Pro-Child Politics: A Conservative Message of Self-Sacrifice

A new book by Katy Faust argues that conservatives should embrace "pro-child" policies that prioritize the rights and well-being of children before adults. Faust believes this message is not only good for society but also politically effective for conservatives.

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Pro-Child Politics: A Conservative Message of Self-Sacrifice

A new book by Katy Faust aims to persuade voters to see children's rights at the heart of every political and cultural issue facing America today. "I think that we can disagree about a lot of different things when it comes to policing or education, or how we think about masculinity or femininity or the border. But I think all of us have this innate response of, ‘but leave the kids alone,’” Faust told Fox News Digital.

In "Pro-Child Politics," out in September, Faust enlists 19 experts to break down policies on everything from the economy to pornography to argue that protecting children in every area is good for society and a winning political message for conservatives to embrace.

Pro-Child Politics: A Conservative Message of Self-Sacrifice

"Pro-Child Politics advances conservative ideas, but does so not reacting to what we are against, but who we are for — children. This is a message of self-sacrifice," Faust said.

Faust is a Seattle mom and author who founded the children's rights organization Them Before Us after seeing a need in the culture for advocacy that represented the rights and well-being of kids before adults.

Pro-Child Politics: A Conservative Message of Self-Sacrifice

"It really kind of started with gay marriage. Just seeing how the needs, the rights, the longings of children were completely tossed aside to push an adult-centric agenda, and that there was nobody speaking up on behalf of kids," she said. "And as somebody that had worked with kids for a couple decades in a variety of different ways, I was like, the hardest thing that kids can experience is the loss of their mother or father. So you're kind of like weaponizing this primal wound to advance a progressive agenda. And then I started seeing it on every issue, especially relating to marriage and family."

Each chapter of "Pro-Child Politics" shares a true story of a child who was harmed by a policy that she argues puts adult needs first. "That's very, very important for the right," Faust explained. "We've always had the statistics and the research and the natural law. We rarely humanize this. We rarely properly identify the victim [to] say this person specifically, kids will suffer if we get this wrong."

Pro-Child Politics: A Conservative Message of Self-Sacrifice

She argues that having a "pro-child" philosophy also produces politically effective messaging.

"The left has successfully branded [conservatives] as anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-science" and so forth, she says. By emphasizing how conservative policies support the most vulnerable in society, that "rebuffs so many of [those] accusations," Faust said.

"There is one thing that can create a thread that runs through all the different issues that we talk about. And it is, ‘Are you prioritizing the next generation or not?' So it's good policy. It's good outcomes for kids. It's also just effective messaging," she continued.

With the election about 70 days away, Faust hopes the book will empower voters to better evaluate which candidates and party's policies will actually protect the next generation.

"I hope to give them a very clear and easy to understand template through which they can evaluate anybody that wants their vote," she continued.