Free Republic

A pro-abortion amendment to the U.S. Constitution cannot move forward, despite abortion activists’ attempts to revive it past the deadline, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) technically would ensure equality for women through the U.S. Constitution. However, pro-life leaders long have warned that it would be used to end all abortion restrictions and allow unborn babies to be aborted for any reason up to birth. U.S. Congress set a seven-year deadline for the ratification of the amendment, but it ended in 1982. Some pro-abortion lawmakers have ignored the deadline and passed the amendment anyway,...

Ignoring a deadline that ended more than three decades ago, a Virginia Senate Committee advanced a measure Thursday to ratify the pro-abortion Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution. The AP reports the committee voted 10-5 in favor of the ERA, including nine Democrats and one Republican, state Sen. Jill Vogel. The vote happened just days after the U.S. Department of Justice said the ERA is dead because the 1982 deadline set by Congress has passed. The ERA would amend the U.S. Constitution to guarantee equal rights for all born citizens no matter what their sex is. Though the...

Sen. Bernie Sanders says American taxpayers should fund programs in “poor countries” to help women get abortions. During a CNN town hall event in which Sanders and other Democrats r discussed plans to combat climate change, an audience member asked: “Human population growth has more than doubled in the past 50 years. The planet cannot sustain this growth. I realize this is a poisonous topic for politicians, but it’s crucial to face. Empowering women and educating everyone on the need to curb population growth seems a reasonable campaign to enact. Would you be courageous enough to discuss this issue and...

A new rule adopted by the Trump administration that is expected to deprive the abortionists at industry leader Planned Parenthood hits Monday. That’s the rule that Title X funds cannot go to clinics that conduct abortions or refer them. The pending change has been upheld by a numerous court decisions. But now Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice says the first deadline has come for the abortion industry to prove it is complying in order to continue getting funds. “HHS has announced the first date for Planned Parenthood and other Title X recipients to provide ‘assurance’...

Did Democrats learn a lesson about attacking the Hyde Amendment in 2016? A new press from conservative states to restrict abortion has led at least one Democratic presidential candidate to repeat that strategy. Elizabeth Warren declared today that abortions should get direct federal funding and that Congress should pass “federal statutory rights” to abortion on demand.You know what would come in handy for that? Medicare for all: “These extremist Republican lawmakers know what the law is — but they don’t care,” Warren wrote. “They want to turn back the clock, outlaw abortion and deny women access to reproductive health...

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced new efforts to prevent American overseas funding from supporting abortion. While the Trump administration had already implemented what is called the "Mexico City Policy," this recent change makes that existing policy more effective. Democrats have slammed the Trump administration as "abortion-obsessed," but this policy is extremely popular, as are restrictions to late-term abortion. "Your administration is abortion-obsessed," Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) told Pompeo in a hearing on Wednesday. "You’re so obsessed with it that the side-effects are devastating the health and are going to continue to devastate the health of women around...

BREAKING: Trump admin cuts aid to international ‘backdoor funding schemes’ for abortion WASHINGTON, D.C., March 26, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — The Trump administration is strengthening the Mexico City Policy to bar taxpayer funds from organizations that support other pro-abortion groups in addition to backing abortion themselves, the secretary of state announced Tuesday morning. Secretary Mike Pompeo confirmed to reporters that the administration is closing a loophole that permits “backdoor funding schemes” under which foreign aid recipients that don’t commit or promote abortion themselves can still give money to other organizations that do, the Associated Press reports. The administration is also cutting...

The Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday voted to pass an appropriations bill funding the Department of Health and Human Services that—if adopted by the House and signed by President Trump—will not only permit the continued federal funding of Planned Parenthood but will also allow the continued federal funding of scientific research that creates “humanized mice” using organs taken from aborted babies. After some maneuvering on Thursday afternoon, the leadership allowed a floor vote on an amendment offered by Sen. Rand Paul (R.-Ky.) that would have prohibited all federal funding of Planned Parenthood. That amendment was only brought up for a vote...

Republican leaders in the Senate stepped in Wednesday to block Sen. Rand Paul’s latest effort to defund Planned Parenthood, an issue popular with the GOP base that some say could help energize voters for the midterm elections. The Kentucky senator late last week signaled that he would offer an amendment to the appropriations bill funding the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, the relevant legislative vehicle for the Planned Parenthood funding ban. Supporters said that it would need just a majority to win. Late Wednesday, Paul moved to add his amendment to an opening on a so-called “amendment...

