Free Republic

This is the second in a five-part series contrasting the ways our society could handle end-of-life care moving forward. The right to die is an odd concept. Everyone will inevitably die. Many people fear what sort of condition they may be when they are older or suffering from a terminal disease. Some people express that fear in these exact words: “I don’t want to be hooked up to all of those machines.” Patients certainly have a right to refuse unwanted medical treatment. But when people speak of the “right to die,” they don’t mean allowing someone at the end of...

The story of Alfie Evans in the United Kingdom shocked and captivated an international audience. His death on April 28 was tragic, leaving his parents and countless people across the globe heartbroken, including his devoted online advocates in “Alfie’s Army.” Many things happened during his case. The medical details are complex, with Alfie perhaps suffering from a unique disease. While the details may be hard to follow, the controversy over Alfie is really quite simple: Alfie’s medical care was forcibly removed from him because of his quality of life. This was a fight about imposing “quality of life” judgments on...

About once a week my search for “Today in History” turns up a reminder, positive or negative, of something that pro-lifers should carefully ponder. Ninety one years ago today, in Buck v. Bell, the United States Supreme Court upheld a Virginia law that allowed the forced sterilization of people to promote the “health of the patient and the welfare of society.” Specifically, the 8-1 decision, written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes permitted an innocent woman by the name of Carrie Buck to be involuntarily sterilized. Carrie Buck’s “crime”? She was supposedly “feeble-minded.” As Social Darwinist Justice Holmes pronounced, in one...

Queens, NY – Jury deliberations are continuing into the second day in the manslaughter trial of abortionist Robert Rho, who faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of Second Degree Manslaughter for causing the death of Jaime Morales, 30, due to a terribly botched second trimester abortion. Yesterday, the jury asked to examine several pieces of evidence that were presented in the trial, including some medical records and surgical instruments, according to Operation Rescue’s courtroom observer Lauren Handy. Testimony and evidence presented during the trial showed that Rho cut corners that put his patients at risk. He conducted...

FULL TITLE: Defense Plays Race Card While Prosecution Tells Jury Greed and Arrogance Led to Abortion Patient Death Queens, NY – The criminal manslaughter case goes to the jury today after often emotional and sometimes shocking closing arguments were presented by the prosecution and the defense against abortionist Robert Rho, who is accused of causing the death of Jaime Lee Morales, 30 during a fatally botched in the 26th week of her pregnancy. Operation Rescue’s courtroom observer, Lauren Handy, will be in court awaiting a verdict in this trial that is now in its eighteenth day. Also present in court...

Queens, NY – In a surprise move, no testimony was taken Tuesday, April 30, 2018, in the Robert Rho manslaughter trial. Instead attorneys met in the chambers of Judge Gregory Lasak for a prolonged conference. Rho is on trial for Second Degree Manslaughter (reckless homicide) for causing the death of Jaime Morales, 30, as the result of a severely botched second trimester abortion in 2016. Lauren Handy, Operation Rescue’s in-court observer, indicated that a reporter from the Associated Press joined her in court. Handy said that the reporter had also been in the courtroom on Friday but had not yet...

(Reuters) - Iowa’s Republican-controlled legislature passed the most restrictive abortion ban in the United States on Wednesday, outlawing the procedure after a fetal heartbeat is detected, often at six weeks and before a woman realizes she is pregnant. The Senate voted 29-17 to pass the House of Representatives-approved bill, according to the legislature’s online voting tallies. The bill now goes to Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, an abortion opponent, who has not said publicly whether she will sign it into law. The legislation is aimed at triggering a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 landmark decision which...

Sources close to the family of Alfie Evans are refuting a story that appeared in an Italian newspaper claiming that Alfie was given four unknown drugs just two hours before he died. Caroline Farrow, a British journalist and broadcaster who has been working closely with administrators of the Alfie Army website, informed LifeNews today that the Italian newspaper article is incorrect. Not only is the article inaccurate but administrators of Facebook page to support Alfie and his family say the claims in the article are causing more stress for Alfie’s family just days after he passed away. If true, the...

Doctors in Perth are threatening to stop Australia’s oldest scientist flying to Switzerland to end his life through voluntary euthanasia. Edith Cowan University honorary research associate David Goodall, 104, does not have a terminal illness but his quality of life has deteriorated. Euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke said Goodall had attempted suicide about two months ago after suffering a fall, ended up in hospital and his daughter had to fight hard to get him out – only succeeding after arranging an independent psychiatric review.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department has removed the term “reproductive rights” from its annual human-rights reports, drawing praise from pro-life leaders who say that the phrase had become a thinly veiled reference to abortion.   “‘Reproductive rights’ has long been a euphemism for destroying human life in the womb,” said Lila Rose, founder and president of the pro-life group Live Action. “A phrase that sounds like empowerment is a really only code for the subjugation of preborn children.”

