40 Days for Life Begins September 26, 2023. Alexandria and Falls Church Vigils will be starting in several weeks. You can sign up through the 40 Days for Life website. We were successful in Manassas, and now these two Northern Virginia sites can use our prayers and presence.
As the Supreme Court revs up for a new term, the justices are being asked to tackle this question: Should pro-life activists have to pay multi-million-dollar fines for publicizing the fact that Planned Parenthood makes money by selling the body parts of aborted infants?
The court could say as early as the new term’s October 2 starting date whether it will address that issue.
In a friend of the court brief urging the justices to take up the case, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops—joined by the Knights of Columbus, the March for Life, and the Eternal Word Television Network—says lower court rulings imposing $16 million in penalties on the prolifers reflect an “all too familiar pattern” of pro-abortion bias by some lower courts. “The pattern is familiar: when abortion is involved, all bets are off,” the groups say.
The present dispute comes to the Supreme Court on appeal from a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the country. Its 2021-2022 annual report, the most recent one available, says that in the previous year, the organization and its affiliates were responsible for 374,155 abortions.
The case now before the Supreme Court had its origin in 2010 when a prolifer named David Daleiden learned that Planned Parenthood was selling fetal tissue from abortions to laboratories in violation of state and federal law. He and associates established an entity called the Center for Medical Progress and went to work using the methods of investigative journalism to gather evidence. Over the next several years, they attended Planned Parenthood trade shows, visited Planned Parenthood facilities, and, using concealed cameras, recorded interviews with Planned Parenthood personnel.
Then, beginning in July 2015, they began releasing their videos. Widespread media attention prompted U.S. Senate and House of Representatives investigations. Successful prosecutions followed in California and Arizona and the termination of Planned Parenthood affiliates’ status as Medicaid providers in several states.
Paul Huber
