'Every life is worth protecting,' President Trump, VP Pence tell March for Life

The March for Life again gathered myriad pro-life advocates to mark the anniversary of legalized abortion in America, and in a surprise appearance Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence introduced a pre-recorded message from President Donald Trump.

“This is a movement founded on love and grounded in the nobility and dignity of every human life,” President Trump said in a pre-recorded message to the massive Jan. 18 rally, before the crowd began its march through the streets of Washington, D.C.

“When we look into the eyes of a newborn child we see the beauty of the human soul and the majesty of God’s creation, we know that every life has meaning and every life is worth protecting.”

“I will always protect the first right in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life,” he said.

Click here for more from CNA.

Time lapse video destroys claim only ‘thousands’ attended 2019 March for Life

While mainstream media portrayed the 2019 March for Life as being attended by “thousands” and "tens of thousands," a time-lapse video of the Jan. 18 event from beginning to end paints a rather different picture which suggests a much higher number.

Getting an accurate count of so large a crowd would be an almost insurmountable task, but Students for Life of America has put together a 60-second time-lapse video of the March from beginning to end that suggests hundreds of thousands attended the event.

The 2019 March for Life was a great success! People from across the country, and the world, met in D.C. to march for the rights of the preborn! We are the Pro-Life Generation and we will abolish abortion! #MarchForLife pic.twitter.com/one3YoA3eF

— Students for Life (@StudentsforLife) January 18, 2019

Click here for more from Life Site News.

Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act introduced in the U.S. Senate

On Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)  introduced of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in the U.S. Senate.  The legislation has previously passed the U.S. House of Representatives and has garnered a majority of votes in the U.S. Senate.

The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act continues to be one of the right-to-life movement’s top congressional priorities for the 116th Congress. Like the state bills, the proposed federal law would generally extend legal protect to unborn humans beginning at 20 weeks fetal age (22 weeks of pregnancy), based on congressional findings that by that point (and even earlier) the unborn child has the capacity to experience great pain during an abortion.

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

Pro-Abortion Democrats Block Effort to Enact Permanent, Government-Wide Hyde Amendment

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate held a vote to advance the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (S. 109), but on a near party-line vote, a minority of pro-abortion Democrats blocked consideration of the bill. Forty-eight senators voted to take the bill up for debate, but 60 votes were required.

“It is estimated that over two million Americans are alive today because of the Hyde Amendment,” said Carol Tobias, National Right to Life president. “Americans should be outraged that extremist pro-abortion Senate Democrats voted to block the legislation and those senators will be firmly marked as supporters of federal funding for elective abortion. We applaud Senate Majority Leader McConnell and chief sponsor Sen. Roger Wicker for their leadership on this issue.”

S. 109 would codify the principles of the Hyde Amendment on a permanent, government-wide basis, applicable to both longstanding federal health programs and to the programs created by Obamacare. Currently, under Obamacare, the federal taxpayer is subsidizing the purchase of abortion-covering plans on a massive scale. Under the bill, health plans that cover elective abortions would not qualify for federal subsidies, although such plans could still be sold to those who wish to purchase them with personal funds.

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

Letters urge Trump to Veto Bills that weaken existing Pro-Life Policies

In an effort led by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J. pictured) and Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), 169 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 49 members of the U.S. Senate today sent President Trump letters urging him to veto bills that weaken existing pro-life policies, and indicating that they will vote to sustain such vetoes. Those numbers exceed the number required to sustain a veto in either house.

The letters come as congressional appropriators continue to work on funding bills to reopen the government. Many important pro-life policies are kept in place by provisions of such appropriations bills, sometimes called “riders.” This includes the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding for abortion (except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape or incest).

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

NRLC urges Senators to support “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2019”

In anticipation of a possible Thursday vote, National Right to Life today sent a letter to members of the United States Senate, urging them to vote yes on a vote to proceed (to “invoke closure”) on the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2019.

NRLC informed senators that they will include the roll call vote in NRLC’s scorecard of key right-to-life roll calls of the 116th Congress.

Among many other important considerations, S.109 “would codify the principles of the Hyde Amendment to federal health programs on a permanent, government-wide basis, including Medicaid, SCHIP, FEHB, and many others.”

Click here for much more from NRL News Today.

