In a historic address to Spain’s Parliament on June 8, Pope Leo XIV received a standing ovation after declaring that “the defense of human life is neither a partisan issue nor a confessional interest: it is a goal of civilization.”
“If life ceases to be recognized as a fundamental value, what future can our societies have?” he asked lawmakers, many of whom support abortion and euthanasia. The pope continued: “Can a community that casts into the shadows the unborn child, the elderly, the sick, those who suffer in silence, or those who depend entirely on the care of others be called fully just? Every human life must be recognized and safeguarded from conception to its natural end, in every circumstance of its existence.”
Leo’s words, echoing themes in his first encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, cut to the heart of what sustains just societies. Yet they also expose a critical weakness in our public discourse: Most people do not know that we can answer the question of when a human life starts with an objective scientific fact. Without this foundational knowledge, we lack the intellectual equipment to fully defend individual human lives or the civilization built upon them.
The biological science of human embryology, the specialized branch of biology that studies when human life begins and its early development, has been unequivocal for more than 80 years. Since 1942, the Carnegie Stages of Human Embryonic Development — the international gold standard, akin to the periodic table in chemistry — have documented this moment with precision.
At Carnegie Stage 1, fertilization begins with first contact between sperm and oocyte, marking the beginning of a new, whole, individual, and living human being. This new organism directs its own continuous, coordinated development from that moment forward. Ronan O’Rahilly, one of the world’s authorities on human embryology, states it simply: “Although life is a continuous process, fertilization is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed.” Human embryologist C. Ward Kischer similarly affirms that from this initial contact, “all subsequent development to birth of a living newborn is a fait accompli.”
In other words, we are talking about a seamless process in which stages overlap and blend, with no upgrade or second trigger required at implantation, the onset of the heartbeat, “viability,” birth, or any other milestone.
Human embryology assigns no reduced status to the unborn (the disabled, the sick, or the elderly). The embryo, fetus, infant, toddler, and so on, is the same human organism progressing through the natural stages of development along the continuum of human life.
Every human being is a human person by virtue of existing as a member of our species — not by achieving certain developmental milestones such as size, location, consciousness, sentience, or “independence.” This intrinsic reality applies equally from the tiny beginnings of one’s biological existence to natural death. The claim that biomarkers somehow change the essence of a human being (rendering someone “more fully human” later) is not science. It is a politically charged fabrication.
Many people today nevertheless embrace this destructive myth, dehumanizing the vulnerable at every stage. The comedian Bill Maher captured this mindset in 2024 when he acknowledged that pro-lifers view abortion as murder “and it kind of is,” while admitting he is “OK with that,” a casual acceptance of ending what he and others frame as a less-than-fully-human life. (Maher is the most intellectually honest of today’s talk-show hosts, and it’s therefore all the more disturbing that he should hold these sinister views.)
Our inhumanity is seen at its most stark and shameless in the case of abortion. Decades of treating the unborn as disposable “potential” humans, mere tissue, or “pre-embryos” have led to the deaths of more than 65 million unborn children in the United States alone since 1973. Many Americans shy away from the issue precisely because this dehumanization has made the unborn seem subhuman.
Consider people with Down syndrome: In the United States, an estimated 67-74% of pregnancies prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome end in abortion. Rates climb even higher in Europe, with Iceland close to 100% and Denmark reaching 98%. The same flawed thinking underlies assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) such as IVF, in which millions of embryonic human beings are created, often frozen indefinitely, discarded as “surplus,” or used in research, further severing early human life from its rightful place among humankind.
Not surprisingly, this horrifying, conditional view of humanity and personhood also extends to the elderly and disabled, fueling growing enthusiasm for euthanasia.
This ideology of pre- and post-human personhood is not science. It is a narrative that justifies discarding the fragile. As Pope Leo warned, when this certainty is obscured, “the most vulnerable are the first victims, and the law loses its deepest meaning: to serve and protect every person.”
How did we reach this grave place? Public perception lags badly behind scientific consensus. Many Americans still believe that the status of a human life is a subjective political, religious, or personal matter. Younger Americans are especially uninformed; nearly 40% think that a new human life begins at birth.
But people cannot think about what they do not know. Our public policies and laws must be anchored in objective truth. Recognizing all human beings as human persons from the very beginning of their biological existence is not an imposition of ideology: it is the foundation of equality and justice. It aligns faith’s witness with reason’s clearest evidence, building the “civilization of love” the pope offers us as an alternative to throwaway culture and technological reductionism.
In an era of profound bioethical challenges, from chemical abortion to advances in artificial intelligence and biotechnology, Pope Leo XIV reminds us that protecting human life at every stage is civilization’s litmus test. Until we stop ignoring the objective scientific (embryological) reality of human reproduction and human development, we will fail.
***
Brooke Stanton is the co-author of “The First 56 Days of You: How Your Human Journey Begins” and the chief executive officer of Contend Projects, a registered 501(c)(3) education organization spreading the basic, accurate scientific facts about when a human life starts and the biological science of human embryology.

