The man who avoided jail time after brutally beating two elderly pro-life advocates in Baltimore accused them of bothering “vulnerable people” seconds before attacking them, according to surveillance footage obtained by The Daily Wire.
Patrick Brice, 28, was<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/man-who-brutally-beat-elderly-pro-lifers-dodges-prison-time" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> sentenced</a> by Baltimore Judge Yvette Bryant on Thursday to just one year of home confinement and three years of probation for attacking 73-year-old Mark Crosby and 84-year-old Richard Schaefer as they stood outside Planned Parenthood doing pro-life sidewalk counseling. Crosby was left with serious injuries to his face and multiple fractures.
Before attacking the elderly men, Brice engaged in a heated argument with Schaefer where he told him to “quit bothering vulnerable people.” He then tackled the octogenarian into a potted plant and pushed Crosby to the ground before punching and kicking him in the head.
A four-minute video of the attack obtained by The Daily Wire shows the entire incident unfold. The Baltimore Police Department previously released about a one-minute video with various angles of the attack spliced together.
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW: I&#8217;ve obtained footage showing the entirety of the attack on the elderly Baltimore pro-lifers. The assailant accused them of &#8220;bothering vulnerable people&#8221; seconds before brutally beating them. <a href="https://t.co/OMM9D2xijH">pic.twitter.com/OMM9D2xijH</a>
— Leif Le Mahieu (@leif_lemahieu) <a href="https://twitter.com/leif_lemahieu/status/1953955237167083672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The footage shows both Schaefer and Crosby outside of the abortion facility alongside Planned Parenthood “escorts,&#8221; people who guide women seeking abortions into the facility. Brice walks by on the sidewalk before turning back and walking up to speak with Schaefer.
Brice shakes the hands of the Planned Parenthood escorts before continuing to debate Schaefer. Only bits and pieces of audio are discernible in the video, but it appears that Schaefer and Brice were engaged in a theological back-and-forth.
“Say you beat your dick, buddy, say you masturbate,” and “you did it once, repent, and you’ll never do it again. Get the hell out of here,” Brice appears to say in the video. Then he accuses him of harassing “vulnerable people” and Schaefer responded. According to the American Center for Law and Justice, Schaefer<a href="https://aclj.org/pro-life/abortion-distortion-on-full-display-at-the-trial-of-a-monster-who-violently-assaulted-two-elderly-pro-life-advocates" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> said</a> &#8220;it&#8217;s a child&#8221; in response to Brice&#8217;s comments about vulnerable people.
Brice then tackled Schaefer to the ground, breaking a potted plant. Crosby ran up and was forced to the ground and punched and kicked in the head. Brice walked away from the scene and several of the Planned Parenthood escorts ran into their building.
Schaefer is on the ground for about a minute before he attempts to stand up before bystanders tell him to not move before medical help arrives. Crosby was unconscious for about 12 seconds before he got up on his knees. With blood trickling down his face, Crosby walks into a building neighboring the Planned Parenthood, where he receives medical support.
During sentencing, Brice’s lawyer claimed that he believed that Schaefer had made a racially charged comment. Schaefer denied making any such comment or doing anything to provoke the attack. While prosecutors wanted Brice to serve 10 years in prison, Bryant gave him just a year of home detention, and will allow him to travel for work.

MixCollage-08-Aug-2025-03-27-PM-6376

EXCLUSIVE: Full Video Shows Lead-Up To Brutal Attack Of Elderly Pro-Lifers By Man Who Dodged Prison

