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Beverly LaHaye watched a television interview of Betty Friedan, founder of the National Organization for Women. Realizing that Friedan claimed to speak for the women of America, Beverly LaHaye was stirred to action. She knew the feminists' anti-God, anti-family rhetoric did not represent her beliefs, nor those of the vast majority of women. The first meeting to educate and alert Christian women on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), led by Beverly LaHaye, occurred in San Diego, California. More than 1,200 attended. This was the springboard to beginning Concerned Women for America as a national organization. Concerned Women for America became officially incorporated in January. CWA's first newsletter and word-of-mouth communication quickly spread word of the new organization. Very shortly, CWA leaders realized that we were in a struggle against spiritual forces of darkness, and we needed a strong foundation of prayer support. They organized our membership into powerful prayer chapters and privided regular concerns for prayer. CWA would not have survived without the quiet strength of prayer. President Jimmy Carter named 1979 as The International Year of the Child. CWA began an immediate campaign to expose this United Nations strategy to "nationalize" all children of the world.
CWA joined attorney Michael Farris to declare that extending the ratification of the ERA was both illegal and unconstitutional. This case was eventually won. Forty women were approved to start Prayer/Action Chapters in 14 different states. As the battle for the family raged, the need for more Prayer/Action Chapters grew. CWA joined a National Pro-Family Coalition to fight against the liberal White House Conference on Families. Beverly LaHaye and her husbad, Tim, were named co-chairmen and worked with 150 other pro-family groups to make our views known about the presentation of the true family. An all-day alternate White House Conference called the American Pro-Family Conference was held in Long Beach, California, the same day as the final WHCF. More than 7,000 enthusiastic delegates attended.
The fight against the ERA continued across the states. In Illinois, CWA produced four 30-second TV spots that aired 246 times in the state before the ERA vote was taken. CWA's budget was $40,000, compared to the National Organization for Women's budget of $2 million. Still, the ERA was defeated. CWA's membership reached 100,000. CWA joined the Clean Up TV Campaign led by Don Wildmon.
The Prayer/Action Chapters began to fast and pray every Wednesday until the defeat of the ERA, and God answered our prayers! ERA failed to be ratified by enough states before the June 3 deadline. CWA's legal department, led by Michael Farris, represesented Suzanne Clarke of Bristol, Tennessee, a young mother sued for slander by the National Education Association. Mrs. Clarke had written a letter to the editor that exposed the NEA's agenda in the schools. On the eve of the trial in 1984, the judge dismissed the lawsuit for lack of merit.
CWA opened a branch office at 499 S. Capitol Street in Washington, D.C., staffed by Michael Farris, attorney, and Barbara Gibbons, congressional liaison. The national headquarters remained in San Diego. A young mother was arrested on Thanksgiving eve when she attempted to remove her second-grade daughter from a reading class at the public school. Vicki Frost disagreed with the school's required reading book. CWA provided legal representation, and Mrs. Frost left jail the next day in time for Thanksgiving dinner with her family. Seven fathers from Nebraska were jailed because they wanted their children to have a Christian education in a church school that refused to be controlled by the state. CWA provided legal counsel for the fathers.
CWA held its first national convention in Washington, D.C. Approximately 1,000 people attended this two-day conference. Michael Farris and CWA succeeded in getting the court to release the Nebraska fathers. CWA was called upon to represent Vicki Frost and several other parents in a battle over objectionable school curricula. The case was called Mozert v. Hawkins County Schools. CWA gave legal representation to Betty Batey, a woman arrested for taking her twelve-year-old son away from the custody of his homosexual father. CWA launched a volunteer lobbyist program called Project 535. This represents the 535 elected members of Congress. Beverly LaHaye wrote the thrilling story of CWA's origin in a book, Who But A Woman?.
CWA's national office moved from San Diego to Washington, D.C., at 122 C Street. CWA launched "Operation Truth," to abolish alcoholic drink ads on radio and television. Thousands of petitions were delivered to Congress. In Witter v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind, brought by CWA, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state may not deny education benefits to a blind student because he wants to study to be a minister. The decision was hailed as returning balance to the Constitution's Establishment Clause.
Beverly LaHaye embarked on a fact-finding mission to Costa Rica to investigate the needs of refugees who had fled Nicaragua because of the Marxist conflict. She met with the first lady of Costa Rica who enabled her to visit some of the Nicaraguan refugee camps in her country. After this visit, Beverly LaHaye felt led to challenge the members of CWA to help these needy families. A federal judge awarded $50,000 in damages to the Tennessee families involved in the textbook case, Mozert v. Hawkins County Schools. Beverly LaHaye testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the confirmation hearings for Judge Antonin Scalia to the U.S. Supreme Court.