UK toddler Alfie Evans allegedly died within hours of receiving four different drugs from a nurse at Alder Hey hospital, Italian media is reporting. The information that Alfie was given four injections has also been obtained by LifeSiteNews from two different sources with connections to the Evans family.  Alfie Evans died in Liverpool’s Alder Hey children’s hospital on Saturday morning at 2:30 AM. According to Italian newspaper La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, a nurse entered the child’s cubicle after his father Tom had been called aside and gave him four drugs. A source close to the family told LifeSiteNews that these were...

Nearly 200 members of Congress and 100 state and national pro-life groups are calling on the Trump administration to take taxpayers out of the abortion business. The coalition sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Monday asking him to cut off abortion providers from Title X dollars, which are earmarked for family planning services. “For far too long the Title X Family Planning Program has been integrated with abortion centers,” the letter read. “It is time to act swiftly to disentangle abortion centers from the Title X network. Doing so would be consistent with the...

Queens, NY – The trial of abortionist Robert Rho continues today for the fifteenth day of testimony in the Queens Supreme Court, Criminal Division in Queens, New York. Rho is on trial for one count of Felony Second Degree Manslaughter (reckless homicide) for causing the death of 30-year old Jaime Morales during a seriously botched 26-week abortion. Operation Rescue’s trail observer, Lauren Handy, was in court on Thursday, April 26, 2018, when a witness that testified last Monday, Dr. Arup De, an expert in anesthesiology, retook the stand for what proved to be a raucous round of cross examination by...

Queens, NY – On the thirteenth day of testimony, the prosecution rested its case against abortionist Robert Rho, who is being tried for Second Degree Manslaughter (Reckless Homicide) for causing the death of Jaime Morales, 30, during a horrifically botched late-second trimester abortion. Judge Gregory Lasak quickly denied a motion made by defense attorney Jeffery Lichtman to dismiss the case. Yesterday, it became clear that those involved in the trial have become aware of Operation Rescue’s coverage of the case, with Rho appearing to be particularly upset by the news. But it was tension between Rho and his attorney that...

FULL TITLE: Testimony: Fatal Injuries Resulted from Rho’s Single-Day Dismemberment Abortion of 6-Month Old Pre-Born Baby Queens, NY — The manslaughter trial of abortionist Robert Rho resumed on Wednesday with a short day of testimony. Rho is standing trial on one count of Second Degree Manslaughter (Reckless Homicide), a Class C Felony, for causing the death of Jaime Morales, 30, during a severely botched second trimester abortion in 2016. An observer for Operation Rescue, Lauren Handy, has been in the courtroom all week. No other media outlets have had a presence in court. The most significant testimony heard this week,...

Queens, NY – Abortionist Robert Rho has been on trial in a Queens, New York, courtroom since April 9, 2018, for the unnecessary death of abortion patient Jaime Morales, but news coming from this important trail has so far been non-existent – until now. This week, Operation Rescue has an observer, pro-life activist Lauren Handy, in court who is giving us the first details about witnesses and evidence in the case that is expected to run through May 3. “The case against Rho seemed so cut and dried that we actually expected him to take a plea bargain. We never...

FULL TITLE: British Prime Minister Defends Hospital That Ended Alfie Evans’ Life, Says “Clinicians Should Decide” Not Parents Now that little Alfie Evans has died, apologists are coming out of the woodwork defending the hospital, the doctors, and the courts, that yanked his life support over his parents’ objections. As Alfie’s family mourns his death on Saturday, and as millions of supporters of his family across the globe share their condolences, some people are defending Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. That is the hospital where doctors decided Alfie was too far gone and revoked his life support without his parents’ permission....

The hospital that was at the center of the controversy over Alfie Evans and ultimately yanked his life support was once embroiled in a controversy surrounding the selling of children’s organs after surgery. Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in London came under considerable criticism after fighting with Alfie’s parents for months and withdrawing off his life support without their consent following a massive legal battle. The hospital came under additional criticism when it did not feed it Alfie for longer than 24 hours after removing his life support. But this is not the first time Alder Hey Children’s Hospital has been...

It is important that we understand our past to protect future societies from making similar tragic errors. The German T4 euthanasia program is nearly hidden within history, an event that few people want to talk about and fewer want to acknowledge how we are repeating history. Nonetheless, research uncovering the involvement of Hans Asperger, who became known for his research related to Autism Spectrum, identifies that he was also involved in killing approximately 5000 people with disabilities as an active participant in the German T4 euthanasia program. Studies by Albert Bandura, a psychologist who developed the social cognitive theory known...

Cecile Richards officially left her position as the CEO of America’s largest abortion business on Monday. Richards announced her plans to resign from Planned Parenthood in January, barely a month after the U.S. Department of Justice said it is investigating whether the abortion chain illegally sold aborted baby body parts. Planned Parenthood has not announced Richards’ replacement at the time of the writing of this article. “For 12 yrs, Mom has put her heart & soul into running Planned Parenthood,” Richards’ daughter Lily Adams tweeted Monday. “On her last day, it’s impossible to express what this org has meant to...