04 Culture
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The US Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a case that could decide whether states may stop funding Planned Parenthood through the federal Medicaid program.
In Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, the state of South Carolina is defending its right to exclude abortion vendors from receiving Medicaid taxpayer dollars.
ADF’s @john_bursch speaks to the press after today’s oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court.
State officials should be free to determine that Planned Parenthood—a multi-billion-dollar activist organization—is not a real healthcare provider and is not qualified to receive… pic.twitter.com/WGxDpPwwdG
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) April 2, 2025
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The Colorado state legislature is currently considering legislation that would require the state Medicaid program to cover elective abortions. This would make Colorado the 20th state whose Medicaid program covers elective abortion.
In other states, supporters of publicly funded abortions typically argue that it is a necessary step to ensure that low-income women have access to abortion. However, Colorado Democrats have trotted out a new, more perverse argument. They claim that publicly funded abortions would save state taxpayers money.
Indeed, last week Colorado’s Legislative Council Staff released a fiscal note analyzing SB 25-183, the bill requiring that Colorado’s Medicaid program and Child Health Plan Plus program to cover elective abortions. The analysis found that this would increase the number of taxpayer-funded abortions.
However, since the state Medicaid program would be paying for fewer births, there would be an overall cost savings. Democratic state legislators have eagerly cited this analysis.
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A female fencer is being penalized by USA Fencing for refusing to compete against a biological male opponent, saying that her stand will “at least for a moment, destroy my life” but needed to be taken.
Fox News reports that 31-year-old Stephanie Turner, who previously made a point of trying to evade tournaments in which she would have to face “transgender” fencers, found herself up against gender-confused male Redmond Sullivan at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland. She learned about the matchup the night before and made her decision how to handle it then.
Standing by my convictions—no matter the cost. 🤺⚔️
Stephanie Turner, a women’s fencer, speaks out on refusing to compete against a male (transgender) opponent, accepting the backlash & penalties with courage.
This isn’t just about sports—it’s about fairness, truth, and the… pic.twitter.com/LGvtgLeOAn
— LifeSiteNews (@LifeSite) April 3, 2025
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Democrats in Georgia have staged a walk-out in support of giving taxpayer-funded transgender surgery to male prison inmates who claim to be female.
Democrats staged a protest at the Georgia State Capitol on Wednesday.
They left the chamber in protest as lawmakers debated a bill that would end taxpayer-funded “sex change” surgeries for state prison inmates.
The walkout occurred amid a heated debate over Senate Bill (SB) 185.
The legislation subsequently passed the House by a 100-2 vote.
All Democrats opted out of the vote through their departure, according to Fox Atlanta.
Police arrest U.K. parents for criticizing school leaders in private social media group – Standing for Freedom Center– www.standingforfreedom.com
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The increasingly authoritarian nature of the British government is back in the spotlight this week after news broke that police arrested, interrogated, and jailed parents in Hertfordshire, England, for complaining about school policy and criticizing school leaders in a private group chat.
All this comes as the town’s new constable is set to release a report on the incident.
It all started in May 2024, when Maxie Allen, whose daughter Sascha, 9, was attending Cowley Hill Primary School, contacted the chair of governors of the school to question the hiring process of its new head teacher. Allen noted that despite the former head teacher having retired six months earlier, the school had not publicly posted the job and had instead given it to the former deputy head teacher.
Allen says that the chair’s response was “evasive,” so he sent a letter to all the school governors asking about the decision not to open recruitment to other candidates.
Allen posted the letter in a private WhatsApp parents’ group.
The next month, Jackie Spriggs, who is the chair of governors, wrote a letter to parents claiming that parents were using WhatsApp “to make inflammatory and defamatory comments about senior leaders in the school.”
Greece to ban having children via surrogacy for single men and male same-sex couples– abcnews.go.com
Greece to ban having children via surrogacy for single men and male same-sex couples– abcnews.go.com
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ATHENS, Greece — Men in Greece will be barred from having children via surrogacy if they are single or in a same-sex relationship, the justice minister said Tuesday, asserting that it’s intended to eliminate legal ambiguity over the concept of inability to carry a pregnancy.
Giorgos Floridis said the proposed changes will be submitted to parliament soon as part of broader civil code reform.
“We are now clarifying unequivocally that the concept of inability to carry a pregnancy does not refer to an inability arising from one’s gender,” Floridis told reporters. “In other words, a woman may be unable to carry a pregnancy whether she is in a male-female couple, a female same-sex couple or on her own.”
