Free Republic

Washington, DC – Select Investigative Panel Chairman Marsha Blackburn is calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to investigate potential violations of federal law by StemExpress and a number of abortion clinics. In a letter to the Office of Centralized Case Management Operations at HHS, Chairman Blackburn asks Director Jocelyn Samuels to examine evidence uncovered by the Select Panel’s investigation that shows StemExpress and the abortion clinics violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The HIPAA privacy rule is a patients’ rights law, designed to empower the patient to determine when and...

In the wake of an undercover investigation into Planned Parenthood’s alleged fetal trafficking operation, the California state legislature is considering a bill that would criminalize publishing secretly recorded video footage of “health care providers.” AB 1671, which has been backed by Planned Parenthood, would criminalize the publication of confidential interactions with state-licensed medical personnel, including abortionists and clinician staff, punishable by up to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine per violation. Introduced by Los Angeles Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, the bill has received criticism from both pro-life activists and those who worry about its potential to chill free speech...

If at first you don't impede, try, try again. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a new law today restricting the free speech rights of pro-life sidewalk counselors. Patrick, a Democrat, said he was “still stunned” by the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in McCullen v. Coakley, striking down the state's previous 35-foot “bubble zone” at today's signing ceremony. The original law, drafted by current Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts President Marty Walz when she was a state legislator, required all “protesters” to stand dozens of feet away from the entrance of any such facilities. The justices did not rule that all such zoning...

An attorney representing Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Josh Schaffer, has admitted that he pressured the Harris County District Attorney’s office to refocus a grand jury investigation away from his client and onto pro-life journalists David Daleiden and his associate, Sandra Merritt, of the Center for Medical Progress. Schaeffer also confessed that Assistant District Attorney Sunni Mitchell did an “end around” the State Attorney General Ken Paxton in order to share sealed video evidence with Planned Parenthood. The grand jury later returned indictments against Daleiden and Merritt. Shaffer stated publicly that he was informed by the District Attorney’s office that no...

The head of a conservative student organization at DePaul University has been sanctioned by the university and could be expelled after he released the names of vandals who destroyed a pro-life flag display. Kristopher Del Campo, the chairman of the Young Americans for Freedom chapter, was found guilty by the university on two counts – “Disorderly, Violent, Intimidating or Dangerous Behavior to Self or Others” and “Judicial Process Compliance.” DePaul University did not return calls seeking comment. Last January Del Campo and other pro-life students received permission from the university to erect a pro-life display featuring 500 flags. Vandals later...

The head of a conservative student organization at DePaul University has been sanctioned by the university and could be expelled after he released the names of vandals who destroyed a pro-life flag display. Kristopher Del Campo, the chairman of the Young Americans for Freedom chapter, was found guilty by the university on two counts – “Disorderly, Violent, Intimidating or Dangerous Behavior to Self or Others” and “Judicial Process Compliance.” The charges were a result of posting a copy of the university’s incident report on the YAF’s website.

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer is more than vaguely "pro-choice."  He penned the majority opinion in the Stenberg v Carhart decision in 2000, striking down state laws banning partial-birth abortion.  In fact, the abortion procedure he supported is so barbaric that the United States Congress called for its outright prohibition in 2003: "A moral, medical, and ethical consensus exists that the practice of performing a partial-birth abortion.... (usually the puncturing of the back of the child’s skull and removing the baby’s brains) is a gruesome and inhumane procedure that is never medically necessary and should be prohibited.” As...

PITTSBURGH—”I can’t wait to cancel out my dad’s vote.” The theme of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s membership summit was The Power of Pink, but Audrey Leonard had just articulated what I would come to understand as its unofficial, almost spiritual, motto. Call it the anti-dad bloc, if by “dad” you mean a certain kind of conservative, often older, male voter. The same constituency that has, in a great many states in this country, defined whether and how women like Leonard can access basic health services. The 18-year-old college student from Indiana was one of nearly 1,000 people, most of...

A bill to bar public funding for entities that provide abortions, legislation that could be used to prevent Planned Parenthood from opening an abortion clinic in New Orleans, passed the full Senate on Monday (May 23). The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. John Bel Edwards. The bill is one of several this session that have sought to address concerns raised by the release of videos portraying Planned Parenthood officials discussing the organization's tissue donation program last summer. The videos were produced by an anti-abortion group, and contained graphic language about abortion procedures.Gov. Bobby Jindal looked for ways...

HOUSTON, Texas — The lawyer for Planned Parenthood who has been accused of colluding with the Harris County DA against the Planned Parenthood undercover videographer, filed an affidavit to deny this charge, but admits that a prosecutor gave him a copy of the undercover video. As reported on April 14, Jared Woodfill, a lawyer for undercover videographer David Daleiden told Breitbart Texas, “We have clear evidence that the DA is colluding with Planned Parenthood.” The District Attorney in Harris County, Texas, is Devon Anderson. David Daleiden, is the president and founder of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). Daleiden’s undercover...

