In today’s episode of Washington Watch, host Jody Heiss steps in for Tony Perkins to discuss some of the most pressing issues in global and domestic politics. The program kicks off with a critical discussion about President Donald Trump’s warning to Vladimir Putin concerning Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine. With insights from Congressman and retired Brigadier General Scott Perry, we explore the potential economic and diplomatic strategies that might unfold in this tense international situation. Additionally, marijuana reclassification is under the spotlight as the Trump administration considers shifting its legal status, raising complex questions about public health and policy.
SPEAKER 05 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, good afternoon and welcome to this Wednesday edition of Washington Watch. I am Jody Heiss, a senior fellow here at the Family Research Council and extremely honored to be filling in this month for Tony. All right, coming up on today’s edition, President Donald Trump had a dire warning for Vladimir Putin earlier today, and that applies specifically if Putin does not stop his war on Ukraine.
SPEAKER 11 :
Will Russia face any consequences if Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the war after your meeting on Friday?
SPEAKER 23 :
Yes, they will. What will the consequences be? There will be consequences. Sanctions, tariffs? There will be. I don’t have to say. There will be very severe consequences.
SPEAKER 15 :
Wow. So what could those severe consequences potentially be? Congressman and retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Scott Perry will be joining me in just a moment with those possible options. Also earlier this week, President Trump announced what, at least to some, is very surprising news regarding marijuana.
SPEAKER 10 :
There’s reporting that the administration is going to reclassify marijuana. Would that send mixed messages that if marijuana is okay, some drugs are okay, but we’re trying to clean up crime? How do they go hand in hand?
SPEAKER 23 :
We’re only looking at that. That’s early. But we’re looking at reclassification, and we’ll make a determination over the next, I would say, over the next few weeks. And that determination hopefully will be the right one. It’s a very complicated subject, the subject of marijuana.
SPEAKER 15 :
That was President Trump this past Monday announcing that his administration was reexamining the classification of marijuana. Well, what could that potential impact be? Well, Smart Approaches to Marijuana’s CEO, Kevin Sabet, will be joining me later to discuss that. And then as the program continues, the reality of hostility against churches here at home is sadly still alarmingly high ever since Family Research Council has started tracking this disturbing trend some seven years ago. Well, Pastor James Leeser of Providence Baptist Church in Williamstown, Missouri, is going to be joining me to share how his church and parsonage were destroyed by an arsonist attack last year. And trust me, you need to hear that story. And also, the left has a vested interest in ensuring that women are kept in the dark about the dangers of the abortion drug Mifepristone.
SPEAKER 13 :
They’re told it’ll be a little worse in a period when in reality, the ones who’ve had children before say, I felt like I was in labor again and I’m at home. These women have no ongoing medical care. They’re at home in their dorms, their bathrooms, their apartments, and they’re delivering babies sometimes the size of the palm of their hand. It’s horrific substandard care.
SPEAKER 15 :
That was Dr. Susan Bain. She is the vice chair of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She was talking about the dangers of this abortion drug, and yet the reality is that blue state abortionists are trying to ship that drug into red states. Well, Dr. Michael New will be here to unpack this new and troubling research study that shows over 80% of these abortion drugs are indeed being sent to pro-life states, defying the pro-life protections in those places. And then to close out the program today, Kansas City Attorney General Chris Kobach will share why state attorney generals are calling on the FDA to reinstate the previous safeguards for abortion drugs. So we’ve got a lot coming your way in the next hour. I’m sure you don’t want to miss any part of it, but if you do, you can catch it at our website, TonyPerkins.com. And, of course, there’s lots of other info and resources there for you as well, TonyPerkins.com. Also, don’t forget, coming up October 17th and 18th in Chino Hills, California, our annual PrayVoteStand Summit will be there. You can go right now and register, or if you’d like to get some more information, at PrayVoteStand.org. All right, let’s jump into the details that we have for you today. Earlier today, while fielding questions from reporters at the Kennedy Center in D.C., President Trump warned of severe consequences. Severe consequences. if President Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the war in Ukraine. And of course, these comments are coming just a couple of days before the two of them will be meeting face to face in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss, hopefully, the end of the war. So what kind of severe consequences is going through Putin’s mind right now? Well, with me to talk about this and much more is Congressman and General Scott Perry. He serves on several House committees, including the Oversight Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He represents the 10th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. General Perry, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to see you, my friend.