Greece legalized same-sex marriage last year — the first Orthodox Christian-majority country to do so. The marriage equality law was opposed by Greece’s powerful Orthodox Church and conservative groups. Parliament approved civil partnerships for gay couples in 2015.
In contrast to growing consensus in support of same-sex marriage, Europe’s legal landscape for surrogacy varies widely. Many countries prohibit all forms of the practice or impose restrictions.
Trump hits Princeton, Harvard: Suspends funding, pulls billion-dollar federal contracts– www.thecollegefix.com
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The Trump administration took a one-two punch to two of the most prominent Ivy League institutions in the nation this week, yanking, suspending, and putting under review billions of dollars worth of federal grants and contracts.
With that, a total of four Ivy League universities have been targeted in the last month by the administration, which has cited various concerns, including rampant antisemitism, diversity, equity and inclusion-based discrimination, and women’s rights issues.
On Monday, the Education Department, Health and Human Services, and General Services Administration announced their joint task force will review “more than $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments to Harvard University and its affiliates to ensure the university is in compliance with federal regulations, including its civil rights responsibilities.”
“Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination – all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry – has put its reputation in serious jeopardy. Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated.
Transgender Day of Visibility Prompts Protests and Conversations in Washington– www.newsbusters.org
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A blue-haired brigade of bulges took to Washington D.C. to demand our nation affirm their delusions as part of their so-called “Transgender Day of Visibility,” Monday.
It’s not like they’re hard to spot already… All I had to do was look for the trail of kids.
But when I approached the rainbow crowd to ask what more visibility could they possibly achieve, demonstrators only wished to be seen and not heard. They were confident enough in their ideology to stomp and scream at our Capitol building with bright picket signs, but not enough to elaborate why they were present.
When I tried to ask, the mob grew violent as an enraged Rosie O’Donnell stunt double grabbed my microphone and chucked it yards away.
Labour council seeks to imprison street preachers up to 2 years for causing ‘offense,’ ‘distress’ – Christian Post
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Twenty-three states sue Trump administration over decision to rescind billions in health funding – live | Trump administration– www.theguardian.com
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Excerpt:Nearly two dozen states sue Trump administration over decision to rescind billions in health funding
A group of Democratic-led states have sued the Trump administration over its decision to cut $11bn in federal funds that they were allocated during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the lawsuit, attorneys general and governors from 23 states and the District of Columbia argue that Department of Health and Human Services lacks the authority to unilaterally claw back funding the states had already built health programs around.
The “sudden and reckless cuts violate federal law, jeopardize public health, and will have devastating consequences for communities nationwide,” the lawsuit writes.
France’s Parliament Is Set to Debate Changing Rape Law to Include Consent – The New York Times
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After dozens of men were convicted of raping a drugged Gisèle Pelicot, lawmakers moved to require that consent be given for sex to be considered consensual.
Many countries require that consent be given before sex — and have written that into their rape laws. France is not among them.
Now two lawmakers hope to change that, and they got a step closer Tuesday night when the lower house of the French Parliament passed a bill that expands the definition of rape to include nonconsensual penetration.
Their cause gained traction after a horrific trial last fall in which dozens of men were convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was in a deeply drugged state.
“This is a starting point, not a final one,” Marie-Charlotte Garin, one of the two lawmakers who proposed the bill, told the National Assembly after the vote. “We are moving from a culture of rape to a culture of consent, and this is the first stone we are throwing against the wall of impunity.”
California Legislature Rejects Law Banning Men from Women’s Sports– www.breitbart.com
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The California legislature rejected two bills seeking to ban men from participating in women’s sports on Tuesday, with some lawmakers calling it “cruel.”
One of the bill’s lawmakers voted to block “would have required the California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for high school sports, to adopt rules banning students whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls’ school sports team,” noted The Associated Press.
The other bill would have reversed a 2013 law allowing students to participate in sex-segregated school programs, including on sports teams, and use bathrooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity.”
Both bills would have applied to K-12 students as well as college students.
Republicans supported the bill, arguing it would protect women, while Democrats denounced it as a cruel attack on LGBTQ rights and transgender youth.
“I don’t think anybody should be gender policing women and girls,” said Democratic Assemblymember Chris Ward.
