Biden Admin to End Trump Conscience Protection Rule

photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that the Biden administration is in the process of scrapping a Trump rule protecting the conscience rights of medical workers.

The rule in question allows medical workers to refuse to provide services that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs. It was issued in 2019, but it was quickly blocked by federal courts. As a result, it has never been enforced.

When the rule was finalized, OCR Director Roger Severino gave the following statement summarizing its significance:

“Finally, laws prohibiting government-funded discrimination against conscience and religious freedom will be enforced like every other civil rights law. This rule ensures that healthcare entities and professionals won’t be bullied out of the health care field because they decline to participate in actions that violate their conscience, including the taking of human life.”

If the rule were ever to be enforced, it would offer support and security to pro-life medical workers who refuse to participate in life-ending procedures such as abortion and euthanasia. By scrapping the rule, the Biden administration is working to dismantle any potential protection it could provide.

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Maryland Lawmakers Override Veto of Pro-Abortion Bill

photo credit: Jimmy Emerson / Flickr

On April 9, Maryland lawmakers voted to override Gov. Larry Hogan's veto of a bill allowing non-physicians to commit abortions.

Gov. Hogan vetoed the bill, titled the "Abortion Care Access Act" on April 8. In a statement, he said that the legislation “endangers the health and lives of women by allowing non-physicians to perform abortions.” Unfortunately, the pro-abortion majority in the Maryland General Assembly was able to quickly override that veto.

The people allowed to commit abortions under the new law include nurse practitioners, midwives, and physician assistants. The law also requires state Medicaid providers and private insurance companies to pay for abortions without deductibles or co-pays. The law does allow for religious exemptions. Further, the law creates an abortion worker training program that will cost $3.5 million annually.

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Massachusetts City Bans Pro-Life Pregnancy Resource Centers

A new city ordinance for Somerville, Massachusetts bans pro-life pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) from operating within city limits.

The city council unanimously voted to pass the ordinance, arguing that PRCs mislead and harm women by refusing to provide or promote abortion. There were PRCs in the city, but the ordinance was enacted with the intention of preventing any from establishing themselves in the future. Violators will be subject to a $300 fine.

“[I’m] very proud of the CPC Ordinance as it can make a direct impact on many residents’ lives, ensuring that my constituents have the dignity to make their own medical decisions based on accurate healthcare information,” said City Councilor-at-Large Kristen Strezo. “This shows my continued commitment to the protection of abortion rights, access to reproductive health care, and an individual’s right to make reproductive decisions about one’s own body.”

After the ordinance passed, Planned Parenthood put out a statement thanking the council members for supporting "reproductive rights and reproductive justice." The ordinance certainly benefits the abortion giant by prohibiting pro-life competition. In addition to ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, and consultations, PRCs help parents care for their children after they are born by providing baby items, financial assistance, and referrals for other assistance.

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Kentucky Lawmakers Override Veto of Pro-Life Bill

photo credit: Matt Turner / Flickr

Kentucky legislators voted on April 13 to override Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of a pro-life law that, among many other things, prohibits abortion after 15 weeks. The law went into effect immediately, and the state's two abortion businesses chose to close down rather than comply with new regulations.

Pro-abortion organizations have already filed lawsuits to try and block the law.

Kentucky legislators voted to override Beshear's veto by a vote of 76 to 21 in the House and 31 to 6 in the Senate.

In addition to banning abortion after 15 weeks, the new law prohibits telemedicine abortions, requires abortion pill distributors to be specially certified, creates a "complaint portal" for individuals to report suspected violations, updates reporting requirements for abortion businesses, strengthens parental consent guidelines, prohibits tax dollars from funding abortion, and creates guidelines to ensure the bodies of aborted children are treated with respect.

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Baby Tinslee Goes Home After Surviving Hospital's Attempt to Invoke Texas's "10-Day Rule"

Tinslee Lewis

After several years of legal battles to prevent a hospital from disconnecting her life support, three-year-old Tinslee Lewis is finally going home to live with her family.

Tinslee has spent most of her life at Cook Children's Hospital in Texas. After her premature birth in 2019, she received special care due to a heart defect causing her heart to press against her lungs. After nine months, however, the hospital invoked Texas's 10-day rule, threatening to withdraw life-sustaining care unless her family found another hospital to take her in 10 days.

Pro-life groups and disability advocacy groups helped Tinslee's mother, Trinity Lewis, put together a legal defense to fight for her daughter's life. On April 7, over 800 days after Cook Children's Hospital initially invoked the 10-day rule, Tinslee was healthy enough to go home.

