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Arizona GOP Again Blocks Effort to Repeal 1864 Abortion Law but Senate Clears Path

Arizona House Republicans fended off another attempt on Wednesday to repeal an 1864 law that limits nearly all abortions — a law that the Arizona Supreme Court recently upheld over a new 15-week abortion limit.

The post Arizona GOP Again Blocks Effort to Repeal 1864 Abortion Law but Senate Clears Path appeared first on Breitbart.

WATCH: HHS Secretary Won’t Condemn Abortions Up Until Birth

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra refused on Tuesday to condemn or even distance himself from abortions of unborn babies who are ready to be delivered.

During a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Becerra repeatedly told Sen. John Kennedy that he supports the abortion limitations that were encompassed in Roe v. Wade, which the Supreme Court overturned in June 2022, when asked if he supports aborting babies up until the moment of birth.

Kennedy, R-La., pressed Becerra: “Would you support making it illegal to abort a baby, if the mother is healthy, and the baby is healthy, on the day before that baby is scheduled to be born?”

WATCH:

.@SenJohnKennedy to HHS Secretary Becerra: "Would you support making it illegal to abort a baby, if the mother is healthy, and the baby is healthy, on the day before that baby is scheduled to be born?"

Becerra refuses to directly answer.

pic.twitter.com/uSuX9RO1NI

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) April 16, 2024

The HHS secretary would not directly respond to the question, claiming that no one wants to get abortions so late in pregnancy.

“I certainly would support the reestablishment of Roe v. Wade,” he responded, adding, “Senator, if you talk to any woman, she’ll tell you that she uses common sense in making her decisions.”

Republican Alabama Sen. Katie Britt similarly pressed the HHS secretary on Kennedy’s line of questioning.

“If Roe v. Wade were the law of the land, and a woman wanted to take the life of her child the day before her child was due, or the day after her child was due, then you support her ability to do that?”

She followed up on this by adding: “There’s seven states in this country, and the District of Columbia, that allow you to take the life of a child the moment before a child is born, so clearly you support a woman’s right to choose to do that?”

Becerra told Britt that the example she gave was “fiction.”

“Can you give me a particular example?” he asked.

“If it actually is fiction, then why not say no?” she asked. “That that is out of the realm of possibility?”

WATCH:

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra refused today to condemn the abortion of a baby that is about to be born: “The example you gave is fiction.”@SenKatieBritt: “Then why not say no?”

pic.twitter.com/kLQFnZl1HS

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) April 16, 2024

Britt then went on to passionately describe a graphic abortion procedure in which the abortionist crushes and dismembers the unborn baby, delivering the baby breech, opening the baby’s head with scissors, and sucking out the baby’s body.

“If that child is then delivered alive, do you believe that the child on that table, that we should be able to save that child, or do you believe that our taxpayer dollars give this woman the right to say, ‘Don’t save my child?’” she asked.

Becerra is among many officials in President Joe Biden’s administration who refuse to specify what abortion restrictions, if any, they support. Becerra did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Signal.

The post WATCH: HHS Secretary Won’t Condemn Abortions Up Until Birth appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Hillary Clinton: The 'Cruelty' of Arizona Abortion Ban Is So Troubling

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday on NBC's "The Kelly Clarkson Show " that Arizona’s recently reinstated abortion ban is "cruelty."

The post Hillary Clinton: The ‘Cruelty’ of Arizona Abortion Ban Is So Troubling appeared first on Breitbart.

VP Kamala Harris Visits Nevada in Push for Abortion Amendment

VP Kamala Harris is continuing her abortion tour on Monday, stopping in Las Vegas, Nevada, to promote a proposed ballot measure that would create a constitutional right to abortion.

The post VP Kamala Harris Visits Nevada in Push for Abortion Amendment appeared first on Breitbart.

Georgia Man Sentenced to 50 Years for Poisoning His Newborn with Antifreeze

A man in South Fulton, Georgia, was sentenced to 50 years behind bars for attempting to kill his newborn daughter by poisoning breast milk with antifreeze, officials said.

The post Georgia Man Sentenced to 50 Years for Poisoning His Newborn with Antifreeze appeared first on Breitbart.

Mark Kelly: 'Women Could Die' from Arizona 1864 Ruling 'Enabled' by Trump

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation" that women in his state could die from a 123-year-old law that bans nearly all abortions except to save the life of the mother.

The post Mark Kelly: ‘Women Could Die’ from Arizona 1864 Ruling ‘Enabled’ by Trump appeared first on Breitbart.

Maher: Abortion 'Kind of Is' Murder, 'I'm Just Okay With That'

On Friday's broadcast of HBO's "Real Time," host Bill Maher said that it's wrong to argue that pro-life people are sexist, and pro-lifers believe abortion is "murder, and it kind of is. I'm just okay with that."

The post Maher: Abortion ‘Kind of Is’ Murder, ‘I’m Just Okay With That’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Kansas governor vetoes bill banning transgender treatment to minors, abortion restrictions

Kansas Democratic Governor Laura Kelly vetoed a bill that would have outlawed transgender treatment for minors in the state Friday, as well as two other pieces of legislation seeking to impose additional abortion restrictions.

Gov. Hobbs: 'Arizona Women Will Die' Under State Abortion Ban

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Governor Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) said Friday on ABC's "The View" that women in her state will die because of the reinstated abortion ban from 1864.

The post Gov. Hobbs: ‘Arizona Women Will Die’ Under State Abortion Ban appeared first on Breitbart.

Jayapal: GOP Wants to Eliminate 'All Reproductive Health Care for Women'

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said Wednesday on MSNBC's "Alex Wagner Tonight" that Republicans wanted to eliminate "all reproductive health care for women."

The post Jayapal: GOP Wants to Eliminate ‘All Reproductive Health Care for Women’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Sununu: Abortion 'Actually Could Be a Bigger Problem for Democrats'

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Governor Chris Sununu (R-NH) said Thursday on CNN's "The Lead" that the issue of abortion "could be a bigger problem for Democrats" in the November election.

The post Sununu: Abortion ‘Actually Could Be a Bigger Problem for Democrats’ appeared first on Breitbart.

America First Policy Institute rolls out abortion, life agenda to 'empower women' with resources, support

EXCLUSIVE: America First Policy Institute on Thursday is rolling out an agenda that will “empower women" and support them in “challenging situations," including unexpected pregnancies, fertility issues, adoption and more, while providing mental health resources surrounding abortion and pregnancy.

Democrats Tee Up Abortion Until Birth After Arizona Supreme Court Follows Law as Written

Democrats are teeing up a ballot measure in Arizona that would practically ensure abortion until the moment of birth, after the Arizona Supreme Court held that a new state law regulating abortion after 15 weeks did not repeal an 1864 law that allowed abortion only to save the life of the mother.

The post Democrats Tee Up Abortion Until Birth After Arizona Supreme Court Follows Law as Written appeared first on Breitbart.

Cory Booker: Trump Has Created Unimaginable 'Chaos and Suffering In Our Country'

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) said Wednesday on CNN's "King Charles" that former President Donald Trump has "created chaos and suffering in our country that is unimaginable" with his Supreme Court picks who overturned Roe v. Wade.

The post Cory Booker: Trump Has Created Unimaginable ‘Chaos and Suffering In Our Country’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Arizona Republicans Block Effort to Repeal 1864 Near-Total Abortion Ban

Arizona Republicans stalled an effort on Wednesday to vote on a bill that would repeal a near-total ban on abortion from 1864, which the Arizona Supreme Court ruled this week is "enforceable."

The post Arizona Republicans Block Effort to Repeal 1864 Near-Total Abortion Ban appeared first on Breitbart.

Kamala Harris to Promote Abortion in Arizona After State Supreme Court Ruling

Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to Arizona to promote the killing of the unborn following a historic ruling from the state supreme court upholding an 1864 law that bars nearly all abortions.

The post Kamala Harris to Promote Abortion in Arizona After State Supreme Court Ruling appeared first on Breitbart.

Whoopi Goldberg: Republicans Want to 'Bring Slavery Back'

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Whoopi Goldberg told her co-hosts Wednesday on ABC's "The View" that some Republicans would like to "bring slavery back" during the panel discussion of the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling reinstating an 1864 abortion ban.

The post Whoopi Goldberg: Republicans Want to ‘Bring Slavery Back’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Newly Appointed 4th Circuit Judge Married to Pro-Abortion Christine Ford Lawyer

Recently appointed 4th Circuit Judge Nicole Berner is legally married to the pro-abortion lawyer who represented Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her.

The Washington Post describes Berner as “the first openly gay judge and the first labor lawyer on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit,” which covers Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Berner, who is also pro-abortion, formerly served as a staff attorney for Planned Parenthood, where she focused on “protecting and expanding access” to chemical abortion drugs.

Debra Katz represented Ford in her high-profile #MeToo accusations against Kavanaugh. In subsequent remarks, Katz said that her client was partially motivated to accuse Kavanaugh out of a desire to protect Roe v. Wade, the monumental Supreme Court case that was overturned in June 2022.

Ford recently reappeared in the national news cycle through the announcement of her upcoming book, “One Way Back,” a memoir about her experience accusing Kavanaugh.

Katz issued a joint statement at the time with fellow attorney Lisa Banks, saying, “Five years ago, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s courageous testimony changed the world. She told the truth to the United States Senate, she stood up to enormous public pressure, and she sparked a national reckoning on sexual assault. Her bravery empowered countless survivors to speak out and seek justice.”

“We are proud to have fiercely represented her during the Senate proceedings,” they added. “The impact of Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony changed American culture. We stand beside Dr. Blasey Ford and all our brave clients who have come forward to hold powerful individuals accountable.”

The book was published on March 19, the same day that Berner was confirmed to the court. Representatives did not immediately share with The Daily Signal whether this was a coincidence.

During Berner’s nomination hearing in December, Republicans grilled her about her past statements and related political topics, including the Kavanaugh confirmation, according to The Washington Post.

“I believe Justice Kavanaugh, just like every other justice of the Supreme Court, was legitimately confirmed, and were I to be confirmed, I would follow his opinions and the opinions of every justice,” she told the Republicans present at the hearing.

“The role of a judge is a very different role than that of an advocate,” she added.

Pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood Action Fund celebrated her confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in late March in statements that suggest confidence that she will consistently side with abortion advocates.

Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said that Berner “knows firsthand the evolving state of our nation’s reproductive and other fundamental rights,” and Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju emphasized that Berner “understands that reproductive freedom is a fundamental right.”

CONFIRMED: Nicole Berner to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

Ms. Berner is a highly experienced litigator, as well as a steadfast advocate for workers’ rights, reproductive rights, and civil rights for all.

She’s also now the first LGBTQ+ judge to serve on this court. pic.twitter.com/2b980Mzdd3

— Senate Judiciary Committee (@JudiciaryDems) March 19, 2024

Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh sparked a media circus, stories filled with debunked anonymous sources, a Senate investigation, a highly televised Senate hearing, and more. The Senate Judiciary Committee ultimately found “no evidence” to corroborate the claims against the Supreme Court justice, who was confirmed to the court on Oct. 5, 2018.

“After an extensive investigation that included the thorough review of all potentially credible evidence submitted and interviews of more than 40 individuals with information relating to the allegations, including classmates and friends of all those involved, Committee investigators found no witness who could provide any verifiable evidence to support any of the allegations brought against Justice Kavanaugh,” the 414-page report says.

Katz has been described as “the feared attorney of the #MeToo movement.” She is a founding partner of Katz Banks Kumin LLP, where she focuses on sexual harassment and whistleblower retaliation.

In video footage obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation in 2019, Katz revealed that putting “an asterisk next to” Kavanaugh’s name before “he takes a scalpel” to Roe v. Wade was “part of what motivated” Ford to speak out.

“In the aftermath of these hearings, I believe that Christine’s testimony brought about more good than the harm misogynist Republicans caused by allowing Kavanaugh on the court,” Katz explained in April 2019 at the University of Baltimore’s 11th Feminist Legal Theory Conference.

Why would a competent lawyer say this? I'm stunned. https://t.co/7oJcyOISEm

— Megan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo) September 4, 2019

“He will always have an asterisk next to his name,” Katz continued. “When he takes a scalpel to Roe v. Wade, we will know who he is, we know his character, and we know what motivates him, and that is important; it is important that we know, and that is part of what motivated Christine.”

The video was first reported by Ryan Lovelace in his book Search and Destroy: Inside the Campaign Against Brett Kavanaugh.” The author told the Daily Caller News Foundation at the time that it calls into question everything that Ford and Katz have previously said on the matter.

Lovelace additionally suggested that had this information been known during the Kavanaugh hearings, there might have been different questions and different results. Ford had told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she came forward out of a sense of “civic duty.”

“Ford’s audience was not the Senate, as Katz had previously suggested, but the American people,” Lovelace wrote. “If they could be persuaded that Justice Kavanaugh was a predator, then they might not accept a future ruling by the five Republican-appointed justices altering the right to obtain an abortion established by Roe v. Wade.”

“Had the Senate understood Ford’s real motivation, as described by Katz, it might have appreciated more fully the pressure that ‘organized forces’ were applying,” he added.

Katz’s remarks at the Baltimore conference rang partially true: The notoriety of the Kavanaugh hearings caused Kavanaugh to become a target for protesting. In the days following the leak of the draft opinion indicating that Roe would soon be overturned, protesters repeatedly showed up outside Kavanaugh’s home where they yelled, sang, and chanted, often accusing him of being a rapist.

Shortly before Roe was overturned, authorities arrested a man near the Kavanaugh family home who said that he had traveled from California to kill the justice out of a desire to protect abortions in the United States. That man’s name is Nicholas Roske. Almost two years later, there is still no trail date or plea agreement in his case, as The Washington Free Beacon reported.

Attorney Debra Katz, left, helps her client Christine Blasey Ford as she testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2018, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The post Newly Appointed 4th Circuit Judge Married to Pro-Abortion Christine Ford Lawyer appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Arizona Freedom Caucus Leader Slams Republicans ‘Calculated Political Decision-Making’ Following Abortion Ruling

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: The head of the Arizona Freedom Caucus condemned the “calculated political decision-making” exhibited by Arizona Republicans who sought to distance themselves from the state’s most massive pro-life victory yet.

Some high-profile Arizona Republicans had decried news on Tuesday that the state’s Supreme Court had upheld an 1864 law protecting almost all unborn babies in the state, except when the mother’s life is at risk.

Senate candidate Kari Lake, former Gov. Doug Ducey, Rep. David Schweikert, and Rep. Juan Ciscomani, were among the Republicans who condemned the news and suggested that pro-abortion legislation was needed to rectify the situation.

But the Arizona Freedom Caucus, led by Arizona state Sen. Jake Hoffman, came out swinging on Tuesday evening, declaring in a statement that the court “upheld the intent of the legislature, and preserved the rule of law” by “ruling that the pre-Roe law will remain effective.”

“We will not compromise on the core value of cherishing and protecting life,” the statement said. Numerous members of the state’s Freedom Caucus promoted the post on “X” and voiced their support.

? STATEMENT ON ARIZONA SUPREME COURT’S PRO-LIFE RULING ?

Today, the Supreme Court of Arizona made the correct ruling, upheld the intent of the legislature, and preserved the rule of law today by ruling that the pre-Roe law will remain effective.

Protecting the lives of… pic.twitter.com/SPbr7Bamhe

— Arizona Freedom Caucus (@AZFreedomCaucus) April 9, 2024

“This is why I am proud to be a member of the AFC,” said state Rep. Rachel Jones, and state Rep. Austin Smith chimed in, “We will continue to lead the way and be unabashedly in favor of supporting both the mother and the unborn child.”

In a phone interview with The Daily Signal on Wednesday, Hoffman emphasized that life is not an issue Republicans should be willing to compromise on.

“We should be resolute in our convictions and in our principles and in our party platform, to be willing to make the case that we cherish life, and that we are going to do everything we can to protect it,” said the Arizona Freedom Caucus chair.

This respect for life should include caring for mothers and families as well, he said.

“What the Arizona Freedom Caucus saw, is this calculated political decision-making yesterday, with people diving for the bushes and effectively abandoning everything that they claim to believe in for the last decade, two decades, three decades in some cases,” he said.

“We just don’t believe that’s how we should operate in this environment that is truly a battle between good and evil. So our statement was simply based on our convictions, and it certainly did send a warning flare up into the sky for those who were hiding in the bushes that no, we need to stand and unabashedly for protecting life and for our principles,” Hoffman added.

Though Arizona has a law protecting unborn babies after 15 weeks, Arizona’s pro-abortion, Democrat governor Katie Hobbs signed an executive order in 2023 giving the state’s Democrat attorney general the power to enforce abortion laws. That attorney general, Kris Mayes, promised not to enforce any protections for the unborn and to “fight like hell” to protect abortions in the state.

Hoffman described Arizona Democrats as supportive of “ripping children apart, limb by limb, in the womb” and working actively to “normalize abortion” and create a “culture of abortion on demand until the moment of birth.”

“This is deeply embedded in Democrat culture,” he said, speculating that some of the reactions from Arizona Republicans on Tuesday may have been a reaction to the energy of the massive abortion messaging machine that is Democratic leadership.

On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump weighed in on the Arizona ruling, asked by reporters if the ruling went too far.

“Yeah they did, and that will be straightened out,” he said.

“As you know, it’s all about states’ rights,” he added. He also said he thinks Hobbs will “bring it back into reason.” 

The former president also made an announcement on Monday that he believes each state should follow “the will of the people” and pass state-specific laws on abortion.  He also said he supports “exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.”

“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land, in this case, the law of the state,” Trump said in a video posted Monday morning on Truth Social.  

“This 50-year battle over Roe v. Wade took it out of the federal hands and brought it into the hearts, minds, and vote of the people at each state,” Trump added. “Now it’s up to the states to do the right thing.” 

The former president encouraged Americans to “follow” their “hearts on this issue” but to remember that “you must also win elections to restore our culture and in fact to save our country, which is currently and very sadly a nation in decline.”

Virginia Allen contributed to this report.

The post Arizona Freedom Caucus Leader Slams Republicans ‘Calculated Political Decision-Making’ Following Abortion Ruling appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Report: Democrats Fear Donald Trump's Abortion Position Wins Moderates

Donald Trump believes abortion is a state issue, in contrast to those who want to use the federal government to undermine states’ rights.

The post Report: Democrats Fear Donald Trump’s Abortion Position Wins Moderates appeared first on Breitbart.

Axelrod: Arizona Abortion Ban Is an 'Earthquake' that Could 'Tip This Election'

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

CNN contributor David Axelrod said Tuesday on "The Situation Room" that the Arizona Supreme Court upholding a 123-year-old law that bans all abortions except to save the life of the mother was an "earthquake" that could "tip this election."

The post Axelrod: Arizona Abortion Ban Is an ‘Earthquake’ that Could ‘Tip This Election’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Donald Trump: 'The Democrats Are the Radicals on Abortion'

Democrats are the "radicals" on abortion, former President Donald Trump said after revealing his official position on the issue.

The post Donald Trump: ‘The Democrats Are the Radicals on Abortion’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Sen. Kelly: 'Disaster' Arizona Abortion Ban Because of Trump - He Could Go After Contraception Next

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said Tuesday on CNN's "The Lead " that it is fomer President Donald Trump's fault the Arizona’s Supreme Court upheld a 123-year-old penal code provision that bans nearly all abortions except to save the life of the mother.

The post Sen. Kelly: ‘Disaster’ Arizona Abortion Ban Because of Trump – He Could Go After Contraception Next appeared first on Breitbart.

Arizona Republicans Back Away From the Unborn Following State Supreme Court Ruling

A number of Arizona Republicans are rapidly distancing from the state’s controversial Supreme Court ruling protecting almost all unborn babies from abortions.

The state Supreme Court upheld a 1864 law on Tuesday that bans almost all abortions in Arizona, except when the mother’s life is at risk. In a 4-to-2 decision, the court said that the law is “now enforceable,” though it will likely not go until effect for a number of weeks.

Though Arizona has a law protecting unborn babies after 15 weeks, Arizona’s Democrat governor Katie Hobbs signed an executive order in 2023 giving the state’s Democrat attorney general the power to enforce abortion laws. That attorney general, Kris Mayes, promised not to enforce any protections for the unborn and to “fight like hell” to protect abortions in the state.

News of the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision was celebrated by pro-life groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, but it prompted outcry from some Arizona Republicans who had formerly expressed desires to protect as many unborn lives as they could.

