Free Republic

I’m not supposed to play favorites but I do. In fact, I have a favorite pro-life group based out of Phoenix, Arizona. They are called Voices for the Voiceless (or VFTV, see www.VFTV.org). The thing I like most about the group is that a young man named Josiah Friedman when he was only fifteen founded them. Six years later, some of the leaders are still in their late teens. Arguably, these young people have already done more to advocate for the unborn than most pro-lifers will do in an entire lifetime. When VFTV started it was basically a hub for...

New Year's Day should be a time of fresh beginnings and forward motion. But for the family of 13-year-old Jahi McMath, the holiday season has been suspended in a cloud of unfathomable pain and suffering: A routine tonsillectomy gone wrong. A beautiful child declared "brain dead." Lawyers, TV cameras, tears. The McMaths are fighting for life. On Monday, they won a court order that prevents Children's Hospital of Oakland from pulling the plug on Jahi until Jan. 7. Her relatives have been attacked as "publicity hounds" for doing everything possible to raise awareness about the young girl's tragic case. They've...

We knew this was coming for quite some time despite vile protestations and hours-long filibusters. Fox News has the details: The Texas Senate late Friday passed tough new abortion restrictions after weeks of protests, sending them to Gov. Rick Perry to sign into law. The vote came after weeks of protests and rallies drew thousands to the Capitol and made Texas the focus of the national abortion debate. Republicans used their majority to pass the bill nearly three weeks after a filibuster by Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis and an outburst by abortion-rights supporters in the Senate gallery disrupted a deadline...

On Monday evening, Texas Senator Ted Cruz blasted out a press release informing the public that he had proudly and officially come out in favor of Texas Senate Bill 1, the “controversial” statute that would ban abortions after 20 weeks gestation. Here’s a short excerpt: AUSTIN, TX – U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) today submitted testimony for the record in support of Texas Senate Bill 1, which will ban abortions after 20 weeks and raise standards of care at abortion clinics by requiring them to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers. Part of Sen. Cruz’s testimony will be...

In 1787, when delegates at the Constitutional Convention were divided and at an impasse regarding how to build our government and frame the U.S. Constitution, 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin appealed to the other delegates to pray for divine intervention to help them out of their darkness: "In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened ... that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning...

The trial of Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, facing the death penalty for the deaths of four infants and one woman in his clinic, is over. America has moved on. It’s exactly what the pro-abortion contingent wants. They want Gosnell out of the news because they want abortion out of the news. Ongoing discussion provokes thought about the status quo. And pro-aborts want to keep things as they are. And, they have reason to be confident. Our president, whom no one can accuse of not being politically astute, showed up this week, despite the Gosnell story, as the first sitting...

President Obama continues to break barriers in his historical Presidency. Some of them infamous barriers, but he breaks them nonetheless. This past Friday was just such an occasion. Because, to my knowledge, for the first time, a sitting President brought the full weight of the office he holds face to face in support of an organization that killed 339,000 American children, the last year we have records for. Not only that President Obama beamed proudly, as he congratulated the "good work" this organization has done (while killing 339,000 children a year), and pledged continued support from you and me--the American...

Don is angry with me. He cannot understand why I support punishing rapists with death while simultaneously defending the rights of the unborn. He accuses me of applying double standards, promoting hypocrisy, and of being "inconsistent." But I am perfectly consistent in my beliefs. And, truth be known, so is Don. The reason so many people are unfairly labeled as "inconsistent" is because the term "double standard" is applied in such a haphazard fashion. People are actually guilty of applying a double standard when they treat two identical things differently. On the other hand, they are not applying a...

He has allegedly killed more people than Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy combined, but most Americans have never heard of him. Two years ago, Philadelphia authorities raided Kermit Gosnell’s inner-city abortion clinic on suspicion he was dealing prescription drugs. What they found there was unimaginably worse: bloodstained medical equipment, semi-conscious patients, cat feces, and dismembered fetal body parts in jars. Gosnell is now standing trial for the murders of one woman and seven infants, who allegedly had their spinal cords slit with scissors after being born alive. Former employees say he killed hundreds more. It’s all the stuff of...

Dr. Ben Carson stepped into the national spotlight recently when, as speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast, to an audience that included President Obama, he was openly critical of the President’s approach to health care and his overall management of the nation’s economy. Carson, who is director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, is a hero to many. His life story, rising from a Detroit ghetto to a life of accomplishment and distinction, is a story of American ideals on steroids. Those ideals say that America is about merit not circumstance. Your life, your achievements are the result of...