In a statement to Live Action News, Texas Right to Life wrote, "“She’s on home health now and is doing great! She shakes her head ‘no’ when she’s annoyed and when her grandpa leans over and asks her for a kiss, she kisses him on the cheek. Cook Children’s worked with the family to improve Tinslee’s health to the point that she no longer needs a hospital setting for care. She turned three years old on February 1.”

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Florida Gov. Signs 15 Week Abortion Ban

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R)
photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed "Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality" on April 14. This legislation would prohibit abortion in the state after the child reaches a gestational age of 15 weeks.

The law is modeled after Mississippi's "Gestational Age Act," which is currently before the US Supreme Court.

The new law includes exceptions for cases when the mother's life is in danger, if two doctors certify that giving birth poses a "serious risk" to the mother's physical health, or if the baby is diagnosed with a "fatal fetal abnormality."

"We praise Governor Ron DeSantis, the pro-life members of the Florida state legislature, and Florida Right to Life for all of the hard work that went into seeing this legislation become law," said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. "No unborn child should suffer and die from an abortion. Florida’s law will protect unborn children and their mothers from the horrors of abortion."

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Yelp to Pay Employees' Abortion Travel Expenses

Following the example of the banking corporation Citigroup, the review platform Yelp announced this week that it will pay the travel expenses of employees who travel out of state for an abortion.

Pro-abortion companies started adding abortion travel expenses to their employee benefits in response to legislation like Texas's Heartbeat Act. The law prohibits abortion after the child's heartbeat is detectable, and its unique enforcement method has made it resistant to legal challenges. For this reason, other pro-life states are enacting similar laws.

“We’ve long been a strong advocate for equality in the workplace, and believe that gender equality cannot be achieved if women’s healthcare rights are restricted,” said Miriam Warren, Yelp's chief diversity officer. “As a remote-first company with a distributed workforce, this new benefit allows our U.S. employees and their dependents to have equitable access to reproductive care, regardless of where they live.”

The Associated Press reported that Yelp has an estimated workforce of 4,000. Roughly 200 of those employees live in Texas.

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Florida Judge Upholds 24-Hour Waiting Period Law

Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey ruled on April 12 to uphold a 2015 Florida law requiring women to wait 24 hours before getting an abortion.

In her ruling, Dempsey noted that other decisions, such as getting married or purchasing a firearm, have even longer waiting periods. “Twenty-four hours is the minimum time needed to sleep on such an important decision,” she wrote.

A county judge ruled in 2018 that the law was unconstitutional, even though 27 other states already had similar laws. That ruling was reversed in 2019. Dempsey's ruling again affirms that a 24-hour waiting period is unconstitutional.

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Oklahoma Gov Signs Law Making Committing Abortion a Felony

On April 12, Oklahoma Gov Kevin Stitt signed into law legislation banning most abortions. Abortionists who violate the law can be charged with a felony.

The only exception allowed by the new law is if the mother's life is at risk. Additionally, the child's mother will not face these legal penalties under this law. Only those who commit the abortion can be charged.

Those found guilty of committing an abortion can be punished with up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

“I promised Oklahomans that I would sign every pro-life bill that hits my desk and that’s what we’re doing today,” Stitt said at the signing ceremony. “As governor, I represent all 4 million Oklahomans, and they overwhelmingly support protecting life in the state of Oklahoma. We want Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country. We want to outlaw abortion in the state of Oklahoma.”

Stitt continued, “Attorney General John O'Connor and I know this bill will be challenged immediately by liberal activists from the coast, who always seem to want to come in and dictate... our way of life here in the state of Oklahoma. The most important thing is to take a stand and protect the unborn...”

The new law is scheduled to take effect this summer, but it will likely be challenged long before then. Pro-life Oklahomans are hoping that the Supreme Court soon overturns Roe v. Wade in its upcoming Dobbs v. Jackson decision.

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Two Ohio Abortion Businesses Fined for Dumping Remains and Private Patient Info

Planned Parenthood Bedford Heights
photo credit: Operation Rescue

Two abortion businesses in Ohio were fined a combined total of $12,500 for dumping private patient information and the remains of aborted babies.

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) ordered Northeast Ohio Women's Center to pay $7,500. Planned Parenthood Bedford Heights was ordered to pay $5,000.

Matthew Connolly, a homeless man who maintains relationships with pro-life organizations, found the information and remains while searching through dumpsters for food. Documents showing the names, dates of birth, phone numbers, and addresses of patients were found among the medical waste. At Northeast Ohio Women's Center, Connolly found the body of a baby girl aborted at 17 weeks. Pro-life advocates later held a burial ceremony for the girl, whom they named Gianna-John.

