The Tennessee General Assembly sent two bills cracking down on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to Republican Governor Bill Lee&#8217;s desk on Tuesday as the legislative session came to a close.
One bill would ban publicly funded universities and state and local governments from maintaining DEI offices, while the other bill would prohibit those same entities from making hiring decisions based on race. Both bills passed with overwhelming Republican support.
&#8220;DEI violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson <a href="https://tnga.granicus.com/player/clip/31993?view_id=775&amp;meta_id=914498&amp;redirect=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Tuesday. “We don’t need DEI in our state, Mr. Speaker. We need to hire people and promote people based on their merit. Diversity is a wonderful thing and it will happen. But we’re not going to make diversity the number one objective when we’re trying to serve our constituents and hire good people to take care of our constituents. It will be based on qualifications and merit.”
Johnson was the prime Senate sponsor of both the &#8220;Dismantling DEI Departments Act,&#8221; which <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1084" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibits</a> DEI offices for publicly funded entities, and the &#8220;Dismantle DEI Act,&#8221; which <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0622" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bans</a> public entities from making hiring decisions based on DEI.
“We want to make sure that we are not discriminating when it comes to hiring people at all levels of government in the state of Tennessee. Similarly, we want to make sure that we are not discriminating when it comes to delivering services to our constituents,&#8221; Johnson said from the Senate floor on Tuesday. 
The &#8220;Dismantling DEI Departments Act&#8221; passed the Senate 26-6 and the House 72-25, while the &#8220;Dismantle DEI Act&#8221; passed the Senate 27-6 and the House 73-24.
The Dismantling DEI Department Act would prohibit state government departments or agencies, county governments, city governments, and public universities &#8220;from maintaining or authorizing an office or department that promotes or requires discriminatory preferences in an effort to increase diversity, equity, or inclusion,&#8221; <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1084" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a summary of the bill.
Its companion bill, the &#8220;Dismantling DEI Act,&#8221; would prohibit those same entities from basing hiring decisions on characteristics like race and sex, &#8220;rather than on individual merit, qualifications, veteran status, or lawful eligibility criteria.&#8221;
DEI has been a hot topic in the state in recent weeks, especially at major universities like Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vanderbilt-hospital-ends-all-dei-programs-after-being-accused-of-cover-up?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Vanderbilt+Hospital+Ends+All+DEI+Programs+After+Being+Accused+Of+Cover-Up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> of &#8220;concealing&#8221; its DEI programs in violation of President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order for universities that receive federal funding to eliminate DEI programs.
After pressure from Senator Marsha Blackburn, Vanderbilt University Medical Center confirmed that it would be continuing to take steps to get rid of DEI at the university.

Diversity Equity and Inclusion Text on Wood Block

‘Don’t Need DEI In Our State’: Republicans Move To Close Government, University DEI Offices

Bill Lee

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Donald Trump

Tennessee

Vanderbilt University

A Republican-backed bill allowing Tennessee citizens victimized by illegal aliens to sue non-governmental organizations that provided housing to that illegal alien has been sent to Governor Bill Lee’s desk.
The <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0811" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> was passed by the Tennessee House 70-23 on Wednesday, advancing the bill to the governor’s desk. The legislation would give citizens harmed by an illegal alien a private right of action to sue entities enabling illegal immigration.
“This is a public safety bill in keeping with the Trump administration’s renewed focus on illegal immigration,” Republican Rep. Rusty Grills, who sponsored the legislation, <a href="https://tnga.granicus.com/player/clip/31956?view_id=775&amp;redirect=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on the House floor. “What we&#8217;re doing with this bill is anyone who is a victim of crime committed by an illegal alien will have a private right of action against any NGO that has assisted an illegal alien with housing in a community.”
Grills noted that housing as defined in the bill would not include homeless shelters or storm shelters, as some Democrat opponents have claimed. It would include long-term housing situations or rental homes.
In the Senate, the bill was sponsored by Republican Sen. Brent Taylor and passed 24-4 earlier this month.
The text of the legislation says that NGOs “may be held liable for a loss, damages, injury, or death resulting from a criminal offense committed by the person who is unlawfully present in the United States while the person is receiving housing services from the charitable organization if the charitable organization&#8217;s conduct in providing housing constitutes negligence, gross negligence, or willful and wanton misconduct.”
Many NGOs have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-the-ngos-enabling-mass-immigration-under-the-banner-of-religion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">faced scrutiny</a> over their role in facilitating mass migration into the United States and some have been accused of enabling human trafficking.
Tennesseans have not been exempt from the flood of illegal immigrants that occurred under former President Joe Biden. For example, nearly 3,000 illegal aliens <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-data-show-how-much-crime-illegal-immigrants-committed-in-red-state?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=New+Data+Show+How+Much+Crime+Illegal+Immigrants+Committed+In+Red+State" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were arrested</a> in Tennessee for crimes ranging from murder to rape during the last three months of 2024.
In one prominent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/saying-goodbye-is-hard-nashville-restaurant-closes-doors-after-owner-killed-by-illegal-immigrant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">case</a>, local Nashville business owner Matt Carney was killed by an illegal immigrant from Mexico during an attempted robbery at his beloved restaurant.
On Tuesday, the House also sent another <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0833" target="_blank" rel="noopener">illegal immigration bill</a> to Lee’s desk in a 75-20 vote. The bill would require law enforcement, with the exception of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, to “report monthly to the department of safety each interaction that the law enforcement agency had with illegal aliens over the previous month.”
Reports need to include “the date of the interaction, the number of illegal aliens encountered, and a description of identification documents, if any, in their possession.”
Another bill, which would allow schools in Tennessee to charge illegal aliens tuition, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-state-senate-passes-bill-allowing-schools-to-stop-giving-illegal-aliens-free-education?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Red+State+Senate+Passes+Bill+Allowing+Schools+To+Stop+Giving+Illegal+Aliens+Free+Education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed the Senate</a>, but was placed behind the budget by the House as the session is coming to a close. The bill still could be revived, but it has currently stalled out. Backers of the bill hope to challenge Plyler v. Doe, a Supreme Court decision that forced states to provide education to illegal aliens.

