News and Views

0:00Welcome to the Carey Abbott Show, your place for news, views and values you can trust, and relationship insights you need. Now here's Carey Abbott. Well, it's so great to be with you again. We've had a wonderful week, and this is a special week for us where launching our influential Women's Forum. It's an initiative from the Legacy Institute that we're excited to bring to your attention we want all women to be the best influence in their families and their friendships and their church and their community. The power of women is noticeable, and if you have a good influence, it's especially nice. There are some women who are not good influences, and we've seen a lot of that over the years. We've had some initiatives such as feminism started out a really good idea. Yes, women should vote.

1:00Then it moved into, and we don't need men. We hate men, and now women, we're not even sure if they're women because the transgender movement. So that second, third and fourth wave of feminism has done some great damage, and we believe it's time to unite women. In fact, that is part of the mission. The IWF mission is to amplify the good for women, unify feminine voices, and fortify female influence in every area of society. We're so excited about what's already happening. As soon as we started launching, people started jumping on and becoming members, and you are welcome to go to the platform at influentialwomen'sform.com and receive all of the articles, information, and initiatives as our gift to you. We want you to know the more of us that unite as members, the more power we have to actually influence on a very large scale, some of the things that really matter according to our values. Go take a look. You will be excited to see who the contributors are, and that list is growing, and we look forward to hearing from you.

2:01This week, we've had a number of stories that we've covered. AI was one of them. You'll want to go and listen to that show. If you didn't hear it, we've had a great look at education. In fact, one of the articles that I want to get to, one of the news stories, is really interesting about teachers unions. I didn't bring this up in our conversation with Dr. Carrie Ingram. Ingram, we talked about her trips to the White House and what's happening there in education reform. It's really amazing. It's historic what's taking place. You'll want to tune in to that as well. This article about teachers unions, we've known that they have been a powerhouse in politics. In fact, they use the union dues to basically put money into the coffers of those candidates that they agree with, and generally they're left leaning. They've had a wonderful kickback in that way. The more money that teacher unions get, the more positions of power they are put in, the more they like it. Of course, if you are transforming and dismantling the Department of Education, which is what's

3:02taking place, that is not something that they want to see happen. There is some interesting news out. This was a chart that was published actually by a Progressive Policy Institute. This is a center-left think tank. This is not a Christian organization and this is not right-leaning. That's what makes this interesting. It was featured in the Wall Street Journal. According to the chart, the power of the teacher's union in each state appears inversely correlated with the adoption of key early literacy reforms associated with higher reading scores. In other words, when teachers unions have more of a say, their interests come before those of students. Despite what their PR divisions might tell you. Of course, meanwhile, states with significantly weaker teachers unions have embraced far more literacy reform. In several cases, have seen major gains in student reading. This is just one little snapshot I thought I would bring to you because we want our kids to be smarter.

4:04The United States has fallen behind and with all the money spent on students, we're not seeing those gains in actual outcomes. Reading is one of them. This was really interesting because it's sort of as this article in townhall.com talks about it's a classic example of the incentive gain. Teachers are supposed to care about their students and many do. Teachers unions, on the other hand, are like any other large institution. They look out for their own bottom line. It seems. And that means higher wages, lighter workloads, stronger job protections, and of course, lobbying government to secure all of it. A policy that might help students, but requires more work from the teachers will therefore often be fought by a union. Because again, the union's interest in their mind comes first. So if you have longer instructional time or tougher literacy training or new evaluation systems that you want to put in or merit-based pay, right? Staffing flexibility or removing ineffective teachers may all require teachers to do more or learn more or give administrators more authority.

