Free Republic

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Politicians here have not even figured out how yet to implement their new law requiring us to pay for everybody else’s health care, and already people are clamoring to legalize drugs that are, at the very least, hazardous to their health. The good people of Colorado and Washington state can now buy and smoke pot without violating state laws. The movement to do so is spreading among other states like a hot tropical virus through a detention facility on the Mexican border. I, for one, have never really cared one way or the other if people choose to smoke pot....

Congresswoman Katherine Clark, D-MA, visited a Planned Parenthood abortion facility Saturday to thank its volunteer abortion “escorts” for helping pregnant women evade pro-life sidewalk counselors who might offer them alternatives to abortion. She made the visit after the Supreme Court struck down the state’s “buffer zone” law, which required sidewalk counselors and pro-life protesters to stay at least 35 feet away from the clinic. In a statement, Clark slammed the Supreme Court for its decision, and likened the prayers and assistance offered by most sidewalk counselors to “harassment and intimidation.” “The Court’s ruling means patients are forced to choose between...

CNN’s Van Jones went head to head Tuesday with Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann over the border crisis, saying the congresswoman crossed the line in scapegoating the surge of unaccompanied migrant children for crimes committed by other undocumented immigrants. “Are you scapegoating every one of these kids?” Jones asked Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican, on CNN’s “Crossfire.” “Well, hold on a second. There are lines that can’t be crossed here. I’m sorry congresswoman, I’m sorry congresswoman. There are lines that can’t be crossed here.” Bachmann, who acknowledged that 57,000 children have crossed America’s southern border into the country in recent months, also...

By all accounts, Megan Hui shouldn’t be alive. When her mom, Michelle, was six weeks and two days pregnant she began bleeding, and multiple scans confirmed that she had miscarried. But what Michelle and her doctors didn’t know was that she was pregnant with twins, and she had only lost one of the babies. That oversight nearly cost Megan her life, when doctors prescribed mifepristone, a drug that is normally used to cause an abortion, in order to empty out the uterus and ensure that the miscarriage was complete. Days after taking the drug, however, Michelle took a pregnancy test...

.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113th Congress - 2nd Session as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate Vote Summary Question: On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to S.2578 ) Vote Number: 228 Vote Date: July 16, 2014, 02:09 PM Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Cloture on the Motion to Proceed Rejected Measure Number: S. 2578 (Protect Women's Health From Corporate Interference Act of 2014 ) Measure Title: A bill to ensure that employers cannot interfere in their...

Senate Democrats’ effort to reverse the Supreme Court’s “Hobby Lobby” ruling on birth control could not overcome a Republican filibuster Wednesday, exposing the partisan divide over how to balance women’s health rights with religious liberty ahead of November’s congressional contests. The chamber’s 56-43 vote was not enough to green-light the “Not My Boss’ Business Act” for final consideration, even though Republicans Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska broke party ranks and voted to put the bill on the floor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, changed his vote to “no” at...

A sweeping bill that could eliminate many commonsense state laws protecting women from the harms of abortion was considered in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday. “Imagine the vast majority of pro-life laws wiped out with the enactment of a single piece of federal legislation. That is the purpose behind S. 1696,” summarizes Bill Saunders of Americans United for Life. The misleadingly named “Women’s Health Protection Act,” S. 1696, sponsored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., would do just the opposite of its euphemistic title. Effectively, it would strip states of the ability to protect the health and safety of women...

WASHINGTON — Tensions between Girl Scouts’ messaging and Catholic teaching have led to a national boycott of Girl Scout cookies, the ousting of Girl Scouts from parishes, and a significant drop in Catholic membership in the Girl Scouts. Now a panel of U.S. bishops has released the results of a two-year investigation into Girl Scouts’ problematic messaging, ties to Planned Parenthood, and continued advocacy of so-called reproductive rights by the organization’s international affiliate, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). Their findings indicate that the concerns continue to persist, regarding the problematic connections between the Girl Scouts...

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade in January 2013, Time magazine published a surprising and iconic cover story about how the pro-choice side has been losing ever since it thought it won in 1973. The reasons Time listed were spot on: Pro-life lawsPublic sentimentPro-abortion generational in-fightingPlaying defense (defending the status quo)ScienceStigmaAging abortionists Indeed, abortion advocates have been in an admitted state of panic for quite some time over building pro-life momentum.But within the past several days two abortion advocates have separately admitted their side is losing… “It’s not just Hobby Lobby: the pro-life movement is...

While the so-called “conservative war on women” remains a favorite topic of talking heads, actual assaults on the gender are increasingly coming from the political Left. prolife rally “Obamacare affects women,” Mattie Duppler, of Americans for Tax Reform said at a Republican Studies Committee panel discussion on women’s issues. For example, the Independent Mandate Tax takes 2.5% out of their income, Dupler pointed out. Charmaine Yoest, of Americans United for Life, noted in the Capitol Hill symposium that two women die each month, a fact ignored, if not actively suppressed, by most health centers and the media. If women has...

