Free Republic

When Elizabeth Cady Stanton was penning the Declaration of Sentiments, she was imagining a future in which women had the right to own property and to vote, as well as the ability to participate in legislation. She was picturing a life in which women were viewed as equal to men, able to earn an income, able to speak their mind, and treated with respect. But in that vision, did Stanton see a world with abortion on demand? Did any of the major players in early feminism aim for such a thing? No, the early feminists fought for women’s rights, and...

A Missouri professor readily admitted to having an abortion for selfish reasons in grad school. In a column Thursday in the Riverfront Times, Julie Setele, Ph.D., a professor of sociology and criminology at Webster University in St. Louis, defended her abortion and the infamous U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. Setele expressed concern about the open Supreme Court seat and the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned. She said women will be “oppressed” if they cannot legally abort their unborn babies. “It is vital that all people who can become pregnant have that choice,” she wrote. “It is...

“The current season of The Handmaid’s Tale has been brutal. And so has America as of late,” the Daily Beast contributor Alex Zaragoza bemoaned to open her overwrought piece on why we should be worried that our country is turning into a dystopian feminist fiction. Since the premiere of Hulu’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel last year, liberals in the media have made a concerted effort to compare the feminist dystopia to current America, with Trump as leader. With the show being renewed for a second season this past Spring, it’s given the media ample more opportunities to gush how...

With the talk of pro-life U.S. Supreme Court nominees and Roe v. Wade potentially being overturned, it is important to actually know what the landmark abortion case is about. And there are strong indications that many do not. A Democratic pollster recently pointed out that most millennials do not know what Roe v. Wade is about, or when abortion was legalized. “Millennials think that Roe v. Wade happened right after the American Revolution,” Celinda Lake, president of Lake Research, said on a Friday episode of “What America’s Thinking,” a show on Hill.TV about polls and public opinion. Furthermore, a 2013...

Since Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, it has given pro-lifers a glimmer of hope that Roe v. Wade may finally be overturned — and abortion advocates are panicking. They’ve begun to argue that Roe can’t be overturned, emphasizing the supposed importance of abortion for women. One of the most troubling examples comes from Cindi Leive, who has built herself an impressive resume in the publishing world, working as editor-in-chief for both Glamour and Self magazines, as well as a senior fellow at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center and a a Board Member at the International...

Life Legal has backed Planned Parenthood into a corner over its illegal trafficking in baby parts. In ten days, Planned Parenthood will have to explain to Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu of California’s Northern District why it has refused to respond to interrogatories from Life Legal on behalf of the Center for Medical Progress. Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and several Planned Parenthood affiliates sued CMP and its founder, David Daleiden, two and a half years ago in federal district court, asserting fifteen claims ranging from racketeering to invasion of privacy. Their lawsuit alleges that the videos showing Planned Parenthood...

Among its apologists, abortion has long been heralded for its purported social benefits—just as birth control was before it. By preventing "unwanted" children from being birthed, abortion is supposed to reduce strain on the system and create better outcomes for those already born. To that end, California taxpayers foot the bill for more than half the state’s abortions. In 2014, that amounted to almost 90,000 abortions—all in the name of fiscal responsibility. If this rather macabre investment strategy really does produce better outcomes for the state, you wouldn’t know it. On the fiscal scale, California ranks 8th from the bottom,...

Dawn Laguens is the executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and she is quite clear when it comes to one thing: She would do most anything to ensure that the so-called right to abortion remains intact. In an opinion piece for Glamour, Laguens opines on the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned, now that President Donald Trump has nominated federal Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. She insists that this right to abortion is deeply personal not just to all women, but to her. “In 1983, as a freshman at [Louisiana State University], I...

Actress and politician Cynthia Nixon held up a wire coat hanger Tuesday to blast pro-lifers for wanting to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Cut reports Nixon, who is famous for her role in “Sex and the City,” spoke at a rally protesting President Donald Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court – a nominee who pro-lifers hope could be the deciding vote in restoring rights for unborn babies in America. Nixon is running for New York governor against Democrat incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who also is pro-abortion. Abortion has been a key issue in their campaigns. On Tuesday, while holding...

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he'll sue if the Supreme Court rolls back Roe v. Wade. Gov. Cuomo has been calling on lawmakers to increase protections in New York. "We never passed the New York State law because we relied on Roe v. Wade and everyone assumed it would always be there," Gov. Cuomo said. During the 2016 election, Donald Trump regularly stated that he would only appoint judges to the Supreme Court that would overturn the ruling.