5:07And that's precisely where the union interest can collide with the student interest. So I found this to be very interesting because it's also shows you an example of the monopoly of power that they have over labor and that few who rail against monopolies actually acknowledge because people don't feel like they have the ability to do that. So where localities do not have to deal with teachers unions where officials have greater freedom to make decisions for their schools or their school district and fewer contract restrictions, they can actually reform schools more freely. And this is what's important to note about the power being chipped away from teachers unions. The less power they have, the better. And we have seen it over the years. We had a lot of people on the show talking about some of the misuses of that power. And all you have to do is just listen to some of their leaders and you realize, wow, that's you claim to care for kids, but you don't have the proof in the data that you are actually helping kids. So I found that to be a really interesting story. And another story that I want to jump on right away because I want to bring it to your

6:10attention for prayer and for you to know, and this is a difficult story, but it's important that I bring it to your attention. This one from the Washington stand. Apparently Massachusetts, the state of Massachusetts has taken a daughter from Catholic parents for refusing to affirm their her trans identity. This is not the first time we've heard a story like this, but this is happening. It's current and we want to bring prayer to the situation. Apparently, a Catholic couple in Massachusetts, how their daughter taken away by the state under the guise of child abuse after refusing the parents refused to affirm her so-called transgender identity. Now this was in 2024, the 15 year old child was removed from the home of Joseph and Arlene Cutsco after they say she was secretly socially transitioned at a regional high school. Now they're trying to fight to get her back before she's medically transitioned on high dose testosterone. So this is really important.

7:10It's happening right now. Here's a public school engaging in willful and dehumanizing practices of destroying both family and child. The school should be closed permanently. That is a comment from Walt Hire. He's a senior fellow at Family Research Council. Walt has, of course, de-transitioned himself and helps people, but he says my life was destroyed by the trans insanity. We need to stop the madness. Walt has done a great job being a spokesperson. He's been on our show. If you want to go back and listen to that interview, his recent book is fabulous, by the way. I think it's about a year old now. Fox News reported that a permanent restraining order was issued against the family. Think about that. A permanent restraining order was issued against the mother and the father of this child. And the Department of Children and Families cut off the cutscows contact with their own daughter, Sophie, when they refused to refer to her by male pronouns.

8:10This is the state doing this. Wow. Fox also reported that the cutscows say that DCF, Department of Children and Families, has housed their daughter in a boy's dormitory, stripped away her Catholic faith by denying her Sunday Mass attendance and put her on birth control and psychiatric drugs. When I saw that, I was incensed. This is, this is somebody's child and they're doing this to her. They put her on birth control. I can't even tell you how, how bad that is for a female body. We now know it leads to all kinds of terrible outcomes, especially before you're 18 if you're younger. And of course, psychiatric drugs. How helpful have those been and some of the stories we've seen in the news? Right. They put her on these things. Can you imagine being these parents? I know you can actually, you can imagine how you would feel if your daughter was taken

9:15from you, kept away from you and then had drugs put into her system and they demand that you call her by a pronoun or you don't get to have your child. This should cause everyone listening to me to be angry in the right way, righteous anger. In Massachusetts today, a sizable portion of government and the population will call you a good mom if you violently strangle your own three kids to death. This is in the article that I'm just pointing to right now. But they'll take custody of your teenage daughter away from you if you don't want her to be castrated, mutilated by the gender lobby. So let that sink in. That was from daily wire personality, Isabel Brown. Those are strong words, but think about the conversations we're having right now in the public square. Wow. The cuts goes appeared on Fox News apparently and Lighthouse Faith podcasted hosted by a religion correspondent, Lauren Green. You've seen Lauren Green for years on Fox and they shared with her about their dire situation

10:17over the weekend. So this is fresh news. Even though this started a while ago, they're getting very concerned because of the drugs they're putting on their daughter apparently or putting into her. They also had their attorney with them. Let's see the Northboro Southboro Public Schools and their counseling practices exposed their daughter. They said to teachings on LGBTQ that ideology and topics that conflicted with our Catholic beliefs. This is a quote from them about human dignity and creation is male and female in Catholic teaching. Is the father saying that Joseph cuts go he continued our daughter had been placed in counseling sessions at the regional high school with a counselor named Denise without our knowledge or consent. And we were told she was simply staying after school for extra math help. So they lied to the parents. The cuts go say that they have not been able to have contact with their own daughter since January of 2025.