Abortion

Baltimore

Planned Parenthood

Pro-Life Movement

Violent Crime

A Florida college student who is on trial for killing her newborn baby girl said in text messages that her &#8220;favorite&#8221; type of birth control is to &#8220;kill [the] kid.&#8221;
Brianne Moore was 19 when she gave birth to a baby in her college dorm bathroom in April 2024. Hours later, she disposed of the deceased baby in the trash.
Moore claims she did not know she was pregnant, or was in denial about it, and did not kill the baby, whom she claims died on her own. However, a medical examiner ruled the cause of death as homicide.
In text messages dated seven months before the birth, Moore talked to a male, named Quasim, from her home state of Mississippi. The pair discussed a &#8220;plan c&#8221; option of birth control as killing the child, which Moore called her &#8220;favorite,&#8221; <a href="https://www.courttv.com/news/prosecutors-teen-texted-about-desire-to-kill-infant-found-in-trash/">according</a> to CourtTV.
<blockquote>Moore: “hey man sometimes you need a plan c”
Quasim: “plan a was condoms 
plan b was the pill 
plan c was to kill thr [sic] kid”
Moore: “plan c is my favorite”</blockquote>
Jonah Dickstein, Moore&#8217;s attorney, <a href="https://people.com/student-accused-killing-newborn-in-florida-dorm-favorite-birth-control-11772012">claims</a> the texts are taken out of context, and were generally about abortion laws. Dickstein also says the male is not the father of the now-deceased baby girl.
<a href="https://www.liveaction.org/news/kill-kid-texts-college-student-charged-newborn/">According</a> to the Tampa Bay Times, Moore says she woke up on April 27, 2024, when her water broke, but had previously been unaware she was pregnant. Attending the University of Tampa at the time, she went to her dorm room bathroom and secretly gave birth to the baby girl.
Moore claims she laid the baby down and took a shower. She then told police the baby wasn&#8217;t moving and she didn&#8217;t hear a heartbeat and &#8220;got scared.&#8221; Moore then allegedly wrapped the baby in a towel, took a nap, and said the baby still wasn&#8217;t breathing. About an hour later, she apparently disposed of the baby in a dumpster outside her dorm room at MaKay Hall.
A medical examiner who performed the autopsy on the baby girl said there were small hemorrhages on her lungs, and found the child died from “asphyxia due to compression of the torso with rib fractures.”
Moore is facing 30 years behind bars. She&#8217;s been charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, child neglect, failure to report a death, and unlawful storage, preservation, or transportation of human remains.
Moore&#8217;s trial has been postponed until March.

Brianne Moore

Teen On Trial For Killing Her Baby Once Said Murder Was Her ‘Favorite’ Birth Control

Crime

Florida

Murder

U.S.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt moved this week to stop abortion giant Planned Parenthood from receiving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars every year.
Stitt signed an <a href="https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/governor/documents/2025-07-16%20EO%20OHCA.pdf">executive order</a> on Thursday directing the state Medicaid program to not distribute funds to groups that promote abortion or are affiliated with abortion providers. Planned Parenthood of the Great Plains currently receives around $550,000 through SoonerCare every year, Stitt told The Daily Wire. 
“We don&#8217;t want to give to these organizations that are promoting values that are anti-family and anti-what Oklahoma values are,” the governor said. “And so we&#8217;re going to deploy our funds to the hospitals, the doctors, that are actually taking care of families and mothers here in the state of Oklahoma.”
The executive order cited South Carolina&#8217;s recent victory at the Supreme Court in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which cleared the way for other states to yank Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood. 
Stitt told The Daily Wire that he believed the healthcare money should be going toward doctors and hospitals, not “political organizations” like Planned Parenthood. 
While abortion is officially banned in Oklahoma, Planned Parenthood of the Great Plains still operates multiple facilities throughout the state. On its <a href="https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-great-plains/ppgp-health-centers/ppgp-in-oklahoma">website</a> for Oklahoma, it says that it offers “gender affirming care” and advertises that it still does surgical and chemical abortions in nearby Kansas. 
“If you&#8217;re a Medicaid patient, if you&#8217;re someone who needs care, those dollars are still going to be spent in the state,” Stitt said. “We&#8217;re going to take care of women, children, families, in the State of Oklahoma, and we&#8217;re not going to do it through a political organization like Planned Parenthood.”
The order directs all state agencies to cut funding through grants, contracts, state-administered federal funds, or any other way organizations that promote abortion receive taxpayer dollars. It also directs the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which oversees the Medicaid program, to devise standards to exclude entities that promote abortion from being credentialed by SoonerCare. The guidance will stipulate that participants must be in line with the state&#8217;s public policy, including the protection of unborn life. 
“We want to make sure that these providers are following the laws and the will of the legislature, which is therefore the will of the people in the state of Oklahoma,” Stitt said. 
Congress recently passed legislation cutting off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, but a federal judge has put that law on hold for the moment.

