OB-GYNs Launch New Initiative to Increase Number of Doctors who Provide APR

In an effort to increase the number of doctors who provide Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) to women who regret starting chemical abortions, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists is launching a new initiative.

The pro-life doctors have launched a new webpage and video to help answer questions that medical professionals might have about APR. Titled, "Give Your Patients a Second Chance at Life," the webpage also includes links for medical professionals to join the Abortion Pill Rescue Network, which helps connect women who regret taking the first abortion pill to doctors who can provide APR. To this end, the Abortion Pill Rescue Network runs a 24/7 helpline staffed by trained nurses.

APR works by counteracting the effects of the first pill in the abortion pill regimen. If a woman has only taken the first pill, but regrets doing so, APR can save the life of her child. This is because the first pill, mifepristone, simply blocks the pregnancy hormone progesterone. This hormone helps facilitate the flow of oxygen and nutrients from a mother's body to her child's. Essentially, mifepristone kills unborn children by starving and suffocating them. When a doctor administers APR, the pregnant mother will take additional progesterone. This can counteract the effects of mifepristone and restore the flow of nutrients and oxygen to the child.

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ABC Poll Shows Support for Roe v. Wade

A poll published by the Washington Post and ABC News last Tuesday claims that 60% of Americans support Roe v. Wade.

The Supreme Court declared in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that abortion is a constitutional right. The Supreme Court doubled down on this with its Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision in 1992, and courts throughout the country have referred to these decisions as precedent for decades.

The same poll claims that 65% of Americans believe the Supreme Court should overturn the Texas Heartbeat Act.

Dr. Micheal New, a Research Associate of Political Science and Social Research at the Catholic University of America, argued that the poll, while showing that there is a lot of work yet to be done by pro-life advocates, arguably shows that pro-lifers have gained some ground in the culture war.

“This poll shows that 60 percent of respondents think the Supreme Court should uphold Roe v. Wade,” New wrote on Twitter. “Of the three [ABC/Washington Post] polls taken in the past 13 months — this represents the lowest level of support for the Roe v. Wade decision. Historically, Roe v. Wade has polled better than 60%. [Sixteen] surveys taken by [Quinnipiac] found support for Roe v. Wade averaged 64%. [Five] recent [Kaiser Family Foundation] surveys found support for Roe v. Wade averaged 67%. However, this [ABC/Washington Post] poll found only 60% support.”

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Biden FDA Commissioner Nominee Has a Record of Expanding Abortion

Biden FDA Commissioner Nominee Robert Califf
photo credit: Christopher Michel / Flickr

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden announced that he is nominating Robert Califf to serve as the head of the FDA. 

Califf held this role in 2016 when he extended the legal use of abortion pills to include unborn babies up to 10 weeks old. Califf directed the FDA to make several changes to FDA regulations that restricted the use of the abortion pill regimen.

These restrictions were put in place to protect women from health risks posed by abortion pills. Under President Biden's administration, the FDA has allowed the distribution of abortion pills through the mail and announced that it intends to review safety regulations limiting its use.

Califf's changes in 2016 ended the requirement that abortion pill manufacturer DANCO report any medical complications other than the death of the mother.

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House Passes "Build Back Better" Bill without Hyde Amendment

Democrats in the House of Representatives passed President Biden's "Build Back Better" reconciliation bill on Friday morning. The bill was passed without the Hyde Amendment, and it includes specific provisions to expand taxpayer funding of abortion.

The final vote was 220 to 213. No Republicans voted in favor of the bill.

The Build Back Better Act would:

• mandate that the Affordable Care Act fund abortion in all 50 states

• fund abortions through reinsurance payments and cost-sharing funding

• further subsidize Obamacare exchange plans that cover abortion on-demand

• give billions of dollars to public health grants without applying the Hyde amendment

National Right to Life President Carol Tobias commented on the bill's passage. “Abortion is not healthcare and, until this Congress, the Hyde Amendment enjoyed 45 years of bipartisan support,” Tobias said. The Hyde Amendment is widely recognized as having a significant impact on the number of abortions in the United States saving an estimated 2.4 million American lives. Yet, today, the Hyde Amendment is being targeted at every turn by pro-abortion Democrats.”

The Build Back Better Act will next be brought to the Senate for a vote.

