November 27, 2020

Massachusetts Legislature Passes Abortion until Birth Budget Amendment

Massachusetts State House
photo credit: Emmanuel Huybrechts / Flickr
A Massachusetts budget amendment allowing abortion up until the point of birth has now passed both the House and the Senate.

The amendment legalizes abortion up through the 24th week of development in cases of fetal anomalies, removes the requirement that 16 year-olds receive parental consent to have an abortion, and removes the requirement that abortionists save a born child's life if the child was born during a botched abortion.

Per that last change, the new legal language would only require that “life-supporting equipment” be present at abortion facilities. Abortionists would no longer be under any legal obligation to use it to save the life of a born child.

The margins of the budget's passage could overcome a veto by pro-abortion Governor Charlie Baker, but even he has expressed frustration with the fact that a policy like this was passed as a budget amendment.

“I do share some of the unhappiness that was raised by a number of members of the Republican Party — that putting policy in the budget was something that both leaders in the House and Senate said they would not do,” said Gov. Baker. “And it’s pretty hard to argue that this isn’t a major policy initiative that is now in the budget.”

He has also stated that he has “concerns about eliminating the parental-notification requirement” and about “changing the terms and conditions associated with late-term abortions in Massachusetts.”

Click here to read more.

5th Circuit Upholds States' Right to Exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that Texas and Louisiana can exclude Planned Parenthood clinics from receiving Medicaid funding. This decision vacated an earlier preliminary injunction which prevented the states from cutting off Medicaid funding from the abortion business.

In Judge Priscilla Owen's opinion for the 11-5 majority, he wrote "Medicaid beneficiaries have an 'absolute right' … to receive services from a provider whom the State has determined is “qualified,” but beneficiaries have no right under the statute to challenge a State’s determination that a provider is unqualified."

The ruling also applies to Mississippi, which is within the 5th Circuit's jurisdiction.

This case started when Texas made its original decision to exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding back in 2016. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in a statement that a series of undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress “plainly showed Planned Parenthood admitting to morally bankrupt and unlawful conduct, including violations of federal law by manipulating the timing and methods of abortions to obtain fetal tissue for their own research.” 

David Daleiden, who led the undercover investigation referenced, said that the 5th Circuit's ruling validates the CMP videos, which pro-abortion advocates say are "deceptively-edited". "The full federal 5th Circuit's decision this week confirms that our undercover footage is accurate and reliable evidence of serious criminality in the abortion industry and fetal trafficking enterprises, and it affirms the broad authority that state and federal administrators have to defund entities like Planned Parenthood for illegally selling the body parts of aborted infants."

November 26, 2020

Happy Thanksgiving!

Despite all the complications that came with 2020, we still have plenty to be thankful for; especially LIFE! The Illinois Federation for Right to Life wishes everyone a happy Thanksgiving!

November 25, 2020

Nebraska Law Banning Dismemberment Abortion Takes Effect Without Legal Challenges

Nebraska State Capitol
photo credit: Steven Martin / Flickr
A Nebraska law banning the gruesome practice of dismemberment abortions has taken effect, surprisingly without any legal challenges from pro-abortion advocates like Planned Parenthood.

Nebraska Legislative Bill 814, which passed in August, bans dilation and evacuation (D&E) as a method of abortion. D&E abortions involve an abortionist inserting a type of seaweed called laminaria into the pregnant mother's cervix to cause it to dilate. One or two days later, the abortionist will use tools to further expand the opening before beginning the "evacuation" part of the abortion. Amniotic fluid will be vacuumed out of the mother's uterus, and then the abortionist will use a clamping tool with sharp teeth to reach inside the uterus and tear individual limbs off of the unborn child until only the head is left. An abortionist will use his clamp to crush the head and remove it piece by piece. This method is used during the second trimester, at which point the unborn child's head is too large to remove otherwise.

The Associated Press reported that 95% of abortions after the first trimester are D&E abortions, but Planned Parenthood and infamous late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart say that the new law will not affect their businesses.