Oklahoma Town Of Barnsdall Hit By Deadly Tornado

Red State Moves To Slash Medicaid Funding For Planned Parenthood

Kevin Stitt

Oklahoma

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs, which blocked abortions from its medical benefits package prior to changes made by President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration, is proposing to reinstate that exclusion, The Daily Wire has learned.
Before Biden&#8217;s administration removed an exclusion on abortions and abortion counseling from the Veterans Affairs medical benefits package, that exclusion had been in place since the package was first established in 1999 through the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, a proposed rule from the Department of Veterans Affairs states.
Under the exclusion, abortions, which end the life of unborn babies, were expressly excluded from the package.
Veterans Affairs is also proposing that it reinstate exclusions on abortions and abortion counseling for the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA), the proposed rule shows — exclusions also removed in 2022.
&#8220;We take this action to ensure that VA provides only needed medical services to our nation’s heroes and their families,&#8221; reads the proposed rule.
<div id="attachment_955837" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/reversing-biden-policy-veterans-affairs-seeks-to-block-abortions-from-benefits-package/world-war-ii-army-rangers-gold-medal" rel="attachment wp-att-955837"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-955837" class="wp-image-955837 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2221492560-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2221492560-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2221492560-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2221492560-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2221492560.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images</div>
A Veterans Affairs spokesperson shared in a statement that &#8220;prior to the Biden Administration’s politically motivated change in 2022, federal law and longstanding precedent across Democrat and Republican administrations prevented VA from providing abortions and abortion counseling.&#8221;
 &#8220;VA’s proposed rule will reinstate the pre-Biden bipartisan policy, bringing the department back in line with historical norms,&#8221; the spokesperson noted.
The VA notes that the new policy will not prevent the department from caring for women in life-threatening circumstances — a fear commonly promoted by critical media when discussing abortion policy.
Under the Biden administration, the former president <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/09/09/2022-19239/reproductive-health-services">directed the VA to amend</a> its &#8220;medical regulations to remove the exclusion on abortion counseling and establish exceptions to the exclusion on abortions in the medical benefits package for veterans who receive care set forth in that package, and to remove the exclusion on abortion counseling and expand the exceptions to the exclusion on abortions for Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) beneficiaries.&#8221;
The administration&#8217;s VA Department <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/09/09/2022-19239/reproductive-health-services">said at the time</a>, shortly after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, that the move was necessary to help protect &#8220;the lives and health of veterans.&#8221;
&#8220;As abortion bans come into force across the country, veterans in many States are no longer assured access to abortion services in their communities, even when those services are needed,&#8221; the Biden era rule said. &#8220;VA has determined that an abortion is &#8216;needed&#8217; pursuant to <a class="usc external" href="https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/38/1710" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">38 U.S.C. 1710</a>, when sought by a veteran, if determined needed by a health care professional, when the life or health of the pregnant veteran would be endangered if the pregnancy were carried to term or when the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest. Unless VA removes its existing prohibitions on abortion-related care and makes clear that needed abortion-related care is authorized, these veterans will face serious threats to their life and health.&#8221;

President Biden Delivers Remarks On Supreme Court’s Immunity Ruling

Reversing Biden Policy, Veterans Affairs Seeks To Block Abortions From Benefits Package

Donald Trump

Joe Biden

Veterans Affairs (VA)

President Trump showed European allies the ‘art of the deal’ this week as his own luxury resort in Scotland played host to negotiations for one of the largest trade deals in history.
Accompanied by bagpipes, the President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/europe-laughed-at-trump-now-theyre-going-to-cut-a-big-energy-check">shook hands</a> with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and heralded a major new US-EU trade pact — encompassing a 15% tariff rate on European imports.
But while Scotland was hosting talks on open markets, its own government continues to close off a core tenet of liberal democracy: the freedom to speak — even, in some cases, to silently pray.
In April 2024, Scotland enacted the Hate Crime and Public Order Act, which criminalizes words that amount to subjectively “stirring up hatred” based on a wide range of characteristics, such as someone’s “gender identity.” One may be found guilty of using the wrong words even if offence was only taken, but not intended. The consequences include up to seven years in prison.
Legal scholars, writers, and civil liberties groups have raised serious concerns. The law invites the state to police not just conduct but private expression — even within a family home. What was once a proud tradition of robust, even unpopular debate, is being eroded in favor of subjective standards of offense.
Meanwhile, new legislation in Scotland has imposed “buffer zones” around hospitals, vaguely criminalizing “influence” on the matter of abortion within 200 meters of the building. That radius can encompass private homes. <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/26/praying-at-home-a-crime-depending-on-who-is-passing-window/">According</a> to the law’s own architect, Gillian Mackay MSP, a person praying silently near a window in their home could be guilty of a crime, “depending on who’s passing the window.”
One recent case under a similar “buffer zones” law across the English border drew international attention: Livia Tossici-Bolt, aged 62-years-old, was arrested simply for standing with a sign reading “Here to talk, if you want.” She was not disruptive. She was not loud. She simply offered consensual conversation to other adults.
The U.S. State Department <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/03/31/free-speech-row-threatens-starmers-us-trade-deal/">took notice</a>. A senior official confirmed “concern” about the state of free speech in the UK, adding, “It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.”
Vice President JD Vance raised similar concerns in his landmark speech at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, even highlighting Scotland’ notorious prayer problem, noting, “free speech, I fear, is in retreat.” Who can blame him? In the UK, police are <a href="https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/05/15/britains-police-are-restricting-speech-in-worrying-ways">arresting</a> over 30 people per day for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-the-people-around-the-world-on-trial-for-a-tweet?author=Lois+McLatchie+Miller&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Meet+The+People+Around+The+World+On+Trial+For+A+Tweet%C2%A0">online posts</a> deemed offensive.
Such statements reflect a growing discomfort with what appears to be a widening values gap between the U.K. and its allies. Free societies are built not just on GDP and diplomatic summits, but on the intangible infrastructure of liberty — the right to live and speak freely, according to one’s own conscience. Trade flows best when rooted in mutual trust, shared principles, and the confidence that citizens on both sides of the Atlantic are protected by the same basic freedoms.
The U.K. cannot credibly advocate for open markets while tolerating closed discourse. A nation cannot speak loudly on the world stage while silencing its citizens at home. If Britain wishes to remain a trusted partner in the transatlantic alliance — not just economically but morally — it must reaffirm its commitment to the freedoms that define liberal democracy.
No ally is perfect. But the U.K. must meet the standards it helped to set. Free trade among free nations requires more than signed agreements. It requires trust in mutual political courage to protect liberty where it is most easily lost: quietly, at home.
 * * * 
Lois McLatchie Miller is a Scottish commentator on free speech, and a senior legal communications officer for ADF International.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer Visits US President Donald Trump in Scotland