TOPSHOT-MEXICO-HONDURAS-US-MIGRATION

Red State Deals Major Blow To Groups That Facilitate Illegal Immigration

Illegal Immigration

Nashville

Politics

Vanderbilt University Medical Center gave in to a public pressure campaign to end all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs on Wednesday afternoon, just a day after receiving a letter from Tennessee&#8217;s Republican senator, Marsha Blackburn, accusing the hospital of &#8220;concealing&#8221; the DEI work.
In a statement from the university hospital, it said it intends to fully comply with President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order.
“Vanderbilt University Medical Center is eliminating all DEI programs and is fully complying with Executive Actions on DEI,&#8221; the statement <a href="https://www.wsmv.com/2025/04/16/vanderbilt-university-medical-center-eliminating-all-dei-programs/">said</a>. &#8220;Shortly after the Executive Orders were issued, VUMC began removing related content on internal and external websites to reflect the termination of these programs. VUMC will continue to comply with federal mandates and directives.”
The announcement comes just one day after Blackburn wrote a <a href="https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/services/files/4387EAC3-4C5F-44F1-9FF2-45E995761DBB">letter to VUMC President Jeffrey Balser</a>, accusing the university of concealing its DEI efforts and urging him to comply with Trump’s executive orders against the ideology.
“VUMC has recently scrubbed its website of references to DEI initiatives at the institution, going so far as to password protect web pages tied to DEI and climate activism. Concerningly, though, offices such as the Office of Health Equity, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Office for Diversity Affairs are seemingly still active,” Blackburn wrote in her letter to Blaser. “President Trump has been clear on this issue. His recent executive orders correctly prohibited DEI programs at federally funded research institutions and ended the recognition of gender identity apart from biological sex.”
“As a beneficiary of federal funding, VUMC has a responsibility to align with the President’s executive orders,” Blackburn went on to add. “Instead of covering up VUMC’s DEI initiatives, I urge you to comply with President Trump’s effort to responsibility allocate taxpayer dollars and immediately cease all DEI initiatives.”
Vanderbilt&#8217;s hospital is perhaps best known for its transgender procedures on children, which were revealed by Daily Wire host Matt Walsh. The hospital described the practice of so-called &#8220;gender-affirming&#8221; care for children as a &#8220;big money-maker.&#8221;
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BREAKING: My team and I have been investigating the transgender clinic at Vanderbilt here in Nashville. Vanderbilt drugs, chemically castrates, and performs double mastectomies on minors. But it gets worse. Here is what we found. Let&#39;s start at the beginning.
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1572313369528635392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The investigation by Matt Walsh led to Governor Bill Lee calling for an investigation, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tn-senate-leader-credits-daily-wire-investigation-for-inspiring-ban-on-gender-procedures-for-minors">ultimately resulted</a> in a Tennessee state law protecting children from medical interventions that seek to change their sex. That law was recently debated in the Supreme Court, where Walsh rallied activists against mutilating children.

MixCollage-04-Dec-2024-05-09-PM-1904

Vanderbilt Hospital Ends All DEI Programs After Being Accused Of Cover-Up

Marsha Blackburn

Facing down leftist protesters, the Tennessee Senate on Thursday voted to approve a Republican-backed measure that would allow schools in the state to charge illegal aliens tuition.
The bill, introduced by Republican State Senator Bo Watson, seeks to deal with an influx of illegal aliens into the state who have strained the resources of local schools. Backers of the bill hope to challenge Plyler v. Doe, a Supreme Court decision that forced states to provide education to illegal aliens.
“The Plyler decision in 1982 was the voice of the court being imposed on the people,” Watson <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-school-immigration-70841aef391b841321b6dc18d2eb5710" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “This is the voice of the people being exercised through their elected officials.”
The legislation was <a href="https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0836" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> 19-13 on Thursday, with some Republicans joining the Democrat minority in opposition to the bill, which has drawn weeks of activist protests at the state capitol in Nashville. Republicans who opposed the measure included Sens. Richard Briggs (Knoxville), Todd Gardenhire (Chattanooga), Ferrell Haile (Gallatin), Becky Massey (Knoxville), Mark Pody (Lebanon), Shane Reeves, and Page Walley (Savannah).
The bill passed Thursday would require schools to enroll all students who are able to provide documentation of citizenship or legal residency in the state. If a student cannot prove legal residency, the bill would authorize schools to require that student to pay tuition. If the student does not pay tuition, the school does not have to admit them.
&#8220;It&#8217;s been argued that undocumented illegal aliens pay sales tax and property tax,&#8221; Watson <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/10/tennessee-senate-passes-bill-requiring-schools-check-student-immigration-status/83024296007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;True. But one doesn&#8217;t know if those payments come close to offsetting the additional costs. We argue they do not.&#8221;
An <a href="https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Amend/SA0052.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">amendment</a> added on to the bill says that the Tennessee General Assembly has the duty to “remove the burden of providing a free publicly funded education for illegal alien children from Tennessee taxpayers.”
A similar bill, sponsored by Majority Leader William Lamberth, is making its way through the House. That bill has so far made it through multiple key committees and is set to go before the Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee next week.
Earlier this year, the school board of Rutherford County, a suburban area southeast of Nashville, passed a resolution calling for the border to be closed, citing rising costs from the growth of non-English speakers in county schools.
The <a href="https://defendinged.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Rutherford-Border-Policy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a>, which was later rescinded after backlash, noted that the area had seen a 140% increase in its English Learner Population over the last ten years. The resolution said that the increasing numbers of ESL students are &#8220;creating exceptional financial pressures on school systems to provide the services which school systems are legally required to provide.”

MEXICO-US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION

Red State Senate Passes Bill Allowing Schools To Stop Giving Illegal Aliens Free Education

Education

Illegal Immigation

Supreme Court

U.S.