SPEAKER 09 :
Jody, great to be with you. And interesting times, of course, on the eve shortly of the summit in Alaska between our president, Donald Trump, and Vladimir Putin. And I think the president is giving him an advance warning, a taste of what might be on the table. Look, I think the president is kind of at the end of his rope with Vladimir Putin. He’s tried to be as reasonable as as he can with him for the past essentially nine months now, eight, nine months. Vladimir Putin has continued the violence in Ukraine. The president’s sick of it. I think what’s on the table for Vladimir Putin is having his economy wrecked by the United States of America, who’s the hottest economy on the planet right now. As you know, everybody’s coming to the United States of America for trade deals. And literally, this president has the ability to shut off Vladimir Putin’s ability to do business with the rest of the reasonable world. And when that happens, the Russian people are going to suffer for this war in Ukraine. And I don’t think that Vladimir Putin really wants to endure that. But I think the president’s basically telling Mr. Putin he’s ready to impose that on him if he’s not going to get reasonable about coming to a resolution in Ukraine.
SPEAKER 15 :
So you think the economic pressure, are you hopeful with that tool in President Trump’s box, are you hopeful that potentially this meeting, Friday, will lead us closer to peace?
SPEAKER 09 :
I absolutely am hopeful. And I think that, you know, from President Trump’s standpoint, he doesn’t want to send troops to Ukraine. Americans don’t support that. I think Vladimir Putin knows that, and he’s been playing that card for as long as he can. But I think that the president has taken some time to shore up the United States economy, to show the rest of the world who the big dog is in town, including China. And now the president is willing to unleash that awesome strategy capability and ability that the United States has economically to cripple Russia. And remember, Russia, while it might be one of those countries that we consider one of the larger countries in the world, not only geographically, but politically, diplomatically, economically, militarily, They really aren’t on the same level with us, for sure, economically or militarily. I think President Trump has been setting the table for some time, and now they’re going to sit at that table, and Vladimir Putin’s going to get a taste of what he has coming to him unless he relents.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, I think great points there. And I think you’re right. We’ve all seen just the way this war in Ukraine has gone, that he’s got a lot bigger bark than bite, it seems. It would appear to me that this meeting would, of necessity, probably lead to additional meetings in the future. Would you agree with that? And do you think some of those meetings will potentially involve President Zelenskyy?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I think this is the initial serious sit-down between these two. And I think for President Trump to really get it into Putin’s head about what’s in store, he has to just meet one-on-one. But as Vladimir Putin realized what he’s gonna be facing, I think that he’s gonna have to come to the table with Zelenskyy there And I think that, look, this is a slow, long process for President Trump, setting the table, setting the conditions for success. And this is just the beginning. I think this is the first, but this is not the last.
SPEAKER 15 :
How does China fit into all of this? If President Trump goes forward with some economic tightening on Russia, how heavily will Putin lean on China for relief and help?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, look, there’s a new alliance, as you know, between China, the Communist Party of China, and the oligarchs in Russia, including Putin in particular. It’s very concerning. But China is also in a negotiation with the United States of America, and they’ve got their own problems economically, demographically. And while they’re posturing and doing a lot militarily, they’re in a very fragile position as well. And as President Trump flexes his muscle, they’re going to have to make a choice to And so while I think they’d like to signal there with Vladimir Putin, I think that they’re going to be very cautious about getting involved anything more than rhetorically, because I think that they’ll be concerned that those things that President Trump’s are offering to Vladimir Putin could soon come home to China as well. And they simply don’t want that. They want to stay absolved of this. They want to help Putin as long as it’s easy and doesn’t cost them anything. But as soon as they’re going to have to start paying the price, I think they’re going to back out very quickly, which leads me to believe that they will be very tepid in their public support for Putin going into this.
SPEAKER 15 :
Very interesting. Well, President Zelensky met with President Trump and leaders of several NATO countries virtually today, I should say. Do you think that NATO should and will probably have a larger role in this whole peace settlement on the European continent?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, obviously NATO should have a larger role. This is in their backyard. This is the reason that NATO was set up to protect them from aggressive Russia, even though that really hasn’t happened since the end of the Cold War. But let’s face it, they haven’t been forced to pay more for their military and secure their own defense until President Trump came along. He’s made it real for them. This war in their backyard has made it real for them. And so I think that they are going to, they’re supporting Zelensky more and Ukraine more because they know they absolutely have to, because if they don’t, they can’t count on the United States to just come in and be the knight in shining armor and take care of their defense while they spend nothing on it, including manpower, equipment, military activities, training, et cetera. Yeah, so I think they’ve gotten the picture now. This is really more their fight than it is our fight. And so I think you’re going to see more and more coming from them, especially with the backup of the United States economically, especially with things like natural resources, fuel in particular, natural gas, oil, the availability from the United States that they aren’t that they aren’t blackmailed by Russia. So I think that’s a comfort to them. And I think it induces them to be more proactive against Russia.
