do it this fall, and I’m hopeful they’ll be successful.”
If they are, supporters will have to obtain at least 25 percent of the votes from both houses of the legislature in two consecutive state constitutional conventions before voters will have a chance to decide the issue. The earliest that would likely happen is the year 2022.
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Hank Stolz / Talk of the Commonwealth / Thursday, August 1, 2019
The debate surrounding Sex Ed in Worcester Public Schools has reignited In the wake of the Planned Parenthood endorsements for Worcester City Council and School Committee.
One of the major players in the debate surrounding comprehensive sex ed in WPS was the Massachusetts Family Institute. MFI was instrumental in the pushback against the implementation of comprehensive sex ed in WPS.
We had the President of MFI Andrew Beckwith on the show to talk about the issue.
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Mary Markos / Boston Herald / Friday, June 28, 2019
Opponents of a bill to legalize medical aid in dying, known as death with dignity, argue that insurance companies could opt for the “cheaper” option and stop covering expensive medical treatments.
“At the legislative hearing on Tuesday, we heard testimony about insurance companies refusing to pay for life-giving treatments and offering much cheaper suicide drugs as an alternative,” Andrew Beckwith of Massachusetts Family Institute said. “We have the best health care in the world here in Massachusetts, and this bill would be a huge step backwards for quality of care and the rights of patients.”
Beckwith and other organizations are pushing back against the legislation, pointing to testimony from people like Stephanie Packer, a California woman who said her insurance would no longer cover chemotherapy after physician-assisted suicide was legalized in her state. She traveled to Massachusetts earlier this week to testify against the bill in a Joint Committee on Public Health hearing.
“I can’t describe what it feels like when someone tells you that they’re no longer going to pay for drugs that will extend your life significantly, that will give me more time with my kids,” Packer said. “But for a buck I can go ahead and make it stop if I kill myself.”
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Chris Woodward / One News Now / Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Lawmakers in Massachusetts are debating today about doctor-assisted suicide.
Today’s discussion will take place in the Joint Committee on Public Health, where advocates for the proposal call it “death with dignity” but Andrew Beckwith of Massachusetts Family Institute says the method is still assisted suicide.
“They’ve been after this for years,” he advises. “They took it to the vote of the people on a ballot referendum in 2012 and it was defeated in large part due to the great work of the Church, particularly the Catholic archdiocese of Boston.”
The ballot measure was defeated 51-49 percent after a “ferocious political battle,” The Boston Globe reported at the time.
Opponents of the “death with dignity” referendum organized in the final weeks after a poll showed support for the measure, the newspaper reported, and the public was flooded with messages of opposition from religious leaders, pro-life activists, and a physicians group.
The bill requires two witnesses to sign a written request for the lethal drugs. However, one of the witnesses can legally be someone who stands to enjoy an inheritance from the person that is about to die, which creates an obvious scenario for greed.
Beckwith gives one chilling example: a dying woman’s grandson convinces her to swallow the poison pill while scheming with a girlfriend to sign as witnesses. But there is little evidence of their misdeeds.
“There would be no record for the rest of the family members to know what actually happened,” Beckwith says, “because doctors are prohibited from putting anything on the death certificate other than the underlying disease.”
Beckwith expects pushback this time around and is urging the public to contact their legislators and tell them to oppose the “death with dignity” legislation.
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Mike LaCrosse / CBS (Boston) / Wednesday, June 19, 2019
The Gender Identity Bill passed the Senate this spring and is now waiting for consideration in the House.
If passed it would allow someone to check “X” instead of “Male” or “Female” for a license, ID or birth certificate. It would also require the Office of the Attorney General to create a report detailing all state documents where someone is required to indicate their gender…
The Massachusetts Republican Party is against the bill.
“Implementing this added regulation will just be another unnecessary cost to the hardworking taxpayers of Massachusetts. The added bureaucracy will also make the tough job of law enforcement even tougher,” said Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jim Lyons.
The Massachusetts Family Institute is also opposed.
“If you’re male or female that’s a biological fact that your identification should reflect,” said Massachusetts Family Institute President Andrew Beckwith.
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Dr. Susan Berry / Breitbart / Wednesday, June 19, 2019
“In a video clip of testimony provided by Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), both Dr. Carole Allen, vice president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and Dr. Luu Ireland, OB/GYN at UMass Memorial, are heard telling members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary they support S. 1209, titled An Act to Remove Obstacles and Expand Abortion Access (ROE).”
“Andrew Beckwith, a Massachusetts attorney and president of MFI, told Breitbart News when his organization was present at the testimony of the doctors, he expected to see some “back and forth on what really is the infanticide provision of this bill that removes an existing requirement that’s been on the books in Massachusetts since 1974.”
“So, when this doctor, who is the vice president of the Massachusetts Medical Society testifies that her organization supports this bill and is questioned on this provision, she’s unaware that it’s even in the bill,” he said incredulously.
Beckwith said the ROE Act allows abortion “from conception to crowning.” He added the legislation would allow abortions in the latter part of pregnancy to be performed at abortion clinics such as Planned Parenthood, rather than solely in hospitals.
When he testified before the Judiciary Committee on Monday, Beckwith directed his attention at one point to the proposed elimination of the requirement of parental consent for a minor’s abortion.
“This is the day after Father’s Day and the supporters of the ROE Act are unapologetically saying, in the context of abortions for underage girls, fathers and mothers are nothing more than ‘obstacles’ to be removed,” Beckwith observed.”
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