The final police report on Nashville&#8217;s deadly Covenant School shooting, released more than two years after the attack, claims the motive of the attack was &#8220;notoriety&#8221; and makes little mention of the shooter&#8217;s radical positions on gender, race, or religious animus.
While pages from the writings of the 28-year-old woman who murdered three children and three adults at The Covenant School in March 2023 demonstrate that she was fixated on gender ideology and &#8220;white privilege,&#8221; police <a href="https://www.nashville.gov/sites/default/files/2025-04/Covenant_Final_Summary.pdf?ct=1743609642" target="_blank" rel="noopener">say</a> that she was primarily motivated by a desire for notoriety. Investigators said that neither her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covenant-journal-revealed-my-imaginary-penis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documented hatred</a> of Christianity or affluent white people played a role in her targeting of The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school in a wealthy area of Nashville.
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&#8220;Regarding why she selected The Covenant, many have speculated [the shooter] selected this location for racial, religious, or economic motives,&#8221; the report said. &#8220;It is certainly true she raged over these topics at times in her writings. But none of those motives impacted her decision to attack The Covenant.&#8221;
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Instead, the police said that Covenant was targeted because the attacker, who was killed by police, believed that she would receive greater notoriety by murdering young children. Three of the victims of the March 27, 2023, attack — Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney — were all just 9 years old. The other victims of the attack were adults Michael Hill, Katherine Koonce, and Cynthia Peak.
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Throughout the report, police made little mention of the attacker&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/covenant-shooter-cited-transgender-rights-in-shooting-spree-manifesto-contradicting-official-claims" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transgender identity</a>, only mentioning that she identified as a male and that she had made references to wanting to transition. 
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&#8220;It should be noted that in life, the offender &#8230; gender identified as a male and used he/him as preferred pronouns. Under Tennessee law, a person’s gender identity must correspond with their biological sex or with information present on their certificate of live birth,&#8221; police wrote. &#8220;As [the attacker] was a biological female at the time of her death and throughout the incidents described in this summary and in the case file, [the attacker] will be referred to as a female.&#8221;
In the only other mention of her transgender identity, investigators said that they uncovered no evidence of her undergoing any gender medical procedures.
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&#8220;Nothing has been found to suggest she initiated or was undergoing a transition at the time of her death, including medical documentation,&#8221; police wrote. &#8220;During her autopsy following her death, it was determined she was biologically female.&#8221; 
These mentions don&#8217;t appear to fully take into account the attacker&#8217;s transgender identity, which dominated her life.
In journal entries previously published by The Daily Wire, the attacker wrote just weeks before the deadly shooting about her fantasy of having an “imaginary penis” and said that it was a &#8220;f***ing curse&#8221; that she was born a woman.
“I want to know what that’s like, but I never will because I was damned to be born this way,” she wrote in the journal of her desire to have a penis. “I swear to f*** I hate it so goddamned much. It’s a f***ing curse.”
<div id="attachment_750005" style="width: 730px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-750005" class="size-full wp-image-750005" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page2_720.jpg" alt="Image of Covenant School shooter's journal obtained by The Daily Wire" width="720" height="480" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page2_720.jpg 720w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/page2_720-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" />Image of Covenant School shooter&#8217;s journal obtained by The Daily Wire</div>
She said that puberty ruined her life, lamenting the fact that her parents never put her on puberty blockers.
“A bare flat chest made me free. Girl puberty imprisoned me. And so does my mind. Puberty = life sentence. The people in this world adds more bullets to shoot violent thoughts into my head on full-auto,&#8221; she wrote.
In other journal entries, the attacker made clear her hatred of  Christianity and people with &#8220;white privilege,&#8221; which she believed hindered her development.
For example, she wrote that she wanted to kill “crackers going to private fancy schools&#8221; and explained why she rejected her parents&#8217; faith.
“Parents actually believe religion can change nature,” the shooter wrote. “That could explain why I don’t practice religion anymore. Let kids think for themselves, listening to parents does no damned good but to mold their premature minds into a pre-formatted program.”
These writings were portions from 16 notebooks, which some have referred to as her manifesto, and were the subject of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-judge-appears-to-back-off-on-threats-to-punish-journalist-over-articles-on-covenant-shooter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lengthy legal battle</a>. In their report, police denied the existence of a manifesto, saying that there was no singular &#8220;document explaining why she committed the attack, why she specifically targeted The Covenant, and what she hoped to gain, if anything, with the attack.&#8221;
Police investigators also ruled that the attacker was &#8220;sane&#8221; despite numerous mental health disorders.
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&#8220;Despite all her assorted mental health disorders, [the attacker] was certainly sane,&#8221; police wrote. &#8220;She was capable of adjusting her plans as needed, manipulating others into seeing her as meek and nonthreatening, and fully understood her attack was not only criminal but morally reprehensible.&#8221;
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Police say that the attacker first started to fantasize about carrying out a school shooting in 2017 before beginning to plan one in 2018.
&#8220;By this point, [the shooter] wrote how she was tired of being alone and ignored, ostracized by those she felt were her friends, and shunned by society for being autistic,&#8221; the police wrote. &#8220;After writing an expletive rant directed towards her &#8216;best friend&#8217; for choosing a relationship with a man over her, [the shooter] decided it was time to make others notice her for a change. She felt by &#8216;killing a bunch of children&#8217; she would no longer be ignored.&#8221;
Police said that the attacker floated in her mind a number of different targets, including various Nashville schools and malls. At one point, one of her plans was disrupted after her guns were confiscated by her parents, with whom she lived in Nashville.
She moved away from targeting one school because it was predominantly black, worrying that she &#8220;would be seen as a racist, which would affect how much control she had over the narrative after her death and allow others to state her motive behind the attack.&#8221;
Eventually, police say that she settled on the Covenant School because she believed she would receive more notoriety by attacking a Christian school and that the faith of the students would make them &#8220;meek and afraid.&#8221; She prepared for the attack for years, even going on a tour of the facility in September 2021 so she could map out the school&#8217;s layout in preparation.
Despite this conclusion, police said that the attacker never left behind any evidence of having a specific animosity for the Covenant School.
&#8220;She never remarked of being bullied and ostracized there; on the contrary, she remarked on a couple of occasions how she established friendships, which included play-dates at the homes of other children and a sense of acceptance,&#8221; police said. &#8220;She gave no examples of how anyone at the school belittled her or harmed her, as she did in other places she attended school.&#8220;
At the end of the report, investigators officially closed the investigation, saying that they identified no other individuals who were criminally culpable for the shooting.