President Ronald Reagan was the honored speaker at CWA's Fourth Annual Convention. A majority in Vermont rejected an Equal Rights Amendment to their state constitution. CWA of Vermont worked tirelessly until the final victory. Irina Ratushinskaia Gerashchecko, a Soviet Christian poet, was released after four years imprisonment in her country. Because the prayers and letters of CWA members played a key role in keeping her name in the public's attention, she attended our national convention and thanked our members. Beverly LaHaye appeared on "The Sally Jesse Raphael Show" to oppose four unmarried women who had been artificially inseminated and never wanted to be married. CWA fought to get the truth out about Judge Robert Bork, who awaited confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. CWA spearheaded a national petition drive, provided a 350-member team to lobby senators, and participated in the "Women for Bork" rally. CWA published its first constitutional issues volume, Christmas in the Schools by staff attorney Jordan Lorence. More than 20,000 copies were sent to parents and school officials. CWA continued to take teams of members, board members and staff to Costa Rica to care for the Nicaraguan refugees. Their goal was to provide food and medicine and to distribute $1 million worth of clothing donated by K-Mart. These efforts blessed thousands of refugees.
Escuela de la Libertad (School of Liberty) was built and sponsored by CWA in the jungle of Costa Rica for Nicaraguan refugee children. Meanwhile, CWA's open-air medical clinics at the school offered physical, emotional and spiritual assistance. Beverly LaHaye testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the confirmation hearings for Judge Anthony Kennedy to the U.S. Supreme Court. CWA published a second Constitutional issues volume is published, The Case for Home Schooling by Christopher J. Klicka. CWA established a Central American Affairs Department led by Jim Woodall. Beverly LaHaye testified before Congress on human rights abuses by the Sandanista government in Nicaragua. CEO's of the three major TV networks received nearly 2 million postcards from CWA members and friends asking them not to advertise condoms. In celebration of CWA's Tenth Anniversary, 45,000 attended a satellite videoconference transmitted to 179 sites around the United States.
Nicaraguan refugees, fleeing the tyranny of their homeland, flood into Florida's Dade County. CWA makes donations of rice, beans and used clothing to help the most impoverished refugees, and cash donations come within a penny of the amount required for the distribution.
CWA began a daily radio broadcast called "Beverly LaHaye Live." Madalyn Murray O'Hair filed a $4 million libel suit against Beverly LaHaye and CWA. After hours of depositions, the judge declared the case "frivolous" and dismissed it on the eve of the trial. CWA published a curriculum on sex education, "Families, Decision Making and Human Development." Due to publicity by CWA, the Secretary of Health and Human Services cancelled a teen sex survey five days after it became public. Jim Woodall and Beverly LaHaye met with President Violeta Chamorro of Nicaragua. It was Christmas time, and President Chamorro joined them in a distribution of food and toys to the poor people of Nicaragua.
At a press conference, Mrs. LaHaye urges the Senate to reject the feminist strategy and to confirm Judge Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. CWA's legal counsel testified at the first confirmation hearing for the judge. CWA obtained a permanent injunction against the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which was limiting the distribution of gospel tracts. The U.S. District Court in Boston reached their decision based on two major U.S. Supreme Court cases, both of which CWA/CASE (Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism) had won. These decisions led to several decisions which paved the road for the gospel. CWA and other pro-family organizations met with the European companies involved in the production and distribution of RU-486, an abortion drug. Beverly LaHaye testified before the Committee on Appropriations, Interior Subcommittee, of the U.S. House of Representatives to argue for de-funding of the National Endowment for the Arts. Family Voice, CWA's monthly magazine is launched. An article exploring the connection between euthanasia and abortion includes an interview of Derek Humphrey, executive director of the Hemlock Society.
A CWA member was appointed to the Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces, which recommended against women serving in combat. The National Religious Broadcasters presented "Beverly LaHaye Live" the Talk Show of the Year Award. CWA generated a public outcry to the U.S. Senate over the Research Freedom Act (S. 1902), which would end the ban on federal funding for the transplantation of organs obtained from aborted babies.
