Welcome to the Friday Five! Every Friday we share our top five articles, stories, and quotes for you to read and share with your friends and church families.

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1. N&O: NC GOP Bill Would Allow the Public to Sue  Over Parents’ Bill of Rights Law

“‘Pornographic content is never appropriate in an educational setting. Exposure to sexually explicit material is devastating and traumatic for children, and it can have lasting psychological effects,’ Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the NC Values Coalition, said in a statement Tuesday.

‘This bill would put in place common-sense criteria to protect our children and ensure that the materials we provide them are appropriate for their developmental stage. Our schools should be places that nurture the development of young minds, not expose them to harmful material that robs them of their innocence.’”

Read more: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article303245506.html

This week, a bill was introduced in the NC House to ensure that wholesome content is promoted in public schools. HB 636 would require every school district in the state to adopt a policy for the selection and procurement of library books, electronic media and other resources for school libraries, including the removal of books and media that no longer meets the criteria.

Read more: https://ncvalues.org/pr-bill-introduced-to-promote-wholesome-content-for-students/

2. NC VALUES: Our Mama Bear Workshop Was a Success. Thank You!

Our recent Mama Bear Workshop over the past weekend was a great success! We’re grateful for all of you who could attend.

Mama Bear Workshops equip parents with the knowledge and tools to identify harmful content in public schools and advocate effectively for their children. These workshops provide a deep dive into the current cultural and legal challenges facing families, helping parents stand strong in defense of truth and common sense.

Learn more about what transpired at the event, and view some photos, here: https://ncvalues.org/what-happened-at-our-mama-bear-workshop/

3. FOX NEWS: Women’s Fencer Opens up on Refusing to Face Transgender Opponent, Accepting Punishment and Backlash

“Women’s fencer Stephanie Turner took her mask off and got a knee in front of her transgender opponent.

Ahead of a bout at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland over the weekend, Turner, 31, made the decision not to compete against trans athlete Redmond Sullivan. And Turner also wanted to make sure her refusal was caught on video for the world to see.

Turner came to the decision the night before the event when she checked the competition pools and saw that she would be competing against Sullivan, whom she had read about in an article last year.”

Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/sports/womens-fencer-reveals-why-she-refused-face-transgender-opponent-accepting-punishment-backlash

4. ADF: U.S. Supreme Court Case, Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, to Decide Future of Tax-Funded Big Abortion

“One of the biggest cases on the U.S. Supreme Court’s docket this term, Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, raises several important questions. Perhaps the most important one is this: should American taxpayers be forced to fund Big Abortion?

Let’s start with the facts.

For abortion profit centers such as Planned Parenthood, their primary business objective—their mission—is to end unborn lives. Over the years, they’ve taken millions of lives, and they’ve received billions of dollars in public funds.

Does that sound like something taxpayers should be footing the bill for?”

Read more: https://adflegal.org/article/planned-parenthood-does-not-deserve-your-tax-dollars/

Read our Amicus Brief in the case here.

5. NC VALUES: Joint Letter to Congress to Defund Planned Parenthood

While leaving patients vomiting from rank conditions, Planned Parenthood prioritized pouring millions of dollars into woke lobbying and trying to defeat Republicans in races from the school board to the presidency. Planned Parenthood boasts that their advocacy and political organizations spent a massive $69.5 million during the 2024 election cycle.6 Their massive pro-abortion political arm, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, pushes all-trimester abortions and promotes fearmongering lies that put women and girls at needless risk. Their political arm has more lobbyists and spends more on federal lobbying than any other pro-abortion or pro-life group, spending more than half a million dollars in the first quarter of 2023 alone.

Women and children deserve better care. In an era of reexamining federal funding, Congress should start by cutting funding for Big Abortion in the upcoming reconciliation bill.

Read the full letter: https://ncvalues.org/joint-letter-to-congress-to-defund-planned-parenthood/

WEEKLY PRAYER: Life

LORD, we recognize that you are Sovereign over all creation. We recognize you made man from the dust, and in your mercy, you crowned creation with man and woman made in your image. What a wonder it is that you would bestow upon us this blessing and responsibility!

LORD, may we not take this blessing for granted. We pray that this great responsibility and dignity may motivate us to love You, our neighbors, and our families more. LORD, may we as a culture truly see and believe that children are a blessing from the LORD—born or unborn; able or disabled. All children should have an opportunity to experience the liberty of life. LORD, make us your vehicle to change our culture into one that cherishes and protects life. Keep at the forefront of our minds our responsibilities to respect, cherish, and serve the youngest and oldest in our society.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.’” (Matthew 18:1-6)

Sincerely,

Tami & Team

NC Values