Free Republic

(RNS) — Officially, abortion is still a top policy priority for many religious leaders. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops calls preventing abortion its “preeminent priority,” and prominent conservative evangelicals continue to mobilize their voters around the issue. But as Idaho, Missouri, Nevada and Virginia prepare to vote on abortion-related measures in the midterm elections, polling suggests it is less of a priority for voters than in other recent election cycles. According to an October poll by Pew Research Center, significantly fewer registered voters from every religious group surveyed said abortion was “very important” in deciding who to vote for...

Democrats know that when it comes to people of faith, the Republicans clean up. This explains why in this election cycle they are trying hard to appeal to religious folks: several “pastors” are running for office. The quotes are necessitated because there are good reasons to question just how representative they are of their Protestant base. Meet the “pastors” running for office. James Talarico He is running to represent Texas in the United States Senate. He is a Presbyterian seminarian and currently serves in the Texas House of Representatives. Abortion When he gave his first sermon, he chose to discuss...

There is nothing Catholic about Catholics for Choice, and its leader in Missouri is not a Catholic priest, though she claims to be one. To say we are dealing with false advertising is an understatement—this is a stealth campaign designed to confuse the public about the true nature of Catholicism, funded by fat cat anti-Catholic bigots who work in prominent foundations. This is nothing new. The faux Catholic entity was founded as Catholics for a Free Choice in 1973, the year Roe v. Wade legalized abortion. The person who led it was Father Joseph O’Rourke. But he didn’t last long—he...

Jessica Valenti, the abortion industry’s ever-reliable cheerleader, was positively giddy yesterday. On October 14, she breathlessly unveiled a new University of Pittsburgh study on her Abortion, Every Day Substack, claiming that Americans will happily vote for abortion ballot measures even when they contain no limits on how late in pregnancy an abortion may occur. Apparently, we’re supposed to believe that voters have suddenly abandoned their longstanding opposition to late abortions. Not for a minute. The study, “Is the Viability Limit Necessary to Win Back Abortion Rights?: An Empirical Study,” comes from University of Pittsburgh researchers Greer Donley, Dana Loll, and...

On Mondays, it is a habit of mine to retrace examples of both the best and the worst in human behavior. I will happily write about the best later today. First, however, an example of the depths to which the human heart can sink. Now, to be sure, the willingness of pro-abortionists to say almost anything is not news to pro-lifers. But looking back, a 776-word-long New York Times op-ed by Susan Heath was unusually cavalier/ blunt/heartless, even by their lowly standards. Thinking about the “attacks on a woman’s right to choose,” Heath told her readers, “It wasn’t always like...

In his memoir, "Devil on My Shoulder," rocker Alice Cooper revealed that his ex-girlfriend, the late Cindy Lang, underwent an abortion during their six-year relationship. Though he said he had doubts the baby was his, he also said he didn't take any responsibility. Key Takeaways: * Alice Cooper wrote in his memoir that his ex-girlfriend underwent an abortion during their relationship. * Cooper was unsure if the baby was his and he took no responsibilty for the baby. * He said while he grew up in a Christian church and knew the church saw abortion as a serious sin, he...

Using out of state money, radical pro-abortion groups have raised more than $25.7 million to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment that would protect babies from abortion in Missouri. Stop the Ban, the campaign opposing Amendment 3, has collected the sum as of Thursday, according to disclosure reports. The Fairness Project, a Washington, D.C.-based group, has contributed nearly $12 million of that total. By contrast, Her Health, Her Future PAC, the main group supporting Amendment 3, has raised $5.3 million, including a $2.9 million donation from a new Missouri-based nonprofit that doubled the campaign’s cash on hand. If approved by voters...

At first glance, it reads like satire – something so grotesque and absurd that it cannot possibly be real. But it is real. In Central Florida, Stand With Abortion Now (“SWAN”) is selling merchandise that turns the intentional killing of unborn children into a joke, a fashion statement, and a fundraising opportunity. We are linking to SWAN’s own website once so readers can see the organization’s words and merchandise for themselves. What follows is not parody. It is how SWAN describes – and markets – its work. SWAN is a pro-abortion clinic-escort group founded in June 2022, immediately after the...

A former University of Kentucky cheerleader who admitted ending the life of her newborn son after he was born alive was sentenced Friday to just 10 years in prison. Laken Snelling, 22, of White Pine, Tennessee, received concurrent sentences from Fayette Circuit Judge Diane Minnifield: 10 years for first-degree manslaughter and one year each for abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant. Prosecutors had recommended the concurrent terms as part of a plea agreement. She received credit for 415 days already spent under house arrest and will be eligible for parole after...

When an anti-abortion activist held a sign depicting a fetus in utero with the caption "What about her body and her rights?" to the side of a University of South Florida weekly open-air market, campus police didn't just order him into a so-called free speech zone, as did Tucson, Ariz. police when an evangelist showed up to a nonsectarian Christmas street festival. USF police arrested and jailed Tyler Newton for 14 hours on Sept. 23 at the behest of campus officials for standing with his sign and sharing his "abolitionist" views with passers-by, a new First Amendment lawsuit claims. Describing...