CWA-Iowa helped defeat the ERA in that state with a 52 percent majority vote. CWA delivered nearly 350,000 petitions to U.S. senators which urged them to vote against the pro-abortion Freedom of Choice Act (S. 25/H.R. 1068). Some were hand-delivered to each senator by Project 535 volunteer lobbyists. Breast cancer researcher Joel Brind, Ph.D., appeared on "Beverly LaHaye Live" and published an article in Family Voice on how abortion increases a woman's risk for breast cancer, research squelched by pro-choice bias.
After 66-year-old Joyce Woodall was arrested for praying outside an abortion clinic in Virginia, CWA filed suit against FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act), which limited the constitutional right of free speech to pro-life protesters. Days before state elections, the Virginia State Democratic Committee files an injunction against CWA to stop the distribution of voter guides. Just one day before the election, CWA and the Family Foundation appealed to the courts, which ordered the ban lifted. Volunteers eagerly distributed the voter guides at the polls. "Wait for Me," CWA's video on teen sexuality and abstinence, takes home four awards from the Southern California Motion Picture Council.
When the U.S. Court of Appeals upholds the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), CWA appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court later refused to hear it. Beverly LaHaye led a delegation to the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, from where she sent daily radio broadcasts back to CWA's studio. This was to ensure that the voice for pro-family women was heard. CWA joined in a boycott of companies tied to RU-486, the French abortion pill, which was being tested on American women. Family Voice broke the story on mandatory AIDS education in the federal workplace—actually an effort to re-educate and re-orient people's views. Articles in the Washington Times followed, as did programs on "Beverly LaHaye Live" and interviews on radio talk shows across the country. Soon The Washington Times reported "AIDS training no longer mandatory." the White House backed off. Legislation was soon introduced in Congress to prevent federal tax dollars from advancing the homosexual agenda.
CWA and the Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism Legal Department won an important victory for religious liberty. Christian evangelism was then allowed at a site for the 1996 Olympic Games, thanks to a ruling by a Georgia state court. Mailings, "Beverly LaHaye Live," newspaper ads and Family Voice alerted the nation to the National Education Association's (NEA) Resolution B-7. This replaced "tolerance of" with "acceptance of" homosexuals and used the word "must." It also encouraged state affiliates to conduct training programs. As a result of CWA's actions, 12 NEA state affiliates disavowed B-9, which required celebration of gay history month; members of several chapters resigned, and teachers across the country refused to celebrate homosexual history month. CWA produces "After the Choice," a video for women who are considering abortion—or have already made the decision. CWA provided free copies to nearly 3,500 CPCs, and the video received an Award of Excellence at the 19th International Angel Awards in Hollywood, California. CWA launched into cyberspace with its Web site at http://www.cwfa.org/, which provides news, broadcasts of "Beverly LaHaye Today," resources and Family Voice articles. It offers the ability to e-mail one's elected officials and other key political leaders on current issues. This new outreach received response from nine foreign countries who have listened to "Beverly LaHaye Today." CWA representatives attended the U.N. Conference on Human Settlements, Habitat II, in Istanbul, Turkey. CWA presented a workshop entitled "Who owns the family?" to an international group of delegates. Worldwide food production and consumption and "food security" were stated themes for a U.N. "mini-conference" in Rome. CWA representatives got out the real story: the U.N. themes of population control and sustainable development.
CWA lobbied at the grassroots and on the Hill to pass the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. The House overwhelmingly passed the ban, including 11 undecided or opposed House members who changed their minds on the day of the vote. After several years of lobbying, the $500-per-child tax credit was finally included in a budget plan, to begin as $400 in 1998 and increase to $500 in 1999. An article about Dr. Alfred Kinsey in The New Yorker confirmed the charges of CWA and Dr. Judith Reisman about his fraudulent, immoral research on human sexuality. Beverly LaHaye and CWA members called on Congress to investigate Kinsey's activities. CWA also launched RSVP America, a program to educate and equip grassroots activists to de-bunk Kinsey. CWA's campaign to expose Kiney's fraudulent research had the Kinsey institute taking notice. In their Fall newsletter, the institute refered to CWA's work and attempts to discredit it.
