Dr. James Dobson, a politically influential child psychologist who started a radio show counseling Christians on how to be good parents, founded the conservative ministry Focus on the Family and was long a campaigner against abortion and LGBTQ+ rights , died on Thursday. He was 89.

His death was confirmed by the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.

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Dobson started Focus on the Family in 1977, which had more than 1,000 employees at its peak and gave him a platform to weigh in on legislation, advise White House panels and advocate against laws to ban conversion therapy to “cure” gay people.

He became a force in the 1980s for pushing conservative Christian ideals in American politics alongside fundamentalist giants l

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