third month fetus

The Pope, Science, And The Foundation Of Civilization

DW Opinion

Euthanasia

Human Dignity

personhood

Pope Leo

pre-born

Pro-Life Movement

A popular YouTube star sparked backlash after making a disturbing announcement on social media that he and his wife ended the life of their unborn child after finding out the child may be born with Down syndrome. 
Jesse Ridgway, who has over four million subscribers on YouTube, made the announcement on Wednesday that he and his wife aborted their baby because of the Down syndrome diagnosis. The post prompted a strong response from pro-life activists and even House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who said the child&#8217;s life had value despite the medical diagnosis. 
“This week, my wife and I made the very difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy due to Trisomy 21,” Ridgway <a href="https://x.com/McJuggerNuggets/status/2062315803177881822">posted</a> on X. “The choice was not made lightly. We really appreciate all of the personal stories that you guys shared with us, especially the unconditional support we received from fans with no matter what we decided.”
<div style="max-width: 728px; margin: 0 auto;"><iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/4yUkPFSH00sZu53uVt01T3RkLUTgN009H83?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=ceff340c-31e4-4157-9b26-4ca923dcaaec&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=2026-06-04%20YouTuber%20aborts%20baby%20after%20down%20syndrome%20diagnose&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fembedded-videos%2F6663f418-d71e-4033-8491-85f45e44605a.png&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
&nbsp;
When learning the child may be born with Down syndrome, Ridgway said he first was &#8220;optimistic&#8221; that they could “make it work” if the child was just “a little slow intellectually.” 
“But I just didn’t fully understand what Down syndrome entailed,” he said. “I didn’t realize just how rough it is for the child, let alone the family … more often than not, they would be fully dependent on others for the rest of their life.”
Between 350,000 and 400,000 Americans have Down syndrome, meaning they were born with an extra chromosome. When polled, these individuals <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/improving-joyful-lives-societys-response-to-difference-and-disability/">consistently say</a> they are satisfied with their life and were happy they were born. 
Studies generally show that at least 67% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome in the United States are aborted. In Iceland, there are almost no cases of Down syndrome because all those who would have been born with it were killed in the womb. Some Republicans <a href="https://estes.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5906">have pushed</a> for protections to prohibit Down syndrome-based abortions. 
Back in April, Ridgway posted an ultrasound picture of his child, writing, “first look at the little nugget.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
first look at the little nugget. 😱 <a href="https://t.co/yjtVWzbyhh">pic.twitter.com/yjtVWzbyhh</a>
— Jesse Ridgway (@McJuggerNuggets) <a href="https://x.com/McJuggerNuggets/status/2041974939767480735?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Ridgway referred to the death of his unborn child as a “difficult decision that we believe in the long-run will be beneficial for our family&#8221; and appeared to make a political statement by adding, &#8220;Thankfully, we had a choice.&#8221; 
In response to that post, many pro-life advocates pointed out the wonderful lives that many of those with Down syndrome live. 
“Because God made us all in His image, it means EVERY SINGLE PERSON has inestimable DIGNITY and VALUE — and our value is not related in any way to the color of our skin, what zip code we live in, what our talents are, our health condition, or any other factor,” Speaker Johnson <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/2062864877471797445">said</a>. “Our value is inherent, because it is given to us by our loving Heavenly Father.”
“When a culture devolves to the point of depravity where ‘influencers’ can go online and so casually dismiss the deliberate murder of their own precious child, the survival of that culture itself is at risk,” he added. 
Kelsey Pritchard, the communications director for SBA Pro-Life America, told The Daily Wire that she hoped Ridgway and his wife would realize the value of all human life.
&#8220;I hope someday they wake up and realize, and the humanity of the unborn children and the humanity of people who have Down syndrome, because, honestly, we should feel bad for them, because they just robbed themselves of a lot of joy that they otherwise would have had they allowed this child to live,&#8221; she said.
She said that the cultural acceptance of targeting people with disabilities was a result of an abortion-saturated culture.
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s just evidence too of how stripping away the right to life for the unborn, it leads to this stripping away of the dignity of the human being, and bleeds into these other areas, like people with disabilities,&#8221; Pritchard said. &#8220;We know the slippery slope that exists when you start taking people&#8217;s rights away, and you dehumanize a whole class of humans.&#8221;
After the negative response to his announcement, Ridgway <a href="https://x.com/McJuggerNuggets/status/2062706211787571502">said</a> that he had “never seen such hate and vitriol for two people grieving the loss of their unborn child and making an impossible decision” and claimed he had received death threats. 
He also said he was surprised that his announcement of ending the life of his unborn child to his 345,000 followers on X was “newsworthy.”
Many pro-life advocates responded by noting that Ridgway and his wife decided to end the life of their child. 
“My God. You two didn’t suffer a miscarriage or a stillbirth like millions of couples do every year,” <a href="https://x.com/sagesteele/status/2062743081602990214">said</a> former ESPN anchor Sage Steele. “You CHOSE to abort your baby. And then you CHOSE to announce it publicly. YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM. This is narcissism at its finest.”

Foetus ultrasound

YouTube Star Ends Life Of Unborn Child After Down Syndrome Diagnosis

Abortion

Down Syndrome

Mike Johnson

Abortion pills can be obtained &#8220;as quickly as an Amazon transaction&#8221; thanks to a massive network of foreign and domestic pill sellers that routinely flout federal law.
A <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/1043490291/An-Overview-of-Online-Abortion-Drug-Access-in-Post-Dobbs-America-ARS-42?_gl=1*1kyfs09*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTg2MzY1OTg1Mi4xNzc5ODAwOTUy*_ga_Z4ZC50DED6*czE3Nzk4MDA5NTEkbzEkZzAkdDE3Nzk4MDA5NTEkajYwJGwwJGgw*_ga_8KZ8BV0P5W*czE3Nzk4MDA5NTEkbzEkZzAkdDE3Nzk4MDA5NTEkajYwJGwwJGgw">new study</a> from the Charlotte Lozier Institute, first shared with The Daily Wire, found the distribution of abortion pills largely “uncontrolled” and available across the country despite pro-life laws. The study noted that the majority of abortion pill sellers ignore FDA regulations and identified at least eight online pill providers that use so-called shield laws to ship pills into states where medication abortion is technically illegal. 
Researcher Mia Steupert found that an “increase in the proliferation of foreign and domestic online providers of abortion drugs&#8221; and &#8220;the enactment of shield laws all contributed to a post-Dobbs landscape where abortion drugs are readily available on all corners of the internet to women in all 50 states and D.C.”
The Charlotte Lozier Institute is the research arm of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America organization. 
The release of the study comes as pro-life groups have put pressure on the Trump administration to reverse Biden-era regulations that allowed abortion pills to be sent to women without in-person doctor visits. The Supreme Court ruled earlier this month to allow mail-order abortions to continue as the FDA faces lawsuits over the removal of the in-person requirement. The FDA says it is conducting a safety review of the deadly drug. 
“The Joe Biden rule stripping away in-person doctor visits allows the online abortion drug industry to send mifepristone to kill unborn children far beyond the 10-week timeframe the FDA has established — putting women at increased risk for life-threatening complications,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser told The Daily Wire. 
“Anyone can get these drugs with a few taps on their phone. You don’t have to prove how far along you are, that you’re pregnant, or even that you’re a woman to obtain these drugs,” she added. 
<div id="attachment_1101657" style="width: 931px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1101657" class="size-full wp-image-1101657" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-12.23.33-PM.png" alt="" width="921" height="400" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-12.23.33-PM.png 921w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-12.23.33-PM-300x130.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-12.23.33-PM-768x334.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 921px) 100vw, 921px" />Charlotte Lozier Institute Graphic on the online world of abortion pill sellers.</div>
Shield laws have been adopted in Democrat-controlled states like New York and Massachusetts, which state officials say gives people who ship illegal abortion pills into states like Tennessee or Texas immunity from prosecution. Pro-life advocates have argued that shield laws effectively nullify states that have prohibited doctors from administering medication abortions.  
Domestic groups operating under shield laws include the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, We Take Care of Us, Aid Access, and several others, <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/American-Reports-42-Appendices.pdf">according</a> to the study, which includes an appendix listing dozens of online pill sellers. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-leftist-networks-flood-red-states-with-risky-abortion-pills-with-no-consequences">RELATED: How A Leftist Network Of Websites Floods Red States With Abortion Pills With No Consequences</a>
One reviewer wrote on the We Take Care of Us <a href="https://www.wetakecareof.us/">website</a> said she came from “a state where abortion is not allowed,” while another referred to getting the abortion pill, which ends the life of an unborn child, as “literally a life safer [sic].”
“There are no laws directly criminalizing the ingestion of abortion pills in any state, however there can be legal risk associated with abortion care,” the We Take Care of Us website <a href="https://www.wetakecareof.us/faqs">says</a>. 
We Take Care of Us will send women abortion pills “in advance” before they become pregnant. 
<div id="attachment_1101647" style="width: 1449px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1101647" class="wp-image-1101647 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-1.01.27-PM.png" alt="" width="1439" height="865" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-1.01.27-PM.png 1439w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-1.01.27-PM-300x180.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-1.01.27-PM-958x576.png 958w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-1.01.27-PM-768x462.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1439px) 100vw, 1439px" />We Take Care of Us.</div>
Aid Access <a href="https://aidaccess.org/en/about-us">says</a> it provides abortion pills &#8220;to people in all 50 states&#8221; and boasts it has facilitated the deaths of over 200,000 unborn babies.
Multiple foreign pill providers were also scrutinized in the study. 
“These are typically foreign websites that allow anyone to buy abortion drugs, oftentimes as quickly as an Amazon transaction,” Steupert wrote. “These e-commerce websites obtain abortion drugs from international manufacturers and then either ship the drugs directly to the customer or to a U.S. middleman who mails them around the country.”
The study identified Telefem Mexico, Abortion Pills in Private, and Women on Web as three of the organizations that sell pills to Americans. Pills purchased from <a href="https://telefem.org/en/frequent-questions/">Telefem Mexico</a> are picked up on the Mexico side of the southern border, while the other two websites purport to ship pills into the United States. 
Abortions Pills in Private is based in a business park in the United Arab Emirates that says it ships to “anywhere” in the United States. In a drop-down menu, visitors can select from a variety of states with the strongest pro-life protections, including Tennessee. 
The pill provider says that it offers “confidential, medically reviewed services that ships abortion pill kits discreetly to addresses across Tennessee.” 
Women on the Web <a href="https://www.womenonweb.org/en/order-abortion-pill-online/usa/">says</a> that it provides abortion pills “in all 50 states, supporting pregnancies up to 14 weeks.”
<div id="attachment_1101653" style="width: 1475px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1101653" class="wp-image-1101653 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-1.33.38-PM.png" alt="" width="1465" height="770" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-1.33.38-PM.png 1465w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-1.33.38-PM-300x158.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-1.33.38-PM-1024x538.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-22-at-1.33.38-PM-768x404.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1465px) 100vw, 1465px" />Women on the Web.</div>
The pill seller describes itself as a “Canadian feminist non-profit organization” and brags that it has facilitated the deaths of more than 130,000 unborn babies. 
Of the foreign pill sellers scrutinized in the study, 18 did not require any kind of ID, and 17 shipped abortion drugs not approved by the FDA, the study found.
Even if the providers do not purport to send pills into states with pro-life protections, most appear to completely ignore FDA regulations. The study also found that 81% of online pill sellers do not follow the FDA restrictions for abortion, including that the pill be taken within ten weeks of conception. 
“Of online abortion drug sellers within the formal U.S. healthcare system that publicly report the gestational age at which they will ship abortion drugs, only 19% complied with the FDA’s requirement to not ship the drugs after 70 days’ gestation. This means 64 sellers violated the FDA’s safety limit,” Steupert wrote. 
Additionally, the majority of pill providers also do not follow the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy requirements outlined by the FDA for the abortion drug. These requirements include things like prescriber and dispenser guidelines. 
Back in 2019, the FDA sent a letter to 28 online pill sellers who were accused of violating abortion pill regulations. Steupert said that 10 of these pill sellers were still violating federal regulations despite the warning. 
“Of the 28 websites implicated in the FDA’s 2019 abuse letters, 10 are still actively breaking U.S. federal law by selling unapproved and unbranded abortion drugs they claim are FDA-approved,” she wrote.  
The report identified sites like <a href="https://www.abortionrx.com/contact.html">Abortionrx</a> and <a href="https://www.nopregnancy.com/contact.html">Nopregnancy</a> as two of the websites that were ignoring the FDA’s warnings. Both pill sellers have alleged &#8220;FDA approved&#8221; stamps on the bottom of their webpages. 
<div id="attachment_1101663" style="width: 2434px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1101663" class="wp-image-1101663 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-9.14.51-AM.png" alt="" width="2424" height="366" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-9.14.51-AM.png 2424w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-9.14.51-AM-300x45.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-9.14.51-AM-1024x155.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-9.14.51-AM-768x116.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-9.14.51-AM-1536x232.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-9.14.51-AM-2048x309.png 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 2424px) 100vw, 2424px" />Abortionrx.</div>
Steupert told The Daily Wire her paper should serve as a wake-up call to federal policymakers. 
“No one should be able to obtain abortion drugs as easily as purchasing something off Amazon,” she said. “The egregious findings of this paper should serve as a wake-up call to policymakers that a wild west of online abortion drug access only serves to end unborn life at all costs, even at the expense of women’s safety.”

