Free Republic

CV NEWS FEED // In the wake of the 2024 election, the president of Students for Life is calling on pro-life advocates to remain engaged, emphasizing that despite recent victories, the movement still faces significant challenges ahead. In a November 6 letter, Kristan Hawkins celebrated one of the biggest wins for the pro-life movement, which came from Florida. The state’s extreme abortion amendment was defeated, an outcome anticipated to save tens of thousands of lives this year. This victory was hard-won, Hawkins reported, with support from Governor Ron DeSantis and key contributions from pro-life groups. Other pro-life measures succeeded too,...

The election has come and gone, and now it’s time to analyze the results. Family Research Council has analyzed the 11 abortion-related ballot initiatives in 10 states that Americans voted on during Tuesday’s election. Although pro-lifers are mourning the seven states that voted to enshrine abortion in their state’s constitutions, they’re also emphasizing the fact that the three states that voted to protect the unborn deserve recognition and celebration. The Washington Stand’s Dan Hart previously reported on Florida’s pro-abortion Amendment 4 and how it failed to pass. “The ballot initiative failed despite immense funding from pro-abortion activists, who poured over...

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri announced his support for Sen. John Cornyn of Texas on Friday in the race to replace Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell. At this point, this is the first public endorsement for Cornyn. Cornyn is running to succeed McConnell alongside Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and John Thune of South Dakota. "I'm backing John Cornyn for majority leader," Hawley said in a statement. "In the last two years, nobody has done more to win back the majority than he has."

oters in South Dakota joined their fellow Americans in Florida and Nebraska in rejected a radical pro-abortion measure that would have ushered unlimited abortions into the state. They rejected Amendment G that would have resulted in abortion on demand in the conservative Midwestern state. The vote wasn’t close. With 92% of the vote counted, South Dakota residents rejected the pro-abortion measure by a 59.7-40.3 percentage point margin. “The demise of pro-abortion Amendment G is an enormous victory for life,” said SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Unborn children will still be protected in the great state of South Dakota thanks...

An American tourist was eaten by a shark while on a dream diving vacation with friends in Indonesia. The body of Colleen Monfore, of South Dakota, was found inside the shark’s stomach after she was swept out to sea by strong currents, the Sun reported. Monfore, 68, and six pals were enjoying a dream diving trip around Pulau Reong island. She was dragged out by strong currents on Sept. 26 — and the boat’s guide was unable to pull her back in. A fisherman caught the shark in East Timor on Sunday. “The shark was caught but it was not...

In South Dakota, the president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe has ordered President Trump to cancel a planned visit to Mount Rushmore on July 3 for his Independence Day celebration. Julian Bear Runner told The Guardian, “The lands on which that mountain is carved and the lands he’s about to visit belong to the Great Sioux nation under a treaty signed in 1851 and the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and I have to tell him he doesn’t have permission from its original sovereign owners to enter the territory at this time.”

Treasurers and state financial officers representing 14 states sent letters Monday to Costco, Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, and McKesson calling on C-suite leaders to resist political pressure to begin selling the chemical abortion drug mifepristone at their pharmacies. The letters were signed by state financial officers of Texas, Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. The letters follow similar outreach in August from firms, financial advisors, and thousands of Costco members representing more than $100 billion in assets under management, including more than $172 million in ownership of the five retailers. “We...

Ranchers across the U.S. have expressed outrage over the Forest Service prosecuting a South Dakota ranch couple for allegedly stealing public land. The feds, who showed up armed and in tactical gear, say a fence that’s been on the owners' land for 75 years crosses a boundary with federal grasslands. A South Dakota ranch couple is fighting federal indictments served to them by a U.S. Forest Service agent who allegedly showed up unannounced on their front steps — armed and in tactical gear. The agent was there to serve them with indictments in a modern-day range war between the ranchers...

the woke DEI disease has claimed yet another victim—this time, it’s the all-American motorcycle company Harley-Davidson. They’ve gone from easy riders to progressive pukes faster than you can say “born to ride,” all thanks to their uber-woke German CEO, Jochen Zeitz. He’s now admitting that he took the job at this legendary American brand in order to turn an iconic symbol into a DEI wasteland. Think Bud Light on wheels .… CEO Jochen Zeitz admits that he took the Harley job because it was an opportunity to transform an American icon into embracing wokeness and DEI. ... He said this...

STURGIS, South Dakota — A growing online political movement is trying to enlist Sturgis Motorcycle Rally attendees into pressuring Harley-Davidson to fire its chief executive for supporting climate change policies and diversity and inclusive programs. The movement is led by Robby Starbuck, a popular online conservative activist who targets companies over policies and practices he considers part of a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) progressive agenda. “Bikers @SturgisRally are going to be spreading the word about this,” Starbuck posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday. “Harley is hoping this all blows over. Are y’all ready to give up or make...