SPEAKER 15 :
I think it’s also interesting that President Trump had all those conversations today. I think even that is a shot across the bow to President Putin, that he sees that President Trump has a lot of support with him as this meeting gets underway on Friday. Before I let you go, Congressman Perry, your thoughts on President Trump’s public safety declaration there in Washington, D.C.? ?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, Jody, as a former member of Congress who’s read the Constitution, I know that you know that Article 1 says that actually the Congress can control Washington, D.C., and that it’s a federal enclave. And of course, President Trump has awesome power there to federalize the police and uh and sweeping powers regarding the national guard president trump knows it’s the nation’s capital it’s the capital of the free world and the democrats aren’t going to be allowed to run it into the ground and have people afraid to come to their capital from the united states of america or to visit the capital of the united states from around the world because Crime is running rampant. He’s done with it. He’s sick of it. And he’s taking action. And it’s appropriate. And it need to happen a long time ago. And unfortunately, the Democrats just are providing zero leadership in this regard. So we’re really happy that the president is doing it.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you so much, Congressman Scott Perry of Pennsylvania. Always an honor to see you, my friend. We appreciate you joining us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you, Jody. God bless you and your audience.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you. All right. Coming up next, President Trump is taking a new look at reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Smart Approaches to Marijuana CEO Kevin Sabet will join me next to discuss.
SPEAKER 14 :
The family is the oldest, most tested, and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained. And yet, there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure. That’s why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that can effectively defend and strengthen the family.
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Family Research Council began over 40 years ago, like all great movements of God, with prayer. Today, rooted in the heart of the nation’s capital, FRC continues to champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
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The Family Research Council is key. It’s one of a handful of groups that I think will determine whether our children live in a country that enjoyed all of the freedom and all the opportunity that we enjoyed in this great land.
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It’s just a wonderful parachurch organization that doesn’t seek to take the place of the church, but it seeks to assist the family and the church as we try to move forward successfully, not in a defensive mode, but in an offensive mode as we seek to live our lives according to the Holy Scriptures.
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FRC is not going to be whooped. You know, we’re going to fight. We’re going to take a stand. And again, we don’t retreat. You will never see in front of this building here in Washington, D.C., a white flag flying. We will never step back. We will never surrender. And we will never be silent.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new year. Find our Bible reading plan in daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us in Stand on the Word.
SPEAKER 15 :
You’re tuned in to Washington Watch. Welcome back. Glad to have you with us. I’m Jody Heiss. An honor to be filling in for Tony. All right. On Monday, President Trump announced what is, at least to some people, some surprising news. His administration is looking at reclassifying marijuana. Now, you may recall that marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I drug, but the latest efforts, which actually took place under the Biden administration, that would reclassify to a Schedule III drug. So what does all that mean? And what are some of the potential pitfalls if indeed marijuana is reclassified into a Schedule III drug? Well, here now to answer our question is Dr. Kevin Sabet. He is the founder and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana. Kevin, thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you, Congressman. It’s a pleasure to be here.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, so for those of us who are not drug policy experts, explain to us the difference between a Schedule I and a Schedule III drug.
SPEAKER 07 :
Sure. So these are classifications that Congress created in 1970 with the Controlled Substances Act. It’s actually a reform of even more harsh laws that actually happened beforehand. And it was signed by President. And what it does is it classifies the drugs into five categories based on two criteria. One is accepted medical use, and the other one is potential for abuse. And so I think what you know, marijuana does not have accepted medical use because there’s thousands of kinds of marijuana out there, various potencies. Of course, today’s marijuana is much more harmful than we ever thought it could be. It’s up to ninety nine percent potent. It’s causing psychosis, schizophrenia, suicide, low IQ points, absenteeism. I mean, I could go on and on about what today’s marijuana is doing. It has a very high potential for abuse and itself does not have accepted medical use. Although there are medical applications of the marijuana plant, those are in different schedules. They’re not in Schedule 1. Those are already in Schedules 2, 3, and 4. The effort to reclassify marijuana from Schedule 1 doesn’t really make a lot of sense when you look at the science. And unfortunately, there’s a sort of small wing among some of the president’s supporters that stand to make a lot of money, though, if it is rescheduled, because they’ll be able to write off taxes, essentially, write off expenses as part of their business taxes if they’re in the marijuana business.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, so I’m assuming by what you’re saying that Schedule 3 is a more dangerous drug than Schedule 1.