3 children, 3 teachers fatally shot in US city of Nashville school shooting

Nashville Police In Final Report Downplay Covenant Shooter’s Transgender Identity, Hatred Of Christianity

Police

School Shooting

The Covenant School

Transgender

A top executive at a major healthcare provider whose duties involve placing graduate students at hospitals across the country has said that “diversity” is essential for healthcare and advocated for medical schools to accept students in racially proportional ways. 
Dr. Monique Butler, the president of Graduate Medical Education for Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) Healthcare, has aggressively pushed DEI and racial quotas. HCA, headquartered in Tennessee, also has a history of championing DEI, though many references to such efforts have been scrubbed from its website in recent months. 
Butler was <a href="https://investor.hcahealthcare.com/news/news-details/2024/HCA-Healthcare-Names-Dr.-Monique-Butler-as-President-of-Graduate-Medical-Education/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">named</a> president of HCA’s graduate medical education program in March 2024. One of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs, it <a href="https://hcahealthcaregme.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offers</a> over 300 residency and fellowship programs across 16 states and 79 hospitals with more than 5000 residents and 300 fellows. 
According to HCA, it is <a href="https://hcahealthcaregme.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the</a> “largest sponsor of residency and fellowship programs across the nation” and its facilities handle “five percent of all U.S. hospital services.”
Prior to her work at HCA, Butler pushed for DEI in presentations and speeches and even advocated for medical schools to adopt a sort of racial quota system to ensure their student body was directly proportional to the general population.  
“Diversity in health care cannot be a want, it is a must-have,” Butler <a href="https://record.umich.edu/articles/discussion-to-examine-health-care-disparities-racial-empowerment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during a 2020 speech. 
In 2021, she delivered the University of Michigan MLK Health Sciences keynote <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3Y5s3JlP6I" target="_blank" rel="noopener">address</a>, in which she claimed: “race — as well as sex, gender, sexuality, age, social class and ability —  can adversely affect opportunities, access, care, treatment and the overall lived experiences of people of color, particularly black people.”
During that speech, Butler also called for medical schools across the United States to admit a directly proportional number of minority students into their programs. 
Butler said she was issuing a “call to action” to medical school leaders to “ensure that their student population reflects the population of the United States population,” noting that only 5% of medical school graduates were black despite making up 13% of the population. 
“We have some work to do,” she said. 
<div id="attachment_894851" style="width: 1610px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-894851" class="size-full wp-image-894851" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-19-at-1.42.06-PM.png" alt="" width="1600" height="965" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-19-at-1.42.06-PM.png 1600w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-19-at-1.42.06-PM-300x181.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-19-at-1.42.06-PM-955x576.png 955w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-19-at-1.42.06-PM-768x463.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-19-at-1.42.06-PM-1536x926.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" />Butler presentation.</div>
She said that the lower number of black and minority medical school graduates was contributing to “health disparities” in the United States. 
In that same lecture, she pushed a now-<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/study-saying-black-babies-more-likely-to-die-under-white-doctors-didnt-control-for-1-key-factor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">debunked</a> study that claims that black babies are more likely to die under white doctors’ care. 
Butler also made numerous references to George Floyd, claiming that police brutality was a contributor to health &#8220;inequality.&#8221; She said that curriculum at medical schools across the country should be infused with implicit bias training. 
<div id="attachment_894857" style="width: 1539px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-894857" class="size-full wp-image-894857" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-17-at-12.11.36-PM.png" alt="" width="1529" height="830" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-17-at-12.11.36-PM.png 1529w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-17-at-12.11.36-PM-300x163.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-17-at-12.11.36-PM-1024x556.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-17-at-12.11.36-PM-768x417.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1529px) 100vw, 1529px" />Butler presentation.</div>
In October 2020, Butler moderated a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c4zs13Esoo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">panel discussion</a> on what she called the “health equity crisis” in the United States. Butler said that governments should be held “responsible” for “neutralizing” the amount of money spent per school district. 
Later, in a 2023 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8as63qBruY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lecture</a>, she urged people to be “allies” and urged providers to “challenge” human resources departments to “ensure that there are metrics they are looking” at to ensure “at least” diverse candidates. 
Butler&#8217;s push for DEI in medicine was criticized by Do No Harm, a group devoted to getting politics out of medicine.
&#8220;Medical education, whether in the classroom or in hospital, must be focused on merit. Dr. Butler is advocating for the return of racial segregation in medicine, promoting the disproved hypothesis of racial concordance, eroding patient-physician trust and degrading the rigor of medical education,&#8221; Senior Do No Harm fellow Dr. Jared Ross told The Daily Wire. &#8220;The best physician for you is the most qualified, regardless of melanin content or sexual orientation.&#8221;
Butler has worked for a number of high-profile medical corporations throughout her career and has received numerous glowing profiles. Some of these profiles include DEI-related accomplishments.  
For example, an October 2022 University of Michigan School Of Kinesiology alumni <a href="https://www.kines.umich.edu/news-events/profiles/dr-monique-butler" target="_blank" rel="noopener">profile</a> of Butler reveals that she created something called the Grant Foundation in order to “improve health equity.” One of the purported programs offered by the Grant Foundation is the Pathfinders Scholarship Award, which is given to first-generation and “underrepresented” University of Michigan kinesiology students to “pursue a career in health care.”
The foundation has a small online footprint and is not advertised by the University of Michigan aside from the alumni profile. It is unclear how many students have received the award or how students may apply for the opportunity. 
Another program with a scant track record that Butler is said to have created is the “Women Physicians Network,” which is mentioned in a number of Butler’s <a href="https://yourhub.denverpost.com/blog/2018/08/hcahealthones-swedish-medical-center-welcomes-new-chief-medical-officer/223519/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">profiles</a> and again in the congressional <a href="https://www.congress.gov/116/crec/2020/09/29/CREC-2020-09-29-pt1-PgE893.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">record</a>. This network appears to have no online presence and is not registered as a non-profit in Michigan or Florida. 
Another profile of Butler <a href="https://umichpicsannouncements.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2017-global-health-symposium-brochure.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reveals</a> that she has “research experience” in health care “disparities” while there appears to be limited evidence of any scholarly articles widely available that Butler has contributed to on disparities. 
Her employer, HCA, has also publicly pushed adherence to DEI ideology until relatively recently. 
“Our Executive Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council informs critical strategic decision making, monitors progress against goals and objectives, and serves as visible and vocal sponsors of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the organization,” HCA posted on its website as of at least October 2024, according to an <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20241008171042/https://hcahealthcare.com/about/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">archived</a> webpage. 
“Across HCA Healthcare, our Division Diversity, Equity and Inclusion councils support deployment of key DEI strategies and programs at a local level. These councils are comprised of division leaders and facility representatives who reflect the diversity of the communities we serve,” HCA added. 
That page now redirects to a general “mission” statement that doesn’t mention diversity or equity. 
When reached for comment about some of its deleted DEI pages, a spokeswoman gave a general comment on the mission of HCA. 
“Our focus has always been to foster a culture that exemplifies our company’s mission and values by promoting care and respect for all patients and colleagues, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age or other characteristics, and we will continue to do so,” the spokeswoman said. “Our Culture and Values team continues to lead and facilitate cross-department partnerships that seek to support the delivery of high-quality care for our patients, foster opportunities for colleagues and improve the health of our communities.”
The spokeswoman added that HCA was “continuously looking for ways to build on our longstanding commitment to promoting an environment where everyone feels valued, while also supporting a broader vision of teamwork, respect and shared purpose across all areas of our organization.”
In the past, HCA released reports highlighting its DEI initiatives. 
Its 2023 DEI “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240918105926/https:/hcahealthcare.com/util/documents/2023/2023-HCAH-DEI-Year-in-Review-a.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">snapshot</a>” boasted  that the group adopted “Joint Commission equity standards to reduce health disparities&#8221; and investments in “health equity partnerships.” These investments included $7.42 million to historically black colleges and Hispanic “serving institutions” between 2021 and 2023.
In February 2024, HCA released a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240816160832/https:/hcahealthcare.com/util/documents/2023/508_DEI-EEO-1-Report-2023-a.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> on all the ways the company has incorporated different layers of DEI councils throughout the company. 
“HCA Healthcare is focused on fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging for our colleagues through workplace programs, education, diverse talent acquisition, engagement and development,” the company reported. 
These efforts include the creation of a black leadership organization, implicit bias training, and “advancing equity for our LGBTQ+ communities.”
HCA also announced that it was working to develop more relationships with “diverse suppliers.”
“We are committed to expanding partnerships with a diverse range of businesses, including those owned and operated by people of color, women, veterans, members of the LGBTQ+ community and members of socially and economically disadvantaged groups,” the report said. 
However, many of the DEI-related materials appear to have been removed from the HCA’s website. 
Ross, of Do No Harm, said that HCA should completely abandon any DEI-related projects.
&#8220;Hospital Corporation of America should stop any DEI efforts and instead put resources into providing the best education for doctors,&#8221; he told The Daily Wire.
The apparent retreat comes amid increasing cultural pressure for companies and universities to abandon DEI principles and focus on merit. This shift comes after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in June 2023, and the executive orders from President Donald Trump cracking down on the federal government’s promotion of DEI.