Abortion Drugs Now Arrive As Fast As An Amazon Package

Ordering Abortion Drugs Is As Easy Shopping On Amazon

Abortion drugs

Sadly, the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 revealed how woefully unprepared the pro-life movement was to engage and win at the state level. Decades of focus on advocacy at the federal level left the movement flat-footed and unequipped for the post-Roe landscape. While conservatives celebrated the Dobbs decision and disengaged, progressive activists got to work enacting their social policies in state capitols across the United States.
Missouri represents the first real chance for the pro-life movement, and social conservatism writ large, to find its footing in the post-Roe world. A victory in Missouri would show pro-family activists and donors in states like Kansas and Ohio that radical progressive amendments can be repealed and replaced. Polling shows that <a href="https://www.searchlightinstitute.org/research/the-path-forward-for-transgender-rights/">over 70% of Americans</a> oppose transgender surgeries for minors, and <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/321143/americans-stand-abortion.aspx">approximately the same amount oppose late-term abortion</a>. Missouri now stands as Ground Zero in the fight to protect the unborn and safeguard minors from irreversible harm.
In the coming months, Missourians will vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to protect the unborn and ban transgender surgeries for minors. If <a href="https://documents.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills251/hlrbillspdf/2454H.05T.pdf">Amendment 3</a> passes, it will be a watershed moment for the pro-family movement and provide a roadmap for other states across the country.
In 2024, Missouri passed a constitutional amendment to guarantee <a href="https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/Elections/Petitions/2024-086.pdf">nearly unlimited access to abortion</a> in a state that Donald Trump won by almost 18%. Not only that, but the amendment expressly prohibited the government from interfering with any “reproductive health care,” opening a Pandora&#8217;s box to nightmares such as transgender surgeries and puberty blockers for minors without the consent of their parents.
The risks that the procedures pose to minors are well-documented. According to a peer-reviewed <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-releases-peer-reviewed-report-discrediting-pediatric-sex-rejecting-procedures.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com">study released by the Department of HHS</a>: &#8220;The risks of pediatric medical transition include infertility/sterility, sexual dysfunction, impaired bone density accrual, adverse cognitive impacts, cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders, psychiatric disorders, surgical complications, and regret.” Even the <a href="https://www.plasticsurgery.org/for-medical-professionals/health-policy/position-statements">American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommends</a> that “surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old.&#8221;
Due to several factors, including misleading ballot language, disjointed opposition, and fundraising disparities, the amendment narrowly passed the required 50% threshold with 51.6% of the vote. Almost overnight, one of the most conservative states in the union suddenly looked more like California or New York.
Amendment 3 would repeal the destructive 2024 law and replace it with constitutional protections for the unborn, and explicitly ban transgender surgeries and puberty blockers for minors. If the amendment passes, Missouri will become the first state in the union to repeal a pro-abortion constitutional amendment and the first state to constitutionally ban transgender surgeries and puberty blockers for minors.
Recognizing the importance of protecting Missouri’s women and children, groups such as the <a href="https://www.herhealthherfuture.com/">Her Health Her Future PAC</a> have worked diligently to set the record straight on the dangers of the 2024 amendment and replace it with protections for mothers, minors, and babies. With the full backing of Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe and First Lady Claudia Kehoe, who serves as the organization’s treasurer, the group has seen early success in its efforts. According to a <a href="https://www.slu.edu/news/2026/march/slu-poll.php">February poll by St. Louis University and YouGov</a>, a plurality of Missouri voters (47%) support the new Amendment 3, while 40% oppose it.
A victory in Missouri would provide a much-needed roadmap for other conservative states that have seen progressive activists rewrite and reinterpret their state constitutions. In 2022, <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/08/the-lessons-of-kansas/">Kansas affirmed the state supreme court’s determination</a> that the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness includes the right to abortion. Similarly, in 2023, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pro-life-group-what-went-wrong-ohio-abortion-vote-how-to-respond-2024">Ohio voters approved an amendment</a> to create a right to abortion in the state constitution. These are states that Donald Trump won in 2024 by 16% and 11%, respectively.
A victory for Amendment 3 would not only reverse a radical mistake but energize the pro-family movement across the heartland and beyond.
***
Dan Harre serves as the community engagement manager for Coalition Life, a St. Louis-based nonprofit dedicated to ending abortion in the U.S. peacefully and prayerfully.
Michael Hafner serves as general consultant to Her Health, Her Future PAC, and is president of Parabellum Strategies, a Missouri-based political consulting firm specializing in campaign management, issue advocacy, and strategic communications.

