Jan 15, 2024 | News, Wisconsin Family Voice
The US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, but protecting human life remains a top priority for pro-life organizations and individuals in Wisconsin, especially since Planned Parenthood has resumed abortions here. Dane County District Court Judge Diane Schlipper ruled on the case brought by Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) alleging that Wisconsin’s pre-Roe abortion statute, 940.04, is not enforceable. Schlipper says the law doesn’t apply to consensual abortion, but rather to feticide, the non-consensual killing of a preborn baby. Many of us fail to see how she arrived at that decision since the section is labeled “Abortion,” and if nothing else, the exception for the life of the mother makes it clear that the statute applies to consensual abortion. Nevertheless, for now, the intentional, consensual killing of an unborn child is again legal in Wisconsin.
Thanks to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, 14 states in the U.S. have implemented laws that prohibit or significantly restrict abortions. According to the data available, these enforceable pro-life laws are projected to potentially eliminate around 200,000 abortions annually. However, this still leaves hundreds of thousands of babies at risk. As Christians and pro-lifers, our job is not over until abortion is unthinkable in our country and every child is safe in his or her mother’s womb.
Commemorating Sanctity of Human Life Month in January is a good way to highlight this issue. January was officially designated as Sanctity of Human Life Month in 1984 by then-President Ronald Reagan. This year, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is on January 21. Wisconsin Family Council urges churches to preach on life and pro-lifers to recommit to robustly and persistently defending life this month and every month.
We are dedicated to doing everything we can to strengthen, preserve, and promote human life from conception through natural death. We believe in the power of prayer, action, and education to bring about change. When churches teach and preach on the issue, so many people gain a clear understanding and then use their personal influence to help others advance the pro-life cause.
In addition, to safeguard the lives of the unborn, we need to not only expose the harsh realities of abortion but also offer support to local pregnancy care organizations that consistently provide hope and life-affirming messages to women and families. By promoting a culture that celebrates life, we can counter the false narrative pushed by the left and present alternatives that affirm the value of both mother and child. It’s about creating a community where life is not just protected by law but cherished and supported in practice.
To this end, Choose Life Wisconsin recently distributed almost $30,000 to eight Wisconsin pregnancy care centers to help with their amazing pro-life work. These funds are raised from the sale of the Choose Life Wisconsin license plate. To date, Choose Life Wisconsin has awarded over $308,000 to more than 30 pregnancy care centers in our state.
Recently, a coffee company dedicated to the pro-life cause donated nearly $300,000 to pregnancy resource centers across the country, assisting them in their role as a “shield and protector” for expectant mothers.
These funding efforts come at a time when some centers are facing challenges in funding and operational capabilities in certain states.
Seven Weeks Coffee takes its name from the developmental stage at which a preborn baby is about the size of a coffee bean. The company is committed to supporting the work of pro-life pregnancy centers, which offer a range of free services and counseling to pregnant women and their families. To aid these centers, Seven Weeks Coffee donates 10% of its coffee sales revenue. Choosing to spend money at places like this, rather than progressive companies that explicitly support abortion, or to purchase a Choose Life Wisconsin license plate are small but impactful ways we can all help foster a culture of life.
Further, we must extend radical love and compassion to expectant mothers facing challenging circumstances. Churches and their congregations should actively support women and men vulnerable to choosing abortion by contributing to crisis pregnancy centers, directly assisting mothers in need, or simply being present for those experiencing hardship.
Finally, a key part of defending the sanctity of life in Wisconsin is to elect leaders who will boldly protect preborn life and prevent the left from advancing their radical pro-choice agenda. President Joe Biden has urged Congress to establish a federal legal “right” to abortion. This action aims not only to reinstate but also to broaden the scope of Roe v. Wade by prohibiting states from enacting almost all pro-life legislation. The outcome of the 2024 elections will be crucial in deciding whether the Democrats maintain control of the White House and secure sufficient congressional seats to achieve this despicable objective.
This fall presents a chance to vote for Christ-centered leaders who will fiercely defend life at all stages. It’s vital to participate in the upcoming election and to encourage others who share these beliefs to do the same.