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State Department Includes Abortion in Human Rights Report

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

This month, the US State Department included abortion rights in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

The report includes sections detailing the "reproductive rights" in every country that is a member of the UN. When State Department spokesperson Ned Price announced the change, he told reporters, “We reaffirm our full commitment to promote and protect the sexual and reproductive health of all individuals, recognizing the essential and transformative role they play in gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment around the world.”

"Reproductive Rights" in this report includes the supposed "human right" to abortion. The ability to legally abort an unborn baby does not constitute a "human right." It is quite the opposite. Such "rights" deprive innocent humans of their lives, and they suggest that children are obstacles blocking women from being successful in life.

The Biden administration's State Department plans to judge UN members in its future annual reports.

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American Life League Founder Paul Brown Dies at 83

Paul Brown with his wife, Judie Brown

On November 4, American Life League (ALL) founder Paul Brown passed away at the age of 83.

Paul and his wife Judie, the current ALL president, co-founded ALL in 1979 with the help of other pro-life activists. ALL is the oldest Catholic pro-life education organization in the US. It aims to protect all innocent human beings, including the unborn, the elderly, and the infirm. ALL does this by “providing TRUTH-based educational materials and opportunities, inspiring and equipping generations to act for GOD and LIFE, and protecting and caring for the most vulnerable among us — the defenseless, the hurting, the lost, and the despairing.”

ALL executive director Jim Sedlak issued a statement after Brown's passing. “Husband, father, grandfather, and pro-life hero, Paul Brown passed away on November 4, 2021, with his family by his side,” Sedlak wrote. “[Brown] was the man with the vision… the driving force providing the oxygen that makes American Life League’s work possible. He was the ultimate advocate for babies.”

In her own tribute, Judie wrote, “His wisdom and talents were one of a kind, and if it had not been for his investment in our work, I honestly do not think American Life League would have survived and grown,” she said. “This is why I agree with the wonderful pro-life gentleman who wrote, ‘The babies will be waiting with open arms for you, Paul, and they will never stop singing your praises.'”

Paul is survived his wife, three children, and 12 grandchildren.

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Biden Pauses Employer Vaccine Mandate After Court Order

photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

In response to a ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Biden administration is (at least temporarily) backing down from its COVID vaccine mandate for businesses.

Per Biden's directive, the US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) drafted a rule that would “require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work.” That rule was scheduled to take effect on Jan. 4, 2022.

Groups of affected employees, a variety of businesses, and twenty-six states have filed lawsuits against the mandate. On Nov. 12, a three-judge panel from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the OSHA rule, stating that the mandate contained “grave statutory and constitutional issues.” The court also rejected an appeal by the Biden administration to lift the temporary stay. In that decision, the court found that the mandate “grossly exceeds OSHA’s statutory authority.”

Many pro-life advocates take issue with the Biden administration's attempt to force individuals to take COVID-19 vaccines as a condition of employment. This is because all currently available COVID-19 vaccines were developed and/or produced through the use of stem cell lines harvested from aborted babies. The Fifth Circuit's rulings so far are a good sign for pro-life advocates who value religious freedom and oppose the abortion-related aspects of COVID-19 vaccines.

The Fifth Circuit ordered OSHA to “take no steps to implement or enforce” the OSHA rule “until further court order.” OSHA has updated its website to state that it "has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement" for the time being.

As long as the court blocks Biden's rule, OSHA cannot force businesses to impose vaccine mandates on their employees. Businesses could still potentially impose their own mandates without the federal government's involvement, however.

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Baby Breaks Record as Most Premature Baby to Survive Birth

Curtis Zy-Keith Means on the day he was born

Curtis Zy-Keith Means, who was born in July 2020, was recently recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most premature baby ever to survive birth. Curtis was prematurely born at the gestational age of 21 weeks and one day, but he survived the ordeal with the help of medical care.

Michelle Butler, who was carrying twins, unexpectedly went into premature labor one day. She was rushed into emergency surgery at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama on July 4. When they were born, Curtis and his sister C'Asya had only been developing in their mother's womb for 21 weeks and one day. That is one day fewer than the youngest surviving preemie.

Unfortunately, Curtis's sister did not survive. However, this is not for lack of effort from doctors, who attempted to provide her babies with care. In cases of extreme premature birth, doctors often don't attempt to provide potentially lifesaving care to babies. As attending physician Dr. Brian Sims told KATV, “We typically advise for compassionate care in situations of such extremely preterm births. This allows the parents to hold their babies and cherish what little time they may have together.”