The U.K. Can’t Champion Free Trade While Abandoning Free Speech

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

European Union

Free Speech

Prayer

President Trump

Scotland

United Kingdom

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton moved on Monday to make a New York official comply with his efforts to crack down on the illegal shipping of abortion pills into the Lone Star State.
Paxton <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-takes-legal-action-against-new-york-county-clerk-stopping-radical">filed</a> a legal petition against Acting County Clerk for Ulster County Taylor Bruck for not allowing him to enforce a legal judgement against a New York-based abortionist accused of sending pills into Texas in violation of state law. Earlier this year, the abortionist, Margaret Carpenter, was <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/press/Carpenter%20Final%20Judgment%20Signed.pdf">handed</a> down a $100,000 penalty by a Texas judge for violating the law, but local New York officials have so far blocked the collection of the fine.
“Dr. Carpenter is a radical abortionist who must face justice, not get legal protection from New York liberals intent on ending the lives of as many unborn children as they can,” Paxton said. “No matter where they reside, pro-abortion extremists who send drugs designed to kill the unborn into Texas will face the full force of our state’s pro-life laws.”
Paxton is seeking a writ of mandamus against Bruck to force him to comply with the collection of the penalty and the suit against Carpenter.
New York has implemented a “shield law” to protect abortionists from being prosecuted by out-of-state authorities.
“While pending litigation limits what I can share, I want to make clear that it is an honor to serve Ulster County in this role, and I am especially grateful to do so at such a critical moment for our county, our state, and the protection of fundamental rights under New York law,” Bruck <a href="https://www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley/news/article/ken-paxton-taylor-bruck-legal-action-abortion-20789661.php?utm_source=chatgpt.com">told</a> the Times Union.
The case first began in December 2024 when Paxton sued Carpenter for allegedly sending abortion drugs to a Collin County woman that landed her in the hospital and ended the life of her unborn son. In February, a Collin County judge found that Carpenter had violated Texas law after she failed to appear in court to defend herself. The judge also handed down a $100,000 penalty.
Carpenter has also been indicted in Louisiana on charges of criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs. Carpenter is accused of mailing abortion drugs to a woman in Louisiana who then pressured her underage daughter into taking them and ending the life of her unborn child.

Trump Signs Executive Order Intending To Abolish Education Department

Ken Paxton Challenges New York Official Claiming ‘Shield Law’ Protects Mail-Order Abortion