CWA-California Bay Area helped gather 60,000 necessary signatures to force the Board of Supervisors to repeal or place on the ballot a domestic partnership ordinance. The Board repealed the ordinance. CWA co-hosted a press conference to expose Peru's national sterilization campaign. Participants, including Peruvian women, presented testimony of abuses and documented evidence. Later, sources reported that Peru's sterilizations decreased 68 percent. CWA was the only major, U.S. pro-family organization to attend the U.N.'s annual meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women, which aims to mainstream "gender identity and equality" worldwide. After strenuous lobbying, the House overwhelmingly passed the Freedom from Religious Persecution Act with a veto-proof vote of 375-41. CWA, along with other pro-family groups, met with Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder to address child pornography and obscenity. We asked him to nationally address the problem of child pornography and to increase prosecutions to the level of previous administrations. As a result, Mr. Holder wrote to and urged all U.S. attorneys to step up prosecution of obscenity and pornography violations. Influenced by CWA members and Project 535 lobbyists, an amendment that would require parental notification before a minor can receive Title X services, such as contraceptives and abortion counseling, passes committee. CWA spoke at a press conference which urged legislators to end the marriage tax penalty, which taxes two-income married couples about $1,400 more than if they were unmarried. In the November elections, after CWA education efforts, voters in Alaska and Hawaii upheld biblical marriage and rejected same-sex marriage. The "Truth in Love" newspaper ads appeared across the country. National media quickly covered the ads, which spoke of God's power to deliver homosexuals. They generated hundreds of calls from individuals wanting to leave homosexuality. CWA hosted a press conference with other conservative leaders to call for the impeachment of President Clinton. CWA's statements aired on CNN one hour after the conference.
A CWA representative appeared on ABC's "Nightline" regarding the impeachment of President Clinton. Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Colorado) honors CWA's 20th anniversary in a speech on the House floor. "CWA is the leading voice for women across the nation embracing and promoting traditional family values," he said. "Feminists can no longer claim to be the one and only voice for all American women. I am honored to commend CWA for 20 outstanding years of dedicated service." CWA honored former President Ronald Reagan as Statesman of the Century. CWA sponsored a news conference focusing on the victims of pornography. Speakers included Rep. John Hostettler (R-Indiana) and Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pennsylvania). Many news stations covered the event, which featured four persons devastated by pornography. CWA inaugurates the Beverly LaHaye Institute: A Center for Studies in Women's Issues, which will conduct and analyze research and hold symposiums to encourage balanced research on issues important to women and the family. CWA representatives attend the United Nations' Cairo+5 conference in New York. They joined in pro-family efforts to oppose the population control agenda and provide daily "highlights" via our Web site. CWA joined the "Truth in Love" campaign for TV and made the ads available on our Web site. The campaign offered hope in Jesus Christ for those caught in homosexuality. As a result, the British Broadcasting Company commissioned a program on homosexual transformational ministries. With Jill Stanek, a registered nurse near Chicago, CWA broke the story about the increasingly common practice of live birth abortions. These efforts prompted ABC's 20/20 to conduct an investigation and Congress to hold a hearing on the sale of baby body parts—a plausible motivation for live birth abortion.
CWA attended the U.N. Beijing+5 conference which evaluated countries' progress in ensuring "equality" for women according to the 1995 Platform for Action. With the help of CWA, the Third World countries stood strong and successfully resisted the radical feminist agenda. CWA began educating members on what exactly embryonic stem cell research means. We also championed the treatment derived from adult stem cell research. The Supreme Court handed down several major decisions at the end of its term. The Boy Scouts and partial-birth abortion were among these opinions, both decided 5-4. CWA filed briefs in each of these cases. Continuing the fight over live birth abortion, CWA's efforts prompted Congress to hold a vital hearing with Jill Stanek and others troubled by the practice. Through the efforts of CWA and other pro-family groups, Congress successfully passed relief for couples from the marriage tax. This bill, however, was vetoed by the president; an override attempt was unsuccessful. After approval of the abortion drug RU-486 was unsuccessfully barred in the House, the FDA approved the drug. CWA held a press conference in firm opposition to this decision and explained the inevitable problems to come. During the extended election, CWA drew people to a greater understanding of our United States system of government, the concept of checks and balances and the importance of the electoral college.
CWA and many other groups rallied around Attorney General John Ashcroft and his confirmation in the Senate, holding a press conference of women leaders, generating 13,233 e-mails to senators, phone calls from members, hand-delivering information to senators and appearing on several major news networks in his support. Attorney General (A.G.) John Ashcroft overturned a directive from former A.G. Janet Reno that allowed Oregon to impose physician-assisted suicide in 1994. General Ashcroft clarified that any person who violated the Controlled Substances Act would lose his license to prescribe medications. This action followed a CWA meeting with Department of Justice officials, where CWA proposed that General Ashcroft take this very step. The Culture and Family Institute was established to focus on cutting-edge social issues with particular emphasis on the homosexual activist movement and other forces that threaten to undermine marriage, family and religious freedom. CWA received United Nations accreditation to be officially recognized at the U.N. as a non-governmental organization (NGO). CWA sent representatives to Istanbul+5, the World Summit for Children, World Conference on Racism to make sure the language in these important documents is consistent with biblical principles. President Bush announced his decision regarding embryonic stem cell research which rewards the killing of embryos. CWA was one of few conservative groups openly expressing disappointment over the unethical aspects of the decision.
