<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a> has restored several pro-life Facebook accounts just days after attorneys sent a letter demanding the social media giant do so in the wake of Meta&#8217;s recent promise to support free speech.
The Facebook and Instagram accounts for pro-life news site <a href="https://www.lifenews.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LifeNews.com</a>, LifeNews founder Steven Ertelt, and pro-life mom Abby Covington were restored this week after being suspended for months, according to a press release provided exclusively to The Daily Wire.
The move came just a week after their legal team at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-pro-life-accounts-demand-meta-lift-suspensions-after-free-speech-promises">sent a letter</a> to Meta calling on the platform to reverse its decision to suspend the accounts.
“Restoring pro-life speech to one of the world’s largest platforms is a major step in the right direction,” Phil Sechler, senior counsel at ADF, said in a statement.
“We’re grateful to see Steven Ertelt, Abby Covington, and LifeNews back on Meta platforms, where they will continue to use their voice to spread family-friendly and life-affirming messages. There’s no doubt that Mark Zuckerberg and Meta have plenty of work ahead to build back trust with the public, but correcting these past mistakes will go a long way to do just that,” Sechler said.
In May, Ertelt found his Facebook account had been permanently disabled after he posted a video showing a doctor performing a C-section. During the procedure, the unborn child can be seen grabbing the doctor’s finger.
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“An unborn baby can’t be just a clump of cells when he or she is grabbing the doctor’s hand,” read the video’s caption.
Facebook permanently disabled Ertelt’s account and informed him the post failed to follow its Community Standards on “child sexual exploitation,” his attorneys said.
Because LifeNews used Ertelt’s Facebook account to create the LifeNews Instagram account, the group’s Instagram account is effectively permanently suspended as well.
“These account suspensions have caused serious harm to Mr. Ertelt and LifeNews,” the ADF attorneys wrote in their letter to Meta.
In a statement Friday, Ertelt expressed hope that Facebook has turned over a new leaf on free speech.
“Facebook should not have suspended our accounts for posting a pro-life medical video,” Ertelt said. “And it should not have taken 8 months and a letter from attorneys for Facebook and Instagram to finally restore access to our accounts. But this is an example of the kind of censorship and discrimination pro-life conservatives have come to expect from Facebook over the years. With its recent changes, we hope Facebook will truly allow free speech on its platforms.&#8221;
Covington, the Christian pro-life mother of three, had her Facebook account permanently suspended after she posted about her family’s adoption journey. In her post, she described her family’s Christian faith and encouraged expecting mothers to reach out if they were thinking about putting their baby up for adoption.
“We believe children are a gift from the Lord,” she wrote. “God has given us the desire to support an expecting mother who will choose life for her baby through the gift of adoption! We love our children, and our prayer is to expand our family while providing a safe &amp; loving home.”
Covington received a barrage of hateful messages after her post was shared in a private group, prompting her to delete it. One user wrote, “I’m adopted and I’d s*** in your mouth out of spite while you were asleep if I’d been raised that way.”
Facebook then informed her that her account did not follow its Community Standards on “human exploitation,” her attorneys said. The platform disabled her Instagram account, as well as all of her Facebook accounts, including the one for her jewelry, skincare, and makeup business.
“The animus-filled messages that Mrs. Covington received from other Facebook users were understandably distressing,” the ADF attorneys wrote in their letter to Meta. “But what is most distressing to her is Facebook’s decision to permanently disable all six of her accounts, causing her significant financial and personal harm.”
The ADF attorneys accused Meta of violating its free speech standards, breaching its own terms of service, and failing to uphold its promises. They had requested the company respond to their request to reinstate the pro-life accounts by January 22.
“These situations provide a litmus test for whether Meta will live up to its public announcement or continue to censor and restrict the marketplace of ideas,” the legal team wrote.
Last week, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg released a video <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2025/01/meta-more-speech-fewer-mistakes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcing</a> sweeping changes to his company’s content moderation policies, promising “more speech and fewer mistakes.”
“In recent years we’ve developed increasingly complex systems to manage content across our platforms, partly in response to societal and political pressure to moderate content. This approach has gone too far,” Meta said.
“We want to fix that and return to that fundamental commitment to free expression,” the company said.
Meta said it will end its third-party fact-checking program and move to a Community Notes model similar to what X, formerly Twitter, does. The company also said it will be “getting rid of a number of restrictions on topics like immigration, gender identity and gender that are the subject of frequent political discourse and debate,” and it will also recommend more political content if a user has indicated they are interested.
Meta has been fiercely criticized in recent years for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-doubles-down-after-zuckerberg-reveals-how-facebook-censored-hunter-biden-laptop-story" target="_blank" rel="noopener">censoring</a> political content such as the Hunter Biden laptop story, which broke just before the 2020 election.

Facebook Reports First Ever Decrease In Daily Active Users

EXCLUSIVE: Meta Restores Pro-Life Accounts Days After Legal Demand

Abortion

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Facebook

Pro-Life Movement

Social Issues

U.S.