Ken Paxton

New York

Texas

Former North Carolina Democratic Governor Roy Cooper jumped into what many predict will be the most competitive race of the 2026 midterms on Monday, announcing his campaign for the U.S. Senate in a video posted to social media.
&#8220;I never really wanted to go to Washington … but these are not ordinary times,&#8221; the former governor said. “I thought on it and prayed about it, and I’ve decided: I want to serve as your next United States senator, because even now, I still believe our best days are ahead of us.”
Cooper&#8217;s entry comes after incumbent GOP Senator Thom Tillis <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tillis-buckles-to-trump-threat-wont-seek-reelection">announced</a> last month he wouldn&#8217;t seek reelection following President Trump&#8217;s public attacks on his vote opposing a motion to advance the Big, Beautiful Bill, which was signed into law on July 4.
Cooper, who served as North Carolina&#8217;s governor from 2017 to 2025, enters the race as a formidable candidate — a two-term governor who won statewide elections in 2016 and 2020, while Trump carried North Carolina, according to POLITICO.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I have thought on it and prayed about it, and I have decided: I am running to be the next U.S. Senator from North Carolina. <a href="https://t.co/jXvuioO1T0">pic.twitter.com/jXvuioO1T0</a>
— Roy Cooper (@RoyCooperNC) <a href="https://twitter.com/RoyCooperNC/status/1949801503801155964?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The former governor&#8217;s announcement, combined with Tillis&#8217; exit, has bolstered Democrats&#8217; otherwise slim chances of retaking control of the Senate, where Republicans currently maintain a 53-47 majority.
Cook Political Report <a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings">rates</a> North Carolina as Democrats&#8217; only &#8220;toss-up&#8221; pickup opportunity, while listing Susan Collins&#8217; Maine seat as &#8220;Lean Republican.&#8221; Republicans have their own &#8220;toss-up&#8221; chances in Democrat-held seats in Georgia and Michigan — both states Trump carried in 2024 — meaning Democrats are likely to hold just 49 seats even in their best-case scenario.
Cooper brings a proven ability to appeal to swing voters and donors that Democrats desperately need, but also an extreme record that has drawn <a href="https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article311488761.html">criticism</a> from conservatives.
During his tenure, he vetoed multiple Republican-backed bills, including legislation banning trans surgery for minors and a bill requiring sheriffs to cooperate with ICE. His handling of COVID-19 restrictions sparked controversy, with many Republican lawmakers accusing him of government overreach.
Republicans quickly dismissed Cooper, with the National Republican Senatorial Committee branding him a &#8220;Democrat lapdog.&#8221;
&#8220;North Carolina wants a senator who will champion working families, safety, and American values, not an incompetent, far-left career politician like Cooper who will wreck everything they care about,&#8221; <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/28/roy-cooper-north-carolina-senate-campaign-00479710">said</a> NRSC communications director Joanna Rodriguez, per POLITICO.
Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley is expected to announce his bid in the coming days, although he has already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-endorses-two-america-first-candidates-in-battle-for-senate-control">received</a> an endorsement from President Trump.
Lara Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lara-trump-steps-aside-clearing-path-for-rnc-chairmans-senate-bid">cleared</a> the path for Whatley&#8217;s candidacy, announcing last week she would not seek the seat. Whatley previously served as the North Carolina Republican Party chairman before assuming leadership of the RNC under President Trump.

2024 Democratic National Convention: Day 4

Leftist Former Gov Roy Cooper Runs For Senate, Turning North Carolina Into 2026’s Key Battleground

2026 Midterms

Elections

North Carolina

Politics

Senate

Transgender

Planned Parenthood is closing five clinics in northern California after losing Medicaid funding thanks to President Donald Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Big Beautiful Bill.&#8221;
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, the abortion giant&#8217;s largest affiliate in the country, shuttered five locations near the Bay Area on Thursday, saying the bill forced their hand.
The clinics that are closing are all near the Bay Area — located in San Francisco, San Mateo, Gilroy, Santa Cruz, and Madera.
&#8220;We really feel like we are in the fight of our life,&#8221; <a href="https://abc7news.com/post/planned-parenthood-permanently-closes-5-northern-california-health-centers-including-bay-area/17284357/">said</a> Stacy Cross, president and CEO of the Mar Monte affiliate, which serves California and Nevada.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been a Planned Parenthood CEO for 24 years at three separate affiliates, and I can tell you this is really the hardest it&#8217;s been in my entire life,&#8221; Cross said.
Planned Parenthood laid off more than 60 staffers at the five clinics.
&#8220;This law is clearly a back-door ban on abortion in reproductive freedom states,&#8221; Planned Parenthood Mar Monte <a href="https://www.kcra.com/article/california-planned-parenthood-closes-5-health-centers/65505340">said</a> in a statement.
The massive spending <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text">bill</a>, which was signed by Trump on July 4, bans Medicaid reimbursements for one year to abortion providers who were getting at least $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements, which Planned Parenthood certainly was — the abortion giant was <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/01/15/509662288/that-vow-to-defund-planned-parenthood-easy-to-say-hard-to-do">getting</a> about $390 million from Medicaid as far back as 2015.
Federal law already prohibits Medicaid reimbursements for nearly all abortions, but the bill broadens that ban to Planned Parenthood&#8217;s other services.
&#8220;It essentially defunds Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, from us being able to get reimbursed for the care we provide,&#8221; Cross said.
Planned Parenthood <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/planned-parenthood-sues-trump-admin-targeted-provision-megabill/story?id=123554531">sued</a> the Trump administration over the bill shortly after it was signed, and an Obama-appointed judge granted a two-week restraining order against the Medicaid ban.
However, that restraining order <a href="https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-california-central-coast/newsroom/defund-in-effect-court-fails-to-grant-relief-to-california-planned-parenthood-organizations-2?utm_source=chatgpt.com">expired</a> on Monday, and the judge then <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/us/politics/trump-planned-parenthood.html">issued</a> a narrow preliminary injunction that allowed just 10 Planned Parenthoods to get Medicaid payments.
Planned Parenthood has shut down clinics in a slew of states recently, including Manhattan&#8217;s <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262849/planned-parenthood-shutters-only-facility-in-manhattan-after-decades-of-pro-life-prayers">only</a> clinic, <a href="https://www.startribune.com/why-planned-parenthood-is-closing-four-minnesota-clinics-and-laying-off-staff/601362453?utm_source=chatgpt.com">four</a> in Minnesota, <a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/health-care/planned-parenthood-closing-4-illinois-clinics?utm_source=chatgpt.com">four</a> in Illinois, <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/health/article/planned-parenthood-houston-closing-20784965.php?utm_source=chatgpt.com">two</a> in Texas, and <a href="https://www.ksl.com/article/51305471/planned-parenthood-closes-2-utah-clinics-citing-trump-freeze-in-federal-funding?utm_source=chatgpt.com">two</a> in Utah.
The White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/06/myth-vs-fact-the-one-big-beautiful-bill/">defended</a> the Medicaid changes in a fact sheet on the bill.
&#8220;The One Big Beautiful Bill protects and strengthens Medicaid for those who rely on it — pregnant women, children, seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income families — while eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. The One Big Beautiful Bill removes illegal aliens, enforces work requirements, and protects Medicaid for the truly vulnerable,&#8221; the White House said.

