Praise Report – Lame Duck Dies

12/31/2024 Thank you to everyone who prayed, made phone calls, sent emails, and helped inform others during the lame duck legislative session. God worked in mighty ways, and against all earthy odds, prayers have been answered!

Left leaning legislators tried to pass many bills threatening good governance and first freedoms. Many expected these bill to pass. Today we thank God that the following bills failed and did NOT pass: HB 4156 & 4440: National Popular Vote legislation HB 6068: Radical Sex-Ed Overhaul Bill HB 6034-6035: Library bill package that protected pornographic and sexually explicit material funded with taxpayer dollars HB 6091: “Anti-harassment” bill that would have silenced parents and others from exercising 1st Amendment rights SB 1082: Censored and prohibited sharing pro-life information with women via phone, text message, and more. SB 285: Mandatory Kindergarten at age 5 HB 6135: would have deprived certain people of 2nd Amendment rights without due process HB 6205: Radical vaccine package that stripped away parents’ rights and medical privacy HB 4482: Exposed many churches, schools, & non-profits up to costly lawfare HB 4410: Driver’s Licenses for Illegal Aliens HB 4431: Legalization of sodomy SB 1085: Legalization of adultery HB 4556: Allowed early release for dangerous criminals HB 4547: Increased cost of a marriage license by 250% SB 654: Removed penalties for minors unlawfully possessing tobacco

THANK YOU for engaging the culture with the heart of Christ!

12/2/2024

3 MI Bills that Sexualize Children & Silence Parents’ Voices

As the end of legislative session comes to and end and Lansing prepares for a shift in leadership in the Michigan House of Representatives in January 20205, many lawmakers are seizing the opportunity to make sweeping changes before they leave office, in session known as Lame Duck. There are about 3 weeks and roughly 9 voting days left in this current “Lame Duck” session, when outgoing legislators are pushing to complete “unfinished business,” which includes several extreme policy proposals that normally would not have support to pass. Many bills currently being considered threaten religious liberty and the freedom of expression, threaten parental rights and good governance, and put children at risk.

HB 6068: Radical Sex Ed Overhaul

House Bill 6068 radically overhauls the way that Michigan’s public schools teach

children about sex education, gender, identity, and reproductive rights. If passed, this legislation

would affect approximately 1.3 million in nearly 3,000 public schools across the state, starting with children in elementary school.

Instead of continuing the positive, proven success of our current law, this bill proposes to:

• Eliminate the requirement to teach abstinence as a primary means of preventing unplanned pregnancies and STIs and that abstinence is “a positive lifestyle for unmarried young people” – page 2
• Allows schools to distribute family planning drugs and devices, without a provision for parental notice or consent. – page 7 NOTE: If this bill passes, even if a parent “opts out” of sex ed classes, their child will still be able to obtain these drugs at school, exposing them to side effects like bleeding, blood clots, high blood pressure, and more. 
• Teaches children “skills needed to communicate with parents” about their relationships, sexual and reproductive health. This is literally a government employee teaching your child how to talk to you, the parent, about their “sex life” and approved curriculums often include what not to share with parents– page 11
• Includes information on all FDA approved contraceptives and all “legally available pregnancy outcomes”, which includes all types of abortion available. – page 12
• Adds a new requirement to teach “sexual identity,” stating teachers must “Affirmatively recognize that individuals have different sexual orientations and gender identities” and requires them to be inclusive of various gender relationships” in teaching illustrations. This means that your child would be given examples portraying gay, lesbian, transgender, and other sexual activities and relationships in the classroom – pages 10, 11, 12

Did you know? Minority children, especially African American children, will most likely suffer the greatest impact if HB 6068 is passed. According to the MDHHS’s Dashboard on Adolescent Sexual Health in Michigan:

• Michigan’s African-American community is the group most affected by teen sex?
• The Teen Birth rate for African-American females is more than double their peers?
• STIs infect more than 7,400 African-American teens in Michigan each year?
• In 2023, more than 53% of abortions in Michigan were on African-Americans, even though African Americans make up just over 11% of the population. (MDHHS Vital Stats)

Teaching radical ideology under the guise of sex ed will harm African-American youth more than any other group and could negatively impact the health of families in the African-American community for decades to come.  It also stands to impact more than 1,300,000 Michigan children of all backgrounds if adopted. All of these children deserve protection and a real education–not political or philosophical indoctrination. HB 6068 has been referred to the House Education Committee for a hearing and is expected to come for a vote in Lame Duck (between December 3-19, 2024). Calls and emails made by many concerned citizens are already making a difference, but Christian people must remain vigilantly engaged. In Matthew 18, Jesus makes is clear that we all have a role to play in protecting innocent children, and God-fearing people must do so now.   (Read more on this issue.)

HB 6034 & 6035: “Public Library Freedom to Read Act” Protects Explicit Material

This bill package creates a new Act to change the law for public community and school libraries that protects morally reprehensible and sexually perverse materials. If passed, explicit books (even in children’s libraries) depicting graphic sexual behavior or normalizing perverse sexual relations, along with other objectionable content, could only be removed from a library after a judge ruled the material to be obscene under the First Amendment. The proposed Act:

• Makes it almost impossible for parents to challenge library books
• Takes away the voice of elected library and school board members, placing sole responsibility for book selection in the hands of the library’s chief executive employee
• Protects morally reprehensible and sexually perverse materials, especially materials dealing with sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression
• Requires a resident to go to court to have a judge rule explicit material obscene before it can be removed from the shelf

While no one is advocating for censorship, it is important that children are protected from harmful materials and that local elected representatives can make decisions in the best interest of their community, where they remain politically accountable. The bill awaits hearing by the Committee on Government Operations.

HB 6091- Elliot Larsen Act Expansion Threatens First Amendment Liberties

This bill expands Michigan’s Civil Right’s law with broad and highly subjective terms prohibiting “harassment” in both public and private schools and all educational environments, especially targeting so-called “harassment” based on “sexual orientation, gender identity or expressions. Among the points of concern with this bill are that:

• Guilt is based on “perception” rather than clearly outlined standards and can include speech “perceived” to “create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment.” It makes it almost impossible to prove one’s innocence once accused.
• Violations of the law could include Homeschool parents or Christian School teachers teaching children about their Biblical identity and how they are created either male or female in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)
• Public School parents who come to a school board meeting and speak publicly about concerns regarding a biological male competing on their daughter’s sports team and sharing locker room and shower space with biological females could be prosecuted and fined.
• School board members who advocate for private, secure bathrooms could be prosecuted and fined.
• Students leading a lunchtime Bible study, discussing how God calls young men and young women to live modest, holy, and pure lifestyles could be prosecuted and fined.

Clearly, examples like these are not intended to discriminate or harass anyone, but rather are informed by sincere Christian faith and concern for the wellbeing of others. Nevertheless, this bill raises serious First Amendment concerns about religious expression and freedom of speech, and if passed, could trigger sweeping changes in private education (Church and homeschools), for whom there are no religious exemptions. The bill awaits hearing by the Committee on Government Operations.