Democrats in Virginia have learned nothing from the outcome of the November elections. Even though voters overwhelmingly rejected the radical abortion ideology of Kamala Harris and other Democrats last fall, legislators in the Commonwealth continue to double down on the issue. In the opening week of the legislative session, Democrats <a href="https://www.vpm.org/news/2025-01-15/virginia-house-abortion-voting-rights-marriage-equality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted to advance</a> a constitutional amendment that would permit abortion at any point during pregnancy, for any reason, and to even remove common sense health protections for women and children, including parental consent. 
It&#8217;s a strong reminder for Virginia voters, like myself, when looking ahead to the high-stakes elections later this year. Out of all of the issues to focus on, it speaks volumes that Democrats chose expanding abortion from six months to all nine months to be one of the first votes of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Thankfully, however, we the voters have a say in bringing these out-of-touch, extreme politicians back to reality. In order for the amendment to make it to the ballot, the General Assembly must pass it again in next year’s session, meaning that we have an opportunity in November to vote out lawmakers who are pushing abortion at any time, for any reason.
That’s why we must send a clear message to reject this extremism.
This also comes at a time when the Democrat party wants to federally enshrine abortion nationwide, even though voters have clearly signaled they are not buying their brand of abortion radicalism. If Virginia legislators succeed in putting this form of abortion on the ballot, however, the Commonwealth could become one of the most radical states in the country for abortion and by far — become one of the most radical regions in the world, on par with communist countries like China and Vietnam. This goes to show just how beholden they are to their ideology, and how out of touch they are with the interests of Virginians.
Virginia already has one of the most extreme abortion laws in the country, which allows abortions for any reason up to the third trimester, well after the time a baby can survive outside of the womb. I’m currently in my eighth month of pregnancy. I’ve been seeing my baby’s face and unique movements on 3D/4D ultrasound for months now. She’s a living human being who wakes me up with her early morning kicks and who moves with approval when I consume our morning breakfast of apple juice and avocado toast. But sadly, many of the leaders in my own state, don’t recognize her life as worthy of protecting. Under Virginia’s proposed amendment, a baby in the womb, just like my little girl, could be aborted at any time, for any reason, even though she is more than likely to survive if I delivered early. 
Why are Virginia Democrats not satisfied with up to seven months’ worth of abortion-on-demand?
Sadly, it’s not just babies in the womb who will lose rights from the consequences of Virginia’s broad amendment, women will as well. This amendment also would strip health and safety regulations on abortion businesses and even take away informed consent laws.
Virginia could quickly become like Ohio and Michigan, where women are forced to endure the disastrous effects of extreme and broad abortion amendments. Right now, pro-abortion advocates are pushing to remove informed consent laws, 24-hour waiting periods, and the requirement for women to be seen by a licensed physician before obtaining an abortion — all under ballot measures the voters were deceived into approving. They’re also pushing for taxpayer-funded abortion.
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Oftentimes, we only think of abortion in terms of the rights of the child, but these measures strip away incredibly important health, financial, and informed consent laws that impact pregnant women and all taxpaying Americans.
If Virginia Democrats stay their course, all of us in the Commonwealth will be forced to endure the consequences of a broad and extreme ballot measure that allows unfettered access to abortion up to birth. That is not in line with the values of Virginians and does not belong anywhere near the top priorities of our government. Instead, legislators should focus on common sense measures that build out the state’s support network for women, children, and families.
Virginians must send a clear message to their legislators that late-term abortion for any reason is too extreme for us and our children.
* * *
Emily Erin Davis is a mom and the Vice President of Communications for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Step Up – Virginia State Capitol

Virginia Democrats Push To Enshrine Abortion After The Sixth Month

Democrats

LGBTQ

Opinion

Virginia

Pro-life Americans “unjustly imprisoned” by President Joe Biden’s Justice Department are formally appealing to Donald Trump for pardons. 
The Daily Wire is first reporting the petitions for pardons of the 21 pro-life advocates, sent Wednesday to Trump by the Thomas More Society, the pro-life law firm that represents the defendants. 
“These peaceful pro-life Americans mistreated by Biden include grandparents, pastors, a Holocaust survivor, and a Catholic priest—all are selfless, sincere patriots,” the Thomas More Society lawyers wrote. “Their respective plights and personal information are provided in attachments to this letter. We respectfully urge that all 21 of them detailed here are richly deserving of full and unconditional pardons.” 
Trump has criticized the Biden Justice Department for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/defend-our-country-imprisoned-pro-life-activists-urge-americans-to-vote-against-kamala">targeting pro-lifers</a> on “outrageous charges,” promising on the campaign trail to “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s unjustly victimized by the Biden regime…so we can get them out of the gulags and back to their families where they belong.” The Daily Wire has spoken to some of the pro-life prisoners, and many of them have hopefully mentioned this promise in eager anticipation of Trump&#8217;s inauguration. 
<div id="attachment_858899" style="width: 780px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-21-pro-life-defendants-targeted-by-biden-doj-ask-trump-to-pardon-them/anti-abortion-activists-demonstrate-in-d-c-during-annual-march-for-life" rel="attachment wp-att-858899"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-858899" class="wp-image-858899 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-770x576.jpg" alt="" width="770" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-770x576.jpg 770w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-300x224.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-768x574.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-1536x1149.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1201704310-2048x1532.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 770px) 100vw, 770px" /></a>(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)</div>
The pro-lifers requesting pardons are Paul Vaughn, Coleman Boyd, Dennis Green, Eva Edl, James Zastrow, Paul Place, Heather Idoni, Eva Zastrow, Chester Gallagher, Calvin Zastrow, Joel Curry, Justin Philips, Lauren Handy, Paulette Harlow, Jean Marshall, Joan Bell, John Hinshaw, William Goodman, Jonathan Darnel, Fr. Fidelis Moscinski, and Bevelyn Beatty Williams.
“These 21 peaceful pro-lifers, many of whom are currently imprisoned for bravely standing up for unborn life, are upstanding citizens and pillars of their communities,” argued Steve Crampton, senior counsel for the Thomas More Society. “Through full and unconditional pardons for these pro-life advocates, President Trump has the chance to remedy the harm done to them and their families, deliver on his campaign promises, and repair trust in our constitutional order.”
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Since 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Biden Justice Department has <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/12/12/doj-official-admits-targeting-pro-lifers-is-response-to-overturn-of-roe/">aggressively targeted</a> pro-life activists through the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a law protecting abortion clinics under which pro-life activists can be charged for blocking or inhibiting a woman from getting an abortion.
The FACE Act also protects <a href="https://catholicvote.org/pregnancy-center-attack-tracker/">pregnancy centers</a> and <a href="https://catholicvote.org/tracker-church-attacks/">Catholic Churches</a>, but Biden’s Justice Department has never used it to prosecute pro-abortion vandals attacking Catholic churches. 
The Justice Department only used FACE on a handful of occasions to prosecute pro-abortion vandals attacking pregnancy centers — though <a href="https://catholicvote.org/pregnancy-center-attack-tracker/">more than 95 pregnancy centers</a> and <a href="https://catholicvote.org/tracker-church-attacks/">more than 300 churches have been attacked</a> since the May 2022 leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion indicating Roe would soon be overturned. 
<h3>The Cases</h3>
Many of those seeking pardons have been convicted multiple times in trials in Washington, D.C., Nashville, and Detroit — trials that The Daily Wire&#8217;s Leif Le Mahieu has covered on the ground. While sentencing has not been completed in each case, several pro-lifers are already serving lengthy prison sentences. 
In May 2024, Lauren Handy was <a href="https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/news/peaceful-pro-life-advocate-lauren-handy-faces-miscarriage-of-justice-sentenced-to-57-months-in-prison">given</a> 57 months in prison for her participation after she helped stage a sit-in at the D.C.-based Washington Surgi-Clinic late-term abortion facility. She is currently serving her sentence in Tallahassee and won’t be free until July 2027. 
One of Handy’s co-defendants, 59-year-old Heather Idoni, is serving a two-year prison sentence over a D.C. protest and eight months over a peaceful protest at a Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, abortion facility. 
“I would love to be home with my family,” she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/59-year-old-grandma-in-prison-over-pro-life-protest-says-she-just-wants-to-hold-my-new-grandson">said</a> during her sentencing in Nashville in September 2024. “I would love to hold my new grandson.”
In Nashville, Idoni joined a group of pro-life Christians who gathered in a hallway outside the Carafem Health Center where they prayed, sang hymns, and urged women not to get abortions in March 2021. 
Calvin Zastrow, a 63-year-old pro-lifer from Michigan, is serving a six month sentence in federal prison in Thomson, Illinois, for his conviction over the Mt. Juliet protest.  One of his fellow protesters, 75-year-old Chester Gallagher, was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison for his role in the protest. 
During their trial, it was demonstrated that there was no violence or threats of violence during the Mt. Juliet sit-in, which was broken up by local police. While the judge ended up imposing prison sentences for several defendants, they were shorter than what the Biden administration had requested. 
One of those yet to be sentenced is Eva Edl, an 89-year-old survivor of a World War II-era Yugoslavian concentration camp. She faces over 10 years in prison for her conviction on FACE and felony conspiracy in Detroit. Throughout the trial, Edl said that it was her faith in Jesus and belief that suffering would strengthen her that kept her going. 
Federal Judge Matthew Leitman has paused the case due to Trump’s election, suggesting he believes the incoming administration will pursue a different course on prosecuting FACE. 
<h3>Repealing the FACE Act</h3>
Biden’s disproportionate application of FACE against pro-lifers has come under scrutiny from lawmakers, who say it has been unfairly weaponized. 
In December, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on FACE where Paul Vaughn, one of those convicted in Nashville, testified about the armed FBI raid of his home. 
“My house was assaulted, my wife and children were terrorized, and I was kidnapped at gunpoint by four armed men,” Vaughn told lawmakers. “I had just sent three of my children to the car so I could take them to school when the house began to shake from a loud banging near the front door. I heard men shouting from my front porch, ‘Open up! FBI!’”
Vaughan told The Daily Wire he was &#8220;hopeful that President Trump will honor his campaign promises and pardon all the pro-life Christians.&#8221;
&#8220;This is especially important for those who have been in jail for over a year at this point. Not only should they be pardoned, they should be rewarded for their sacrifice and dedication to the ideas and values that once made America the freest nation on Earth.&#8221;
Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) have consistently proposed repealing the FACE Act, arguing that it has become a one-sided law used to go after conservative Christians. 
“Since its passage, the FACE Act has been used approximately <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/02/07/exclusive-conservative-leaders-call-jordan-johnson-repeal-face-act/">130 times</a> against pro-lifers—but has only been leveled in defense of churches and pregnancy centers five times, even though churches and pro-life centers are <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/data-show-there-have-been-22-times-more-attacks-on-pro-lifers-pro-choice-groups-since-supreme-court-leak">22 times more likely to be attacked than abortion clinics</a>,” wrote Roy and Lee in a joint May 2024 op-ed. 
“Just last year, there were <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/436-acts-of-hostility-against-us-churches-documented-in-2023.html">436 incidents</a> of hostility against churches, but the Justice Department failed to investigate the vast majority of them despite repeated requests. The complete data are difficult to ascertain because, to date, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke has failed to provide <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/topic/congress">Congress</a> with the Justice Department&#8217;s FACE Act prosecution numbers—despite multiple congressional requests and promises to do so during a congressional hearing.” 
The lawmakers argue that FACE holds “no value other than to allow the Justice Department bureaucrats to carry out a radical pro-abortion agenda,” concluding:  “It&#8217;s time to repeal the FACE Act once and for all.”