US-POLITICS-JUSTICE-RIGHTS-ABORTION

Planned Parenthood Closes Five California Clinics Thanks To ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

Planned Parenthood Closes Five California Clinics Thanks To Big Beautiful Bill

California

San Francisco

A child born in Iowa is celebrating his first birthday and was declared the youngest premature baby ever by Guinness World Records. 
Nash Keen weighed just 10 ounces, about the same as a bar of soap, when he entered the world at 21 weeks of gestation on July 5, 2024. The formerly tiny newborn, nicknamed “Nash Potato,” is now thriving and hitting milestones after spending six months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital, per the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/premature-birth-guinness-world-record-22d4092b92af131a3efeea96aeb120e3">Associated Press</a>. 
“Nash is so full of personality,” his mom Mollie Keen told the outlet. “He’s a happy baby.” 
“Being in the NICU as long as he was, you’d think that he would be, you know, more fragile and stuff,” she added. “And he’s not. He’s a very determined, curious little boy, and he’s just all smiles all the time.”
Upon reaching his first birthday, Guinness World Records declared Nash the world’s most premature baby, beating out the organization’s previous record holder, born in 2020 in Alabama, by a single day.
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Guinness World Records named Nash the world’s most premature baby after he reached his first birthday. The previous record holder was born in Alabama and was older than Nash by just one day. 
These incredible stories help to turn the pro-abortion argument for “personhood” being linked to viability on its head as increasingly younger premature babies are able not just to survive, but to thrive, even when they are born very early. This is thanks to advancing technology and a commitment to delivering exceptional medical care to fragile newborns.
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Mollie reportedly said that she had a previous miscarriage and was concerned she would also lose Nash when she went into preterm labor. However, she and her husband, Randall, discovered that the University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children’s Hospital was capable of caring for extremely premature babies.
“One of the things I noticed about the medical team is that they were very calm,” she told AP of the staff there. “You never really saw them, like, get anxious or anything. And so we kind of just learned to, like, watch them. If the doctors and the nurses weren’t freaking out, there was no reason for us to freak out.”
“We wanted to give Nash a chance,” Molly told Guinness World Records during an interview.
Despite being born so early and therefore being at risk for a slew of medical complications, Nash is developing in what his doctor says is the best outcome possible for him.
Although he is still on oxygen and using a feeding tube, his parents plan to introduce solid food soon. He is rolling over, and they hope he’ll crawl soon, too. 
“He’s truly the best thing to ever happen to us,” Mollie said.
The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion organization, “<a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/node/26263/printable/print">updated</a>” its definition of viability in August 2022, stating, “A fetus generally reaches viability between 24 and 28 weeks LMP (gestational age).”
This definition is out of date, considering the increasing number of cases like Nash’s, where very premature newborns survive and thrive. These kinds of cases prove that viability is not a fixed gestational point in time, and more broadly, does not determine the humanity of an unborn baby.

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Most Premature Baby Ever Celebrates First Birthday, Declared Guinness World Record Holder

