The Family Foundation is hosting a benefit simulcast, COVID-19: Redeeming the Crisis! The June 1 event features Focus on the Family President Jim Daly; John Stonestreet, President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview; and David and Jason Benham, authors, pro-life activists and former HGTV hosts of Flip It Forward.
David Benham will be talking about his arrest on April 4 while praying with a group of fewer than 10 people outside an abortion clinic in Charlotte, North Carolina. Chairman of the board of the pro-life ministry Cities4Life, David was on a path outside the clinic, peacefully praying and ready to offer essential services – counsel, prayer and resources – to women seeking abortions.
He and his group were following COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, but he was still arrested even though he had a legal and constitutional right to be there. With the aid of the Alliance Defending Freedom, he’s filed a lawsuit against the City of Charlotte. David and his brother Jason will discuss threats to religious freedom from government overreach during coronavirus shutdowns.
Daly will be offering some historical perspective on the coronavirus pandemic and quarantine. He’ll also offer wisdom on what God may be doing and how we can respond well in the midst of the crisis.
Also speaking will be Stella Morabito, senior contributor at The Federalist, and R.J. Snell from the Culture of Life Foundation and the Witherspoon Institute. Morabito will discuss real implications of a government-centered society, while Snell will describe how COVID-19 has affected our society’s understanding of the value of life.
The Family Foundation (TFF) is a Focus-affiliated Family Policy Council, working in Virginia to promote life, parental rights, free speech, and religious freedom. TFF has certainly been redeeming the crisis, as they recently announced the formation of a new litigation arm, the Founding Freedoms Law Center.
The Law Center’s first client was Cheri Britt, the Director of Hope 4 Life, a mobile pregnancy resource center in Virginia Beach. Britt was given a criminal citation for standing on a sidewalk near her mobile ultrasound RV, outside an abortion facility. She was simply offering free ultrasounds and baby supplies to women contemplating abortions, when police responded to a complaint from Planned Parenthood.
Law enforcement officials alleged that Britt was violating Governor Northam’s Executive Order 55, implemented during the pandemic. But just like David Benham, Britt was offering life-saving essential services, well with the scope of the governor’s order. She was also exercising proper physical distancing and was outside with less than 10 people.
TFF’s new legal organization worked with the National Legal Foundation to defend Britt’s constitutional rights, and the criminal charges were dropped.
More information and related resources:
Register and watch Redeeming the Crisis, Monday June 1, from 1:00 to 4:00 PM Eastern Time.
Watch a video of David Benham’s arrest.
Read Benham’s article at ADF: Abortion Clinics Remain Open During COVID-19, While I Was Arrested for Praying Outside of One
Focus on the Family Pro-Life Resources
Pro-Life Sidewalk Counselors Arrested While Abortions Allowed to Continue
Photos from The Family Foundation
