Mexican Abortion Groups Plan to Illegally Smuggle Pills into Texas

Pro-abortion activists in Mexico are working with activists in Texas to undermine Texas's pro-life laws and enable illegal abortions.

An article published by the New York Times includes statements from Veronica Cruz, the founder of the Mexico abortion activist group Las Libres. In her statements, Cruz says that her organization has been working with activists in Texas to illegally distribute abortion pills to Texas women. Cruz said that her group is knowingly violating the law, and that they are willing to risk jail time to ensure women can have abortions.

“If that’s the only way that people will become conscious that what the government is doing is a major violation of human rights,” she said according to the NYT, “then yes... We are willing to face criminalization, because women’s lives matter more than their law.”

Not only would some of these abortions violate Texas's Heartbeat Act, but they would also violate Texas law that regulates the distribution of abortion pills. Texas state law requires that only doctors prescribe abortion pills, they do so after the mother has an in-person examination, and that the woman takes the first pill while in the doctor's office.

Abortion pills can have severe complications when not used correctly. If a woman takes the abortion pill regimen later in her pregnancy, or if she has an undiagnosed pregnancy condition such as ectopic pregnancy, then she is could experience life-threatening hemorrhaging after taking the pills. By distributing these pills and bypassing doctors, Las Libres would endanger Texas women.

Cruz also stated that her organization was willing to transport women across the Mexico border to get illegal abortions there.

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Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to Hear Questions on Texas Heartbeat Act

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to hear arguments regarding whether it should ask the Texas Supreme Court to answer questions about Texas's Heartbeat Act.

The Heartbeat Act bans abortion after the baby's heartbeat is detectable, which usually occurs at six weeks gestation. The law is unique because it empowers individuals to file lawsuits against those who violate the law by participating in the abortions of protected babies. For this reason, it has withstood legal challenges and remained enforceable for the time being.

Texas officials have asked the court to have the Texas Supreme Court clarify whether they are the proper defendants of lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Heartbeat Act. The US Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that abortion businesses couldn't sue state judges, county clerks, or the state's attorney general. This left Texas administrative officials as the only defendants.

“The court has decided that oral argument is appropriate before ruling on the state’s motion to certify or alternate motion to set a briefing schedule, and the response thereto,” the Fifth Circuit wrote.

That briefing is scheduled for Jan 7.

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Indiana High School Student Files Lawsuit After School Disbands Pro-Life Club

Youth attending March for Life 2015
photo credit: American Life League / Flickr

A student at Noblesville High School in Indiana is filing a lawsuit against the school and her school district after administrators disbanded her club, Noblesville Students for Life.

The school principal had given approval for the club in August, but the administration changed its mind a few weeks later in response to one of the club's fliers. The flier showed an image of people holding pro-life signs with the messages “Defund Planned Parenthood” and “I am the pro-life generation.”

The assistant principal told the club that its flier was not allowed. Students were reportedly told that they could only list the group's name and where they were meeting.

The student filing the lawsuit, referred to as "E.D." in the text of the lawsuit, was then instructed to meet with a dean about the club's flier. E.D. and her mother met the dean together, but the school responded by accusing E.D.'s mother of leading the group. “At this point, I am not confident that this club is a student-driven club and therefore am removing the club’s approval to meet in school,” the principal wrote in an email. He accused the fliers of being too political and disrupting the school environment.

In a statement to Students for Life of America, E.D. accuses her teachers of attacking her online with defamatory statements.

“I wanted to start this club to inspire like-minded students to advocate for our most vulnerable and point students to resources designed to uplift them in their time of need. I knew some people would disagree with me, but I never expected to be attacked online—especially by my teachers,” E.D. said.

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Ohio Gov Signs Bill Protecting Babies who Survive Abortion

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R)

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill on Wednesday that will require doctors in his state to provide life-saving treatment to babies born alive during an attempted abortion. Additionally, the Ohio Department of Health will be required to create a report when a baby is born alive during an attempted abortion.

Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis congratulated Gov. Dewine and pro-life legislators for the successful enactment of this lifesaving law. “Ohio Right to Life applauds Gov. DeWine and our overwhelmingly pro-life legislature for ensuring that all Ohioans receive life-saving treatment,” Gonidakis said. “No baby, regardless of the circumstances surrounding their birth, should be left alone to die.”

The law requires abortionists to provide care, call 911, and arrange transportation to a hospital. The law also empowers women to file lawsuits against abortionists who do not take action in an attempt to save the baby's life. Abortionists who don't comply could lose their medical licenses.

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Data Reported to CDC Shows Disproportionate Abortion Rates for Minorities

While it has long been the case that abortion is more common among low-income and minority groups, new data released by the CDC suggests that more total abortions occur among black women than white women.

This should be shocking due to the population difference between racial groups in the US. The US Census Bureau estimates that 60% is "white alone, not of Hispanic or Latino." The estimated percentage of Americans identified as "black or African American alone" is 13.4%. Despite this, the CDC's report states that in 2019, black women accounted for 38.4% of reported abortions. Abortions among white women accounted for just 33.4%.

The CDC report suggests that the raw number of abortions among black women increased by over 14% from 2018 to 2019.

Live Action estimated the total abortions in 2019 based on the percentages provided by the CDC:

• White women: (33.4%) 210,386 estimated abortions
• Black women: (38.4%) 241,880 estimated abortions
• Hispanic women: (21.0%) 132,279 estimated abortions
• Non-Hispanic women in the other race category: (7.2%) 45,353 estimated abortions

Click here to read more of Live Action's analysis.

New Report Shows how Planned Parenthood Spent its $1.6 Billion Revenue in 2020

Photo credit: American Life League / Flickr

The American Life League released a new report on Planned Parenthood's spending during the year 2020. Planned Parenthood receives hundreds of millions of dollars each year through taxpayer spending, and this report sheds some light on how those dollars are spent.

“As the summary graph illustrates, from 2011 to 2020 the annual average compensation received by the CEOs has risen from $159,000 to $300,000,” the report states. “Each year we are struck by the tremendous amount of cash one can earn in the United States by directing the local operations of an organization that admits it runs the largest abortion chain in the nation and demands that every affiliate MUST have at least one facility that terminates the lives of preborn human beings.”

The report showed that Planned Parenthood Federation of America and all of its affiliates combined have an annual income of $1.6 billion. This number includes the $618 million from taxpayers. Because the federal government recognizes Planned Parenthood and its affiliates as 501(c)3 charitable organizations, they do not pay taxes on this income (even though it is millions of dollars in excess of their expenses).

Despite all of this, Planned Parenthood seeks even more government funding from state and federal governments.

Click here to read the American Life League's report.

NorthShore Employees Seeking Damages over Vaccine Mandates

Employees of NorthShore University HealthSystem who have lost work due to their refusal to take vaccines developed and/or manufactured with the use of cell lines harvested from abortion babies will seek damages through the federal District Court of Illinois.

Liberty Counsel, the legal firm representing NorthShore employees who have been denied religious exemptions from the organization's COVID vaccine mandate, announced in a press release that they will "ask the federal District Court of Illinois to certify the entire class of health care workers and will seek damages on behalf of those employees who have been unlawfully discriminated against and denied religious exemptions."

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals previously refused to grant an injunction to provide employees with emergency relief from the mandate, but it did grant a motion to expedite the appeal process. Judge John Kness wrote in his decision that he would not grant the injunction because employees would not suffer "irreparable harm" under the mandate. He wrote that the harm to employees by the mandate could be repaired through monetary damages including back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys fees, and others.

NorthShore had previously granted exemptions to some of the employees being represented by Liberty Counsel, but it later denied them without a clear explanation. NorthShore also changed its exemption form to declare that all religious exemptions based on “aborted fetal cell lines, stem cells, tissue or derivative materials will result in denials.”

