Free Republic

... It was the third papal meeting for Laura, 57, a saucy Paraguayan sex worker who, in her realest moments, described herself as “una travesti,” outdated Spanish slang for “a transgender woman.” She lived by a code: Tough girls don’t cry. But the first time Pope Francis had blessed her, she couldn’t suppress her tears. On their second meeting, they chatted over lunch. He came to know her well enough to ask about her health. On top of her longtime HIV, she’d had a recent cancer diagnosis. During treatment, the church sourced her a comfortable hotel room in the shadow...

The mayor of Huntington, Steve Williams, has initiated a petition. He wants Gov. Jim Justice to talk about a potential abortion vote during the special session in May. The Supreme Court of the United States reversed Roe v. Wade in 2022. This resulted in West Virginia implementing a near-complete abortion ban known as the Unborn Child Protection Act. This act makes most abortions in the state illegal. Exceptions exist for situations where the mother's life is at risk, or in cases of rape and incest reported quickly to the police. Williams, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, wishes to add reproductive rights...

CHICAGO (TND) — A pro-Palestine organization at the University of Chicago asked Thursday for the public to donate a long list of items to aid campus protesters, including birth control, HIV tests and Vaseline. UChicago United for Palestine, which describes itself as a coalition "committed to Palestinian liberation," is the driving force behind days worth of anti-Israel demonstrations at the University of Chicago. Thursday marked the fourth day of the group's encampment on UChicago's main quad. In an Instagram post, the coalition made a series of supply requests for its "medical tent," including "Plan B," also known as the "morning...

The first six years of Micaella Clay’s life were spent in the foster care system. She didn’t have a name or a birth date. She remembers her older brother calling her “sissy,” but had no identity of her own. Clay is an abortion survivor, born in a make-shift abortion facility on an unidentified migrant farm. Clay told Live Action News, “I was in 36 foster homes by the time I was finally adopted when I was six years old and given the name Micaella.” Throughout her young life, Clay battled with a myriad of health problems related to her heart,...

On April 22, the Biden-Harris administration announced a Final Rule entitled, “HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy,” which will prohibit the disclosure of protected health information (PHI) related to so-called “lawful reproductive health care in certain circumstances.” Pro-life groups, including Florida Right to Life, are warning that the new rule will specifically protect abortion businesses and abortionists who deliberately interfere with state laws aimed at protecting the lives of preborn children from abortion. “The Biden administration is attempting to use a new interpretation of the decades-old Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to shield...

An insurance company is coming under fire for denying the coverage of life-saving treatment to a set of twins who will otherwise likely die before their second birthday. People Magazine reported that Eli and Easton Reed were born on March 31, 2024, and shortly after they were both diagnosed via newborn screening with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a progressive genetic disorder that kills nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke states that there are different forms, including Types I, II, III, and IV with Type I being the most severe. Without...

A Florida bill, the Heartbeat Protection Act (HPA), went into effect on Wednesday, which increases protections for the unborn after six-weeks, as opposed to the state’s previous 15-week rule. The HPA initially became law in April 2023 as part of the Florida Supreme Court’s decision that abortion is not a given right under the Constitution. That decision was key in upholding the 15-week law, and only a month later, proved relevant to the six-week law. Several Democrats have made their opposition to the bill known. For instance, Vice President Kamala Harris claimed the law was “extreme,” blaming former President Donald...

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has signed the bill to repeal Arizona’s abortion ban, making it so babies will continue being aborted in the southwestern state. In a gleeful message, Hobbs celebrated her own signing of the bill. “With the stroke of my pen, the 1864 abortion ban is about to OFFICIALLY become a thing of the past,” she wrote on X (Twitter). However, under the state Constitution, any law repeal doesn’t take effect until 90 days after the legislative session ends, and the end date can vary. For example, if this session ends in late July like last year, the...

A pro-lifer convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act has allegedly suffered a stroke after being kept in solitary confinement in prison — before even receiving sentencing. Heather Idoni was found guilty in January of violating the FACE Act in Tennessee and of one count of “conspiracy against rights.” She, along with five other pro-lifers, each face up to 11 years in prison. Additionally, Idoni was found guilty on the same charges last Autumn, relating to a pro-life rescue held at the Washington Surgi-Clinic in 2020. In that trial, Idoni and seven of her eight...

A CNN report on the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Kristen Clarke, is drawing accusations that the outlet sought to curry favor with President Joe Biden’s DOJ through its framing. After The Daily Signal published a report on Tuesday highlighting evidence that Clarke had not disclosed an arrest and an expungement during her nomination process to the DOJ—and then explicitly denied ever having been arrested to Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton—CNN published a report on Wednesday headlined “DOJ civil rights leader says she was a victim of abuse in extraordinary statement.” CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz framed the story...