British royal bride Meghan Markle waded into the abortion debate Tuesday, supposedly by saying she was “pleased” that Ireland voted to repeal its constitutional protections for unborn babies. Markle and Prince Harry are visiting Ireland this week in their first official trip overseas as a married couple. The Irish Sun reports Markle allegedly expressed her support for abortion during a summer party with Irish political leaders and celebrities Tuesday at Glencairn. “A pleasure to meet Prince Harry & the Duchess of Sussex at the British Ambassador’s Residence this evening,” Irish political leader Catherine Noone wrote on Twitter. “The Duchess &...

President Donald Trump has nominated federal appeals court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh has taken the pro-life side in important cases and has very strong pro-life Bona fides — prompting leading pro-life groups to praise him for a sterling pro-life record. President Trump applauded Judge Kavanaugh as someone who would apply the Constitution as written but Planned Parenthood launched a fierce attack the Supreme Court nominee, claiming he would “wreak havoc” on abortion. In one of his most celebrated decisions, Judge Kavanaugh ruled against the Obama HHS mandate that forced Hobby Lobby, Little Sisters of the Poor...

On Monday night, MSNBC prime-time shows spent the vast majority of their time discussing President Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court. Of the 27 guests which appeared over the four-hour block from 8:00 p.m. to midnight ET, not a single conservative was given time to speak about the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. Among the guests were progressive activists brought on to discuss the significance of the nomination. Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, Cecile Richards, former CEO of Planned Parenthood, and Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, all got screen time. Each expressed deep...

The abortion advocacy group NARAL, along with Planned Parenthood and others, is claiming that President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, could overturn Roe v. Wade. NARAL launched an ad campaign Monday evening targeting five states to fight Kavanaugh’s nomination. The group attempts to frame him as “a vote to end Roe v. Wade, criminalize abortion, and punish women.” “We need senators who understand it isn’t their place to play judge and jury on women,” NARAL says in their announcement. “The message is clear: every senator must stand unequivocally for our fundamental freedoms, or they will pay the price...

On Monday, July 9, 2018, President Trump announced the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for a Supreme Court Justice to replace the retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kavanaugh, 53, earned two Yale degrees, including from Yale Law School in 1990. 1. After spending two years as a law clerk, Kavanaugh moved on to a one-year fellowship in the office of U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth Starr with a clerkship for Justice Anthony Kennedy. He would then join Kenneth Starr at the Office for Independent Counsel, where he was a lead author of the 1998 Starr Report to Congress, siting 11 grounds for President...

Planned Parenthood is panicking over the U.S. Supreme Court and the future of abortion on demand. “Our constitutional right to abortion is seriously at risk,” said Dawn Laguens, vice president of the abortion chain, in an email to supporters Tuesday. Laguens portrayed President Donald Trump and his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as women haters because of their conservative stance and opinions against Planned Parenthood’s radical pro-abortion agenda. On Monday, Trump chose Kavanaugh to fill moderate Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat. If confirmed, Kavanaugh could swing the court to a conservative majority and be a deciding opinion on vital...

Yale Law School students and faculty wrote and signed an open-letter to the dean Tuesday, criticizing Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court and saying that “people will die if he is confirmed.” The authors and signers of the letter asked Yale Law School Dean Heather K. Gerken to “use your authority and platform to expose the stakes of this moment and the threat that Judge Kavanaugh poses.” “[P]eople will die if he is confirmed,” the letter reads, adding that he is a “threat to our democracy.” The crux of the letter is a disavowal for the potential overturning of...

The possibility that unborn babies again could be protected under United States law is “very scary” to former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards. Reacting to President Donald Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Richards told Democracy Now on Tuesday that the high court soon could hear more than a dozen cases that could “restrict women’s rights” to abortion. “I think the threats to women’s health and women’s rights are profound,” Richards said. If Trump’s nominee, federal Judge Brett Kavanaugh, is confirmed to the court, the majority of justices would be conservative, opening the doors for more restrictions on abortion,...

Tomi Lahren began her appearance on Fox and Friends this morning by saying she wanted to “clarify” her statements in which she argued against overturning Roe v. Wade. Instead, Lahren doubled down, adding fuel to the fire by saying that conservatives who want to go after Roe “might as well spit on the Constitution.” Said Lahren: “My problem is with some of my fellow conservatives who have put it out there that we are, quote: “coming for Roe v. Wade. That is a mistake, because we are putting it out there and implying that we are sending a justice to...

Already preparing for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined abortion activists this week to push for measures to protect abortion on demand. Cuomo, a Democrat who is up for re-election, signed an executive order Tuesday directing state agencies to make rules forcing health insurers to cover all forms of contraception, including those that may cause abortions, the Journal News reports. The governor also urged the state legislature to pass a radical pro-abortion bill that would keep abortion on demand legal if Roe is overturned. Surrounded by abortion activists Monday at a...