Free Republic

When a California couple wanted their surrogate, McKenna West, to abort the baby she was carrying, she fled to Texas. There, pro-life laws and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton helped save the baby, ensuring he got the care he needed. But as Democrat state Rep. James Talarico challenges Paxton for Senate, it raises the question—what would Talarico do? West, an Alaska nurse and single mother of two, agreed to serve as a surrogate for Californians Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar. At the 20-week anatomy scan, doctors diagnosed the baby boy with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a serious but treatable condition....

In this week's Avid Space industry update SpaceX continues to add to their massive global lead in mass-to-orbit for the year, we get updates from Rocket Lab, Relativity Space and Blue Origin, and the next Falcon Heavy launch is just around the corner. Falcon Heavy To Launch at The End of This Month! - Weekly Spaceflight News | 8:42 Avid Space | 251K subscribers | 7,979 views | August 19, 2026

Jeffrey Tucker reveals the one favor Anthony Fauci asked of Trump at their very first Oval Office meeting.Naomi Wolf's jaw drops. Then she says, "This is gigantic," and that it needs to be investigated.TUCKER: "At Fauci's very first meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, the very first one, this is like early February 2020, Fauci used all of his capital and credibility to make one ask of Trump.""Which is that on a phone call that [Trump] was going to have with Xi Jinping in the next couple of days, please ask [the] President of China if he will host...

Objectivity in the media stands as the elusive conceit for many. Journalists love to tout that as their standard, yet for so many, it stands as a supreme challenge. Look, we get it; the desire to slam President Trump and the administration is substantial, but when Jake Tapper cannot even deliver the barest amount of balance, well, that is a sign of a problem. Maybe it is a pathology. The effects of TDS are substantial, sure, but can there not be some sign of an effort being applied? Tapper set the table to serve both sides, then removed the chairs...

A guide published by Britain's Home Office reminds asylum seekers not to rape women or sexually harass people, while noting that women are allowed to "earn their own money" and "make their own decisions about their lives." The nine-page document is among the resources provided to asylum seekers seeking refuge, though it appears to target mostly men. The guidance is meant to foster an understanding of expected behaviors for those arriving from other countries. Aside from earning a living, women are allowed to attend school, choose who they marry, travel freely and generally make their own decisions. "Women do not...

What if I were to tell you that every single United States President, except one, are all related to each other? This is what was revealed on a Special Episode of Secret America, called “It’s All Connected”. Forget Republican versus Democrat. Forget conservative versus liberal. Follow the bloodline and you’ll find that nearly every American president ends up connected to the same ancestor: King John “Lackland” of England. From George Washington to Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama to Donald Trump. All have the same blood running through their veins. The one famous exception? Martin Van Buren. The connection was uncovered in...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem🇮🇱 (8/20/26)[Prayer]Personalities2 Samuel 7:1-17 God’s Promise to David 7 After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” 3 Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.” 4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: 5 “Go and tell my...

The biological parents of Baby Gabriel, the infant saved from abortion by his surrogate mother McKenna West, are suing her for more than $100,000 after she refused their demand to kill him. Nasheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed filed a countersuit against McKenna West, a 28-year-old nurse from Alaska, weeks before she gave birth in Texas on August 12 to their son, who was diagnosed with a serious and rare heart defect. The couple had agreed to pay West $60,000 to carry their child under a contract that included an abortion clause allowing them to end Gabriel’s life if there were...

Twenty-five years ago, America was attacked on its own soil, a first since 1812. A new generation of voters never directly experienced the horrors of that once-in-a-lifetime experience, played out on TV screens like a Hollywood horror movie. Lessons have been learned in the years since. But not by all Americans, particularly many New Yorkers. New York City, which began as a city of survivors, has become a city of apologists. The lessons of 9/11 have been buried under layers of political fashion and academic abstraction. In their place, a new political order has risen, one that is less interested...

An Indiana mother has reached a settlement with an Illinois abortionist accused of puncturing her uterus and leaving part of her unborn baby's remains inside her body during an abortion performed when she was around 22 weeks pregnant. The woman, identified in court filings as "Jane Doe" and referred to in some more recent reporting as Hardy, a 32-year-old mother of four, filed the lawsuit against Champaign-based Dr. Keith Reisinger-Kindle and his Equity Clinic in March 2025, alleging that she suffered a botched second-trimester abortion at Reisinger-Kindle's hands in April 2023. She sought damages in excess of $50,000. Doe and...