SPEAKER 07 :
No, so Schedule 3 means it’s less – it has accepted medical use and it has less abuse than potential than a Schedule 2 or 1 drug. But what a lot of people don’t quite get is they think that because marijuana is in the same Schedule 1 – as say heroin or lsd or pcp for that matter uh that that means the government thinks they’re equally dangerous and that’s actually not true at all the way i like to think about it or explain it to folks is you know if you’re at a gas station convenience store and you’re going down the snack aisle and there’s only a couple of aisles in the store and they have a snack aisle you have different kinds of snacks you have cookies you have chips But you also have almonds and protein bars because they fall under the criteria of a snack, and they’re in that aisle. Same thing with marijuana. It falls under the same criteria as the other drugs. It doesn’t mean the government thinks it’s the same. It doesn’t mean the government treats it the same. It doesn’t mean it has the same penalties or anything like that. But that’s a lot of the misinformation by, frankly, both parties, I have to say, that are spreading misinformation about this.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, there is so much misinformation. I mean, there’s actually strong coordinated campaigns, I think is the best way to describe it, trying to convince people that marijuana is not harmful. So what are, you started off talking about some of the dangers of marijuana. Take us a little bit further into that. This is certainly not a harmless drug. What are some of the dangers?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, you know, marijuana is a very complex plant. It has hundreds and hundreds of components, and we only know about a handful of them in terms of what science has revealed. And already what we know is very scary and very dangerous. So the active ingredient is THC. It binds to receptors in the brain and throughout the body to cause addiction, to cause really erratic behavior that can lead to psychosis, schizophrenia. You know, cognition and learning, memory is a big issue. Obviously, lungs is an issue if you smoke it, if you smoke anything for that matter, especially something with so many carcinogens, as marijuana has, as well as on your heart. There was a recent study showing that an increase in death rates uh risk of death from a heart disease based on marijuana and and it’s just people don’t even think marijuana is harmful let alone could kill you through through a heart attack or through other heart issues and so we’re learned we’ve learned about a lot of this stuff and how harmful it can be um it’s not the woodstock weed and legalization that some states have been doing has actually led to the creation of a lot of these new products we never had Ninety nine percent potent products before legalization. And so I really hope President Trump does the right thing. Reclassification would not legalize marijuana. Let’s be clear. But it would give further impression that marijuana is a harmless drug. It would give further impression wrongly that marijuana doesn’t cause things like uncontrollable chronic violence. vomiting, which it does, that’s called cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, and a whole host of problems that today’s marijuana is having. You know, marijuana is in charge of responsible for the majority of kids that are in treatment. I get calls daily from parents, usually mothers, who are extremely distraught over their teenagers being completely addicted to marijuana, totally derailing their life. So a lot of baby boomers don’t understand that because the marijuana they use was, frankly, a very different drug back then.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, and it’s certainly an entry-level drug as well. Are the products that are derived from marijuana just as dangerous as marijuana itself?
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, absolutely. They’re more dangerous. I mean, the natural marijuana plant doesn’t have so much THC in it, frankly. It has a lot of other components in it. And so what we’ve had to do, people have had to do, is they’ve genetically bred today’s marijuana, added all kinds of ingredients, metals, and there’s bacteria and mold, of course, that are in it, pesticides, because marijuana is a very finicky plant in terms of when there’s too much water and mold, et cetera. And so even in legal states, the product that people are buying, you don’t really know what you’re getting. And it’s usually infested with some kind of mold, bacteria, heavy metals, et cetera. So it’s much more harmful than, let’s just say, the natural weed if you were to grow it in your backyard. But again, this effort to reclassify and legalize marijuana, it’s a very concerted effort, as you said, by people who stand to make a ton of money from it. It’s sort of like, frankly, big pharma with opioids, big tobacco with cigarettes. They’ve created so many products now, and it’s causing a lot of problems, especially for our young people.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you so much, Kevin Sabet, founder and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana. Fantastic information. Thank you for joining us on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thanks for having me. And if anybody wants to read more, they can go to learnaboutsam.org and they can reach out. I also wrote a book called Smokescreen. Thanks so much, Congressman. Appreciate it.