Senate candidate Kari Lake, who had previously drawn praise from pro-life groups for her staunch defense of life and exposure of Democratic abortion extremism, announced on Tuesday that she not only believes the old law is “out of step with Arizonians,” but she also wants Hobbs and the state legislature “to come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support.”

“Ultimately,” she said in a statement wherein she promised to oppose a federal ban on abortion, “Arizona voters will make the decision on the ballot come November.”

Lake, during remarks delivered at the American Leadership Forum in 2022, had previously referred to a “great law” that Arizona had “on the books” as she discussed her hope that Roe v. Wade would soon be overturned.

“If that happens, we will be a state where we will not be taking the lives of our unborn anymore,” she said at the time.

Her campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.

.@KariLake in 2022: “Obviously I think Roe should be overturned…we have a great law on the books right now. If that happens, we will be a state where we will not be taking the lives of our unborn anymore.” pic.twitter.com/KtoaGBdiOT

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) April 9, 2024

The state’s former Republican governor, Doug Ducey, issued a similar statement calling on the state lawmakers to “heed the will” of the people.

“I signed the 15-week law as governor because it is thoughtful conservative policy, and an approach to this very sensitive issue that Arizonans can actually agree on,” he said. “The ruling today is not the outcome I would have preferred, and I call on our elected leaders to heed the will of the people and address this issue with a policy that is workable and reflective of our electorate.”

Republican Arizona Rep. David Schweikert, one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the state, has publicly expressed gratitude to his mother for choosing last minute not to abort him. He similarly voiced his disapproval of the ruling on Tuesday.

“I do not support today’s ruling from the AZ Supreme Court,” he said Tuesday in an “X” post. “This issue should be decided by Arizonans, not legislated from the bench. I encourage the state legislature to address this issue immediately.”

The congressman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

I do not support today’s ruling from the AZ Supreme Court. This issue should be decided by Arizonans, not legislated from the bench. I encourage the state legislature to address this issue immediately.

— Rep. David Schweikert (@RepDavid) April 9, 2024

Republican Arizona Rep. Juan Ciscomani, who has described himself as strongly pro-life and supportive of exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, called the ruling a “disaster for women and providers,” insisting that the state’s 15-week-protections for the unborn “protected the rights of women and new life.”

“It respected women and the difficult decision of ending a pregnancy—one I will never personally experience and won’t pretend to understand,” he continued. “As my record shows, I’m a strong supporter of empowering women to make their own healthcare choices and I oppose a national abortion ban.”

Ciscomani similarly did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement celebrating the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Ciscomani had said that he “will always defend life as a member of Congress.”

“As a husband and a father, I believe that life is precious, and as a country, we must protect women and children in every way possible,” he said at the time.

My statement on the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling today. pic.twitter.com/A1Do8AjYlb

— Congressman Juan Ciscomani (@RepCiscomani) April 9, 2024

The slew of statements follow former President Donald Trump’s Monday announcement that each state should follow “the will of the people” and pass state-specific laws on abortion.   

“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land, in this case, the law of the state,” Trump said in a video posted Monday morning on Truth Social.  

Trump’s position on abortion was unclear heading into the election, though the former president appointed three Supreme Court justices who ultimately made it possible to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022 by a majority vote — Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

“I want to thank the six justices: Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Neil Gorsuch,” Trump said. He called them “incredible people, for having the courage to allow this long-term, hard-fought battle to finally end.”

“This 50-year battle over Roe v. Wade took it out of the federal hands and brought it into the hearts, minds, and vote of the people at each state,” Trump added. “Now it’s up to the states to do the right thing.” 

Further clarifying his view on abortion, he said he supports “exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.”

“You must follow your heart on this issue, but remember, you must also win elections to restore our culture and in fact to save our country, which is currently and very sadly a nation in decline,” he added.

Trump also criticized Democrats’ extreme abortion positions in his remarks, saying: “Democrats are the radical ones in this position, because they support abortion up to and even beyond the ninth month. The concept of having an abortion in the later months and even execution after birth—and that’s exactly what it is, the baby is born, the baby is executed after birth—is unacceptable, and almost everyone agrees with that.” 

Virginia Allen contributed to this report.

The post Arizona Republicans Back Away From the Unborn Following State Supreme Court Ruling appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Ipsos Poll: Biden Surrenders Latino Support, While Trump Surges  

Latino support for President Joe Biden shrunk over his tenure by 12 points, while former President Donald Trump surged among Latinos by three points during the same period, an Axios/Ipsos poll found.

The post Ipsos Poll: Biden Surrenders Latino Support, While Trump Surges   appeared first on Breitbart.

EXCLUSIVE: DOJ Must Defend Catholic Churches From More Expected Pro-Abortion Attacks, Leader Says

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A prominent Catholic organization is calling on the Department of Justice to defend Catholic churches from anticipated pro-abortion attacks, pointing to the disparities in the DOJ’s enforcement of a law protecting both abortion clinics and churches.

In a letter first obtained by The Daily Signal, CatholicVote President Brian Burch calls on Attorney General Merrick Garland to detail what steps the DOJ plans to take to “combat the incessant attacks against Catholic churches.”

“How much more violence needs to happen before you will act?” he asks Garland. “Why is the FACE Act being enforced against Holocaust survivors, but not [against] those who attempt to destroy churches or even kill Catholics?”

The letter references President Joe Biden’s administration’s focus on prosecuting pro-life activists through the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. As recently as April 3, the DOJ announced that a federal judge found four pro-life activists guilty of violating the FACE Act—including an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, Eva Edl.

“We have had enough of the Biden administration prosecuting pro-lifers while ignoring attacks against Catholic churches across the country,” Burch told The Daily Signal on Tuesday.

“Attorney General Garland’s silence on these hate crimes is deafening,” he added. “Many more attacks are expected this year if he continues to turn a blind eye. It is well past time for the Biden administration to act.”

CatholicVote points out to the DOJ that a man in Verona, New Jersey, set a Catholic Church on fire on April 4. This was the third time since 2018 that this individual, named Elliot Bennett, 42, had “engaged in violence and vandalism against the church,” Burch said. Bennett had been charged with criminal mischief and a hate crime related to prior incidents.

“The Verona incident was the 21st attack on a Catholic church in 2024, the 247th attack since Catholic churches across the country were put under organized siege by pro-abortion domestic terrorists after the Supreme Court leak [of a pending ruling overturning Roe v. Wade] in May 2022, and the 412th attack since general civil unrest swept the nation in May 2020,” Burch wrote. “We have found evidence of arrests in only about 25% of these cases, and zero federal prosecutions.”

The FACE Act protects churches in the same way that it protects abortion clinics, Burch emphasized.

“And yet under your leadership, the Biden administration has refused to prosecute a single act of violence against a Catholic church despite many other cases of arson and firebombing; pro-abortion protesters blocking church entrances and disrupting Masses; and even physical assaults on priests and parishioners, among many other types of violence,” the CatholicVote leader said.

“These attacks have caused at least $25 million in quantifiable damage to churches and instilled fear into hundreds of Catholic communities,” he added.

Though the DOJ promised CatholicVote in December 2021 that it would conduct a 15-day review to ensure that appropriate resources are being deployed to protect houses of worship, this review apparently has not occurred. And according to Burch, the violence has not only continued, but “increased, unabated.”

“This problem is taking on new urgency this year,” he wrote. “Up to a dozen states will be voting on abortion-related ballot initiatives. We have seen surges of attacks against Catholic churches during voting on abortion ballot initiatives in Kansas, Michigan, and Ohio, which had signs expressing their opposition to abortion.”

Pope Francis—flanked from left by then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; then-Vice President Joe Biden, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; then-House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and then-Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio—waves from the Speaker’s Balcony at the U.S. Capitol after his speech to a joint meeting of Congress on Sept. 24, 2015. (Photo: Douglas Graham/CQ-Roll Call)

CatholicVote argues that Catholic churches and individuals have an absolute right to practice their faith, and that these attacks against churches that stand for the right to life are “textbook examples of voter intimidation and voter suppression.”

He added: “You have sued multiple states which you allege are engaging in voter suppression, comparing their laws to those of the Jim Crow era, yet you have not devoted a single minute of federal time to addressing the intimidation and suppression of Catholic voters, which bears striking similarities to the prejudice and violence against African Americans during the Jim Crow era.”

The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Signal.

Since the May 2022 leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion indicating that Roe v. Wade would soon thereafter be overturned, there have been at least 236 attacks on Catholic churches and at least 90 attacks on pro-life pregnancy resource centers, according to CatholicVote trackers.

Yet the Biden DOJ charged only pro-life activists with FACE Act violations in 2022, and has since charged only five individuals with violating the FACE Act for targeting pregnancy centers.

In February, conservative leaders called on House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., to pass the FACE Act Repeal Act of 2023 “as soon as possible.”

“In the aftermath of additional pro-life activists being convicted by the Biden administration under the FACE Act for peacefully protesting outside an abortion business, we respectfully urge you to take immediate legislative action to protect peaceful pro-life activists from the Biden administration’s weaponized Department of Justice and an unconstitutional law,” the leaders said in a letter first obtained by The Daily Signal.

AG Merrick Garland arrives for a listening session on reducing gun violence at St. Agatha Catholic Church on July 22, 2021, in Chicago. (Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

“The Biden administration has weaponized the FACE Act against peaceful pro-life sidewalk counselors and activists who want to save lives and change hearts and minds,” Advancing American Freedom Executive Director Paul Teller told The Daily Signal at the time.

The failure to prosecute attacks on Catholic churches under the FACE Act has drawn particular attention in light of the fact that Biden is the nation’s second Catholic president and is often described by the media as a “devout Catholic”—though the president heads the most pro-abortion administration in U.S. history; promotes transgender surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers, even for children; and celebrates transgender ideology.

The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is a crime against human life, that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that homosexual acts are “contrary to the natural law” and “close the sexual act to the gift of life.”

In an Easter weekend interview, the left-leaning archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory, described the president as a “cafeteria Catholic” who “picks and chooses” which parts of Catholicism to adhere to.

 “I would say there are things, especially in terms of the life issues, there are things that he chooses to ignore,” Gregory said.

“The issues of life begin at the very beginning. And they conclude at natural death,” the cardinal said. “And you can’t pick and choose. You’re either one who respects life in all of its dimensions, or you have to step aside and say, ‘I’m not pro-life.’”