The most-promoted news outlets on Apple News and Google News haven’t endorsed a Republican in the last 10 presidential elections — the latest sign of alleged anti-conservative bias by the popular news aggregators, according to a new analysis. Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group that tracks media bias, found that newspapers and magazines featured most prominently on the Apple News and Google News feeds have exclusively endorsed Democratic presidential candidates since 1988 — while Republicans received zero endorsements. Apple News’ five most-featured outlets — the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Los Angeles Times and USA...

Democrats on Thursday narrowed the list of potential host cities for their 2028 presidential convention to Boston, Denver and Philadelphia as their party looks ahead to a wide-open primary to succeed President Donald Trump. Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement the cities put forward “incredibly strong bids,” and he promised the convention would be an “inspiring celebration of our party’s future nominee.” A final decision is expected to be made later this year by party leaders. Republicans have already chosen Houston for the site of their 2028 convention. The Democratic convention, scheduled for Aug. 7-10, 2028,...

20 August 2026 Saint Bernard, Abbot, Doctor on Thursday of week 20 in Ordinary Time St. Bernard Of Clairvaux Catholic church, Scottsdale, AZ Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingEzekiel 36:23-28I will remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of fleshThe word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘I mean to display the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. And the nations will learn that I...

Down in Florida, the DSA may have scored one of its biggest victories. They nominated State Rep. Angie Nixon, who defeated favorite Alex Vindman, who outspent her by a lot. It proved once again that you don't underestimate the DSA because they will get their voters out. Let's check out the events in Florida: Far-left State Rep. Angie Nixon handed the progressive movement a surprise win against deep-pocketed Alex Vindman in Florida’s Democratic Senate primary Tuesday night. With nearly all precincts reporting, Nixon had handily defeated Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and a top witness in President Trump’s 2019...

Vindman had been expected to decisively defeat state Sen. Angie Nixon, D-Fla., for the nomination, but unexpectedly lost by double-digits on Tuesday evening. =========================================================== President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the prosecution of Alex Vindman after he lost the Florida Democratic Primary for Senate on Tuesday evening. Vindman had been expected to decisively defeat state Sen. Angie Nixon, D-Fla., for the nomination, but unexpectedly lost by double-digits on Tuesday evening. Trump, for his part, gloated over the loss of his adversary and suggested he ought to face consequences for his role in the first impeachment. "The most gratifying loss...

Imagine you are dropping your child off for the first day of college, and when you get to his dorm it is surrounded by mountains of garbage and homeless people living in sidewalk tents. That's exactly what happened to one woman who also happens to work in journalism and decided to break out her phone to document the experience. If you're from out of state, tuition at UC-Berkeley can run up to around $50,000 per year with room and board. Who would expect to see homeless encampments and garbage on the streets at those prices? The New York Post reports:...

Blue and orange hair. Facial piercings. Ink enough to qualify as cartography. Political buttons, tote bags, and protest signs everywhere. It was the sort of gathering where the certainty of the attendees seemed inversely proportional to their experience with the consequences of their ideas. No, this was not the premiere of a Japanese manga film; this was Chicago, where the Democratic Socialists of America gathered for its 2026 Democratic Socialists Summit and National Organizing Conference. The organization invited members to spend four days on political education, organizer development, skills training, and social activities. There were five principal tracks: Palestine Solidarity...

🚨 WOW! A liberal Miami-Dade judge who tried BLOCKING Donald Trump's Presidential Library was just UNSEATED by conservative Destiny Alvarez, 30, in last night's election Florida FAFO 🔥🔥 Sitting Judge Mavel Ruiz STONEWALLED the land transfer for Trump's library construction from Miami Dade College. She was eventually forced to lift it. Now she's going to be replaced by Destiny Alvarez LFG 👏🏻

Spanish police and residents report widespread sexual violence by illegal migrants in Ceuta, as local authorities struggle to address safety and humanitarian concerns. PULSE POINTS ❓ WHAT HAPPENED: Spanish police officers are raising concerns about reported sexual assaults involving migrant in Ceuta, saying some victims have been targeted near the Temporary Stay Center for Immigrants and dragged to surrounding settlements in the hills and mountains and gang raped. Police and residents have alleged that groups of women and minors avoid straying from areas around police vehicles because they fear being attacked in isolated terrain. 📺 DETAIL: Spanish Civil Guard sources...

An unhinged Long Island man has been arrested for allegedly threatening to travel to Washington, DC, to “put a bullet” in US Attorney Jeanine Pirro‘s head. Daniel Kretsinger, of Hauppauge, New York, posted two vile and menacing videos to X on June 30, threatening violence against Pirro and further suggesting he may also attempt to assassinate President Trump, according to a criminal complaint filed earlier this month in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. “Because you’re such a lying despicable piece of s–t,” Kretsinger allegedly said in a terrifying video replying to an X post...