SPEAKER 15 :
All right. Coming up next, hostility against churches is on the rise. We have a pastor who personally experienced it. He’ll share his story.
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Here at Family Research Council, we face many threats to the family, threats that have been with us for some time. Abortion, the gender ideology threat, the attacks on marriage, the attacks on parental authority, and the attacks on religious freedom. We have to promote, support, strengthen, and incentivize family growth so families take their place in society in a place of honor.
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SPEAKER 15 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Glad to have you joining us today. I’m Jody Heiss filling in for Tony. All right. Earlier this week, Family Research Council released the newest edition of our report, Hostility Against Churches in the United States. And glad to know that that has been picked up by mainstream media all across the country. But the report details a host of attacks against churches last year. including incidents such as vandalism, arson, gun-related threats, bomb threats, and other types of threats. The report found 415 incidents of such hostility within our country in 2024. I mean, obviously, that’s more than one per day. That’s extremely troubling. especially when you consider we’re in a country that has a lot of religious freedom protections. But joining me now to share a story behind all of these statistics is one pastor whose church and parsonage were destroyed in an arson attack last year. Pastor James Leeser of Providence Baptist Church in Williamstown, Missouri, joins me now. Pastor Leeser, welcome to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 25 :
Thanks for having me on, Jerry.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, it’s our privilege, and thank you for taking a stand to come out. Go back, if you will, to the phone call that you received on that January 4th, 2024. What was that like for you?
SPEAKER 25 :
Yeah, thank you. Shocked, and that’s all I could say. I mean, it was 5 30 in the morning, and I received a call from a local woman that said the church was engulfed in flames, and My heart kind of sunk, and I just took time to pray, and immediately after that, you know, the emergency services were already there, apparently, but I called my deacons, and we headed to the scene to kind of find out what was going on.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, fortunately, no one was harmed, as I understand it. The parsonage was not occupied, but the case is still open. Is that correct?
SPEAKER 25 :
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER 15 :
Were there any clues whatsoever as to the motivation behind this? Was there anyone upset at the church? Any threats prior to the arson? Any clues at all?
SPEAKER 25 :
Well, as far as I know, the feds kind of got involved, which were in the country. So it was helpful to have their help in investigating. However, I think the only thing that I was made aware of was that they found an accelerant, is what they called it. So that led them to know that it was arson, and they actually ruled it a hate crime because of that, since it was against the church. But it came up empty, so we didn’t actually find anybody guilty. And as far as I know, there weren’t any probable suspects that they found.
SPEAKER 15 :
While you were talking, we were seeing some footage and pictures of the devastation, and it was absolute devastation. You know, Pastor, as I think of this, I look at this, I see the images. I’m reminded of Joseph in the latter part of Genesis, chapter 50 or so. Where after all he went through, he basically said what the enemy meant for harm, God meant for good. And he’s brought me here for that purpose. What was the response of you and your congregation following this fire as you’ve been through a rebuilding process in many ways starting over?
SPEAKER 25 :
Well, we just had to trust that God is sovereign and he’s in control and he’s on his throne. And you’re right. That’s one of my favorite passages. passages, what they intended for evil, God intended for good. And so from that, I mean, it caused, you know, we had a lot of blessings. There was a lot of people that came to know our church and a lot of folks that have been coming now. We actually used the firehouse for the first year until we got it built. And we got to celebrate our first church service last Christmas Eve. And we’re having a dedication service this September 20th. But through that process, I mean, we grew together as a church. It helped my faith as a pastor and just really brought us closer together as a family. Despite the devastation, it kind of gave us a new focus, if you will, after that happened.
SPEAKER 15 :
It’s amazing. So here you have an arson, obviously, whatever the motive, but God has worked this out, not only in the attendance of the church, but rebuilding a church, the spiritual growth of you and the church family and the impact in the community. Absolutely fascinating. And I just want to, what would you say to our viewers, our listeners right now, given the having been there yourself, how they can best stand for truth in what in many places is a hostile environment.
