Free Republic

A survey of abortion clinics in the United States has concluded that a record number of 87 surgical abortion clinics closed in 2013. The survey, conducted by pro-life organization Operation Rescue, found that the total number of surgical abortion clinics remaining in the United States is now 582, a twelve percent decrease in surgical abortion clinics in 2013 alone, and a 73 percent drop from a 1991 high of 2,176. According to Operation Rescue, of the 87 clinics that discontinued surgical abortions, 81 are permanently closed, while six stopped performing surgical abortions but continued the sale of abortion-inducing drugs. The...

The latest allegations against a New York state assemblyman could find ladies of the evening joining alongside a growing number of Democratic officials calling for his resignation. Just days after three women filed a similar claim, a fourth woman said she was sexually harassed by Democratic state Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak. Caitrin Kennedy filed the complaint, which included a statement that Gabryszak said “if workers in the sex trade were to unionize, he would no longer be able to afford their services.” So much for the Democratic mantra of uplifting the middle class.

The TSA is well-known for being too aggressive in its body searches, so it shouldn’t be surprising in the Obama years that the TSA has a web page titled “Transgender Travelers: Special Considerations.” “TSA recognizes the concerns members of the transgender community may have with undergoing the security screening process at our Nation’s airports and is committed to conducting screening in a dignified and respectful manner,” they promise. First, they reasonably suggest that your birth date, name, and gender on your reservation match your government ID (“Cisgender oppressors!”) Making Reservations: Secure Flight requires airlines to collect a traveler’s full name,...

According to Billboard, Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas ranked 6th best-selling album this week across all genres, trailing only releases by Beyonce, Garth Brooks, Kelly Clarkson, R. Kelly, and One Direction.

In what has been described as the "first scandal of the de Blasio administration," Lis Smith, a former Obama campaign aide and current spokeswoman for New York City mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's transition, is reportedly dating disgraced and still-married former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. According to a report in the New York Daily News, Smith, who had worked for Spitzer's failed campaign for comptroller, has been in a relationship with the "hooker-scandal-disgraced ex-governor who’s been living apart from his wife." Spitzer is 56 and Smith is 31.

Complete Headline: Federal Judge: Right to Same-Sex Marriage Is 'Deeply Rooted in Nation’s History and Implicit in The Concept of Ordered Liberty' Judge Robert J. Shelby, whom President Barack Obama appointed to the U.S. District Court in Utah last year, issued an opinion on Friday declaring that a right to same-sex marriage is "deeply rooted in the nation’s history and implicit in the concept of ordered liberty. Shelby was confirmed to the federal bench by a voice vote of the Senate on Sept. 21, 2012. There was no debate over his nomination, and no senator objected to his confirmation. He...

<p>Longtime gay-rights activists and well-known Chicago couple Vernita Gray and Patricia Ewert were married Wednesday afternoon, in the state’s first legal same-sex wedding, officials said.</p> <p>The two women exchanged vows in a short ceremony in the living room of their North Side apartment surrounded by nearly two dozen close friends and family, said Erik Roldan, a spokesman for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, who attended the event.</p>

Investigators were trying Tuesday to locate a suspect who intentionally set an AC Transit passenger on fire the evening before in Oakland, according to police. The bus was traveling near the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Ardley Avenue, near Interstate Highway 580, when the man was set on fire at about 5:20 p.m., police said. "He was asleep," Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said. "He woke up and his clothes were on fire." When officers arrived at the scene, they found the victim suffering from burns to his lower body, according to police. AC Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson said...

For the first time at Calabasas High School, a same-sex couple has been crowned as homecoming queen and queen. Lily Cohen and her partner, Greta Melendez, were nominated by their classmates for titles that historically have been awarded to a male and a female student. But times are changing. [Snip] “I was just shocked because it’s just amazing to see how much our school has changed in the past four years,” Melendez said. “When I was a freshman, we wouldn’t have gotten that reaction. I went through a lot of bullying.”

Penn State has announced that it is paying $59.7 million to 26 young men to settle claims of child sexual abuse at the hands of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The university said it had concluded negotiations that have lasted about a year. The school said 23 deals are fully signed and three are agreements in principle. The school faces six other claims, and the university says it believes some do not have merit while others may produce settlements.