May our efforts honor the sanctity of human life, not just in words, but through our individual actions, including our vote, and in the laws that govern our state and nation.
Jan 2, 2024 | News, Wisconsin Family Voice
Recently, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) and the Mountain States
Legal Foundation achieved a victory on behalf of Young America’s Foundation, a conservative student group, after the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse refused to grant the organization official student-organization status.
The school originally denied the group’s designation because the student organization refused to sign onto a “DEI” inclusivity statement, a document full of the university’s prescribed political and social policy stances that contradicted the organization’s values and violated their First Amendment rights. Several of these statements involved a pledge to promote the welfare of individuals who do not have the “documentation” required for legal residency in the United States and compelled student organizations to express their disapproval of enforcing the existing immigration laws in the country.
The university was also asking students to be “committed to… addressing issues of equity and justice,” through implementing race-conscious policies. The school backed down after the legal groups threatened further action.
Dan Lennington, WILL Deputy Counsel, stated, “This is a victory for free speech and equality. WILL stands ready to defend the Constitutional rights of every Wisconsinite. Period. We applaud the students at UW-La Crosse for standing up for themselves and setting a great example for others to follow. On the other hand, it’s time for academia to ditch the woke nonsense.”
It should go without saying that the purpose of student groups is not to peddle the university’s progressive agenda but to rally around the members’ own unique interests and beliefs. The university went so far as to attempt to force students to violate their beliefs. Thankfully, the First Amendment rights of this group have been restored.
UW-La Crosse has found itself in lots of hot water lately—from the firing of the chancellor for his involvement in porn to this unfortunate incident with Young America’s Foundation. These realities should be a wake-up call for the school, the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents, and for any parents thinking about this school for their college-bound teens.
Dec 13, 2023 | News, Wisconsin Family Voice
Two non-profit organizations have joined forces to assist private citizen groups in organizing a record-breaking number of Nativity scenes on the groundsof state capitols during this Advent season.
According to a press release from the Thomas More Society, 43 state capitols, including Wisconsin’s, will feature Nativity scenes this year. The society is collaborating with the American Nativity Scene committee to facilitate this initiative.
Thomas More Society is offering support to ensure that individuals who wish to sponsor a Nativity scene at their state capitol can do so, as protected by the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Every year, WFA takes our Christmas sign and Nativity to the state Capitol to put on display in the first-floor rotunda. This year, we were the first organization to put our sign and display up on December 1st. The state Christmas tree was up and decorated; and just a couple of hours earlier, the governor had lit the tree that he insists on referring to as a “holiday tree.” During the tree-lighting ceremony, however, high school choirs that had been invited were singing traditional Christmas carols, not just secular Christmas songs.
Over the years, there has been an ongoing battle of the signs, and now a battle of the nativities, with Freedom from Religion Foundation. According to a press release from Freedom from Religion, headquartered in Madison, for 27 years we’ve had a battle of the signs, and for about 11 years we’ve had a battle of the nativities.
Our Christmas sign says, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15. Then in huge letters, the sign says “JESUS,” followed by “Merry Christmas from Wisconsin Family Council.”
Freedom from Religion is apparently now combining their sign and their blasphemous so-called nativity display. Freedom from Religion says that its own display is an “irreverent cutout by artist Jacob Fortin” that “depicts Founders Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington gazing in adoration at a ‘baby’ Bill of Rights while the Statue of Liberty looks on. A sign beside this tongue-in-cheek depiction reads: ‘At this Season of the Winter Solstice, join us in honoring the Bill of Rights, adopted on Dec. 15, 1791, which reminds us that there can be no religious freedom without the freedom to dissent. Keep religion and government separate!’” How’s that for a cheery, truthful Christmas message?
Our sign and traditional nativity display offer a stark contrast with Jesus as the central word on the sign and the central figure in the Nativity.
A smaller sign accompanies our Nativity. It reads, “Jesus…and she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21),” as you can see in the picture to the right.
