Free Republic

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said Friday that GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley is among his party’s best surrogates on the campaign trail, as she seeks to take down former President Trump in the Republican primary. “I think she’s one of our better surrogates, so I hope she stays in. I hope she does well tomorrow — at least, well enough,” Newsom said, referring to the GOP South Carolina primary, after CNN’s Jake Tapper asked whether Haley or Trump had a better chance against President Biden in November. Newsom, a staunch supporter of Biden, added that he agreed with most...

"We are going to have the Trump team in full force at this debate."Ahead of Wednesday’s first Republican primary debate of the year, Rep Matt Gaetz revealed that Trump surrogates would in fact be allowed to observe the debate and have access to the spin room.Newsmax host Chris Salcedo said, "Now we’re learning Fox News, the never Trump network, won’t allow Trump surrogates to attend the debate and the spin room after the debate," adding that this was "completely unprecedented."Gaetz clarified that "the RNC gave control over the spin room to Fox News, we were allowed to go and observe...

Abstract Whole body gestational donation offers an alternative means of gestation for prospective parents who wish to have children but cannot, or prefer not to, gestate. It seems plausible that some people would be prepared to consider donating their whole bodies for gestational purposes just as some people donate parts of their bodies for organ donation. We already know that pregnancies can be successfully carried to term in brain-dead women. There is no obvious medical reason why initiating such pregnancies would not be possible. In this paper, I explore the ethics of whole-body gestational donation. I consider a number of...

(LifeSiteNews) — Last month, a photo of a “maternity” shoot went viral. It depicted two gay men holding hands, beaming at into each other’s eyes, with a pregnant young woman in a red dress in the background. The caption: “We did a ‘maternity’ shoot and it came out great!” The woman was a surrogate; she’d been paid to carry a child created with sperm and an egg donor for the two men. The online reaction — which soon escalated into the millions — was immediate. “This is some Handmaid stuff right here,” wrote conservative commentator Bethany Mandel. She’s not wrong....

Lance Bass and husband Michael Turchin are one step closer to becoming parents. “We found the most amazing doctor, surrogate, everything is just great,” the former NSYNC member told People. “It’s happening, and it’s happening quick.” The couple wants to be “very” involved with the surrogate process every step of the way. “She lives close to us so we’ll be able to see her and be a part of her life and she’s going to be a part of our life the rest of our lives,” Bass said.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is urging her surrogates to blame the media for having a double standard if they're pressed about her derogatory dig at "half" of Donald Trump supporters being "deplorables," The Washington Post reports. According to the Post, the advice is contained in a memo, "'Deplorable' Comment Talking Points," sent out Saturday afternoon to Democrats preparing for TV interviews or other appearances on Clinton's behalf. Clinton on Saturday expressed "regret" for being “grossly generalistic" and using the characterization of "half" – even as she insisted Trump is amplifying bigoted views. But the memo says Clinton has "apologized" – a...

Robert Oscar Lopez is an associate professor of English and Classics at Cal State-Northridge. He specializes in American literature and loves Michel Foucault. He identifies as bisexual and is married [to a woman] and the father of two children. And in August 2012, he published “Growing Up with Two Moms” in Public Discourse, which described his life growing up with a lesbian mother and her partner. Because he shared his story, he was labeled a homophobe and became the target of a silencing campaign that worked to keep him off the air and off college campuses. Professor Lopez talked...

Vulnerable Democrats are reaching out to first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Biden and other surrogates this fall instead of President Obama, whose low approval ratings make him a cancer for many campaigns. The party may face flagging enthusiasm from the base, but the president, the figure typically best able to counteract that, has lost most of his luster and may do more harm than good this fall. Strategist and former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Doug Thornell admitted that the president won’t be much good in red states where Democrats are up for re-election, like North Carolina and Louisiana....

As is the case most weeks, Sunday's political news programs had a clear recurring theme - ducking the threshold question of this and every presidential election since Ronald Reagan so brilliantly raised it - "Are the American People better off today than they were four years ago?"With Democrats gathering for their national convention in Charlotte, the talking head circuit was riddled with Obama surrogates and apologists.  I guess that's fair.  A week ago, the shows were booked solid with GOP'ers.  Well, GOP'ers and weatherman, but I digress. Yes, the best and brightest the Obama camp has to offer were on full display...

Good grief! A Maryland state legislator has filed a bill that would allow surrogate decision makers to “donate” kidneys and liver lobes. From HB 449: THIS SUBSECTION APPLIES ONLY TO A PATIENT WHO HAS BEEN CERTIFIED UNDER § 5–606(B) OF THIS SUBTITLE TO BE IN A PERSISTENT 8 VEGETATIVE STATE. (3) A PERSON AUTHORIZED TO MAKE HEALTH CARE DECISIONS FOR ANOTHER UNDER THIS SECTION MAY AUTHORIZE THE DONATION OF A NONVITAL ORGAN IF THE DONATION IS BASED ON: (I) THE WISHES OF THE PATIENT AS PREVIOUSLY EXPRESSED BY THE PATIENT; OR (II) A DETERMINATION BY THE SURROGATE THAT THE DONATION...

