Falwell opposed anti-domestic-violence law as a threat to male headship

Evidence

Signs of this decay abounded: “welfarism,” “income-transfer programs,” divorce, abortion, homosexuality, “secular humanism” in public schools, federally funded day care, and the Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Act. The Domestic Violence Act was especially insidious, for it would do away with “physical punishment as a mode of child-rearing” and “eliminate the husband as ‘head of the family.’” — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 222

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Directly parallels the ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ article’s theme: moral panic arguments that frame protection of women as an attack on legitimate male authority — same rhetorical structure of casting state protection as family destruction.
• SHARE: A specific person tracking anti-DV policy fights would appreciate this precise 1980 example of ‘family protection = domestic violence legalization’ rhetoric.