A federal judge temporarily stopped the Ohio Department of Health from stripping more than $1 million from Planned Parenthood. A law, passed by mostly GOP legislators and signed by Republican Gov. John Kasich, would divert about $1.4 million in taxpayer money from Planned Parenthood to health departments for programs like HIV testing and sex education.

Why do liberals hate science? The left has long claimed that it has something of a monopoly on scientific expertise. For instance, long before Al Gore started making millions by claiming that anyone who disagreed with his apocalyptic prophecies was "anti-science," there were the "scientific socialists." "Social engineer" is now rightly seen as a term of scorn and derision, but it was once a label that progressive eggheads eagerly accepted. Masking opinions in a white smock is a brilliant, albeit infuriating and shabby, rhetorical tactic. As the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion,...

Every day, it seems, the United States is becoming a more hostile environment for people with pro-life and conservative positions. Abortion activists constantly challenge pro-life laws, stall abortion industry investigations, force religious objectors to pay for abortions and attack life-affirming resource organizations. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT A recent article by Harvard law professor Mark Tushnet on the blog Balkinization calls for liberals to pursue even more aggressive measures against conservatives and pro-lifers, according to a new column by The Heritage Foundation’s Ryan T. Anderson.Anderson wrote at The Daily Signal: Now that President Barack Obama has reshaped the federal judiciary, liberal causes can...

Miley Cyrus couldn’t be prouder to represent Planned Parenthood and abortion, according to the singer herself. On Tuesday, late-night talk show host Jimmy Fallon invited the 23-year-old celebrity on the Tonight Show as a guest. To introduce Cyrus, Fallon asked the audience to “please welcome one of the coolest, hardest working people we know.” In the middle of interviewing Cyrus, Fallon brought up her “charity” work. “You’re releasing a T-shirt today?” he prompted Cyrus, before holding up a shirt featuring a photo of her behind a steamy pane of glass kissing the word “pro-choice” traced in the fog. In agreement,...

Parents are standing up against Planned Parenthood infiltrating Iowa schools. The Obama Administration has put forth more than $5 million towards Planned Parenthood providing sex education to the children, some as young as 5, but pro-lifers and concerned parents are working to keep the abortion giant away from Iowa children, according to One News Now. According to Ricky A. Rohrig of the Pregnancy Center of Southwest Iowa, Planned Parenthood was already run out of their schools several years ago after the parents realized exactly what they were teaching their young children. One News Now reported that Planned Parenthood was "graphically...

The Planned Parenthood abortion corporation is a billion-dollar business — but apparently singer Miley Cyrus thinks it could use a few more bucks. The actress and media icon is selling t-shirts to raise funds for the biggest abortion company in the nation. As LifeNews previously reported, Cyrus launched a campaign in April to support the abortion giant Planned Parenthood. The singer and actress, known for shocking audiences with nudity, sexual gestures and generally grotesque behavior, posted a photo on Instagram and Twitter to announce the campaign The post shows Cyrus wearing a bright pink pin with the abortion giant’s logo...

On Tuesday, Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey signed into law a budget stripping at least $200,000 in funding from Planned Parenthood, calling the budget “proof the government can live within its means and be responsible with the people’s money.” The budget, which takes effect on July 1, ends abortion providers’ practice of charging the government for more than the cost of medications, which Planned Parenthood is accused of using to obtain “reimbursements” up to ten times the actual cost. The provision was added to the budget by an amendment last week. The language exempts licensed hospitals and outpatient facilities operated...

Millions of American voters are concerned about the potential to have a serial philander as the “First Gentleman” should abortion activist Hillary Clinton become president. But the head of the nation’s biggest abortion business says it won’t be a problem. MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Monday asked Cecile Richards to comment on the problems Bill Clinton may pose for Hillary and comments from Donald Trump that Clinton enabled Bill Clinton to engage in more inappropriate behavior. Naturally, the abortion giant’s CEO quickly played the woman card. Later, Richards essentially said Bill Clinton’s philandering is not an issue — though voters will...

A man who acknowledged killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic is mentally incompetent to continue with his criminal case, a judge ruled Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT The decision by Judge Gilbert Martinez puts the case against Robert Dear, 57, on hold until his mental competency can be restored through treatment. He will be sent to the state psychiatric hospital, and his mental health will be reviewed in August. As he was led out of the courtroom, Dear yelled at the judge: "That's called prejudiced, filthy animal!" The case will resume when Dear is found to be mentally capable of...

A House panel issued subpoenas to two organizations in an effort to access information related to the purchase and sale of aborted baby body parts. The House of Representatives Select Investigative Panel issued subpoenas on April 29 to Scinto Group, LLP and Five Star Bancorp to get accounting and bank records of StemExpress, a biomedical tissue procurement company that used to work with Planned Parenthood. StemExpress has reportedly failed to turn over all documents to Congress after the Select Investigative Panel subpoenaed the company.