The 14-week-old twins a pregnant Laurie Thompson is carrying don’t belong to her. Conceived with donor eggs, they are the children of a same-sex couple from Spain who turned to Thompson because paid surrogacy is illegal in their country. In the past five years, would-be parents from as far as Istanbul and Uruguay have turned to healthy, young American mothers to serve as surrogates. The babies are born U.S. citizens, but surrogacy agency officials say that's not a primary motivation for the parents, who typically come from European and Latin American countries where surrogacy is illegal or socially unacceptable. The...

"...Mr. Rupak is a pioneer in a controversial field at the crossroads of reproductive technology and international adoption. Prospective parents put off by the rigor of traditional adoptions are bypassing that system by producing babies of their own—often using an egg donor from one country, a sperm donor from another, and a surrogate who will deliver in a third country to make what some industry participants call "a world baby." "...Mr. Rupak is learning to navigate the uncharted nature of his field—the stateless babies, the ethical complexities. His expansion to Greece, a European Union member nation, is specifically intended to...

A week after Star broke the blockbuster news that Sarah Jessica Parker and husband Matthew Broderick are using a surrogate to give them twins, we can reveal just who the woman is. And Michelle Ross, 26, who works in a kennel, has a checkered past, her former husband says in an exclusive interview. Among Joe Erker's revelations -- his ex admits she's bisexual, and even has a tattoo on her wrist proclaiming it to the world! Michelle herself admits, "I have had pink hair and tattoos and spiked collars. My favorite shoes are five-inch black spike heels which lace up...

LOS ANGELES—Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick will be taking on new roles: parents of twin girls. The "Sex and the City" star and her actor-husband are expecting twins through a surrogate pregnancy, representatives for the couple said Tuesday.

Coming in late to the "pimped out" conversation, I know, but I had a revelation while checking out Meghan McCain's blog. I wonder if the perception that Chelsea is being used by Hillary's campaign (like Dahlia, I need my job, so I'm not using the p-word) comes from what kind of work Chelsea is doing for the campaign, not the mere fact that she's out there at all. (And I want to say before I go on that I totally agree with Hanna's point that of course kids campaign for their parents.) Chelsea is making phone calls and giving speeches...

ANAND, India (AP) — Every night in this quiet western Indian city, 15 pregnant women prepare for sleep in the spacious house they share, ascending the stairs in a procession of ballooned bellies, to bedrooms that become a landscape of soft hills. A team of maids, cooks and doctors looks after the women, whose pregnancies would be unusual anywhere else but are common here. The young mothers of Anand, a place famous for its milk, are pregnant with the children of infertile couples from around the world. The small clinic at Kaival Hospital matches infertile couples with local women, cares...

ANAND, India - Every night in this quiet western Indian city, 15 pregnant women prepare for sleep in the spacious house they share, ascending the stairs in a procession of ballooned bellies, to bedrooms that become a landscape of soft hills. A team of maids, cooks and doctors looks after the women, whose pregnancies would be unusual anywhere else but are common here. The young mothers of Anand, a place famous for its milk, are pregnant with the children of infertile couples from around the world. The small clinic at Kaival Hospital matches infertile couples with local women, cares for...

Our friends at CBS News are at it again -- suggesting that blogs, bloggers, and everything related to non-mainstream media reporting is at the root cause of the troubles in the industry. Not the almost unconscionably poor job that the CBS News research division has been doing in vetting stories for accuracy, nor the obvious left-leaning bias of most of its broadcasters…but blogs. Haven’t these people heard the warnings from one of the organizations that they hold in such high esteem -- the Occupational Safety and Health Administration -- regarding the tossing of inanimate missiles from the confines of one’s...

Not having anything worthwhile to say for himself, John Kerry has his surrogates out starting nasty rumors about the Bush administration. Our liberal national media doesn't seem to mind when Kerry minions spout obvious mistruths. The large media news organizations never bother fact-checking and questioning Democrats about even the most blatant lies, so Democrats babble on with impunity. We, however, prefer to take notes and lie in wait until the actual candidate starts feeling confident the trial balloon sent up by minions is safe to follow. John Kerry, of course, is libel to say anything. So, it didn't take long...

Some thoughts on the Kerry Candidacy ... If your name is TED KENNEDY and you know-because of your conduct at Chappaquiddick-the American people would never accept you as a presidential candidate; but you feel entitled to control of the nation,because it's your "family legacy"...watcha gonna do,Bad Boy ?? What you do is pick out a surrogate: someone you can run for office; someone who will be your puppet; someone whose strings you can pull,and pull,and pull.... It helps that your surrogate is already a Wannabee; that his parents came as close to naming him "JFK" as they dared;that he...