“Planned Parenthood is proud to provide our patients with high-quality, nonjudgmental reproductive health care, and that will not change with this new law,” said Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Emily Bisek.

Carhart told the Omaha World-Herald that the law is "going to make no difference in what we offer to the populace. We will be able to provide the same quality and level of services we have for many years."

Contradicting Carhart's statement, his business's website shows that he does use D&E as a method of 2nd-trimester abortion.

Click here to read more.

November 24, 2020

Federal Court Hears Arguments over California Abortion Coverage Mandate

Churches in the state of California have challenged the state regarding its mandate that employers include abortion in their health care plans, even if they believe abortion conflicts with their religious beliefs. Last Friday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the first arguments in that case.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is representing three Christian churches challenging the mandate. ADF argues that internal emails between Planned Parenthood and the state show that the abortion business pushed the state to enforce its abortion coverage mandate against religious organizations. Religious groups were not originally included in the 2014 mandate.

Pro-life groups filed legal motions against the mandate, arguing that the Weldon Amendment, a 2005 law barring the federal government from funding state and local governments which force health care entities to cover abortions. The Obama administration rejected the motion, claiming that the Weldon Amendment had not been violated.

In January of this year, the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services ruled that California did violate the Weldon Amendment; threatening to enforce it by withholding federal funding unless the state stopped mandating groups to provide abortion coverage against their conscientious beliefs.

So far, the state has refused to comply with the demand.

Click here to read more.

Federal Court Upholds Tennessee's Ban on Discriminatory Abortions

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee
Last Friday, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Tennessee can legally ban the discriminatory practice of aborting children solely because they were diagnosed with Down Syndrome or the parents disliked the child's race or sex.

The court ruled 2-1 that the bans on discriminatory abortions could take effect while the court hears arguments regarding other aspects of Tennessee's pro-life legislation, which was signed into law by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in July.

The ruling strikes a devastating blow against the legal challenge issued by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, but there will still be arguments about the heartbeat aspect of the law.

The bill requires doctors to perform an ultrasound on a woman before she can have an abortion. If the ultrasound detects a heartbeat, it would be illegal to abort that child. This portion of the law is still unenforceable due to an injunction placed against it.

After the federal court's ruling allowing part of the law to go into effect, abortion businesses applied for a temporary restraining order to block its enforcement.

Click here to read more.

November 23, 2020

Pro-life Groups Sue Washington DC for Viewpoint Discrimination

On Nov. 18, Students for Life of American (SFLA) and the Frederick Douglass Foundation (FDF) filed a lawsuit in federal court against Washington D.C. alleging that the city discriminated against pro-life speech.

Back in August, police arrested two pro-life advocates for writing pro-life messages in chalk on a sidewalk outside a Washington D.C. Planned Parenthood clinic. This came after the city chose not to enforce its defacement ordinance when people painted political messages on city streets during anti-racism protests.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser commissioned part of 16th street near the White House painted with the slogan "Black Lives Matter" in permanent paint. The phrase "Defund the Police" was also added.

“The government can’t discriminate against certain viewpoints by allowing some voices to be heard while silencing others,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Elissa Graves.

“Because of the city’s actions, Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America weren’t able to participate in the public square as other groups have. The First Amendment prohibits the government from picking and choosing whose speech to allow.”

Click here to read more.

November 20, 2020

Satanic Temple Motion to Recuse Justice Barrett from Missouri Abortion Case Fails

photo credit: Richard Gillin / Flickr
In October, the Satanic Temple (TST) filed a motion before the Supreme Court to have Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused from its case challenging Missouri's 72-hour waiting period. TST claims that Barrett could not be impartial due to her religious beliefs, but the Supreme Court dismissed the motion.

TST's lawsuit attempting to overturn waiting period and informed consent laws in Missouri was dismissed in 2018 by the Eight Circuit Court, and the Supreme Court will soon decide whether it will hear the case as well.