What are your kids studying in school today? Public schools from California to Florida are celebrating LGBT History Month, where they highlight a homosexual or lesbian each day. Today, America’s school children are learning about Edward-turned-Gwen Araujo, who was intimate with men who allegedly beat him when they discovered that he was not a woman. “If parents think our school children should be focused on science and math, not sex and murder, they need to talk to teachers, principals, and school boards to ensure that this program is stopped,” cautions Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “The sexual...

Self-castration, suicide and waves of desperation are byproducts of the denial of sex hormones to inmates yearning to switch genders, advocates say. But outside the walls, debate has been stirred on whether the prison system is the right place to help chemically escort a man to womanhood, or vice versa, and critics question if any taxpayer money should pay for the hormones used to help inmates undergo sex changes. Thursday's revelation that convicted secret leaker Bradley Manning wants to live as a woman and begin hormone therapy ignited talk about what happens when prison doctors refuse hormones to inmates with...

The White House will hold a roundtable event on issues facing the bisexual community next month, according to a report in the Washington Blade. The closed-door meeting is likely the first of its kind in the Obama administration, the paper reported. According to the event's invitation, it will take place Sept. 23 in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across the street from the West Wing. “Participants and administration officials will discuss a range of topics including health, HIV/AIDS, domestic and intimate partner violence, mental health, and bullying,” White House LGBT liaison Gautam Raghavan said.

Every once in a while you read something that truly shakes your faith in humanity. This would be one of those stories. Christopher Lane was a 22-year-old baseball player for East Central University in Oklahoma. Friday, he was killed in a completely random act, according to police. Three boys, ages 15, 16 and 17 are in police custody for the slaying. From the Associated Press: "They saw Christopher go by, and one of them said: 'There's our target,'" [Duncan police chief Danny] Ford said. "The boy who has talked to us said: 'We were bored and didn't have anything to...

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a controversial bill into law Monday afternoon allowing the state’s transgender public school students to choose which bathrooms they use and whether they participate in boy or girl sports. The law would cover the state’s 6.2 million elementary and high school kids in public schools.

Schools in the state of California will soon be required to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their preference. A bill being discussed in the state senate would mandate that schools have bathrooms and locker rooms that are fully equipped for transgender students, as well as requiring the schools to allow transgender students to take part in sports and other activities of the gender of their choosing. Assembly Bill 1266 is aimed at prohibiting “discrimination against transgender students” in the state’s school districts, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), the bill’s sponsor, told The Christian Post....

Mickey the merchandiser has gone loud and proud, in a subtle sort of way. Walt Disney World will be the gathering spot for thousands of gays, their friends and families this weekend, as the 23rd annual Gay Day takes place Saturday at the Magic Kingdom. Now a weeklong event, Gay Days began in 1991 as a single day on which the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community was encouraged to "Wear Red and Be Seen" while visiting the world's most-popular theme park. Though Walt Disney World has always maintained a neutral stance on the annual event, neither endorsing nor discouraging...

France's first same-sex marriage has taken place amid tight security. There were protests outside the ceremony after months of opposition that saw tens of thousands take to the streets. Europe correspondent Philip Williams reports. PHILIP WILLIAMS, REPORTER: In the southern city of Montpellier, wedding nerves are accentuated by the live broadcast across France and beyond. 150 of the world's media were there to witness the first of many gay marriages to come. Vincent Autin and Bruno Boileau said their vows before the Mayor of Montpellier. With the law allowing all of this to happen just a day old, this was...

The case of a same-sex Connecticut couple accused of repeatedly raping and abusing two of their nine adopted boys is headed for trial. Married couple George Harasz and Douglas Wirth of Glastonbury were supposed to be sentenced Friday in Hartford Superior Court under a plea deal, but instead withdrew from their agreement with prosecutors. The men had already pleaded no contest in January to one felony count each of risk of injury to a minor — a reduction from even more serious charges related to sexual assault. But in a surprise turn, the couple’s attorneys pulled them out of...