The post EXCLUSIVE: DOJ Must Defend Catholic Churches From More Expected Pro-Abortion Attacks, Leader Says appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Pelosi: Abortion a 'Democracy Issue,' 'Kitchen Table Issue'

Tuesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said she saw so-called reproductive rights as an issue that will play big in the 2024 presidential election.

The post Pelosi: Abortion a ‘Democracy Issue,’ ‘Kitchen Table Issue’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Arizona Supreme Court upholds near-total abortion ban

The Arizona Supreme Court issued a ruling on Tuesday reverting the state back to a 160-year-old pre-statehood law that outlaws abortions in nearly all circumstances and criminalizes abortionists.

Dissident Catholics Slam Vatican Condemnation of Abortion, Gender Theory

Several groups of dissident Catholics have reacted fiercely to the Vatican’s recent confirmation of its unconditional support for human life and male-female complementarity.

The post Dissident Catholics Slam Vatican Condemnation of Abortion, Gender Theory appeared first on Breitbart.

Citing Pro-Life Views, Nebraska State Senator Switches Parties

A Nebraska state legislator is transitioning from blue to red after his own party censured him for having a pro-life stance. Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell officially left the Democratic Party last week after 40 years and became a Republican.

In a written statement explaining his decision, McDonnell wrote: “I have asked the Democratic Party to respect my religious based pro-life position. Instead over the last year they have decided to punish me for being pro-life.”

Last month, the Nebraska Democratic Party voted to censure McDonnell, a Catholic, over his pro-life record, contending that his stance “adversely affected the reproductive rights of Nebraskans and the rights of transgender individuals in the state.”

Douglas County Democrats also voted in January to deny party funding to McDonnell due to his votes against abortion measures and against gender-transition procedures for minors.

“The state Democratic Party voted to censure me because I am pro-life,” McDonnell wrote. “Being a Christian, a member of the Roman Catholic Church and pro-life is more important to me than being a registered Democrat. Today I am changing my party affiliation to Republican.”

In a speech addressing his decision, McDonnell explained that he registered as a Democrat in 1984 and ran for the state Legislature in 2016.

“I wanted to see how we could grow our state and reduce property taxes at the same time,” he said. “I asked the Democratic Party of Douglas County to respect that I’m pro-life, that I’m a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and my beliefs are based on that. But Douglas County Democrats, instead of respecting that, they decided to punish it. … I continued to vote pro-life.”

“This is not an easy decision,” the state senator added. “After 40 years of being a registered Democrat, having your grandfather tell you when you’re 10 years old, ‘What are we? We’re Irish, we’re Catholic, and we’re Democrats.’ That kind of stuck with me.”

Pointing to his new Republican Party colleagues, McDonnell said: “Over the last year, regardless of my decision [on] switching parties, they have been so supportive. … We had great discussions about what the Republican Party is doing, where they’re trying to go, how I potentially could fit in there. But the greatest thing about [it] is now I can participate again.”

U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., a former governor of the state, responded to McDonnell’s decision by writing on X: “I am pleased to welcome Sen. Mike McDowell to the Republican team.” He added: “The extreme new Democrats are pushing commonsense officials and voters to our party.”

McDonnell is far from the only Catholic abandoning the Democratic Party due to what many consider mandatory abortion extremism.

Recent studies show that white American Catholics have been drifting away from the party for decades, but in increasing numbers over the past two decades, coalescing instead around the GOP.

A survey of Michigan voters found last month that former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee credited with appointing three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who enabled the dismantling of Roe v. Wade, holds a significant lead among Catholic voters over President Joe Biden, a Democrat and self-described Catholic.

A week ago, the Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory, called Biden a “cafeteria Catholic” due to his rejection of the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion.

In response to McDonnell’s new party affiliation, Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb issued a written statement saying: “The Nebraska Democratic Party will continue to stand up for reproductive freedom and the human rights of the LGBTQ community.”

Kleeb added: “Our decision to censure Sen. McDonnell was never about him being a pro-life Catholic. Our decision was based on our party reaffirming our core values to protect women’s ability to make health decisions and to keep politicians out of our personal health decisions.”

Originally published by The Washington Stand

                  

The post Citing Pro-Life Views, Nebraska State Senator Switches Parties appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Trump Makes His Position on Abortion Clear: ‘States Will Determine’

Former President Donald Trump says each state should follow “the will of the people” and pass state-specific laws on abortion.   

“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land, in this case, the law of the state,” Trump said in a video posted Monday morning on Truth Social.  

Trump’s position on abortion has previously been unclear looking toward the 2024 presidential election, despite the fact that the former president appointed three Supreme Court justices who ultimately made it possible to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022 by a majority vote.  

“I want to thank the six justices: Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Neil Gorsuch,” Trump said. He called them “incredible people, for having the courage to allow this long-term, hard-fought battle to finally end.”

Trump appointed Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett.

“This 50-year battle over Roe v. Wade took it out of the federal hands and brought it into the hearts, minds, and vote of the people at each state,” Trump added. “Now it’s up to the states to do the right thing.” 

Further clarifying his view on abortion, he said he supports “exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.”

“You must follow your heart on this issue, but remember, you must also win elections to restore our culture and in fact to save our country, which is currently and very sadly a nation in decline,” he added.

“We are deeply disappointed in President Trump’s position,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement Monday morning.  

“Unborn children and their mothers deserve national protections and national advocacy from the brutality of the abortion industry. The Dobbs decision clearly allows both states and Congress to act,” Dannenfelser said, referring to the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ultimately used by the high to overturn Roe v. Wade.  

“Saying the issue is ‘back to the states’ cedes the national debate to the Democrats who are working relentlessly to enact legislation mandating abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy,” Dannenfelser said. “If successful, they will wipe out states’ rights.”

Trump criticized Democrats’ abortion positions in his remarks, saying: “Democrats are the radical ones in this position, because they support abortion up to and even beyond the ninth month. The concept of having an abortion in the later months and even execution after birth—and that’s exactly what it is, the baby is born, the baby is executed after birth—is unacceptable, and almost everyone agrees with that.” 

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action, praised Trump for “celebrating ‘the ultimate joy in life’—children and family” in his comments.

“That kind of love and support for the bedrock of society, the family, will be a welcome change in the White House,” Hawkins said. However, she added, “We clearly have some work to do to educate the Trump administration to come on the many ways that abortion has been made federal.”  

CatholicVote President Brian Burch also responded to Trump’s abortion video, arguing that the “federal government cannot abandon women and children exploited by abortion. Leaving abortion policy to the states is not sufficient.”

“President Trump’s latest statement also reflects the electoral minefield created by Democrat abortion fanaticism,” Burch said. “The fact remains that pro-life voters need to win elections to protect mothers and children. Further, Democrats are now preparing a billion-dollar election-year barrage with radical abortion as its centerpiece. While Trump did not commit to any specific pro-life policies, he notably will not stand in the way of states that have acted to protect innocent children from the violent abortion industry.” 

Trump began the video, which runs 4 minutes and 23 seconds, by expressing his support for the family and the creation of families through in vitro fertilization, or IVF.  

“Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving, and healthy American families,” Trump said. “We want to make it easier for mothers and families to have babies, not harder. That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every state in America.” 

“Like the overwhelming majority of Americans, including the vast majority of Republicans, conservatives, Christians, and pro-life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby,” the former president said.  

The post Trump Makes His Position on Abortion Clear: ‘States Will Determine’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Pregnancy Center Slams FBI For Failure to Arrest Pro-Abortion Firebombers

Staffers at a pro-life pregnancy resource center in Rochester, New York, are criticizing the FBI for failing to provide any kind of status update of investigations into pro-abortion vandals’ attacks on the pregnancy center.

Nearly two years after the initial June 2022 attack, CompassCare pregnancy medical center says that the FBI has put up billboards offering a $25,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the criminals who firebombed the pregnancy center.

The billboard is placed about a mile away from the center, CompassCare said in a release. The group added that the billboard appeared shortly before the sentencing of a separate pro-abortion arsonist, Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury, who in December pleaded guilty to attacking a pro-life organization in Madison, Wisconsin.

(Photo: CompassCare)

CompassCare says that the FBI won’t communicate with them about the billboard, first noticed by the organization on April 1, and won’t provide a status update on its investigation into the attack.

“Supporters have asked if CompassCare paid for this expensive billboard,” said the Rev. Jim Harden, CompassCare CEO, in a statement provided to The Daily Signal. “We did not. The FBI refuses to communicate.”

“The erratic nature of [Department of Justice] and FBI behavior around cases of violence against pro-life groups appears to be PR related, bolstering their reputation when under pressure to produce results by media and congressional judiciary committees,” Harden speculated.

“Perhaps they anticipate more violence against Christian pro-lifers ahead of the next big Supreme Court ruling in June and want to make it look like they care?” he questioned.

The FBI and DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this article.

CompassCare was attacked a second time in March 2023. The Daily Signal’s Virginia Allen reported at the time that surveillance footage from the attack showed an individual wearing a hoodie walk up to the front of the pregnancy center, spray paint the word “Liars” over the CompassCare sign, then walk away back down the street. 

The radical pro-abortion group Jane’s Revenge took responsibility for the June 2022 firebombing of the pro-life center. Pro-abortion activists also spray-painted the words “Jane was here” on the side of the building.  

Since the May 2022 leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion indicating that Roe v. Wade would soon thereafter be overturned, there have been at least 236 attacks on Catholic churches and at least 90 attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers, according to Catholic Vote trackers.

The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) prohibits the intentional destruction or damage of reproductive health care facilities, theoretically protecting not only abortion clinics, but also pro-life churches and pregnancy centers.

But President Joe Biden’s DOJ charged only pro-life activists with FACE Act violations in 2022, and has since charged only five individuals with violating the FACE Act by targeting pregnancy centers.

In February, conservative leaders called on House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson to pass the FACE Act Repeal Act of 2023 “as soon as possible.”

“In the aftermath of additional pro-life activists being convicted by the Biden administration under the FACE Act for peacefully protesting outside an abortion business, we respectfully urge you to take immediate legislative action to protect peaceful pro-life activists from the Biden administration’s weaponized Department of Justice and an unconstitutional law,” the leaders said in a letter first obtained by The Daily Signal.

“The Biden administration has weaponized the FACE Act against peaceful pro-life sidewalk counselors and activists who want to save lives and change hearts and minds,” Advancing American Freedom Executive Director Paul Teller told The Daily Signal at the time.

Virginia Allen contributed to this report.

