Free Republic

A bill introduced in the Washington State Senate would establish a funding stream for abortions by imposing a new assessment on certain health insurance carriers. The proposed measure drew swift criticism from a conservative group that is urging Washingtonians to oppose it. SB Bill 6182, introduced Jan. 16 during the 69th Legislature’s 2026 regular session, would create an “abortion savings program” run by the Washington Department of Health. The program would distribute grants to “eligible organizations” that employ “health care providers authorized to terminate a pregnancy.” Under the bill, health insurance carriers that offer plans through Washington’s health exchange would...

New York state has abandoned its nearly decade-long push to require Christian organizations, including nuns and churches, to fund abortions. The radically pro-abortion state has tried to make Christians pay for killing babies through employee health insurance plans. But it’s decision to finally give up marks a significant victory for religious freedom advocates after repeated interventions by the U.S. Supreme Court. The state ended its effort to apply the abortion mandate to Catholic and Anglican nuns, Catholic dioceses, Christian churches, and faith-based social ministries, according to a settlement announced by Becket, the religious liberty law firm representing the groups. The...

Barron Trump, the president’s very tall son, doesn’t spend a lot of time in the limelight, but it’s shining on him Wednesday as court testimony in London revealed that he helped a woman in desperate need and may have even saved her life by calling authorities on an abusive boyfriend who was beating her up.He reportedly was on a FaceTime call with the unnamed woman when he heard clear sounds that she was being attacked. He didn’t call 911, because the woman was in England — so he figured out a way to contact their emergency number, 999.It all happened...

As states enact bans on abortion following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood is expanding its vasectomy sales, citing a surge in demand for permanent birth control options nationwide. Planned Parenthood of Michigan has resumed offering vasectomies at its Irwin/Martin health center in Grand Rapids, with plans to expand to other locations this year. The move comes after the pro-abortion organization halted the service about a decade ago, but officials say renewed interest spiked after the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which shifted abortion to the states. “The demand is real and present,”...

Collecting snow for water at home; sleeping in gloves, coats and hats; heating bricks on gas stoves for warmth; erecting tents indoors - Kyiv residents are doing everything they can to survive the coldest, darkest winter of the war. "When there is no electricity, there is no heating: it means the apartment freezes," said ​Anton Rybikov, father of three-year-old David and two-year-old Matvii, speaking to Reuters in their home, where he and his wife Marina have stocked up on backup batteries and sleeping bags. The 39-year-old military ‌chaplain said one of his sons recently contracted pneumonia after temperatures in the...

Somali colonists have stolen as much as $9 billion from US taxpayers in Minnesota alone. That is only the tip of the iceberg. Combining open borders with the welfare state has predictably produced the largest looting spree the world has ever seen. Consider Afghans. Via Breitbart: Census data shows that almost all Afghan households with children are on publicly funded welfare — similar to that of Somali immigrant households with children in Minnesota, where 81 percent of such households are on at least one form of welfare. Eighty-five percent of Afghan households with children are on welfare. The more offspring...

"For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you, and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers" (Eph. 1:15-16). Your love for other Christians is as much a mark of true faith as your love for God. The Ephesian Christians demonstrated two important characteristics of genuine Christian faith: faith in the Lord Jesus and love for fellow believers. "Faith in the Lord Jesus" implies both an affirmation of Christ's deity and submission to His sovereignty. Because He is...

The headline from Trump’s Davos speech is clear: I won’t use military force to take Greenland. That’s what the President told the world’s leading politicians and business executives at the World Economic Forum. That declaration was very good news for all of them and for US investors, who immediately started buying stocks, erasing about half the losses suffered Tuesday, when the threat of force seemed possible. They all knew that carrying out that military threat would shatter the institutional foundation of Western security: NATO and US-European relations. Instead of military threats, Trump emphasized America’s disproportionate contributions to European defense since...

San Francisco's beloved mall will finally shut its doors after years of harrowing decline and fears of crime and homelessness. San Francisco Centre, formerly known as the Westfield Mall, will permanently close on January 26, an employee for the disgraced shopping center's lone remaining store told the San Francisco Chronicle. The iconic mall began spiraling downward with the rest of the Democrat run city after the COVID-19 pandemic. Rumors of the closure have circulated for months as sprawling homeless encampments deterred tourists and locals alike. As downtown foot traffic decreased, the mall saw fewer and fewer customers. Its flagship Nordstrom...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday spoke for more than an hour at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. While his meandering remarks touched on multiple familiar topics, including windmills—a longtime personal pet peeve—the state of the U.S. economy, and his long-running 2020 U.S. presidential election denialism, Trump spoke at length about his desire to acquire Greenland from Denmark. He also strongly criticized NATO and said other members of the Western military alliance have taken advantage of U.S. generosity over the years. The following is an excerpt from his remarks focusing on Greenland, Denmark, NATO, and U.S. military...

