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Rural Patients at High Risk for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Are Less Likely to Be Referred for Evaluation Than Urban Patients

2026-06-08T13:11:03.577-07:00

Newswise — DARIEN, IL – A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2026 annual meeting found that patients at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea who receive primary care in rural settings are less likely to be referred for sleep apnea evaluation than those in urban areas, even after accounting for individual and neighborhood socioeconomic factors.

Results show that among 25,917 high-risk patients, only 15% of rural patients received a referral for sleep apnea evaluation compared with 20% of urban patients. After adjusting for age, sex, race, body mass index, insurance, state, and Area Deprivation Index, rural patients had 25% lower odds of receiving a sleep apnea referral compared with urban patients. Among those who were referred, rural patients had a higher median BMI and lived in neighborhoods with greater socioeconomic disadvantage compared with referred urban patients.

“These findings highlight that geographic location is an independent factor in whether high-risk patients are referred for obstructive sleep apnea evaluation in primary care,” said principal investigator Dr. Joscilin Mathew, sleep medicine fellow at the Cleveland Clinic. “Understanding the barriers specific to rural settings will be important for reducing these disparities.”

Obstructive sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder in which the upper airway repeatedly collapses during sleep, causing disruptions in breathing. It is estimated that 54 million adults in the U.S. have sleep apnea, and 24 million adults have moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea nationwide. Left untreated, sleep apnea is associated with increased risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.

The retrospective cohort study used electronic medical records from the Cleveland Clinic Health System in Ohio and Florida to identify adult patients at high risk for sleep apnea who were seen in primary care from 2017 to 2024. High-risk patients were defined by the presence of obesity, relevant cardiovascular or metabolic comorbidities, a BMI greater than 35 kg/m², or a STOP Questionnaire score of 2 or higher. Rural and urban residence was classified using Rural-Urban Community Area codes. The study included 3,874 rural patients and 22,043 urban patients.

The study’s authors emphasized that the findings point to a need for targeted strategies to improve access to sleep apnea evaluation in rural primary care.

“Patients in rural areas may face unique structural barriers to accessing sleep medicine care, and primary care-based models for obstructive sleep apnea evaluation may be one avenue for addressing these gaps,” said senior author Dr. Cinthya Peña Orbea, assistant professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.

The research abstract was published recently in an online supplement of the journal Sleep and will be presented June 15 during SLEEP 2026 in Baltimore. SLEEP is the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society during SLEEP 2026 in Baltimore. SLEEP is the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.

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Abstract Title: Rural and Urban Differences in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Referrals in Primary Care

Abstract ID: 0530 Poster Presentation Date: Monday, June 15, 10-10:45 a.m. EDT, Board #269 Presenter: Dr. Joscilin Mathew, sleep medicine fellow at the Cleveland Clinic.

For a copy of the abstract or to arrange an interview with the study author or a sleep expert, please send an email to aasm@lcwa.com.

About the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC

The APSS is a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The APSS organizes the SLEEP annual meeting each June (sleepmeeting.org).

About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Established in 1975, the AASM is a medical association that advances sleep care and enhances sleep health to improve lives. The AASM membership includes more than 9,500 physicians, scientists, and other health care professionals who help people who have sleep disorders. The AASM also accredits 2,300 sleep centers that are providing the highest quality of sleep care across the country (aasm.org).

About the Sleep Research Society 

The SRS is a professional membership society that advances sleep and circadian science. The SRS serves its members and the field of sleep and circadian research through training and education, and by providing forums for the collaboration and exchange of ideas. The SRS facilitates its goals through scientific meetings and trainee specific programming, and by advocating for federal sleep and circadian research funding. The SRS also publishes the peer-reviewed, scientific journals Sleep and Sleep Advances (sleepresearchsociety.org).

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Monday, June 8, 2026

2026-06-08T12:42:28.724-07:00

TSA Updates Medical Marijuana Policy; Experts Suggest Travelers Be Careful

Patients who use medical marijuana for chronic pain, anxiety, nausea, or other qualifying conditions may pack their medication for use at their destination, Fox News reports. But medical experts urge caution and emphasize waiting until arriving at a destination before using the substance. Also: MAHA, ultraprocessed foods, food contamination, and more.

Fox News: TSA Updates Medical Marijuana Guidelines, But Experts Urge Caution

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently updated its medical marijuana guidelines, adding specific instructions to its "What Can I Bring?" directory for both carry-on and checked bags. Patients who use cannabis to manage chronic pain, anxiety, nausea or other qualifying conditions may travel with their medication for use at their destination. (Quill, 6/7)

On MAHA, nutrition, and autism —

Politico: RFK Jr.’s Movement Was Supposed To Save The GOP’s Majorities. It’s Not Even In The Game

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement isn’t doing much to help Republicans maintain control of Congress. MAHA Action and MAHA Institute, the movement’s political organizations spreading Kennedy’s message on healthy food and vaccine safety, have largely stayed out of the races that will determine the makeup of Congress. Tony Lyons, the publisher of Kennedy’s books who’s taken a lead role in running the groups, has struggled to turn Kennedy’s appeal into the juggernaut Republicans had hoped would enable them to hold onto their House and Senate majorities. (Chu, 6/6)

The Hill: Steak N' Shake Touts Endorsement Win In Iowa Governor Primary: 'We Like Getting It Right'

Fast food chain Steak ‘n Shake is touting its political prowess after the Republican candidate it endorsed for Iowa governor defeated a challenger backed by President Trump. ... Steak ‘n Shake threw its support behind businessman Zach Lahn in the gubernatorial race in late May, calling him the “only MAHA-supporting candidate” in the field, a reference to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative. (Brams, 6/5)

CNN: Ultraprocessed Food Scientists Say Americans Are ‘Fed Up’ With Industry And Government Inaction

The ultraprocessed food industry is yet again under attack, and it’s not just MAHA moms or scientists who study food calling for change. Some 77% of frustrated Republicans, Democrats and Independents are now calling for mandated “large warning labels” on all packages of ultraprocessed foods, or UPFs, according to a new poll. (LaMotte, 6/5)

CIDRAP: WHO Attributes 866 Million Yearly Illnesses, 1.5 Million Deaths Around The World To Contaminated Food

Today, as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigates two new outbreaks of foodborne illness, the World Health Organization (WHO) released global data estimating the annual number of illnesses and deaths tied to unsafe food at 866 million and 1.5 million, respectively. The WHO report, published in The Lancet Global Health, also found that, despite children younger than 5 years making up only 9% of the population, this age-group represents nearly one third of all cases of foodborne illness—especially deadly diarrheal diseases. (Van Beusekom, 6/4)

KFF Health News: MAHA’s Treatments For Autism: Camel’s Milk, Stem Cell Injections — And Spelling Therapy

Elizabeth Bonker is a silent woman with a loud mission. She wants government agencies to cover the costs of training people with autism in a form of communication called assisted spelling. One problem: Leading professional organizations don’t believe it works. "All nonspeakers above the age of 5 should be given the opportunity,” typed Bonker, who is 28 and cannot talk. Her mother, Virginia Breen, held a wireless keyboard for her. They sat on a hotel patio before an April 27 meeting with a senior aide to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Allen, 6/8)

More health and wellness news —

The New York Times: Police Remove Diabetes Experts From Conference For Distributing Critique Of Trump Administration

Several diabetes experts were escorted out of an influential medical conference by the police on Friday after they handed out copies of an editorial criticizing the Trump administration’s attacks on scientific research. The incident took place Friday morning at a meeting of the American Diabetes Association in New Orleans, shortly before Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, was scheduled to speak. An organizer announced just before Dr. Bhattacharya’s session that he would no longer be speaking; a senior adviser at the N.I.H. took his place. (Blum, 6/5)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Alternative Medicine Clinics Sell Hope For Defeating Disease, Aging – Often At High Cost

Ron Evangelista’s first appointment at Progressive Medical Center left him feeling hopeful. For years, Evangelista, 82, had been dragged down by osteoarthritis in his neck. The pain was so persistent that it had become challenging to do the simple things he loves, like walking the dogs or dancing with his wife, Kathy. She, too, had some chronic health issues. (Robbins and Teegardin, 6/8)

NPR: Can A Vibrating Belt Fend Off Bone Density Loss?

Andrea Bloom, 59, of Pleasanton, Calif., learned she had osteopenia, or low bone density, after a bone density scan. "When I saw my results, it was pretty shocking because I was one-tenth of a point away from an osteoporosis diagnosis," she says. More than 40 million adults in the United States aged 50 and older have osteopenia, which can progress to osteoporosis, leaving bones brittle and weak. (Aubrey, 6/6)

NBC News: Insulin Resistance May Be An Overlooked Clue To Heart Disease, Diabetes And Fatty Liver

A chronic condition that affects how our bodies regulate blood sugar may be an overlooked culprit behind heart disease, diabetes, fatty liver and possibly some cancers. (Syal, 6/7)

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UN Humanitarian Agency Uses Funds to Promote Killing Babies in Abortions

2026-06-08T12:34:41.448-07:00

The United Nations agency responsible for emergency humanitarian assistance is channeling U.S. taxpayer dollars to organizations that promote abortion

That is happening even as the Trump administration has imposed new restrictions intended to block funding for groups involved in such activities, according to a report released this week from CFAM.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, continues to direct American funds to groups advancing abortion, gender ideology and diversity, equity and inclusion programs abroad, the Center for Family and Human Rights reported. The funding has raised questions about whether the administration has quietly granted OCHA a waiver from the expanded Mexico City Policy, which prohibits U.S. support for foreign organizations that promote or perform abortions.

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A new transparency portal for OCHA’s funding shows grants flowing to several major international aid groups, including UN agencies themselves as well as the Norwegian Refugee Council, Plan International, Care International and the International Rescue Committee. In Nigeria, the SAHAEI Gender Development Initiative received two grants totaling $410,000 over the last year.

The grants were implemented by FreeFrom, a U.S.-based organization that describes itself as “a proudly feminist national organization led by queer, trans, immigrant, and BIPOC survivors” and lists preferred pronouns for its staff.

The initial tranche of funding was released before the administration announced its new rules blocking support for groups promoting abortion. A subsequent $1.8 billion payment to OCHA last month has intensified concerns about a possible exemption for the agency. A British think tank reported that a waiver had been granted for OCHA funds.

On May 14, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz and Under Secretary Jeremy Lewin appeared at UN headquarters to announce the additional funding. Waltz defended the U.S. commitment, declaring, “There’s this narrative out there in the media space that the United States has walked away. That is absolutely false. It’s fake news.”

He added that the money would address only the most urgent needs: “These funds are for victims of natural disasters, for tsunamis, for earthquakes, for famine, people who are truly in critical need.”

Pro-life advocates argue that American tax dollars should not underwrite any activities that result in the killing of unborn babies, regardless of the humanitarian label attached to the programs.

As of Friday according to CFAM, the administration had not publicly confirmed or denied the existence of a waiver for OCHA.

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Support for Children With Down Syndrome Surges After Influencers End Their Baby’s Life

2026-06-08T10:04:21.114-07:00

A vigorous public debate over the value of those with Down syndrome has been renewed after a popular online influencer announced on Wednesday that he and his wife had decided to abort their unborn child after learning through a prenatal test that the baby may have had Trisomy 21.