Liberty Counsel believes that the employees' religious beliefs are protected under the Health Care Right of Conscience Act, which prohibits discrimination based on health care choices. The law states, “It shall be unlawful for any person, public or private institution, or public official to discriminate against any person in any manner, including but not limited to, licensing, hiring, promotion, or any other privileges, because of such person's conscientious refusal to receive, obtain, accept or participate in any way in any particular form of health care services contrary to his or her conscience.”

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Video Shows Young Woman Being Forced into Abortion Clinic by Abusive Ex

screenshot from Students for Life Instagram

A viral video on Instagram showed a young woman being pulled by her ex in an attempt to force her into an abortion business.

The video was taken by an onlooker who recorded the incident from an apartment window above the sidewalk. "We're not together," the man is heard yelling at the woman. “I don’t want this kid by you. You’re not keeping this kid!”

The onlookers at the window just laugh at the scene as it unfolds, even though they come to the same conclusion that viewers did. “She’s pregnant. He’s trying to take her to get an abortion,” one of them is heard saying.

It is unclear whether the woman in the video was forced into the clinic, or if she was able to escape her abuser.

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This kind of abuse and coercion is exactly what the Parental Notice of Abortion Act protected minors from. Rapists, abusive partners, and sex traffickers often force pregnant women (including minors) into abortions to hide their actions.

New FDA Data Says Abortion Pills Have Killed 5 Million Babies in the US

Recently updated data published by the FDA says that abortion pills have aborted nearly 5 million babies in the US since they were approved in 2000. Additionally, two deaths have been attributed to the pills in the past three years. This brings the total recorded deaths caused by the abortion pill to 26.

On December 16, the FDA released an updated “Post-Marketing Adverse Events Summary.” The report also states that "The estimated number of women who have used mifepristone in the U.S. for medical termination of pregnancy through the end of June 2021 is approximately 4.9 million women."

All "successful" chemical abortions end in the death of an innocent unborn child. They also pose a substantial risk, however, to women who have ectopic pregnancies or take the pill after 10 weeks gestation.

The FDA's summary also noted that mifepristone (the first pill in the abortion pill regimen) has been linked to 4,207 instances of adverse effects. These included 1,045 hospitalizations and 603 times that women lost so much blood that they needed transfusions. The FDA report also showed 413 instances where women who had taken the pill had infections. 70 of those infections were categorized as "severe."

These almost certainly undershoot the total number of abortions and adverse effects. There are no national requirements that abortionists report complications. The Charlotte Lozier Institute wrote that “an analysis of the data collected under this reporting requirement suggests that a significant number of complications were unreported and that the FDA may have missed as many as 95% of serious chemical abortion adverse events.”

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Satanic Temple Sues over Texas Heartbeat Act

The Satanic Temple is suing the state of Texas over its Heartbeat Act. In its lawsuit, the group claims that the law violates members' religious freedom.

Texas's Heartbeat Act prohibits abortion after the child's heartbeat is detectable (usually at six weeks gestation). So far, the law has remained in effect due to its unique enforcement. Rather than being enforced directly by the Texas government, private citizens are empowered to file lawsuits against those who participate in the abortion of protected unborn children.

Satanic Temple Director of Campaign Operations Erin Helian released a statement regarding the lawsuit. “SB 8’s ban on abortions after six weeks infringes upon our members’ rights to engage with their chosen religion and to participate in religious rites and rituals,” Helian said. “In accordance with our Third Tenet, The Satanic Temple will push back against the Texas legislature’s violation of our members’ bodily autonomy and freedom of choice.”

The Satanic Temple claimed that the right to an "abortion ritual" is protected under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Texas Constitution, and the First Amendment. The Temple plans to ask a judge to make its members exempt from prosecution under the Heartbeat Act by describing their rituals as First Amendment "conduct."