New proposed changes in regulations from the Department of Health and Human Services will close the door on using funds from its Title X family planning program for abortion. HHS's Office of Population Affairs, which administers this program, is a poster child for ill-conceived government policy. How is it, in our nation that cherishes the ideals of human freedom and dignity, that we're funding government bureaucrats to advise low-income citizens -- almost a quarter of these "clients" are black -- about how many children they should bring into this world and when? Despite explicit language in the legislation that created...

The Trump administration is expected to announce Friday a proposed rule to cut family planning funding from abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood that promote abortion and refer women for the procedure as a method of family planning. The new regulations would prevent abortion vendors from operating a family planning program in facilities geared toward ending life and would make abortion counseling optional – not required – while they would not allow for abortion referral. According to the executive action, Planned Parenthood and other abortion vendors would lose the funding they have been receiving under Title X, a program that...

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts signed a budget Wednesday that will eliminate federal family-planning funding to Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. The $8.8 billion two-year budget would prohibit money to facilities that commit, promote, or refer clients for abortions. The budget also mandates health clinics in the state to legally, financially, and physically separate from abortion facilities. Ricketts, who is pro-life, approved the package after it was passed by the state legislature on a 38-6 vote. The Nebraska governor proposed the measure in his budget earlier this year. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts signed a budget Wednesday that will eliminate federal family-planning...

As Planned Parenthood smugly announced, via their 2016-17 annual report, they performed 321,384 abortions last year and received $543.7 million in taxpayer subsidies, primarily funneled through Medicaid.It raises the question: When will the GOP get some grit and finally defund Planned Parenthood? There is a myriad of reasons why Planned Parenthood should be defunded, and only one reason why they haven’t been. Following the Center for Medical Progress’ explosive undercover videos, Planned Parenthood has been under investigation by numerous committees, including the House Oversight Committee—which found Planned Parenthood needed no federal funds to operate and could function just as well...

CHICAGO -- Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation Thursday allowing state health insurance and Medicaid coverage for abortions, ending months of speculation after the Republican reversed his stance on the issue last spring. The General Assembly controlled by Democrats approved the measure in May but delayed sending it to Rauner until Monday, in part because he has changed his mind about support of the plan. As a candidate in 2014, Rauner said he would support expanding coverage for abortions. But last April he said he opposed the idea and said the state should focus on improving the economy. The proposal...

Governor Bruce Rauner has stabbed conservatives in the back—again. But much worse, he has ensured that thousands more babies will be killed in the womb every year in Illinois, and taxpayers will pay for their deaths. Despite his commitment to veto HB 40, which requires taxpayers to fund the intentional killing of humans in utero—including healthy humans of any gestational age—through Medicaid and state employee insurance plans, Rauner is signing it into law. This is the same man who during the gubernatorial campaign told IFA that he believes life begins at conception. Claiming that life begins at conception and then...

Facing intense pressure from abortion activists, the pro-abortion Republican governor of Illinois may sign a bill forcing state taxpayers to pay for abortions up to birth.

Gov. Bruce Rauner said Monday he will decide "in the near future" the fate of a controversial and politically complex measure that would expand taxpayer-subsidized abortions for women covered by Medicaid and state employee insurance. The Republican governor's decision has major political consequences as he seeks re-election, illustrated by his vow in April to veto the bill and comments last week that he was undecided. Democrats who run the legislature approved the legislation May 10 but did not send it to Rauner's desk until Monday. The governor was immediately peppered with questions at a pair of stops about what he'll...

Louisiana State Rep. Kenny Havard expressed his desire to cut millions in state tax dollars, exemptions and credits allocated to the New Orleans Saints, the NFL and associated groups, the Advocate reported. His Monday announcement came one day after a group of Saints players protested the national anthem before their Sunday game against the Panthers. "The very reason (the Saints) have the privilege and opportunity to play professional football while being paid millions is because someone in uniform died protecting their right to do so. It is a disgrace to the men and women of this nation and state who...

(CNSNews.com) - The spending deal that President Donald Trump cut last week with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)--and that was passed by a Republican-controlled Congress—breaks one of Trump’s unambiguous campaign promises: It funds Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. Fiscal 2017 will end on Sept. 30 and the spending law Trump signed Friday will essentially continue federal funding from that date through Dec. 8 at the same levels and for the same purposes as the legislation currently funding the governmen That means both Planned Parenthood’s Title X and Medicaid funding can...

<p>Obama will be the costliest ex-president, with taxpayers shelling out $1,153,000 for his expenses in 2018, according to the Congressional Research Service.Obama's budget request is more than $100,000 higher than George W. Bush’s for next year and nearly $200,000 more than Bill Clinton’s expected budget.</p>