In an X post that has garnered almost 20 million views and 15,800 replies, Jesse Ridgway (known as “McJuggerNuggets”) related that he and his wife’s decision to go through with an abortion after learning from an amniocentesis test that their unborn child likely has Down syndrome was “very difficult” and “was not made lightly.” Ridgway cited numerous health challenges that people with Down syndrome experience, including heart defects, hearing problems, impaired immune systems, and more. He also noted that 90% of pregnant women who learn that their child may have Trisomy 21 go through with an abortion.

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“To all of my fans who have weighed in on this topic who have Autism, Down Syndrome or any other conditions…we appreciate you,” Ridgway wrote. “You matter a lot and we’re glad you’re here. I commend you and your families for having the strength and courage to push forward. As for us, we made a difficult decision that we believe in the long-run will be beneficial for our family. Thankfully, we had a choice.”

The post has received strong pushback, with hundreds of replies describing the joy and love that their family members with Down syndrome have brought to their families. One user named Dave Bruno wrote about his three-year-old son Josh who has Down syndrome. “Some of the complications we feared happened, but that wasn’t the end of the story. Josh was born early and spent a month in the hospital. At 1 year old, he had open-heart surgery. Now he’s 3, loves life, and is thriving. The hard days didn’t win.”

“If anyone else finds themselves in a similar place, reach out,” Bruno added. “There’s a whole community of people here to support you. It hasn’t always been easy, but he’s worth every bit of it and then some.”

Beverly Hallberg, the president of the District Media Group, also responded, sharing, “My cousin David has faced some health challenges, but that’s never negated the joy and positive impact he brings to everyone around him. In fact, his 40th birthday party had more than 200 people because he’s THAT loved because he’s loved well.”

Others, like NewsNation contributor Jennifer Coffindaffer, shared her experience of getting a false positive for Trisomy 21 when she was pregnant with her daughter. “My husband and I discussed it for about 2 minutes,” she wrote. “We are Catholic, so there was no consideration to abort her. We just knew our lives would change. We bought books, spoke to parents of Down syndrome children, and prayed. When she was born, she did not have Down syndrome, to our surprise. The test was wrong. Tests are often wrong, we later learned. In fact, 10% of positive NIPT results for Down syndrome are false positives.”

The debate also captured the attention of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). “This is directly tied to the celebration we’ll have of our nation on July 4th,” he contended during “This Week on Capitol Hill.” “We are dedicated to the proposition that we are all created by God. We’re made in his image. We all have inestimable dignity and value, and every unborn child is worth fighting for.”

“[I]t’s what separates Western civilization from ideologies like Marxism that don’t really value life because they don’t recognize the existence of a creator who gives us life and the rights that we have,” Johnson added. “That philosophy follows government. Government is the god and therefore no one has inherent value. You’re just another social animal. You’re part of the herd that has to be directed and dictated to. That’s not what we stand for in America. It’s the reason we’re the most exceptional, greatest nation in the history of the world, because we’re founded on this creed that’s listed right there in the nation’s birth certificate, right in the second paragraph. So [it’s] self-evident truth.”

The viral debate over Down syndrome comes on the heels of an explosive report published in 2017 by CBS News, which revealed that in the country of Iceland, almost 100% of babies who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome are aborted. Other European countries like Denmark and the U.K. also have abortion rates in the 90th percentile for babies with Down syndrome.

The report sparked a worldwide discussion on the dignity and value of the six million people around the world who have Down syndrome. Bioethicists decried the reports, with Emory University’s Rosemarie Garland-Thomson emphasizing that such widespread abortion targeting a specific demographic amounts to eugenics. “Because the human characteristics that we think of as [related to] Down syndrome are largely identified as undesirable characteristics … it becomes logical to eliminate the so-called disease that is Down syndrome, and with it, the persons get eliminated,” she pointed out. “This is what makes, in my view and in many people’s views, the health initiative of eliminating Down syndrome … unethical and eugenic.”

Experts like Mary Szoch, who serves as director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, concur, saying that Ridgway and his wife’s tragic decision is indicative of a culture that has lost its ability to authentically love and protect the innocent as it attempts to shun any possibility of discomfort or suffering.

“Every human life has value beyond measure,” she told The Washington Stand. “This value is innate. It doesn’t rely on superficial traits a person might have, such as athletic ability or good looks. It doesn’t rely on good traits that we all should aspire to possess like a kind heart or a courageous spirt. No, each person has value simply because each person is willed into existence by our Creator, and above all other creatures, God made man very good. A society that places a person’s value on anything other than that person’s being is one that has accepted eugenics and rejected the call of the strong to protect and defend the vulnerable.”

Szoch continued, “Eugenic-based abortions, which — like every other abortion — tragically and often brutally kill a completely innocent unborn child, are the antithesis of what is required of a loving mom and dad. The duty of parents to love their children unconditionally does not stop with a diagnosis that predicts a likelihood of suffering. After all, every life involves suffering, but every life — especially the lives of those with chromosomal anomalies — also involves joy. Babies who are prenatally diagnosed with a genetic anomaly face an uphill battle against a culture that has decided they are not good enough. These babies need someone to fight for them, and at the top of the list of people in their corner should be their moms and dads. If these babies are just given a chance to live, the innate goodness of each one will be readily apparent to anyone who encounters them.”

“My older sister has a chromosomal anomaly very similar to Down syndrome,” Szoch related. “This genetic condition makes some things difficult or even impossible for her — like tying her shoes, adding numbers beyond 2 and 2, walking on an uneven sidewalk, or brushing her hair. But that extra piece of chromosome seems to have contained an extra ability to love beyond measure, to forgive any wrong, to be excited beyond compare, and to constantly hope for a better tomorrow. Anyone who has met her knows she’s not just a ‘blessing,’ she’s the greatest blessing my family could have ever been given.”

LifeNews Note: Dan Hart writes for the Family Research Council. He is the senior editor of The Washington Stand.

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Supreme Court Must Ultimately Stop Mail-Order Abortions

2026-06-08T08:19:28.167-07:00

A recent victory at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that stopped mail-order abortions was seen as a hopeful victory for moms and babies suffering in silence from the dangers of abortion drugs.

Sadly, when the opportunity came for the United States Supreme Court to consider the issue, the Court granted two stays, with the last leaving the pro-life community waiting possibly months until the Court decides to take up the case on the merits officially. Nearly four years after the Dobbs decision determined that states have the right to protect life in the womb, one thing has remained the same: abortion pill shipments remain a subversive method for women across the country to have an abortion. Even with states like Texas having strong laws that protect life at conception, our state has had to pass additional laws to make it clear that abortion drugs cannot and should not be sent in the mail. Our pro-life laws in Texas have successfully closed some of the largest Planned Parenthood locations in the state, notably in Houston.[1]

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But the true test of how effective our pro-life laws have been is the “Plan C” effort to mail abortion pills into states that have complete protection of unborn life. A couple of years ago, a group of pro-life doctors associated with the group the Hippocratic Alliance for Medicine sued the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under medical conscience grounds in an effort to reinstate the safety requirements that would essentially ban the drugs being sent through the mail. The doctors also wanted the FDA to put in the safety requirements that would require a woman to visit a doctor in person before obtaining Mifepristone.

That case did not bring desired success due to an issue with the doctors in the suit lacking standing. However, recently, Louisiana put the issue of challenging abortion pills back on the table with its 2025 lawsuit against the FDA, The State of Louisiana v. FDA. The case made its way to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals where the 5th Circuit temporarily blocked a rule from the Biden administration that allowed for abortion pills to be mailed to women without an in-person doctor visit.[2] Which brings us to today, where the U.S. Supreme Court did not decide to take up the issue on the merits, and the dangerous practice of mail-order abortions continues. The question then remains: Will the Supreme Court ever rule on the issue of mail-order abortions? Dobbs made us hopeful that the answer was simple. At the very least, if the federal government or courts don’t ban Mifepristone completely, they should agree that it should only be given after visiting a doctor, having an ultrasound, and testing for medical complications. But the dissenting opinions of the two most pro-life justices on the Supreme Court reveal what is really at play: an effort to undermine Dobbs.

Justice Thomas Dissent

The anticipated response from the Supreme Court on the ruling from the 5th Circuit was a continued stay that would allow for abortion drugs to be sent in the mail. Because this was a response to an emergency appeal, the 7-2 decision was not signed and did not offer reasoning for the decision.[3]However, two justices wrote brief dissents. The first was by Justice Clarence Thomas, who raised an interesting point that has been raised by many national pro-life groups.

Justice Thomas began his dissent by stating that “it is a criminal offense to ship Mifepristone for use in abortion.”[4] What is his source for this opinion? Thomas notes that the Comstock Act bans using the mail to ship any drug for producing abortion.[5] While unknown to many people, there are laws on the books that prohibit the mailing of abortion pills. Enacted in 1873, the Comstock Act (18 U.S.C § 1461) indeed makes the “mailing of anything that could produce abortion” a crime punishable by fine or time served in prison. [6]

It is difficult to understand why abortion pills have been mailed to women for years when such laws exist. Presumably, Roe v. Wade would have affected the enforcement of the Comstock Act, as Roe essentially decided that there could be no federal laws restricting abortion. Thankfully, Roe has been overturned. But other cases protecting the right of privacy, like Griswold v. Connecticut, have not. That said, it is a matter of waiting to see if the federal government will take the initiative to enforce the Comstock Act. Justice Thomas’s dissent might be the pleasant nudge that they need. As Justice Thomas said, the abortion providers, Danco Labs, “are not entitled to a stay of an adverse court order based on lost profits from their criminal enterprise”. [7]

Justice Alito Dissent

Justice Alito found that Danco Labs and the abortion providers did not meet their burden to be granted a stay: they faced no irreparable injury.[8] In fact, Alito provides evidence that the abortion drug companies will face no harm, as history has shown that the FDA has prolonged safety reviews and failed to enforce safety requirements.[9] Notably, Justice Alito exposed the FDA’s silence on the matter earlier in his dissent.[10]

It is the statement with which Justice Alito opens his dissent that provides the concern that many in the pro-life movement fear. Justice Alito says, “What is at stake is the perpetration of a scheme to undermine our decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022), which restored the right of each State to decide how to regulate abortion within its borders”.[11]

The Abortion Industry’s Next Stop: Live Births

While abortion drug providers may have received their desired outcome for now, many abortion advocates were already prepared for their next frontier: misoprostol-only abortions. Pro-life and pro-motherhood advocate Isabel Brown made a video on the social media platform X, about a Cosmopolitan article that was preparing women for the possible ban on mailing Mifepristone.[12]

The Cosmopolitan article tells women, “Yes, because misoprostol can end an unwanted pregnancy on its own. If you take misoprostol by itself, a pregnancy will typically end within 24 hours of taking it”. [13] Clearly, they are downplaying the situation. What they are suggesting is quite severe. Mifepristone, the first drug, ends the life of the baby by depriving the baby of essential nutrients. Once the baby has died, a woman will take misoprostol to expel the baby.

But without ending the pregnancy before expulsion, there is certainly a risk that a woman will expel a living baby in her toilet or bathtub. Sadly, there is little chance that the baby could survive or that the woman who took the pills would help the baby survive. Of course, Cosmopolitan gives a misleading disclaimer about the possibility of a woman seeing fetal remains in the toilet. “If the abortion happens around 11 or 12 weeks, aka toward the end of the first trimester, there’s a chance you may see a small embryo.”[14] What the ‘Cosmo girl’ is suggesting is incredibly unsafe, as research has shown that women who undergo misoprostol-only abortions often must have a follow-up surgery due to complications or inability to empty their uterus.[15] Clearly, abortion advocates have moved on from “safe and legal” to a new standard of “any means necessary.”