U. Oregon agrees to free speech reforms to settle lawsuit with conservative professor– www.thecollegefix.com
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‘Settlement acknowledges that Bruce Gilley should not have been blocked for quoting one of our founding documents,’ attorney says
The University of Oregon has agreed to enact free speech reforms to ensure it does not block or censor social media posts to settle a two-and-a-half year old lawsuit with a conservative professor who had been blocked from the institution’s X account after his “all men are created equal” post.
The settlement requires the University of Oregon to clarify social media guidelines to explicitly protect speech from viewpoint-based censorship, create an appeals process for those who believe they were wrongfully blocked, and conduct annual First Amendment training for staff who manage university social media accounts, said attorneys representing Professor Bruce Gilley in a news release.
The university will also pay for some of Gilley’s attorneys fees, the release stated. Inside Higher Ed reported that the “university agreed in the settlement that its insurer would pay from $95,000 to $382,000 in attorneys’ fees to Gilley’s representatives — the Institute for Free Speech and the Angus Lee Law Firm.”
Denmark, Netherlands react to Trump’s DEI ultimatum– www.reddit.com
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‘My child was abused’: Trump administration targets Maine, California for hiding gender transitions from parents– www.thecollegefix.com
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The U.S. Department of Education recently launched investigations into Maine and California over concerns that public schools in those states violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, by withholding information from parents regarding their children’s gender transitions.
The federal Student Privacy Policy Office argued the goal is to take action “against schools misusing FERPA.”
“Parents and guardians have the right to access their child’s education records to guide and safeguard their child’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Any policy to the contrary is both illegal and immoral,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a March 28 news release.
The investigation into the Maine Department of Education was prompted by reports that several school districts were adopting policies that concealed information about students’ gender transitions from parents.
U.S. Department of Education shifts key deadline, putting KY schools’ COVID funds at risk – Lexington Herald Leader
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Republican playbook in Ohio mirrors Trump’s union-busting and attacks on voters and education – Ohio Capital Journal
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Supreme Court hears arguments in case against South Carolina removing Planned Parenthood from Medicaid program | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com
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An attorney for the state argued that Congress “did not use clear rights-creating language in any qualified provider provision” in the Medicaid Act’s any-qualified-provider provision.
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in a case out of South Carolina stemming from an executive order signed by Governor Henry McMaster directing the state’s Department of Health and Human Services to remove abortion clinics like Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid provider list.
While federal law prohibits Medicaid funding from going toward paying for abortions, many Medicaid patients in the state seek out the clinic for care such as cancer screenings, pregnancy testing, and contraceptives, per the Associated Press. In South Carolina, there are just two Planned Parenthood clinics.
An attorney for the state argued that Congress “did not use clear rights-creating language in any qualified provider provision” in the Medicaid Act’s any-qualified-provider provision and that it did not use the word “right or its functional equivalent, nor does it use words with a deeply rooted rights-creating pedigree.”
Arkansas Senate Passes Bill to Teach Kids About Development of Unborn Babies– www.lifenews.com
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On Tuesday the Arkansas Senate passed a good bill to help teach public school students about unborn children.
S.B. 450 by Sen. Breanne Davis (R — Russellville) and Rep. Kendra Moore (R — Lincoln) lets public school students see a recording of a high-definition ultrasound video as part of human fetal growth and development education courses.
The bill also lets students learn important facts about how unborn children develop in the womb.
Abortion horror stories reveal malpractice and the pain inflicted on mothers and unborn babies– www.lifesitenews.com
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Priscilla Dray, a 35-year-old mother of three, walked into the Pellegrin University Hospital in Bordeaux, France on July 22, 2011, to procure an abortion. Within the week, she developed a serious infection; within a month, she developed necrosis. Before the year was out, both of Dray’s legs, her left hand, and her right forearm were amputated.
This abortion nightmare is at the center of a case that unfolded in France last month, as the two doctors responsible for the abortion and her subsequent maiming faced charges of having caused Dray involuntary injuries “through clumsiness, imprudence, inattention, negligence, or failure, (which) voluntarily or involuntarily caused incapacity for more than three months.”
Dray alleges that she begged one doctor for antibiotics and that she was refused on July 23, the day after her baby was aborted. Another doctor allegedly delayed medical examinations despite what is described as “worrying blood tests.” Dray went to the emergency room but was sent home. By July 24, Dray says her legs felt like “pieces of wood,” and returned to the emergency room. She was given antibiotics after a five-hour wait.