Donald Trump

EXCLUSIVE: 21 Pro-Life Defendants Targeted By Biden DOJ Ask Trump To Pardon Them

FACE Act

Joe Biden

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tim-tebow">Tim Tebow</a> and his wife, former Miss Universe Demi-Leigh Tebow, definitely got everyone’s attention on Tuesday when the couple announced that they are expecting their first child.
In a joint post on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DE0HoN-phS0/">Instagram,</a> the couple posted a video of them holding hands before the former NFL QB showed off a series of ultrasound photos announcing they were going to be parents. At one point in the clip, the former beauty queen turned around and showed off her baby bump, with both of them grinning from ear to ear about their exciting news.
The post was captioned simply, “Baby Tebow,” with an announcement that their little one will be arriving this summer.
“Team Tebow is expanding! Tim Tebow and his wife Demi-Leigh are expecting their first baby together, they share with PEOPLE exclusively while expressing their joy at becoming first-time parents ahead of their public announcement on Instagram,” a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DE0Ivj_ppbi/?img_index=1">second post</a> from the former beauty pageant winner read.
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Demi-Leigh told the <a href="https://people.com/tim-tebow-expecting-first-baby-with-wife-demi-leigh-tebow-exclusive-8773814?taid=6786a174163c0e0001b5800b&amp;utm_campaign=peoplemagazine&amp;utm_content=new&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com">magazine</a>, &#8220;We are just so excited and so over the moon to be having a baby together,&#8221; with Tebow adding that he&#8217;s &#8220;honored for the privilege of getting the responsibility and the joy of being mom and dad.&#8221;
“I&#8217;m so grateful because I just couldn&#8217;t imagine a better life partner to do life with first and foremost,&#8221; she added. &#8220;To be able to raise a little tiny human being together. I&#8217;m so grateful that Tim is my husband&#8230; that we get to do parenting together.&#8221;
&#8220;I feel like every time I say, &#8216;Tim&#8217;s going to be a dad!&#8217; it feels so surreal,&#8221; the former Miss Universe continued.
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Tebow, a college football analyst, told the magazine that when he learned they were going to be parents, it gave him a whole new perspective on life.
&#8220;It&#8217;s just amazing how it also reprioritizes and changes what you put an emphasis on and what you value most,&#8221; the former QB said.
&#8220;News like that just supersedes the level of importance and the level of joy that you have,&#8221; he added. &#8220;It&#8217;s just so cool.&#8221;
As an outspoken pro-life advocate, Tebow previously gained a lot of attention when he shared his mom’s story at the annual March For Life event in 2021. During his speech, he talked about his mom&#8217;s trust in God and how she gave birth to him after doctors warned her against doing so and said she should get an abortion, as previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tim-tebow-at-march-for-life-i-now-get-to-share-my-story-because-my-mom-gave-me-a-chance">reported</a>.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/theres-a-reason-we-all-exist-tim-tebow-talks-about-his-new-book-and-living-a-life-that-counts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘There’s A Reason We All Exist’: Tim Tebow Talks About His New Book And Living ‘A Life That Counts’</a>