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House Speaker Mike Johnson made a triumphant return to his former organization, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), and praised the &#8220;One Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; as a significant victory for American families and the pro-life movement.
The Louisiana Republican addressed the group&#8217;s 2025 summit in Florida with a pre-recorded speech last week after the House sent the legislation to President Donald Trump ahead of his July 4 deadline.
After touting the bill&#8217;s provisions to invest in national defense and border security as well as its tax cuts, Johnson added that it was also &#8220;a monumental win for American families and includes many of the pro-family victories that we&#8217;ve all been fighting to achieve for many decades.&#8221;
Johnson went over a few specifics.
&#8220;We increased the child tax credit. It&#8217;s going to help everybody,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We expanded paid family leave, we created investment accounts for newborns, and we lowered the tax burden on all American families, so that the American dream of starting a family and owning a home are within reach.&#8221;
The speaker then explained how the legislation aligns with ADF&#8217;s pro-life mission.
&#8220;We also did something that advocates in this audience have worked towards for as long as I&#8217;ve been in the arena,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;We finally passed legislation to make sure that the forced funding of abortion is no longer a thing in America. No longer will our tax dollars fund evil organizations explicitly focused on killing unborn babies. We defunded that.&#8221;
However, it remains to be seen if that victory remains fully intact. There is litigation in which a judge <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5412759-judge-blocks-trump-administration-from-cutting-planned-parenthood-funding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">temporarily paused</a> a ban on funds to Planned Parenthood that had been included in the bill.
Johnson credited ADF for helping to prepare him for the hardships of being speaker of the House.
&#8220;I do miss my days as an allied attorney and as a staff attorney at ADF,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was a formative time in my life, prepared me in so many ways for the crazy job that I&#8217;m doing right now. And so my hat&#8217;s off to all of you for being involved, staying engaged, and being there to fellowship together &#8230; God bless the Alliance Defending Freedom and everybody involved. There&#8217;s never been a more important time for that work than there is right now.”
Kristen Waggoner, the president, CEO, and chief legal counsel of ADF, expressed her gratitude to Johnson in an exclusive statement to The Daily Wire.
&#8220;I appreciate the long-time relationship Speaker of the House Johnson has with ADF,&#8221; Waggoner said. &#8220;He was gracious to share at our annual Summit his perspectives on key issues for which Congress and the Trump administration are contending, and encouraged our allies and guests in attendance to do the same in their realms of influence, especially political leaders who are given platforms to legislate on behalf of the unborn and the family, our bedrocks of society.&#8221;
With a reference to the recent Supreme Court <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-says-states-can-cut-off-medicaid-funds-for-planned-parenthood" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruling</a> that South Carolina is allowed to ban Medicaid funds from going to Planned Parenthood, she continued, &#8220;Speaker Johnson celebrated the meaningful advancements in pro-life legislation, and we&#8217;re grateful at ADF for our recent major victory at the Supreme Court in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.
&#8220;Combined, wins like Medina and pro-life provisions in the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ encourage us that the tide is turning back towards life, yet it will take continued diligence to ensure pro-life laws are not only passed — but fully upheld and enforced.&#8221;

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Speaker Johnson Hails ‘Big, Beautiful’ Win For American Families

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A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from defunding certain Planned Parenthood facilities after President Donald Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; was set to slash the abortion provider&#8217;s funding for one year. 
District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction that said the Trump administration could not stop funding Medicaid payments for Planned Parenthood facilities that don’t directly provide abortions or take less than $800,000 in Medicaid funding. Talwani, an Obama appointee, claimed that the provision of the recently signed “Big, Beautiful Bill” that cut funding for Planned Parenthood violated its First Amendment rights. 
“Instead of merely prohibiting Planned Parenthood Members that receive Medicaid funds from providing abortions, the statute prohibits them from affiliating with entities that do. Moreover, the record is devoid of evidentiary support for Defendants’ suggestion that Planned Parenthood entities share funds that are ultimately used for abortions,” the judge <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/21/politics/planned-parenthood-funding-lawsuit">said.</a> “Therefore, restricting funds based on affiliation with an abortion provider operates only to restrict the associational right of Members that do not provide abortion.”
The injunction will remain in place while the case is being litigated.
Talwani previously issued a temporary injunction against the Trump administration from pulling funding after multiple Planned Parenthood affiliates filed a lawsuit following the passage of Trump&#8217;s signature spending bill. The law bans Medicaid coverage for entities that provide abortion. From 2022 to 2023, Planned Parenthood received nearly $800 million in taxpayer dollars.
“All three democratically elected components of the Federal Government collaborated to enact that provision consistent with their electoral mandates from the American people as to how they want their hard-earned taxpayer dollars spent,” the Trump administration <a href="https://apnews.com/article/planned-parenthood-medicaid-funding-cuts-trump-0bc2c9fc09bce3f0453f0995025bd85f">wrote</a>, saying that Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit was seeking to “supplant duly enacted legislation with their own policy preferences.”
In a statement, Planned Parenthood said that it was disappointed that the judge’s order did not shield all of its facilities. 
“The court has not yet ruled on whether it will grant preliminary injunctive relief to other members,” the abortion giant said. “We remain hopeful that the court will grant this relief. There will be nothing short of a public health crisis if Planned Parenthood members are allowed to be ‘defunded.’” 
Conservative advocates, like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, criticized the judge’s order. 
“An activist judge just prolonged the forced taxpayer funding of Big Abortion, a desperate attempt to run out the clock, and a shameful abuse of our tax dollars,” she said. “Planned Parenthood’s desperate ploy for our tax dollars only underscores why the &#8216;One Big Beautiful Bill&#8217; is such a historic win. It halted, for the first time, over half a billion taxpayer dollars from propping up the corrupt abortion industry.”