Conclusion

The extended stay on the Louisiana case may appear like a setback after the historical Dobbs decision. The knowledge that there are ways that abortionists are still mailing abortion drugs to women even in pro-life states can be a hard pill to swallow. Nevertheless, there is still hope that the Supreme Court will revisit the issue on the merits. Until then, individual states should enforce their pro-life laws with gusto and the federal government should restore the safety requirements before another woman or baby is harmed.

_____________________ _____________________

[1] Steven Ertelt, Planned Parenthood Closes Houston Abortion Clinic that was Largest in America, Life News, Sep. 30, 2025, https://bit.ly/4mFSnMk, accessed May 17, 2026.

[2] Steven Ertelt, Federal Appeals Court Blocks Mail Order Abortions, Life News, May 1, 2026, https://bit.ly/49KqqQ5, accessed May 17, 2026.

[3] Daily Signal Staff, Supreme Court Lets Abortion Pill Mail Delivery Continue, The Daily Signal, May 14, 2026, https://bit.ly/4ebImEM, accessed May 17, 2026.

[4] Danco Laboratories, LLC v. Louisiana, 608 U.S. _ (2026) (Thomas, dissenting).

[5] Id.

[6] 18 U.S. Code § 1461 (1873).

[7]Danco Laboratories, LLC v. Louisiana, 608 U.S. _ (2026) at 2. (Alito, dissenting).

[8] Id at 4.

[9] Id at 4.

[10] Id at 3 quoting “FDA takes no position on this matter, even though it concerns the question whether an important rule that it has found to be flawed will remain in force for some unknown period of time”.

[11] Id at 1.

[12] Isabel Brown(@theisabelb), X (May 13, 2:34 p.m.) Isabel Brown on X: “Cosmopolitan Magazine published this INSANELY dangerous piece this week suggesting if the “abortion pill” of mifepristone is banned, you should just take the second pill misoprostol all by itself and it will still “end your pregnancy.” Misoprostol will dilate your cervix and https://t.co/WhGfxD8OvO” / X

[13] Colleen De Bellefonds, Your Complete Guide to Misoprostol Abortions, Cosmopolitan, May 14, 2026, https://bit.ly/4uuWOP5, accessed May 17, 2026.

[14] Id.

[15] Ingrid Skopp, Induced Abortion with Misoprostol Alone, Charlotte Lozier Institute, May 18, 2023, https://bit.ly/3POXPCB, accessed May 14, 2026.

LifeNews Note: Mary Elizabeth Castle, J.D. is the Government Relations Director of Texas Values. This appeared at Sebastian’s Point and is posted with permission.

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Pope Leo Blasts Abortion: “Every Human Life Must be Safeguarded From Conception”

2026-06-08T07:19:23.534-07:00

Pope Leo XIV used the first stop of his weeklong visit to Spain on Monday to deliver a firm defense of unborn life and condemnation of abortion.

The Pope told Spanish lawmakers that “every human life must be recognized and safeguarded from conception to its natural end, in every circumstance of its existence.”

Speaking in Spain’s Parliament, the Pope placed the protection of the unborn at the center of a broader appeal for human dignity.

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He asked lawmakers: “Can a community that casts into the shadows the unborn child, the elderly, the sick, those who suffer in silence, or those who depend entirely on the care of others be called fully just?”

He added that through this principle “the moral greatness of a nation is manifested.”

The address marked the first time a pope has spoken directly to Spain’s parliamentarians.

Pope Leo described his message as “a calm and firm word” for the respect of human life, from the unborn to migrants and the elderly. He rejected the idea that defending life is merely a religious concern, declaring: “Defense of human life is not a particular or religious interest, it is a goal of civilization.”

The remarks come as Spain, a historically Catholic nation where about 55 percent of people still identify as Catholic, is considering following France’s example by making a constitutional amendment to protect abortion. The country also legalized euthanasia and medically assisted dying in 2021.

Leo framed abortion as part of a wider “throwaway culture” that threatens human existence. He tied the issue to migration and peace, presenting all three as questions of human dignity.

The speech drew a seven-minute standing ovation.

While the government and the church find common ground on migration and opposition to war, they remain sharply divided on life issues such as abortion and euthanasia.

Pope Leo’s visit continues through June 12, with stops in Barcelona and the Canary Islands.

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Cincinnati, where Vance converted, gives a glimpse of Catholicism’s history in America’s heartland

2026-06-08T07:04:52.514-07:00

John Caspar Wild painted 'View of Cincinnati From Covington' in 1835, as the city was booming. Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal/Google Art Project via Wikimedia Commons

Ten years after “Hillbilly Elegy” catapulted its author into public view, JD Vance is publishing a new memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.” The vice president explains the book as a sort of self-help guide for the spiritually lost: “… by sharing my journey I might be helpful to others – Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise – who are seeking reconciliation with God.”

Scheduled for publication in June 2026, “Communion” promises “an intimate account” of its author’s religious journey. But the Catholicism to which Vance converted in Cincinnati in 2019 is quite unlike the evangelism he encountered in his childhood, famously described in “Hillbilly Elegy.”

As a historian of religion in Appalachia and the Midwest, I find America’s religious mosaic endlessly fascinating. Vance’s journey from Protestantism, to atheism, to Catholicism, not to mention his marriage to a Hindu woman, reflects the diversity of the United States.

My own experiences teaching in Vance’s hometown of Middletown, Ohio, suggest that America’s Midwestern communities, tarnished by “Rust Belt” stereotypes, are as dynamic and as changing as everywhere else – including in matters of faith.

Nearby Cincinnati, where Vance was confirmed at a Dominican priory, is a case in point and a window into Catholicism’s history in the American heartland. For more than a century, anti-Catholicism was a powerful force in culture and politics – yet, time and again, religious pluralism triumphed.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, attend services at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Good Friday, April 18, 2025. Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images

Scots-Irish settlers

“To understand me, you must understand that I am a Scots-Irish hillbilly at heart,” Vance declared in his first memoir.

The Scots-Irish played an outsized role in history. Initially, these Protestants were from Scotland, but they moved to Ireland in the 17th century. “Planted” by the British Crown as a form of colonization, these immigrants riled the Catholic majority whose lands they occupied.

Later, many crossed the Atlantic and settled the Colonial American backcountry. Their distinctive influence shaped the “hillbilly” culture of Appalachia.

The faith of these settlers kindled a fervent Protestant piety, found in the Great Revival of the Ohio Valley frontier. In this early 19th-century rebirth of backcountry religion, traveling ministers preached a fiery gospel of grace, stirring large crowds with their open-air sermons.

Queen City

Boundaries between urban and rural America were always porous. By 1830 a quarter of Ohio’s 1 million inhabitants clustered in the state’s southwestern corner. Cincinnati was the heart of this region: the “Queen City” of the United States’ expanding Western frontier.

It had become a hub of Catholic immigrants from Germany and Ireland – and a center for anti-Catholic preaching and anti-immigrant politics. In 1835, leading Protestant evangelist Lyman Beecher infamously denounced immigrants “rushing in like the waters of the flood” and argued the Vatican and Catholic schools posed dangers for America.

The first Catholic parish in Cincinnati originally met in a small building just outside city lines. Cincinnati Public Library via Wikimedia Commons

Amid such prejudice, Protestant Irish Americans embraced the term Scots-Irish to distinguish their more established population from recent Catholic arrivals. Many of these Catholic newcomers, fleeing famine and persecution, were disparaged as poor, illiterate and superstitious.

Yet despite alarmism and periodic violence, including ethnic riots in 1855, Cincinnati’s sectarian relations were surprisingly pragmatic, shaped by a sense of shared civic endeavor. Protestants welcomed the city’s first Catholic church, for example, and often sent their children to the Catholic parochial schools. Many converted to Catholicism, including wealthy philanthropists.

In 1837, Cincinnati’s Catholic Bishop, John Baptist Purcell debated Protestant preacher Alexander Campbell on the merits of Catholic religion for several days before a crowded audience. Both debaters claimed victory, and proceeds from the published debates were evenly split between Catholic and Protestant charities in Cincinnati.

Changing country

By the mid-19th century, the city’s Catholics, while still a minority, were larger than any single Protestant denomination and central to the cultural landscape.

People observe the National Eucharistic Congress, a gathering for Catholics, in Cincinnati in 1911. Wikimedia Commons

At the time, Catholics represented only 5% of the U.S. population. That percentage would triple by the turn of the century, due to immigration from southern and eastern Europe.

Anti-Catholic backlash continued into the 20th century, along with other forms of religious prejudice. For example, the U.S. Immigration Act of 1924 restricted immigration from parts of Europe heavily populated by Jews and Catholics. Animosity once focused on immigrants from Germany and Ireland shifted to those from Italy and Russia.

Bias against Catholics remained a robust force in Appalachian politics, too. Leading up to the 1960 Democratic primary, John F. Kennedy campaigned tirelessly in West Virginia, considered a tough arena for a Harvard-educated Catholic but critical to his electoral strategy. His success in the Mountain State defied the myth that a Catholic candidate could never win the White House.

John F. Kennedy campaigns in West Virginia on May 10, 1960. Corbis/Corbis Historial via Getty Images

Turn toward ‘Communion’

Southern Ohio, where Vance grew up and converted to Catholicism, is deeply Midwestern. But its heritage has been influenced by the wave of workers who left Appalachia in the mid-20th century looking for jobs, including Vance’s family.

As Vance wrote in a 2020 essay for Lamp magazine, which addresses Catholic issues, his early ideas of Catholicism were negative ones – assuming, for example, that the church “rejected the legitimacy of Scripture.”

As a young man, he drifted away from faith altogether. During his days at Yale Law School, however, Vance discovered a curiosity that drew him toward Catholicism, inspired by thinkers from Silicon Valley mogul Peter Thiel and French philosopher René Girard to the fourth-century theologian St. Augustine.

Vance wrote in his essay, “I often wonder what my grandmother” – a woman with Christian beliefs, but skepticism of institutional religion – “would have thought about her grandson becoming a Catholic.”

Today, 1 in 5 U.S. adults is Catholic, and another 9% consider themselves “cultural Catholics.” America’s prejudice toward their tradition has eroded. Six out of nine Supreme Court justices are Catholic, along with 28% of Congress.

In fact, Vance’s new faith highlights a growing alliance between culturally conservative elements of American Catholicism and America’s religious right, dominated by conservative Protestants since its emergence in the 1970s.

Lately, this alignment has come under strain, in part reflecting American-born Pope Leo XIV’s wariness toward U.S. policies, such as the war in Iran. Nowhere have such spats been more ironic than in Vance’s rebuke of the pope. After Leo remarked that Jesus’ followers are “never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs,” the vice president warned, “If you’re going to opine on matters of theology, you’ve got to be careful.”

It will be interesting to see how such tensions play out in years to come.

Matthew Smith does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Georgia Program Backs Pioneering Antibody Research with Global Reach

2026-06-08T00:11:16.552-07:00

Newswise — A new grant from the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) is backing an ambitious effort by Georgia Tech scientists to accelerate the development of human antibody therapies — a class of medicines that has transformed treatment across cancer, autoimmune disease, and infectious illness, yet it cannot be generated against many disease targets.