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FDA Permanently Ends Rule Prohibiting Abortions by Mail

On Thursday, Dec 16, the FDA announced that it will permanently end an FDA rule that prohibited abortion pills from being distributed through the mail. The decision will likely result in more abortions and more health risks to women.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA enforced a set of rules called the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS). The rules required that women seeking abortion pills receive them directly from a medical professional during an in-person visit, preventing them from being prescribed over the phone and sent to women through the mail.

Pro-abortion advocates and officials used the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to "temporarily" lift those restrictions. They argued that requiring women to see doctors and pharmacists in-person could spread COVID-19. Many pro-lifers (rightfully so) worried that easing regulations in this way would eventually result in those regulations being lifted altogether.

REMS regulations protected not only the unborn but also the women who sought abortion pills. If they don't first see a doctor, women could be at higher risk for potentially-deadly complications such as hemorrhaging. During an in-person visit, doctors will have the opportunity to accurately identify the child's gestational age and diagnose any pregnancy conditions such as ectopic pregnancy. If a woman attempts the abortion pill regimen after 10 weeks gestation, or if she attempts it while having an ectopic pregnancy, she would be at a significantly higher risk of severe complications.

“The FDA’s decision today places women at risk,” said Carol Tobias, President of the National Right to Life Committee. “These changes do not make this abortion process safer for women. What these changes do is make the process easier for the abortion industry.”

Tobias continued, “The FDA knows the dangers of this abortion drug combination, but in the name of political expediency, has lifted the safety measure requiring an in-person doctor’s visit.”

National Right to Life released an article detailing the rule change more fully. In that article, they also describe remaining federal regulations on abortion pills and just how dangerous the pills can be. Click here to read their analysis.

Gov. Pritzker Signs Bill Repealing Parental Notification

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D)

On Friday, Dec. 17, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed House Bill 370, repealing the Parental Notice of Abortion Act. 

The Parental Notice of Abortion Act of 1995 required doctors to notify a pregnant minor's parent or guardian 48 hours before the minor has an abortion. With the law repealed, abortion clinics will have the ability to hide pregnancies and abortions from parents. These parents will be unable to provide counsel or emotional support to their daughters during incredibly stressful moments in their lives.

“With reproductive rights under attack across the nation, Illinois is once again establishing itself as a leader in ensuring access to healthcare services,” Pritzker said in a press release. “This repeal was essential, because it was the most vulnerable pregnant minors who were punished by this law: victims of rape and physical abuse in unsafe homes. I thank Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin), Sen. Elgie Sims (D-Chicago) and the lawmakers and advocates who have fiercely fought to repeal this law and keep vulnerable young people safe. I’m proud that Illinois continues to be a national leader in protecting reproductive rights.”

Planned Parenthood applauded the Governor for signing the repeal.

"Thank you Governor Pritzker for signing the Youth Health and Safety Act [HB370] into law," said Jennifer Welch, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action. "Together, we're ensuring that young people can involve whomever they trust in their health care decisions, protecting them from harmful domestic situations and unnecessary judicial interactions."

The repeal not only makes it more difficult for parents to be involved in their daughters lives, it also makes it easier for bad actors to abuse young girls in Illinois. Sex traffickers and rapists no longer have to fear that an abortion business will inform a girl's parents about an abortion. This makes it easier for them to separate those girls from their parents or get away with their crimes simply by intimidating girls into silence.

Lauretta Froelich, a former prosecutor from the Office of the Cook County State's Attorney, is one of many voices who stated disappointment at Gov. Pritzker's decision.

"I am appalled that Governor Pritzker would sign a bill repealing our commonsense Parental Notification of Abortion Act. With his signature, Pritzker has opened the borders of the State of Illinois to pedophiles, sex offenders, and traffickers of minors. Illinois is now less safe for minor girls," Froelich said.

Mark Curran, who served as the Sheriff of Lake County from 2006-2008, also gave a statement following the repeal.