Tim Tebow and Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters

Tim Tebow And Miss Universe Wife Announce They Are Expecting

Celebrities

Entertainment

Miss Universe

Motherhood

Pregnancy

Tim Tebow

Several pro-life Facebook users are demanding their accounts be restored after Meta promised this week to support free speech on its platform.
In a letter obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire, the legal counsel for <a href="https://www.lifenews.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LifeNews</a> and its founder Steven Ertelt, as well as pro-life mother Abby Covington, requested Meta &#8220;immediately&#8221; restore their disabled accounts.
&#8220;If Meta is truly committed to the free-speech principles that it recently announced, it will act swiftly to reinstate Mr. Ertelt’s, LifeNews’s, and Mrs. Covington’s accounts,&#8221; reads the letter from their legal team at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
In May, Ertelt found his Facebook account had been permanently disabled after he posted a video showing a doctor performing a C-section. During the procedure, the unborn child can be seen grabbing the doctor&#8217;s finger.
“An unborn baby can’t be just a clump of cells when he or she is grabbing the doctor’s hand,” read the video&#8217;s caption.
Facebook permanently disabled Ertelt&#8217;s account and informed him the post failed to follow its Community Standards on &#8220;child sexual exploitation,&#8221; his attorneys said.
Because LifeNews used Ertelt’s Facebook account to create the LifeNews Instagram account, the group&#8217;s Instagram account is effectively permanently suspended as well.
&#8220;These account suspensions have caused serious harm to Mr. Ertelt and LifeNews,&#8221; the ADF attorneys wrote in their letter to Meta.
Covington, the Christian pro-life mother of three, had her Facebook account permanently suspended after she posted about her family&#8217;s adoption journey. In her post, she described her family&#8217;s Christian faith and encouraged expecting mothers to reach out if they were thinking about putting their baby up for adoption.
&#8220;We believe children are a gift from the Lord,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;God has given us the desire to support an expecting mother who will choose life for her baby through the gift of adoption! We love our children, and our prayer is to expand our family while providing a safe &amp; loving home.&#8221;
Covington received a barrage of hateful messages after her post was shared in a private group, prompting her to delete it. One user wrote, “I’m adopted and I’d s*** in your mouth out of spite while you were asleep if I’d been raised that way.”
Facebook then informed her that her account did not follow its Community Standards on &#8220;human exploitation,&#8221; her attorneys said. The platform disabled her Instagram account as well as all of her Facebook accounts, including the one for her jewelry, skincare, and makeup business.
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&#8220;The animus-filled messages that Mrs. Covington received from other Facebook users were understandably distressing,&#8221; the ADF attorneys wrote in their letter to Meta. &#8220;But what is most distressing to her is Facebook’s decision to permanently disable all six of her accounts, causing her significant financial and personal harm.&#8221;
The ADF attorneys accused Meta of violating its free speech standards, breaching its own terms of service, and failing to uphold its promises. They requested the company respond to their request to reinstate the pro-life accounts by January 22.
&#8220;These situations provide a litmus test for whether Meta will live up to its public announcement or continue to censor and restrict the marketplace of ideas,&#8221; the legal team wrote.
&#8220;Facebook needs to keep the momentum going. If Zuckerberg wants to make a real impact related to censorship, he must immediately stop the weaponization of its content standards against pro-life groups like LifeNews. No group should be silenced for expressing their political or religious views on the platform. Meta’s promise to uphold free speech starts here,&#8221; Jeremy Tedesco, ADF&#8217;s senior counsel and senior vice president of corporate engagement said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg released a video <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2025/01/meta-more-speech-fewer-mistakes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcing</a> sweeping changes to his company&#8217;s content moderation policies, promising &#8220;more speech and fewer mistakes.&#8221;
&#8220;In recent years we’ve developed increasingly complex systems to manage content across our platforms, partly in response to societal and political pressure to moderate content. This approach has gone too far,&#8221; Meta said.
&#8220;We want to fix that and return to that fundamental commitment to free expression,&#8221; the company said.
Meta said it will end its third-party fact-checking program and move to a Community Notes model similar to what X, formerly Twitter, does. The company also said it will be &#8220;getting rid of a number of restrictions on topics like immigration, gender identity and gender that are the subject of frequent political discourse and debate&#8221; and it will also recommend more political content if a user has indicated they are interested.
Meta has been fiercely criticized in recent years for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-doubles-down-after-zuckerberg-reveals-how-facebook-censored-hunter-biden-laptop-story" target="_blank" rel="noopener">censoring</a> political content such as the Hunter Biden laptop story, which broke just before the 2020 election.
<h3><a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/1.9.2025-ADF-Letter-to-Meta.pdf">READ THE ADF&#8217;S LETTER TO META HERE</a></h3>

Key Speakers At The Meta Connect Event

EXCLUSIVE: Pro-Life Accounts Demand Meta Lift Suspensions After Free Speech Promises

Pro-Life Accounts Demand Meta Lift Suspensions After Free Speech Promises

Censorship

Social Media Censorship

Two major retailers confirmed this week that they do not sell a popular abortion pill, despite pressure from Democratic officials to do so. 
Both Kroger and Sam’s Club confirmed to The Daily Wire that they do not offer mifepristone for sale after screenshots posted online last month appeared to show the life-ending drug available for purchase. Mifepristone is now used in over half of all abortions and has been used <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-leftist-networks-flood-red-states-with-risky-abortion-pills-with-no-consequences" target="_blank" rel="noopener">across the country to bypass</a> pro-life protections in Republican-led states. 
The controversy emerged last month after pro-life organization Live Action <a href="https://www.liveaction.org/news/kroger-sams-club-third-party-vendors-abortion-pill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that both Kroger and Sam’s Club had mifepristone, which is estimated to be used in over half of abortions, advertised on their websites. 
An <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20241213171505/https://www.krogerhealthsavings.com/drug/Mifepristone?q=Mifepristone%20(Mifeprex)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">archived</a> page from December 18 on Kroger’s website shows mifepristone listed for sale. 
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-855077" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Screen-Shot-2025-01-08-at-10.02.36-AM.png" alt="" width="2575" height="1125" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Screen-Shot-2025-01-08-at-10.02.36-AM.png 2575w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Screen-Shot-2025-01-08-at-10.02.36-AM-300x131.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Screen-Shot-2025-01-08-at-10.02.36-AM-1024x447.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Screen-Shot-2025-01-08-at-10.02.36-AM-768x336.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Screen-Shot-2025-01-08-at-10.02.36-AM-1536x671.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/Screen-Shot-2025-01-08-at-10.02.36-AM-2048x895.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2575px) 100vw, 2575px" /></div>
The company later told Live Action and The Washington Stand that the listing was a mistake. The retailer confirmed to The Daily Wire that it had never sold mifepristone, and that it was reviewing the FDA&#8217;s guidelines for the drug.
“Kroger Family of Pharmacies are reviewing the FDA&#8217;s updated Mifepristone Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy drug safety program,” a company spokesman said. “We will continue to align our dispensing practices with applicable federal and state laws.” 
Another screenshot from Live Action showed that Sam’s Club appeared to also have mifepristone for sale on its website. The company, a division of Walmart, also said the posting was made in error. 
“Regarding reports about details on our website, we use a third-party vendor to aggregate medication pricing, and their tool provided incorrect information,” a company spokesman told The Daily Wire. 
The acknowledgment comes after a group of conservative and Christian <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/conservative-investors-urge-retail-giants-not-to-sell-widely-used-abortion-drug" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shareholders organized</a> by the Alliance Defending Freedom urged Kroger, Walmart, Costco, and other retailers not to sell the life-ending drug. This campaign came after New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said that retailers should make the abortion drug available. 
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Jeremy Tedesco, the senior vice president of corporate engagement for Alliance Defending Freedom, celebrated the news, saying that it was a “great outcome” and that it could be a “really significant” change in how corporations deal with politically-charged issues. 
He told The Daily Wire that abortion activists were “trying to co-opt the companies to advance their abortion agenda, regardless of what the law says. They want these companies to make abortion pills as widely available as possible.”
Tedesco added that until recently ”only the Left shows up for these battles with the corporations” but now conservatives&#8217; push to directly engage with companies was making a difference. 
He said that conservatives should want to neutralize companies on the issue of abortion, and that the companies should just focus on providing quality products. 
“The Left’s primary goal in all of this is to make the political process irrelevant by regulating all through what corporations do and how they behave,” he said. 
Alliance Defending Freedom has yet to receive any response from the companies it wrote to.