We want every visitor who is in the building this month to see the beautiful Christmas tree as well as the truth of this holy season. We are privileged to receive permission each year to put the sign and Nativity up, and it’s always done with a prayer that God will use them to encourage young and old alike to know that at this time of year, we are worshipping the Creator, not the Creator’s creation, as some do, such as those at Freedom From Religion Foundation.
If you’re in Madison this month, we hope you’ll stop by the state Capitol and take time to go to the first floor to see the displays there. If kids are with you, this is a great opportunity for some worldview and Bible instruction, as well as sharing with them, as their ages allow, that we can install these displays because we have religious freedom in our state and in our nation.
The battle between good and evil, truth and error, will rage until Christ returns and declares time shall be no more and all evil will be eternally banished. Until then, we keep telling the truth of Christmas and of the entire Gospel everywhere we can, every opportunity we have—and Christmas is a perfect time to share the good news—in our state Capitol and everywhere. To echo the glorious Christmas carol, let’s “Go, tell it on the Mountain! That Jesus Christ is born!”
Dec 6, 2023 | News, Press Releases
MADISON – Yesterday, Dane County District Court Judge Diane Schlipper ruled on the case brought by Wisconsin Attorney Josh Kaul (D) alleging that Wisconsin’s pre-Roe abortion statute, 940.04, is not enforceable. As the judge intimated earlier this year in an initial hearing, she ultimately found that the entirety of the statute applies to feticide, not to consensual abortion. The net effect of her ruling is that abortion, the intentional, consensual killing of an unborn child, is again legal in Wisconsin.
The following statement is attributable to Julaine Appling, Wisconsin Family Action president.
“While this decision is not surprising, it is very disappointing; and we believe it is a wrong interpretation of the pertinent statute. We agree with defendant Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski’s statement that the statute plainly applies to consensual abortion, made very clear by the exception in the statute for the life of the mother. No such exception would be necessary if the statute applied exclusively to feticide, the intentional killing of an unborn child without the woman’s consent. Additionally, the statute is titled “Abortion.” Had the legislature intended the law to apply to feticide, it would have had a different title.
“From June 24, 2022, through earlier this fall when Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin took matters into their own hands and resumed abortions in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s unborn had a much better chance of experiencing life outside the womb than it had when abortion was legal. Now we regress—and the regression comes at a very high price—the death of many of Wisconsin’s future citizens and the toll abortion takes on a woman’s mental and emotional well-being.
“We are pleased to know DA Urmanski intends to appeal this egregious decision.”
Copy available online here.
Dec 5, 2023 | News, Wisconsin Family Voice
Some days are just emblazoned in our memories. One of those days for me is May 8th, 2022, Mother’s Day. I was at church early that morning to help get ready for a ladies’ brunch happening at 9 a.m. At 7:45 or so, I received a call from one of our team members telling me I needed to immediately call the folks who manage our office building because we had had a “break-in.” I quickly dialed building management and was told we’d had more than a break-in. I was told we had been firebombed and had a fire started in our office and that graffiti had been written on two of the building’s outside walls near our office. I immediately left church with another one of our team members, with a quick stop by my home, only to find that the Watertown police were looking for me because the Madison police hadn’t been able to locate me. After verifying who I was, I was told to get to Madison as soon as possible and to call the Madison Police Department en route. I did so. Interestingly, the Madison PD wouldn’t tell me what the graffiti said.
As we drove by the front of the building at the office, I saw the message on one wall: “If abortions aren’t safe, then you aren’t either.” On another wall was what we later learned were anarchist and anti-law enforcement symbols. The reason we were attacked was unmistakable.
We entered the building to an acrid odor and found it came from our office, all the way at the end of the hall—at least 150 feet away. Walking into the office, we found the receptionist area a mess from firefighters who had arrived to put out the fire. Then I saw that my personal office had been the point of the attack. Windows broken, glass everywhere, furniture destroyed, books burned, a segment of wall burned away, disarray everywhere—and horrible air, even to the point of making it hard to breathe. Later I’d learn that the air in my office was not just bad, it was truly toxic and no one should have been in there! Meanwhile, I’d given countless interviews standing or sitting in the middle of the destruction for at least two days!
