2nd District GOP candidate Joe Teirab’s work with crisis pregnancy center scrutinized

Second District Congressional candidate Joe Teirab’s work with a crisis pregnancy center is drawing new scrutiny because its adoption agency works only with married, heterosexual couples.

Teirab, a Republican challenging DFL U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, joined the board of directors of New Life Family Services in 2022, according to tax filings. He highlighted the organization he describes as a pregnancy resource center during the campaign because it helped his mother when she unexpectedly became pregnant with him.

“I’m only here today because of the work of that organization,” Teirab said when Craig brought up the group during recent debates. Crisis pregnancy centers counsel women facing unplanned pregnancies away from abortion to other options.

Craig and her wife, Cheryl, have four sons, and Craig has spoken about the struggles she faced adopting because she is gay. Craig released two campaign ads featuring the sons of gay couples who characterize Teirab as out of touch.

“Here in the Second District, we believe that people should have the freedom to marry and build a family with the person they love,” Craig said in a statement. “To try to restrict that fundamental freedom is way out-of-touch with people across this district.”

Teirab responded with a social media post calling Craig’s ads “desperate smears.” In a statement, he said he supports gay marriage and gay adoption.

“I support people marrying who they want to marry and loving who they love. And I support more adoption and more happy families of all kinds,” Teirab’s statement said. “Turning my desire to give back to the organization that gave me life into a political weapon is very disheartening.”

Abortion and reproductive rights have been a top issue in Minnesota’s most competitive congressional race. Craig is seeking a fourth term representing the Second District that stretches from the Twin Cities southern suburbs to Le Sueur County.

Craig has criticized Teirab’s opposition to abortion, including answers he gave on a survey from Minnesotans Concerned for Life that he would not support legislation to weaken existing abortion restrictions.

Teirab said he believes abortion regulations are best decided at the state level. He accused Craig of distorting his position and using abortion as a political wedge issue.

On its website, New Life Adoptions, a program of New Life Family Services, says prospective parents who want to work with the group must have been married for at least two years. The group holds a “Biblical sexual ethic: Marriage is between one man and one woman.”

It’s unclear if that restriction violates the Minnesota Human Rights Act ban on discrimination in public accommodations. The law says it is illegal to deny services to someone because of their marital status and sexual orientation.

Christy Hall, an attorney with Gender Justice, an equity advocacy group, said the restriction “clearly violates the Minnesota Human Rights Act.” Hall noted the organization’s policy likely has not been challenged. “There is not any kind of religious exemption to the public accommodations statute.”

Myron Orfield, professor of civil rights and civil liberties law at the University of Minnesota, agreed the restriction appeared to violate state law, but he said the group might be protected under the First Amendment. He referred to a 2022 New York case where the state’s Supreme Court found a similar organization’s criteria for prospective parents was a protected exercise of religious beliefs.

In Minnesota, complaints to the state Department of Human Rights are public only after the agency has completed an investigation. An agency spokesman said there were no completed cases involving New Life Adoptions on file.

The organization, which has offices in Richfield and Rochester, did not respond to requests for comment.