THE WASHINGTON POST – Beverly LaHaye, an evangelical activist who helped organize a powerful right-wing backlash to the feminist movement, rallying opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion, gay rights and other perceived threats to “traditional family values,” died April 14 at a retirement home in El Cajon, Calif. She was 94.
Her death was announced in a statement by Concerned Women for America, the Washington-based public policy organization she founded and once led. The statement did not give a cause.
While her husband, Southern Baptist minister Tim LaHaye, preached about the “end times” and made a fortune as a co-author of the best-selling “Left Behind” series of apocalyptic novels, Mrs. LaHaye developed a following of her own as the longtime president of Concerned Women for America, or CWA.
Formed in San Diego in 1979, the organization was envisioned as an evangelical answer to feminist groups such as the National Organization for Women and helped propel the rise of the Christian right through its advocacy efforts, legal campaigns and educational programs.
Within a decade of its creation, the group boasted of having more than 500,000 members, with “Prayer/Action” chapters in all 50 states and an army of “kitchen-table lobbyists,” as Mrs. LaHaye called her supporters, who learned how to organize their neighbors and lobby government officials on behalf of school prayer, the criminalization of abortion, the teaching of creationism and other evangelical causes.
The organization’s political clout was so strong that President Ronald Reagan delivered the keynote address at its 1987 national convention, praising Mrs. LaHaye as “one of the powerhouses on the political scene today, and one of the reasons that the grass roots are more and more a conservative province.”
Critics such as Gregory King, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, called Mrs. LaHaye “a professional hatemonger … ” READ MORE.
Tribute to CWA Founder Beverly LaHaye
“A tenacious woman of God whose legacy will live on”
Washington, D.C. – Concerned Women for America (CWA), the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization, mourns the loss of its founder and former chairman, Beverly LaHaye, who passed from this life on Sunday, April 14, 2024 Mrs. LaHaye founded CWA in 1979 in response to the feminist movement of the time that she believed did not speak for the majority of American women.
Mrs. LaHaye initially jumped into the debate over the Equal Rights Amendment, helping lead the opposition to it as well as advocating for the life of the unborn. From that point, CWA grew into a leading national organization that soon came to be a political force in Washington, D.C., and around the country.
“Mrs. LaHaye championed the forgotten women of this country, whose voices were not being heard in Washington and in the culture,” said Penny Nance, CEO and President of CWA. “Her life is a testament to the impact one woman with a vision and mission can have on the course of history.”
Mrs. LaHaye led CWA to speak out on the protection of marriage, support for Israel, and other key issues. She added a legal defense department and legislative team to CWA’s growing involvement as opportunities arose to be a voice on behalf of women and men embattled in the courts and key issues on Capitol Hill.
LaHaye testified before Congress on multiple occasions against abortion and policies that dismantle the family and Christian values. She spoke on behalf of Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia in their confirmation hearings. She worked closely with presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush as well as Members of Congress over the years.
“It is hard to imagine a woman who has had a greater impact on our culture than our founder,” said Nance. “We are forever grateful for her vision, her wisdom, and her spiritural leadership. A tenacious woman of God, her legacy will live on and be cherished by the organization she founded and the millions of people she has touched.”
Mrs. LaHaye was married to evangelical pastor Dr. Tim LaHaye for 69 years before his passing in 2016. She was the mother of four, grandmother of nine, and great-grandmother of 20. Mrs. LaHaye served in many ministries and wrote or co-wrote more than 30 books.
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Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy organization for women; we are dedicated to promoting Biblical values and Constitutional principles. More information is available at ConcernedWomen.org.