A sign for Sam’s Club is seen at the entrance to the members

Major Retailers Confirm They Are Not Selling Abortion Drug Despite Democrat Pressure

Abortion Drug

Walmart

Wokeness

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/virginia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virginia</a> NICU nurse has been arrested after at least seven babies suffered inexplicable broken bones.
Erin Strotman, 26, has been charged with felony child neglect and felony malicious wounding over injuries to one baby at Henrico Doctors&#8217; Hospital in Richmond, police announced Friday.
The maximum penalties for the two charges are 10 and 20 years in prison respectively, although authorities emphasized that they are still investigating the injuries to the other babies.
Three babies were hurt just weeks ago in November and December, and four more babies were previously injured during the summer of 2023.
The Henrico County Police Division <a href="https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2025/01/03/henrico-doctor-arrested-and-charged-in-connection-with-nicu-investigation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it is conducting a &#8220;thorough investigation&#8221; that includes reviewing &#8220;dozens of videos from inside the NICU.&#8221; Detectives are looking into the cases from both 2023 and 2024 as part of this &#8220;broader investigation,&#8221; police said.
Last month, a couple spoke out, <a href="https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/henrico-doctors-investigation-2023-dec-27-2024?ref=henricocitizen.com#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a> Virginia Child Services informed them that one of their premature newborn twins, who had suffered a fractured leg, had been physically abused by a NICU employee.
“It’s my baby boy. I feel like I’ve done nothing to protect him and that hurts. It pisses me off,” Dominique Hackey, the twins&#8217; father, <a href="https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/henrico-doctors-investigation-2023-dec-27-2024?ref=henricocitizen.com#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CBS 6 before Strotman&#8217;s arrest.
“Somebody needs to be held accountable for my son, for everybody’s kid, somebody needs to be held accountable, it’s too many in such a short period of time,” he said.
The injuries forced the hospital to stop admitting newborns to its NICU &#8220;out of an abundance of caution,&#8221; Henrico Doctors&#8217; Hospital <a href="https://people.com/woman-arrested-multiple-babies-suffer-unexplainable-fractures-same-virginia-hospital-8768674" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> on Christmas Eve.
&#8220;While fractures occasionally happen with pre-term babies since they lack full fetal bone development, we are actively working to determine how these fractures occurred,&#8221; the hospital <a href="https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/henrico-county/henrico-doctors-hospital-stops-nicu-admissions-after-babies-found-with-unexplainable-fractures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
On Friday, the hospital also confirmed a &#8220;former employee&#8221; has been arrested in connection with the NICU fractures.
&#8220;We are both shocked and saddened by this development in the investigation and are focused on continuing to care for our patients and providing support to our colleagues who have been deeply and personally impacted by this investigation,&#8221; Henrico Doctors&#8217; Hospital <a href="https://www.hcavirginia.com/locations/henrico-doctors-hospital/specialties/womens-care/labor-and-delivery#nicu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement.
&#8220;We are grateful to those colleagues, who have dedicated their professional lives to the care and safety of our patients, as well as to law enforcement and the other agencies who have worked aggressively and tirelessly with us on this investigation,&#8221; the hospital said.
The case eerily echoes that of Lucy Letby, the British neonatal nurse convicted of murdering seven babies around 2016. No deaths have been reported in the Virginia case, however.
She <a href="https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/henrico-county/former-nurse-makes-first-court-appearance-after-being-charged-with-child-abuse-in-henrico-doctors-hospitals-nicu-investigation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeared</a> in court for the first time on Friday and is being held without bond and barred from contact with children. She is expected in court again on March 24.