Chicago March for Life sets new record in 2019

Chicago's annual March for Life was held last Sunday, and despite a snowstorm blanketing the region hours before, organizers say this year's gathering set a new record for participation - in excess of 8000 people.

The Chicago March for Life has become a full weekend of events. It started with the Rose Dinner on Saturday night, sponsored by Speak Out Chicago. It featured a roundtable discussion between three dynamic leaders in the pro-life movement: Jeanne Mancini, president of the National March for Life Education and Defense Fund, Eva Muntean, coordinator of the West Coast Walk for Life and Dawn Fitzpatrick, president of the March for Life Chicago.

Click here for more from Illinois Review.

Speak Out Illinois 2019

Abortion worker says parents often unlawfully coerce daughters to abort

Even though abortion is called a woman’s “choice,” many women feel pressured or coerced to abort — by parents, loved ones, employers, or others. Former abortion worker Tonya explains what she saw when parents of minors tried to force their daughters to abort:

[T]eens, young adults, and minors who are still living at home with their parents or legal guardians, are sometimes being forced to have an abortion or even feeling like they’re being pressured into having an abortion by that parent or legal guardian. This happens a lot of times to minors and young adults…

On the day of the appointment, you can usually tell the minor who does not want to be there just by their facial expression. Being upset and very emotional. When this is noticed, I’ll pull that patient to a private room to have a one-on-one talk with them without the parent being present, and sometimes the patient will say, “Yes, I am being forced to do this, and if I don’t, my parents will put me out or send me away.” And in other words, just turn their backs on them. You have parents who try to convince their child….

Click here for more from Live Action News.

Little Sisters of the Poor suffer legal setbacks in two courts

Well, nobody said it would be easy. When last we reported on the Little Sisters of the Poor, they had apparently finally won a five-year long battle against an Obama-era requirement that required them to provide services that violate their religious conscience, a battle that had gone all the way to the Supreme Court.

“Following the 2016 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court and an Executive Order, HHS issued a new rule that finally protects the Little Sisters and other religious non-profits,” according to the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty. In State of California v. HHS and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Trump, the order of Catholic Nuns asked two separate federal courts to protect that hard-won liberty against challenges from by two state attorneys general.

On Sunday and then again on Monday, the courts ruled otherwise.

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

Millennials want more abortion restrictions, right to vote on abortion: Students for Life poll

Millennials in the United States are considerably more hostile to abortion than is often assumed, according to a new survey from The Polling Company, Inc./WomanTrend commissioned by Students for Life of America (SFLA).

Released Monday, the survey of Americans aged 18-34 found that while a majority rejected identifying with either party and they were evenly divided among “pro-life” and “pro-choice” labels at 39 percent each, they also consistently backed a rightward shift on abortion-related policy questions.  Seventy percent of respondents favored some form of limits on abortion, with 42 percent directly against legal abortion and another 28 percent backing greater restrictions than are consistently on the books today, such as requiring parental notification and banning late-term abortion and taxpayer funding of abortion.

Click here for more from Life Site News.

6,000 unite at Chicago March for Life, dwarfing pro-abortion counter-protest

As pro-lifers from across the nation prepare to gather in Washington, D.C. this week to stand against abortion, thousands already gathered this weekend to demonstrate their support for life in the Windy City.  Approximately 6,000 pro-lifers march the Chicago Loop starting and eventually returning to Federal Plaza, WGN 9 reported.

Photos of the turnout show packed streets with enthusiastic men and women of all ages bundled up and bearing signs proclaiming “right to be born,” “abortion takes a human life,” “a person’s a person no matter how small,” and more.

Tons of energy and a ginormous crowd for #March4LifeChi.#ProLife pic.twitter.com/tXSpsU6siz

— Andrew Willis (@AndrewWillis101) January 13, 2019

An honor to be in Chicago with @jeannemfl for #March4LifeChi @ChicagoMarch! The #prolife movement is vibrant all across the country! #WhyWeMarch pic.twitter.com/KY9fkUCMjW

— Bethany Peck (@bethany102785) January 14, 2019

#prolife is for ALL life, even those who work in the abortion industry. We pray for you and help is at https://t.co/4ESdS7vtcs! #March4LifeChi #MarchForLife #Feminism #WomensWave #reprorights #pink #PlannedParenthood #love #pray pic.twitter.com/Pk49NCdic3

— Lizzy (@lizzery3) January 13, 2019

At the #march4lifechi, @CardinalBCupich addressed the younger crowd @ Federal Plaza: “You, young people, give us hope & encourage us as we know that year after year as we march into the future, there will be others who will continue this effort to protect human life and dignity.” pic.twitter.com/RFHfwb3soB

— Archdiocese Chicago (@archchicago) January 13, 2019

Click here for more from Life Site News.