SPEAKER 25 :
Well, I’m not saying that I did everything perfect, but I would definitely have to protect the church and at least hold somebody accountable. We didn’t have cameras on the materialistic side to protect or at least hold somebody accountable. The other thing I would say, and I took a lot of heat for this, because I did have some media coverage earlier, but I offered forgiveness because we, as I was visiting with somebody about this previously, if we don’t offer forgiveness, then I feel like we fail to understand the gospel ourselves. And so just to take into consideration that we do live in a fallen world, it did hurt us, but our ultimate goal is to know God and to make him known through Jesus Christ. And so that was our, Chief means our goal. So I wanted to offer forgiveness to the person that did it and hope that they come to repent and believe in the gospel.
SPEAKER 15 :
Pastor James Leaser of Providence Baptist Church, Williamstown, Missouri. Thank you so much for shining a light on your church’s story and a light on the gospel. We appreciate you joining us today on Washington Watch. All right, friends, coming up, Dr. Michael New will be here to discuss some troubling new information from the Journal of American Medical Association regarding the abortion drug. Stay tuned.
SPEAKER 01 :
Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. May we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 18 :
Jennifer, it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God’s Design. Who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view?
SPEAKER 20 :
There are so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
SPEAKER 18 :
This is really magical to have the therapist and the individual who suffered come together and write about why this is happening and why we’re seeing this.
SPEAKER 20 :
And we brought all of that experience to the table. We want to see people walking in the fullness of who God has called them to be and not a false identity.
SPEAKER 10 :
Order today at embracethedesign.com.
SPEAKER 21 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 15 :
Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. So glad to have you with us as well. All right, before I jump into this last segment, again, you’ve seen some ads. We’ve been talking about it, but I want to encourage you to join FRC and other like-minded believers at our upcoming Pray, Vote, Stand Summit taking place in October this year, October 17th and 18th in Chino Hills, California. A powerful, powerful, powerful, life-changing conference this will be with leaders from the Christian community, political community, issue leaders. There will be prayer, inspiration, action items. We don’t want you to miss this powerful event to learn more or to register. Go to PrayVoteStand.org. Man, we look forward to seeing you there. Okay, this week the Journal of the American Medical Association published a new study, and it exposes just how prevalent abortions done through the abortion drug Mifepristone actually are. But even beyond that, perhaps the most major finding is over 84% of abortion drugs were sent to states that already have strong pro-life laws in place. 84% going to pro-life states. This is just circumventing and breaking the law. So how can the Trump administration stop this lawlessness coming from pro-abortion blue states? We’re here now to unpack this study and more is Dr. Michael New. He’s the assistant professor of practice at the Bush School of Business at the Catholic University of America and senior associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Dr. New, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you as always.
SPEAKER 16 :
Thanks for having me. Much appreciated.
SPEAKER 15 :
Okay, so give us a quick summary of how the study was conducted and some of the major findings that were in it.
SPEAKER 16 :
Sure. Journal of the American Medical Association released a study earlier this week, and they received data from a company called Adaccess that sends chemical abortion pills through the mail. They’re not the only company that does it, but they’re probably the largest. And they were able to track over 118,000 chemical abortions that were ordered by telehealth and track where they went. And as you mentioned during your prologue, over 80% went to states with strong pro-life laws in place. So it’s pretty evident that people are circumventing these strong pro-life laws by ordering these dangerous chemical abortion pills through the mail. They also found that a higher percentage of these pills were sent to counties with high poverty rates. They also found that these chemical abortion pills were sent into counties that were far away from standalone abortion facilities. So it’s pretty obvious that based on the data that our strong pro-life laws are being circumvented by these telehealth abortions.
SPEAKER 15 :
So it sounds as you just described the geographic locations that these drugs are predominantly going to. As I’m listening to you, I can’t help but think this is a strategic plan, it sounds like. Is that too far stretched?
SPEAKER 16 :
Oh, it’s certainly strategic. I mean, supporters of legal abortion are always trying to weaken and undermine the good pro-life laws that we’ve passed. They have seen these telehealth abortions as a way to circumvent pro-life laws, that women do an online appointment with some kind of medical professional, and that medical professional, again, without an in-person medical exam, simply prescribes the abortion pill sent to these women through the mail. So the other side is always trying to find ways to circumvent weakened pro-life laws. This is just their latest strategy.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, you know, since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, I think we’ve seen some really strong pro-life laws since that time. And of course, we celebrate that, and that’s good. But when you have these abortion drugs being sent to these pro-life states, it’s really reducing, isn’t it, fair to say, the number of babies that potentially could be born?