The $250,000 funding award, made through GRA’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E) program, supports the translational work of Ankur Singh, Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Andrés García, Regents’ Professor in Mechanical Engineering and the Executive Director of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. Singh and García are collaborating to develop functional human antibodies against some of the most difficult-to-treat diseases. While antibody therapies already benefit an estimated 20 million patients worldwide, fewer than 10 percent of discovery efforts ultimately yield candidates suitable for clinical use.

This shortfall spans major disease areas — from oncology and autoimmune disorders to heart and metabolism-related conditions and neurological and infectious diseases — limiting therapeutic options for patients. The challenge lies not only in identifying candidate antibodies, but in engineering them to function reliably in the human body.

“The I&E program exists to bridge the gap between a discovery that works in the lab and one that can anchor a company,” said Justin Burns, Chief Innovation Officer and Vice President for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at GRA. “Singh and García are tackling a problem the field has faced for decades: A significant fraction of drug targets remains inaccessible to antibody-based therapies. Our goal is to help move bold, high-potential science toward real-world impact.”

GRA’s model targets a well-known bottleneck in translation. While university labs generate promising technologies, many stall before reaching the marketplace due to a lack of validation and early-stage development.

Singh and García aim to overcome this barrier by using a proprietary antibody-engineering framework developed in Singh’s laboratory, and supported by an earlier GRA grant. The objective is straightforward: Increase the success rate of discovery efforts so more antibody candidates can advance toward clinical use.

“The implications extend well beyond our laboratory,” said Singh. “By expanding the pipeline of functional human antibodies, we can begin to address diseases that currently lack durable treatment options. GRA’s support is transformative — not only for advancing the science, but for positioning Georgia as a leader in biotechnology innovation.”

The project is built with real-world use in mind, aiming to turn the research into a new company and eventually a clinical product. By testing the idea early and lowering risk, the team hopes to attract investment and move the technology quickly beyond the Institute.

García emphasized the translational vision of the work.

“This is a transformative platform technology that overcomes major bottlenecks in antibody discovery and will accelerate and increase the efficiency of this powerful class of therapeutics,” he said.

“This effort is about rethinking how we design antibodies from the ground up — integrating biological insight with engineering principles to produce molecules that are not just viable, but clinically meaningful,” he said. “With GRA’s support, we can de-risk early discovery and create a clearer path from promising concepts to therapies that reach patients.”

Tracey Mullen, a seasoned biopharma executive, entrepreneur, and antibody discovery and engineering leader currently serving as Chief Strategy Officer at Mosaic Biosciences, is advising the team on translational strategy, commercial development, and company formation.

“The ability to rapidly generate functional human antibodies in physiologically relevant systems could meaningfully change how therapeutic discovery is approached,” Mullen said. “By moving beyond largely empirical, animal- or screening-heavy workflows and incorporating human-specific, mechanism-informed evaluation earlier in the process, this platform has the potential to generate more relevant antibody candidates and create a stronger path from discovery concept to translational development.”

As global demand for advanced therapeutics grows, efforts like this reflect a broader shift in how innovation moves from bench to bedside — one driven not only by scientific ingenuity, but by targeted investment at critical early stages.

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Researchers Find Older Adults Rarely Discuss Cannabis Use With Clinicians

2026-06-07T10:46:42.634-07:00

BYLINE: Nicole Swenarton

Newswise — Fewer than one in five adults older than 65 report discussing their cannabis use with clinicians, according to Rutgers Health researchers.

Their study, published online ahead of print in the August 2026 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, explored the prevalence of conversations between patients and clinicians about cannabis use and its potential harms.

Research shows an increase in the number of older adults who use cannabis, with 10.5% of adults older than 65 reporting using cannabis in the past year, according to reports from the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

“Cannabis use is on the rise; therefore it’s crucial for physicians to facilitate important conversations about the potential consequences of cannabis, especially for older adults and those with chronic diseases,” said Pia Mauro, a core member of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research and lead author of the study.

Using nationally representative data derived from more than 14,000 older adults, Rutgers Health researchers analyzed reports of cannabis and other drug use, whether patients were screened for drug use and whether they had conversations with their clinicians about their drug use.

One in three older adults in the study reported being screened for cannabis or drug use by a clinician in the past year. Fewer than one in five older adults who used cannabis recreationally or medicinally reported discussing their use with a clinician.

Rutgers researchers warn that older adults need to understand cannabis use risks because aging and higher rates of chronic conditions make them more susceptible to harmful effects. But past research has reported that some clinicians feel confusion or discomfort discussing cannabis use with patients, and some desire more education on the medical use of cannabis.

“Screenings for cannabis use, which are available to clinicians and easy to implement, should be part of routine medical care for all older adults,” said Mauro, who is also an associate professor of epidemiology at the Rutgers School of Public Health. “Physicians can use single-item screening questions to facilitate conversations about cannabis use during a routine visit.”

The data showed even lower rates of cannabis use screenings and discussions reported by older women and older Hispanic or Latine populations. Researchers said these findings could be attributed to less frequent use of cannabis by women and systemic barriers facing marginalized populations.

In addition to further research on gender and racial gaps, researchers recommend conducting studies that incorporate restricted data with geographic information, which would allow findings to be analyzed within the context of varying state-level recreational cannabis laws.

Coauthors of the study include Mireia Triguero Roura of the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, Elsa Carey of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Benjamin Han of the University of California San Diego. The research was supported by multiple grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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Global Mangrove Forests Rebound, Offering Hopeful Sign for Climate and Coastal Resilience

2026-06-05T19:41:37.743-07:00

Newswise — Mangrove forests, once considered one of the world’s most threatened coastal ecosystems, are showing signs of recovery worldwide, according to new research from Tulane University that finds decades of losses largely offset by regrowth and expansion.

The study, based on four decades of satellite data and published in the journal Science, finds that mangrove forests worldwide are no longer in net decline and are now growing overall. After decades of loss driven by deforestation and coastal development, mangroves are expanding in many regions, largely through natural regeneration and expansion into newly formed coastal areas.

The findings suggest a more hopeful trajectory for these ecosystems, which play a critical role in protecting coastlines, supporting fisheries and storing climate-warming carbon.

“After decades of loss, we’re finally seeing a global turning point for mangroves,” said Zhen Zhang, a postdoctoral scholar at Tulane University School of Science and Engineering and lead author of the study. “This highlights their strong resilience and their potential as a powerful nature-based solution for climate mitigation and coastal protection.”

Mangrove forests declined through much of the late 20th century, losing nearly 2,900 square kilometers between the 1980s and 2010. During the past 16 years, gains have outpaced losses. By 2023, mangrove areas had rebounded, resulting in only about a 1% net decline over the entire four-decade period — a much smaller loss than previously estimated.

“What we’re seeing now is a real shift. Mangroves are now showing a net increase globally, and the rate of degradation is slowing,” said Daniel Friess, Cochran Family Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Tulane and director of The Mangrove Lab.

“While some mangroves are still being lost, this could make them a rare conservation success story and an important source of optimism for climate action,” said Friess, who also serves as director for the Center for Public Policy Research at the Murphy Institute.

The recovery is being driven by a combination of restoration efforts and natural processes. In many regions, mangroves are recolonizing abandoned aquaculture ponds and expanding into newly formed coastal mudflats, especially in river deltas where sediment creates ideal growing conditions.

Along the U.S. Gulf Coast, mangrove trends reflect a different but related process. In the Mississippi River Delta, mangrove area declined slightly from the 1980s through the late 1990s, then began to increase, with more pronounced expansion after 2012. Researchers attribute this growth primarily to warming temperatures, which allow mangroves typically found in tropical and subtropical climates to expand into higher-latitude regions.

Louisiana has also seen an overall increase in mangroves over the past four decades, underscoring the broader regional shift.

Beyond increases in area, the research highlights another encouraging trend: many existing mangrove forests are becoming denser and healthier. Closed-canopy mangrove forests, which store more carbon and provide stronger coastal protection, have expanded globally over the past four decades. Rates of degradation have dropped significantly since the 1980s, reflecting the growing impact of conservation policies and restoration programs worldwide.

That growth suggests that mangroves may be capturing more carbon than previously recognized. At the same time, the study shows how vulnerable these gains can be. In Texas, for example, mangroves have expanded in recent decades but experienced a sharp decline in 2021 due to an extreme freeze event, highlighting how climate extremes can quickly reverse progress.

Still, researchers caution that the recovery is not complete. Newly established mangrove forests are often young and less capable of providing the full ecological benefits of mature systems. And deforestation remains a threat in some regions, particularly where coastal land is converted for agriculture or development.

The study underscores that continued protection is key to sustaining the rebound.

“The most immediate and effective way to protect mangroves is to stop deforestation,” Zhang said. “When mangroves are cleared, large amounts of long-stored carbon are released into the atmosphere. But when deforestation stops, mangroves can continue to accumulate carbon naturally over time, so there’s a major climate benefit in both avoiding emissions now and allowing future carbon storage.”

Protecting the natural processes that support mangrove growth is equally important, he said.

“Much of mangrove expansion happens on newly formed mudflats, which depend on a steady supply of river sediment,” Zhang said. “Maintaining that sediment flow is critical for creating the conditions mangroves need to establish and spread.”

The findings also suggest that conservation strategies should look beyond simply measuring total area.

“As countries invest in nature-based solutions to climate change, mangroves stand out as a rare example of an ecosystem where global trends are beginning to move in the right direction,” Zhang said.

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Friday, June 5, 2026

2026-06-05T19:17:21.995-07:00

Experimental Antibody Treatment Is At The Ready For Americans Exposed To Ebola

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority is coordinating a shipment of monoclonal antibodies “for potential use in high-risk Americans exposed to the virus,” an HHS spokesperson revealed. MBP-134 would be used under the FDA’s “investigational use mechanisms,” a measure that allows unlicensed treatments to be used in emergency situations, Stat reports.