A new Iranian law that raises the prospect of the death penalty for abortion has been condemned by independent human rights experts, who have declared that is in “clear contravention of international law”. In a statement released on Tuesday, the experts called on the Iranian authorities to repeal the ‘Youthful Population and Protection of the Family’ law, which was ratified by Iran’s Guardian Council on the first of November. The law, said the experts, severely restricts access to abortion, contraception, voluntary sterilization services and related information, in direct violation of women’s human rights under international law, and contains a provision...

An Iranian official says according to the available data about 95 percent of abortions in the country are carried out through "illegal" procedures. Saleh Ghasemi, head of the Center for Strategic Research on Population, said on Thursday that abortion is one of the most effective variables in population growth, adding that "Only three percent of abortions [in Iran] are legal, and two percent of abortions are spontaneous." He also said that only four percent of abortions happen due to what he called "illegitimate relations". The ban on abortion in Iran has made women go to underground and often unsanitary centers...

A coalition of pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) in the state of New York preemptively filed a lawsuit against the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, on April 30. The lawsuit comes just days after James sent a letter to the centers noting that she would be suing them for “misleading statements” regarding the so-called “abortion pill reversal” protocol. The Thomas More Society is representing the PRCs, including CompassCare and Heartbeat International, in the case Heartbeat, …CompassCare, et al v James. James sent a letter to 10 of the state’s PRCs on April 22, in which she indicated that she would be...

CV NEWS FEED // Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a pro-abortion campaign speech in downtown Jacksonville, FL Wednesday – the same day Florida’s pro-life law protecting most unborn children after six weeks gestation went into effect. During her remarks, she repeatedly referred to the “heartbeat” law – and other state’s pro-life laws – as a “Trump abortion ban.” Florida voters are set to decide the fate of Amendment 4 – a measure that seeks to add a so-called “right to abortion” into the state’s Constitution – on November 5, the same day as the presidential election. In her speech, Harris...

In an interview on Monday, radically pro-abortion former Speaker Nancy Pelosi made the Democrats extreme abortion agenda crystal clear. She said that if Democrats win Congress, they will kill the filibuster in the Senate so they can legalize abortions up to birth nationwide. This is a stark reminder to every pro-life voter in America that pro-life Republicans must win Congress and Joe Biden can’t be re-elected. In an interview Monday on MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports,” Pelosi falsely claimed “People have to view abortion as a democracy issue. This is about freedom to make your own decisions for a woman. It’s...

The leader of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, Kristen Clarke, said in an extraordinary personal statement shared with CNN that she was a victim of years-long domestic abuse and chose not to disclose an expunged arrest record from that period during the Senate confirmation process. Clarke’s now-expunged arrest, which reportedly occurred during a domestic dispute, quickly became a cause célèbre among right-wing media and lawmakers who claim she lied during her 2021 Senate confirmation hearing, with some calling for her resignation. “Nearly 2 decades ago, I was subjected to years-long abuse and domestic violence at the hands of my...

Before becoming one of the Justice Department’s top leaders, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke was allegedly involved in a violent domestic dispute, according to court documents, records, and text messages—an incident that ended in her arrest and was ultimately expunged. During her Senate confirmation, Clarke specifically denied ever having been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime. Clarke was nominated by President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 7, 2021, and later confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 25, 2021, to lead the DOJ’s “crown jewel,” as former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. described the Civil Rights Division....

A disabled Pennsylvanian woman is speaking out after Planned Parenthood Keystone dismissed her from medical treatment over what they allege are “anti-trans and transphobic” views. The woman, who uses the pseudonym Jane Lane, had been receiving healthcare at the Pennsylvania clinic for over a decade. Lane shared a letter she says she received from Trish Tashjian, the Chief Operating Officer of Planned Parenthood Keystone on April 11. “To ensure the highest level of patient care, I want to inform you that Planned Parenthood Keystone will no longer be available to serve you as your healthcare provider, effective 4/11/2024,” Tashjian wrote....

A jailed pro-lifer who was held in prolonged solitary confinement last fall suffered a stroke while awaiting sentencing in May. LifeSiteNews was notified today that Heather Idoni, a defendant in the Washington, D.C. FACE (Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances) Act trials, was rushed to the hospital this week after suffering a stroke while being held at Northern Neck Regional Jail in Virginia. She is reportedly stabilized and will be taken back into custody to await sentencing on May 17. Idoni and eight other pro-lifers have been charged by the Department of Justice with violating the pro-abortion FACE Act and “conspiracy...

Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report highlighted increased activity in the U.S., including 1.05 million patients, 9.13 million services, 2.25 million birth control services, 392,715 abortions, and another 1.7 million appointments booked online. But to the dismay of pro-life activists, what may be the most shocking aspect of the data from the report was not the national impact, but the international effect Planned Parenthood has had — a mission they use taxpayer dollars to fund. As emphasized by two of Family Research Council’s experts, Arielle Del Turco and Mary Szoch, the abortion organization “has access to the $699,300,000 in U.S....