Supreme Court Releases Opinions On Friday Morning

Judge Partially Blocks Trump Admin Push To Slash Planned Parenthood Funding

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In a landmark decision this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld West Virginia’s near-total ban on chemical abortions — a major win for federalism, health and safety, and the pro-life cause. This ruling affirms what we at March for Life have long believed: states have both a right and a responsibility to protect life and public health, even when it means outpacing the federal government in doing so.
The key question before the court was this: if the federal government, through the FDA, has approved a drug for use nationwide, can a state nonetheless decide to further restrict or even ban that drug within its own borders?
The Fourth Circuit — not a court known for reaching “conservative” outcomes — answered with a resounding “yes.” And that answer has profound implications, both for abortion policy and for the authority of the states to chart their own paths in matters of health and safety.
Let’s break it down.
Plaintiff GenBioPro — a manufacturer of generic mifepristone — argued that the FDA’s approval of the drug should preempt West Virginia’s more stringent restrictions. In other words, GenBioPro wanted the federal stamp of approval for mifepristone to override the state’s pro-life laws.
The court rejected that argument.
The majority pointed out that under our federalist system, states have the authority to regulate matters of health and safety. Congress, therefore, when granting the FDA authority over drug regulation, “intended to create a regulatory floor, not a ceiling.”
In other words, states cannot weaken federal safety standards – but they absolutely can strengthen them.
This matters because abortion drugs like mifepristone are not like ordinary medications. They have the power to end a human life — and increasingly, they do so without any in-person medical oversight. That’s not just a pro-life concern — it’s a basic medical and ethical concern. Chemical abortion carries significant risks, including hemorrhage, infection, and even death, particularly when used outside a clinical setting.
West Virginia’s legislature recognized those risks and chose to act, including chemical abortions in its law prohibiting abortion in most circumstances. Their law protects
unborn children, yes. But it also protects women from the harms of a deregulated chemical abortion industry. The Fourth Circuit’s decision affirms that West Virginia is fully within its rights to do so.
On its face, this is a case about “preemption,” a legal doctrine that determines when federal law overrides state law. But the Fourth Circuit reminds us that preemption isn’t a magic wand that erases the traditional powers of the states every time it’s waved. Preemption applies only when an intention to preempt state authority has been clearly expressed by Congress — and in the case of abortion pills, it hasn’t been.
The court concluded that in defining the FDA’s regulatory authority, Congress never said states must surrender their own traditional authority over abortion regulation or drug safety. And in the post-Dobbs era, the Supreme Court has made clear that regulating abortion is now a matter for the elected representatives of the people, including at the state level.
The outcome of this case about the preemption doctrine is therefore not merely a legal technicality. It’s a moral and political turning point.
The pro-life movement has always believed that the people, through their elected representatives, should have the power to restrict abortion in their communities. Dobbs confirmed this vision. And the Fourth Circuit’s ruling helps make that vision a reality. States that want to defend life and prioritize women’s safety can move forward confidently, knowing they are not hamstrung by FDA decisions shaped by politics, ideology, or abortion industry pressure.
To be clear, this decision affirming that states are free to take a more restrictive approach to chemical abortions does not let the FDA off the hook. We continue to urge the FDA to perform its own rigorous health and safety analysis of mifepristone, consistent with the responsibilities given to it by Congress and its obligations to the American people.
The court says that FDA regulation is a “floor” upon which the states can build – and that floor should be higher than it currently is. But our federalist system of government requires that states be empowered to determine that the interests of their citizens are best served by laws that are more pro-life than the federal “floor,” and then to act accordingly.
Thanks to the leadership of West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey, West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey, and legal advocates like Alliance Defending Freedom, this case sets a precedent that will impact legislation and litigation across the country.
We at March for Life are encouraged — but not complacent. We know the abortion industry and profit-driven drug manufacturers will continue to fight tooth and nail to
eliminate any limits on chemical abortion, including in states that have chosen to protect life. But with this ruling, the courts have affirmed what is both constitutional and common sense: states can lead the way in defending life.
This is not just a victory for West Virginia. It’s a victory for every state that dares to protect its citizens — born and unborn — with the boldness to stand against a one-size-fits-all federal agenda.
Jennie Bradley Lichter is the President of March for Life and former Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Appeals Court Keeps Abortion Pill Mifepristone Available, But With Restrictions

States Need To Go Further Than The Federal Government On Banning Chemical Abortions

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