“These violations show how little abortion facilities really care about patient privacy,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “They act like abortions should be more private than our nuclear secrets, especially when they injure a woman during an abortion. But in their daily practices, they treat women’s names and medical health information with callous disregard.”

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Kentucky Gov. Vetoes Pro-Life "Omnibus"

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D)

On April 8, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) vetoed a pro-life "omnibus" bill. This sends it back to the state legislature, where lawmakers will likely vote to override the veto.

The bill contains several pro-life provisions. Doctors would be required to obtain a certification to dispense abortion pills. Kentucky would create a complaint portal for abortion-related violations. Aborted children would be guaranteed dignified burials. The law would also update reporting requirements for abortion businesses, and strengthen parental consent requirements. Additionally, the law would limit abortion to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy and prohibit taxpayer funding of abortions.

In Gov. Beshear's letter explaining the veto, he called the law "likely unconstitutional" and decried the lack of exceptions for rape and incest.

If the Kentucky General Assembly overrides Beshear's veto, the bill will go into effect immediately.

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Kentucky AG Files Brief in Support of Dismemberment Abortion Ban

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron filed a brief on April 4 asking the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear a challenge to a law banning dismemberment abortions.

Because pro-abortion Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear initially chose not to defend the law in court, Cameron fought in court for the right of his department to do so. When his petition was initially rejected, he went all the way to the US Supreme Court. On March 3, the US Supreme Court ruled that Cameron could defend the "2018 Human Rights of the Child Act" even if Gov Beshear would not.

“In an 8-1 decision, the highest court in our land recognized our ability to defend Kentucky’s law banning live dismemberment abortions, and today we took the first step to continue our defense,” said Attorney General Cameron. “We will fight for as long as it takes to ensure this important law is enforced in Kentucky.”

Cameron argues in his petition that the Sixth Circuit should rehear the case because of the US Supreme Court's decision in June Medical Services, LLC v. Russo. That decision created a new standard for reviewing pro-life laws. Additionally, Cameron's petition points out that the Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas law banning dismemberment abortions.

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Michigan Gov Files Lawsuit to Find Abortion Rights in State Constitution

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's (D) office has filed a lawsuit asking the Michigan Supreme Court to find a right to abortion in the state constitution.

In doing so, the court would invalidate an 1846 law banning abortion in the state. It is not currently enforceable, but it could come into effect if the Supreme Court completely overturns Roe v. Wade. Pro-life advocates are hopeful that the Court does this in the upcoming Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision.

The Michigan Supreme Court most recently affirmed that the Michigan Constitution does not contain a right to abortion in 1997. In that year, the court declined to hear Mahaffey vs. Attorney General, affirming the Court of Appeals decision stating that Michigan's constitution does not contain a right to abortion.

Michigan Right to Life President Barbara Listing noted that the timing of the lawsuit is strange, considering that the governor has supported a petition a "Reproductive Freedom for All" petition asking the state to create a constitutional right to abortion.

“This lawsuit to very telling of the progress of the pro-abortion petition and makes us question their status in collecting signatures,” Listing said. “Why is the Governor going over the heads of her allies? Governor Whitmer is contradicting herself by asking the Supreme Court to find a right to abortion while supporting a petition that is seeking to create a right to abortion.”

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Senate Confirms Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court

Ketanji Brown Jackson

On Thursday, April 7, the Senate voted 53-47 to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court.

Three republicans—Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Mitt Romney (UT)—joined the 50 Senate Democrats to confirm Jackson.

Jackson will replace Judge Stephen Breyer, who announced that he would retire after the current Supreme Court term if his replacement was confirmed. As a result, conservatives will keep their current 6-3 majority. She is only 51 years old, however. This means that she could serve on the Supreme Court for several decades.

Jackson's nomination was supported by abortion groups such as Planned Parenthood, and opponents pointed out that she co-authored a legal brief in support of a Massachusetts law creating buffer zones preventing pro-life sidewalk counseling and protests outside abortion businesses.

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Oklahoma Legislature Passes Abortion Ban

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R)

Oklahoma voted on April 5 to approve a bill that would ban abortions except for cases when the mother's life is in danger. It will now go to Gov. Kevin Stitt, who is expected to sign it into law.

It is almost guaranteed that this law will not survive a court challenge under the standard set by Roe v. Wade. Oklahoma lawmakers passed this bill in hopes that the Supreme Court might soon overrule the Roe decision and allow states to once again regulate abortion themselves. It will have the opportunity to do so in the pending case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

Abortionists convicted of violating the law could face up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. The bill does not create penalties for the mothers of aborted children.