(RNS) — Leaders of Cities Church, the Minneapolis congregation whose worship service was disrupted by anti-ICE protesters, are considering legal action against the activists, saying the group that invaded the church on Sunday (Jan. 18) “jarringly disrupted our worship gathering.” In a statement issued Tuesday, the church leaders said the protesters “accosted members of our congregation, frightened children, and created a scene marked by intimidation and threat. Such conduct is shameful, unlawful, and will not be tolerated. Invading a church service to disrupt the worship of Jesus — or any other act of worship — is protected by neither the...

A federal agent opened fire after an illegal alien from El Salvador tried to run him over with a vehicle during an immigration operation in Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday morning. The illegal alien was not struck with gunfire and tried taking off on foot. Federal law enforcement agents eventually apprehended the illegal. A Border Patrol agent was injured. Per the DHS: At 7:05AM PST, DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Compton, California, to arrest a violent criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, William Eduardo Moran Carballo, who is involved in a human smuggling operation and...

A New York state judge ruled that New York City’s only Republican-held congressional district was drawn unconstitutionally, ordering a new map. Judge Jeffrey Pearlman concluded that the Staten Island-based 11th District, which is represented by GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, diluted Black and Latino voting power. Pearlman said New York’s independent redistricting commission must redraw the state’s congressional map by Feb. 6. His decision is likely to be appealed. In the Democratic-led lawsuit, the petitioners argued that a new map should pair Staten Island with part of southern Manhattan, instead of southern Brooklyn, and move the southern Brooklyn area in question...

A reporter for NewsNation traveled to the state of Maine and uncovered more possible fraud. He highlighted one particular building that is supposedly home to ten Somali-owned home healthcare companies, yet when he interviewed the landlord, he said that there is never anyone there. He then interviews a local newspaper reporter who points out various locations that are also supposedly home healthcare companies, which just so happen to be next door to businesses that can wire money to Somalia. This is all so shady. From NewsNation: Maine building houses 10 health care firms; landlord rarely sees anyone Office buildings across...

Radical left anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota surrounded Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino at a Speedway gas station on Wednesday as enforcement operations and unrest continue in Minneapolis. For weeks, leftists have been encouraged by Minnesota officials to riot against ICE, prompting a federal investigation into Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and other far-left Minnesota officials. During a stop at the gas station, where rabid anti-ICE demonstrators followed Bovino, one person dumped a bag of chips on him, and the crowd followed him, screaming and honking air horns. WATCH: Leftists Throw Food at Border Commander...

I believe the greatest threat to our nation isn't the Islamo-commie animals currently raping their way across Western Europe, murdering their way through Niger, or fleecing our treasury in God-knows-how-many of our states. Rather, it's a group of "unindicted domestic terrorists" who are just AWFL: Affluent White Liberal Women. These are the harpies who make all of the above possible. (snip) Now that we know what an AWFL are, let's talk about how to identify them: #1) They are usually wildly unattractive. Check out this communist skank—who isn't completely physically offensive (we will get to those gorgons in a minute)—but...

Donald Trump has ordered ICE agents to begin rounding up Somali migrants in Maine as part of the administration's latest immigration crackdown. Federal agents are sweeping through the state's two largest cities, Portland and Lewiston, as the Department of Homeland Security announced 'Operation Catch of the Day' on Wednesday. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin announced that agents had arrested multiple individuals on the first day of the operation. Local officials in Maine's two biggest cities are warning residents that ICE will begin ramping up its enforcement operations in the next few days. Meanwhile, the US attorney’s office in Maine warned...

Canadian military chiefs have wargamed a US invasion and concluded that they would be overpowered in only two days. Canada’s resistance would rely upon insurgency tactics similar to those deployed by the Mujahideen in Afghanistan in the fight against the Soviet Union, according to reports. Under the plans, which officials stressed were precautionary and hypothetical, forces would use asymmetric tactics whereby a weaker army attempts to counter a dominant force. Canada would rely on drone warfare and would also request assistance from European allies, namely the former imperial powers Britain and France. (snip) Canadian military positions on land and at...

The recent install of iOS 26.2 has caused YT playback to be weird. At the place in the middle of the screen where the Play button usually appears, it’s now a continuous counterclockwise circle that appears over the playing video. I can’t determine a setting change that would eliminate the distraction & just play the video with no control buttons on the screen. Any & all advice appreciated in advance.

Online conservative figures are throwing a fit over newly inaugurated Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger implementing her policies. The online right has been lamenting Spanberger’s first week as governor, claiming she was just acting as a moderate while running for office and has now taken a far-left turn. In her first few days as governor, Spanberger signed several executive orders, one of which ended state and local cooperation with federal immigration agents, a policy proposal that she said she would enact if elected. Conservatives are expressing outrage over Spanberger’s first moves, equating her to a villain, a witch, and one of...