Free Republic

One really encouraging aspect of the GOP Presidential field shaping up for 2016 is that virtually all of the serious potential candidates are reliably pro-life. We neither have candidates who claim to be “pro-choice”, nor any who have had a politically convenient pro-life conversion this time around. We do need to listen carefully to what all the candidates say, and make sure there is no compromise on principle, but we do not have the problem of needing to be convinced that a candidate with a strong pro-life record is the real deal. No, this time around we have the luxury...

March 11, 2015 (ALL.org) -- If you have ever heard the word “eugenics,” you probably know that it is a heinous act. And in the 21st century, we’re supposed to be more sophisticated and better behaved than the Nazis or the 18th and 19th century Americans who plotted massive exterminations of the “undesirable” population. In today’s world, where individuals have a host of legal “rights,” it might seem safe to revisit such goals as purifying the human race of genetic defects, preventing births in locations designated by scientists as overpopulated, and using abortion and contraception (often the same thing) to...

[JURIST] The West Virginia Legislature [official website] on Friday overrode the governor's veto, passing a bill [text, HB 2586] banning abortion after 20 weeks. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin [official website] said he vetoed the law because of concerns over its constitutionality and would have preferred a later gestational period for banning abortion. The bill excludes [AP report] certain cases of medical emergencies and is set to take effect in May. West Virginia is now the 11th state to ban abortion after 20 weeks. The legislation is based on the premise that fetuses can feel pain starting around 20 weeks, a...

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FOX News Channel (FNC) has hired minister and civil rights activist Dr. Alveda King as a contributor, announced Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO, FOX News. In this role, Dr. King will provide social and cultural commentary across FNC’s daytime and primetime programming. “King Rules: Ten Truths for You, Your Family, and Our Nation to Prosper.” In making the announcement, Ailes said, “Alveda has brilliantly carried the legacy of the King family to the next generation and has been a source of inspiration for many Americans. Her passion and mission for social change will be a valuable contribution to...

When one considers the number of abortions in any given country, the tally of human life lost to abortion is staggering.In the United States alone, 57 million unborn children have died from abortions since Roe v. Wade ushered in an era of unlimited abortions in 1973. If you factor in the number of legal abortions in the several states that legalized abortion prior to the Supreme Court's infamous decision, that horrific total is even higher.But what of the number of babies who have lost their lives to abortion around the world int he decades abortion has been legal in countries...

At the end of this month, Terri Schiavo will be ten years dead. But she is far from forgotten. Everyone reading these words knows the story, and everyone has an opinion. What began in 1990 as a private tragedy—a vivacious young woman stricken in the prime of life with a severe cognitive disability—became a source of profound cultural division, as likely to spark debate today as when the case first broke into the public’s consciousness. Why has her story remained so potent? Part of it has to do with the high-profile and vituperative legal and public-relations battle between Terri’s...

The Omaha World-Herald reported Thursday that the prank device exploded when staff opened a package delivered to Fortenberry’s Lincoln office. Glitter bombs explode in showers of tiny, sparkling confetti that are difficult to clean up. “You can certainly disagree with your member of Congress or any member of Congress, but this is pretty reckless and irresponsible,” said Jennifer Allen, a spokeswoman for Fortenberry. “It’s just a huge waste of everybody’s time and resources.” Allen said the trick seemed motivated by Fortenberry’s stance on abortion. A note accompanying the package criticized his pro-life beliefs, she added. “Congrats, you’ve earned this for...

Pro-lifers are concerned about the commitment of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, to ending abortion. In a "Fox News Sunday" interview, Walker said he was pro-life but sounded dipassionate about ending abortion if he were elected president. During his reelection campaign, host Chris Wallace noted, Walker ran an ad calling abortion an "agonizing choice" and said he supported legislation that "leaves the final decision to a woman and her doctor." "Do you believe," Wallace asked, "that a woman has a right to end a pregnancy at any point during those nine months?" Walker answered that he's...

Periodically I receive emails from good pro-lifers (and occasionally from pro-abortionists) politely suggesting that what I had written was hard to believe. None exactly accused me of making it up, but the gist was hard to miss: Nobody, but nobody would ever say, could ever say what I attributed to the author of a particular article.The beauty of the Internet is that you can easily direct good-faith skeptics to the source. So, in his instance, go to “I Love Abortion: Implying Otherwise Accomplishes Nothing for Women’s Rights,” by Jessica DelBalzo.The rhrealitycheck.org site is peopled by the kind of women who...