In this photo illustration, the American healthcare business

Top Healthcare Exec Pushed For Med Schools To Accept Students Based On Race

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Turns out that it’s easy to make people move out of your state: Just raise taxes.
Recently, residents of high-tax states such as California, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey have been on the move. Specifically, they’ve been flocking to low-tax destinations such as Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, and Tennessee.
Between April 1, 2020, and June 30, 2023, high-tax states lost net 2.8 million residents to low-tax states. That’s more people than could be seated in all 30 NFL stadiums and 29 NBA arenas combined.
Zero-income tax Florida and Texas were the top two destinations for interstate movers, gaining 819,000 and 656,000 net residents respectively. Americans in the northeastern U.S. and the upper Midwest poured into Florida, while Texas was the destination of choice for many people living west of the Mississippi.
North Carolina (310,000), South Carolina (248,000), Arizona (218,000), and Tennessee (207,000) ranked third through sixth in net population gain from interstate migration. Each of them is a low-tax state (except South Carolina, which stands in the middle of the pack). Tennessee, like Florida and Texas, is one of the seven states with zero income tax.
It’s no coincidence that former Californians led the exodus out of high-tax states. California has the highest state income tax rate in the country at 13.3%, and it lost 1.2 million residents to interstate migration in a little more than three years.
Incredibly, California was the leading source of net domestic migration into every state within 1,000 miles of either Los Angeles or San Francisco.
The most popular destinations for Californians were Texas, Arizona, and Nevada. Texas and Nevada have no income tax, and Arizona has the lowest non-zero income tax rate.
New York state has the second highest income tax rate at 10.9%, and it had the second highest level of net outmigration during the roughly three-year period – a net loss of about 883,000 people. Counting both local and state taxes, nobody faces higher tax rates than do New York City residents.
Frank Sinatra once sang that if you could make it in New York, you could make it anywhere. These days, more and more people have been trying to make it somewhere else.
New Yorkers have been gravitating to greener pastures in Florida, Texas, and North Carolina. Low overall taxes and non-existent income tax play an important role in attracting New Yorkers to Florida and Texas (North Carolina is also among the lowest-tax states in the country).
Other New Yorkers fled to neighboring states like Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New Jersey – states which have lower taxes than New York, but which certainly can’t be considered low-tax states.
Each of these states lost population to interstate migration overall, despite all the people flowing in from New York. In fact, New Jersey had the fourth highest population loss from interstate migration – about 153,000, behind only California, New York, and Illinois (364,000).
Other factors besides taxes also contribute to population flows. But the pattern of high-tax states losing residents to low-tax states is too strong to chalk up as a coincidence. The pattern holds year after year, between neighboring states, and across regions.
The pattern also holds across the income spectrum. Even low-income Americans (who may themselves pay a small amount of taxes) tend to move from high-tax states to low-tax states. If high taxes are supposed to pay for government services that improve the lives of low- and middle-income residents, well, it’s not working. 
The highest-income residents are especially sensitive to differences in tax rates, but that just shows why it’s so counterproductive for state lawmakers to try to soak the rich. Driving up tax rates drives out the people who pay the most in taxes.
State lawmakers eager to harvest more tax revenues must be careful lest they cause the geese with the golden eggs to fly away to somewhere they’re appreciated more and taxed less: states like Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, and Tennessee.
* * *
Preston Brashers is a Research Fellow for <a href="https://www.heritage.org/taxes/report/if-you-tax-them-they-will-run-millions-americans-flee-california-and-new-york" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tax policy</a> in The Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget. Read his new report: <a href="https://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2025-03/BG3896.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;If You Tax Them, They Will Run: Millions of Americans Flee California And New York.&#8221;</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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The U.S. Department of Education is an $80 billion failure. For decades, it’s promised better schools and brighter futures, yet delivered little beyond bureaucracy and stagnation. President Trump is right: it’s time to end the Department of Education and hand states the reins.
In Tennessee, we understand that the best education system considers the unique needs of every student and empowers parents to choose what’s best for their child. We also have a proven track record of stewarding tax dollars wisely to achieve the maximum benefit for our students and teachers. By returning education to the states, we can once again make an American education the gold standard across the globe.
Since the department’s creation in 1979, the federal government has spent more than $6 trillion on education, yet our kids aren’t reading any better, solving equations any faster, or competing stronger globally. The “Nation’s Report Card” shows reading and math scores for 17-year-olds stuck where they were in the 1970s. Meanwhile, administrative staff in public schools has ballooned, growing by 19 times the rate of student growth since 2000, while resources are failing to make it into the classroom and teachers drown in paperwork. This isn’t just waste – it’s a sacrifice of our children’s future.