Stat: HHS Confirms Americans With High-Risk Ebola Exposures Will Have Access To Experimental Therapy

Americans who have high-risk exposures to Ebola in the current outbreak in Central Africa will have access to an antibody treatment that has shown great promise in animal testing but hasn’t yet undergone a clinical trial to show whether it is efficacious in people, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Thursday. The antibody treatment, known as MBP-134, is made by San Diego-based Mapp Biopharmaceuticals, with funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, an agency within HHS that helps develop medical countermeasures for rare and emerging diseases, and biological threats. (Branswell, 6/4)

The Hill: CDC's Jay Bhattacharya Defends Donald Trump's Ebola Response

Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Jay Bhattacharya defended the Trump administration’s response to the Ebola outbreak Thursday, writing in The Wall Street Journal that the measures being taken are scientifically stronger than those implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bhattacharya said the COVID-19 public health response measures such as “lockdowns,” school closures, and mask and vaccine mandates “made little scientific sense.” (Weixel, 6/4)

The Hill: House Report Blames Trump's USAID Shutdown For 600,000 Deaths, Ebola Spread

The Trump administration’s decision to kill the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) likely contributed to 600,000 “entirely preventable” deaths, left the globe faltering in responding to the latest Ebola outbreak and let U.S. adversaries increase their standing in the developing world, a report from House Oversight Democrats finds. The report, issued Thursday, offers one of the most detailed looks yet at the impact of shutting the agency, from the firing of over 10,000 federal workers and contractors to a surge in the spread of diseases like HIV and malaria that had been USAID priorities for decades. (Beitsch, 6/4)

On the spread of Ebola —

WISN: Milwaukee Health Dept. Monitoring 3 'Low-Risk' Travelers For Ebola As A Precaution

The City of Milwaukee Health Department says it is monitoring three "very low-risk individuals" as a precaution for Ebola, as of June 4. A spokesperson described the three people as "travelers," coming back from Africa. (Schmitz, 6/4)

CIDRAP: Ebola Spreads To Area Under Islamic State Control As Cases Mount

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reached Mambasa, a part of the country run by Islamic State militants, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Health workers do not travel to the area, which is chaotic and violent, making containment and contact tracing impossible, sources told the paper. (Soucheray, 6/4)

ABC News: Aid Organization Says Trust Is Key In Combatting Ebola Outbreak As Cases Grow

As a deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to spread, an aid organization says trust is key to beating back the virus. At the time of publication, 363 cases of Ebola and 62 deaths have been confirmed, according to the Congo Ministry of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with more than 4,200 contacts under follow-up. In neighboring Uganda, 16 cases and one death have been confirmed, according to the Ugandan Ministry of Health. (Kekatos, Jovanovic and Magee, 6/4)

KFF Health News: ‘We Live With Fear’: In Congo, Doctors Face Ebola With Little Protection

Harrowing scenes are unfolding at health facilities at the epicenter of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A 25-year-old midwife and a doctor in his early 30s are sick with Ebola symptoms, including fevers and severe joint pain, said their colleague Elisabeth Furaha, the medical director at SOFEPADI’s Karibuni Wa Mama Medical Center in the northeastern province of Ituri. (Maxmen, 6/5)

Bloomberg: Ebola Outbreak 2026 Unlikely To Become Pandemic, Peter Piot Says

When Peter Piot first encountered the Ebola virus, it was unknown to science. Nearly 50 years later, as a new outbreak spreads through parts of Central Africa and governments respond with travel restrictions and quarantine measures, the Belgian scientist remains one of the world’s leading authorities on the disease. He discusses how Ebola is dangerous but difficult to spread, as well as the challenges of controlling outbreaks in conflict zones — and lessons the world still hasn’t learned from Covid-19. (Husain, 6/5)

The New York Times: How Gold Is Driving The Spread Of Ebola

For over a century, gold has been the lifeblood of Mongbwalu, a remote hill town in Ituri province that draws people looking for work from across Congo and beyond. But now Mongbwalu is at the epicenter of the devastating Ebola outbreak sweeping this region, and gold is helping to drive it. Experts now believe that the outbreak, already the third largest on record, began in Mongbwalu as early as February. Yet the authorities failed to detect it until May 15. By the time a crisis was declared, the Bundibugyo virus had already been spreading for weeks through Mongbwalu’s gold mines. (Walsh, 6/5)

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We Will Never Give Up Until Every Baby is Protected From Abortion

2026-06-05T15:54:35.092-07:00

If every state in the country suddenly adopted laws that allowed abortion for any reason for all nine months of pregnancy, would we, the pro-life movement, shrug our shoulders, say, “Well, we tried” and move on to do something else?

Of course not! We basically faced that situation for almost 50 years under Roe v Wade. We didn’t give up. We didn’t back down. We kept fighting, using all the tools and every resource available.

We found ways to pass laws that saved babies. We found ways to educate our communities about the evils of abortion. We found ways to help women facing an unexpected pregnancy.

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The pro-life movement never gave up. It is in our DNA. Proponents of death—abortion and euthanasia and assisted suicide—should understand that we will never give up. There is too much at stake.

A society that kills its most vulnerable members becomes a cold, heartless society that soon seeks to end any life for any reason. We cannot let that happen.

In the late 1980s, a French drug manufacturing company, Roussel-Uclaf, developed mifepristone, the “abortion pill.” Pro-lifers fought its distribution in the US. In1994, NRLC initiated a nationwide boycott of all products produced by Roussel-Uclaf’s American sister companies.

The deadly drug was kept out of the country until, in the closing months of the Clinton administration in 2000, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave approval for it to be sold in the US. It was approved under strict safety guidelines, relating to how and when the drug could be used. As we predicted, subsequent Democrat administrations unraveled and eliminated those protections.

In 2016, the FDA, under the Obama administration, told abortion providers, hospitals, and emergency rooms that, even if there are complications, they no longer needed to report these “adverse” events to the FDA, only deaths. (Complications could be reported voluntarily– if the medical providers wanted to!)

That action allows abortion proponents to make the outrageous claim that “mifepristone is safe because no complications have been reported.”

In 2021, the Biden administration then used the Covid pandemic to loosen restrictions on distribution of the abortion pills. Critically, a woman no longer needed to have an in-person visit with the abortionist. Pills could be sent through the mail.

The following year, the pro-life movement was elated when the Supreme Court handed down its Dobbs v Jackson decision, ruling that abortion laws in each state would be determined by the state.

Many states were able to pass great pro-life laws, protecting unborn babies and initiating new and creative ways to help moms. Except those laws are now being undermined by eliminating virtually all “safety” protocols and by allowing abortion pills to be mailed into the states.

The FDA is carefully looking at mifepristone. It is digging into research regarding its safety for women (we already know it is lethal for the unborn baby), reviewing previous administrative decisions, and trying to determine the future of the product.

We are going to fight as hard as we can to remove abortion pills from the market. Among the many dangers is that anyone can order these pills through the mail and unscrupulous men will use them to avoid taking responsibility for their newly-developing babies.

Our goal is, and always has been, to save babies and help their moms. Period. We can and we will continue to do that in any way we can.

What motivates us? For some, it’s our faith. Psalm 139 states,

¹³ “For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

For others, it’s the biological fact that every human being that has ever come into existence is unlike any other human being ever conceived. Every human being is unrepeatable.

Research estimates say that, to date, 93-117 billion people have lived on this planet. And scientists acknowledge that every single one of them was unique. Each has genetic characteristics different from any other person who has ever existed!

For many pro-lifers, and even those who are not in our camp but who have an open mind, that is enough to say that each and every life deserves protection.

Whatever the reason for wanting to protect unborn children and wanting to help their moms through a difficult situation, pro-lifers just won’t give up. We will promote the value and dignity of every human life, encouraging women to protect the new life growing inside of them.

We will continue to fight hard, to elect pro-life candidates and to pass pro-life legislation.

We will continue to work with moms so they understand what a beautiful gift they have been given.

We will continue to educate our neighbors and communities, so they see the value of every life.

What we will not do is give up and walk away. That is unthinkable! Human life is too precious.

Our ultimate goal is to work so that, even if abortion is legal, no woman will want one.

LifeNews Note: Carol Tobias is the president of the National Right to Life Committee.

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Michigan Trying to Force Pro-Life Group to Hire Abortion Supporters

2026-06-05T14:24:26.746-07:00

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys will be available for media interviews following a federal district court hearing Monday in a lawsuit filed on behalf of two Michigan pro-life organizations challenging a state law that forces them to recruit and hire people who oppose their fundamental mission and to carry insurance benefits that include coverage for abortion. The hearing in part concerns the organizations’ request for a temporary order blocking the state from enforcing its law while the lawsuit moves forward.

Michigan amended its employment law to re-define “sex” discrimination to include “the termination of a pregnancy.” It is now illegal for Right to Life of Michigan and Pregnancy Resource Center to recruit and hire only those employees who share these organizations’ pro-life views and who agree to refrain from engaging in conduct contrary to those views. Going further, the law also requires these organizations to offer abortion coverage in their insurance plans in direct conflict with their very mission. As a result, the law threatens their ability to advocate for their pro-life views and to serve women and families in need consistent with their beliefs.

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“The government can’t force pro-life organizations to sabotage their own beliefs by requiring them to employ staff who endorse abortion—a decision that harms women and ends innocent lives,” said ADF Senior Counsel Bryan Neihart, who will argue before the court on behalf of the pro-life groups. “The First Amendment protects the right of these organizations to hire employees who can carry out and share the message of hope and joy associated with the gift of life. For these pro-life groups, the messenger matters. We are urging the court to uphold their constitutionally protected freedom to hire employees who share their views in word and deed so that they can express messages consistent with their beliefs.”

Right to Life of Michigan offers life-affirming education and advocates for pro-life policies across the state. Pregnancy Resource Center provides women with medical care, resources, and support structures to help them through their pregnancies. Both hire like-minded individuals who share their convictions about the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. They depend on their employees to promote their pro-life views to the public and to encourage other staff.

ADF attorneys note that both organizations have refrained from including their pro-life mission statements in job postings and have even received some applications from people who identified themselves as “pro-abortion.”

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Pro-Life Group Welcomes FDA Review of Abortion Pill Mifepristone

2026-06-05T13:29:38.663-07:00

National Right to Life today welcomed the Food and Drug Administration’s announcement that it is moving forward with a comprehensive review of the abortion drug mifepristone and its safety record. According to multiple news reports, the FDA is conducting a large-scale analysis of hundreds of thousands of cases and will examine data related to adverse events and complications associated with the drug.

The following is a statement from Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life:

For years, pro-life advocates, medical professionals, and members of Congress have raised serious concerns about the weakening of safety protections surrounding chemical abortion. We welcome a thorough and transparent review of the evidence.

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Each abortion takes the life of a preborn child and places her mother at risk. Women aborting at home are also more likely to be traumatized when they realize that they aborted a living child and not just ‘tissue’ or ‘products of conception’ as the abortion industry claims.

The abortion industry has repeatedly insisted that the safety issues surrounding chemical abortion are settled science. Yet the FDA itself has determined that additional review is appropriate. When the health and safety of women are involved, no legitimate scientific question should be off limits.

Every woman deserves the highest standard of medical care. The FDA has both the authority and the responsibility to act. We encourage the agency to conduct this review with transparency, scientific integrity, and an unwavering commitment to protecting women.

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90% of UK Residents Say Assisted Suicide is Not a Priority

2026-06-05T12:09:36.694-07:00

Fewer than one in ten voters consider assisted suicide a priority for their local MP, a new mega-poll has revealed.

The mega-poll of over 10,000 people, reported in the Daily Mail, revealed that, in every single constituency in Great Britain, a majority of voters do not want their MP to support a law pushed through Parliament without full scrutiny and consent of both Houses of Parliament. This suggests that there is no public mandate in any constituency for the assisted suicide Bill to be brought back and forced into law.

The poll, the largest on assisted suicide since Leadbeater’s Bill was initially introduced in October 2024, was commissioned by think tank The Other Half and carried out by Whitestone Insight.

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This is important as assisted suicide campaigners have made it clear that they are going to attempt to resurrect Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill in the new parliamentary session.

Their plan involves persuading an MP who was successful in the Private Members’ Bill ballot to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill – and then use the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords to force it into law. Lauren Edwards and Andrew George came second and fourth respectively in the ballot, and both voted in favour of Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill at its Third Reading in the House of Commons. They are rumoured to be coming under the most pressure to bring back the assisted suicide Bill.

Taking the unprecedented route of using the Parliament Acts to bypass House of Lords’ scrutiny of a Private Members’ Bill would be politically explosive and divisive, setting a precedent that may worry many MPs. It would be the first time ever that the Parliament Acts would be used for a Private Members’ Bill.

Assisted suicide campaigners are now likely to focus their efforts on convincing those in favour of assisted suicide who placed highly in the ballot – Lauren Edwards and Andrew George – to bring forward an identical version of Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill as their Private Members’ Bill of choice.