"In the twelve years that I served as the Sheriff of Lake County, bordering the State of Wisconsin, it was always a priority of my office to be vigilant about monitoring for the sex trafficking of minors across state lines. The Illinois Parental Notification of Abortion Law was a valued safeguard for law enforcement, providing us with an additional layer of protection for young girls. It is deeply troubling that Governor Pritzker would sign a bill removing that safeguard, effectively putting out a “welcome mat” for those who criminally abuse children. Pritzker has made the jobs of law enforcement officials that much more difficult – particularly for those areas that serve counties and towns bordering our neighboring states."

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Gorsuch Dissent Cites Religious Liberty As Supreme Court Allows New York Vaccine Mandate

The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of New York's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers. The mandate allows exemptions for medical reasons but not religious ones. Gorsuch wrote a dissent criticizing the Court for violating the religious liberty rights of those who object to the currently-available COVID-19 vaccines for their connection with abortion.

The court decided 6-3 to reject the requests of health care workers who filed petitions to the Supreme Court for religious exemptions. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh sided with Stephen G. Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor in the majority. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas dissented. Only Gorsuch wrote an opinion, with which Alito joined.

“The Free Exercise Clause protects not only the right to hold unpopular religious beliefs inwardly and secretly. It protects the right to live out those beliefs publicly in ‘the performance of (or abstention from) physical acts,’” Gorsuch wrote in his dissent.

The Supreme Court refused to block a similar mandate in Maine during a ruling in October.

“Six weeks ago, this Court refused relief in a case involving Maine’s healthcare workers,” Gorsuch wrote. “Today, the Court repeats the mistake by turning away New York’s doctors and nurses.”

Gorsuch criticized New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's handling of the mandate in his dissent.

“The new Governor announced that the decision to eliminate the exemption was ‘intentiona[l]’ and justified because no ‘organized religion’ sought it and individuals who did were not ‘listening to God and what God wants.’ Now, thousands of New York healthcare workers face the loss of their jobs and eligibility for unemployment benefits.”

“Twenty of them have filed suit arguing that the State’s conduct violates the First Amendment and asking us to enjoin the enforcement of the mandate against them until this Court can decide their petition for certiorari. Respectfully, I believe they deserve that relief.”

Gov. Hochul, much like pro-abortion President Joe Biden, identifies as Catholic. 

“These applicants are not ‘anti-vaxxers’ who object to all vaccines,” Gorsuch wrote. “Instead, the applicants explain, they cannot receive a COVID–19 vaccine because their religion teaches them to oppose abortion in any form, and because each of the currently available vaccines has depended upon abortion-derived fetal cell lines in its production or testing.”

37,000 New York healthcare workers have left their jobs as a result of the mandate. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had to call on the National Guard to assist short-staffed nursing homes.

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Arizona Asks Supreme Court for Reinstatement of Pro-Life Law

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday for an emergency order reinstating a law that bans discriminatory abortion based on genetic abnormality (such as Down syndrome).

In his brief to the Supreme Court, Brnovich wrote, “This court has never otherwise recognized the purported right at issue — a right to race-, sex-, or genetic-selective abortions. The right to perform an abortion based solely on the results of genetic testing is novel, with no basis in the Constitution’s text or the nation’s history and traditions.”

The Arizona law was blocked by Federal Judge Douglas Rayes, an Obama appointee, just eight hours before it would have gone into effect. Rayes denied Arizona's request in September to stay the injunction, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals did the same last month.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan will decide whether the Court accept the emergency request.

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Federal Court Denies Biden's Request to Reinstate Vaccine Mandate for Doctors

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday denied an emergency motion by the Biden administration to end a lower court's injunction blocking the administration's COVID vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.

The lower court blocked the mandate in ten states, including Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. A federal judge from Louisiana enjoined the mandate nationwide in a separate ruling in November.