“They didn’t believe me, I had to beg,” Dray told the judges at the Bordeaux Criminal Court. “They took me for a bourgeois who was putting on a show.” That night, Dray ended up in the resuscitation room, and days later intensive care; the infection progressed so swiftly that her limbs became gangrenous and were amputated on August 25, scarcely a month after the abortion. As Dray stated on the M6 programme Zone Interdite: “I trusted (them) and this is the state they put me in. I should have died.”
Federal Judge rules in favor of abortion advocates, against AL Attorney General threats – WHNT.com
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Pro-Abortion Man Who Tried to Assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh Will Plead Guilty– www.lifenews.com
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A California man accused of plotting to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022 intends to plead guilty, his attorneys said Wednesday.
Nicholas John Roske, 28, of Simi Valley, California, was arrested in June 2022 near Kavanaugh’s Maryland home, armed with a handgun, a knife, and zip ties, according to federal authorities. Roske allegedly threatened to kill Kavanaugh because he was upset that the justice may overturn Roe and allow states to protect unborn babies from abortion
The arrest came shortly after the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion indicating the court would overturn Roe v. Wade, which allowed abortions up to birth across America.
Seattle affirms ‘sanctuary city’ status for ‘2SLGBTQIA+ rights’ and abortion– www.lifesitenews.com
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(LifeSiteNews) — The city of Seattle officially believes that there should be no limits on the prescription of transgender drugs and surgeries to minors, according to recent legislation.
The state of Washington already allows for abortion through all nine months of pregnancy and opposes any limits on transgender drugs and surgeries for minors. The state allows abortion until “viability” but then leaves open the vague “life” or “health” exception as a reason to have an abortion at any time. The state also will take away kids from parents if they are not supportive of them getting permanently damaging drugs and surgeries to look like the opposite sex.
However, this is not enough for the Seattle mayor and city council.
A new resolution, signed Monday on the so-called “Transgender Day of Visibility,” reaffirms the city’s “sanctuary status” for those who identify as “2SLGBTQIA+.” The acronym stands for “Two-Spirit” – a made-up sexual orientation which proponents claim has roots in Native American history – as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (or queer), intersex, asexual, and anything else.
According to the resolution, Seattle “unequivocally supports the rights of individuals to engage in free speech or expression supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, embrace and express their own authentic gender and sexuality, and define their own gender and sex with or without regard to biological sex at birth.”
Feminist Celebrates Killing Her Baby in an Abortion: It Was Just a Tumor– www.lifenews.com
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According to ShoutYourAbortion.com (yes, that is a real website), women who want children are the abnormal ones. For example, Syd, who identified herself as a convert to Catholicism, wrote, “Thanks to my abortion, I will have a future.” Another wrote, “Abortion gave me a chance to focus on my own life.” An anonymous college student stated, “My future was worth it, and I am more than just a vessel to produce new life.” She then compared her baby to a tumor standing between her and her career.
Top Netanyahu Aides Arrested on Corruption Charges as Anti-Government Protests Continue – Democracy Now!
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Arkansas Senate Committee Passes Bill to Teach Kids About Fetal Development– www.lifenews.com
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On Monday the Senate Education Committee passed a good bill to help educate public school students about unborn children.
S.B. 450 by Sen. Breanne Davis (R — Russellville) and Rep. Kendra Moore (R — Lincoln) makes it possible for public school students to see a recording of a high-definition ultrasound video as part of human fetal growth and development education courses.
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The bill also contains provisions letting students learn important facts about how unborn children develop in the womb.
Ultrasound images and similar educational resources can help show students that unborn children are human beings.
Very few medical advancements have done more to change hearts and minds on abortion than ultrasound technology. In fact, research has shown that some women are less likely to have an abortion if they see an ultrasound image of their unborn child.
S.B. 450 is a good bill, and it now goes to the entire Arkansas Senate for consideration.
Trump Admin Defunds 16 Planned Parenthood Abortion Centers in 9 States– www.lifenews.com
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The Trump administration is withholding tens of millions of dollars from Planned Parenthood facilities, according to an exclusive breaking news article published by POLITICO on the evening of Monday, March 31.
According to POLITICO, nine Planned Parenthood state affiliates that receive federal money from the 55-year-old Title X family planning program received a letter on Monday announcing that their funding is being “temporarily withheld” for “possible violations” of federal civil rights law and President Donald Trump’s executive orders — including prohibitions on the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Funding is also being withheld, according to the article, because the organization “overtly encourages illegal aliens to receive care.”