SPEAKER 16 :
Now, absolutely. I mean, the laws we passed are doing good. We do have research looking at, you know, birth data and birth data trends. There’s three studies alone that show the Texas Heartbeat Act is saving a thousand babies every month. And there’s studies looking at other state pro-life laws that have found that our laws are saving thousands of lives. So the laws are doing good. And it’s good that the pro-life states have gone ahead and passed these strong pro-life laws. But again, unfortunately, you know, laws aren’t perfect. They’re not magical. The other side is very savvy. You know, they’re very corrupt. They’re really pushing these online telehealth abortions to make abortion available in pro-life states. So this is something that pro-lifers need to push back on and the Trump administration needs to push back on as well.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, well, that’s a good point. So how would you suggest they do that? What would you recommend as far as what kind of options? How can the Trump administration try to step in the way here and try to prevent some of this interstate mailing of the abortion drug into pro-life states?
SPEAKER 16 :
Sure, the Trump administration has the power to frankly end telehealth abortions tomorrow. I mean, telehealth abortions are a relatively new development. Prior to 2021, if a woman wanted to have a chemical abortion, She had to have an in-person medical exam with a healthcare professional, and then the drug was prescribed. During the pandemic, the FDA changed its rules. They said that women could now do a consultation by telehealth without an in-person medical exam, and then the drug would be mailed. Even if the pandemic ended, the Biden administration and FDA continued this very unwise policy of allowing for telehealth abortions. So this is something the Biden administration started during the pandemic, kept going after the pandemic ended, The Trump administration is within its power to, frankly, end this tomorrow. I think they have good reason to. I think allowing women to obtain chemical abortion drugs without an in-person medical exam is terrible public health. If a woman has an ectopic pregnancy and obtains chemical abortion, that can be fatal. If she’s further along in gestation than she realizes and obtains chemical abortion, that can have some very negative, serious health consequences. So it’s within the power of the Trump administration to really do something about this and can do it quite quickly.
SPEAKER 15 :
So as you look at this study, and I agree, I mean, the Trump administration has been pretty clear, as have a number of others, even representatives of Congress, that this whole issue belongs to the state. But what we are seeing unfold now, there is a role for the federal government to step into this. What you’re describing out of this report really demands some federal action because you have some potentially federal laws being violated. Is that correct?
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, correct. I mean, one can certainly make a very strong argument that the Comstock laws are being violated. These are old laws that prevent, you know, pornographic materials from being sent through the mail. The way the law was written, they include, you know, abortifacients and abortion-inducing drugs. So a very strong argument can be made that, you know, sending chemical abortion pills through the mail isn’t a violation of the comp stock laws. That’s a case that can be made. Again, the FDA could just put a halt to telehealth abortions and start requiring that women who obtain chemical abortions first do an in-person visit with a medical professional. And there are state attorneys general that are pushing back, which I appreciate. I mean, if someone in Massachusetts prescribes a chemical abortion to a woman in Texas, you know, that’s illegal. That’s abortion doctor in Massachusetts is only licensed in Massachusetts. But sometimes enforcing these laws in other states is not always easy. There are shield laws that pro-abortion states have passed that make it hard to prosecute these abortion doctors. But there are tools at our disposal. Pro-lifers really do need to make this a priority.