US-NEWS-ELN-MO-ABORTION-KC

The Show Me State Could Set A Pro-Life, Pro-Kids Precedent For The Nation

Amendment 3

Missouri

The resignation of FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary creates an opportunity for the agency to return to its mission of protecting the public by ensuring drugs are safe. Whether Kyle Diamantas is running the agency long-term or the administration expediently appoints someone new, now is the time to address the most significant public health crisis of our time: the widespread distribution of mail-order abortion drugs.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration recklessly stripped away basic requirements for the abortion drug mifepristone, such as in-person doctor&#8217;s visits. The intention was to expand abortion nationwide if Roe v. Wade was overturned. This mail-order policy has pushed abortion drugs into pro-life states, violating their laws, ending lives, and endangering women and girls. And it’s still in place.
This Biden policy is the reason abortions have risen, not fallen, in the post-Dobbs era, with more than <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/new-report-confirms-abortions-continue-to-rise-after-dobbs/">one million</a> unborn children dying annually. Even in states with strong pro-life protections, tens of thousands of abortions persist each year, driven in large part by this unchecked spread of mail-order abortion drugs. We know 90,000 abortions are occurring annually just in the states that protect life all throughout pregnancy.
Mifepristone is manufactured and distributed to kill unborn children, but it is also highly dangerous for women. In September, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. confirmed that the Biden administration <a href="https://x.com/sbaprolife/status/1963633771908874327">&#8220;twisted&#8221;</a> data on abortion drug safety and there would be a necessary review. Studies indicate that even when these drugs are given in person with oversight, as many as <a href="https://eppc.org/publication/insurance-data-reveals-one-in-ten-patients-experiences-a-serious-adverse-event/">11%</a> of women who take these drugs experience serious adverse effects, including hemorrhaging, infection, and sepsis. Peer-reviewed research further shows that roughly <a href="https://aditum.org/journals/international-journal-of-epidemiology-and-public-health-research/current-issue/1111">three-quarters</a> of emergency room visits following abortion drug use are classified as severe or critical. According to the <a href="https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2023/020687Orig1s026lbl.pdf">FDA’s own label</a>, abortion drugs send approximately one in 25 women to the ER.
This policy shift has also created fertile ground for abuse. Without in-person screening, there is little to prevent <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/mifepristone-as-a-tool-of-coercion-a00edf87">coercion</a> or forced abortions. Cases like that of <a href="https://adflegal.org/article/rosalie-markezich-story/">Rosalie Markezich</a> – whose boyfriend allegedly ordered abortion drugs online from California and pressured her to take them against her will – highlight a disturbing reality. When you peddle drugs online to anyone, vulnerable women and their children are left exposed to manipulation, violence, and irreversible harm.
Thankfully, Republican attorneys general have challenged the Biden policy, with one case brought by Louisiana rising to the top. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently moved to halt the FDA’s mail-order abortion drug policy, signaling that challenges to this regulatory framework have substantial merit. The court called the Biden policy “federal interference” that nullifies Louisiana’s pro-life law and said the policy “lacked a basis in data and scientific literature.” The court said, “FDA’s own documents prove that emergency room care is statistically certain in hundreds of thousands of cases.”
Looking ahead, the path forward is clear. It is time for the FDA to return to the standard of in-person doctor visits that was in place during the first Trump administration and to fully study mifepristone. While it is my hope that mifepristone will be completely taken off the market someday, going back to basic safety standards will allow pro-life laws to take effect and add a critical layer of protection for women. Face-to-face evaluations allow for screening of ectopic pregnancies, to assess gestational age, to identify risk factors, and to detect signs of coercion.
Public opinion strongly supports this approach. <a href="https://sbaprolife.org/polling#abortion-drugs">Polling</a> consistently shows that 71% of Americans – including majorities of Independents, Democrats, and even self-identified liberals – favor reinstating in-person medical oversight for abortion drugs.
Now is the time for the FDA to do the right – and the politically smart – thing. Return to the Trump administration policy of in-person doctor visits to save lives.
***
Marjorie Dannenfelser serves as president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. She has been called “the woman who brought down Roe.”