11:19Heart breaking. This is a heartbreaking. Oh, the mother says I even begged them to allow me just to hug her or kiss her and they say that they can't they won't allow it. She said, this is the state telling the parents you may not hug your child. What is going on in the mind of this child? How does she look at adults or any authority figure and trust them if they are keeping her parents from her? Wow. Just months before Sophie was taken from them, she wrote her data, a heartfelt birthday card apparently in October of 2024. Her words to her father said, without you, I have nothing. So wholeheartedly, fully, sincerely, I love you with no end. He read that aloud apparently on an appearance on America's newsroom with Bill Hammer and Dana Prenno. Is this not heartbreaking? The cuts goes explain that Sophie grew up loving church. She led the parish in Rosary before mass and she was so faithful, everybody in the church

12:20knew it that she was given a special dispensation to be confirmed early. So one year early, she was allowed to make her confirmation. But at age 15, she started experiencing some inner turmoil and the next thing they knew, the cuts goes were losing custody of their daughter. They had no idea what had been going on at the school. The most important thing is to bring her back to our family. But a shorter term goal is to prevent them from giving her testosterone. That is the father reiterating this. And boy, you're explained that under Massachusetts state law, DCF could administer the hormones to Sophie without her parents permission, even though she's still a minor. So they are actively fighting in court to keep them from really poisoning this young lady with testosterone that would have the capacity to cause her to become potentially infertile, would harm her cardiovascular system. It would have a number of other irreversible effects and harms on her body. And she added that spokesperson added that DCF is hoping to move forward with giving Sophie the testosterone. What's the rush?

13:22Time may be running out, friends. The cuts goes are actively working to bring their daughter home. Comment from her dad. We love her. We love her. We miss her. And they just want people to know. Oh my goodness, heartbreaking. I'm sorry to have to bring you such a heartbreaking story. But you know, it's not the only one. It's the only one you're hearing about today. But we know that this is going on over and over again because the state has decided that a child can actually change their sex, which is the most ridiculous thing ever because there's no science to back that up. It's all feelings. And they're going to ruin her physical biology because of how she feels. And one day they should be sued if not right now, right? This is the kind of child abuse and child mutilation. This is so demonic. You know it's demonic because you can feel it in your soul. So we need to be praying for this family. And the last name is spelled K-U-T-Z-K-O. And Sophie is the daughter. Please join us in prayer. I am going to watch this closely so that we can see what happens.

14:25And this is why, listen, I'm beyond humbled that we have a line of symphony freedom as a major sponsor of this show. One of the reasons is because they jump in on these cases on a regular basis. And I wouldn't be surprised if they have influence at least in this particular case. We'll find out. And I'll keep watching this for you. All right, let me go to our next story here. It looks like I need to take a break. So I'll go ahead and do that. Oh, sorry to have to go to break on a sad story. But you know, we can handle it. Can't we? Yeah, we can't. We can join together. And here, I hope you enjoyed this experience. We'll be right back. Do you believe your influence can make a difference? Everyday, women of all ages are bringing wisdom, creativity, faith, and courage into their homes, workplaces, churches, and communities.

15:26And that influence is needed now more than ever. The influential women's forum is a national association of godly women committed to amplifying what is good, uniting like-minded women on issues that matter, and strengthening each woman's god-given influence in every area of society. As an IWF member, you'll connect with Faith-Filled Women, gain access to exclusive online and in-person events, and discover meaningful opportunities to share valuable ideas and resources. It's time to push back against the negative and dark influences in our culture by shining a brighter light together. Visit influentialwomen'sforum.com to see the insights and encouragement your soul needs and to apply for membership today. That's influentialwomen'sforum.com. Influentialwomen's forum. Amplify the good. Young women today hear a thousand messages about who they should be, how they should look, and what makes them valuable. But what if they heard the truth? True Beauty is an inspiring biblical study from the Legacy Institute that helps teen

16:28girls and young women discover who they are according to God's good design. Through engaging content, scripture, and honest conversations, they'll explore their identity in Christ, embrace their femininity, and uncover their god-given purpose. And moms, you're invited into the journey. True Beauty is designed for daughters and mothers, mentors, or trusted leaders to experience together. It's a wonderful opportunity to ask real questions, share encouragement, and build a deeper connection that can last a lifetime. Young women, you are not an accident or a label. You are a beloved daughter of the king, created on purpose, with purpose. Discover your true beauty today at thelegacyinstitute.com. That's thelegacyinstitute.com or call 425-354-8517. Now back to the carry-out-it show. So another story that's interesting to me, an article that I found in Washington stands and raising the issue of conscripting women into the war in Ukraine.