Poll reveals that assisted suicide is not a priority for the public

The poll revealed that, nationally, only 8% of the population supports pushing a non-manifesto commitment into law without approval and full scrutiny from both Houses of Parliament. This suggests there is little support for reviving the assisted suicide Bill and using the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords to force it into law.

Even in Spen Valley, the constituency of the sponsor of the assisted suicide Bill, Kim Leadbeater, 61% of people agreed that they would not want their MP to support a law pushed through without approval from the House of Lords and the House of Commons without full scrutiny. Only 8% of people disagreed.

When respondents were asked what their priorities for the Government were, legalising assisted suicide came at the very bottom of the list. Just 7% of the public considers it a priority.

Majority of public would rather back legislation to improve NHS and end-of-life care

In every constituency in Great Britain, the majority of voters agreed that Parliament should prioritise reducing NHS waiting lists and improving social care before considering whether to legalise assisted suicide.

Similarly, in every constituency, the poll revealed that voters believe members of the House of Lords have a duty to scrutinise, amend, or, if necessary, block any legislation that they believe could put vulnerable people at risk. The House of Lords Constitution Committee and Hansard Society have both confirmed that Peers are constitutionally free to reject the Bill. As the Bill is not a Government Bill and was not in any Party election manifesto, there is no convention requiring the Lords to pass it.

Fiona Mackenzie MBE, CEO of The Other Half, said, “This polling clearly shows that the public does not want assisted dying introduced via the back door using the Parliament Act. In every constituency in Great Britain, voters say they do not want their MP to back a law pushed through without the approval of both Houses of Parliament. This should be a warning to any MP thinking of giving in to pressure from assisted dying campaigners to use the Private Members’ Bill ballot to revive Kim Leadbeater’s Bill”.

“Assisted dying is a proposed law change that should require the highest level of scrutiny, not a procedural manoeuvre to get around the House of Lords to push it into law”, she continued.

Andrew Hawkins, founder of Whitestone Insight, said “Large national polls can sometimes hide big local differences, which is why MRP is useful. But what is striking here is how consistent the picture is across Great Britain”.

“In every constituency we modelled, more voters said they would not want their MP to support a law being pushed through without sufficient scrutiny, or the approval of both Houses, than said the opposite”, he added.

“Voters are effectively saying: if Parliament is dealing with a life-and-death issue, they expect Parliament to do its job properly and the polling paints a picture of an electorate that is wary of unintended consequences”.

“It expects MPs and peers alike to scrutinise any legislation rigorously”, Hawkins said.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “This polling has revealed what we always knew to be true: that there is no mandate for the assisted suicide Bill to be brought back and forced onto the statute book without the consent of Parliament”.

“The assisted suicide Bill received its due scrutiny in Parliament, and ran out of time, as many bills do each Parliamentary session. There was nothing untoward about this, and the public agrees”.

“Those MPs who ranked highly in the Private Members’ Bill ballot should listen to the views of their constituents in this regard, and elect to bring forward a different piece of legislation of their choosing – not the assisted suicide Bill”.

LifeNews Note: Republished with permission from Right to Life UK.

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40% of All Babies Born in U.S. Last Year Were to Unmarried Mothers

2026-06-05T10:14:46.700-07:00

Despite positive recent trends for family stability, including increasing numbers of babies born to college-educated women who are married, the overall proportion of babies born to unwed mothers is not declining, according to a new data analysis.

The report, published Wednesday by Institute for Family Studies (IFS) Senior Fellow Nicholas Zill, pointed out that 40% of all births in the U.S. in 2025 were to unmarried women, amounting to 1,440,031 babies. While the proportion of unmarried births has not increased compared to previous years, it still remains concerningly high. Last year’s total “compares with 40% in 2022 and in 2023; 33% in 2000; and 32% in 1995,” Zill noted.

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Social science data has overwhelmingly confirmed that children born to their married parents have significantly better outcomes than children born to single mothers. One recent survey of available data found that children born to married parents “are significantly more likely to be ‘on track’ at every life stage than children who are born to unmarried parents.” Children who are “on track” as defined by the Social Genome Model are those who achieve age-appropriate benchmarks for every stage in life. For example, an “on track” child at the end of elementary school “has mastered basic math and reading skills, has acquired the behavioral competencies that are predictive of later success, has a strong relationship with his or her parent(s), and is in good health.”

IFS researchers found that individuals with married parents were significantly more “on track” at every stage of life than those with unmarried parents, including pre-K (69% vs. 51%), elementary (71% vs. 49%), middle childhood (68% vs. 45%), early adolescence (72% vs. 53%), adolescence (64% vs. 48%), transition to adulthood (62% vs. 49%), and adulthood (65% vs. 48%).

Zill further confirmed the importance of married parents for babies, noting that a baby born to an unmarried mother is “Three times more likely to need Medicaid or other government or charitable assistance to pay for his or her delivery (68% versus 23%); Twice as likely to have received late or no prenatal care (11% versus 5%); Twice as likely to be born prematurely (under 20 weeks) (1% versus 0.5%); 1.6 times more likely to be born at a low birthweight (under 2,500 grams) (11% versus 7%); 1.7 times more likely to have been fathered by a man with less than a college education (92% versus 55%); [and] 14 times more likely to have been fathered by a man not identified on the birth certificate (29% versus 2%).”

A host of other ills present themselves when a father is not involved in raising a child, data shows. One summation highlighted how a father’s absence leads to children reporting “feeling abandoned, struggling with their emotions, and experiencing self-loathing,” having increased behavioral problems, having poor academic performance, as well as drastically higher rates of delinquency, youth crime, promiscuity, teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, and homelessness. In addition, fatherless children are “at greater risk of suffering physical, emotional, and sexual abuse” and are “five times more likely to experience physical abuse and emotional maltreatment, with a 100 times higher risk of fatal abuse.”

Despite the plethora of data showing the disadvantages children experience in households with single mothers, Zill observed that current U.S. welfare policies tend to encourage fatherlessness. “It is time for state and national policymakers to recognize that our current welfare arrangements, which pay for prenatal care, delivery and postnatal care are, in effect, subsidizing unmarried childbearing, while allowing the men involved to escape accountability for the children they help bring into the world,” he lamented.

Experts like Kendall Qualls, who is the founder and president of the nonprofit Take Charge, an organization dedicated to building strong families in inner cities, say that in order to encourage more fathers to actively raise their children and marry their mothers, communities and churches must purposefully recognize the value of fatherhood and promote it.

“[W]e need to start recognizing the significance of fathers,” he explained during an “Outstanding” podcast episode last year. “… I can remember growing up when you used to read the paper … where there would be like a ‘Father of the Year’ award or a ‘Father of the Month’ award. You don’t read any of those things anymore. … So our organization now sponsors on Father’s Day for churches [a program that includes] a monetary gift card, a certificate, [and] the book ‘The Man Code: 12 Priorities Every Man Needs to Know’ [by] our pastor Mark Henry. It’s all biblically based. And … then we’ll recognize [you and] put the picture of the fathers in the paper [and] in social media so people know what good looks like.”

Qualls went on to underscore that if communities focus on sound education, it will lead to more responsible fathers.

“[W]e have major academic issues across the board, not just in poor minority communities — the academic standards of what we’re getting [are] much lower. … We have a moral education that’s needed. So when we bring back two-parent intact families with their small kids … to these after-school programs, and we tell these kids, ‘You can have a life like this too. You can have success. Just do this formula. It’s called the success sequence. Graduate from high school, get a job, get married, then have children. Or, if you don’t want to get a job, go to college. But make sure you get married first.’ And the kids are going, ‘Well, why do I have to wait to have kids,’ because no one in their lives and their communities are married, and they have multiple kids, and tragically, by multiple fathers. So we felt, ‘We’ve got to start from ground zero,’ literally. We have to start teaching kids not only academic high standards, a moral education, but also a civic education that they should be privileged to call themselves an American citizen.”

Qualls further emphasized that even within communities where single parenthood is common, the desire for marriage and family stability remains.

“Marriage rates within the black community and Hispanic community lower poverty literally by 80%,” he pointed out. “This is why we’re fighting a battle. Not Republican or Democrat, but good versus evil. Because, you know, you go in the community, they want this. They want to be married. The women want to be married. The men want to be married. They want kids.”

LifeNews Note: Dan Hart writes for the Family Research Council. He is the senior editor of The Washington Stand.

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Companies That Sell Abortion Pill Break the Law, Put Women’s Lives at Risk

2026-06-05T07:34:03.422-07:00

Last week, the Charlotte Lozier Institute released a study by research associate Mia Steupert showing that organizations selling chemical abortion pills online are largely unregulated.

Specifically, these organizations often fail to comply with existing laws, FDA regulations, and basic health and safety standards. The study considered entities that provide telehealth abortions through the formal U.S. health-care system. The study also considered overseas and online entities that sell abortion pills.

Here are some of the specifics.

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The Lozier study identified 80 organizations that provide telehealth abortions through the formal U.S. health-care system. Thirty-eight of these organizations are online only, and 42 are hybrid brick-and-mortar and online facilities. Again, these facilities are technically subject to FDA regulations. The study, however, provides strong evidence that these facilities frequently violate FDA policies, states’ pro-life laws, and basic health standards:

Only 15 of 80 report they will adhere to FDA rules and not ship abortion pills to pregnant women after 70 days gestation.
43 of the 80 either had no age requirement for the woman obtaining abortion pills or did not publish this information. This would put them in violation of state parental involvement laws.
Only 39 of the 80 formally required women to take part in a video call to discuss their eligibility for taking abortion drugs.
Only 9 of 80 require that all women submit a form of identification before obtaining abortion pills. One additional organization required a form of identification only from women living in certain states.
Only 16 of 80 require a virtual follow-up after the abortion has taken place.

The study also identified 26 organizations that provide chemical abortions outside the formal U.S. health system. These include three international organizations, 18 organizations that sell chemical abortion drugs online, and five community networks. Unsurprisingly, these organizations were even less regulated than those that provide telehealth abortions through the formal U.S. health-care system:

Only one of 26 reported that it will adhere to FDA rules and not ship abortion pills to pregnant women after 70 days gestation.
21 of the 26 either had no age requirement or did not publish this information.
None of the 26 formally required women to take part in a video call to discuss their eligibility for taking abortion drugs. Only one required that the woman fill out a medical eligibility intake form before she can purchase the abortion drugs.
Only 1 of 26 requires that women submit a form of identification before obtaining the abortion drugs.

Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, unregulated telehealth abortions have posed a serious challenge to the pro-life movement. These telehealth abortions undermine and weaken many of the strong state-level pro-life laws that have been enacted post-Dobbs. This new Lozier study highlights the extent to which chemical abortions are largely unregulated, posing serious public health concerns. The study also details ongoing litigation where women unknowingly took chemical abortion pills because their partners wanted their pregnancies terminated. Had appropriate regulations and safeguards been in effect, these women and their preborn children would have been protected.

The Lozier study identifies several policy tools that could be used to ban or limit telehealth abortions. The FDA could restore the rules that existed before the Covid-19 pandemic and require women obtaining chemical abortions to have an in-person meeting with a health-care professional. There are multiple lawsuits being filed by various state attorneys general arguing that the new rules violate the FDA Administrative Procedures Act. Finally, the Comstock Act, which prevents abortifacients from being sent through the mail, could be enforced.