Judge blocks employer birth control coverage options in Illinois, 12 other states

Sunday, U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam temporarily blocked Trump administration rules allowing employers to refuse to provide free birth control from taking effect Monday in 13 states - and because Madigan signed onto the lawsuit, Illinois is one of the states to which the ruling applies.

While plaintiffs argued employers should not interfere with women's healthcare, they insisted employers should be forced to provide free health insurance coverage for employees that includes birth control - some methods of which  can cause abortions. 

Click here for more from Illinois Review.

Pro-life Democrat Charles C. Camosy on why language matters in the abortion debate

“The struggle in the abortion debate is, in many ways, a struggle over language,” wrote Charles C. Camosy (pictured), who serves on the advisory board for pro-life group Democrats for Life and is an associate professor at Fordham University. 

“For example, I am pro-life. I strongly support rights and protections for mothers and children, including prenatal children, and other vulnerable populations. I want to see the laws of this country protect these people as well. In my view, this makes me pro-life. That’s why I use the phrase ‘prenatal child’ where other people would say ‘fetus,’” he said.

However, in the view of pro-choice people and of many mainstream media outlets, “I am not pro-life; I am anti-abortion. This language allows critics to dismiss me and fellow pro-lifers as single-issue obsessives, which we are not.”

Click here for more from CNA.

Brittany Rejected Abortion for Baby Noah. Now She’s Headed to Capitol Hill with a Pro-life Message.

When Brittany found out she was pregnant almost three years ago, her first impulse was to have an abortion. A college student in a perilous relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Brittany did not see how she could possibly raise a baby.

But because she chose life instead, this week she and her two-year-old son Noah are headed to Washington D.C. as part of Heartbeat International’s Babies Go to Congress. Once there, Brittany will share her story with lawmakers to promote the work of the pro-life pregnancy help center that empowered her along the way.

Click here for more from Pregnancy Help News.

Comedian Marcella Arguello's shock tweet reveals unintended truth about abortion

Los Angeles comedian Marcella Arguello (pictured) made some waves (as she likely intended) with a tweet that got some disgusted reactions on social media. But in her quest for shock value, Arguello also revealed a truth: that abortion takes the life of an actual human being — a “someone.”

She wrote on Twitter, “I hate when people tell me to have a kid because I look good holding a baby. B*tch I look good doing everything because I. Look. Good. In fact you should see me have an abortion – I am BREATHTAKING. Literally I am taking someone’s breath. It’s beautiful.”

Arguello is correct in that abortion is “literally taking someone’s breath.” But it’s not beautiful.

Click here for more from Live Action News.

Across the US, organizers prepare for pro-life marches

Thousands of pro-life advocates will rally this month in major cities throughout the country, marking the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that mandated legal abortion in the U.S.

March for Life Chicago will take place on Jan. 13, drawing numerous pro-lifers from Illinois and surrounding states, including Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Missouri. The event is expected to gather more than 6,000 attendees.

Click here for more from CNA/EWTN News.

Abortion statistics: United States Data and Trends

There are two basic sources on abortion incidence in the United States:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) publishes yearly, but relies on voluntary reports from state health departments (and New York City, Washington, DC) It has been missing data from California, New Hampshire, and at least one other state since 1998.

The Guttmacher Institute (GI) contacts abortion clinics directly for data but does not survey every year.

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

Woman sues doctor, pharmacy for accidentally prescribing abortion pill that killed baby

A California woman is taking her doctor and pharmacy to court for allegedly writing and filling an accidental prescription for the abortion pill, which she unwittingly took without knowing it would kill her preborn baby.