The post Pregnancy Center Slams FBI For Failure to Arrest Pro-Abortion Firebombers appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Nebraska Democrat Censured for Pro-Life Views Before Switching to Republican Party

The Nebraska Democrat party censured State Sen. Mike McDonnell on March 2 for his pro-life views and his refusal to comply with the transgender activist agenda, before he ultimately switched to the Republican Party on Wednesday.

The post Nebraska Democrat Censured for Pro-Life Views Before Switching to Republican Party appeared first on Breitbart.

Indigenous Leaders Sign Treaty Granting Whales Legal Personhood

A number of indigenous leaders across the Pacific have signed a treaty granting all whales legal personhood in an effort to protect whale populations from the effects of climate change, NPR reported Wednesday.

The post Indigenous Leaders Sign Treaty Granting Whales Legal Personhood appeared first on Breitbart.

Pro-Abortion Ballot Initiative in Florida Aims to Trick Voters With Vague Definition of ‘Health’

A ballot initiative OK’d by the Florida Supreme Court perpetuates abortion advocates’ favored strategy of using vague definitions of “health” to expand abortion on demand.

Florida voters will face a referendum measure in November that would allow abortion up to the moment of birth if deemed “necessary to protect the patient’s health” after the state Supreme Court’s decision on Monday allowing the measure on the ballot.

Amendment 4, the so-called Amendment to Limit Government Interference With Abortion, is being pushed by a pro-abortion political committee, Floridians Protecting Freedom.

The proposal’s vague definition of “health” is similar to that of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Doe v. Bolton, which defined “health” of the mother as “all factors” affecting the woman. 

The Supreme Court held in Roe v. Wade that same year that states could issue no regulations for first-trimester abortions and some regulations for second-trimester abortions, but only for the purpose of protecting the “health” of the mother. In the third trimester, when the unborn child is viable, the since-overturned Roe allowed states to make abortion illegal contingent on the existence of exceptions to protect the mother’s life and “health.”

Doe v. Bolton, the lesser-known case decided on the same day as Roe, defined the “health” of the mother as “all factors” that affect the woman, including “physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age,” drastically expanding the allowable abortions legalized by Roe. 

Florida’s Amendment 4 similarly would prohibit restrictions on abortion when “necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.” 

The proposal would circumvent current state law protecting unborn children with a heartbeat. On the same day the Florida court approved the ballot initiative, it upheld a state law protecting unborn children from most abortions after 15 weeks, enabling a six-week abortion ban approved last year to take effect on May 1. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the six-week ban into law last April, but it couldn’t take effect unless the 15-week ban survived legal challenges in the state Supreme Court. 

Because the text of the constitutional amendment contains no definition of “health” or “health care provider,” the measure would likely legalize abortion at any stage of the pregnancy if anyone who claims medical expertise asserts the mother would benefit from it physically, emotionally, or otherwise. 

Florida statutes define a health care provider as “a physician licensed under chapter 458, an osteopathic physician licensed under chapter 459, a podiatric physician licensed under chapter 461, or an advanced practice registered nurse registered under 464.0123.” If it receives 60% of the vote in November, the ballot initiative would allow any doctor, osteopath, podiatrist, or nurse to determine if a woman’s health could in any way benefit from ending the life of her unborn child. 

Michigan voters legalized abortion up until birth with similarly vague language in a November 2022 ballot initiative. Proposal 3 prohibited laws against abortion if a “health care professional” deemed it to be “medically needed to protect a patient’s life or physical or mental health.”

Broad and unclear definitions of health have allowed half a century of violence against the unborn after Doe v. Bolton, and have ended thousands of lives in Michigan with the passage of Proposal 3. 

In November, Florida voters will have the chance to stop another vague definition of health from turning the Sunshine State from one of the states with the most protections for the unborn to the most pro-abortion state in the South. 

The post Pro-Abortion Ballot Initiative in Florida Aims to Trick Voters With Vague Definition of ‘Health’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Biden Co-Chair Whitmer: 'Who Cares' if I think Unborn Are People? It's How Individuals 'Define It'

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Biden Campaign Co-Chair Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) responded to a question on if she considers frozen embryos to be people by stating that it doesn’t matter what her view is, “What matters

The post Biden Co-Chair Whitmer: ‘Who Cares’ if I think Unborn Are People? It’s How Individuals ‘Define It’ appeared first on Breitbart.

DC Archbishop: Joe Biden Is a ‘Cafeteria Catholic’

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., said in an interview over the weekend that President Joe Biden is a “cafeteria Catholic” who “picks and chooses” which parts of Catholicism he will adhere to.

Gregory appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday with the female Episcopal bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde, where he discussed the Catholic president’s open support for issues such as abortion that are in direct contradiction with Catholic Church teaching.

Biden, who describes himself—and has been described by establishment media—as a “devout Catholic,” is open about frequently attending weekly Mass. But the president heads the most pro-abortion administration in United States history; promotes transgender surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers, even for children; and celebrates transgender ideology.

The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is a crime against human life, that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that homosexual acts are “contrary to the natural law” and “close the sexual act to the gift of life.”

Although Gregory said that Biden is “very sincere about his faith,” the cardinal added that Biden “picks and chooses dimensions of the faith to highlight while ignoring or even contradicting other parts.”

“There is a phrase that we have used in the past, a ‘cafeteria Catholic,’ [in which] you choose that which is attractive and dismiss that which is challenging,” Gregory explained.

DC’s @WashArchbishop Wilton Gregory: Joe Biden is a “cafeteria Catholic” who “picks and chooses” what parts of Catholicism to actually adhere to or ignore (like abortion). pic.twitter.com/i0Cbs226Uf

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) April 1, 2024

Gregory continued: “I would say there are things, especially in terms of the life issues, there are things that he chooses to ignore.”

“The issues of life begin at the very beginning. And they conclude at natural death,” the cardinal said. “And you can’t pick and choose. You’re either one who respects life in all of its dimensions, or you have to step aside and say, ‘I’m not pro-life.’”

The Archdiocese of Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Signal. But the cardinal’s remarks drew praise from Catholics on social media, among them The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles, who described Gregory’s comments as “marvelous.”

Good to see some faithful moral leadership from the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington, especially at a time when the seat of the Episcopal Bishop of Washington is vacant. https://t.co/QqHcI7pKWf

— André Béliveau (@TheRealBeliveau) April 1, 2024

Gregory sparked a backlash in November 2020 when he said in an interview with a leftist Jesuit outlet, America Magazine, that he would not deny Communion to Biden at Mass.

“The kind of relationship that I hope we will have is a conversational relationship, where we can discover areas where we can cooperate that reflect the social teachings of the church, knowing full well that there are some areas where we won’t agree,” Gregory told America Magazine at the time.

His stance drew criticism from traditional Catholics, who argued that Biden’s open embrace of unrestricted abortion constituted a grave scandal.

In September 2021, however, the cardinal offered a rare rebuke of Biden’s denial that life begins at conception, telling the president: “The Catholic Church teaches, and has taught, that human life begins at conception, so the president is not demonstrating Catholic teaching.”

He added: “Our church has not changed its position on the immorality of abortion. I don’t see how we could, because we believe that every human life is sacred.”

The White House would not address Gregory’s most recent remarks. Instead, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates mocked The Daily Signal, the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation, saying, “We refer The Heritage Foundation to the Office of Public Engagement. You have reached the press office.”

The post DC Archbishop: Joe Biden Is a ‘Cafeteria Catholic’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

D.C. Cardinal Slams Joe Biden as ‘Cafeteria Catholic’

Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory slammed President Joe Biden on Sunday for being a “cafeteria Catholic,’’ picking and choosing what doctrines he wants to believe in; he cited the president's support for "abortion rights" and transgender “visibility” as examples.

The post D.C. Cardinal Slams Joe Biden as ‘Cafeteria Catholic’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Exclusive -- Sen. Ron Johnson: Democrats Have the Extreme Stance on Abortion

The media attempt to portray Republicans as if they have the "extreme" position on abortion, when the "exact opposite is true," Sen. Ron Johnson said.

The post Exclusive — Sen. Ron Johnson: Democrats Have the Extreme Stance on Abortion appeared first on Breitbart.

Biden DOJ ‘Fears’ Those Who Pray, Sing Outside Abortion Clinics, Tucker Carlson Says

Tucker Carlson Network founder Tucker Carlson has accused President Joe Biden’s administration of targeting a pro-life father for praying and singing outside of an abortion clinic, warning that the administration “fears” that type of activity.

Carlson interviewed Paul Vaughn, the Tennessee father of 11 children who was arrested by the FBI in October 2022 and charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. During an interview with The Daily Signal at the time of his arrest, Vaughn said that the FBI came to his home, “guns pointed at the door, banging on the house, yelling and screaming, ‘Open up! FBI.’”

“I had kids in the yard walking out to get in the car to go to school. I was about to take them to school, and other kids in the house,” he told The Daily Signal at the time. “So, seeing that the easiest path to de-escalation was me in handcuffs, I stepped outside and put an end to the ranting and the banging and the yelling.”

Video of the FBI's arrest of Paul Vaughn of Centerville, Tennessee. DOJ charged him with “conspiracy against rights secured by the FACE Act, and committing FACE Act violations" for blocking the entrance to an abortion clinic. Paul tells me the footage was taken by his wife. pic.twitter.com/KSDvLRSrlF

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) October 7, 2022

Carlson asked why exactly the Biden Justice Department would arrest Vaughn in such a dramatic manner.

“The question is,” the former Fox News Channel host asked, “what exactly did he do? Was he a terrorist, a serial killer? Was he trying to invade the country? No. Paul Vaughn, the father of 11 children, had dared to pray and sing hymns in the hallway of an abortion clinic.

“In other words, he did what the Biden administration really fears,” Carlson continued. “He prayed. And for doing that, he faces 11 years in prison.”

Video provided to The Daily Signal by Vaughn, taken by his wife, shows FBI agents outside the family’s home. Vaughn’s wife follows them, videotaping their conversation.

“I want to know why you were banging on my door with a gun,” she says. “Are you not going to tell me anything?”

“No, we are not,” one agent replies, while another says, “I tried.”

“No, you didn’t!” she shouts back. “You did not try.”

Carlson asked Vaughn whether he had ever thought that praying would be a federal crime with a penalty of 11 years in prison.