Some US hospitals have simply refused to treat preemies at the request of parents, but that was not the case in this situation. When Dr. Sims told Butler that her babies would not survive, Butler asked that the hospital give her babies a chance. They did, and now Curtis has passed his first birthday.

"He started writing his own story the day he was born," Dr. Sims told KATV. "That story will be read and studied by many and, hopefully, will help improve care of premature infants around the world."

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Man Charged with Manslaughter for Attacking a Nurse and Killing her Preborn Baby

Joseph Wuerz
photo credit: Seminole County Sherrif's Department

After a nurse was assaulted by a patient in a Florida hospital, the patient is being charged with manslaughter for the death of her preborn baby.

Medscape reported that Marcie Marc was attacked on October 30 by 53-year-old Joseph Wuerz, who had a history of domestic violence. She was administering medication to a screaming patient when he entered the room. Marc told police that Wuerz shoved her against the wall and attempted to kick her. After hospital employees separated her from the attacker, she went to receive medical treatment. Unfortunately, her healthy child was killed in the attack.

Wuerz was jailed and charged with “manslaughter for injuring a mother and killing an unborn child; aggravated battery of a pregnant woman; and aggravated battery of a medical worker.”

Only 38 of the 50 states have fetal homicide laws to provide justice when an unborn child is killed. Those states do include both Florida and Illinois.

LiveAction has reported on testimony from Planned Parenthood arguing against such laws, however. Fetal homicide laws create the logical connection that unborn babies are human beings that deserve legal protection.

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Tennessee Waiting-Period Law To Remain in Effect

After a long legal battle, a Tennessee waiting-period law is finally free of legal challenges and will remain in effect. The law requires abortion-minded women to wait at least 48 hours after visiting an abortion clinic before making the permanent decision to end the life of an unborn child.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery issued a statement last Friday after the deadline to challenge the Sixth Circuit's decision to the Supreme Court passed.

“This law was on the books for five years before the district court enjoined it. The Sixth Circuit took the unusual step of having the full court review the district court decision and that of its own panel. We are grateful that the Court recognized the validity of a law passed by the people’s representatives and did not substitute its own judgment for the policy decision made by the legislature and the Governor,” said AG Slatery.

The appellate court used statistics from 2015-2020 to refute the argument that the waiting period law presented significant and unconstitutional hurdles to abortion access.

“It is one thing to predict that the sky will fall tomorrow,” the ruling states. “It’s quite another thing to maintain that the sky fell five years ago for women seeking abortions when the numbers tell us otherwise.”

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Sen. Dick Durbin Complains about being Denied Communion for Abortion Support

In an interview with America Magazine, US Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) complained about the fact that his home Catholic diocese him communion due to his public support for abortion.

Durbin has been denied communion in his home Diocese of Springfield since 2004. Durbin told America Magazine’s Jim McDermott, “I found another Catholic venue, the Archdiocese of Chicago, and a church where they were willing to let me in and allowed my wife to join me. So it’s become my new faith home.”

Durbin went on to argue that the Catholic church is hypocritical for taking softer stances against those who take conservative stances on issues such as immigration and capital punishment.

The Catholic doctrine on human life categorizes abortion as a "moral evil," and says that complicity in abortion "constitutes a grave offense." The Catholic doctrine even "attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life."

Former Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput argues that the Catholic Church has good reasons not to give communion to those who outwardly oppose its teachings. He said that doing so would be “creating the impression that the moral laws of the Church are optional … Reception of Communion is not a right but a gift and privilege; and on the subject of ‘rights,’ the believing community has a priority right to the integrity of its belief and practice.”

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DC Police Drop Charges Against Pro-Lifers for Chalking Sidewalk in 2020

Over one year after arresting two pro-life activists for chalking a public sidewalk, DC police have dropped charges.

Warner DePriest and Erica Caoraletti were arrested for writing the message “Black Preborn Lives Matter” in chalk on the sidewalk outside of a Planned Parenthood. They were at a rally organized by Students for Life of America (SFLA), at which they had originally planned to paint their message on the street.