According to a lawsuit filed Monday in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, Lorena Anderson went to see Dr. Maria Rasul at Bishop’s Peak Women’s Health on March 20, 2018, to confirm she was pregnant. Rasul then allegedly “carelessly and negligently” ordered a prescription for misoprostol – one half of a chemical abortion – without informing her of its “nature and effects.”

Click here for more from Life Site News.

Federal Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood Introduced

The Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2019 was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) who leads the House Vales Action Team.

The introduction of the legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives is set out to defund abortion providers, including the nation’s largest abortion provider, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA).

“Most Democrats in Congress think Planned Parenthood can do no wrong,” said National Right to Life Legislative Director Jennifer Popik, J.D. “Congresswoman Hartzler knows better and we thank her for her leadership in working to defund America’s largest abortion provider.”

Under the newly introduced legislation, all funds that are no longer available to abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, are explicitly made available to other eligible entities to provide women’s health care services.

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

So much for 3%: Planned Parenthood prez says abortion ‘our core mission’

On Twitter, Planned Parenthood’s new president Leana Wen took issue with a Buzzfeed headline that read, “Planned Parenthood’s new president wants to focus on nonabortion healthcare.” To the contrary, she said in response that abortion is not only going to remain a focus for Planned Parenthood, but it is the abortion corporation’s “core mission.” Remember that the next time you hear someone in the media repeat the repeatedly debunked claim that “abortion is only 3% of what Planned Parenthood does.” It appears that not even Planned Parenthood’s own president believes this misleading statistic.

Leana Wen tweets:

“First, our core mission is providing, protecting and expanding access to abortion and reproductive health care. We will never back down from that fight – it’s a fundamental human right and women’s lives are at stake,” Wen, an emergency room physician, wrote. But this statement flies in the face of the organization’s continued claim that abortion is only a tiny percentage of what they do. And interestingly, even when Planned Parenthood’s abortion numbers increase by the thousands, that 3% figure seems to stay the same. Even the Washington Post didn’t buy it.

Click here for more from Live Action News.

PBS Special Provides ‘Balanced’ Perspective on Abortion’s Black Genocide

Last month, normally progressive PBS provided a transparent portrayal of the devastation abortion inflicts on the African American community. The special, titled “Anti-Abortion Crusaders: Inside the African American Abortion Battle,” surprised conservative media critics by giving voice to the message that “the most dangerous place for an African American child is in the womb.”

Rev. Clenard H. Childress praised PBS for its “fair and balanced” report on the subject. Childress, the assistant national director of LEARN, America’s largest African American Evangelical pro-life committee, was featured in PBS’ program and was quite pleased with being able to get out his message, one almost never acknowledged by the mainstream media.

During the program Childress was able to hammer home the fact that abortion providers target black women for abortions, and that in New York, for example, “more black babies are aborted than are born.” The statistics demonstrate that across America, where the black community only constitutes 13% of the population, a massive 35% of the abortions are performed on black babies.

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

Abortion Facility Numbers Continue to Decrease in 2018 According to New Survey

The number of abortion clinics in America continued to decline in 2018, following a trend that has seen an overall decrease of 159 abortion facilities since 2012.

Overall, in 2018, 40 abortion facilities closed or no longer qualify as abortion clinics.

Today, there are a total of 697 abortion centers left in America - seven fewer than there were at the end of 2017.

That total includes 467 facilities that conduct surgical abortions - down dramatically from the high-water mark of 2,176 surgical facilities documented in 1991. This represents a massive 79 percent decrease in the number of surgical abortion facilities over the past 27 years.

Click here for more from Christian News Wire.

Guttmacher study on repeat abortions at odds with cherished pro-abortion arguments

A study Guttmacher Institute confirms that in 2014, nearly half of abortions–44.8%– were actually repeat abortions, that is, abortions to women who have had at least one previous abortion.

Although this is something that many have known or suspected for years, there are details in this study from Planned Parenthood’s one-time in-house think tank that help us better understand why this happens and which women are most likely to have multiple abortions.

And as is so often the case, assessed objectively, these findings challenge some of the abortion lobby’s most constant arguments.

