Terri LaPoint made a name for herself fighting against the Child Protective Services (CPS) system, first at Medical Kidnap and then through her book, Voices That Will Not Be Silenced.
“Everywhere around the country, I saw the same problem,” she told us.
The problem was in federal funding streams which flowed through laws like the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA).
These funding streams create an incentive for the state to take kids put them into the system and adopt them out, instead of keeping the family together.
Terri told us that she wants to change that.
She’s already worked with fellow Alabama Congressman Barry Moore to introduce HR 5647, which requires all states which take Social Security Title IV money to provide families with advocates.
HR 5647 is making its way through Congress, but Terri told us a more ambitious bill stalled when there was a Democrat versus Republican fight over adoption by the LGBT community.
Terri told us she was a “biblical conservative” with a pro-family agenda.
She’s also pro-Trump, “I love President Trump,” she said.
She said she knocked on doors in Florida and Georgia on his behalf, but she would not be a rubber stamp for anyone, including the President. (Standing in sharp contrast to Jake Lang, running for Congress in Florida, who told us he’d support anything Trump puts forward)
Terri also told us that medical freedom, particularly when it comes vaccines in children, was another important issue to her. Bailey Templeton, running for the State Senate in Illinois, has a similar platform on medical freedom.
Terri said she also wanted to protect people’s jobs for those who refused to get vaccinated.
Terri will have an uphill battle getting to the US Congress. In the primary, she is taking on the longtime incumbent, Republican Mike Rogers, who has served in this capacity since 2001.
We asked Terri why voters should vote for her over Rogers.
“I’m a conservative,” she told us.
She further attacked Rogers, calling him one of the least conservative voting members in the area. Heritage Action gave Rogers a lifetime voting score of 68% on conservative issues.
I asked Terri if she could run a successful campaign focusing strictly on family, or if she had to talk to voters about traditional issues like immigration, taxes, and healthcare.
“It all flows from that (protecting the family).” She said.
Terri also told us that her district has a heavy contingent of veterans, another issue she has fought for many years, she told us.
