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. NC VALUES: President Trump Continues Winning With More Pro-Family Executive Orders

We are extremely grateful to President Trump for the actions he has taken to curb the transgender madness and restore sanity, science, and safety to American society. Since taking office, Trump has signed several Executive Orders aimed at protecting women, children, and society at large from the harmful effects of gender ideology and indoctrination. NC Values has been on the front lines of these issues for 9 years, and having the President’s support is extremely helpful to our continued efforts here in North Carolina.

The Executive Order Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government says the Federal government only recognizes two sexes—male and female—and goes on to describe the sexes as immutable categories determined at conception by biology. It also prevents men from using women’s private spaces including bathrooms and locker rooms.

We  appreciate that the Executive Order Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness not only contains a directive for the Pentagon to determine a policy for transgender service members, but also prohibits men from using women’s private spaces in military facilities.

Trump also signed the order titled Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation which says that the federal government will not fund, promote, or support chemical and surgical mutilation for the purpose of transitioning a person under 19 years of age from one sex to the other sex for. It goes on to say that these treatments leave the children with costly medical bills, regret, and sometime result in sterility.

Finally, on Wednesday Trump signed the order titled Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling, and during #NationalSchoolChoiceWeek signed the Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunities for Families. These orders remove federal funding from K-12 schools that push critical race theory (CRT), as well as direct the government to explore supporting K-12 educational choice initiatives.

Read more: https://ncvalues.org/pr-nc-values-praises-president-trumps-executive-orders-that-stop-gender-madness/

2. NC VALUES: The North Carolina Long Legislative Session Started This Week. We Were In Raleigh for You

We were in Raleigh Wednesday for the start of the long legislative session—ensuring that your pro-life, pro-family, and pro-religious freedom values have a voice in the halls of government. While lawmakers are rightly focused this week on the state’s response to Hurricane Helene’s devastation in western North Carolina, our team was on the ground meeting with Senators and Representatives, advocating for solutions this year that will protect families, parents, and the unborn.

But the work is just beginning. There are critical legislative priorities in 2025 that require action, and we plan to be at the legislature as often as possible to fight for these pro-values policies.

Read more: https://ncvalues.org/we-were-in-raleigh-for-you/

3. NORTH STATE JOURNAL: National School Choice Week Kicks off with 27,600-Plus Events Planned

“The 15th annual National School Choice Week is underway, running from Jan. 26 to Feb. 1. National School Choice Week began in 2012 and annually celebrates various school choice options that are typically outside of the traditional K-12 public school system such as charter schools, private schools, online schools and homeschooling, but it can also include micro schools and public magnet schools. Per the National School Choice Week website, more than 27,600 events are planned nationwide across 37 states that included 31 school fairs and 11 capitol celebrations.”

If you’re a parent looking for school choice options for your child, check out this great guide on school choice options in North Carolina, as well as this useful tool that lets you search different types of schools near you.

North Carolina’s current budget also expanded Opportunity Scholarships to all families in NC, empowering parents to choose the school which best fits their children. Parents know what’s best for their own children, and now economics is no longer a stumbling block for families who want to escape public schools rife with indoctrination. Opportunity Scholarship registration opens up on Feb. 6 and runs until Mar. 6. Click here to learn more about registering.

Read more: https://nsjonline.com/article/2025/01/national-school-choice-week-kicks-off-with-27600-plus-events-planned/

4. CAROLINA JOURNAL: Harris Bill Would Ban Mail-Order Abortion Pills at the Federal Level

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, more providers turned to telemedicine to prescribe mifepristone and a subsequent study found that of those patients, .7% requiring hospitalization and .4% requiring a blood transfusion. Of the more than 1,000 cases studied there were 70 unplanned visits to emergency rooms, and ten ‘serious adverse events’ including five blood transfusions.

‘We applaud Rep. Mark Harris for introducing the Teleabortion Prevention Act in the U.S. House of Representatives,’ Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of NC Values, told the Carolina Journal.  is a major problem in North Carolina.’

He also introduced his legislation on the same day as the 52nd annual March for Life in Washington, DC. Thousands attended this annual event, which has been held every year since 1974, according to the Hill.”

Read more: https://www.carolinajournal.com/harris-bill-would-ban-mail-order-abortion-pills-at-the-federal-level/

5. NORTH STATE JOURNAL: Both Chambers of Congress Run Bills on Women’s Sports

“Both chambers of Congress are running bills aimed at barring biological males from competing on female sports teams.

Both bills update the Education Amendments of 1972 as it pertains to Title IX, specifically requiring that ‘sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.’

Any state or local recipients of federal funds operating sports teams who do not comply with that definition and allow males to compete on female teams would be deemed in violation and could have funding withheld.”

Read more: https://nsjonline.com/article/2025/01/both-chambers-of-congress-run-bills-on-womens-sports/

Weekly Prayer: Officials

LORD, you also have instructed us to pray for our governing officials, and we come to you in the spirit of this petition. We pray for our state government and its executive, legislative, and judicial servants. May they indeed be servants unto the people, and govern in a manner that protects liberty and virtue. In the same spirit, we pray for public servants across our local governments. May they all heed your mandate in Romans 13:4 to be in positions of authority as “God’s servant” and for the “good” of the public. They govern in what we confess are difficult times. May they plead with you to give them wisdom, and may your grace to govern wisely be poured out on them.

Protect us from the oppression and loss of freedoms that other countries have experienced, and help us to value and preserve freedom, which we know comes only from You.

“I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt.  I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free.” Acts 7:34

Amen

Sincerely,

Tami & Team

NC Values