Free Republic

40 Days for Life opens September 26 in 316 locations   It's official! This 40 Days for Life campaign will be a record-setter! The campaign, from September 26 - November 4, will be the largest and longest internationally coordinated pro-life mobilization in history ... and you can help save lives by getting involved TODAY! Here's a quick rundown: 316 locations -- the most ever! 49 US states -- plus Washington, DC 7 Canadian provinces Australia, England, Spain and -- for the first time -- Uganda Many NEW cities ... 46 first-time campaigns The full list of locations for the...

Cardinal Dolan, the head of the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Archdiocese of New York, is slamming a program that will give morning after pills to girls in NYC schools as young as 14-years-old.The New York City Department of Education is furnishing morning-after pills and other birth control drugs to students at 13 city high schools and without parental permission. School nurses supplied with the drugs, which can cause a very early abortion, are dispensing “Plan B” and other oral or injectable birth control to girls as young as 14 without telling their parents — unless the parents...

Dear fellow conservative: Could there be a worse incumbent Democrat senator facing re-election than New York's Kirsten Gillibrand? And could we have a better challenger-a more reliable, articulate, intelligent woman; a more authentic, talented, and real conservative-than my old pal, Wendy Long? snip The act of political donating used to be so . . . provincial. But we're all smarter now: We've learned, too often the hard way, that every senator, not just those from our own state, but every single senator has a huge impact on our lives. That one vote always seems to matter, snip Without question, Wendy...

Planned Parenthood’s outreach page to teenagers is pushing them to use the term “slut” in a positive way. This is the latest way in which the abortion business is pushing sex and abortion on young people. Penny Star at CNS News has more: Planned Parenthood’s Facebook page, “Planned Parenthood Info for Teens,” includes sexual content, including a link to an MTV program, “Sextra Credit Episode 2,” focusing on the meaning of the word “slut.”“Find a seat in the class and let Francisco school you with his lecture on slutty slander!” the teaser above the video states when a visitor clinks...

I was interested to see published this week a statement from the Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant by Sexual Assault (WPSA). This group was formed eight years ago to petition the U.S. Congress to hold hearings on the issue of abortion in cases of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. So far, however, this petition has not been heard by political leaders on either side of the aisle, or by most in the pro-choice or pro-life communities. The full statement from WPSA is available on the Elliot Institute website. Here are some excerpts: Many people have strong opinions about...

Or tissue bumps, for that matter? Or even pregnancy bumps? It is telling that the American media continually refers to famous people’s unborn babies as just that - babies. But when these same media outlets discuss abortion or pro-life legislation, it’s all about the fetus. When the media wants everyday citizens to identify with and love celebrities, it proclaims glad news about unborn babies and baby bumps. After all, even our liberal media knows that people – most of us, anyway – love babies. But when the media wants us to keep abortion legal, they resort to references, names, and...

I posed the following question to Father John Trigilio Jr., president of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, author, and my column's resident theologian: Is it consonant with Catholic teaching to call for the government to outlaw abortion, contraception and sodomy (which, of course, includes same-sex 'marriage')? Father's excellent response (slightly edited) is as follows. The civil government has the authority and the obligation to enact laws prohibiting abortion, contraception and sodomy as these are harmful to the individual as well as to society. Government — be it a democratic republic, monarchy, and so on — exists for one purpose: to...

ST. LOUIS • Newt Gingrich is coming to St. Louis Monday for a Todd Akin fundraiser because he wants “to tell the people of Missouri” that they have the right to stand by the Republican Senate candidate of their choice, regardless of what the party's leaders tell them. In a phone interview today with the Post-Dispatch, Gingrich, the former House Speaker and presidential candidate, said the controversy surrounding Akin isn't the point. “The people of Missouri picked him to be their nominee in a fair fight.” He also warned what others have said: That for the GOP to throw in...

On September 22, 2012, many people from all over Germany and other European countries will gather for the annual march for life, a pro-life event to remember the aborted children and the unnumerous women, men, and families who suffer from an abortion. With the Berlin march for life, we call the German socitey and politics to take action to really prevent and avoid abortion and to better help unplanned pregnant parents in need. We are also deeply concerned about the silent increase of acceptance of euthanasia in Europe, as it is already being practiced again in some countries. The march...

A Christian-owned chain of hobby shops is facing a bitter backlash after suing the Obama administration over new requirements to provide insured employees with contraceptive and abortion coverage. Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby filed the suit Sept. 12 in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City, alleging that the ObamaCare mandate violates the religious beliefs of the company's owners. The suit followed similar suits by Catholic colleges and a Denver-based company whose owners also objected to the mandate on religious grounds. While a judge has not yet ruled on Hobby Lobby's suit, a Facebook page calling for a boycott of the company, which...

