In 2023, shortly after the AEA was signed into law, an LGBTQ theater company called “Friends of George” filed a challenge against the law arguing that it unconstitutionally restricted their freedom of expression. U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker issued a preliminary injunction against the law in March 2023, finding that it was “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.” It was temporarily blocked from taking effect until a federal appeals court reversed the decision and dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the company did not have legal standing because its performances did not break Tennessee law. Friends of George appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the justices declined to take up the challenge.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti praised the SCOTUS decision as “another big win for Tennessee,” noting that, “Free speech is a sacred American value, but the First Amendment does not require Tennessee to allow sexually explicit performances in front of children.”
The AEA amended Tennessee's definition of adult cabaret entertainment to mean adult-oriented performances that “feature topless or exotic dancers or ‘male or female impersonators.’ Restricted performances must also be ‘harmful to minors,’ which Tennessee law defines as lacking ‘serious literary, artistic, political or scientific values’ and appealing ‘to the prurient, shameful or morbid interests.’” While the law itself does not reference drag shows, lawmakers noted the purpose of the bill was to restrict such performances from taking place in front of minors.
The First Amendment does not give individuals or organizations the right to expose children to sexually explicit content. Restricting such performances is not a violation of the Constitution, but rather a fulfillment of one of the most basic obligations of government – protecting the vulnerable from harm. We’re thankful the US Supreme Court rightfully defended this important law so that it can continue to protect Tennessee children from the perversion of drag shows and other sexually explicit performances.
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“The truth is, the greatest tool to lift children and families from poverty is one that decreases the probability of child poverty by 82%. But it isn’t a government spending program. It’s called marriage.” – Senator (now Secretary of State) Marco Rubio
In a new ranking system created by the Center for Christian Virtue and the Institute for Family Studies called the Family Structure Index, Tennessee ranked 20th for the strongest family culture in the country. The Index is a measure of the most important family structure trends in the US, focusing on each state’s share of adult residents who are married, have children, and raise those children together through their high school years. Index scores higher than 60 indicate that the state is above the national average in at least one of the components. Tennessee must do better, as we barely rose above the norm with an Index score of 62.8, signaling that our state has serious work to do when it comes to creating a pro-family culture.
In Tennessee, 57.7% of “prime age” adults (25 to 54 years old) are married, and only 46.7% of children ages 15 to 17 are living with their married parents. Tennessee’s fertility rate of 1.73, which is the average number of lifetime births per woman, is far below the requisite rate of 2.1 needed to maintain a steady population.
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Tennessee – and the United States as a whole – can do better. Even Utah, the state with the most pro-family culture according to the CCV Index, has a 1.85 fertility rate, and only 68% of prime-age adults are married.
At FACT, we promote God’s design for marriage and family not only because it’s part of His perfect plan for creation, but because research has proven society is better off when marriage between one man and one woman is recognized as a common good.
“Seldom in the social sciences has there been such a strong and consistent pattern of findings than the one that marriage, as our keystone institution, is strongly linked to the welfare of children, adults, and the country itself,” Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Brad Wilcox wrote.
In modern society, marriage is sometimes viewed as “old-fashioned” or “restrictive.” Many adults believe marriage will hinder them from achieving happiness and success. The truth is that traditional marriage and family, in conjunction with faith in God, are the keys to true life-long fulfillment, happiness, and well-being.
Wilcox continued, “More than 50 years of social science and medical research generally demonstrate that married men and women live longer, have healthier lives, earn and save more money, recover more quickly and successfully from illness, steer clear of trouble with the law, are less likely to attempt and commit suicide, and are more likely to be happy. Indeed, on most measures of financial, physical, social, and emotional well-being, men, women, and children in stable married homes do better.”
The benefits of children being raised by their married parents are indisputable and cannot be replicated by single-parent families, cohabitating families or even step-families. Studies show that children have the highest chance of succeeding in life when raised by their married parents.
“The truth is, no other institution protects children the way marriage does. If states want to address poverty, improve outcomes for children, and do more than simply react to higher rates of criminal behavior in communities with broken homes, they need to encourage raising children within marriage to the child’s other parent,” Patience Sunne, the engagement director at Them Before Us, a nonprofit dedicated to defending children’s rights, wrote.
Tennessee’s policy leaders should focus on promoting a culture that celebrates God’s design for marriage & family and recognize these age-old institutions as a common good for society. The benefits of increasing the number of married adults and children raised by their married parents will be far-reaching for individuals and the nation as a whole.
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“In medical practice, there are few surgical procedures given so little attention and so underrated in its potential hazards as abortion. It is a commonly held view that complications are inevitable.” - Dr. Warren Hern, Abortionist
After Roe v. Wade was overturned, pro-choice advocates argued that banning abortion at the state level would only lead to illegal, unsafe, “back alley” abortions. They contended that women would be denied healthcare when experiencing miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies and falsely concluded that banning abortions would kill women and increase maternal mortality rates. Those arguments were categorically disproven by data recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
As states banned abortion, maternal mortality rates declined. That is no coincidence. Banning abortion saves the lives of both mothers and their unborn babies.
In 2023, the US maternal mortality rate decreased to 18.6 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 22.3 in 2022, according to a report from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. In 2023, after 20 states banned abortion in the first full year post-Roe, 669 women died of maternal causes. In 2022, 817 women died of maternal causes, an almost 20% reduction.
This confirms that childbirth is safer and better for women than abortion. In fact, studies show that women are three times more likely to die following abortions than from natural childbirth.