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

Taxpayer-funded fetal tissue researchers want their names kept secret

Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) who are using public tax dollars to purchase aborted baby parts are embroiled in a court battle to keep their identities secret. The case, Jane Does 1-10, et al v. David Daleiden, pits the university employees and abortion facility personnel against David Daleiden, the investigative journalist with The Center for Medical Progress, best known for undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s alleged involvement in the trafficking of aborted baby body parts. Daleiden is trying to exercise his rights to see the public documents relating to the purchase and use of these body parts.

The UW researchers are public employees using taxpayer funds for their fetal tissue research program, but they do not want to be identified, claiming that the First Amendment gives them the right to remain anonymous. Their fight to keep their identities secret is puzzling, given that many abortion advocates believe in the necessity of fetal stem cell research, despite research showing otherwise. It raises the question of whether these researchers are ashamed of their work, or perhaps fearful that if their names are made public, it could be detrimental to their careers.

Click here for more from Live Action News.

‘So painful. So much blood’: Women share abortion pill horrors on YouTube

Despite potential for dangerous outcomes, abortion advocates are pushing “at home” or “mail order” abortions. FDA reports indicate that almost two dozen women who took abortion pills have died as a result, and a thousand have been hospitalized. And now, some women are sharing their testimonies on YouTube, giving a glimpse into their mindset, the physical and emotional results of taking the abortion pill, and the reality of abortion.

One inside view comes from a video entitled, “My Abortion Experience as a Freshman | Abortion Pill.”  In comments to the video, a woman named Brittany claims she obtained abortion pills from Planned Parenthood as a freshman in college.

Click here for the video.

Click here for more from Live Action News.

Snopes claims it’s ‘problematic’ to call abortion a ‘cause of death’ rather than ‘medical procedure’

The popular “fact-checking” website Snopes has once again waded into the abortion debate, this time suggesting it’s medically inaccurate to descirbe abortion as “death.”

“Stating that abortion is the ‘leading cause of death’ worldwide (as opposed to a medical procedure) is a problematic pronouncement, because that stance takes a political position, one which is at odds with the scientific/medical world,” Snopes’ Bethania Palma Markus wrote. “The medical community does not confer personhood upon fetuses that are not viable outside the womb, so counting abortion as a 'cause of death' does not align with the practices of health organizations such as WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”

Click here for more from Life Site News.

United States bungles pro-life vote at UN, pro-abortion Europe laughs

The European Union has proved a tough adversary for the U.S., outmaneuvering U.S. pro-life diplomatic effort at UN headquarters in recent weeks, and signaling that they will not cede on abortion policy in development and humanitarian assistance.

Following several months of U.S. opposition to abortion-related terms in UN resolutions, the U.S. attempted to delete references to "sexual and reproductive health" through last-minute amendments in several UN resolutions on December 17 and December 14, as the General Assembly wrapped up its annual work.

Click here for more from Life Site News.

Planned Parenthood sues to allow non-doctors to commit abortions

Planned Parenthood is suing the state of Idaho so that medical professionals other than doctors can commit lawful abortions there.

The lawsuit filed December 14 by the abortion company and Seattle-based feminist group Legal Voice argues that an Idaho law requiring that a licensed physician perform abortions is unconstitutional.

Click here for more from Life Site News.

Pro-Life House Members denounce H.R. 21 that would reverse Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy - H.R. 21 passes House 241-190

The House of Representatives passed H.R. 21, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 by a vote of 241 – 190.

A number of pro-life House members spoke out in opposition.

H.R. 21 reverses the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy, the Trump Administration’s initiative that expanded and enhanced the “Mexico City Policy.” Under the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance program, in order to be eligible for U.S. population assistance, a private organization must sign a contract promising not to perform abortions (except to save the mother’s life or in cases of rape or incest), lobby to change the abortion laws of host countries, or otherwise “actively promote abortion as a method of family planning.

In addition, H.R. 21 appropriates no less than $37.5 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and no less than $595 million for international family planning/reproductive health programs.

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

House of Representatives tacks pro-abortion language into legislation dealing with government shutdown

The House of Representatives, whose leadership is now in the hands of the likes of pro-abortion Speaker Nancy Pelosi, intends to try to undue pro-life legislation and policies, beginning with adding language to legislation dealing with the partial governmental shutdown.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act would fund organizations that actively promote abortion overseas, undoing the Trump administration’s Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance program, and add an additional $5 million in funding for the United Nations Population Fund, raising the total to $37.5 million.