TST now calls abortion a "religious rite" in an attempt to get around legal abortion restrictions. By making this argument, the group can claim that abortion restrictions violate religious freedoms. That argument made little headway in the Eight Circuit and is unlikely to succeed in the Supreme Court if the case is heard.

Click here to read more.

Pro-Lifers Arrested Outside San Francisco Hospital for Protesting Abortion and Fetal Organ Harvesting

Pro-life protestors being arrested
outside Zuckerberg San Francisco
General Hospital
photo credit: Lauren Handy / Facebook
On Tuesday, a group of pro-life protestors was arrested outside Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. They were advocating against abortion and fetal organ harvesting, which the hospital does in order to provide fetal tissue for the University of California San Francisco.

Lauren Handy of Red Rose Rescue was one of the pro-lifers present when the group was arrested. She wrote on Facebook later that day,

“This morning a group of us were arrested outside Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital because we refused to comply to an unlawful order of dispersement… for interrupting a business. That business? UCSF’s aborted fetal organ harvesting program on healthy babies up to 24 weeks.

We were on public property and within the rights of free speech activities (our lawyers even sent them a letter) but UCSF is so hell bent on protecting their aborted fetal organ harvesting program.

This is just the beginning! A lawsuit is in the works because we won't stand down!”

Terrisa Bukovinac is the executive director of Pro-Life San Francisco, and she was also arrested that morning. In her own Facebook post, she said, “I will not be silenced or bullied unlawfully by police and I will use my voice every chance I get to defend the unborn victims of fetal organ harvesting who cannot defend themselves.”

Bukovinac also linked to a video of the pro-life protestors being arrested. Interestingly, Facebook is preventing websites from directly embedding the video onto their websites, but the video is still viewable on Facebook's website. This soft-censorship is somewhat frustrating for websites such as IFRL's blog, but you can still watch the video by clicking here.

Pro-Life San Francisco announced it will be pursuing legal action regarding the arrest and are confident it will win in court.

“We will not allow our 1st Amendment rights to be suppressed on the very site where viable, healthy babies are either dismembered alive or born alive and dissected for experimentation,” said Pro-Life San Francisco. “We will not give up our quest in demanding Ethical Research NOW!”

Click here to read more.

Hope Clinic for Women in Granite City Hospitalized Two Women in October

Two clinic workers push a woman in a wheelchair
from Hope Clinic for Women abortion facility in
Granite City, IL across a busy street to a hospital
emergency room
photo credit: Operation Rescue
During October, pro-life bystanders witnessed two separate medical emergencies at the Hope Clinic for Women abortion business in Granite City, Illinois. In both cases, the women were in extreme distress and were transported to hospital emergency rooms.

The first of these incidents occurred on October 15, 2020. Witnesses saw a woman who appeared to be in pain being placed in an ambulance. Strangely, the ambulance went away to an unknown hospital rather than going to the one just across the street from the abortion clinic.

Two witnesses described what they saw to Operation Rescue. One of them said, 
"First, at about 11:39 this morning, [October 15, 2020] we saw an ambulance drive into the front of the Hope Clinic parking lot. Then, a few minutes later, we saw a young woman being wheeled out on a gurney through the front door of the clinic. She was sitting almost upright on the gurney. She was in what looked like a knee-chest position.

From where we were standing on the sidewalk, her abdomen looked large, and her face very pale. She had no visible IV or oxygen, and nobody except the EMTs were with her."

The second witness gave some more information:

"Her facial expression was angst, pain, despair — it’s hard to describe. There wasn’t anyone with her other than the 3 EMT’s.  I didn’t see any cars leave the parking lot after the ambulance. She appeared to be alone."

Operation Rescue was unable to find 911 records for this emergency. It's possible that the clinic called a private ambulatory service rather than 911 to obtain emergency transport for the patient.