Needless to say, such a day is permanently embedded in my memory. That day, FBI agents were in the office, along with an ATF agent, and at least two Madison Police Department officers—one a detective. When they left with physical evidence late that afternoon, they told me work on the case would begin immediately, but it might take several months for anything of significance to happen. That proved to be true. It wasn’t until March of this year, that I was told that an arrest in our case was imminent—thanks to graffiti that had been written on a sidewalk near the state capitol—in a handwriting style that matched the one used on our walls. After several weeks of work, law enforcement recovered a half-eaten burrito left by the suspect and extracted DNA from the refuse. That DNA matched one set of DNA taken from the physical evidence gathered at my office. Shortly thereafter, police arrested Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury in Boston getting ready to board a plane to Guatemala, using a one-way ticket.
Seriously! This is the kind of thing you see in an NCIS episode! Mr. Roychowdhury was charged with attempting to cause damage through the use of fire or an explosive device and was eventually extradited to Wisconsin where he was put first in jail and then in a federal prison.
Fast-forward to the Monday before Thanksgiving. The US Attorney’s office handling this case filed a signed Plea Agreement with the Western District Wisconsin Federal Court. Mr. Roychowdhury was scheduled to actually plead guilty before federal Judge William Conley on Friday, December 1, 2023, at 1 p.m. Shortly before 1 p.m., I entered the courtroom and sat down. Shortly after, a sergeant-at-arms told me I’d probably be more comfortable moving to the other side of the gallery. I had sat directly behind where Mr. Roychowdhury would be sitting with his attorneys. I obliged and sat behind the detective handling our case and an FBI agent who had made the arrest. Eventually, the other side filled up with the accused’s friends and family members (interestingly, all wearing masks).
Eventually, Mr. Roychowdhury was escorted in wearing an orange jumpsuit, but in no way restrained. I watched him for a long time. His demeanor throughout the process of the judge asking him a whole series of questions was calm, self-assured, and perhaps a bit smug and arrogant. I don’t know if he recognized me or not, although he looked my way several times. I couldn’t help but wonder how he got caught up in all this radicalization and violence, and I pondered how his life will be different because of this crime.
This 29-year-old from India (now apparently a US citizen) did plead guilty and took responsibility for the crime. The judge told him very clearly the law requires a minimum of five years of incarceration with a maximum of 20—and that the judge would ultimately determine his sentence and hand it down on February 14th, 2024. He will get some consideration for accepting responsibility, but the judge cannot give him less than five years. He could also be fined and required to pay restitution for damages. As I’ve said many times, we are not looking for revenge or retribution, just justice under the law.
This arrest and guilty plea is, as far as we know, the first in the nation as it relates to the series of attacks targeting pro-life organizations and churches that happened after the leaked draft of the Dobbs U.S. Supreme Court decision suggested that Roe v. Wade would soon be overturned.
It’s taken longer than anyone thought it would to reach this point in the firebombing of our office, but I believe justice is being served at this point, and I trust this will be encouraging to other pro-life organizations and churches that have endured similar attacks.
You, our friends, have prayed for us, financially supported us, and encouraged us as we have walked this very different path. Thank you! The case is still open because we believe there are more suspects yet to be identified and apprehended. So this attack remains very much on our minds as we continue to work with law enforcement. Your prayers and ongoing support are such a blessing and so necessary as we continue, in partnership with you, to show up, stand up, and speak up for LIFE in Wisconsin. We will keep you posted as this story continues!
Nov 28, 2023 | News, Wisconsin Family Voice
“It’s just a piece of paper. We love each other and that’s enough.” Ever heard anyone say something like that when explaining why they aren’t married but are living together? Unfortunately, that’s become a pretty common sentiment about marriage.
The truth is marriage is much more than just a piece of paper. As Institute for Family Studies points out in a marriage fact sheet, “[m]arriage is about building a common life together, forming an exclusive emotional, sexual, and spiritual bond, forging a shared financial future, taking care of your spouse in ‘sickness and health,’ and providing a stable and loving home for any children that you have.”