As of 3:00pm, the spending bill, with the changes included, passed ere to ere.

Pro-abortion Democrats can’t stand that the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy establishes an eligibility criterion for U.S. funding: If a group is unwilling to agree to avoid promotion of abortion, that group will not receive any type of U.S. support.

Period.

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

March for Life Chicago 2019

The 2019 Recommitment-to-Life Rally

Over 41 million abortions estimated in 2018, making ‘choice’ world’s leading cause of death

Abortions dwarfed every other cause of death worldwide at more than 41 million in 2018, according to the statistics tracking service Worldometers.

On December 31, a number of media outlets including Breitbart reported that as of the end of the year, Worldometers’ statistics page for abortion showed that more than 41 million induced abortions (as distinguished from “spontaneous abortions,” better known as miscarriages) had taken place globally in 2018.

Click here for more from Life Site News.

Ex Planned Parenthood manager: Christian churches must stop ignoring the abortion holocaust

In the USA, abortion numbers have been slowly but steadily declining since 1990. Despite this drop, 887,000 babies were aborted in 2016. This is down from 913,000 in 2015. Of course, abortion proponents will argue that this decline means that laws are infringing on their “right” to abort their children. But let’s put this number in perspective. In 2016, abortion wiped out 887,000 babies, the number of people in San Francisco. Can you imagine the media reporting the loss of nearly a million lives? And yet, abortion continues.

For 46 years, the church has largely been “singing,” that is, doing other things so that they don’t have to hear the cries of the unborn. Can Christians really ignore this tragedy? Can real Christians continue to turn away from the slaughter of innocent lives? How far will the church go to avoid the shedding of innocent blood?

Click here for more from Life Site News.

By one vote, Ohio Legislature fails to override Kasich veto of heartbeat bill

In a heartbreaking loss, the Ohio Senate failed to reach the required votes to override Ohio Governor John Kasich’s veto of the “heartbeat bill.” House Bill 258 passed the House in a 60-28 vote, but failed 19-13 by a single vote in the Senate, as it needed 20 votes to pass. The bill banning abortion once a baby’s heartbeat is detected will not go into law.

This comes just a week after Ohio governor John Kasich vetoed the heartbeat bill for the second time in two years. At the same time Kasich vetoed the heartbeat bill, he signed into law a bill banning D&E (dilation and evacuation) abortions. As Live Action News previously reported, “The legislation will also penalize doctors who break the new law and continue to commit these barbaric abortions.”

Click here for more from Live Action News.

‘Pro-life’ John Kasich vetoes bill banning abortions on babies with heartbeats

Outgoing Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed for the second time a bill that would have prevented babies with beating hearts from being aborted.  Kasich who is a former Republican presidential candidate, touted his allegedly “pro-life” views as he explained his veto.

“As governor, I have worked hard to strengthen Ohio’s protections for the sanctity of human life, and I have a deep respect for my fellow members of the pro-life community and their ongoing efforts in defense of unborn life,” said Kasich. “However, the central provision of Sub. H.B. 258, that an abortion cannot be performed if a heartbeat has been detected in the unborn child, is contrary to the Supreme Court of the United States’ current rulings on abortion.”

Click here for more from Life Site News.

Physician argues there is growing opposition within the American Medical Association to Physician-Assisted Suicide

Shane E. Macaulay, MD, is a radiologist with Center for Diagnostic Imaging in Washington state, twice selected as one of Seattle’s Top Doctors, and an AMA Alternate Delegate from Washington state. Dr. Macaulay wrote an excellent article that was published by the MedPage on December 21.

Macaulay comments on the American Medical Association (AMA) assisted suicide debate. For more than two years pro-assisted suicide members of the AMA have been working to change the AMA position on Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) from opposed to neutral.

Macaulay opposes a change in the AMA position on PAS) and argues that the AMA is moving towards maintaining its opposition to PAS) rather than moving to a neutral position.

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

Supreme Court could agree to hear as early as January 4 a challenge to Indiana law banning abortions of babies diagnosed with a disability

This week the legal publication, The Indiana Lawyer posted a story reminding us that the justices of the Supreme Court will meet for their first conference of 2019 on January 4.