The second incident occurred on October 17. Pro-life activists witnessed two clinic employees exit Hope Clinic for Women while pushing a woman in a wheelchair marked with the clinic's initials. Rather than receiving transport from an ambulance, the woman was pushed across the street to the emergency entrance of Gateway Regional Medical Center.

This is a very unorthodox and potentially unsafe way of transporting a patient in need of emergency medical attention. The medical staff involved in an ambulance transfer can ensure that a patient maintains medical oversight during that process. Even facilities very close to hospitals will call for an ambulance to ensure that their patient is monitored.

Abortion is always unsafe for the unborn child whose life is taken in the process, but it can also pose risks to the women who have abortions. The infections and hemorrhages caused by abortions can be life-threatening.

Click here to read more.

November 19, 2020

Infamous Full-Term Abortionist Loses Contract with Third Waste Disposal Company

2018 photo showing Bio-Haz employee
picking up boxes of aborted baby remains.
The company has since stopped providing
services for Carhart's abortion facility
photo credit: Operation Rescue

The infamous abortionist LeRoy Carhart, who is willing to commit abortions on unborn children during all nine months of development, lost his third contract with a biohazard waste disposal company since 2018. As a result, the dead bodies of aborted children may once again be piling up inside the abortionist's Maryland facility.

After pro-life activists bought and closed Carhart's Germantown abortion facility in 2017, he opened a new one later that year in Bethesda. The clinic, called "Clinics for Abortion and Reproductive Excellence" is one of only eight abortion clinics in the country that abort children during the third trimester. Children delivered at that stage can consistently survive outside the womb.

Due to Carhart's practice of conducting late-term abortions, five-pound corpses could quickly pile up in his place of business. Without proper disposal, these could create a dangerous health hazard for patients and employees. Over the course of just two and a half years, however, his business has lost contracts with three separate biohazard disposal companies. 

Pro-life advocates called upon Biomedical Waste Services, Biohazard Recovery Systems, and (most recently) Bio-Haz when those companies had contracts with Carhart's abortion business. On Nov. 10, it was confirmed that Bio-Haz had stopped providing its services for Carhart's abortion facility.

“As far as we know, Carhart has not yet found a new medical waste disposal company, and we can only assume that once again, boxes of aborted babies are piling up inside that abortion facility,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue.  “With a health hazard like that, it’s just a matter of time before that facility is forced to halt abortions.  We are grateful for the decision of Bio-Haz to stop enabling this late-term abortion business.  That one act may save countless innocent lives.”

Click here to read more.

18-State Coalition Files Brief in Support of Pro-Life Tennessee Law

photo credit: Bill Oxford / Unsplash
In July, soon after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed the pro-life House Bill 2263 into law, District Judge William Campbell granted a temporary restraining order against it on behalf of Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. On Tuesday, 18 states responded by filing an amicus brief in the Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeals to support the law.

Tennessee House Bill 2263 bans abortions except to save the mother's life after a fetal heartbeat is detected or if the abortionist knows that the mother is seeking an abortion due to the child's sex, race, or Down syndrome diagnosis.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron led the coalition of 18 states to defend Tennessee's law in a brief to the court.

A press release from the Kentucky AG's office states,

"...The 18-state coalition asks the Sixth Circuit to reverse the district court’s decision and allow the law to go into effect. The coalition writes in the brief that, 'all of the amici states have a compelling interest in seeing that States retain the general power to legislate for the well-being of their most vulnerable citizens.' Many of the states within the coalition have enacted antidiscrimination laws like Tennessee’s. 

'We’re currently in court fighting to protect Kentucky’s own abortion discrimination ban and fetal heartbeat law, and we have a duty to assist other states in their efforts to defend similar laws that protect the unborn,' said Attorney General Cameron. 'States have a compelling interest in enacting laws that protect our most vulnerable, and we believe that this interest is never more apparent than when we’re protecting unborn children from eugenics-based abortions.'"

Kentucky AG Cameron authored the brief. The states which joined in filing it include Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.

Click here to read more.