DC Mayor Bowser had opened the streets of DC to protest by commissioning a mural reading "Black Lives Matter" on 16th Street. The next day, the words "Defund the Police" were painted next to the mural, but no charges were pressed.

SFLA then received a permit to hold a rally, and informed city officials that they would paint a message on the street. “We were told verbally that we would not be prevented from painting and what kind of paint to buy,” SFLA spokesperson Kristi Hamrick wrote to the Washington Times.

Police appeared at the rally, told the group that they did not have a permit to paint on the street, and arrested DePriest and Caoraletti for writing with chalk on the sidewalk.

SFLA president Kristan Hawkins wrote in a statement that she “is celebrating today, as finally two students are cleared of any penalties for the unlikely ‘crime’ of trying to chalk BLACK PREBORN LIVES MATTER in the nation’s capital. At a moment in time when across the country people were talking about issues impacting the Black community, Students for Life and the Frederick Douglass Foundation joined together to speak for the preborn, only to be told that our speech was not welcome and was even criminal.”

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Alaska Judge Temporarily Blocks Law Preventing Non-Doctors from Committing Abortions

An Alaskan Superior Court Judge issued a temporary injunction against a law that prohibits non-doctors from committing abortions.

Superior Court Judge Josie Garton's injunction allows nurses and assistants to write prescriptions for abortion pills. Garton's injunction sides with Planned Parenthood, which originally filed a lawsuit against the Alaska law in 2019.

The US Food and Drug Administration similarly limited the distribution of abortion pills through a set of regulations known as REMS until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. REMS requirements prevented abortion pills from being made available over the internet or at retail pharmacies. Now, the Biden administration has expressed a desire to end REMS permanently.

Garton's order will prevent the law from being enforced at least until the case is decided at trial next July.

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Indiana Abortion Complications Reporting Law Goes into Effect

photo credit: J. Stephen Conn / Flickr

After a three-year-long legal battle, an Indiana law requiring abortion businesses to report complications went into effect on Oct. 27.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the "Complications Statute" on August 2, thereby allowing the law to go into effect three years after it passed in 2018. The law requires doctors to report complications arising from abortions. Doctors who fail to report complications could be found guilty of a misdemeanor, spend 180 days in jail, and pay a $1,000 fine.

“This complications reporting requirement is long overdue,” said Mike Fichter, president and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. “It is extremely telling that abortion businesses fought to shield these complications from being reported. Now that these reporting requirements go into effect, any abortion business refusing to comply must be denied a license renewal according to the new licensing law passed in the 2021 Indiana legislature.”

Fichter said that Indiana Right to Life will confirm with the Indiana Department of Health that abortion businesses comply with the law.

“Full compliance with the complications reporting law must be one of the many areas subject to thorough state inspections of every licensed abortion business,” said Fichter. “Complications reporting is the law, not a suggestion.”

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Biden Admin's "National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality" to Promote Abortion

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

The Biden administration has released its new strategy to promote abortion nationwide. According to the administration, the "National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality" is a “government-wide responsibility that that cuts across the work of the Biden-Harris Administration in both domestic and foreign affairs.” The administration says that it will be implemented by "every White House office and executive agency."

The plan will require executive agencies to “promote access to sexual and reproductive health and rights both at home and abroad,” and its language likens abortion to civil rights movements such as the abolition of slavery.

“From the Emancipation Proclamation, to the passage of the 19th Amendment, to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, to the fight for reproductive rights and marriage equality — and countless movements and victories before and since — America has been strengthened through the years by our tireless pursuit of greater equity for all,” the plan reads.

Among other things, the strategy says that the administration will push to end the Hyde Amendment, expand Title X funding of abortion, fund UN organizations that promote abortion globally, and codify a federal right to abortion.

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Pritzker Signs Bill Stripping Conscience Rights from Illinoisans

On Monday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed SB 1169 into law. This bill amends the Healthcare Right of Conscience Act so that Illinoisans can no longer use the law to receive exemptions from their employers' COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

SB 1169 amends the Healthcare Right of Conscience Act in such a way that none of the protections it provides can apply to measure designed to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. As a result, employers could potentially discriminate against those who object to COVID-19 vaccines. Individuals could be fired or excluded from consideration for schools or jobs.

Many pro-life advocates object to vaccine mandates and apply for conscientious exemptions. This is because all currently available COVID-19 vaccines were developed and/or produced with the use of stem cell lines harvested from aborted babies.