Children get lost all too frequently in the marriage discussion these days. Many couples, if they marry at all, are choosing to not have children, claiming children are too expensive, or don’t fit their lifestyle, or the world is overpopulated, or the world is too bad to bring children into it. Broken families or children born to single women put children at huge risk for all sorts of pathologies. Children adopted into homes with two dads or two moms are always purposefully deprived of either a mother or a father.
All of these reflect that reality that our culture is much more about adult happiness than the well-being of children.
What we know is that what is best for children is to be brought up in the homes of their married dads and moms. This doesn’t mean children brought up in other family structures can’t overcome the odds. Many certainly do, but this does mean that normatively an intact, married-dad-and-mom home is where children are much more likely to thrive, not just survive. And every society depends on the next generation to become well-adjusted, productive adults.
Marriage matters to children. Social science continues to reinforce what God has designed since He instituted marriage and family in the Garden of Eden. What social science finds is that children living with their married dads and moms are more likely to do well in school than their peers in other family structures and actually graduate high school and when they reach adulthood. They are also more likely to have full-time employment and to succeed in their work.
Boys in intact families are more likely to avoid getting in trouble with the law than boys not in these families, and thus, these boys stay out of jail. Girls who are brought up in a home with married mom and dad are less likely to be sexually active than girls in other families and therefore avoid teen pregnancies. Importantly, children living with their married dad and mom avoid poverty, which in itself can result in severe disadvantages.
So how do we change the culture and the mindset of so many? First, Christian families model godly marriages. They talk positively about God’s plan for marriage and about their own marriage. They promote child-bearing and adoption within marriage. Seeing good marriages and families is one of the best ways to ensure the next generation values marriage and wants marriage and children for themselves.
Churches also have an important role to play in creating a marriage culture. Biblical preaching and teaching on the subject is essential, but so is celebrating marriage as God designed it—making much of weddings and anniversaries and births sends a powerful message to everyone that marriage is good and desirable.
Government can help too by making sure no law penalizes marriage, but rather that married couples receive some benefits, reflecting the good they bring to society in general. Additionally, we need to stop making welfare so readily available for single women with children and then removing those funds if they marry. That incentivizes exactly the wrong behavior and actually sets children up for trouble.
Marriage is so much more than a piece of paper. Marriage matters, and it especially matters to children. Wise societies will do everything they can to ensure they are promoting the best interest of children—their future. Once again, it must be said, God’s way is always the best way.
Nov 14, 2023 | News, Wisconsin Family Voice
While we did not have any elections here in our state last week, several states had some really significant elections. Of prime importance, Ohio voters weighed in on two ballot initiatives. One of the referenda ensconces a right to abortion in the state’s constitution, and the other legalizes recreational marijuana. Unfortunately, both proposals passed.
The abortion proposal passed 56%-44%. The referenda stated that individuals will have the “right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions.” My counterpart in Ohio—my friend Aaron Baehr—who worked hard to defeat the amendment and provided leadership for a pro-life coalition, made some important points about the heartbreaking loss.
The statement from Protect Women Ohio said, in part, “Our hearts are broken tonight not because we lost an election, but because Ohio families, women and children will bear the brunt of this vote. When Michigan voters passed a similar amendment last year, they were sold the lie that parental rights would be unaffected, that late-term abortion would remain illegal, and that women’s health and safety standards would not be touched. But just last week, the Michigan legislature voted to repeal penalties for partial-birth abortions, to eliminate health and safety protections at abortion facilities, and they called parental consent laws ‘unconstitutional.’ They even vowed to come for informed consent laws and 24-hour waiting periods next. We know the same barbaric attacks on parents and children are now coming home to Ohio.”
They went on to say that as pro-lifers, they will not quit—which is encouraging to be sure. But I want to note what this statement points out about Michigan because it is very telling. Voters in Michigan were told one thing about abortion regulations if they passed a “right to abortion” amendment, but yet the pro-abortion advocates are never satisfied. They want abortion any time, for any or no reason—truly abortion on demand. Ohio pro-lifers recognize that this could easily happen in their state with this so-called “right to abortion” now in their constitution.