Gender – unborn child

Makary’s Resignation Brings Renewed Hope For Banning Mail Order Abortion Drugs

Marty Makary

Mifepristone

At the recent Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America gala in Washington, D.C., organization president Marjorie Dannenfelser <a href="https://sbaprolife.org/latest-news/marjorie-dannenfelsers-speech-at-the-2026-sba-pro-life-america-gala">issued</a> a stark warning: either the pro-life movement will place abortion “on the path to extinction,” or abortion proponents will push until it is legal in all fifty states.
She is right. And the most uncomfortable fact in American pro-life politics today proves it. According to the abortion industry’s <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/report/full-year-estimates-show-overall-stability-abortion-incidence-decreased-travel-increased-telehealth-provision">Guttmacher Institute</a>, more than 1.12 million abortions were performed in 2025 — a 21% increase over 2020, the last full year before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Women are traveling from protective states to permissive ones. Abortionists are mailing abortion pills across state lines, undermining laws meant to protect mothers and children. State after state has enshrined abortion in its constitution by ballot initiative.
The legal victory the movement fought 50 years to achieve has not produced the cultural victory we assumed would follow. That is the lesson buried inside Dannenfelser’s warning, and the pro-life movement cannot afford to miss it.
In 1998, Planned Parenthood announced plans to build an abortion facility in my hometown of Bryan/College Station, Texas. We didn’t try to out-shout Planned Parenthood. We decided to out-build them.
We organized 60 local churches and thousands of volunteers into a sustained, peaceful witness of prayer and sidewalk counseling outside the facility. But the harder, more decisive work happened where the public didn’t see it. The nearest pregnancy resource center kept hours that didn’t overlap with Planned Parenthood’s, meaning a woman in crisis on a Saturday morning had nowhere else to turn. So we worked with the center to synchronize its hours. Then we helped a second resource center relocate directly across the street from Planned Parenthood, so the moment a woman considered walking in, an alternative was visible from the curb. We fortified supply networks for diapers, formula, medical care, legal help, and practical assistance so that no mother facing an unexpected pregnancy felt abortion was her only option.
We didn’t just protest the problem. We built the infrastructure to solve it.
The results compounded. Planned Parenthood was removed from local schools and stripped of state taxpayer funding. Abortions at the facility fell year after year (2%, 15%, then 28%, according to Texas state health data) as the new infrastructure took hold. Eventually, that abortion center closed for good.
We didn’t win because we won arguments or cared more. Plenty of people elsewhere made good arguments and cared deeply, yet still lost. We won because we built the infrastructure that made choosing life not just morally compelling but practically possible.
That is the lesson Washington must learn.
The pro-life movement has, rightly, invested enormous energy in legal and political strategy. Stripping roughly half a billion dollars in federal funding from Planned Parenthood was a significant achievement. Leaders like Senator Bill Cassidy and House Speaker Mike Johnson have shown that principled, strategic pro-life leadership in Washington is alive. The Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America team’s political work ahead of 2028 is essential.
But politics alone will not produce a pro-life America. Neither did overturning Roe. The <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/induced-abortion-united-states#:~:text=abortion%20policy%20map.-,Numbers%20and%20Rates,comprehensive%20national%20estimates%20before%20Dobbs.">21% abortion increase</a> is not a referendum on the Dobbs decision. It is a referendum on the assumption that legal change drives cultural change. It does not. Cultural change drives legal change. And only when cultural change is supported by real infrastructure does the law hold.
What the other side taught us over the last 50 years is painful but unmistakable. They didn’t just win court cases. They built the architecture — clinic networks, professional standards, medical curricula, entertainment narratives, corporate policies — that made their vision the path of least resistance for ordinary Americans. The law followed. And when the law eventually moved against them at Dobbs, the cultural architecture they had built held.
We can do the same, but for life and grounded in truth. Nearly <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/A-Legacy-of-Life-Love-2025-Rising-to-the-Occasion-with-Unwavering-Care.pdf">3,000</a> pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes are quietly outperforming Planned Parenthood on the metric that matters: women genuinely served and supported. The recent launch of <a href="https://www.moms.gov/">moms.gov</a> uses Heartbeat International’s Option Line to help women locate their closest life-affirming pregnancy center. The American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYNs is building a credible medical alternative to the establishment that gave us abortion on demand. Live Action and Students for Life are forming a generation to carry this work for decades. The 40 Days for Life movement I started has mobilized more than 1 million volunteers across 60 nations and helped save more than 26,000 lives. The latest science-backed research about life in the womb illuminates the undeniable humanity of unborn children through resources like Charlotte Lozier Institute’s Voyage of Life platform.
These are not mere campaigns or protests. These are institutions and infrastructure. And their growth is the real reason the pro-life cause has a future.
Dannenfelser said the abortion fight will be decided by whoever cares more. She is right. But caring is only the precondition. History shows what comes next: take that caring and build with it.
That is what it will take to make America the most pro-life country in the world.
***
David Bereit founded 40 Days for Life and serves as executive director of the Life Leadership Conference. He has spent three decades studying social movements and cultural change.

In new motherhood, fetal health monitoring through regular ultrasounds and check-ups enables constant monitoring of the fetus’s growth and development.

What Needs To Change To Make America Pro-Life

As a Catholic who believes every life is sacred from conception, I&#8217;ve grown weary of a pro-abortion leftist&#8217;s favorite talking point: &#8220;You pro-lifers only care about babies before they&#8217;re born.&#8221;
It&#8217;s a lie, and it&#8217;s lazy.
The real scandal is that the Left treats abortion as the default &#8220;solution&#8221; for struggling mothers while ignoring the practical barriers, like unaffordable, inflexible childcare, that push so many women toward it.
Childcare, though increasingly abused by foreign fraudsters, could be the untold pro-life issue. If we can fix the exploitation of these services with conservative principles and necessary guardrails, we could save far more babies than most people realize.
I sat down with Clare Ath, senior policy analyst at Human Coalition, one of the most effective pro-life organizations in the country. What she described was the daily reality of the women they serve: the average mom is 29, single, already raising one child, and has limited family or friends to lean on. Often, she&#8217;s not choosing abortion out of zeal, but because she’s terrified about making ends meet, and childcare feels fiscally impossible.
According to Human Coalition, 76% of the abortion-determined mothers they reach online say they would choose life if their circumstances were different.
A million abortions a year in America, many now via mail-order chemical pills that flooded the market under Biden-era rules. Post-Dobbs, some pro-life lawmakers patted themselves on the back while chemical abortions surged because the Left made them as easy as ordering takeout.
The abortion industry doesn&#8217;t want to talk about sepsis cases, lost fallopian tubes, or the flight attendant Human Coalition helped who nearly died after Planned Parenthood dismissed her symptoms as &#8220;just cramps.&#8221; They want to keep the pipeline open, not for empowerment, but for exploitation.
The pro-life movement has long championed the ideal: two-parent homes and moms who can stay home if they want. That’s still the gold standard, but reality demands we meet mothers where they are. Human Coalition does just that. Digital ads appear when a desperate woman googles “how do I get an abortion.” Social workers help build a customized stability plan, they partner with churches and other organizations to create a “pro-life safety net,” and they never abandon moms after birth.
This is where conservatives can lead, and where the Left keeps failing. Childcare is the single biggest pressure point for the single moms Human Coalition serves. These women must work, and they don&#8217;t want handouts.
Remote and hybrid jobs are one of the most realistic fixes: call-center roles where moms can earn while the baby naps, large corporations offering on-site care incentivized by stronger federal tax credits, and flexible subsidies that match non-traditional hours — all of which beat rigid state daycare that closes at 5 p.m. when your Walmart shift doesn’t end until 11.
Contrast all that with the Left’s one-size-fits-all, universal free fluff obsession. Remember Bill de Blasio&#8217;s universal pre-K push in New York, backed by then-Gov. Cuomo&#8217;s state funding? The flagship program limped along, but its 3-K expansion flopped spectacularly. Wealthier, whiter neighborhoods filled the seats, while low-income and minority families left one-third of the seats empty. Why? The hours didn’t match night shifts and irregular work. The program was expensive, impractical, and ultimately scrapped by Mayor Eric Adams.
Mamdani wants more of the same, yet recent data on New York&#8217;s pre-K and 3-K expansions show an identical pattern: empty seats in the poorest neighborhoods, waitlists in the richest.
Socialism&#8217;s &#8220;free&#8221; care isn&#8217;t free when it ignores how real families actually live.
Though the word &#8220;childcare&#8221; has nearly become synonymous with socialist promises and fraudulent Minnesota billing schemes, Republicans shouldn&#8217;t cede the issue. West Virginia congressman Riley Moore&#8217;s proposal to make childcare dollars flexible for family care (grandma watching the grandkids, for example) is smart, provided it&#8217;s paired with real guardrails against the kind of fraud we saw in Minnesota.
Younger conservatives understand this: women are working, and that&#8217;s not slowing down. But more remote work could boost birth rates, especially when we remember that life seasons matter. Motherhood is not a career penalty; it&#8217;s a beautiful vocation worth supporting, and it goes by fast.
Addressing childcare doesn&#8217;t have to mean big government or a socialist fantasy. It&#8217;s pro-family realism, and it undercuts the abortion lobby&#8217;s entire grift.
If we want our birth rate to rise, we have to stop killing the babies we already have and start supporting mothers after birth through pregnancy resource centers, long-term accountability, and practical help that the Left only pretends to offer. Their solution is a pill in the mail and a shrug. Ours is nurses, social workers, churches, and policies that make choosing life feel possible instead of punishing.
Conservatives should stop treating childcare as a third-rail issue and start treating it as the frontline of the pro-life fight. Human Coalition is already there. The rest of us should follow their lead because the future of this country depends on it!