Author’s Note: I firmly believe that most Americans are not Swift enough to appreciate social satire. I also believe that the best satire is based on real-life events. If you agree, would you prayerfully consider joining my support team? Being a wise acre is a full-time job. Welcome back students! My name is Biff Latane and I am the campus director of Jesus Crew (or J. Cru for short) here at Denton State University (or DSU for short). Before I tell you more about J. Cru at DSU, I want to take a few minutes to apologize for an episode...

I thought this day would never come. The MSM can no longer pretend they didn’t “hear” about the trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell (ABC News’ Terry Moran even tweeted last night that the murderer in question “is probably the most successful serial killer in the history of the world”). But still too many networks have failed to report on the details of the case. That being said, the indispensable pro-life website Life News has compiled a list of the ten most horrific revelations to emerge from the trial -- many of which have gone unreported. Warning: The eye-witness testimony below...

Are women equal to men? Are Jews equal to gentiles? Are blacks equal to Italians, Irish, Polish and other white people? The answer is probably a big fat no, and the pretense or assumption that we are equal -- or should be equal -- is foolhardy and creates mischief. Let's look at it. Male geniuses outnumber female geniuses 7-to-1. Female intelligence is packed much closer to the middle of the bell curve, whereas men's intelligence has far greater variability. That means that though there are many more male geniuses, there are also many more male idiots. The latter might partially...

The feminists have ratcheted up the laws against men to such an outrageous level that paternity fraud is not just ignored, but routinely rubber stamped by the courts. Whether one agrees with the concept of child support or not, virtually everyone can agree that jailing men for child support over children who are not theirs is morally wrong. Men are routinely sent to jail for falling behind on paying child support, even though debtors' prisons in the U.S. were mostly eliminated in the mid-nineteenth century. The family courts and laws are set up in such a way that makes it...

In our increasingly politically-correct society, Christmas isn’t the only holiday too hot to handle for school districts. Easter, another holiday rooted in Christian faith, is now being marginalized by governmental entities. School districts and cities across America are holding “Spring egg hunts” and similar events, frequently omitting the word “Easter” from calendars and public announcements. Consider these: • On March 16th, Flat Rock Elementary School in Anderson, South Carolina is holding a “Community Egg Hunt.” • West Shore School District will be holding its “PTO Egg Hunt” on March 16th. • New York’s East Meadow Schools will be holding its...

On March 15, the North Dakota senate approved a bill that prevents abortions from being performed once a developing child’s heartbeat is detected in the mother’s womb. This heartbeat can usually be heard “six to seven weeks into a pregnancy,” so it’s after that point that abortions will be prohibited in the state if Gov. Jack Dalrymple signs the bill. Besides protecting life once a heartbeat is detected, North Dakota lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting “sex-selective abortions and abortions based on a diagnosis of genetic abnormality.” Until this current pro-life push by North Dakota lawmakers, the most significant abortion ban...

Shortly after I did my first TV special on education, "Stupid in America," hundreds of union teachers showed up outside my office to yell at me. They were angry because I said union rules were a big reason American kids don't learn. The union is a big reason kids don't like school and learn less. Union contracts limit flexibility, limit promotion of good teachers, waste money and make it hard for principals to fire even terrible teachers. But I was wrong to imply that the union is the biggest problem. In states with weak unions, K-12 schools stagnate, too. Education...

President Obama and Sandra Fluke both callthemselves lawyers and “reproductive rights activists” without giving you any indication that they understand the Constitution or basic biology. I’m not a lawyer, but I understand the Constitution. I’m not a reproductive rights activist, but Iaced Biology 101. So I can tell you that Sandra and Barack are wrong when they classify women in combat and contraception as “women’s issues.” Military combat and contraception coverage are not women’s issues. They are freedom issues and freedom is just as important to men as it is to women. Liberals love dismissing “freedom issues” as “women’s issues”...

From the early days of the Montgomery (Alabama) Improvement Association in which Dr. King became the first president in December 1955, to the March on Washington in August of 1963, the Civil Rights Movement went beyond giving blacks a chance to escape poverty. In an amazingly short time, employment, housing, and educational opportunities were abound. At the time of King’s assassination, the black quest for economic equality seemed achievable. King’s greater dream, however, of complete racial harmony remains quite elusive. A perennial question for me is: “What steps must be taken to eradicate the specter of racism from our...

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people. (Proverbs 14:34) The name “Abraham Lincoln” enjoys a boundless shelf life. The 16th president of the United States is more popular today than ever. The blockbuster movie “Lincoln” recently took home two Oscars, with Daniel Day-Lewis earning the “Best Actor” nod for his masterful portrayal of the Civil War president. In his outstanding biography, “Abraham Lincoln, a Man of Faith and Courage,” author Joe Wheeler observed that “Lincoln has had more books written about him than all our nation’s presidents put together.” Love him or hate him, Abraham Lincoln remains,...