A B-1B Lancer valued at more than $450 million that crashed in South Dakota at the start of this year missed the runway by 100 feet, a mistake accident investigators attributed to the aircrew's shortcomings as well as the poor training culture within units at Ellsworth Air Force Base. The scathing crash investigation report shared with Military.com pointed to "failure to perform standard crew resource management," along with adverse weather conditions, ineffective flying operations supervision, lack of awareness, and "an unhealthy organizational culture that permitted degradation of airmanship skills" as contributing factors in the Jan. 4 crash. (Snip) The report...

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has directed the Defense Department to review the Medals of Honor awarded to approximately 20 soldiers for their actions during the December 1890 engagement at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota, to ensure no awardees were recognized for conduct inconsistent with the nation's highest military honor. DOD's Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness will convene a special review panel to conduct an individualized assessment based on standards in effect during that period. The scope of the panel's review is limited to examining each Medal of Honor awardee' s individual actions...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – The Sioux Falls School District quickly fired an employee Monday who wrote a controversial Facebook post about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. In a statement to KELOLAND News, the SFSD said officials became aware of a social media post by a “district staff member” and “the District’s Code of Conduct Policy (GBEB) clearly outlines the high standards to which we hold all staff members.” “The staff member’s statement does not align with the School District’s values and was not condoned in any way. The individual is no longer employed by the Sioux...

A federal judge has decided not to rule on a South Dakota lawsuit challenging a pro-abortion ballot measure initiative — for now. The ballot measure would enshrine the “right” to abortion in the state’s constitution, and Judge Karen Schreier said she wants to hear from a state court before she rules. In June, the pro-life organization Life Defense Fund filed a federal lawsuit against the ballot measure, alleging that the group behind the measure, Dakotans for Health, broke election laws in its process of gathering petition signatures, and misled people as to what they were signing. In her Friday ruling,...

Longstanding official social media accounts belonging to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem appear to have been deleted without explanation. The accounts on Facebook, Instagram and X, the site formerly known as Twitter, had reached hundreds of thousands of followers. As of Monday, links to them on the governor's official website led to pages that said the accounts were no longer active. A fourth link from the governor's website to her official YouTube page remained active, as did Noem's personal accounts on Facebook, Instagram and X. A new X account for the governor's office was created this month and had just...

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade, states have been allowed to pass their own abortion laws. As certain states began to pass stronger protections for preborn human beings, other states began to eliminate protections — and ‘abortion travel’ became a hot-button issue. Some companies began funding abortion travel as a “benefit” to employees, and abortion funds began to pay for airfare, hotels, and the like in order to assist women living in pro-life states to obtain abortions in states where abortion was more available. Since that time, the Guttmacher Institute...

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland acknowledged Tuesday that the Biden administration’s climate agenda, which is reliant on global critical mineral supply chains, is strengthening China. During a House Appropriations Committee hearing on her agency’s proposed 2024 budget, Haaland was repeatedly grilled about the administration’s environmental policies blocking further domestic production of critical minerals and opening the door to further reliance on Chinese-sourced minerals. In one exchange with Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., Haaland affirmed that green energy sources “deepen” reliance on Chinese imports. “I’m telling you right now that 63% of rare earth mining [occurs in China],” Reschenthaler stated. “By deductive reasoning,...

CV NEWS FEED // A South Dakota pro-life organization has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to take a proposed pro-abortion constitutional amendment off the state’s November ballot. CBS News reported that Life Defense Fund’s lawsuit claims that the circulators of the proposed amendment, known as Amendment G, failed to properly follow election law requirements when gathering signatures on the petition. According to CBS News, Life Defense Fund claimed that the amendment’s sponsors, Dakotans for Health, didn’t file a required affidavit for petition circulators’ residency. The lawsuit also alleges that the petitioners misled people as to the nature of the...

Since McConnell announced his retirement, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, South Dakota Sen. John Thune and Florida Sen. Rick Scott have announced they are running to be the next GOP Senate Leader. Two of those three, along with several other notable Republican senators, told the Caller they support term limits for the next leader. (RELATED: Mitch McConnell Will Step Down As Senate Republican Leader In November)

Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) has been banned from all nine of South Dakota’s tribal nations. On Tuesday, the final tribe that had not yet banned her, the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, voted in favor of banning Noem from its reservation. Flandreau President Tony Reider called an emergency meeting in response to some of the governor’s comments. “President Reider informed the governor that a ban from our territories is imminent and requested that the Governor refrain from making future blanket statements that offend the tribes within the boundaries of the State of South Dakota, some of which depend on state services...