So how does this relate to Wisconsin? Remember that lawsuit challenging whether our pre-Roe law is enforceable? That lawsuit is still in Dane County Circuit Court—but it will eventually move from that court and go either to the appellate court and then to the state Supreme Court, or the appellate court could send it directly to the state Supreme Court.
Most observers believe one way or another, this case will land at our state Supreme Court, which now leans liberal by a 4-3 margin. And of course, new Justice Janet Protaciewicz made it very clear in her campaign that she supports what she called “reproductive rights” for women—which is a euphemism, and a bad one, for abortion.
When this case gets to our state Supreme Court, it wouldn’t take a great deal of legal maneuvering for our court to create a “right to abortion” in our state constitution. And then, like Michigan, it would not be long before serious challenges will come, probably via the courts, against our abortion regulations, like the 20-week abortion ban, the ultrasound requirement, the 24-hour waiting period, parental permission, and others—all of which are designed to protect women and their unborn children.
As I have said and will continue to say, elections have very real consequences—and sometimes those consequences are literally life and death.
Regardless of what happens with our pre-Roe law here in Wisconsin, WFA and WFC, in full partnership with you, will continue to relentlessly fight for the dignity of every preborn child and advocate for the support of every woman facing a crisis pregnancy. Thank you for all you do to promote a culture of life in our state!
Nov 7, 2023 | News, Press Releases
MADISON – Today the Wisconsin State Senate on a 20-11 vote, passed Senate Bill 344, which not only increases the amount of tax deduction available for a dependent, but also allows a preborn baby in whom a heartbeat has been detected to be claimed as a “dependent” for tax purposes.
Julaine Appling, Wisconsin Family Action president, commented, “We love this bill and have championed it from the beginning. Increasing the dependent tax deduction helps families and recognizing the person of a preborn baby by declaring it as a viable “dependent” is a major pro-life declaration. We applaud the senators who voted for this proposal and thank Senator Romaine Quinn (R-Cameron) for authoring this bill.”
Senate Bill 344 is one bill in the four-bill “Embrace Them Both” package, all authored by Senator Quinn. Senate Bill 343 clearly defines abortion as the intentional killing of an unborn baby, Senate Bill 345 allows for $1,000,000 a year to go to Choose Life Wisconsin, Inc. to be distributed in grants of up to $50,000 to Wisconsin’s amazing pregnancy care centers, and Senate Bill 346 allocates $5,000,000 in a biennium to be distributed by the Department of Children and Families to established adoption agencies, which will then in turn give grants to qualified Wisconsin families seeking to adopt a child in Wisconsin. The Senate has now passed all four of the bills.
In other floor action today, the Senate also passed for first consideration Senate Joint Resolution 54, which would amend our state constitution clearly prohibiting the state or any agency of the state, or any unit or agency of local government from ordering places of worship to close during a declared emergency, including a health emergency. The bill will need to pass in the Assembly this session and then pass again in both houses in the next legislative session. After that happens, the proposal would be put on a statewide ballot for the people of Wisconsin to vote. The vote today in the Senate was 21-10, along party lines.
“We learned the hard way that government can and will overreach, especially in emergencies, the very times our rights and freedoms should be more respected and protected,” stated Appling. “The vote today was a first step in making sure that government does not usurp our religious freedom clearly declared in our state constitution. We thank Senator Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee) for authoring this resolution and the senators who have supported it. Hopefully, the Assembly will soon follow the Senate’s lead and pass this resolution on first consideration.”
Online Copy is available here.
Oct 24, 2023 | News, Wisconsin Family Voice
For over thirty years, Wisconsin has been at the forefront of educational innovation with its school choice program, providing low-income parents the opportunity to select the best educational environment for their children, which includes both secular and religious private schools.
Our Parental Choice Program began in 1990 with just the City of Milwaukee, but has expanded to include Milwaukee County, and under the Walker administration, a Racine choice program and a statewide choice program were launched. Currently, about 52,000 students are enrolled in private schools using a state-issued voucher.
