White House touts list of ‘victories’ for people of faith

The White House has released what it describes as “President Trump’s Top 250 Victories For People of Faith,” a list that highlights the administration’s accomplishments on issues of concern to Americans of various religious communities. Discussing the administration’s efforts in an interview with EWTN News White House correspondent Owen Jensen, White House Faith Office Director Jenny Korn emphasized the importance of having “a White House Faith Office that the president put in the West Wing as a direct report to him to work on policy that affects religious institutions and people of faith in their daily lives.” The list of accomplishments covers 25 categories, including the protection of religious liberty, defending houses of worship, securing conscience rights, ending the weaponization of government, expanding school choice, upholding parental rights, restoring biological truth, and defending life. Among the most recent items, Korn highlighted the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) guidance to all federal departments and agencies, directing them to protect religious liberty in all programs, policies, and practices. That guidance includes lifting restrictions that prevented federally-funded faith-based organizations from including prayer and the religious aspect as part of their programs. “We canʼt take away those rights. We canʼt take your faith out. Your faith is the part of the whole reason why you are serving the community,” Korn said. The White House listed several “victories” tied to conscience rights, including strengthening protections for healthcare providers who object to abortion, sterilization, or assisted suicide. Among other measures, the Department of Health and Human Services has rescinded previous departmental guidance that could force pharmacists to stock and dispense abortion pills in violation of pharmacists’ religious beliefs. The report also touts that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has conducted terminations and overseen resignations following an anti-Catholic memo authored by the FBI during the Biden administration. In addition, the White House notes that the Department of Justice’s Weaponization Working Group released a report on how that department, under the previous administration, collaborated with pro-abortion groups to target pro-lifers and weaponize the FACE Act against pro-life defendants. The Department of Justice has subsequently restricted “the misuse of the FACE Act against pro-life advocates, dismissing several cases aimed at persecuting pro-life Americans.” Defending life Nonetheless, pro-life leaders have also given some critical reviews during Trump’s second term. While there has been praise for measures that include conscience protections and restrictions on abortion-related funding overseas, they have criticized the administration’s failure to sufficiently regulate abortion pills and completely defund Planned Parenthood, in addition to the administration’s support for in vitro fertilization (IVF). The White House list indicates that the “Food and Drug Administration is conducting a review of the abortion drug mifepristone.” Korn said she has not had a specific conversation with Trump on where he stands on the abortion drug mifepristone. IVF expansion on victories list The list glaringly counts Trump’s expansion of IVF as a “victory,” stating Trump “took action to lower costs and expand access to IVF and high-quality fertility care.” The Catholic Church strongly opposes the practice. “Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or ovum, surrogate uterus), are gravely immoral,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church states. Addressing this issue, Korn said the “president is very pro-family. And so we want to be able to make sure that we are allowing Americans to be able to grow their family.” “But we understand the nuances and we understand thereʼs some disagreements,” she acknowledged. Korn emphasized that “Catholics are at the table” as the administration’s policy deliberations continue and that she expects many additional favorable outcomes for people of faith during the rest of the president’s term.