CWA joined a coalition of pro-life, pro-family groups to launch a campaign of TV ads that boldly declared: "Abortion is a lie." The ads featured former heroes of the abortion industry&0151;Norma McCorvey of Roe v. Wade, Sandra Cano of Doe v. Bolton and Dr. Bernard Nathanson, a co-founder of the pro-abortion organization NARAL-who called the nation to support life. The Senate passed by unanimous consent the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, and President George W. Bush signed it into law. Championed by nurse Jill Stanek of CWA of Illinois, and lobbied by CWA's national staff, this law requires that babies who survive abortion and are born alive must be treated and cared for as persons. CWA, along with the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Christian Medical Association, filed a legal document known as a Citizen Petition with the Food & Drug Administration to challenge the approval of RU-486, also known as the "abortion pill." CWA bases this challenge on the flawed approval process for RU-486 and its significant risks to women.
In response to the heroic efforts of Justice Roy Moore to display the Ten Commandments in the Alabama Judicial Building, CWA took a leading roll in gathering support for him through our radio program and rallying Americans on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building to stand for the public acknowledgement of God and to oppose judicial tyranny. CWA rejoiced as President Bush signed the partial-birth abortion ban, concluding eight years of effort for pro-life activists. A letter to CWA from the office of Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) said, "Your organization and your constituents were invaluable in accomplishing this goal. Hats off to all of you." CWA released Hidden Truth: What You Deserve to Know About Abortion, a powerful video exposing the impact abortion has on mothers and fathers, not to mention the unborn babies who lose their lives through these procedures. In an important move to protect children from online pornography, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Children's Internet Protection Act, which requires public libraries that receive federal funds for Internet access to use filters to block obscenity and child pornography. CWA staff worked extensively for passage of this law, and the Court's opinion cited an amicus brief co-authored by CWA in its first footnote.
CWA saw results from its efforts in a campaign for broadcast decency standards. The Jackson/Timberlake Super Bowl incident was the last straw, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) immediately announced an investigation into the halftime debacle. Just days earlier, Congress had held a hearing on the FCC's failure to endorse indecency standards. CWA hit the ground running in Massachusetts, where the Supreme Judicial Court declared that marriage could not be limited to man-woman couples and ordered the Legislature to take "appropriate action." CWA representatives conducted a Lobby Day to equip citizen activists, met with a chief aide of Gov. Mitt Romney (R), spoke at a rally of thousands gathered in Boston in support of marriage, and joined a coalition working to counter the court's decree. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) withheld the morning-after pill from nonprescription use. The decision followed numerous media interviews, public education efforts, and the testimony of CWA experts at an FDA hearing on the drug's medical and public health problems.
President Bush appointed Commissioner Kevin Martin as the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). CWA had endorsed him as the best choice for the position because of his strong stand on broadcast indecency. President Bush appointee Judge John G. Roberts received Senate confirmation as the 17th Chief Justice of the United States. CWA experts worked tirelessly to seal this confirmation and rejoiced at the fruits of their efforts. CWA's Beverly LaHaye Instituted received a $200,000 State Department grant to work with five pro-family Mexican organizations to combat sex trafficking in Mexico, a prime source for victims trafficked into the United States. CWA joined in the battle for Terri Schiavo, a disabled woman whose husband removed her feeding tube with the court's permission. Our staff lobbied on Capitol Hill, produced publications, appeared in the media, and issued e-alerts to generate support on her behalf. We also mourned when she passed away after 13 days without food or water. Congress passed The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, for which CWA had extensively lobbied. This important legislation establishes a national cord-blood registry to facilitate patients' treatments and allows them to be treated with umbilical-cord blood-stem cells, an effective and ethical treatment for a variety of diseases. In a rare twist, what began as an attempt to gain international approval for cloning humans for research ended with the United Nations approving a total cloning ban. CWA representatives at the U.N. had long worked for this very result.
Although CWA is primarily a "women's" organization, men are also encouraged to join —biblical principles as applied to all of our core issues affect men and women. CWA's membership includes women and men of all ages, various church affiliations and multiple political parties. |
CWA's Web site received an Excellence Award from the National Religious Broadcasters.1015 Fifteenth St. N.W., Suite 1100
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