“I always thought praying for our nation is what we were instructed to do,” the pro-life father responded. “I thought that was what was required for freedom. And liberty is to beseech the favors of God on our land and to reach out to him. And, of course, we’re praying because our nation has allowed the sinful, atrocious action of abortion and killing unborn children. So, that’s ultimately what the Biden DOJ doesn’t like.”

Vaughn said that he believes the Biden DOJ’s intent with its “heavy-handed raid” was to “strike fear into Christians in the nation.”

WATCH:

When you start putting people in jail for praying, it’s pretty clear who you’re actually working for. Paul Vaughn is facing 11 years in Biden’s prisons. pic.twitter.com/X54sysL5w0

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 26, 2024

“It’s an act of war against religious people,” he said. “And so that was their intent. Fortunately, God is gracious and kind, and his grace has been poured out upon our family, in ways we never could have experienced. And my children are growing up seeing a level of persecution that strengthens them, that provides a meaning in a foundation for their faith.”

He says he sees two ways of responding to these events.

“We can be bitter and upset and angry,” Vaughn said, “or we can be gracious, and we can be forgiving to the enemies. And trusting God is a God of justice, and he will work this out. And that’s the message that I’m telling my children. And I see them growing in this and understanding this.”

Vaughn praised the Christians all over the United States who have reached out to him to let him know they were praying for him. Asked by Carlson whether high-profile Christian leaders had drawn attention to his case, he said that he had not experienced much support from Christian leaders.

“It really is a moment for the church,” Carlson reflected. “If you’re an American Christian leader and you’re standing by without saying anything as a man faces 11 years in prison for saying prayers, I think it’s time to assess yourself.”

“Yep,” Vaughn replied, “I would absolutely agree. I would call on them to actually do that … we tend to divide the spiritual and material, and we either make it all one or the other, and we don’t do a good job as the American church of understanding that it’s both.”

Vaughn’s arrest came amid the Biden DOJ’s targeting of pro-life activists with the FACE Act. The FACE Act protects not only abortion clinics, but also pregnancy resource centers and houses of worship, but the Biden DOJ has largely used it to prosecute pro-life individuals.

Since 2022, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has charged dozens of pro-life individuals with FACE Act violations. In 2023, the DOJ charged four individuals with FACE Act violations related to attacks on pregnancy resource centers in Florida, though pro-abortion vandals have attacked at least 88 such centers and 218 churches since the May 2022 leak of the Supreme Court draft opinion indicating that Roe v. Wade would be overturned, according to CatholicVote.

In February, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, urged the DOJ to comply with Republican demands to release FACE Act data. Though he had called on the DOJ in October 2022 to disclose FACE Act prosecution data, the DOJ didn’t release that data (even though the DOJ’s Kristen Clarke told Roy that she would ensure that he received the requested data in December).

Roy, who chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, warned that “DOJ’s failure to produce FACE Act prosecution data is particularly troubling in light of the apparent disparity between prosecutions targeting pro-life protesters and pro-abortion attacks on places of worship and pregnancy resource centers.”

“DOJ’s refusal to comply with this request hampers the committee’s constitutional duty to conduct oversight over the Department and the Civil Rights Division,” he said in the February letter, first obtained by The Daily Signal. “DOJ must return to its core mission of protecting all Americans, not simply those that it favors.”

“The Civil Rights Division continues to use the FACE Act to unfairly target pro-life advocates,” Roy wrote. “On January 30, 2024, six pro-life advocates were found guilty of violating the FACE Act, and they now face up to [10-1/2] years in prison, three years of supervised release, and fines of up to $260,000.”

Roy specifically mentioned pro-life activist Mark Houck, another father with a large family.

“These prosecutions come after DOJ conducted an aggressive raid on the home of pro-life advocate Mark Houck to arrest him on an overzealous FACE Act charge stemming from Mr. Houck’s earlier encounter with a belligerent abortion activist who attacked his young son,” Roy said. “A Pennsylvania jury rightly acquitted [him] in January 2023.”

Houck and his wife, Ryan-Marie Houck, previously told The Daily Signal that they were targeted by the Biden DOJ in an effort to intimidate, silence, and scare the family for their pro-life work—praying outside abortion clinics for the women headed inside to abort their unborn babies. 

In November, the Houcks sued the Biden administration for “malicious and retaliatory prosecution.”

The post Biden DOJ ‘Fears’ Those Who Pray, Sing Outside Abortion Clinics, Tucker Carlson Says appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The latest front in the abortion wars: South Dakota makes a big change

South Dakota enacts the first "Med Ed" bill in the country in an effort to end the confusion about the ability of doctors to provide emergency care to pregnant women.

Klobuchar: This Election Is About 'Codifying Roe v. Wade into Law'

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said Tuesday on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" that the election in November was about electing lawmakers "to codify Roe v. Wade into law."

The post Klobuchar: This Election Is About ‘Codifying Roe v. Wade into Law’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Victims of Chemical Abortions Speak Out as Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments

The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case dealing with the Food and Drug Administration’s removal of safeguards on chemical abortion drugs.

Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, four national medical associations and four individual doctors sued the FDA for removing almost all safety standards for pregnant women taking the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol.

Safeguards formerly included initial in-person visits to make sure the mother did not have an ectopic pregnancy or other serious medical condition, as well as follow-up check-up visits for internal bleeding and infection.

Activists rally in front of the Supreme Court building while the case's oral arguments occur inside. (Photo by Noah Slayter/The Daily Signal)
Activists rally in front of the Supreme Court building while the case’s oral arguments occur inside. (Photo by Noah Slayter/The Daily Signal)

Pro-abortion advocates gathered at the Supreme Court on Tuesday to rally in support of unrestricted chemical abortion drugs. Multiple pro-abortion protesters who spoke with The Daily Signal said they wanted women to have unfettered access to the drugs and pushed back against the idea that safeguards were necessary.

Pro-life advocates who spoke with The Daily Signal emphasized the need to protect women’s health, sharing stories of women who have suffered severe medical complications from taking the drugs without proper medical supervision.

Back at the Supreme Court as the court hears oral arguments in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. Case deals with FDA removing safety standards for pregnant women who use abortion drugs pic.twitter.com/HmloE1QxiB

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) March 26, 2024

“Today, I argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of doctors and medical associations who are witnessing firsthand the harm to women caused by the FDA’s recklessness,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Erin Hawley said in a press statement on Tuesday.

Hawley accused the FDA of violating federal law and its duty to keep women safe by removing crucial safeguards.

“Regardless of one’s views about abortion, we should all agree that women’s health matters,” she emphasized. “Women deserve for the FDA to do its job. Women deserve for the federal government to look out for their health and safety.”

At the Supreme Court on Tuesday, The Daily Signal spoke with Catherine Herring, a woman whose husband allegedly sought to drug her seven times after he found out she was pregnant. Herring said she became violently ill after the first attempt to abort her baby, and then kept watch until she ultimately caught him on video putting abortion drugs in her drinks.

WATCH:

Outside the Supreme Court this morning, abortion pill victim Catherine Herring tells @DailySignal that her husband "poisoned" her "seven times with abortion pills in attempts to kill" her daughter Josephine.

"He said the pregnancy would ruin his plans."
pic.twitter.com/NGxztO2UOs

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) March 26, 2024

“I was the victim of abortion pill poisoning in Texas,” Herring said. “My husband poisoned me seven times with abortion pills, in attempt to kill my daughter, Josephine.”

“He said the pregnancy would … make him look like a jerk,” she said.

“He was using an enormous amount of powder each poisoning,” Herring told the The Daily Signal. “I got violently ill. I ended up in an emergency room, with a urine sample that was black in color.”

Regarding the child Herring was pregnant with when poisoned, she said “Josephine is the sweetest little 18-month-old. She has a lot of health issues, a lot of developmental delays. She has spent many months in the hospital, in ICU. She has a feeding tube in her abdomen… I’m so grateful she’s alive.”

Activists rally in front of the Supreme Court building while oral arguments occur inside. (Photo: Noah Slayter/The Daily Signal)

Kelly Lester, a rape victim, post-abortive mother, and former abortion clinic worker, also shared her experience with the rally attendees.

Lester, who aborted her unborn baby through a chemical abortion, explained that she felt her traumatic experience must have been unique since she never heard anyone else discussing how isolated and terrifying it was.

“If this was the norm, we would hear about it, there would be people out there talking about how dangerous it was, how painful it was, how traumatic it was,” she said. “But I wasn’t hearing that, so I thought that my experience must have been isolated.”

“While working in the abortion industry as the receptionist, I dispensed the abortion drug regimen,” Lester shared, “I handed these women a bag and I told them the same lies that had been told to me. I told them it’s going to be like a heavy period, you’re going to have light cramping. It’s going to be simple and easy. It’s the best thing for you.”

“I believed the lies that I was fed,” Lester said.

The post Victims of Chemical Abortions Speak Out as Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments appeared first on The Daily Signal.

EXCLUSIVE: Rubio Calls for DOJ to Investigate Planned Parenthood’s Handling of Aborted Baby Tissue

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is calling for a federal investigation into reports that Planned Parenthood is providing aborted baby body parts to the University of California San Diego in exchange for “valuable consideration”—while also maintaining intellectual property rights over the fetal tissue.

“If confirmed, this relationship represents a flagrant violation of federal law, which explicitly prohibits the transfer of fetal tissue for any compensation,” Rubio wrote in a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm, first obtained by The Daily Signal.

“I request that both of you open an investigation into the matter, publish your findings for the American people to see, and hold any guilty parties accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” he wrote.

The senator’s letter explains that the University of California San Diego and Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest entered into a contract in 2009, recently obtained by pro-life activist David Daleiden through a public records request, wherein Planned Parenthood would provide “fetal and placental tissue” to the university “for the purpose of deriving cell lines from and determining gene expression, genomic, and epigenetic profiles of the materials.”

Under that contract, Rubio said, Planned Parenthood retained “all right, title, and interest in and to the [fetal tissue], including … patents and patent applications and other intellectual property rights relating to the [fetal tissue].” And the university had agreed to provide Planned Parenthood with credit as the source of the baby tissue if any publications or studies resulted from its use.

Though federal law forbids acquiring, receiving, or transferring human fetal tissue for “valuable consideration,” the Planned Parenthood and University of California contract was made for “valuable consideration,” Rubio noted. He called the inclusion of the phrase “valuable consideration” in the contract “significant,” given that the language is specifically in federal law.