Premature neonate in incubator

Virginia NICU Nurse Arrested After Seven Babies Suffer Broken Bones

babies

Child Abuse

Children

Crime

Health

Health Care

As we prepare to enter the new year, we’re taking you back to some of The Daily Wire’s best reporting from 2024. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-lifer-spending-thanksgiving-in-prison-grateful-for-opportunity-a-doj-sponsored-mission-trip" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on November 28. 
For only the second time in their 41-year marriage, Calvin and Trish Zastrow spent Thanksgiving apart. The first time was due to travel — this time it’s because Cal is serving a six-month prison sentence over a peaceful protest at a Tennessee abortion facility in 2021.
Zastrow was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-lifer-targeted-by-biden-admin-sentenced-to-prison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convicted</a> earlier this year on FACE Act-related charges brought by the Biden administration after he prayed, sang hymns, and sat in front of the door to the entrance of an abortion facility in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. Calling from the Federal Correctional Institute Thomson in Illinois this week, Zastrow told The Daily Wire he was doing “absolutely fantastic.”
“I’m all on fire for Jesus,” he said. “I’m doing absolutely great, I’m on a big mission trip here.”
Over one month into his prison sentence, Zastrow said he has kept busy praying, reading his Bible, and teaching his fellow inmates about Christianity.
“There’s a whole lot of prodigals who are wallowing in pig mud, but they want to come back to Jesus, and so I’m here as a missionary to pull them out of that and help them get back on the Jesus road,” he said.
He said his friends and family have sent him over 50 books, mostly about Christian missionaries, and he has turned his cell into a sort of library. Zastrow said he’s been giving away a lot of copies in English and Spanish of the book “Tortured for Christ,” which is about Richard Wurmbrand, a pastor who spent years in a communist prison in Romania.
In a low-security section of the prison, Zastrow said he has seen few fights but has met a broad diversity of prisoners — from men convicted over January 6 to recruiters for ISIS and the Taliban.
He said that many of the January 6 prisoners are optimistic that they will get pardoned once President-elect Donald Trump takes office. He also referenced the discussion that Trump may pardon him, as the president-elect previously indicated that he would look at the cases of pro-lifers targeted by the Biden administration.
“I’m not getting my hopes up too high,” he said. “Plus I’m busy here. I’m busy. This prison holds almost 2,300 men and their need to hear about Jesus, their need for that is greater than my need for liberty. And so I’m here on a DOJ-sponsored mission trip.”
He said that most of the guards in the prison were unpleasant and would frequently “bark” and “scream” at the prisoners. “They can’t touch my joy, they can’t touch my soul, they can’t touch my attitude,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said he has been able to call his wife pretty much every day so far.
“We are very proud of our Cal,” Trish told The Daily Wire on Wednesday. “He’s in there ministering every day. He’s doing well. He isn’t backing down from things.”
Trish was able to visit her husband earlier this month, saying she was able to spend about four hours talking to him. Still, she said it has been tough to be away from him.
“We miss him around here,” she said, noting that they had a new grandson born on November 1. “I didn’t get to share it with Cal, he’s such a great grandpa.”
Zastrow gets 500 minutes a month to call people in 15-minute increments. Trish said her daughter put a special ringtone on her phone so she knows whenever he calls.
“One of the hardest things is I can’t just call and talk to him whenever I want,” she said. “I don’t want to ever miss a call.”
Zastrow is scheduled to be released from prison on April 8, but may be able to qualify for a few days of early release if he takes some classes. His family is eager to see him back, but say they are grateful for the opportunity he’s been given to share his faith.
“I feel very privileged to be his wife and I’m very proud of him for standing,” she said. “I’m excited to see what God does with all this.”

457851552_537827162147496_1532708814140668634_n

Pro-Lifer Spending Holidays In Prison Grateful For Opportunity: ‘A DOJ-Sponsored Mission Trip’

Biden Administration

Christianity

A Christian <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-pro-lifer-facing-over-a-decade-in-prison-says-hes-ready-to-go-head-to-head-with-biden-admin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pro-life father</a> of 11 described before Congress on Wednesday the armed FBI raid on his home in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tennessee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee</a> after the Biden administration brought charges against him over a peaceful pro-life protest.
Paul Vaughn, of Centerville, Tennessee, <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/revisiting-implications-face-act-part-ii" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeared</a> before the House Judiciary Committee on the Constitution and Limited Government on Wednesday to speak about his experience being prosecuted by the Justice Department under the FACE Act. The FACE Act is a Clinton-era law that was supposedly to protect both abortion facilities and churches from violence. In practice, the law has been used by the Biden administration to prosecute peaceful pro-life activists across the country.
The FBI arrested Vaughn on October 5, 2022, after he was involved in a peaceful protest at the Carafem abortion facility in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, in March 2021, where protesters prayed and sang Christian hymns. Vaughn was charged with violating the FACE Act and engaging in a conspiracy against rights, a Reconstruction-era charge meant to crack down on violence by the Ku Klux Klan.
“My house was assaulted, my wife and children were terrorized, and I was kidnapped at gunpoint by four armed men,” Vaughn told lawmakers of the arrest. “I had just sent three of my children to the car so I could take them to school when the house began to shake from a loud banging near the front door. I heard men shouting from my front porch, ‘Open up! FBI!’”
Vaughn said that he saw two unmarked SUVs with flashing lights outside his home and men with automatic rifles and a pistol aimed at his door.
“I opened the curtains on my front door to find three men with guns trained on the front door,” he said, adding that the federal agents did not identify themselves.
“I later learned at the same time three of my children, ages 12, 14, and 18, were being detained in the side yard on the edge of the woods by a fourth armed man. I was taken without the presentation of a warrant or identification when requested. Make no mistake: this was an armed conflict and I was unarmed. Lethal force was abused to abridge my God-given and constitutionally secured rights.”
Vaughn said that the FACE Act was passed as a tool to “stifle free speech and abuse the rights of Christian conservatives.” Data <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-harris-doj-seeks-jail-time-for-pro-lifers-convicted-over-peaceful-protest">show</a> that 97% of all prosecutions of the FACE Act since its inception have been against pro-lifers. Under Biden, the Justice Department has brought 24 FACE Act cases with all but two coming against pro-life activists.
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“The FACE Act was ostensibly passed because of violence. But as my family knows very well, all it did was give violence the cover of law and place it in the hands of the government,” Vaughn said.
Paired with the felony conspiracy charge, the activists have faced over a decade in prison and hundreds of thousands in fines. Multiple pro-lifers are currently serving prison sentences, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-lifer-spending-thanksgiving-in-prison-grateful-for-opportunity-a-doj-sponsored-mission-trip" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cal Zastrow</a>, one of Vaughn’s co-defendants in Tennessee.
Vaughn, who was convicted in January, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-denies-biden-admin-attempt-to-lock-up-peaceful-pro-life-protester" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> over the summer to three years of supervised release and has been prohibited from leaving the Middle District of Tennessee. He was given a special exception to travel to D.C. for the hearing.
Other testimony during the hearing came from Alliance Defending Freedom lawyer Erin Hawley and Thomas More Society lawyer Steve Crampton, who has served as lawyer for many of the pro-life defendants prosecuted under Biden.
The hearing was led by Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Dan Bishop (R-NC). Roy has consistently called for the FACE Act to be repealed and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-chip-roy-demands-fbi-doj-retain-records-of-pro-life-prosecutions-as-biden-leaves-office" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demanded</a> that the Justice Department keep its records of the pro-life prosecutions.