November 18, 2020

Melissa McCarthy Retracts Donation to Anti-Sex-Trafficking Org Due to Rumors About Pro-Life Stance

Melissa McCarthy
The actress Melissa McCarthy retracted a $20,000 donation that HBO Max made to Exodus Cry, an organization that works to fight sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. The reason? It was rumored that Exodus Cry was pro-life, even though the organization has never taken a stance on the issue of abortion.

“It has come to our attention that our 20 Days of Kindness, which is something — a kindness up that we started to kind of shine a light on 20 great charities — had one in there that, there’s no other way to say it, we blew it,” McCarthy said in an Instagram video. “We made a mistake and we backed a charity that upon proper vetting, stands for everything that we do not.”

In its goal to end sex trafficking, Exodus Cry took a hard stance against PornHub, the largest pornography website on the internet. The site, owned by MindGeek, allows users to upload their own pornographic videos, which can include women and children who did not or could not give consent. PornHub can't verify whether the individuals shown in videos on the website are of legal age or gave consent, and it shows. Women and children who are the victims of sex-trafficking have been known to appear on PornHub videos. 

If the player below isn't working, click here to view Exodus Cry's video on how PornHub enables sex trafficking.

Melissa McCarthy was likely fed misinformation by PornHub supporters trying to "cancel" Exodus Cry. Supporters of PornHub and MindGeek allege that Exodus Cry opposes the website due to supposed pro-life and anti-LGBT beliefs, but this is demonstrated to be false by the charity's actions.

“Exodus Cry aligns itself with many dedicated women’s rights organizations from various backgrounds who are on the front lines combating domestic violence, commercial sexual exploitation, and sex trafficking,” said Exodus Cry in response to the misinformation campaign. “With regard to the issue of abortion and reproductive rights, Exodus Cry’s CEO has expressed his personal views that he believes in the protection of life in the womb. However, Exodus Cry [as an organization] has never taken any position on those issues and any suggestion otherwise is false. We partner with, and are inclusive of, organizations that are both for and against abortion, as we align on the common goal of putting an end to sex trafficking and all forms of commercial sexual exploitation.”

Sex-trafficking, society's porn addiction, and abortion are inextricably linked issues. The lives of women and children (both born and unborn) are disregarded for the sake of profit and pleasure. Sex-traffickers and abortion businesses alike only stand to gain from the situation.

Melissa McCarthy, when she accepted misinformation and cancel-culture, stood on the side of sex-traffickers.

Click here to read more.

November 17, 2020

New Chinese Five-Year Proposal Emphasizes Eugenics

China President Xi Jinping
photo credit: Paul Kagame / Flickr

A new five-year population plan proposed by the Chinese government emphasizes eugenics by limiting the birth rates of minority populations, according to an expert.

The policy says that its goals for 2021-2025 are to “optimize its birth policy” and “improve the quality of the population.”

Columbia professor Leta Hong Fincher spoke at a virtual event held by the Center for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS) on Nov. 13. She said that the Chinese government's plans to control reproduction are part of a plan to maintain control by encouraging the growth of the dominant ethnic group, while systematically limiting the birth rate of ethnic minorities.

“We see it happening in Xinjiang with the forced sterilization of particularly Uyghur Muslim women. And the language in the plan suggests to me that the government is going to continue with that,” she said.

“You have seen a huge reduction in birth rates in Xinjiang and, on the flip side, the government is also trying to coopt and persuade Han Chinese women who are college-educated into having more babies.”

An investigation by the AP found that the Chinese Communist Party forces pregnancy checks, abortions, sterilizations, and IUDs on minority women.

China's previous five-year plan adopted a two-child policy, up from the one-child policy that the government used previously. Families who have more children than allowed by the government faced punishments such as forced abortions.

Click here to read more.

Massachusetts House Approves Abortion-Promoting Budget Amendment

Massachusetts State House
photo credit: Emmanuel Huybrechts / Flickr
The Massachusetts House of Representatives voted 143-14 to approve a budget proposal including an amendment to expand abortion in the state. If the "Improved Access to Healthcare" amendment is also approved by the Senate, it will create a right to abortion under state law, legalize abortion after 24 weeks gestation in cases of fetal anomalies, and allow 16-year-olds to have abortions without parental permission.