17:33And Robert McGinnis writes this, the title of this actually is conscripting women is the wrong answer to Ukraine's menpower crisis. This was from earlier on in September. He writes, Ukraine has a terrible menpower problem, retired army lieutenant general Keith Kellogg thinks he has part of the answer, draft women. That recommendation might be provocative, coming from a retired American general coming from Kellogg, it carries considerably more weight. Kellogg served as president Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine until the end of 2025, then said he wanted to be more open and free to talk about Ukraine than he could inside the administration. Interestingly, this was his sixth trip to Ukraine since leaving office. On August 22nd, he met with president Vladimir Zelensky on Ukraine's urgent need for Patriot Air Defense missiles. And two days later, he waited into a far more sensitive question. Ask whether Ukraine should mobilize women into its military. And this is the surprising thing.

18:35General Kellogg answered, my answer is yes, because they fight no worse than men. They added that it was very important for women as part of society to serve. And he saw no problem with the idea personally or professionally. And Robert McGuinness's response is I do. And my response is I do too. I was very surprised to see this. And I felt it was important to bring to your attention many years ago, then the conversation first happened under in the Obama era. They were talking about women in combat. And none of his generals had actually been in actual combat in his cabinet. And I thought, this is interesting. You're, you really want to have a woman in combat. You not know that women are different than men. It just surprised me. And of course, I stay on this topic for that reason. Going back to McGuinness, the problem is not whether women can serve effectively. Thousands already do. Courageously. The problem is that a distinguished former American official whose words carry unusual authority

19:37in, in cave used that influence to advocate a radical solution for a nation dependent on the United States for its survival. And he says that was wrong. Kellogg no longer speaks for President Trump, but influence does not disappear the day someone turns in his White House badge. Ukrainians know he was Trump's envoy and that their president still meets with him. Coming with him from him, this cannot be heard as merely another retiree's opinion, which is one of the reasons I believe he wrote this article because he was trying to offset some of the influence as it were. Washington has been Ukraine's principal backer through this war and a former envoy suggestions carry a force, any ordinary commentator that it just does not compare. With influence comes responsibility before urging another nation to conscript its women, in other words, draft them, make them fight, right? He'd better be certain the prescription is militarily necessary, evidence-based, and morally

20:40defensible. He goes on to say Kellogg's sweeping assertion that women fight no worse than men does not meet that test and what a strange thing to say anyway. Ukraine's women have already shown that they can serve bravely and effectively, more than 75,000 were serving as early as 2026, including over 5,500 on the front line, which by the way, is so sad and so disturbing. That deserves admiration, but it does not answer Kellogg's question. There is an enormous difference between letting a qualified woman volunteer and compelling women as a class because a government is short of fighting age men. And why are they short of fighting age men? Anybody? Yes, they've been getting killed for years, which is so upsetting for those who don't want to see somebody die unnecessarily. This war has gone on too long. That was my input. I know. I do have so much commentary with these articles. You're thinking, did he say that or did she say that? That's okay. Just stick with me. It's all coming through filtered through my brain, right?

21:44Ukraine's parliament seems to recognize that distinction. He says it's national security committee quickly said mobilizing women was not being carried out, prepared or considered, and that women join the defense forces voluntarily. But Kellogg's rationale, that women should be mobilized because they fight no worse than men, races what planners cannot avoid. Military service and direct ground combat are not the same thing. And then McGuinness goes on to write this. I confronted this question a decade ago researching my 2013 book Deadly Consequences, how cowards are pushing women in to combat. My concern at the time was never whether women are patriotic, courageous, or willing to sacrifice. Good point. American women had proved that many times over. The question was whether claims of interchangeability survived the physical realities of close combat. Infantry combat is not an equal opportunity seminar. I know that firsthand, he said, having served two decades as an infantry man in four divisions on three continents, soldiers, hall equipment for miles, drag wounded comrades, sprint under