At that time they begin consideration of what cases the High Court will hear in 2019, which would include Indiana’s HEA 1337. That law, signed by then-Gov. Mike Pence, bans abortion for the sole reasons of the child’s race, sex, or a potential disability such as Down syndrome. HEA 1337 requires that women be informed of this prohibition as part of Indiana informed consent process.

HEA 1337 also requires that abortion clinics bury or cremate the remains of aborted babies in a dignified fashion.

Four of the nine justices must vote to accept a case, according to the Supreme Court rules.

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

Merry Christmas - A Savior is Born!

The Illinois Federation for Right to Life would like to wish you and your family a Blessed and Safe Christmas.

Nineteen states ask Supreme Court to uphold Down syndrome abortion ban

Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky has joined with the American Civil Liberties Union in suing to overturn a 2016 Indiana law stating that a preborn baby cannot be aborted “solely because of the fetus’s race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, or diagnosis or potential diagnosis of the fetus having Down syndrome or any other disability.” Now, a 19-state coalition has joined together to issue a friend-of-the-court brief, urging the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold state laws banning abortion based on disability, gender, or race. These laws are commonly referenced as banning abortion due to Down syndrome, as babies diagnosed with Down syndrome prenatally are very likely to become victims of abortion.

In September of 2016, Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, despite acknowledging that the rate of abortion for preborn babies with Down syndrome is high, writing that “the parties are essentially in agreement that a significant number of women have sought, and will continue to seek, an abortion solely because of the diagnosis of a disability or the risk thereof” and that the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky swore that they would continue to commit abortions “solely because of a diagnosis of fetal Down syndrome or other genetic disabilities or the possibility of such a diagnosis.”

Click here for more from Live Action News.

NY Times report says Planned Parenthood discriminates against pregnant employees

Planned Parenthood, the taxpayer-funded abortion organization that bills itself as a champion and provider of essential women’s healthcare discriminates against pregnant women, gives employees lackluster pay, and subjects them to other forms of mistreatment, according to a bombshell report in the New York Times.

On Thursday, the Times published a report detailing multiple complaints against the abortion giant that contrast sharply with its prevailing depiction in the mainstream media. The paper spoke to “more than a dozen current and former employees” with horror stories, and notes that a dozen lawsuits have been filed since 2013 alleging denial of rest periods, lunch breaks, and overtime pay, as well as retaliation for pregnancy and taking advantage of medical leave.

Click here for more from Life Site News.

Pro-life groups blast US govt. health exec for defending research using aborted babies

As the Trump administration reevaluates its funding of medical research on tissue from aborted babies, pro-life groups are calling for National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins (pictured) to be rebuked or removed for continuing to defend the ethically-fraught practice.

The controversy began in August when a notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) surfaced detailing a contract to the fetal tissue procurement firm Advanced Bioscience Resources, Inc. (ABR) to acquire “Tissue for Humanized Mice.” Dozens of pro-life leaders and House members successfully pressured the FDA and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to terminate the contract, but concerns remained over nearly $100 million in tax dollars that continued to pay for other research using tissue and organs from aborted babies.

Click here for more from Life Site News.

Pro-life law firm asks Illinois Supreme Court to stop taxpayer funding of abortion

Attorneys from the Thomas More Society are appealing to the Illinois Supreme Court to stop a state law requiring taxpayer funding of abortions for Medicaid recipients.

According to the December 17, 2018 filing on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Illinois taxpayers, the funding for the law violates the state constitution’s balanced budget requirement. In September 2018, an appellate court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against the funding for the law, previously known as “House Bill 40.”

Click here for more from Life Site News.

Planned Parenthood fights requirement of pelvic exam prior to a chemical abortion

It has been previously written about women leaving states with protective abortion laws to go to Illinois where abortions are easy to come by, there is no requirement that women reflect on their decision, and the industry is essentially unregulated.

But here’s a new low, even by Planned Parenthood’s standards.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in a story that ran Tuesday, reported that “Enforcement of a rule requiring women to have a pelvic exam before receiving a pill abortion is sending Missouri’s Planned Parenthood patients to Illinois.”