SPEAKER 15 :
So why is it, do you have any idea, why 84% of these are going to pro-life states? What’s happening to all the blue states?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, in blue states… It seems like they’re being left out. Well, in blue states, abortions are legal. And women… Abortions have the option, tragically, of going to an abortion facility or an abortion clinic in their state. There are strong pro-life laws in places like Texas, Alabama, Mississippi. Abortion clinics are closed there. So if a Texas woman wants to have an abortion, she could travel out of state. And sadly, some avail themselves of that option. Or they could submit to a telehealth abortion and have chemical abortion pills mailed to the mail. And again, that’s tragic. Again, I think doing these chemical abortions without an in-person medical exam is, again, fatal to unborn children, but terrible public health. And again, it’s within the power of the Trump administration to bring a stop to this.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you, Dr. Michael New, for your insights. Fascinating information, and we appreciate you unpacking that for us. All right, here now to continue this whole conversation on the dangers of the abortion drug mifepristone and what it poses to unborn babies and the mothers. as well as what the FDA can do about it, is one of those attorney generals that Dr. New just talked about. Kansas Attorney General Chris Kobach joins us now. Attorney General, welcome to Washington Watch. Great to have you. Great to be with you. Okay, you were one of the 22, I believe it was, other state attorney generals who were signed onto a letter calling on HHS Secretary… Kennedy, and the FDA commissioner, to bring back some of the safeguards that the abortion drugs need and they once had but that were scrapped during the Obama and Biden administrations. What were some of those safeguards that were removed that you and the others are calling on to be reinstated?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, one of the most important ones is that it be administered in the presence of a doctor because of the medical complications that subsequent studies have revealed. One of the things that the FDA is supposed to do and usually does is looks at all of the available evidence, all of the indications of side effects and medical emergencies or adverse conditions that occur after the pill or the medicine or whatever it is they’re studying, whatever after that treatment occur. And when they okayed proceeding without these safeguards, they did so with a fairly minimal amount of information or at least a fairly early snapshot of information. Well, now we have a wealth of information that has come to light showing that there are in fact significant adverse events that occur when this Mifepristone, this abortion pill is taken. So we’re simply asking the FDA to take a second look, look at that we have a lot of additional information. And the idea that the FDA would refuse to do so, no, they haven’t refused. This is our request to them. But I think, you know, it would behoove everyone on all sides of this issue to say, wait a minute, there’s a lot of information that’s come out indicating that the chances of an adverse event are much higher than the label indicates and much higher than the information that the FDA had at the time was indicated. The information they had is very different from the information we have now.
SPEAKER 15 :
So what are some of these adverse consequences? Why are the safeguards so necessary? It should be probably obvious, should be something that we don’t have to discuss. We have discussed it a lot on this program, but hit some of that for us. What are some of the adverse effects?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, let me just read from the letter, which, you know, these are ones we footnoted heavily in the letter. Sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, the necessity of surgical procedures after a failed abortion and other complications. So this is just a partial list of what we have seen. And there’s a major study that was done between 2017 and 2023 known as the EPPC study. And it’s an all-payer insurance claims database. which included over 865,000 Mifepristone abortions. So this is the largest known study ever of the abortion pill and what has happened when women take the abortion pill. So this isn’t a study of just selecting 500 cases or 200 cases. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of cases and adverse events that occurred after the pill was taken. And the numbers are really shocking. And it showed that the amount, the incidence, the number of adverse events was 28 times higher than the data the FDA had at the time when it said it was okay to go ahead and have this pill available without these precautions. And so I think that’s the point here. We now have a lot of data that the FDA didn’t have at the time. All we’re asking is for the FDA to take a second look with all of this new data. And this data is, again, not some study by some individual who might have an ax to grind, an individual who could be accused of being biased one way or the other. This is data from the actual administration of the pill in over 800,000 cases. And the data shows that the-
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, that’s a huge study. So this is not, as many try to convince us, this is not a drug like taking a Tylenol. I mean, this has major effects. So let me ask you this. In addition to Tylenol, Restoring some of the safeguards for abortion drugs. Do you think the FDA should actually re-examine and perhaps even revoke the approval of mifepristone? With these type of adverse consequences that you’re talking about, should the whole thing be reconsidered?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I think the FDA should take a fresh look at everything, a fresh look at the safety of the drugs. And then secondly, if the drug is to be allowed and is to remain in use, which it is now and has been for years, then what are the safety protocols that need to accompany its use? Because right now, Women are getting this thing without, and they’re administering it to themselves without any doctor present and suffering significant medical complications. So let’s have the FDA take a look at the, in its entirety, but we are saying in our letter at a minimum, take a look at these safety protocols and the FDA should, you know, just use the study and do what the FDA does and is supposed to do best and make an assessment. Is this safe to have at all? And then secondly, if it is safe enough to have, then what are the conditions, what are the circumstances under which a woman could take the Mifepriza? And I think this is a reasonable request that people on all sides of this issue should agree. Let’s make sure that this thing is safe if it is going to be on the market.
SPEAKER 15 :
Absolutely. You would think that people would agree. You have a drug as dangerous as this with the adverse consequences as this. You would think it would be common sense. But unfortunately, that’s not always present. I want to just say thank you so much, Kansas Attorney General Chris Kobach, for joining us today. Thank you for standing in the gap. for life and for women uh and for taking a stand with this we appreciate you joining us on washington watch god bless you All right, friends, that wraps it up today. We’ll be back with you tomorrow right here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 05 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