Worse yet, the department has become a megaphone for ideological agendas that undermine parents’ rights. The Biden Education Department pushed critical race theory in classrooms and threatened funding to schools that didn’t allow boys in girls’ sports. That’s not education – it’s ideology. In Tennessee, we’re focused on teaching our kids the facts – real civics and hard science – so they can think for themselves and take pride in our nation’s great story.
Education simply isn’t Washington’s job. Before 1979, states like Tennessee built school systems without a federal babysitter. That’s why President Ronald Reagan called the department a “bureaucracy that’s outlived its usefulness” and pushed to shift power back to parents and community leaders. Newt Gingrich’s 1994 Contract with America again called for abolishing the Department of Education. Today, President Trump is making good on generations of promises.
Tennessee, like many states, has proven that when parents and communities lead, students succeed. Our state has led the nation in academic recovery post-COVID and implemented literacy programs helping kids read at higher levels than ever before. And with the passage of universal school choice in Tennessee this year, thanks to President Trump’s support, we’ve put parents in the driver’s seat.
Look beyond Tennessee and the evidence piles up. Mississippi’s “Miracle” lifted 4th-grade reading scores above the national average thanks to state-driven literacy reforms. Florida’s investments in choice and education since 1999 have helped low-income students rise from 33rd to 1st nationally in reading scores, while graduation rates increased and dropout rates were cut nearly in half.
President Trump can end the federal government’s authority over education because the Constitution never granted it in the first place. The Department of Education’s main role is sending states money, which Washington somehow succeeded in doing before creating the department. Other parts of the federal government are likely better equipped to serve students, such as the Treasury with student loans.
Cutting off the bureaucracy does not mean turning off the funding. States already handle 90% of K-12 funding; the federal 10% — about $1.8 billion for Tennessee — can be managed smarter at home. We’ve done it before: Tennessee’s Medicaid block grant has saved taxpayers a billion dollars over three years while improving care. Imagine what we could do with education dollars, cutting waste and pouring resources into classrooms, not cubicles.
President Trump’s plan means hope for America’s children. It opens doors to state-driven innovation, unleashing the creative potential of all 50 states. And it gives parents — not Washington — more control over the education of their children.
It’s time to end this failed experiment and return education to the states. We know our children. We know what works. Let states lead — and watch our kids thrive.
* * *
Bill Lee is the 50th Governor of Tennessee.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A Tennessee library board voted Monday evening to remove all books promoting transgenderism to children from its system, facing down protesters who called them &#8220;Nazis&#8221; for taking the stand. 
The Rutherford County Library board voted 5-3 in favor of a resolution to take books encouraging children to adopt radical gender ideology off their shelves. The vote came after a tense 2-hour meeting attended by over 100 community members who showed up at the Historic Rutherford County Courthouse in Murfreesboro, about 34 miles from Nashville, to hear debate on the resolution.
The resolution directed the library to “remove material that promotes, encourages, advocates for or normalizes transgenderism or ‘gender confusion’ in minors.”
After the vote was taken, a group of supporters of the resolution, who showed up wearing white shirts, erupted with cheers and clapping. Opponents, who heckled the board throughout the meeting, shouted things like “Nazis!” at the library board. During debate on the resolution, audience members would break out in cheers after a board member spoke in favor of their position.
Cody York, who introduced the measure, said that he did so because the board had an obligation to protect children.
“The library board is expending money to keep books on the shelf. By just keeping a book we are making a decision to expend funds, taxpayer dollars, to keep those books there,” York said. “Books that promote transgender ideology are harmful to children.”
York referenced detransitioners across the country who have sued their doctors for performing transgender medical procedures on them.
“The state and federal government have determined that these are harmful practices,” York said, pointing to President Donald Trump’s executive order that the federal government would not promote transgender procedures on kids. “The fact that some children in our community struggle with gender confusion means that we should be equipping them to successfully deal with the dangers of, and root cause of, that danger.”
Before the votes, 10 community members were given 3 minutes each to speak.
“If we cause children to go down this road, they can make decisions they will regret for the rest of their lives. When we expose them to things that they don’t have a level to understand, it’s really sexualizing them,” a woman named Michelle said, urging the board to take away books promoting transgender ideology. “Children, they don’t have a capacity for this. If we say we love them, if we say that ‘you are loved,&#8217; ‘we loved you,’ we should want to tell that person the truth. Love is truth.”
Under the new policy, staff at libraries across the county would have to flag books promoting transgender ideology to kids and turn them over to the board for evaluation.
Board members who voted in favor included York, Marzee Woodard, Dina Piazza, and Susan Quesenberry. Those who voted against included Benjamin Groce, Kory Wells, and Rollie Holden.
Previously, in the meeting the board voted to remove a book called “Me &amp; My Dysphoria Monster,” a children&#8217;s illustrated book that tells the story of a boy who believes that he is a girl who meets a “trans man” who teaches him about gender dysphoria.
That vote was 5-2 along almost the same lines as the other vote, except with an abstention from Holden.
Tennessee state lawmakers have already moved to get sexually explicit books out of school libraries, and this new Rutherford County resolution would enact a similar policy at the county level for transgender ideology.