This important Lozier study demonstrates that stopping telehealth abortions should remain a top priority for pro-lifers.

LifeNews.com Note: Dr. Michael New is a professor at Ave Maria University. He is a former political science professor at the University of Michigan–Dearborn and holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University. He is a fellow at Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, New Jersey.

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Methane rocket fuel is easier to handle and convenient but, as Blue Origin saw, it can be very explosive

2026-06-05T06:34:15.096-07:00

Blue Origin's New Glenn explodes on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral on May 28, 2026. @JConcilus via AP

Going straight up is hard. It takes a lot of energy. For those of us who enjoy hiking, cycling or running, hills are the bane of our existence. The hills sap us of our strength and speed, and they require more effort than we often want to expend.

Rockets are the ultimate definition of vertical ascent: They go up, fast. They need lots of raw power, and they need it immediately. Interestingly, though, the modern incarnation of reusable rocketry has come back to the same basic fuel as the human body uses: hydrocarbons. Granted, SpaceX and Blue Origin’s massive rockets are not using sugar, carbs or fats, but they are using the simplest hydrocarbon, methane: a single carbon atom with four hydrogen atoms around it, CH₄.

A methane molecule is made up of a carbon atom surrounded by four hydrogen atoms. Christinelmiller/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

As a physical chemist, I get to explore how molecules produce and absorb energy. I have seen how various chemicals have different benefits and drawbacks for a variety of energy applications.

Orchestrating the pros and cons is like how different plays in football accomplish the same goal of getting the ball down the field but do so with distinct approaches. None are perfect, and some are more spectacular than others.

A different type of fuel

The use of methane as a component of rocket fuel is different from what was used during Apollo or in the earlier crewed space rockets, and even in the space shuttle main engines. In all those rockets, hydrogen gas was the primary fuel.

In the simplest terms, hydrogen in the form of H₂ reacts with oxygen – O₂, the same stuff you breathe – to produce water and a copious amount of energy. Hydrogen itself is light, and this reaction is incredibly efficient. The power-to-weight ratio of such fuel is astronomical, and it moves mass off the surface of our planet really well and quickly.

However, H₂ is no panacea and has arguably more drawbacks than benefits. Being so small, the hydrogen molecules can actually seep through the walls of most fuel tanks. Preventing them from doing so requires special materials – expensive materials.

To combat this problem, the hydrogen is liquified. But to do so, it must first be cooled to temperatures that would freeze the feathers off a penguin: minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 250 Celsius). Again, this process is expensive.

Then, it takes awhile to fill the tanks on the rocket that hold the liquified hydrogen. You have to do this slowly to keep the liquified form from clogging and fouling up the fuel lines – and that’s also expensive.

To combat these issues, SpaceX and Blue Origin have opted for methane instead of liquified hydrogen in their Starship and New Glenn rockets. While methane is still typically liquified and must be cold to do so, cooling it to minus 260 F (minus 162 degrees C) is much less expensive than minus 400, as would be needed for H₂.

The methane molecules are also much larger than the hydrogen molecules, measuring more than twice as far across from their furthest points. Hence, it doesn’t weasel its way through the storage tanks and fuel lines like H₂ does. As a result, methane can be transported and filled into tanks much easier and faster. Then, since methane isn’t as leak-prone and stores better, the whole rocket ship itself can actually be reused; that makes the entire launch process cheaper overall.

Methane: For rockets, but not just for rockets

So methane is cheaper and affords reusability, but is it somehow safer than liquid hydrogen?

Well, on May 28, 2026, the folks at Blue Origin found out how explosive methane can be. While the cause has yet to be reported, somehow the methane in the tanks ignited, resulting in an epic explosion seen dozens of miles away from the launchpad.

Blue Origin’s rocket exploded on the pad during a test fire on May 28, 2026.

Yes, a methane-fueled rocket can fling astronauts into the sky in ways that seem magical, but if anything goes wrong, methane still goes boom in a very destructive way.

The reaction of hydrocarbons is actually the same type of explosion that fuels automobiles. The difference is that the explosion in a car engine cylinder drives the motion of a piston. In cars, the explosion of octane, a hydrocarbon eight times the size of methane, is directed with a purpose, creating what physical chemists like me call work. Heat is simply the same thing as work, but it just goes in random directions and does not accomplish some desired task.

Kicking a football through the uprights is like work, while missing the ball is like heat. Hence, methane in a rocket directed through a nozzle does work to send the craft into the sky. If undirected, the hydrocarbon reaction produces heat in the form of an explosion that sets back years of planning for Jeff Bezos.

This type of accident is relatively common in rocketry, as SpaceX has had its fair share of explosions. Getting all the right pieces to sync is a challenge, but decades of successful spaceflight indicate that this a surmountable issue.

The reaction of hydrocarbons with oxygen in car engines or even rockets is, in a way, the same chemistry as what human bodies do in metabolism. Some hydrocarbons like sugar or a carbohydrate – but not the methane of rockets or the octane of cars – reacts with the oxygen that you breathe to produce carbon dioxide and water. Your body just performs this reaction slowly and in each cell, all over, warming you up.

The rocket, however, is powered by a reaction between methane and oxygen in a single point at the nozzle. The energy is concentrated and directed together to fling the ship into space – unless, of course, it explodes in an uncontrolled fireball.

Ryan C. Fortenberry receives funding from NASA.

Ryan C. Fortenberry, Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of Mississippi from Home – The Conversation https://bit.ly/4g2vOlq
via Syndicated with Permission of The Conversation

“Help Me!” Cries From Canadian Man in Botched Euthanasia are Haunting

2026-06-04T12:39:22.577-07:00

An 87-year-old Canadian man was not properly sedated before his life was ended by euthanasia, as he repeatedly cried out “help me” while dying.

The man from Ontario, known only as Mr D, had congestive heart failure and met the eligibility criteria to end his life under Canada’s assisted suicide and euthanasia regime, known as Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). Mr D was scheduled to have his life ended at home on the same day he was transferred there from the hospital.

The doctor first administered midazolam, a sedative, to relax the patient. However, the drug did not have its usual effects in Mr D’s case.

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The case review stated, “During the first three minutes. Mr. D experienced signs of physical and psychological distress, including groaning, guarding (tensing muscles) and grimacing”, adding that “Mr. D did not experience expected sedation”.

“His behavioural signs of distress escalated to repeated verbalizations, including ‘help me’ that continued until sedation was achieved with propofol and a comatose state was confirmed”, the report continued.

Additionally, the report stated that Mr D’s family, who were present at the time of his euthanasia, experienced “profound distress” as they “witnessed their father suffering with physical and psychological distress”.

According to the case review, the family experienced “anguish regarding the decision to support their father through the MAID process and immense grief and sorrow regarding their final memories with their father”.

Dr Ramona Coelho, a member of the Chief Coroner of Ontario’s Medical Assistance in Dying Death Review Committee (MDRC), said that while “some MAID clinicians publicly portray MAID deaths as uniformly peaceful, beautiful and free of complications”, this “does not present an accurate picture of reality and risks influencing decisions about MAID”.

Numerous high-profile euthanasia scandals in Ontario have been reported recently

These revelations are just one of a number of controversial cases regarding Ontario’s MAiD regime that have come to light recently.

Last month, The Globe and Mail reported that euthanasia practitioner Dr James MacLean was the subject of two complaints relating to two cases involving Canada’s euthanasia and assisted suicide regime.

In one case, one of MacLean’s patients who wished to end their life resumed breathing after being declared dead due to the improper application of the fatal mix of substances. MacLean gave a 67-year-old cancer patient an anaesthetic, rather than the neuromuscular-blocking medication normally used in euthanasia cases, because he could not find where he had put it.

The doctor pronounced the patient, who has not been named, dead; however, shortly after he left the patient’s home, he resumed breathing. MacLean returned to the patient’s home, gave him additional substances, including the neuromuscular-blocking medication, and shortly thereafter pronounced him dead for the second time.

This is not the only controversial case undertaken by MacLean. The 45-year-old Thomas Dillon, who had Crohn’s disease, in addition to a history of alcohol abuse, depression and suicidal ideation, met with MacLean more than once outside of a Tim Hortons cafe for his euthanasia eligibility assessments.

After these meetings, they exchanged numerous text messages to plan the end of his life.

Two days later, they met again at the cafe, from where the doctor then drove the patient to the location where he would end his life. MacLean then ended Dillon’s life by euthanasia in an industrial unit where cadavers are prepared for transport to funeral homes.

Following these incidents, MacLean’s general conduct was reviewed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and it was determined that MacLean displayed a lack of judgment in his decisions, dealt with patients in a way that “raised a risk of perceived coercion”, and kept inadequate records.

The College found that MacLean’s conduct “exposes or is likely to expose patients to harm or injury in five out of twenty [patient] charts reviewed”.

Regarding the man assessed outside of a Tim Hortons cafe, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario found that MacLean had crossed professional boundaries with his casual approach to ending Dillon’s life, and found that the venue for the eligibility assessment was inappropriate.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “These sorts of cases show that assisted dying is not necessarily the pain-free death it is marketed as. The reality can be far more unpleasant. Such cases are yet another side-effect of the state facilitating suicide among a portion of the population, and we ought to remain grateful that the assisted dying Bills in Britain have failed”.

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Wildfires are reversing America’s progress on ozone pollution

2026-06-04T12:29:32.283-07:00

Smoky haze from wildfires in Canada blankets a New York City neighborhood on June 7, 2023. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

For decades, the United States made steady progress in reducing surface ozone pollution, the main ingredient in smog. But that progress – made as vehicles, industries and power sources became cleaner – is increasingly being overshadowed by a different and growing source of ozone pollution: wildfires.

Our team of atmospheric and wildfire scientists analyzed wildfires’ contribution to surface ozone levels from 2003 to 2024 across the United States.

We found that the gases in wildfire smoke have reversed the national ozone trend, forcing a shift from declining ozone levels prior to 2015 to increasing ozone levels after 2015. We also found that the number of ozone-related premature deaths due to wildfires has been increasing by about 300 deaths per year since then.

Battling smog

Most people know ozone as the protective layer of the atmosphere high above the Earth that shields the planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation. But ozone has two very different faces.

High in the atmosphere, ozone is beneficial. Near the ground, it is a harmful air pollutant that can irritate the lungs and worsen respiratory diseases.

Los Angeles made ozone visible to the nation in the 1940s and 1950s, as thick, eye-stinging smog often blanketed the city. It turned an invisible chemistry problem into a public-health crisis people could see and feel. That crisis helped motivate decades of air pollution control efforts in California and, later, across the United States.

After the passage of the Clean Air Act and its amendments in the 1970s, the U.S. made steady progress in cleaning up surface ozone. Regulations on vehicles, power plants and industrial sources reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides and other ozone-forming chemicals.

To monitor the progress, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has over 1,000 stations that measure ozone around the country. They cover many places, but mostly urban areas, and do not measure ground-level ozone everywhere at the neighborhood scale.

We were able to fill in the gaps by combining those monitoring station measurements with satellite-derived information about air pollution and human activity, along with weather and air quality model simulations. We then used artificial intelligence to estimate daily surface ozone levels everywhere in the contiguous U.S., with data every square kilometer, over the past 22 years.

The results show that national progress in reducing surface ozone reversed around 2015 as North America began to face more severe wildfires. In many regions, ozone levels are now increasing, especially in the western U.S. and the Midwest, where smoke and gases from wildfires are becoming more common as they are transported through the air.