Dr. Monique Chireau Wubbenhorst, a senior research associate at the DeNicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame and a board-certified OB-GYN, shared with a US Senate committee that nations with strong pro-life laws have some of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world.
“Countries with highly restrictive [abortion] laws at present or in the past (such as Chile, Malta and Ireland) have or have had extremely low rates of maternal mortality. In addition, African American women have the highest rates of abortion, and also the highest maternal mortality. Both cannot be true if abortion decreases maternal mortality,” she shared at the hearing.
In another testimony before Congress, Wubbenhorst shared that “For several years consecutively, Ireland had zero maternal mortality at a time when abortion was completely illegal.”
The risks associated with both surgical and chemical abortions are well-documented. Surgical risks include, but are not limited to: hemorrhaging, infection, cervix laceration, and uterus perforation. If any of these complications occur, it can expose women to additional risks associated with the procedures used to mitigate damage, such as blood transfusions needed after hemorrhaging, which risks hepatitis. Abortion can increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer and can increase the likelihood of ectopic pregnancies in the future.
While not all of these complications are fatal, many can have life-long health consequences – not to mention the emotional trauma of undergoing such a violent procedure. Studies show that some women even develop Post Abortion Syndrome (PAS), which has been likened to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Another study showed that women are 81% more likely to experience mental health issues, either short-term or long-term, after an abortion.
There are perhaps even more risks associated with chemical abortion, partly because they are self-administered by taking a pill regimen at home, rather than in a hospital setting where adverse events can be quickly addressed.
“RU-486, otherwise known as mifepristone, has an FDA warning for causing drug toxicity/overdose, ruptured ectopic tubes, hemorrhage, and more,” Liberty Counsel explained. “From February 2019 to September 2020 alone, the drug killed 3,197 women. Among the other thousands of adverse injuries reported during the same period, 2/3 of women who did not die of RU-486’s adverse events required surgery to save their life and future fertility.”
With these statistics in mind, it’s not hard to understand how banning abortion leads to a decrease in maternal mortality rates. Abortion endangers and kills women. The compassionate approach is the pro-life position. Women (and their unborn children) are better off in a culture where abortion is unthinkable.]]>
“The radical left has waged an all-out campaign to erase the very concept of biological sex and replace it with a militant transgender ideology. With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over,” President Trump declared at the signing. “We’re putting every school receiving taxpayers’ dollars on notice that if you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding.”
Almost immediately, the NCAA, which has been at the forefront of the transgender athlete controversy, announced that it would take the necessary steps to align its policies with the Order. The NCAA oversees more than 530,000 student-athletes across the country and previously allowed biological men to compete in women’s sports if they “identified” as a female.
"We strongly believe that clear, consistent and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today's student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump's order provides a clear, national standard,” the NCAA noted.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Trump expects the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to comply with the Order in the 2028 Olympics, which will be hosted in Los Angeles.
This Executive Order reins in the radical LGBTQ+ agenda in public education & sports and aligns those institutions with what the majority of Americans believe. Even CNN reported on air that 79% of Americans oppose allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports.
In 2022, Governor Bill Lee signed into law a measure prohibiting public schools from allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports in Tennessee. However, for the 23 states that have yet to implement such a measure, this Order sets a new national standard and will protect thousands of women and girls.
Thank you, President Trump, for keeping your campaign promise and standing up for female athletes. And thank you for leading the nation back to God’s truth that we are created male and female!
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We are especially grateful that President Trump signed an Order this week to protect children from surgical and chemical interventions that irreversibly disrupt and alter their healthy bodies, echoing arguments put forth by FACT in our recent amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, filed on behalf of ourselves and ten other state family policy organizations in support of our Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti.
“Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding,” the Order reads. “Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.”
That countless children will eventually come to regret their “gender transitions” is indisputable – eleven studies have confirmed that the majority of children (some estimate up to 80%) will outgrow their gender dysphoria when they reach adulthood.
“Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” the Order established.
This crucial action from President Trump goes hand-in-hand with FACT’s amicus brief advocating for Tennessee’s law banning these procedures for minors, which AG Skrmetti is currently defending before the US Supreme Court in United States v. Skrmetti.
“The State of Tennessee enacted the challenged statute to protect the children within its borders who do not have the maturity to comprehend the life-altering gravity of being subjected to novel surgical and chemical interventions that irreversibly disrupt and alter their healthy bodies,” FACT notes in the brief. “As persons have a right not to be bodily injured by third persons, physicians like all other third persons have a corresponding duty in their practice not to injure the bodies of the persons who are their patients.”
We conclude: “Therefore, the Court must reject the ahistorical innovation in law offered by the [Biden] Department of Justice that the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause abrogated the right of all persons to the uninterrupted enjoyment of their bodies and health according to our nature as human beings and the power (and duty) of states to protect the rights of all persons from injury thereto by medical providers.’
In layman’s words, we argue that states not only have a right to outlaw these medical interventions, but they have a duty to protect minors’ natural, healthy bodies from these procedures.
Although a decision from the Court is not expected until June, Trump’s Executive Order picks up on this duty to protect America’s children, by:
- Requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take all appropriate actions to end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children;
- Ensuring that institutions receiving federal research or education grants must end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children;
- Excluding chemical and surgical mutilation of children from TRICARE coverage; and
- Rescinding the use of the politically biased World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) guidance, which “lacks scientific integrity.”
We applaud President Trump for this decisive and important action that will protect countless children from the dangers of these medical interventions. We hope this Order encourages the Supreme Court to follow our lead and affirm not only Tennessee’s right to protect its children, but also its duty to do so.]]>