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Tennessee Town Faces Down Liberal Protests, Votes To Remove Books Promoting Transgenderism To Kids

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Federal authorities charged a previously deported illegal alien on Tuesday after he allegedly shot a man in front of his seven-year-old daughter in Nashville, Tennessee, authorities say.
Jose Guadalupe Vazquez-Delgado, a 36-year-old Mexican national, was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdtn/pr/illegal-alien-charged-immigration-and-firearm-offenses-shooting-man-front-his-daughter">allegedly</a> drinking heavily at a house in Nashville&#8217;s Antioch neighborhood when he began arguing with the victim. The two men and the victim’s young daughter went outside, where Vazquez-Delgado allegedly shot the victim several times before fleeing the home.
Authorities say that Vazquez-Delgado left behind his Mexican passport, 14 shell casings, and his truck at the site of the crime. The victim was transported to the emergency room and received life-saving medical care.
The illegal alien, who federal authorities say has been deported from the United States twice, has now been charged with possession of ammunition by an illegal alien and unlawful reentry into the U.S. Vazquez-Delgado could face up to 15 years in federal prison for the firearm charge and another two years for the illegal reentry charge.
“Operations like this underscore the FBI’s commitment to working with our partners to keep dangerous people and weapons from infecting our communities,” said Joseph E. Carrico, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Nashville Field Office. “The FBI in Tennessee is committed to actively investigating and apprehending individuals wanted for federal violations and those unlawfully present in the United States and remains steadfast in its mission to uphold the Constitution.”
Federal authorities have recently charged illegal aliens with various crimes in Nashville. Just last month, eight Venezuelan illegal aliens were <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdtn/pr/eight-venezuelan-nationals-charged-offenses-related-their-roles-transnational">busted</a> for allegedly running a sex trafficking ring out of motels throughout the city.
Authorities say that three of those illegal aliens leveraged their connections to the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which President Donald Trump officially designated as a foreign terror organization, in order to coerce women into engaging in commercial sex acts. The operation was brought to a halt following a joint investigation from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.

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County music legend Dolly Parton shared the heartbreaking news on Monday that her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, had died. He was 82.
In a message posted on the 79-year-old singer’s <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DGwdXPoPvoj/">Instagram</a> account, Parton said that Dean passed away in Nashville and will be laid to rest in a private ceremony.
“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years,” the country singer shared in a statement.  “Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
At the time of this publication, the cause of death has not been announced.
The Tennessee businessman and Parton met the day she moved to Nashville; she was 18, and he was 21. It was outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dolly-parton-husband-carl-dean-dies-2b17ba0e44bcb864a3800bc17afdedeb?taid=67c648700119c30001f804d4&amp;utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter">Associated Press</a> reported.
“I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me),” Parton described of their meeting. “He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”
Two years later, the two tied the knot at a small wedding in Ringgold, Georgia, on Memorial Day, May 30, 1966.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Some sad news…
Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s husband of 58 years, has died.
He was 82.
“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can&#8217;t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/8D4kpXswbK">pic.twitter.com/8D4kpXswbK</a>
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) <a href="https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1896720415973572624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
While Parton’s career took off, Dean remained mostly out of the spotlight, supporting her behind the scenes, even being the inspiration to one of her biggest hits ever, “Jolene,” per <a href="https://www.npr.org/2008/10/09/95520570/dolly-partons-jolene-still-haunts-singers">NPR</a>.
“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton said of a bank teller who seemed interested in Dean. “And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention.”
“It was kinda like a running joke between us — when I was saying, ‘Hell, you’re spending a lot of time at the bank. I don’t believe we’ve got that kind of money,’” she added. “So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.”
During a recent interview with Parton about the couple’s marriage, she opened up about their relationship and said it was just “meant to be.”
“I like it when people say, ‘How did it last so long?’ I say, ‘I stay going,&#8217;” Parton explained during an interview with <a href="https://etcanada.com/news/952554/dolly-parton-says-warped-sense-of-humour-is-key-to-56-year-marriage-with-carl-dean/">ET Canada</a>.
“You know, there’s a lot to be said about that. So, we’re not in each other’s face all the time. He’s not in the business, so we have different interests, but yet we have the things we love to do together,” she added. “So it was meant to be, I think. He was the one I was supposed to have and vice versa.”
After Parton was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she said Dean inspired her to make a rock album, something she accomplished in 2023, the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dolly-parton-new-album-rockstar-15f6efbfe89e9370eee4bf71e0ea26de">AP</a> noted.
&#8220;I did it because I’m in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” Parton <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/06/entertainment/dolly-parton-husband-carl-dean/index.html">said</a>. It was Dean, she said, who “really made me make that final decision to think, ‘You know what? I’ve got this great opportunity to do this, and I’m just gonna do it.’&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dolly-parton-achieves-career-milestone-with-new-album-at-77" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dolly Parton Achieves Career Milestone With New Album At 77</a>

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Dolly Parton Shares Heartbreaking News About Husband Of Nearly 60 Years