The amendment is set to come into effect on June 1, 2022.

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US Gives $5 Million for UN to Distribute Abortion Supplies Worldwide

On Nov. 1, the US State Department announced that it will give an inaugural $5 million to the United States Population Fund. The UNFPA uses contributions from donors to distribute maternal health supplies, which by their definition includes drugs and equipment designed to end the lives of the unborn.

By using UNFPA Supplies as a third party to distribute abortion-inducing items, the Biden administration is avoiding conflict with the 1973 Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act. That law prohibits the use of government funds to distribute abortion-inducing items.

No prior administration in US history has funded UNFPA Supplies. This is largely due to the organization's support for abortion, its connection with China's population-controlling policies, and the UN's desire to push pro-life countries to legalize abortion.

Among other things, the UNFPA is known to distribute portable abortion devices called manual vacuum aspirator kits, and the abortion drugs misoprostol and mifepristone.

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and MSI Reproductive Health (formerly Marie Stopes International) are two of the organizations that receive materials from UNFPA.

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Federal Court Blocks Biden Vaccine Mandate for Businesses

A three-judge panel from the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a temporary injunction on Nov. 6 to block the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees.

The mandate specifically troubles pro-life workers who take issue with the fact that all currently available COVID-19 vaccines were developed and/or produced with the use of stem cell lines harvested from aborted babies.

The Biden mandate, which was set to take effect on Jan. 4, would require employers to “develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy” or have their workers “undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at work in lieu of vaccination.”

The temporary injunction was made after a group of businesses and the states of Texas, Utah, Mississippi filed lawsuits against the Biden administration. All of these parties argued that they would be negatively affected by the mandate, and the judges were inclined to agree with them.

The Fifth Circuit wrote in its decision that the petitioners' arguments, “give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate.” Arguments in the case have been expedited to begin this week. The petitioners have motioned for the court to issue a permanent injunction against the mandate.

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Build Back Better Reconciliation Bill would Expand Taxpayer Funding of Abortions

The multi-trillion dollar "Build Back Better" (BBB) reconciliation spending bill (HR 5376) being considered by federal legislators would create several avenues through which taxpayer dollars would fund elective abortion.

The BBB bill includes several provisions that are not regulated by the Hyde Amendment, which has been a bipartisan addition to every federal appropriations bill for decades. Because of this, federal tax dollars allocated under the bill will be able to subsidize elective abortion. This spending could come from entities such as the Department of Health and Human Services and programs such as Medicaid.

The BBB reconciliation bill would mandate that states cover abortion under Obamacare plans. The 2010 Obamacare law allowed states to pass laws banning abortion coverage in their state exchanges, and 25 states currently passed such laws. If the BBB bill is passed, many of these state laws will be overridden.

Additionally, the BBB bill would increase subsidies for Obamacare through 2025. This means that Obamacare plans will have more taxpayer funding available to them that can be used to subsidize elective abortions.

Finally, the BBB bill would allow billions of dollars to be allocated through "public health grants." These funds could be used to fund abortion training and research or used to enable abortion-expansive policies.

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Judge's Injunction Blocks Biden from Firing Employees with Pending Religious Exemptions

On Oct. 29th, a district judge in Washington D.C. issued a temporary injunction preventing plaintiffs in the case from being fired for not complying with the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandate while they have pending religious exemptions.

Many pro-life advocates have applied for religious exemptions from the Biden mandate. This is because all currently available COVID-19 vaccines were developed and/or produced using lines of stem cells harvested from aborted babies.

Bill Clinton appointed District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued the restraining order after civilian and military plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the Biden vaccine mandate. “None of the civilian employee plaintiffs will be subject to discipline while his or her request for a religious exception is pending,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote in the order.

Her ruling continued, stating that, “active duty military plaintiffs, whose religious exception requests have been denied, will not be disciplined or separated during the pendency of their appeals.” She further noted that the Biden administration has provided “no guarantee of what will happen … if their exemption requests are denied.”

The plaintiffs' attorney Michael Yoder praised the judge's decision, saying, we are one step closer to putting the Biden administration back in its place by limiting government to its enumerated powers. It’s time citizens and courts said no to tyranny. The Constitution does not need to be rewritten, it needs to be reread.”

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