The Biden administration is attempting to use the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to force vaccination on medical professionals who work at facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid. If the administration gets its way, all medical doctors at these locations would have to either take a COVID-19 vaccine or lose their jobs. This is especially problematic for pro-life doctors who object to the currently available vaccines. All currently available vaccines utilized cell lines harvested from aborted children during research and/or production.

The ruling from US District Judge Matthew T. Schlep blocked the Biden mandate, calling it “likely an unlawful promulgation of regulations.” In his ruling, Schlep wrote:

“CMS seeks to overtake an area of traditional state authority by imposing an unprecedented demand to federally dictate the private medical decisions of millions of Americans. Such action challenges traditional notions of federalism. Congress did not clearly authorize CMS to enact... this politically and economically vast, federalism-altering, and boundary-pushing mandate, which Supreme Court precedent requires.”

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Abortionist Suggests ER Doctors Should Falsify Records to Hide Abortion Complications

In a recent article published by Salon writer Amanda Marcotte, Dr. Daniel Grossman recommended that ER doctors should prepare for a post-Roe world by hiding abortion complications from law enforcement.

In the article, Grossman suggested that law enforcement in pro-life states would use the medical records of post-abortive women to prosecute them, and medical professionals should falsify records as a result.

Marcotte wrote, “Dr. Grossman also suggested that doctors themselves need to be educated on how to better protect patients. Once abortion is banned, [Grossman] notes, ‘some of this is going to fall on emergency department clinicians,’ because patients who show up with rare complications — or, in some cases, are just worried — after taking abortion pills at home.”

Marcotte also quotes Grossman as saying, “We need to get better about really figuring out what questions we need to ask and what we need to document in the medical record.” Grossman expressed concern that “the medical record could be used against the patient to potentially prosecute them.”

Grossman has even suggested that women should go as far as to order abortion pills before they become pregnant. In a Tweet on Oct 14, Grossman said that having abortion pills should be "like having Tylenol in the cabinet for a headache, cramps, or painful injury."

Grossman's suggestions endanger the lives of women. If a woman's medical record is falsified, then doctors who treat that woman in the future will have incomplete knowledge of that woman's medical history. This can make it harder to provide potentially life-saving health care.

If a woman takes the abortion pill regimen without first visiting a doctor to verify the gestational age of her unborn child or diagnose any pregnancy conditions such as ectopic pregnancy, then she is at high risk of suffering severe and life-threatening complications.

An unborn child is not an injury or sickness to be treated with medicine. An unborn child is an innocent human being, and their lives deserve protection.

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FDA Commissioner Nominee Questioned by Senators Over Abortion Pill Expansion

Robert Califf
photo credit: Christopher Michel / Flickr

On Dec. 14, the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held hearings to discuss whether it should approve Biden nominee Robert Califf to become the new Commissioner of the FDA.

Califf previously served as the FDA commissioner under former President Obama. In 2016, under Califf's direction, the agency extended the use of the abortion pill regimen. This allowed abortionists to prescribe abortion pills to end the lives of unborn children up to ten weeks old (up from seven).

During a hearing, Indiana Sen. Mike Braun referenced a recent study that used Medicaid data from 17 states that allow taxpayer-funded abortions. That study found that the rate of abortion-related ER visits following use of the abortion pill increased 507% from 2002-2015.

Referencing the fact that Califf relaxed regulations governing the use of abortion pills during the previous time he acted as FDA commissioner, Braun asked Califf, “Do you think we need to be in that relaxed kind of interpretation of that particular approach or is this something you’re going to listen to current information… so that you give… a full kind of consideration of that particular methodology of abortions?”

Califf refused to discuss his past decisions or speak about whether he believed abortion pill regulations should be loosened further. Instead, he talked about how the FDA was currently reevaluating its rules governing the prescription of abortion pills. “I’m not involved in that particular reevaluation, but I can assure you that the staff will be looking at the latest data and applying the best science and make the best possible decision,” Califf stated. “I’ve got confidence in that staff, and I know them well.”