In the past, Planned Parenthood has publicly acknowledged payments for aborted fetal tissue but said that it was only reimbursed for actual costs. Soon after that acknowledgment in 2015, Planned Parenthood said it would no longer accept even reimbursements.

Pro-life activist David Daleiden (center) stands with attorneys Jared Woodfill (left) and Terry Yates (right), at the Harris County Courthouse after Daleiden surrendered to authorities on Feb. 4, 2016, in Houston, Texas. (Photo: Eric Kayne/Getty Images)

“Furthermore, the relationship between Planned Parenthood and UCSD [University of California San Diego] appears to be much more than a mere contract,” Rubio added. “Not only was Planned Parenthood providing the aborted fetal tissue in exchange for ‘valuable consideration,’ but emails between the groups show that Planned Parenthood and UCSD were actively collaborating and meeting at regular intervals to discuss the progress of the research.”

One of the newly obtained documents shows a $10,000 donation from the university to Planned Parenthood as recently as 2021, the senator said.

The Florida Republican pointed out that the University of Pittsburgh is already under investigation for its “experimentation on aborted babies and its cozy relationship with Planned Parenthood.”

His letter specifically calls on the Department of Justice to uncover how many babies Planned Parenthood gave to the university, what the fetal tissue was used for, how much money the university had given to Planned Parenthood, how much Planned Parenthood has gained monetarily from its control over the intellectual property rights of the fetal tissue, and whether the National Institutes of Health or other agencies have provided funding for that fetal tissue research.

The New York Times reported in 2015 that the NIH had spent “$76 million on research using fetal tissue in 2014 with grants to more than 50 universities.” Those universities included the University of California San Diego, according to the publication.

And the Times acknowledged at the time that companies that were obtaining fetal tissue from abortionists and selling it to laboratories were existing in a “gray zone, legally,” since “federal law says they cannot profit from the tissue itself, but the law does not specify how much they can charge for processing and shipping.”

“I ask that you launch an investigation into University of California San Diego and its use of Planned Parenthood’s aborted fetal tissue in an apparent violation of federal law,” Rubio concluded. “Both of these organizations receive hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars every year, and the American people deserve answers.”

Rubio’s letter comes amid multiple disturbing reports about fetal tissue and the handling of aborted baby bodies. In February, lawmakers raised an outcry over the possibility that the Washington, D.C., medical examiner might dispose of the bodies of five preemie-sized aborted baby bodies from the Washington Surgi-Clinic located in downtown Washington. Those babies are related to the DOJ’s case against pro-life activist Lauren Handy, her attorney argued.

On March 25, 2022, five murdered babies were found outside of the Washington Surgi-Center

2 years later, the DOJ is trying to brush their death under the rug

Congress must investigate this case and reassert its constitutional power over Washington D.C. to protect human life pic.twitter.com/84so8vewov

— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) March 25, 2024

And last week, as The Daily Signal’s Elizabeth Troutman reported, pro-life activist Daleiden released videos purportedly showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing mutilating the bodies of living babies to bypass federal law against partial-birth abortions.

Daleiden told The Daily Signal that the footage, revealed during a House of Representatives hearing led by Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, adds to Planned Parenthood’s record of barbarism toward premature babies. 

Daleiden posed as a fetal tissue procurer to secretly record and publish videos of Planned Parenthood employees in 2013 and 2014 allegedly discussing the sale of fetal body parts. Planned Parenthood has accused Daleiden of deceptively editing the videos. The abortion giant sued Daleiden and his organization, the Center for Medical Progress.

“The new videos show Planned Parenthood’s financial interest in selling the body parts from aborted babies is even bigger than previously discussed, and their criminal intent is irrefutably documented,” Daleiden told The Daily Signal last week. “The new footage also shows the barbaric lengths Planned Parenthood will go to in order to cover up their illegal abortion harvesting.”

The post EXCLUSIVE: Rubio Calls for DOJ to Investigate Planned Parenthood’s Handling of Aborted Baby Tissue appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Mifepristone access is coming before the US Supreme Court. How safe is this abortion pill?

A case will be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday that could affect how women access mifepristone, a pill used in 'the most common type of abortion' in the country.

Washington Post, TikTok Target Young Women Speaking Up About Birth Control

The Washington Post and TikTok are under fire over apparent attempts to discredit stories women have been sharing about the negative effects of hormonal birth control on their physical and mental health.

The Post reported Thursday that “women are getting off birth control amid [a] misinformation explosion,” referring to the onslaught of viral videos of young women in their teens and 20s discussing how dramatically their lives have improved since getting off hormonal birth control and using natural fertility awareness methods.

“For more and more Gen Z women, there’s an intuitive sense that hormonal birth control might be messing with us, and our brains,” one young woman wrote for the New York Post. “And research is backing it up, showing correlations between the pill and a decreased sex drive, as well as higher rates of depression and suicide, and even stress reactions similar to [post-traumatic stress disorder] survivors.”

“Many of my friends are independently doing the same, whether it’s driven by concern for their mental health, desire for something more natural—or curiosity about what the world looks like when you’re not in a hormonal fog,” she added.

Written by Lauren Weber and Sabrina Malhi, The Washington Post article boasts that “TikTok recently removed at least five videos linking birth control to mental health issues and other health problems after The Post asked how the company prevents the spread of misinformation.”

One of those videos was from The Daily Wire’s Brett Cooper, who argued that birth control can have an effect on who women are attracted to, as well as affect their weight gain and their fertility. That video “racked up over 219,000 ‘likes’ before TikTok removed it following The Post’s inquiry,” the newspaper noted.

TikTok did not immediately explain to The Daily Signal whether it vetted Weber and Malhi’s claims of misinformation before it removed the videos. Weber and Malhi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Alex Clark, host of “The Spillover” podcast, who has drawn fire for her outspokenness on the harms of birth control, called The Washington Post piece “dishonest reporting” that suggests only conservatives are against hormonal birth control.

“Women of all political backgrounds have been screaming from the rooftops that [hormonal birth control] has led to a litany of health issues all the way back to the ’70s,” Clark explained to The Daily Signal. “Teenage girls are prescribed birth control like candy. No in-depth conversation is had about side effects, and now those teenage girls have grown up, have differing political views, and are dealing with the physical consequences of HBC.”

Clark maintains that birth control is pushed upon women by the pharmaceutical industry as a huge moneymaker.

“Big Pharma is doing everything they can to squash this conversation, because women are their biggest cash cow,” she said. “Get us on birth control as teens. Recommend antidepressants for the side effects. Birth control works as a band-aid covering up warning signs of deeper hormonal or fertility issues.”

“When we’re ready to have a family, we find out,” she added. “Now, we need to pay [$20,000] for fertility treatments. Birth control is the gateway prescription drug to a lifetime of being Big Pharma-reliant. If they lose the next generation of young women on birth control, they worry they won’t have us hooked for life. It was never about women. It was always about our money.”

The anti-birth control movement is not conservative, historically or currently. It started in the 1970s by a group of feminist, liberal women who spoke up and risked their reputations questioning Big Pharma at the Nelson Pill hearings.

— Alex Clark (@yoalexrapz) March 24, 2024

Emma Waters, a senior research associate in the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family at The Heritage Foundation, also pointed out to The Daily Signal that current resistance to birth control has little to do with religion or politics. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

“For years now, women have been sounding the alarm about the harms of hormonal birth control,” Waters said. “In many cases, it has little to do with religious or ideological belief. Women are tired of a ‘one sized fits all’ approach to health care that actively harms them. Gen Z women have had enough.”

The viral accounts and videos about birth control and its effects show Gen Z “rebelling against the hyper-medicalized approach to dealing with any issue, from acne to painful or inconsistent hormonal cycles,” Waters said.

And the researcher suggested that those defending birth control may be more out of touch than they realize.

“Frankly, The Washington Post piece really showed its age as older millennials lectured and dismissed the very real women whose own stories about the harms of hormonal birth control are driving this movement to make women, not Big Pharma, the driver in women’s reproductive health,” she added.

Lila Rose, the founder of the pro-life organization Live Action, called TikTok’s censorship of Cooper’s video “insane and ridiculous,” adding that the “harms of birth control are well-documented, and the fact that TikTok is deleting content criticizing birth control should concern everyone.”

“To be anti-fertility is to be anti-woman,” Rose told The Washington Post, “and the proliferation of hormonal birth control is just another way of trying to force women to be more like men, with significant consequences for our emotional and physical health.”

The Washington Post wrote about me and my company in an article titled “Women are getting off birth control amid misinformation explosion.”

It was a horrible (yet predictable) hatchet job full of fear-mongering and, ironically, misinformation. @LaurenWeberHP, you should be… pic.twitter.com/glfEJwiydu

— Brittany Martinez (@BritMartinez) March 23, 2024

And Brittany Martinez, the founder of Evie magazine, told The Washington Post’s Weber that she should be ashamed of “contributing to the mass gaslighting and dismissing of women’s horrible experiences on birth control.”

“I’d say you are out of touch and uninformed at best, but you’re also directly complicit in TikTok censoring and removing viral videos of women speaking out,” she added.

Research psychologist Sarah Hill, who went off the pill herself and experienced positive health effects, told the New York Post earlier this year that after going off the pill, “I had a lot more energy, and I was exercising and cooking again. Suddenly, I was interested in sex.”

She credits the pandemic with helping young women take a serious look at their health.

“The pandemic allowed us to focus attention on our health,” Hill told the New York Post. “For women who were not in relationships and weren’t sexually active, it was an opportunity to break up with their birth control … . They wanted to find out how they would think and feel and experience the world without it.”

“This generation of women is demanding they get information about what’s going into their body,” Hill added. “A younger generation of women are saying, ‘Hey, wait a minute. You can’t just tell me what to put in my body and expect me to blindly obey.’”

Dr. Taraneh Shirazian, a gynecologist at NYU Langone Health, similarly told the publication that she sees a “generational shift” in attitudes toward birth control.

“I have noticed that many patients prefer non-hormonal birth control,” she explained. “Many are keen on limiting their body’s exposure to outside hormones so that they can feel more natural and like themselves.”

The post Washington Post, TikTok Target Young Women Speaking Up About Birth Control appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Supreme Court to Hear High-Stakes Abortion Pill Case Next Week

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on Tuesday, March 26, in a case that could have a significant impact on how mifepristone — the first drug used in a two-drug medication abortion regimen — is used and prescribed in the United States.