Efforts to codify or negate abortion rights in states throughout the country increased last month in response to Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the Supreme Court. If Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court, the ability to legalize abortion will fall to the states. In a joint statement, Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Karen Spilka voiced their support of the legislation.

“We are very concerned that Massachusetts’ women’s reproductive rights are under threat at the national level,” the statement reads. “We are therefore committed to debate measures in the House and Senate this session that would remove barriers to women’s reproductive health options and protect the concepts enshrined in Roe v. Wade.”

The overwhelming margin in the House would easily override a veto by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker. The Republican Governor is a pro-abortion Republican, but he has also stated that he does not believe the state's abortion laws should change.

Click here to read more.

November 16, 2020

Hospital Appeals to U.S. Supreme Court to End Baby Tinslee Lewis's Life Support

Cook Children's Hospital in Texas filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of the United States on Nov. 10th to have the life support of one-year-old Tinslee Lewis removed against her family's' wishes.

The court battle regarding the hospital's ability to deny the toddler's treatment and let her die has lasted for most of Tinslee's life, but the fight has gone in her favor up to this point. In July, the Texas Second Court of Appeals ruled against the hospital. In August, the Supreme Court of Texas declined to hear Cook Children's Hospital's appeal.

Tinslee's family and the hospital are fighting over the constitutionality of Texas's "10-Day Rule," which allows a hospital to stop providing life-sustaining treatment to a patient if an ethics board approves and the hospital provides the family with 10 days to find another medical facility willing to take the patient.

Tinslee suffers from heart and lung problems that affect her ability to eat and breathe, so she relies on the hospital's machines to sustain her life.

The hospital describes Tinslee's experience as "ongoing daily agony," saying that she requires "deep sedation and paralysis" to "facilitate mechanical ventilation, decrease the pain caused by daily cares, and mitigate events that can lead to significant deterioration in her condition."

Simultaneously, Cook's Children's Hospital refuses to perform a tracheostomy, which is a standard medical procedure for any patient who is on a ventilator for an extended period of time. The hospital says it will only perform this procedure if Tinslee's mother would agree to sign a Do-Not-Resuscitate order for her daughter.

Click here to read more.

November 13, 2020

Flossmoor Planned Parenthood Calls 911 for Patient "Bleeding Out"

photo credit: Operation Rescue
The Planned Parenthood clinic in Flossmoor, IL put a patient in grave danger after a surgical abortion last month. Two 911 calls were made by employees, the first of which described the patient as "bleeding out."

The Pro-Life Action League obtained 911 records from medical emergency calls made by the clinic on Oct. 9. A 25-year old woman was sedated and unconscious after having a surgical abortion but continued to bleed profusely. To save her from the life-threatening situation caused by the surgical abortion procedure, the clinic called for an ambulance twice.

If the player below isn't working, click here to listen to a recording of the calls.


On the first call, the 911 dispatcher dispatched an ambulance and told the clinic worker to call her back if anything changed. An ambulance arrived at the abortion clinic three minutes after that first call. Before it arrived, however, a separate worker made another 911 call. She again asked for an ambulance and urgently stressed that the patient needed medical attention as soon as possible.

Operation Rescue, a pro-life organization which tracks medical emergencies caused by abortion clinics throughout the nation, has reported five medical emergencies caused by the clinic since it was opened in 2018.

“This Planned Parenthood was said to be a state-of-the-art abortion facility when it was built a couple of years ago, yet they can’t seem to keep their abortion clients out of the emergency room,” said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue. “This shows yet again that abortion is not safe and carries more risks than Planned Parenthood wants women to believe. Women risk their health and even their lives when they walk through the doors of an abortion facility.”

