Minnesota Family Council (MFC) is an American Christian organization in Minneapolis, Minnesota, founded in 1983. MFC is a

family policy council A Family Policy Council (FPC) is one of several US state-level organizations affiliated with Focus on the Family (FotF), a nationwide conservative Christian organization. Family Policy Councils work for policies that FotF describes as "pro-family ...

affiliated with

Focus on the Family Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations ...

and

Alliance Defending Freedom Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF, formerly Alliance Defense Fund) is an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group that works to curtail rights for LGBTQ people; expand Christian practices within public schools and in government; and ...

. The organization advocates for the passage of socially conservative policies in the state. It also produces voter guides to encourage its supporters to elect conservative lawmakers. After registering as a political action committee in 2011, MFC has lobbied against

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

and

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

, and in favor of single-sex school bathroom and athletics policies.

History

Minnesota Family Council was founded in 1982 and was originally known as the Berean League. MFC has been active in politics, representing the religious right in Minnesota, since at least 1994. In 2011, MFC registered as a political action committee (PAC) in its efforts for lobbying against same-sex marriage.

Positions and advocacy

The Minnesota Family Council advocates for

socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...

positions on prayer in public schools,

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

, abortion, and school vouchers.

Abortion

MFC advocates against abortion. The group urged a halt to abortion access during the 2020

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...

. In 2018, MFC supported the Trump administration's decision move to withhold federal family planning funds from clinics that provide abortion services.

LGBT Equality

MFC is opposed to LGBT equality and

domestic partner A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee r ...

benefits. In 2012, it spent almost $350,000 on the failed 2012 effort to amend the Minnesota constitution to ban such unions. It was a leading opponent of the legalization of

same-sex marriage in Minnesota Same-sex marriage in Minnesota has been fully recognized since August 1, 2013. Same-sex marriages have been recognized if performed in other jurisdictions since July 1, 2013, and the state began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Au ...

. MFC has advocated against laws to ban the practice of so-called

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...

Affiliated organizations

MFC's subsidiary, Minnesota Family Institute (MFI), operates the Northstar Legal Center. MFC is locally affiliated with

Family Policy Alliance Family Policy Alliance (FPA), formerly CitizenLink and Focus on the Family Action, is an American conservative Christian organization that acts as the lobbying arm of Focus on the Family at the level of state government politics. It is an umbr ...

, and

Family Research Council The Family Research Council (FRC) is an American evangelical activist group and think-tank with an affiliated lobbying organization. FRC promotes what it considers to be family values. It opposes and lobbies against: access to pornography, emb ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Non-profit organizations based in Minnesota Organizations established in 1983 1983 establishments in Minnesota Organizations based in Minneapolis Christian organizations based in the United States Anti-abortion organizations in the United States