APRC withdrew its participation from Amplify Austin, a large 24-hour fundraising drive for non-profits this week, after the organization placed restrictions on faith-based groups. The restrictions included that funds from the event could not go to groups that communicate their faith while helping others or “promote religious doctrine or instruction.” Funding for the non-profit pregnancy centers is vital to their ability to help pregnant women and babies. However, their purpose to minister to both the physical and spiritual needs of these women appeared to be restricted by Amplify Austin’s new policies. APRC has chosen instead to engage in its own...

Texas Values congratulates The Austin Pregnancy Resource Center (APRC) and two other faith-based pregnancy centers for women and babies, who made a victorious decision in choosing to stand for their convictions of faith. APRC withdrew its participation from Amplify Austin, a large 24-hour fundraising drive for non-profits this week, after the organization placed restrictions on faith-based groups. The restrictions included that funds from the event could not go to groups that communicate their faith while helping others or “promote religious doctrine or instruction.” Funding for the non-profit pregnancy centers is vital to their ability to help pregnant women and babies....

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) plans to sign a Wisconsin bill banning abortions after 20 weeks and supports similar legislation at the federal level, he says in an open letter, a shift from his refusal to discuss the matter before his 2014 reelection. "As the Wisconsin legislature moves forward in the coming session, further protections for mother and child are likely to come to my desk in the form of a bill to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks. I will sign that bill when it gets to my desk and support similar legislation on the federal level," Walker writes to...

Preliminary autopsy results say 20-day-old Justice Rees, whose tiny body was found Wednesday at a remote slough near Knights Landing, may have drowned or died of hypothermia. In an interview Thursday, Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto said authorities have no evidence the infant was a victim of homicide.

In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.” “Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?” The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.” The first...

Quietly on Christmas Eve, the Obama administration changed the rules on handling refugee children who enter the country without their parents and report being victims of sexual assault. All refugee aid groups, including Catholic and other Christian groups, will now be required to refer those girls to facilities that provide abortions. Religious groups that work with refugees are concerned that the new rules may require them to give up federal funding. Dr. Susan Yoshihara of the New York and Washington DC-based Center for Family & Human Rights (C-Fam) first reported the change last week: “Faith-based groups say this is a...

I saw it depicted on a screen in my 8th grade Catholic school classroom before I had ever even heard the word abortion.After my teacher played the video The Silent Scream, which showed a live abortion, I sat there shocked and angry. I went home and asked my mother, “How can abortion be allowed in this free country of America? Don’t those babies deserve their lives?’ Even in my innocence, I understood the simplicity.My mother saw my angry passion and made a suggestion that would allow me to put my passion into action. She said, “Let’s go to a clinic...

Emergency Contraception at Catholic Institutions: Bishops Can No Longer Claim Ignorance by Dr. Brian KoppFebruary 24, 2015Photo courtesy of Mike Mozart. The February 2015 Linacre Quarterly (the official journal of the Catholic Medical Association) features a groundbreaking study by Chris Kahlenborn, MD of The Polycarp Research Institute titled Mechanism of action of levonorgestrel emergency contraception. The study, contrasting the theoretical basis on which emergency contraception (otherwise known as “Plan B”) is claimed to function with the facts and statistics of the most recent research outlining the mechanism by which they cause early abortions, is sure to cause heartburn among...

February 24, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- On Friday, February 20, 2015, I went to the New Mexico Roundhouse to speak out in support of HB 390 Late-term Abortion Ban -- without the rape exception.  My family and I got there early, and I was excited, but nervous! This was a big step for me on so many levels.  While I have shared my story with more people than I can count, I had never spoken in front of a legislative committee with opposition around me.  Why would I go before the committee and share how I was conceived in incest/rape? Because the lives of the rape/incest-conceived...

(CNSNews.com) – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is advancing federal regulations that require federally funded organizations caring for illegal alien minors who are in the United States without their parents (Unaccompanied Children or UC) and who may have been sexually abused access to “emergency contraception” services. “Emergency contraception” includes abortion-inducing drugs. These care providers currently include Catholic and other faith-based organizations that oppose abortion, according to the Center for Family and Human Rights or C-FAM, a Catholic advocacy group. The Interim Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 24,...

* In October the Wisconsin governor pledged to support legislation focused on 'safety' during abortions * 'The bill leaves the final decision to a woman and her doctor,' he said in a campaign ad * This month he's telling potential donors that he supports a 'personhood' amendment, which insists that life begins at conception * He boasted in January that he had 'defunded Planned Parenthood,' America's wealthiest and most politically savvy chain of abortion clinics * Walker is busy beefing up his conservative bona fides in advance of a brusiing GOP presidential primary that may not favor blue-state moderates Wisconsin...