Senate Democrats held a hearing today on a bill that wipes out virtually every pro-life law across the country, including state laws that came into play in Pennsylvania that held late-term abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell accountable for killing babies who were born alive and killed during a gruesome late-term abortion procedure. S.1696 is deceptively titled the “Women’s Health Protection Act” even though it revokes protections for women and their unborn children. Instead, the bill would be far-reaching in how it would topple virtually every pro-life law passed in states across the country. gosnell52During the hearing, Carol Tobias, president of the...

The issues of gender equality and women’s rights are being used by Democrats in the Kentucky U.S. Senate race to illustrate the disconnect between Kentucky U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and women voters as a pro-choice group begins to run ads in the state and a big name McConnell foe criticizes his stances. NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC, a group which has endorsed Democratic candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes and called her a “pro-choice champion”, released an ad Tuesday to run statewide in Kentucky for a week. The group says the 30-second ad, titled “Mitch McConnell Will Never Do the Right Thing for...

Senate Democrats held a hearing today on a bill that wipes out virtually every pro-life law across the country, including state laws that came into play in Pennsylvania that held late-term abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell accountable for killing babies who were born alive and killed during a gruesome late-term abortion procedure.S.1696 is deceptively titled the “Women’s Health Protection Act” even though it revokes protections for women and their unborn children. Instead, the bill would be far-reaching in how it would topple virtually every pro-life law passed in states across the country.During the hearing, Carol Tobias, president of the National Right...

An African-American patient of the notorious late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart, 72, was transported to the hospital after suffering a medical emergency at Germantown Reproductive Health Services in Germantown, Maryland, on Wednesday, July 2, 2014.This represents the EIGHTH known medical emergency for which Carhart has been responsible since March, 2012. The recently injured women include Jennifer Morbelli, who died on Feb. 7, 2013.“Medical emergencies at Carhart’s two abortion locations are becoming more frequent. His age and grueling travel schedule compound the risks to women, who are paying for his mistakes with their health and sometimes their lives,” said Troy Newman, President...

Archbishop William E. Lori joined with Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston July 14 to urge all U.S. senators to reject legislation aiming to compel all employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortifacients. In a letter sent to all senators, the archbishops outlined how the “misnamed” “Protect Women’s Health from Corporate Interference Act of 2014” (S. 2578) would violate federal religious freedom and conscience protections. The bill, introduced by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wa.), is a response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which exempts closely held for-profit companies from providing insurance coverage...

Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) brought a picture of her grandson to Capitol Hill today. No, she didn’t simply show it to her colleagues to beam about her newest family member – she brought the picture straight to the Senate floor to testify against the pro-abortion S. 1696, or “Women’s Health Protection Act.” S. 1696, which has 25 Senate cosponsors (all Democrats), would override nearly all federal and state laws limiting abortion, including third-trimester bans on abortion, limits on abortion after 5 months of pregnancy, and laws against sex-selection abortion, according to the pro-life organization SBA List, which sent out an...

A recent report from the Manhattan Institute showing that Obamacare has raised insurance costs by 52% to 119% was rejected as an “unfair comparison” by Health and Human Services Secretary Silvia Burwell. “Policies under the Affordable Care Act cost more because they cover more,” she maintained. “Many of the policies available before the ACA was in place didn’t cover preventive care like birth control or abortion. Virtually none of them covered gender-reassignment surgery. So of course those policies were cheaper.” “The Manhattan Institute study overlooks the added value achieved by the ACA,” the Secretary asserted. “Their before and after analysis...

In New York City, there are a number of abortion clinics competing to catch the eyes of abortion minded women. One of these clinics is Early Options. Their tagline reads “Early Abortion & Miscarriage: a Revolutionary Medical Practice.”When a woman goes to a clinic to end her pregnancy and kill her unborn baby, it’s not really called a “miscarriage,” but since the word “abortion” still carries stigma, redefining the word “miscarriage” for their patients is apparently something this abortion clinic is happy to do.This clinic has apparently pioneered an abortion method called the “SofTouch.” According to the site: SofTouch® is...

Planned Parenthood staffers are using taxpayer money to instruct underage girls in dangerous and violent sex practices — including whipping, bondage and choking, according to a new video released by the anti-abortion group Live Action Tuesday. The uncensored footage obtained by The Daily Caller shows staffers telling investigators posing as underage girls to experiment with violent sex play in response to generic questions about sex. Staffers at two clinics in Colorado explain to the investigators that a variety of painful sex acts — including biting, chaining, gagging, whipping, choking, using nipple clamps, and more — are completely safe and normal...

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog Violent pro-abortion protestor falsely claims that a 12 week old fetus does not have hands This video has been getting a lot of attention recently. The thing that I find most interesting is that the woman in the video seems to genuinely believe that a 12-week old fetus does not have hands. She says:“That is not what a fetus looks like. It’s a clump of cells at 12 weeks. It does not look like that. It’s a clump of cells. No hands are showing at that time.”Meanwhile, the National Institttue of Health says: “Week 8: Hands...