Kindergarten, Child playing with brick toys at daycare nursery. Education development games for school toddlers kids

‘Pro-Life’ Must Continue Beyond Birth — Millions Of Lives Depend On It

childcare

Friday’s decision by the Fifth Circuit to halt telemedicine delivery of the abortion drug mifepristone and require in-person dispensing was hailed as an important win by pro-life organizations — at least, until the Supreme Court temporarily put that ruling on hold. But while the ruling was a positive step toward protecting the unborn — and protecting women from being unwittingly administered abortion drugs by abusers — it is insufficient.
Shortly after the Fifth Circuit issued its ruling, an <a href="https://msmagazine.com/2026/05/01/abortion-pills-usa-fifth-circuit-mifepristone-fda/">article</a> in Ms. Magazine pointed out that an international network of mail-order abortion pill providers already exists and is “ready to ramp up services.”
During the nearly half-century when Roe v. Wade was the law of the land, most of the pro-life movement in the U.S. focused on enacting incrementally protective laws at the state and federal levels, while supporting crisis pregnancy centers and demonstrating outside abortion clinics in their local communities. Since the 2022 Dobbs decision overturned Roe, it has become increasingly important for leaders in the pro-life movement to increase their focus on the international context for two reasons. First, as individual states face unique challenges both legally and practically, there are useful lessons to be drawn from similar situations abroad. And second, it is essential to understand how the international pro-abortion movement has positioned itself to make abortion universally accessible, regardless of legality, with assistance from multilateral agencies, governments, and other donors.
The U.S. was significantly slower to adopt abortion by pills than other countries. Regulations issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided safeguards in the event of complications, but they also imposed logistical and operational requirements comparable to those of surgical procedures.
Three events changed everything: the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 lifting of in-person dispensing requirements by the FDA, and the 2022 Dobbs decision. During the COVID lockdowns, temporary allowances were made for remote telehealth abortions, which paved the way for the FDA’s decision to permanently change its policy. Then, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe, telehealth became a way for people in states with strong pro-life laws to obtain abortion pills from states with fewer abortion restrictions.
What many in the U.S. do not know is that this playbook has precursors in other global regions, especially in Latin America, where abortion was heavily restricted and remains so in many countries to this day. Decades ago, women in Brazil discovered that the widely available gastric ulcer drug misoprostol could be used to induce abortions, and feminist networks across the region spread information and guidance, often through hotlines.
In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3949603/">bulletin</a> clarifying that while it had been conflating the “safety” of abortion with its legality, “the widespread informal use of misoprostol has added a layer of complexity to the concept of ‘safety.’”
Influenced by the global abortion lobby, guidance from the WHO has moved steadily in the direction of prioritizing access to abortion over “safety,” and ensuring the ubiquity of the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol by including them in essential medicines lists while removing caveats insisting on medical supervision.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO declared abortion an essential service and encouraged expanded use of telemedicine, but even before the pandemic, the WHO issued a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK544164/">guideline</a> arguing that “self-care” approaches had the potential to address unmet needs, such as “self-managed medical abortion in countries where abortion is illegal or restricted.”
All of this is why, in 2026, websites exist, targeted at a U.S.-based audience, to offer abortion pills from overseas, ranging from services run by well-known feminist activists to highly dubious-looking online pharmacies, all proclaiming that they operate in line with WHO guidance.
The WHO’s guidance is not limited to the technical use of abortion pills or its increasingly capacious definition of what kind of abortion can be considered “safe.” In concert with other UN agencies and expert groups, it relentlessly pressures countries to liberalize their abortion laws, including by restricting the conscience rights of health care providers.
During the pandemic, conservatives in the U.S. became concerned by a draft WHO pandemic preparedness treaty that could be used to limit freedom of expression under the label “misinformation.” Since then, the WHO has conducted a scoping <a href="https://infodemiology.jmir.org/2025/1/e83747">review</a> to identify ways to regulate social media platforms to limit misinformation in the “reproductive health” space. This would include both censoring pro-life content that it deems to be “antichoice misinformation” and preventing platforms from restricting the direct advertisement of illicit products and services — such as abortion drugs, where illegal.
Anyone in the U.S. who has had to click a button to accept cookies when visiting a website should not be naïve to the effects that foreign regulations (in this case, the European Union) can have on their online experience.
The pro-life fight continues at the local, state, and federal levels, and there’s plenty to do at each. But now we cannot ignore the international context, as it is the site of important lessons from the past and important battles in the future.
***
Rebecca Oas is the Director of Research for the Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam) in Washington, D.C. She earned her doctorate in Genetics and Molecular Biology at Emory University with expertise in global maternal and child health and family planning.

High angle shot of baby clothings, accessories and ultrasound scan photo in moses basket. Preparation for a new family member. Expecting a new life concept. Baby and new life concept

The International Abortion Drug Workaround Pro-Lifers Need To Address

Abortion Drug

When my daughter Jeanette was only four years old, she looked up at me and said, “Mommy, thank you for giving me my life.”
Those words have echoed in my heart ever since. They marked the beginning of a journey that taught me the profound truth I hold today: We must choose life under all circumstances, because life is worth fighting for.
At 12 years old, after moving from Mexico City to Los Angeles, my world shattered. I was kidnapped by two men, repeatedly raped, and left for dead.
No one is ever prepared for that to happen.
When I finally made it out and home, I was severely depressed. My family had no idea how to help and offered little compassion. I was told that my life was ruined, that no one would ever want me, and that everything was destroyed. At such a young age, hearing those things left me with nowhere to turn.
I felt utterly alone. Nightmares haunted me. I couldn’t sleep. In desperation, I took all the pills I could find, hoping to end the pain. I woke up in a hospital, where doctors informed me I was pregnant.
Since many people consider this one of the “exceptions” where abortion seems justifiable, the doctor told me not to worry. He said abortion was legal, and I could have one. But at that moment, questions flooded my mind: Would abortion take away my nightmares? Would it erase my fear of going outside? Would it heal the abuse or undo what had been done to me?
He answered no to every question. Abortion would do none of those things. So why was that the only option offered? I needed real help — like psychological support, medical care, and legal assistance — but none were offered. The only solution presented to me was to kill my child.
The doctor performed a sonogram, and I asked if I could hear the heartbeat. When that tiny sound reached me, hope stirred in my heart for the first time. I realized I wasn’t going to be alone anymore. This child was mine; my DNA, my blood, growing inside of me.
I refused to give my baby the death penalty for a crime she didn’t commit.
To this day, those two men who hurt me have never faced trial. It took many years, but I eventually prayed for them. Forgiveness came slowly, but it came.
Raising a child at 12 was incredibly hard. I grew up amid domestic violence and my father’s alcoholism. No one is truly prepared to parent at any age, but my daughter became the light in my darkness. She gave me the courage to stand up, find work, and strive to be better.
Although people judged me because I was a young girl already with a baby, I didn’t care. She loved me more than anyone ever had. Through her love, my heart began to heal. She was the reason I got up every morning, worked, and pushed forward. I emancipated myself, lived on my own with her, and we grew up together.
Jeanette went to college and graduated. She founded a nonprofit to support girls facing depression, discrimination, and teenage single-motherhood. She provided diapers and baby clothes — anything a struggling mother needs because she knew what I had lacked. She would say, “Look at me, Mom. I’m normal.” She was kind and compassionate, and she believed her purpose was to help others.
Tragically, my daughter passed away a few years ago. The pain still breaks my heart. She was no second-class citizen. She deserved every bit of respect and dignity as anyone else. Her conception came from violence, but that never defined her. She shaped the woman I am today.
Abortion doesn’t undo rape. It inflicts double trauma, a second violation you will never forget. If I had chosen abortion, I wouldn’t be here. I would have ended up dead, on drugs, or lost entirely. Instead, Jeanette helped me become a better person. She reminded me that love is always stronger than violence.
When people say a child conceived in rape will only remind the mother of her trauma forever, I say yes, she is a reminder. But she is a reminder that life triumphs over brutality, that hope can rise from ashes.
We must make abortion unthinkable, even in the hardest cases. We need more programs: legal aid, psychological support, safe housing, and protection for girls abused in their own homes. Remove them from danger and protect the child, because it’s never the child’s fault.
No woman should be violated as I was. But if you ask what was worse, the rape or losing my daughter, the answer is clear: losing her was the worst pain I’ve ever known. She gave me hope, love, and purpose. I am grateful for every day we shared.
When Jeanette was four years old, she thanked me for giving her life. But in truth, it was my daughter I should have thanked instead. She gave me my life back.
Life is worth fighting for. Every life, no matter how it is conceived. One single life saved changes the world.
***
Lianna Rebolledo is an inspirational speaker, journalist, and counselor who founded Loving Life. She works closely with Live Action to share her powerful story globally.