Belén, a single mother of three living in poverty, was scrolling through Facebook one day in 2022 when she came across an opportunity she believed could change her life. The then-31-year-old was working as a waitress and struggling to afford food for her children while living in the home of her physically abusive ex-boyfriend. So when she saw a post from a wealthy gay couple who were looking for a surrogate to carry their child, Belén says she ‘saw the way out’ of her situation and immediately contacted them to arrange a meeting. The couple promised to pay her and...

In Access Independent Health Services v. Wrigley, abortion providers and physicians challenged North Dakota’s abortion law. They argued that the North Dakota Constitution protects a right to abortion and that the law’s exceptions were too unclear for doctors to know when they could legally provide an abortion. The district court agreed with the challengers and struck down the law. The state appealed, bringing the case to the North Dakota Supreme Court. Justice Jerod Tufte played a central role in the Supreme Court’s decision. In an extensive opinion joined by Chief Justice Jon Jensen, he rejected the argument that the state...

new proposed amendment to Missouri’s constitution that would prohibit abortion and sex-rejecting procedures for minors with gender dysphoria is polling close ahead of November’s election day. According to polling posted by The New York Times, 44% of likely Missouri voters said they oppose the adoption of abortion safeguards, follow by a close 43% who support it. In contrast, 47% of likely Missouri voters said they support a ban on gender transition procedures for children while 40% oppose it. In 2024, Missouri voters passed Amendment 3, to codify “the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including abortion,” according to Ballotpedia. November’s proposed...

How to Collect Signatures to Repeal Massachusetts’ New Abortion Law With just 8 days remaining, volunteers are working to collect signatures for the effort to repeal Massachusetts’ new late-term abortion law. All petition sheets must be delivered to town halls by Friday, October 23, at 5:00 PM. If you want to sign the petition or help someone else find where to sign, visit Repeal188.com homepage, select “Sign the petition,” and submit your town and email address to find nearby signing opportunities. Home Questions about signing, obtaining petition sheets or gathering signatures? Contact the Coalition. Please also watch 4 Things to...

On Friday, October 9, 2026, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated $1 million to the “Too Extreme for Idaho PAC,” a political action committee working to defeat Idaho’s Proposition 1. Current Idaho law generally prohibits abortion, with limited exceptions, including for rape and incest. However, Proposition 1 allows abortion up to fetal viability, which it redefines, allowing abortion for any reason into the eighth month of pregnancy. Proposition 1 eliminates Idaho’s parental consent laws. Proposition 1 also says any “health care provider” can perform abortion. The donation is notable not only for its size but also for...

Students for Life of America (SFLA) and Students for Life Action (SFLAction) will bring the Pro-Life Generation to Cobb County, GA, on Saturday, October 17, as Democrat U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff and Democrat gubernatorial nominee and pro-abortion candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms hold a joint campaign rally. Ossoff is seeking reelection to the U.S. Senate, where he faces Republican nominee and current U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), setting up a closely watched Senate race in which abortion policy remains a central campaign issue. The demonstration is also part of Students for Life Action’s ongoing “ Democrats Love Late-Term Abortion ” campaign,...

An impulse against maintaining a Christian cultural witness has caused that witness to become divided. In an open letter, Kansas Pastor Kyle Lammott called for Pastor and U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hamilton to publicly “repent of what you have taught and to withdraw from the Senate race.” The letter comes as Southern Baptist Convention President Willy Rice urged pastors to “step up” their cultural witness. “The church has to be the conscience of the culture,” insisted Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. “Without it, we’re going to continue to drift in the wrong direction.” “My reasons come from Scripture …...

Major banks closed accounts and refused credit to MAGA merchants, pro-life causes, religious groups, conservative organizations and sectors disfavored by the Biden administration, such as firearms, oil and gas, and private prisons, a bombshell report from the federal banking regulator has found. The Debanking Review by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) investigated 100,000 complaints and scrutinized 50,000 internal bank records to reveal how customers were “debanked” based purely on their political, social, or religious beliefs. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC, TD Bank, and BMO Bank were found to...

Virginians are being asked to write abortion into the Bill of Rights of their state constitution. The amendment's mild-sounding language hides a sweeping legal standard that would put existing protections for preborn children and their mothers at risk. The so-called Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment will appear as Ballot Question 1 on the November 3 ballot. The General Assembly approved it twice, in 2025 and again in January 2026, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the legislation sending it to voters in February. If it passes, it takes effect January 1, 2027. Key Takeaways: * The Virginia ballot amendment would group...

One of the latest narratives disseminated widely by abortion advocates is the claim that induced abortion (intentionally killing human beings in the womb) is central to the idea of reproductive and economic 'justice' for women. But killing humans should never be offered as a sort of 'solution' to financial hardship. Key Takeaways: * The Center for Reproductive Rights recently released a flawed, non-peer-reviewed study promoting the message that women need abortion because having children is too expensive. * Abortion advocate Jessica Valenti appeared on Vox Media's "America, Actually" podcast to discuss abortion, which she claims is an "affordability" issue. *...