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Texas Right to Life Receives Second Bomb Threat Since Passage of Texas Heartbeat Act

After the Texas Heartbeat Act became law in September, Texas Right to Life has received a barrage of hateful threats. Last week, the organization received its second bomb threat.

Texas Right to Life said that it had "spearheaded" the pro-life legislation, and it had also created a website that would make it easier for Texans to report violations of the Heartbeat Act. Under the law, private citizens could file lawsuits against those who participate in the abortions of unborn children with detectable heartbeats.

The organization stated that they received a letter on Dec 6 in which the sender threatened to bomb the Texas Right to Life facility for promoting the Heartbeat Act. Police are investigating the threat.

“Devaluing life inside the womb inevitably leads to violence outside the womb,” Texas Right to Life President Elizabeth Graham stated in an email. “These recent crimes demonstrate the brokenness, anger, and pain of the pro-abortion movement. We pray for the perpetrator, that he or she may find healing in Christ, and we ask for prayers for our staff.”

This is the second bomb threat received by Texas Right to Life. The first came in September just days after the Heartbeat Act was enacted. Days later, the group received a mysterious package that some suspected to be a bomb. Police responded and found the package to not be harmful, but the organization should not have to live in fear. Texas Right to Life received thousands of voice messages in the aftermath of the Heartbeat Act's passage, many of them wishing death and rape upon staff members.

Click here to read more.

IL Rep Withdraws Attempt to Force Insurance Companies to Discriminate Against Unvaccinated Illinoisans

IL State Rep. Jonathan Carroll

Last week, IL State Rep. Jonathan Carroll introduced a bill that would force unvaccinated individuals to pay their own medical bills if they were hospitalized with COVID-19, even if they had health insurance. The bill was unpopular that he filed a motion to table the bill three days later.

As summarised on the official webpage for the Illinois General Assembly, HB4259 would have required that "that a group or individual policy of accident and health insurance that is amended, delivered, issued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2023 shall provide that a person who is eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and chooses not to be vaccinated shall pay for health care expenses out-of-pocket if the person becomes hospitalized because of COVID-19 symptoms."

Many pro-life advocates oppose the currently available COVID-19 vaccines due to their connection with abortion. All available COVID-19 vaccines made use of cell lines harvested from aborted babies during their research and/or production phases. Pro-life individuals, many of whom refuse to take the vaccine for that reason, would have faced severe discrimination if this bill had been passed into law.

Click here to read more.

Supreme Court Again Allows Texas to Enforce Heartbeat Act for Now

On Friday, Dec. 10, the US Supreme Court issued two decisions regarding Texas's Heartbeat Act. One of those allows the law to remain in effect while federal courts rule on its limited state enforcement through licensing boards. The other dismisses a challenge by the Biden administration against the State of Texas.

The Heartbeat Act prohibits the abortion of unborn children whose heartbeats are detectable, which usually occurs at 6 weeks gestation. The law has managed to remain in effect so far due to its unique enforcement mechanism. Rather than direct enforcement by state officials, the law is enforced through civil lawsuits. Individuals can file lawsuits against those who participate in the abortions of protected children.

The Supreme Court's decision has again allowed the Heartbeat Act to remain in effect. The decision also denied federal courts' requests to enjoin the law. The Court is allowing abortion businesses to challenge state enforcement of the law which occurs through professional licensing boards, but the Court took issue with many of those named in the lawsuit. The Court opined that abortion clinics could not sue Texas clerks, judges, the Attorney General, or private citizens who had not declared any intention to file lawsuits under the Heartbeat Act.

In its second decision, the Court ruled 8-1 that the Biden administration did not have proper legal standing to challenge Texas's law.

The majority opinion, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, stated that "the ultimate merits question" regarding the Heartbeat Act's constitutionality "is not before the Court." Because the Court did not directly rule on the constitutionality of the law, it is possible (likely, even) that it could come before the Supreme Court again. For the moment, however, it can continue to save the lives of unborn Texans.

Click here to read more.