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LENOIR CITY, Tenn.—Nearly a year after a Nashville jury convicted them on federal conspiracy charges over a peaceful pro-life protest, a group of pro-life Christians reunited to celebrate their pardons from President Donald Trump, recount their time in prison, and encourage each other in the fight against abortion. 
In the year since they had last all been together, two had gone to prison, one was slated to go to prison, and the rest were restricted from traveling, owning guns, and voting. But thanks to Trump’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-should-not-have-been-prosecuted-trump-pardons-23-pro-lifers-targeted-by-biden-doj">January 23 pardons</a> of the nearly two dozen pro-lifers targeted by the Biden administration, 10 of the pardoned traveled last week for a reunion at the Patriot Church, just outside of Knoxville. 
Those pardoned who made the trek to East Tennessee included Paul Vaughn, Coleman Boyd, Dennis Green, Chet Gallagher, Heather Idoni, and Cal Zastrow, all of whom were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-life-demonstrators-found-guilty-face-up-to-11-years-in-federal-prison">convicted</a> on felony conspiracy charges in January 2024 over a sit-in at a now-closed Mt. Juliet, Tennessee abortion facility. Each of them had faced over a decade in prison, with Zastrow getting six months, Gallagaher 16 months, and Idoni eight months to run concurrently with her two year sentence over a similar protest in Washington, D.C. 
Other pardoned pro-lifers in attendance at the reunion were Paul Place, Eva Edl, and Eva Zastrow, who were convicted on a lesser Freedom of Access To Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act charge in Nashville; and Justin Phillips, who was convicted in August on conspiracy charges over a pro-life protest at a Michigan abortion facility.
Steven Lefemine, who spent 60 days in prison after sitting in front of the door to a South Carolina abortion facility, also was in attendance. He did not apply for a pardon because he wanted to continue to fight the FACE Act, which he says is unconstitutional. 
This reunion featured a potluck dinner, Christian worship songs, and testimonies from the pardoned pro-lifers.  
“I was in prison. I’m out of prison. Just like that. By one man’s signature. By a declaration that way. I was pardoned from prison by the president of the United States,” Zastrow said on Wednesday as he spoke to a cheering crowd at the Patriot Church while holding up a copy of his pardon.
Zastrow, who was imprisoned in Thomson Federal Correctional Institute in Illinois, said that he didn’t expect to be pardoned based on his experience with previous politicians. 
“I’ve helped other guys run for office and I just quit believing that when people promise what they’re going do when they’re elected,” Zastrow said. “So I don’t have real high expectations when somebody says they’re going to do something when they’re running for office.” 
He thanked the crowd for their letters and phone calls to his wife, saying that “God used your lobbying for a pardon.”
He added that he wasn’t afraid of prison because of his faith. 
“It&#8217;s because I just get so close to Jesus, I press in so close to Jesus and I just receive and accept his love for me and I just channel that out to other people,” he said. 
He recounted several stories from prison, including one involving a prison guard whom he said used to swear at the prisoners when they were in line for food. Zastrow said that one day the guard took God’s name in vain, and he responded by saying “praise your name oh Jesus,” after which the prisoners standing around him backed away from him because, he said, no one ever talked while they were in line for food. Everyone stopped for a moment before Zastrow said that the prison guard responded by saying, “Amen.”
“That was the last time he ever swore at us and took the Lord&#8217;s name in vain,” he said. 
Heather Idoni, another one of those who was freed from prison, also spoke about how prison gave her an opportunity to share her faith, joking that she had a “captive audience for the Gospel.” 
“Prison is the best federally-funded mission trip you can go on. Everywhere I went, there were women hungry for the Lord,” she said. “They didn’t, some didn’t know it yet. Do you know what I got to tell them? I got to say, ‘I’ve been praying for you for two years now and I didn’t even know who you were yet.&#8217;”
Idoni, who was convicted on FACE Act and felony conspiracy charges in Nashville, Detroit, and D.C., had been imprisoned since the summer of 2023, before she was freed in January. She previously spoke about how she was shuttled from prison to prison, exacerbating some of her health challenges. 
“God was keeping me every day, his peace, his presence, not one day without it,” she said. 
Both Idoni and Zastrow met new grandchildren for the first time when they were released from prison. 
The final pardoned pro-lifer to speak was 89-year-old Eva Edl, who spoke about her experience surviving a communist prison camp in Yugoslavia as a young girl. Edl said that witnessing Nazis targeting Jews and the communists targeting her people group because of their ethnic heritage motivated her to fight the dehumanization of the unborn.
Both of her parents were taken prisoner during World War II, and she was sent to a prison camp at the age of nine.
“The Nazis had taken my daddy. The Russians had taken my mother and my grandfather to dig trenches on the Russian side,” she said. 
She was shipped in a cattle car to the camp and nearly died of starvation while she was mistreated horrifically by the prison guards, saying that “people were eating rats and rats were eating people.”
During her time in prison, she said that she got her hands on a Christian prayer book, which was “more important to me than the food itself that I was craving.”  
“When you have that closeness and that peace, you lose the fear of anything else,” she said. 
Edl, her mother, brother, and sister eventually escaped to Austria before immigrating to America in the 1950s. Witnessing the horrific way that people were demonized motivated Edl to become outspokenly pro-life, and she began engaging in sit-ins at abortion facilities around the country. 
When pardoned, she was facing sentencing for a felony conspiracy charge after she sat outside an abortion facility in Sterling Heights, Michigan in 2020. She could have been sentenced to over a decade in federal prison before receiving a pardon from Trump.
Edl closed her testimony by urging churches to encourage adoption and support women in crisis pregnancies. She said she always wished that someone had stood up for her back when she was thrown into the prison camp, and that people should stand up for the unborn today. 
She turns 90 in May and is determined as ever to fight for the unborn. 
While they’ve been pardoned, the shakeout of the Biden pro-life prosecutions are still being played out in court, as lawyers for the defendants are attempting to present arguments that the FACE Act should be ruled unconstitutional and voided.

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‘By One Man’s Signature’: Pro-Life Defendants Reunite A Year After Conviction To Celebrate Pardons

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