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‘Kidnapped At Gunpoint’: Pro-Life Activist Testifies About Harrowing FBI Raid Of Home

Chip Roy

Courts

Department of Justice

House Judiciary Committee

Tennessee

A Republican lawmaker in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tennessee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee</a> introduced legislation this week that would penalize groups or individuals that mail abortion pills into the Volunteer State.
Rep. Gino Bulso (R- Brentwood) introduced the “<a href="https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/HB0026.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Unborn Child Protection Act</a>” on Monday to crack down on the number of illegal abortion pills that have been sent into Tennessee despite the state’s strong pro-life protections. The legislation would make individuals or groups sending pills into Tennessee liable for up to $5 million if the pill resulted in the death of an unborn child.
“A person or entity, including, but not limited to, a manufacturer, distributor, seller, or reseller, of an abortion-inducing drug shall not mail or deliver an abortion-inducing drug into this state,” the text of the bill says. “Notwithstanding another law to the contrary, a person or entity who mails or delivers an abortion-inducing drug into this state and the mailing or delivery results in the death of an unborn child is strictly liable in the amount of five million dollars ($5,000,000) in damages for the death of the unborn child.”
After Roe v. Wade was overturned, a number of robust pro-life laws went into effect in states like Tennessee that on paper banned all abortions in the state. However, leftist activists have eluded these bans by shipping pills directly in the mail to women seeking to end the life of their unborn child.
A Daily Wire investigation earlier this year revealed how a network of leftist activists have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-leftist-networks-flood-red-states-with-risky-abortion-pills-with-no-consequences" target="_blank" rel="noopener">been shipping</a> unregulated foreign abortion pills across the country with no age verification, no prescription, and no concern about state laws that may ban medication-induced abortions.
For less than $100, anyone can order abortion drugs such as mifepristone and misoprostol online without a prescription. Age is not verified nor is a medical professional ever consulted, meaning anyone, including young girls, can easily get their hands on the pills after brief interactions on a shady website.
Bulso <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2024/12/11/gino-bulso-bill-seeks-5m-civil-liability-for-mailing-abortion-pills/76896838007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Tennessean that he introduced the bill because he had learned of pills being shipped into the state.
“I learned that there were some young ladies in Tennessee who had ordered and received abortion pills through the mail,” he said. “I began thinking about what else we might be able to do, both to deter folks from breaking the law and to provide a civil remedy to the family of an unborn child who&#8217;s killed because abortion pills were illegally sent into the state.”
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One of the major organizations promoting the shipping of abortion pills to red states is Plan C, which <a href="https://archive.ph/Ps9Vd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">describes</a> itself as a “public health creative campaign” composed of public health advocates, researchers, social justice activists, and digital strategists.
&#8220;No amount of threat or fear will be successful in stopping abortion pills from entering Tennessee by mail,” Plan C co-founder Elisa Wells told The Tennessean.
President Joe Biden’s FDA allows abortion pills, namely Mifepristone, to be sent by mail per the Mifepristone REMS program, but the pills must be “dispensed by or under the supervision of a certified prescriber or by certified pharmacies for prescriptions issued by certified prescribers.”
An increasing number of abortions are being done via abortion pills and it is impossible to know how many are happening via mail-order abortion drugs.

US-JUSTICE-ABORTION-HEALTH

Tennessee Lawmaker Has Plan To Crack Down On Sending Abortion Pills Into State

Roe v. Wade's Long And Brutal Legacy

Texas Congressman <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chip-roy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chip Roy</a> demanded Thursday that the FBI and Justice Department preserve all records of its prosecutions of peaceful pro-life protesters across the country.
Roy said in a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/2024-12-05-Roy-Biggs-to-Garland-Wray-re-FACE-Act-follow-up.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland that lawmakers had “serious questions” about the Biden administration’s “weaponization” of the FACE Act, a Clinton-era law that made it a federal crime to block the entrance of an abortion facility. Thursday’s letter, first shared with The Daily Wire, comes after the FBI ignored a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chip-roy-demands-biden-harris-admin-preserve-records-of-peaceful-pro-lifers-prosecutions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">similar request</a> from Roy in October. 
Roy, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, said that the need to keep records was “imperative” with the outgoing Biden administration and incoming Trump administration. The letter was also signed by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Surveillance. 
“Congress has a sacred duty to preserve the rights of the American people, including the First Amendment, against any overreach by the Executive Branch,” Roy and Biggs wrote. “As we examine how to best protect Americans’ fundamental freedoms, the Subcommittees must first understand how the DOJ and FBI enforce the FACE Act.”
As written, the FACE Act is meant to protect both churches and crisis pregnancy centers. However, the Biden administration has disproportionately used it to go after pro-lifers despite an increase in targeting of pregnancy centers after Roe v. Wade was overturned. 
“However, since January 2021, the Civil Rights Division has brought a total of 24 FACE Act cases against 55 defendants, with only two of these cases — consisting of five defendants — concerning attacks on pregnancy resource centers,” Roy wrote. “You should construe this preservation notice as an instruction to take all reasonable steps to prevent the destruction or alteration, whether intentionally or negligently, of all documents, communications, and other information, including electronic information and metadata, that are or may be responsive to this congressional inquiry.” 
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Pro-lifers are imprisoned across the country, including in Washington, D.C.. and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-lifer-spending-thanksgiving-in-prison-grateful-for-opportunity-a-doj-sponsored-mission-trip" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Illinois</a>, after they were successfully prosecuted by the Biden administration under the FACE Act. 
During his time in Congress, Roy has consistently pushed for the FACE Act to be repealed and has introduced legislation to end the law. Data <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-harris-doj-seeks-jail-time-for-pro-lifers-convicted-over-peaceful-protest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shows</a> that 97% of all prosecutions of the FACE Act since its inception have been against pro-lifers.

Members Of The House Freedom Caucus Discuss Appropriations During Capitol Hill Press Conference

EXCLUSIVE: Chip Roy Demands FBI, DOJ Retain Records Of Pro-Life Prosecutions As Biden Leaves Office