Justin Bieber with his mom, Pattie Mallette September 18, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a recent interview with Kathie Lee Gifford for NBC’s TODAY show, Justin Bieber’s mom, Pattie Mallette, talked about the pressure she suffered to abort her famous pop-star son. A victim of childhood sexual abuse, Pattie engaged in drinking, drugs and sex at a young age, ultimately finding herself pregnant at the age of seventeen.  Even though she was encouraged to abort, she told Kathie Lee, “I just knew I couldn’t. I just knew I couldn’t. I just know I had to keep him.” “I didn’t know how...

SNIP Obama is pro-life?! Since when? Also, how is he… “woring” hard? Did they mean “whoring” hard? Or maybe “warring” hard on Catholics and other Christians? Not sure! I would blame these obvious mistakes on maybe child supporters of Obama, but the person pictured is obviously an adult, and the board seems pretty high a reach for kids… Are Obama supporters that stupid?! Yes. Yes they are. UPDATE! The goofball morons at OFA Ohio took down their tweet!! Sore losers… Too bad I screencapped it! SNIP

New York City has two endangered species: Soda and babies. Unfortunately the city cares more about the soft drink than the human life Last week the city passed a measure that would make a large Coke at McDonald’s illegal but it’s still legal to kill 40% of the pre-born babies in the same city. Need a visual? This is illegal: This is legal: New York City has an abortion rate almost double of the national average of 23%–and even higher in some demographics. In the city, more African-American babies are killed than are born. A recent report shows the city’s...

Remember the old saw about speeding: anyone zipping along faster is nuts, but slower drivers are idiots. Ideologues believing in limited government are an obstinate breed, myself included. We find anyone who wants more government as fools, but those desiring even less are crazy. In theory, if everyone went 65 we'd never have a traffic jam. Sadly, state authority is necessary because of man's fallen nature. Many libertarians approve same-sex marriage. Likewise, some perceive abortion as fundamental to freedom, even questioning Ron Paul for championing life. Meanwhile, Americans have grown so inured to government intervention that letting people purchase contraceptives...

Rep. Todd Akin's (R-Mo.) recent "legitimate rape" gaffe has brought greater scrutiny to the issue of whether pro-lifers should support abortions for women who get pregnant after getting raped. While the Republican Party platform does not include a rape exception, the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, supports a rape exception. In a Saturday interview with The Christian Post, Ryan Bomberger, a pro-life activist who was carried to term and given up for adoption after his mother was raped, said Romney and other politicians who hold that view should meet with people like him. "I wish politicians like Mitt Romney would...

September 14, 2012 (Mercatornet.com) - In a study published last week in the European Journal of Public Health, Priscilla Coleman and colleagues report that mothers who have experienced natural pregnancy loss or induced abortion are more likely to die over a 25-year period than those who have experienced only giving birth. Dr Coleman, a Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Bowling Green State University, responds here to MercatorNet’s questions about the study. What was your aim in this study? The study was undertaken to provide reliable data pertaining to the relative risk of death associated with distinct reproductive...

An extraordinary poll published by the British Humanist Association (BHA) highlights the public ambivalence about assisted suicide and euthanasia. In conjunction with other recent surveys, it shows that more people are in favour of the law allowing the killing of relatively healthy patients like Tony Nicklinson than of those who are terminally ill. The "respectable" wing of the assisted dying movement, Dignity in Dying, wants a very limited right to medically assisted suicide: only people who are terminally ill and in full possession of their faculties would qualify. Even this limited position is hugely controversial. But the BHA believes that...

A leading pro-life group has obtained a copy of Tonya Reaves’ autopsy report that it says shows beyond a doubt that the 24-year old woman died from three major complications during a botched second-trimester abortion suffered at a Chicago area Planned Parenthood abortion clinic on July 20, 2012. Operation Rescue, which obtained the full autopsy results late yesterday, says it indicates that Reaves’ injuries were survivable if she had received proper emergency care in a timely manner. The autopsy report is seven pages in length but it took two months for it to be released publicly, despite requests from OR...

Save for the parade of stupendous hats, there was little to alert passersby to the royal wedding Saturday morning in downtown Washington. The bride: Katie Walker, 26, a Cincinnati native who until recently was communications director for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington. The groom: Archduke Imre of Austria, also 26, great-grandson of Charles, the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Right now you’re thinking, “Wow. How’d she find an archduke?” Well, by going to church. Ken Wolfe, a friend of the bride who sang in the Gregorian chant group at her wedding, tells us the couple met two...

Women’s reproductive rights took center stage in the U.S. Senate race Monday, as a pro-choice group took aim at Republican candidate Linda McMahon over her support of a bill that would have allowed employers to refuse to cover contraception for their employees. The campaigns have been vying for the support of female voters, who did not get behind McMahon in her 2010 Senate bid. In a Monday afternoon conference call hosted by Christian Miron, the director of the NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut, the state branch of the national pro-choice advocacy organization. Miron scored McMahon for saying she would have supported the...