22:51fire and dig positions, and then repeat it exhausted. Ukraine has added trench warfare and casualty rates. Few Western militaries have faced in generations. When the Marine Corps tested integrated ground combat units, a peer-reviewed study found that 40% of women suffered musculoskeletal injuries versus 18% of men. The army found the same pattern. A Congressional directed Rand analysis found that 52% of elicited women passed the army combat fitness tests versus 92% of men. And Rand warned that closing the gap meant accepting differences in potential combat readiness among soldiers held to different standards. In other words, you changed the standard you're going to weaken our military. And that test was never an infantry qualification and the army's latest move sharpened the point. This year it introduced a combat field test for 24 combat specialties, a pass, fail, and age and sex neutral test. Why? Because the enemy does not issue lighter ammunition to a woman, the standard follows the mission.

23:53All-out pointed to women in his own family. His daughter graduated from West Point and served in Afghanistan. His wife served as a peer-reviewed her in Grenada. Their service deserves respect, but it proves only what nobody disputes. That exceptional women can perform demanding duties. Not that the average conscripted woman and man are interchangeable for sustained combat. Policy cannot be built around exceptional cases. There's another path for those who believe Ukraine's most must expand women's roles. Former Defense Minister there has proposed mandatory service using women mainly away from the front, frame more men to combat. Quite different, by the way, from a certain that women simply fight no worse than men. And that is where Kellogg's intervention troubles me most, he writes, Ukraine is bleeding and every mobilization order reaches families already living with years of death and separation. Women is among the most coercive powers a government exercises. The state is not merely demanding money or obedience potentially, but potentially a citizen's

24:55life. An American who once represented the president should be reluctant to prescribe which segment of Ukrainian society ought to bear that burden, especially its women. Norway, by the way, has adopted sex, neutral conscription, other NATO members facing Russia directly still require compulsory service for men while women serve voluntarily. There is no settled Western consensus on this. Ukrainians must have that debate themselves. And Kellogg entered it carrying no Ukrainian academic or retired officer, something they don't possess. The residual authority of the American president said, you can tell with this article that he's upset, that he spoke because it looked like he was talking for the president. And I think that's important. There's a moral case here too, not only a practical one, scripture does not call men to conscript women into wars, worst dangers. It calls them to honor women as a weaker vessel. Co-airs of the same grace in 1 Peter 3.7. That command assumes real physical differences, not diminished worth. A society that answers a manpower shortage by sending its daughters into trench warfare

25:57has inverted that order. Treating protection as optional rather than owed. Kellogg arguments his argument against Ukraine's men to set aside precisely the burden scripture assigns to them. This is so good, I love this part. History does not treat mobilization for war as a matter for slogans. When Israel prepared for battle, the law required officers to exempt the newly married, the man who just built a house or planted a vineyard and the fearful. A deliberate reckoning over who would bear the burden, that reckoning belongs to Ukraine's government, not a retired American general. Ukraine's women do not need Kellogg or me or anyone to tell them whether they are courageous. Thousands have already answered that question. The issue is whether an influential American should encourage a desperate ally to turn voluntary sacrifice into compulsory obligation. This was really good, really important. I clearly am not for women in combat and I understand women are in the military and that happens every single day in their very brave, but that's a very different question than

26:58what is being asked here. And I'm really grateful that he spoke to that. It's important topic, isn't it? They all are. We're mating God's image, male and female. We're different, unique, valuable, but we cannot forget those differences, especially in the world we're in right now. Hey, so good to be with you this week. Check out influentialwomenform.com. You ladies and we'll see the rest of you next time. You've been listening to the Kariyabit Show. If you'd like to listen again to today's episode or share it with a friend, simply go to thelegacyinstitute.com. And remember, the Kariyabit Show is made possible by donations from friends like you. And of course, our text deductible. If you'd like to donate today, go to thelegacyinstitute.com. Or call 425-354-8517. That's thelegacyinstitute.com.