Christopher Wray

Merrick Garland

Heading into President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, there are a lot of unanswered questions about the Biden administration’s weaponization of the federal government, from its censorship of conservative media <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/biden-covid-censorship-revealed-npr-bias-probe-afternoon-update-5-3-24">during COVID</a> to the recently uncovered <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fema-official-ordered-relief-workers-to-skip-houses-with-trump-signs">FEMA scandal</a>. 
While congressional Republicans have unearthed a few answers, many questions still remain. With control of the White House, the Trump administration will have a unique opportunity to investigate and potentially uncover the full extent of the weaponization and exactly which federal officials were involved. 
While there are numerous departments worthy of scrutiny, here are four the Trump administration could probe.
<h3>Targeting Political Opponents</h3>
Under Biden’s direction, peaceful pro-life protesters have been jailed, concerned parents have been investigated as “domestic terrorists,” and Trump supporters like Elon Musk have been targeted for prosecution.
In the first year of the Biden administration, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo in October 2021 calling for a crackdown on alleged threats against public school employees. The memo came after the National School Board Association (NSBA) sent a letter in September 2021 to Biden comparing threats against school officials to domestic terrorism and hate crimes.
It was later <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/1077243/garland-defends-doj-memo-despite-nsba-letter-being-withdrawn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discovered</a> that the NSBA had corresponded about the letter with the White House before the Garland memo was issued. The House Judiciary Committee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/weaponization-panel-finds-no-legitimate-basis-for-doj-school-board-memo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">later found</a> that federal law enforcement had “no legitimate basis” for the memo.
The memo prompted outrage from Republicans who said the administration was trying to intimidate parents concerned about leftist-infused curriculum.
In another example of weaponization, peaceful pro-life protesters were aggressively prosecuted by the Biden administration under a novel legal strategy. The protesters <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/six-defendants-convicted-federal-civil-rights-conspiracy-and-freedom-access-clinic-entrances" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were charged</a> with “a felony conspiracy against rights and a Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) offense,” punishable by over 10 years in prison. The &#8220;conspiracy against rights&#8221; statute was first passed during Reconstruction to target violence done by the Klu Klux Klan. 
Pro-lifers from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-life-demonstrators-found-guilty-face-up-to-11-years-in-federal-prison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee</a> to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-89-year-old-woman-convicted-faces-over-a-decade-in-prison-for-peaceful-pro-life-protest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michigan</a> to Washington, D.C., were convicted on these charges and face years in prison. Multiple defendants are already in prison while more are waiting to be sentenced.
The defendants include 89-year-old Eva Edl, a survivor of a communist death camp in Eastern Europe, and Paul Vaughn, a father of 11 whose home was raided by the FBI with guns drawn early morning in October 2022. 
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) has already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chip-roy-demands-biden-harris-admin-preserve-records-of-peaceful-pro-lifers-prosecutions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demanded</a> that the Biden administration preserve all records of its prosecution of the peaceful pro-life protesters to understand how the cases were brought and why.
There are countless other examples of the Biden administration going after its opponents from the DOJ’s cases <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jack-smith-moves-to-drop-cases-against-trump-over-2020-election-classified-docs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">against Trump</a> to the Federal Trade Commission’s aggressive oversight of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/after-musk-from-the-get-go-jim-jordan-reveals-how-biden-harris-ftc-targeted-elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a>. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said that the FTC made increasing demands of Musk after he purchased Twitter, which he had promised to turn into a haven for free speech.
The incoming Trump administration should make every effort to expose these prosecutions and actions to reveal how Biden used his administration to target conservatives.
<h3>FEMA Skipping Homes Of Trump Supporters</h3>
The next administration will also have the opportunity to dig for answers about FEMA’s treatment of Trump supporters during relief operations. A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fema-official-ordered-relief-workers-to-skip-houses-with-trump-signs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent report</a> broken by The Daily Wire earlier this month showed that FEMA supervisor Marn’i Washington ordered workers in Lake Placid, Florida to “avoid homes advertising Trump.”
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell stated the guidance was isolated and not indicative of a larger problem, while Washington has claimed that FEMA has a widespread policy of avoiding “politically hostile” homes.
In addition to investigations from congressional lawmakers, the agency itself is looking into it and has asked the Inspector General to conduct an independent investigation as well. During <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-what-we-learned-from-fema-chiefs-day-of-congressional-grilling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testimony before House</a> lawmakers last week, Criswell deferred many of the lawmakers’ questions, saying that the investigation was ongoing.
There are still questions about why the agency didn’t appear to take any disciplinary action against Washington until over a week after a whistleblower report was filed with the Department of Homeland Security. Washington was only fired one day after The Daily Wire report on the instructions, which led to at least 20 homes being skipped.
Since then, other allegations have been made against FEMA, including a whistleblower telling the House Oversight Committee that an agency employee told a family in Georgia to remove their Trump signs from their yard.
The Trump administration could launch a full inquiry into FEMA and determine the full extent of the political bias.
<h3>Censoring Conservative Media</h3>
Another area deserving of a thorough evaluation is the Biden administration’s efforts to censor conservative media outlets, including the Daily Wire.
These revelations were made after Chairman of The House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan (R-OH) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jim-jordan-releases-new-facebook-files-highlights-how-biden-admin-sought-to-suppress-daily-wire-content">released</a> a number of emails showing efforts by the Biden administration to limit the reach of conservative outlets like The Daily Wire on Facebook.
In the emails, Rob Flaherty, Biden’s censorship czar, suggested that Facebook should “change the algorithm so that people were more likely to see [New York Times], [Wall Street Journal], any authoritative news source over The Daily Wire.”
In another email, Flaherty questioned the reach of the New York Post.
“I’m curious – NY Post churning out articles every day… What is supposed to happen to that from Policy perspective. Does that article get a reduction, labels?” Flaherty asked Facebook.
This stemmed from Flaherty telling Facebook that he needed to “explain” to Biden “why there is misinfo on the internet.&#8221;
These emails, and others later released, show how closely the White House was working with Big Tech companies, and how concerned the companies were with satisfying demands from administration officials.
Aside from censoring COVID information, Biden’s State Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wire-and-the-federalist-sue-biden-state-department-over-censorship-effort">was sued</a> over its Global Engagement Center and attempts to censor information from domestic media.
The new Trump administration has an opportunity to investigate whether Biden participated in any additional censorship efforts and which government employees were all involved.
<h3>Spying On Financial Transactions</h3>
Earlier this year, Rep. Jordan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-flagged-terms-like-trump-maga-for-banks-to-comb-through-customer-data-jordan-says">revealed</a> how federal officials were ordering banks to comb through customer data in search of terms like “TRUMP” or “MAGA” used in transactions.
This came after the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) asked banks to help federal law enforcement identify transactions of &#8220;persons of interest&#8221; using specific typologies and Merchant Category Codes after January 6, 2021.
Other transaction keywords identified by the feds included “Cabela’s” and “Dick’s Sporting Goods,” along with the purchase of “religious texts” as potentially problematic.
“Despite these transactions having no apparent criminal nexus — and, in fact, relate to Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights — FinCEN seems to have adopted a characterization of these Americans as potential threat actors,” Jordan wrote in January. “This kind of pervasive financial surveillance, carried out in coordination with and at the request of federal law enforcement, into Americans’ private transactions is alarming and raises serious doubts about FinCEN’s respect for fundamental civil liberties.”
The next administration should probe the full extent of the government’s surveillance of Americans’ financial transactions and see if similar techniques were used in other investigations or prosecutions.
At a time when trust in the government has plummeted, the Biden administration has only added to the distrust. From censoring conservative media outlets to locking up peaceful pro-lifers, Biden’s four year tenure was marked by increased government weaponization. 
President-elect Trump has an opportunity to hold federal bureaucrats accountable for their weaponization of the government.

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