Reporter Jack Suntrup channeled the response of the abortion industry captured by Dr. David Eisenberg, medical director at Planned Parenthood in the Central West End, who told Suntrup that he informs women they can go to Illinois—which “100%” do.

Suntrup wrote that the Department of Health and Senior Services’ [DHSS] requirement “puts the state at odds with guidance from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, or ACOG, which does not recommend requiring pelvic exams prior to medication abortions. The group says pelvic exams are medically unnecessary prior to medication abortions in most cases.”

Click here for more from NRL News Today.

Abortion giant admits 'it's a baby' in sex-ed video

"Planned Parenthood has begun releasing videos for parents basically explaining sex education to their children," says Katie Yoder, content manager at National Review. "This latest video came out actually came out November 14, but it didn't receive a lot of attention. It's called 'How Do I Talk With My Kids About Where Babies Come From?' – and Planned Parenthood's narrator talks about how 'a baby grows in the parent's belly' and 'if sperm and egg meet, they can grow into a baby.'"

That, says Yoder, is huge.

"Planned Parenthood is the nation's largest abortion-provider and here they are admitting that it's a baby that's growing inside a woman's womb," she continues. "It's not just a clump of cells or some kind of disease – [they admit] it's a baby."

Click here for more from One News Now.

NIH director under fire for calling research using aborted babies ‘justified’

At a time when a fetal tissue research debate took place on Capitol Hill, National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Francis Collins made comments that seem to directly contradict the position of the Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services on searching for alternatives to fetal tissue research. In statements quoted by Science Magazine, Collins claimed that research done using the bodies of aborted children is “scientifically, highly justified” and “will continue to be the mainstay” in scientific research. He also claimed, without elaboration, that it could be “done with an ethical framework.”

Science Magazine notes that the “NIH has halted procurement of fetal tissue by its own scientists,” but in most cases, research continues using frozen tissue from aborted children. And yet, hidden in the article is a statement that reveals a significant problem with research using fetal tissue: “The agency also revealed that a third lab will need new fetal tissue by 31 January 2019.” In other words, the continuation of this research is dependent upon the act of killing living children in utero — a fact that leads many to surmise that there is no way to make the research “ethical.”

Click here for more from Live Action News.

VIDEO: MSNBC host announces pregnancy with ultrasound: ‘I have a baby in my belly’

An MSNBC anchor revealed her third baby is on the way with a pregnancy announcement that contrasted sharply with the network’s pro-abortion leanings.

“That will do it from me this hour, except it won’t, because I have a little bit of other news to show you,” Katy Tur said at the end of her broadcast last Thursday. “A lot of eagle-eyed folks out there have noticed, so here it is, roll the tape.”

The screen then displayed an ultrasound of a recognizable baby several months along.

.@KatyTurNBC has an announcement … pic.twitter.com/kERZrqLHRK

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 13, 2018

Click here for more from Life Site News.

Illegally prescribing controlled drugs has become a trend among abortionists

Abortion activists often claim that legalized abortion is necessary to protect women, but the existence of substandard care in the largely unregulated abortion industry says otherwise. The argument that women will seek out “back alley” abortions if it becomes illegal fails to hold water. Studies show that women are less likely to seek elective abortion when it is illegal or restricted. But possibly the most important oversight of this pro-abortion argument is that four decades of legal abortion reveals that it is not “safe” and legal abortion facilities are not well regulated. Reports available to the public show that when abortion facilities are inspected, horrific violations of health and safety standards have been found. Some abortion facilities go uninspected for years.

In addition to these substandard conditions, there is a trend of abortionists illegally prescribing controlled substances. While the nation grapples with an opioid epidemic that killed more than 130 people every day in opioid-related drug overdoses in 2016 and 2017, several prominent abortionists have been illegally selling prescriptions for narcotics or prescribing for friends under the table.

Click here for more from Live Action News.

Federal judge strikes down Obamacare as unconstitutional, Trump praises decision

A federal judge in Texas has struck down the whole of the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” as unconstitutional and holds that the federal mandate requiring the purchase of health insurance is unconstitutional, and that as a consequence, the whole of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is legally invalid.

The ruling, if upheld on appeal, may give President Trump and pro-life representatives in Congress the opportunity to further reduce or eliminate the ACA’s subsidies for abortion.

Click here for more from Life Site News.