Leaked Biden Administrative Agenda Shows Plans to Undo Pro-Life Executive Orders

photo credit: jlhervàs / Flickr
Joe Biden's recently-leaked administrative agenda shows that one of his top priorities as a president would be to overturn President Donald Trump's pro-life executive orders.

The documents, attributed to a Biden-aligned organization called the Glover Park Group, show that Biden's early executive actions related to health care include, "Revers[ing] Trump actions on abortion and reproductive health care, including reversing the Mexico City Policy, restoring funding to Planned Parenthood and contraceptive coverage under the ACA."

The Mexico City Policy prohibits federal foreign aid funding from going to organizations that promote or commit abortions.

He also instituted a rule which required family planning organizations to stop promoting abortion, committing abortions, or co-locating with organizations that commit abortions if they wanted to receive Title X funding. Planned Parenthood refused to operate by those rules and instead chose to forego that funding. States and Medicaid have stepped in to fill that gap, however. Overall government funding of the abortion giant has not suffered as a result. Given the Biden administration's desire to restore funding to Planned Parenthood, it is a safe bet that the Title X rule would be reverted as well.

Biden has also promised to end Hyde Amendment, which is supposed to prevent federal tax dollars from being used to fund abortion. This amendment has been applied to every federal appropriations bill since 1976.

November 12, 2020

Premature Baby Weighing 11 Ounces at Birth Comes Home from Hospital

screenshot from Covenant Healthcare video
Harper Rose Schultz, who was born on June 29th at the gestational age of only 22.5 weeks, was finally able to go home with her family on Nov. 4. When she was born, Harper weighed just over 11 ounces, becoming the smallest micro-preemie ever to be resuscitated at the Covenant Healthcare in Saginaw, Michigan.

“She’s such a blessing and we are just so thankful,” her mother Emille Wendzik told reporters as she left the hospital with her family.

In a video released on the hospital's YouTube channel, Neonatologist Dr. Martin Nwankwo said, "...to see her grow from where we started to going home now in reasonably good shape, it’s mind-boggling for us. We’ve never done this before. And, to be honest with you, half the hospitals in the United States would not have attempted this."

Covenant Healthcare Communications Manager Kristin Knoll said that babies born as small as Harper only have a survival rate of 20%. That number is larger than zero, and Harper was lucky to be born at a hospital that valued her life enough to try and save it. While preemies may not be guaranteed to survive at that age, they should always be granted the chance; especially when qualified medical professionals are available to give them that chance.

Click here to read more.

Chris Nikic Becomes First Person with Down Syndrome to Complete Ironman Triathlon

photo from Ironman Facebook page
On Nov. 7, Chris Nikic became the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman triathlon. 

The Ironman consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run. The three athletic feats must be completed within 17 hours.

“The doctors and experts said I couldn’t do anything,” Nikic told the Orlando Sentinel. “So I said, ‘Doctor! Experts! You need to stop doing this to me. You’re wrong!’”

“From the time he was born, we were told by everyone that he’d never do anything or amount to anything or be able to accomplish anything [beyond] being able to tie his own shoes,” his father Nik Nikic said. “And we believed them for the longest time.”

Chris completed the race in 16 hours, 46 minutes and nine seconds. His achievement was the culmination of years of training. His father commended his son for working so hard and said that Chris served as an example of how people with Down syndrome can still accomplish great things and live meaningful lives.

“Kids with Down syndrome, typically, when they graduate from high school, they start living a life of isolation. They don’t go on to college; they don’t get a job,” Nik said. "Any level of inclusion they had, which was minimal, falls off a cliff. But Chris now trains six, seven days a week with friends. He goes and meets them at the lake, he goes to the track and runs with them, they come to our neighborhood and he rides bikes with them. He calls them every night, and they take his phone call ... and they invite him to their homes. The greatest gift that Chris has gotten in all this is the gift of belonging.”

Those with Down syndrome can live fulfilling lives. Abortion ends real lives with real value, and aborting unborn children with disabilities is no different.