Abortion – Miscarriage

Being Pro-life Can Turn The Cruelest Circumstances Into Hope And Love

Live Action

Democrat abortion extremism lost this week with a Supreme Court decision that reins in blue state lawfare against charitable pregnancy centers. In a 9-0 ruling, First Choice Women’s Center prevailed over former New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin. Platkin had attempted to force the pregnancy center to hand over private donor information and had even gone so far as to coordinate with Planned Parenthood on a “consumer alert” targeting pregnancy centers across the state with false and unsubstantiated accusations. 
The Court’s decision allows First Choice and pregnancy centers across the country to defend their rights and continue serving women and children without fear of government threats or interference. The ruling on First Amendment grounds supported by even Ketanji Brown Jackson is a decisive victory for life.
As many as <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/hidden-epidemic-nearly-70-of-abortions-are-coerced-unwanted-or-inconsistent-with-womens-preferences/">six out of 10 women</a> with a history of abortion say they would have chosen life if they had more support. Today, organizations like First Choice are providing more of this kind of support since Roe v. Wade fell.
For example, the Charlotte Lozier Institute found in 2024 alone, the national network of pregnancy centers provided babies and moms over <a href="https://lozierinstitute.org/new-pregnancy-centers-provided-over-452-million-in-services-and-goods-to-families/">$452 million</a> in material, medical, educational and other services and goods. Unlike the abortion industry’s “services,” the overwhelming majority of these gifts were provided completely free of charge. The testimony of the women they support — some who were rescued from domestic violence, sex trafficking, homelessness, and so much more — should warm even the coldest heart.
Interestingly, even Platkin’s typical allies opposed his lawfare. The American Civil Liberties Union, for example, filed an amicus brief in defense of First Choice. Platkin pushed his unconstitutional crusade anyway, showing his determination to bulldoze whatever rights necessary to put local pregnancy centers out of business.
From the beginning, it was obvious that Platkin’s attack on First Choice was politically motivated. His counsel <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/12/02/us-news/scotus-justice-clarence-thomas-forces-nj-attorney-to-admit-state-targeted-pro-life-group-with-probe/">admitted</a> during Supreme Court oral arguments that they had not received any complaints that First Choice was misleading customers. Even so, he chose to initiate an intrusive investigation against the center and to issue a subpoena for donor records and other financial information. According to First Choice’s legal documents, this had the effect that Platkin hoped it would — First Choice donors admitted they would have been “<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-781_pok0.pdf">less likely</a> to donate to First Choice if we had known information about the donation might be disclosed.”
Concerningly, pro-abortion radicals have shown they will stop at nothing to push their extremism through. Far gone are the days of the Democrats being the party of “safe, legal, and rare.” Blue state attacks on pregnancy centers reveal the truth: Democrats are not pro-choice, they’re pro-abortion.
Attorney General Platkin’s attacks on First Choice are <a href="https://sbaprolife.org/latest-news/17-insane-things-democrats-have-said-about-pregnancy-centers">just the latest example</a>. States like Colorado and California have cracked down on pregnancy centers providing Abortion Pill Reversal, a safe, effective option that has saved 7,000+ babies. Scores of pregnancy centers around the country were targeted and vandalized in the wake of Dobbs. With the Biden administration more focused on jailing peaceful pro-lifers, most of the perpetrators remain at large. Kamala Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and other Democrats have called for pregnancy centers to be shut down.
It is shocking the lengths Democrats have gone to in abandoning women to promote abortion at all costs. To them, more abortions equal more success, and they know they have to engage in these tactics to prop up Planned Parenthood and Big Abortion. Nationwide, Planned Parenthood locations are closing their doors due to filthy facilities, plummeting income, and too few staff. Meanwhile, pregnancy centers are booming because they are offering women real choices, free of charge. As long as they exist to offer babies and moms support, organizations like First Choice will continue undercutting businesses that the abortion industry needs to thrive. That is an unpardonable offense for abortion extremists.
Across the country, other pro-abortion activists were watching to see if this venture succeeded. They saw Platkin successfully bully pro-life volunteers into courts all the way up to the Supreme Court. Thankfully, every single Supreme Court justice agreed that Platkin was dangerously wielding the government to chill Americans’ rights. While it’s refreshing that the Court smacked Platkin’s attack down, we can’t let our celebration drift into complacency.
If anything, this victory should serve as a sober warning of the lengths that our pro-abortion opponents will go to promote their vision for abortion on demand nationwide. As long as they are in positions of power, blue state politicians will continue wielding their offices against innocent citizens serving their neighbors in need.
***
Marjorie Dannenfelser serves as president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. She has been called “the woman who brought down Roe.”

Pregnant woman undergoing an ultrasound examination with her family.

Unanimous SCOTUS Ruling Smacks Down Blue-State Lawfare Targeting Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers 