As of last week, this successful program is facing a challenge in the form of a lawsuit filed by the Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC, a leftist group publicly stating it is out to destroy Wisconsin’s choice program. This lawsuit was filed directly to the state Supreme Court and asks the court to shut down the choice program before the 2024-2025 school year. It is disheartening to witness such a baseless, politically motivated attack on a program that has empowered families and improved educational outcomes for tens of thousands of children.
The essence of the lawsuit revolves around the claim that the school choice program diverts funds from public schools, crippling their ability to provide quality education, which is a fundamentally flawed assertion. Currently, statewide public school districts receive, on average, almost $15,000 per student of taxpayer money. Even with the increase in vouchers that the governor signed into law in the new budget, vouchers for K-8 students are just 64% of that amount, while vouchers for high school students are now 81% of the public school per-student cost. What this means is the voucher programs are saving taxpayers money.
Importantly, recent research done by School Choice Wisconsin shows that the choice programs are giving taxpayers a very good return, with voucher students consistently outperforming their public school peers on core subjects such as reading and math, as well as on standardized tests such as the ACT and the state’s Knowledge and Concepts Exam.
This lawsuit fails to acknowledge the diverse needs of Wisconsin’s students. Every child is unique, with individual learning styles, interests, and aspirations. Additionally, families differ in their values. Many families today, especially Christians, are realizing public schools are foisting values on their children that are antithetical to their family values. A one-size-fits-all approach to education simply does not suffice. School choice ensures that parents can tailor their child’s education to match what they want for their children, fostering an environment where students can thrive academically and personally, and also for many, spiritually.
While the lawsuit does not directly raise concerns about the participation of religious schools in Wisconsin’s school choice program, it is important to know that this issue was settled by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1998 in a case that challenged the original Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. The high court determined including religious private schools in the choice program did not violate either the US Constitution’s First Amendment or Wisconsin’s constitution. Subsequent and quite recent US Supreme Court decisions have also upheld the inclusion of religious private schools in such programs.
The bottom line is we have people in our state who despise the choice program; they have tried to discredit it and undo it for years. Now, with our state Supreme Court leaning liberal, they believe the time is right to aggressively use the courts to accomplish their goal. Fortunately, Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty is ready to fully defend this educational option on behalf of the tens of thousands of students and families who are flourishing because of this program. We call on Christians to pray for the justices and their decision and for the attorneys who will be involved with this high-stakes case.
Oct 24, 2023 | News, Press Releases
MADISON – In response to Governor Evers’ “Rise Up for LGBTQ+ Youth Day” proclamation issued last week, Wisconsin Family Action (WFA) is today circulating a proclamation urging all Wisconsin citizens to “Rise Up for ALL Wisconsin Youth.”
The proclamation declares the truth about issues such as allowing biological males to participate in girls’/women’s sports and surgeries and drug protocols on healthy young bodies in an attempt to deal physiologically with gender confusion, an emotional and mental issue.
WFA president Julaine Appling stated, “All of Wisconsin’s youth deserve the opportunity to grow up mentally, physically, and emotionally strong. Governor Evers’ proclamation not only singled out just one group, but it also gave very misleading information that can harm our young people rather than help them. This proclamation that we are releasing today is an affirmation of all Wisconsin young people and calls on citizens, faith leaders, and elected officials to engage actively on these issues that impact the future of our state because they directly impact the next generation.”
In part, the Proclamation says the following:
Whereas so-called “gender transition” for children and youth violates the first duty of medicine: do no harm; and
Whereas medical procedures and life-long dependency on drugs such as cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers used in “gender transitioning” have long-term, irreversible harm thereby dramatically impacting the emotional, mental, and physical well-being of Wisconsin’s youth in both the short and long term; and
Whereas surgery and drugs will not heal a hurting heart; a 2014 study found 62.7% of patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria had at least one co-occurring disorder, and 33% were found to have major depressive disorders, which are linked to suicide ideation”; and
Whereas the best studies indicate 80-95% of children with gender dysphoria will come to identify with and embrace their biological sex; and
The full “Rise Up for ALL Wisconsin Youth” proclamation is available HERE.
PDF of Press Release HERE.