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Idaho Gov. Signs Law to Support Families After Down Syndrome Diagnosis

Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed legislation last month that will help provide support to parents who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome.

The Down Syndrome Diagnosis Act requires Idaho's Department of Health and Welfare to create a support sheet with information about the condition and contact information for support groups and resources. Health care professionals will provide this information to parents after a Down syndrome diagnosis.

This legislation will help to combat a culture that advocates for the abortion of children with Down syndrome. After receiving such diagnoses, parents are often advised to abort by the very doctors who provide the test results.

Idaho's Down Syndrome Diagnosis Act will take effect July 1.

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Colorado Gov Signs Bill Creating State Right to Abortion

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D)
photo credit: Jesse Paul / Flickr

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed legislation on April 4 that creates a right to abortion in the state.

The new law states that government entities in Colorado cannot “deny, restrict, interfere with or discriminate against an individual’s fundamental right to use or refuse contraception or to continue a pregnancy and give birth or to have an abortion.”

“No matter what the Supreme Court does in the future, people in Colorado will be able to choose when and if they have children,” Polis said at the bill signing ceremony. “We want to make sure that our state is a place where everyone can live and work and thrive and raise a family on their own terms.”

When this bill passed the Senate, Colorado GOP Chairwoman Kristi Brown said it was “a dark day for the Colorado Democrat Party and any individual who respects the sanctity of life,” adding, “If Jared Polis decides to sign this extreme abortion bill, he will put Colorado’s abortion laws on par with China and North Korea.”

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Chicago Planned Parenthood Tears Woman's Uterus

Recently released 911 records show that a 22-year old patient was hospitalized after her uterus was torn during a surgical abortion at the Near North Planned Parenthood facility in Chicago. This life-threatening emergency occurred on Jan 7, 2022.

The Pro-Life Action League obtained 911 records of the incident, including a recording of the 911 call.

The Planned Parenthood staffer who made the call said that the woman suffering from a torn uterus was not bleeding. This was likely inaccurate, however. Even though she may not have appeared to be bleeding, such an injury would have caused internal bleeding.

Operation Rescue, an organization that tracks injuries caused by abortion clinics, noted that the Near North Planned Parenthood facility caused the death of Tonya Reaves in 2012 after a perforated uterus caused her to bleed to death internally.

Operation Rescue also noted that the Event Details printout simply stated "22 yo female not feeling well." This is despite the ambulance being dispatched at priority 1A, the code used for the most serious medical emergencies.

Operation Rescue President Troy Newman said that it is becoming more common for abortion-related emergencies to be downplayed in 911 records. "Sometimes it is the abortion workers who misrepresent life-threatening injuries, and sometimes it is the city or county employees that are creating and redacting the records."

This is the twenty-fourth recorded instance of a patient at the Near North Planned Parenthood being hospitalized in the past six years. 

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WSJ Poll Shows Support for 15-Week Abortion Ban

A poll released by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Friday, April 1 found that "more American voters favor the idea of a 15-week abortion ban than oppose it.

WSJ surveyed 1,500 voters from March 2-7. The results found that 48% would either "strongly" or "somewhat" favor a law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy with exemptions to protect the life of the mother. 43% of voters were opposed.

This is welcome news for the pro-life movement, as polling regularly shows voters lean toward pro-life stances.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to rule on Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. That ruling should come before the end of the Court's current term (June 2022).

Aside from Mississippi, Arizona and Louisiana have also enacted 15-week bans. Florida and Kentucky have similar bills pending the approval of their governors. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is expected to sign his state's bill, while the Kentucky legislature is primed to override an expected veto by pro-abortion Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D).

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HHS Again Sending Millions to Abortion Orgs Through Title X

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) put out a press release at the end of March showing that the agency awarded hundreds of millions of dollars through the Title X family planning program.

This comes after the Trump administration's 2019 "Protect Life Rule" was officially ended by the Biden administration last fall.

Trump's Protect Life Rule prevented Title X grants from funding organizations that promote, commit or refer women for abortions. Without the rule, Title X can once again function as a funnel for taxpayer dollars to go to abortion businesses.

Of the $256.6 million awarded by the HHS in Fiscal Year 2022, over $14.5 million was given to Planned Parenthood in 12 states.

President Biden's proposed 2023 budget would increase Title X spending from $286.479 million to $400 million. One can reasonably assume that this would increase the number of tax dollars sent to pro-abortion organizations.

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