World’s Dumbest NCAA Bracket

(John Hinderaker)

It was Scott who first referred to the sacramental view of abortion, some years ago now. Abortion (much like slavery over the course of the 19th century) went from being a regrettable but sometimes unavoidable evil to being a positive good–indeed, these days, the noblest good to which political life can aspire.

To see this perverse attitude in full flower, you almost have to live in Minnesota. Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, is a far-left Indian activist despite being, to all appearances, Irish-American. (To be fair, she has much more Indian heritage than, say, Elizabeth Warren.) Flanagan actually tweeted this:

I filled out my brackets based on whether those schools are located in a state that protects access to abortion care.

By this measurement, it’s only fair that Minnesota didn’t make the tournament because they’d have been a favorite for the title. pic.twitter.com/nFQ5FKwFHG

— Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan (@LtGovFlanagan) March 21, 2024


So she had UConn facing Gonzaga in the final. Who wants to be the first to tell her?

One more thing–Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, liked Flanagan’s bracket tweet.

Blue State Blues: Abortion vs. the Republic

The voters for whom abortion is an important issue seem willing to sacrifice almost every other major public policy priority.

Report: 2023 Saw Highest Number of Abortions in ‘More Than a Decade’

Last year saw "the highest number and rate of abortions measured in the United States in more than a decade," according to a report from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute.

Rubio to GOP: Don’t ‘Shy Away’ From Exposing Democratic Abortion Extremism

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio responded to GOP consultant Kellyanne Conway’s abortion advice by urging lawmakers to expose Democratic extremism.

Last week, Conway urged Republicans to stop highlighting that their Democratic opponents support unfettered abortions of unborn babies, though Democratic Party leaders and most Democratic politicians have repeatedly refused to specify any protections for the unborn that they would support.

Her advice is a marked shift from what the pro-life movement has focused on as of late—prominent pro-life groups, such as Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, encourage Republicans to highlight Democratic extremism on abortion.

Rubio had similarly urged Republicans, in a January memo first reported by The Daily Signal, to engage a three-pronged approach: to fight for a pro-family agenda, to highlight Democratic extremism on the issue, and to tell the truth about the horrors of abortion.

He also emphasized to his colleagues that Republicans have the moral high ground on the issue, one that deals with the killing of an unborn child.

“Pro-lifers should recall that protecting unborn human beings is the moral center and purpose of our movement—and we cannot be shy about saying so,” he noted. “No pro-life strategy deserves the name without advocating just limits on abortion.”

On Tuesday, Rubio reiterated this stance.

“Protecting life is the moral center and purpose for the pro-life movement,” the Florida Republican told The Daily Signal.

“We should not shy away from exposing the extremism of Democratic lawmakers and abortion advocates, who believe it should be legal to kill babies until the moment of birth,” the senator added.

Conway had laid out an abortion-related political strategy during Politico’s Health Care Summit last week, where she also touched on her support for both TikTok and in vitro fertilization.

Conway emphasized that she is “100% pro-life” and encouraged Democratic lawmakers and commentators to “stop being science-deniers” and “stop pretending you don’t know what you see on a sonogram.” She pointed out that Americans, when polled more granularly on abortion, are both supportive of abortion exceptions and supportive of protecting unborn babies that can feel pain.

But Conway, who formerly served as Donald Trump’s senior adviser, also said that she does not encourage Republicans to point out that their opponents support abortion up until birth.

“Notice how I did not say, and counsel clients against saying, ‘Democrats are for abortion up until the moment of birth.’ You know why that’s not the best way to say it?” she asked. “Nobody knows anybody … who is about to give birth and says, ‘You know what? I don’t really like stretch marks. I’m not really ready to have another person in my life. I changed my mind.’ Nobody knows anybody like that.”

Conway then went on to imply that Trump was speaking metaphorically when he said to failed 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton: “If you go with what Hillary is saying, in the ninth month, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby.”

“That’s sort of a metaphor for who is really extreme here, and people reflexively said, ‘Oooh, could that be true?’ And I think it changed a lot of the conversation,” Conway explained.

In a statement to The Daily Signal following publication of this story, Conway accused The Daily Signal of “barking up the wrong tree,” praised Rubio’s efforts exposing abortion extremism, and back-tracked on her suggestion that Trump was speaking metaphorically about born-alive abortions.

“Senator Rubio and I agree on the importance of defending Life and exposing the extremism of pro-abortion Democrats, and have been doing so for decades,” Conway said. “His leadership on the issue, including on the debate stage against a female Democrat in 2022, is part of why I recommended him in a recent NYT oped (LINK) to be on President Trump’s short list for Vice President.”

“President Trump spoke unequivocally, not metaphorically, leading  the way for the professional politicians who had shied away from saying it,” Conway added. “We changed the conversation and gave courage to others to speak out against the no-limits, no-shame Democrats. Our Administration lodged significant, historic gains for Life.”

She also explained:

“Our pre-Dobbs polling in February 2022 showed that a Republican who opposes abortion with the three exceptions beats a Democrat who support allowing abortion ‘for any reason, up until the moment of birth’ (56% – 34%). I’ve used the phrase ‘up until the moment of birth’ dozens of times publicly and privately. Yet, we have found that alone has not and will not move hearts and minds and expand a culture of Life. All the lesser-included offenses, e.g., sex-selection abortion, taxpayer-funded abortion, fetal pain abortion, late-term abortion, are widely unknown and deeply unacceptable to a majority of Americans. We are actively encouraging leaders to add these facts to their “all f the above are onerous” appeal, finish their sentences and not limit themselves to  ‘up to the moment of birth.'”

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

The post Rubio to GOP: Don’t ‘Shy Away’ From Exposing Democratic Abortion Extremism appeared first on The Daily Signal.

EXCLUSIVE: Conservative Organizations Issue Recommendations on Regulating IVF

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Two leading conservative organizations are calling for the regulation of the in vitro fertilization industry amid media hysteria over a recent Alabama state Supreme Court ruling and Republican consternation over how to handle the issue.

Following the Alabama court ruling in favor of protecting embryonic human life, Republicans on Capitol Hill have suddenly found themselves required to position on a nuanced subject matter tied closely to the dignity of the human person and the fight for life.

Despite media hysteria suggesting the contrary, the Alabama Supreme Court did not ban IVF, but merely ruled in favor of protecting embryonic human life. Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in his opinion that “unborn children are ‘children’” under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.

Experts, such as The Heritage Foundation’s Emma Waters, have argued that the ruling brings “much-needed regulation” to the fertility industry in the United States. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

Waters noted that only a handful of state laws actually address the “moral and ethical questions raised by the artificial creation of human life.”

“This decision ensures that the well-being of children, not financial gain, is the top priority when it comes to IVF and embryonic cryopreservation,” Waters argues.

In a fact sheet released Tuesday, The Heritage Foundation cautioned that the IVF industry must be regulated and recommended imposing a standard of care on IVF clinics that would prevent “the wanton or careless destruction of embryonic human beings.”

“The willful or reckless loss of an embryonic child should not be treated as a loss of merchandise, where the parents simply get their money back,” the Heritage fact sheet said. “The law should recognize the
gravity of the harm and allow parents proper compensation under the wrongful-death provision.”

Parents should have a legal recourse if a fertility clinic destroys their embryonic children due to “willfulness, neglect, or carelessness,” the fact sheet noted, as the Alabama decision made clear.

Heritage also recommends codifying the recommended guidelines of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine to make sure only one embryo is implanted into the mother at a time. That would help avoid health complications for the mother and poor outcomes for the baby, the fact sheet said.

Heritage also calls for limiting the number of embryos created per round of IVF, following the practices of countries such as Germany; for mandating that fertility clinics secure true informed consent from parents; for prohibiting anonymous egg and sperm donations for IVF treatments; and for promoting access to non-assisted reproductive technology fertility treatments.

Former Vice President Mike Pence’s organization, Advancing American Freedom, similarly issued a memo on Tuesday, first obtained by The Daily Signal, that calls for Republicans to promote only IVF practices that promote life.

The top line of AAF’s messaging reminds lawmakers that “life begins at conception.”

“The law must recognize that millions of Americans are alive today due to IVF, and that embryos created via IVF should be afforded legal protection,” the AAF memo said.

At the same time, the conservative organization stressed that IVF presents a moral conundrum, since it often results in “the creation of frozen human beings, and those that are not implants remain frozen for an indefinite period.” The memo says there are about 1 million embryos in existence domestically, and points out that IVF can be used to “pursue a specific genetic result” that will lead to the destruction of embryos or “indefinite freezing of the unwanted child.”

IVF must be pursued responsibly, AAF cautioned, noting that the U.S. is largely out of line with the rest of the world when it comes to regulating the industry.

“Life begins at conception, and our laws should reflect this,” the memo stressed, emphasizing as a bottom line that “Republicans should never shy away from defending life” and unborn children and families deserve better safeguards.

IVF promises to be a complicated thorn in the side of Republicans, many of whom are already unsure how to successfully message on abortion ahead the 2024 election cycle. And it’s an issue that staffers may have to educate themselves on in order to message effectively.

Ethics and Public Policy President Ryan Anderson warned that IVF presents a pitfall that Republicans would do well to study and avoid.

“Republicans should not fall for the Left’s trap here,” he wrote. “They should not hesitate to say that America’s best social and political reforms were suffused with religious conviction. Or that the deepest reasons for our laws lie in God’s eternal law.”

“Nor should Republicans follow pollsters selling them on new government entitlements to IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies,” Anderson added. “There is no political appetite for bans on these procedures, and the GOP should call out the media’s lies suggesting there is. But our current state of unregulated embryo fabricating, freezing, and destroying does need fixing. The medically superior alternatives to IVF warrant promotion. And at the very least, embryos created through IVF deserve legal protection.”

Democrats are eager to harness both abortion and IVF this election cycle.

President Joe Biden was quick to call the Alabama ruling “outrageous and unacceptable,” saying in a statement: “Make no mistake: This is a direct result of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.”

Former President Donald Trump reacted to the Alabama ruling by promising that the Republican Party “will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families,” emphasizing that “we want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder!”

“The Republican Party should always be on the side of the Miracle of Life,” he added, “and the side of Mothers, Fathers, and their Beautiful Babies. IVF is an important part of that, and our Great Republican Party will always be with you, in your quest, for the ULTIMATE JOY IN LIFE!”

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com, and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

The post EXCLUSIVE: Conservative Organizations Issue Recommendations on Regulating IVF appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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