SCOTUS

A serious threat to the pro-life movement and to the First Amendment was halted this week. The Supreme Court unanimously <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-unanimously-slaps-down-blue-state-targeting-pro-life-group">ruled in favor</a> of First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, affirming that Christian nonprofits do not forfeit their constitutional rights simply because their beliefs don’t align with those of powerful politicians supporting anti-Christian ideologies.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin targeted First Choice because of its religious and pro-life views by issuing a subpoena and opening an unjustified and unfounded investigation against it. This was never about protecting the public.
Platkin — whose crusade has been continued by his successor, Jennifer Davenport  — engaged in a bald-faced fishing expedition, proposing to troll unlawfully in waters protected by the First Amendment simply because of convictions that did not align with his own.
Deeply sensitive information was demanded, including the names, addresses, phone numbers, and places of employment of First Choice donors, along with up to 10 years of internal, confidential documents. There was no allegation of fraud, no evidence of financial misconduct, and no suggestion that funds were being misused or improperly handled. The organization was targeted for one reason alone: its Christian, pro-life convictions.
Platkin’s gross misuse of his office should concern every American.
When the government can single out nonprofits for investigation solely because of their beliefs, no organization is truly safe. The harassment of one faith-based pregnancy help organization places donors of all ministries nationwide at risk. This kind of intimidation has a chilling effect — not just on speech, but on generosity, service, and the freedom to live out one’s faith in the public square.
Life and its protection are foundational to a Judeo-Christian worldview because life is precious to God and, therefore, at the core of everything we value as a nation. Indeed, it is the first right identified in our founding documents. When we begin to penalize and isolate the organizations and individual donors who defend that right, we set society on a trajectory toward one that no longer values or protects life or liberty at all. We become an anti-life, pro-death culture.
We are grateful that the Supreme Court intervened, but this decision does not mean the danger has passed. This case exposed a deeply troubling willingness by some state officials to weaponize government authority against organizations they ideologically oppose.
This is not an isolated incident. It is yet another front in a broader campaign against pro-life, faith-based organizations — particularly Christian ones. It reflects a growing hostility toward those who work to protect unborn lives and walk alongside mothers and families long after a pregnancy test turns positive.
Faith-based nonprofits must have the assurance that sensitive donor records will not be seized simply because their mission is unpopular with those in power. Similarly, donors who sacrificially support these causes deserve to have their privacy and identities protected from gross governmental overreach. Pregnancy centers must be free to do the work they have faithfully done for decades: offering compassion, truth, and tangible support to women and children in need. When pregnancy help organizations are attacked, the entire pro-life movement is disrupted, and the entire nonprofit landscape is threatened.
Other hostile states, including California and New York, have already demonstrated a pattern of politically targeting pregnancy help organizations and infringing on their constitutional rights to speak, serve, and operate freely.
We cannot afford to let our guard down.
As leaders of Christian, pro-life nonprofits that work hand in hand with pregnancy centers every day, we stand firmly with them. Heartbeat International is the largest global network of pregnancy help organizations, including First Choice Women’s Resource Centers. Lifeline Children’s Services is a holistic child welfare ministry that provides pregnancy counseling and long-term support for women, children, and families — walking with mothers not only through pregnancy, but through postpartum care and beyond.
We have seen firsthand the life-saving and life-changing good this work accomplishes. We have also seen how quickly freedom can erode when deeply held personal convictions become grounds for prosecution. No one should face investigation, intimidation, or imprisonment simply for holding a pro-life belief.
That is why we must stand together — across organizations, across states, and across denominations. This is not just a First Choice Pregnancy Center issue, nor is it a Heartbeat International or Lifeline Children’s Services concern alone. It is a matter that affects the entire pro-life movement and every American who values constitutional freedom.
While this latest attack was thwarted, the responsibility to remain vigilant remains. The freedoms promised in the Constitution are preserved only when actively defended.
And these freedoms are worth defending, because life is precious and both are the backbone of our nation.
***
Herbie Newell is the president and executive director of Lifeline Children’s Services, host of The Defender podcast, and author of “Image Bearers: Shifting from Pro-Birth to Pro-Life.”
Jor-El Godsey serves as president of Heartbeat International, the largest and most expansive network of pregnancy help in the world, with nearly 4,000 affiliates located in about 100 countries.

Demonstrators Participate In National March For Life

SCOTUS Unanimously Hands Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers A Big Win But The Fight Continues

pregnancy centers

Supreme Court

Freedom to worship is never more than one election away from coming under fire. While an 800-page <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1436006/dl">report</a> released this week by the Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed what most of us in the pro-life community suspected — that the FBI under President Joe Biden actively targeted pro-life activists — it also revealed the utter disdain that some federal employees have for people of faith.
The vast majority of pro-life Americans are so because of their sincerely held religious beliefs. The Bible explicitly asserts that life is valuable from the moment of conception. From Psalm 139, “you knit me together in my mother’s womb,” to Jeremiah 1:5, “before I formed you in the womb I knew you,” God makes clear that the unborn are cherished. Combined with the commandment to not commit murder, destroying life in the womb is an abominable affront to God’s design. It is no surprise, then, when the pro-abortion movement so vigorously persecutes and attacks Christians. It is revealing, however, when they are so brazen about it.
The recently released report shows the extent to which the Biden administration and pro-abortion groups colluded to persecute peaceful pro-life activists and their families by using the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Though originally sold as legislation that would protect church-going Americans equally with those visiting abortion facilities, the FACE Act has long been used to persecute those who advocate for the unborn. In the 30 years since it was signed into law, <a href="https://roy.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-roy-celebrates-advancement-face-act-repeal-act#:~:text=Data%20my%20office%20obtained%20from,pro%2Dlifers%20ever%20again.%E2%80%9D">97% of federal prosecutions</a> under the FACE Act have been against pro-life Americans. This, despite hundreds of attacks against pregnancy resource centers and churches during that time. Instead of arresting those responsible for threatening, defacing, or burning these ministries, instead of using the FACE Act to prosecute those who made Sunday mornings feel unsafe for millions of Christians, the Biden administration rounded up those who peacefully advocated for protecting the unborn.
It is not conjecture to say that this was based partly on a contempt for Bible-believing Americans. The report revealed that in United States v. Zastrow (Zastrow being a Catholic family heavily engaged in pro-life activism), the Biden DOJ prosecutors tried to screen out jurors based on religion by seeking “an indirect way to get some more info about religion without directly asking for it.” This led to several Christian jurors being flagged for “preemptory and for-cause strikes from the jury pool because of their faith.” The prosecutors did not inquire about jurors’ possible liberal counterviews.
In emails, DOJ employees referred to Christian pro-life views as “culty,” and in the courtroom, openly lambasted the religious beliefs of the defendants. Assistant U.S. Attorney Frances Lee Carlson complained that, in the Zastrow case, they “ended up with a very Catholic magistrate on duty this week, and he was very particular about the bond conditions and not infringing on [the defendants’] First Amendment rights.” As if protecting First Amendment rights were a negative.
Then there was the case of Mark Houck, a father of seven who was arrested for allegedly violating the FACE Act. While speaking outside of a Planned Parenthood facility, an escort mocked and ridiculed Houck’s 12-year-old son. Houck stepped in and pushed the escort away from his young son. The DOJ report reveals that Houck and his attorneys offered to accept a summons and come in voluntarily if the Biden DOJ pursued a criminal case. But the Biden FBI declined the offer from the “devout pro-life Catholic” and instead sent 16 armed FBI agents and seven vehicles to Houck’s home and put him in handcuffs in front of his family.
It is hard to imagine the DOJ admitting that a defendant is a devout member of any other religion and using that as grounds to bring the full might of the FBI to their doorstep in a clear intimidation stunt. And yet that is what happened to Houck and many other Christian pro-life advocates during the Biden administration.
The freedom to worship as we see fit is one of the most cherished of all American rights. It is that freedom that the Pilgrims pursued when they crossed the Atlantic, fleeing religious persecution in the European homeland. They were followed by the Baptists, the Quakers, the Roman Catholics, among others, all seeking the chance to practice their faith free from a tyrannical government. Yet under the Biden administration, many faithful Christians were unjustly prosecuted by a government that viewed their beliefs as less equal than those who push for a right to abortion.
As we at Concerned Women for America celebrate April as <a href="https://concernedwomen.org/faith-month/">Faith Month</a>, this is a prescient reminder that freedom of religion cannot ever be taken for granted. America was founded on the solid foundations of Christianity, on the belief that all life is created equal, even life in the womb. May we continue to hold our government accountable whenever it forgets that.
***
Maggie McKneely is Director of Government Relations for <a href="https://concernedwomen.org/">Concerned Women for America</a>, the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization. On X: @CWforA

Menu