Overall, surface ozone levels that had been falling by about 0.65 part per billion per year from 2003–2015 have since increased by about 0.13 parts per billion per year. If wildfires hadn’t been an influence, we found, the trend of falling surface ozone levels would have continued instead.

Ground-level ozone since 2015 has increased the most in areas where wildfire smoke increased. Minnesota, Wisconsin and other parts of the Midwest have experienced several summers of wildfire smoke from Canada. The map uses national ambient air quality standards. Weizhi Deng, et al., 2026

People often think of wildfires as a problem for the western U.S., but smoke and gas pollutants from their emissions can travel thousands of miles, affecting communities far from the fires themselves.

The 2023 Canadian wildfires offered a vivid example. In much of the Midwest, ozone reached unhealthy levels for more than a week. The impact of wildfire smoke reached as far as Georgia and New York. That year, an additional 43 million Americans lived in areas with ozone exceeding healthy standards compared to previous years because of increased wildfire emissions.

Smoke reached far into the U.S. during Canada’s destructive 2023 wildfire season, as these measures of ground-level ozone over three weeks that summer show. Weizhi Deng, CC BY-ND

As the Earth and its atmosphere warm, wildfire seasons are becoming longer and more severe across many parts of North America, and the trend is predicted to continue. In line with projections, Canada experienced its most devastating wildfire seasons on record in 2023 and 2025. In January 2025, destructive fires burned more than 16,000 homes and businesses in and around Los Angeles during a time of year when such events have historically been uncommon.

The shift toward more fires suggests that the rising ozone problem could become even greater in the future. That’s a problem for human health.

Reducing exposure to ozone and its health risks

People can reduce their exposure to ozone pollution by checking air quality forecasts and limiting outdoor activities when wildfires are sending smoke into the air. But protecting public health in the long run will require broader actions to reduce ground-level ozone itself.

That includes efforts to mitigate fire risk by improving wildfire management, such as reducing brush and other dry undergrowth that can fuel fires, and also scaling back the causes of rising global temperatures, such as the burning of fossil fuels. As temperatures rise, the ground loses moisture, creating conditions for more extreme fires.

Protecting public health also means strengthening air quality forecasting systems to provide accurate early warnings, so people can take precautions, and maintaining air pollution monitoring networks and investing in satellite sensors to continue measuring progress, so problems can be identified and fixed.

Jun Wang receives funding by NASA’s Terra, Aqua, and Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership program, NASA’s Modeling and Analysis program, NASA’s Health and Air Quality program, the NSF's Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research program, and NOAA Radiative Budget program.

Meng Zhou and Weizhi Deng do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Weizhi Deng, Ph.D. Student in Atmospheric and Environmental Science, University of Iowa from Home – The Conversation https://bit.ly/4x8WE1v
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Pro-Life Group Fights in Court to Stop Virginia Amendment for Unlimited Abortions

2026-06-04T10:44:34.469-07:00

Today, our Founding Freedoms Law Center (FFLC) attorneys are in Tazewell County Circuit Court for the first hearing over our lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the unlimited abortion amendment planned for this November’s ballot. Please pray for them!

Learn more about our case here: FFLC Files Lawsuit Challenging VA Abortion Amendment

At issue in today’s hearing is whether the leftist pro-abortion group “Virginians for Reproductive Freedom” (VRF) has the right to formally intervene in our lawsuit and join the government to oppose us. VRF is a “referendum committee” that has already raised $500,000 and plans to pour millions more into Virginia to persuade voters to support the abortion ballot initiative. We believe Virginia case law is clear that they have no right to intervene.

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But VRF’s attempt to intervene in our case does speak volumes about the threat the left perceives this lawsuit to be to their efforts to permanently enshrine unlimited abortion in Virginia. In fact, they are being represented by the Elias Law Group, considered by many to be the leading law firm in the country that works to push leftist election causes.

Clearly, our lawsuit got all the right people’s attention. Clearly, they know that we could be successful in stopping this flawed and deceptive abortion amendment in court. Given recent court rulings overturning the redistricting amendment in Tazewell, they clearly have reason to worry that their golden calf of child sacrifice could be thrown down.

As you can surely see, what we are engaged in is ultimately a spiritual battle of good versus evil, and the side of evil has seemingly limitless resources. Yet we are on God’s side, and we know He can do whatever He wants. But He most often accomplishes His purposes through the faithful prayers and personal sacrifices of individual people.

We cannot do this without your help. Thank you for your continued support. We will keep you informed as this case moves forward.

LifeNews Note: Victoria Cobb is the president of The Family Foundation, based in Virginia.

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Jesus: “This is My Body, Sacrificed for You.” Feminists: “This is My Body, Sacrifice for Me”

2026-06-04T10:44:33.509-07:00

Shortly after I became full-time National Director of Priests for Life in 1993, I was reviewing a series of videos of pro-life demonstrations. I had taken part in many of them before, and had seen the antics of the pro-abortion counter-demonstrators, as they chanted their slogans, trying desperately to justify the killing of babies.

At one point, a woman was screaming into the camera, pointing to herself and saying, “This is my body! This is my body!!”

And it struck me that these were familiar words. In fact, as a priest, these were the words I would say every day at the altar. These are the words Jesus said the night before he went to the cross. “This is my Body, given up for you.”

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And here we have the clearest, most dramatic manifestation of the fact that abortion is a spiritual battle.

Despite differences among Christian denominations about the Lord’s Supper, we all agree that Jesus freely sacrificed himself, in his human body, on the cross, and that this sacrifice is the manifestation of God’s love and the source of life.

“This is my body.” The same words are used by the Savior of the world to bring life, and by the advocates of abortion to bring death. They are spoken from opposite ends of the universe, with totally opposite meanings and results.

When Jesus speaks these words, He is teaching us the meaning of love: I sacrifice myself for the good of the other person. Abortion is the opposite, because it sacrifices the other person for the good of oneself.

I began speaking about this insight in those early years of my Priests for Life ministry, and gave them a worldwide platform while working at the Vatican from 1997-1999. We created a brochure about it, and then I asked Catholic singer Dana (Rosemary Scallon) to write a song about it. EWTN then produced the music video, which won a Catholic video award in 2000. (See www.EucharistAndProLife.org.)

Other Catholic writers gave the theme additional publicity later in that decade, and this comparison has not lost its force.

This Sunday, many Christians will celebrate the feast of “Corpus Christi,” the Body of Christ. We will reflect on this gift of self-giving love. As we continue to engage the fundamental moral debate on abortion, let’s allow these four words to teach us what is at stake. Yes, we have our bodies, our freedom, our choices. But why? We have them so that we can freely give ourselves away in love, that others may live.

That is the meaning and purpose of life, and the reason we are pro-life.

LifeNews.com Note: Frank Pavone is the national director for Priests for Life. This column originally appeared at Gateaway Pundit.

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Illinois Puts Women’s Health at Risk by Hiding Abortion Records

2026-06-04T10:44:32.390-07:00

A doctor can only make good medical decisions when they have the full picture.

Unfortunately, Illinois lawmakers just passed legislation that moves us further away from that standard.

HB 5295 separates abortion-related records from a woman’s broader medical record, creating a system where healthcare providers do not have access to important information about a patient’s medical history.

This legislation moves Illinois in the opposite direction of good healthcare for women.

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Separating abortion-related records from a woman’s broader medical history means that doctors will be making decisions without the complete picture, putting women at risk of receiving inappropriate or inadequate care.

Imagine a woman seeks emergency treatment after experiencing severe bleeding, infection, or other complications from a recent abortion. If the physicians treating her are unaware of that procedure because relevant records are hidden, they may not have the information needed to quickly identify the source of the problem and provide the best possible care.

The same activists who insist abortion is healthcare have now pushed legislation that makes healthcare less informed and less safe for women.

Governor Pritzker is expected to sign the bill into law, but our efforts to mitigate the damage of this bill are just beginning.

Every year, we reach thousands of Illinoisans through digital campaigns, community outreach, educational resources, events, and advocacy efforts that help people understand the real-world consequences of policies coming out of Springfield.

We want to educate women and healthcare workers about this law so that they won’t be blindsided into offering or receiving potentially harmful care.

Because of your support, we can continue educating families, equipping healthcare professionals, and helping Illinoisans stay informed about policies that impact women and children across our state.

Thank you for helping us be a voice for truth and life in a state that desperately needs both.

LifeNews Note: This column is written by Illinois Right to Life President Mary Kate Zander.

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No Matter What They Call Abortion, It Still Kills a Baby

2026-06-03T17:09:49.880-07:00

If you’ve had a chance to read any of the many stories I’ve written about the abortion-driven, stumbling Democrat party, you know that a common theme is not to rethink their embrace of baby killing and other stupid positions but to “reframe” them. Assumption? That the American people are gullible and stupid. The Democrats’ contempt for the intelligence of Americans is a primary reason they are in the shallow end of the electoral pool.

This reminded me of something I talked about a while back. The ACLU and the creative agency Oberland –the “purpose-driven ad agency”–had convinced themselves that they had a humdinger of a strategy to make abortion more palatable.

“Forcing people to rethink the language they use, how they empathize and understand who is being affected by these restrictions, might actually put pressure on legislation and these restrictive laws and these restrictive laws and help overturn them,” said Kate Charles. Oberland’s Chief Strategy Officer.

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So what language were they proposing?

“I think getting people to say I’m pro-life is much easier to say than ‘I am pro-forced pregnancy,’”

It’s as simple as that? Changing “pro-life” to “forced pregnancy” and suddenly pro-lifers will be disarmed, falling into babbling incoherence and irrelevance?

Sort of. The ad [titled “Disclaimer”]follows a pregnant woman who wants an abortion. She is stymied by “unnecessary restrictions and politically-motivated bans,” we were told. It goes without saying that their ad campaign not only totally ignored the unborn child but also ridiculed protective legislation that many, many states have enacted .

“We felt by changing the terminology [to forcing pregnancy] we were highlighting the pregnant person’s life, and the cruelty and control that politicians are trying to enforce on people, which are very un-American, and these restrictive laws that are controlling bodies,” said Charles.

This is the Abortion Industry’s umpteenth iteration of isn’t-abortion-wonderful. They all have in common the same basic lie: Just ignore who it is that you are getting rid of. In this case, it’s just the same-old, same old: The ad “reframes the issue as a battle between government-mandated forced pregnancy and reproductive freedom.”

Mariah Cooper wrote

The campaign will follow up with a second spot, titled “Forced,” in February, which will air digitally and on streaming services. The spot shows what people seeking abortions are forced to deal with, including paying for care, hours of travel, taking unpaid leave from work and oftentimes, staying pregnant.

The campaign will also include digital ad units, which are geographically targeted to states where abortion access is restricted.

Only the willfully blind will fall for “forcing pregnancy.” You can “reframe” abortion six ways from Sunday but it remains a cruel, brutal, unnatural act.

LifeNews.com Note: Dave Andrusko is the editor of National Right to Life News and an author and editor of several books on abortion topics. He frequently writes Today’s News and Views — an online opinion column on pro-life issues.

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Men, Commitment, and Abortion: The Missing Half of the Conversation

2026-06-03T17:09:43.455-07:00

For decades, the Pro-Life Movement has worked tirelessly to respond to women facing unexpected pregnancies and defend legal protections for the preborn, but new research suggests that the prevalence of abortion reflects a deeper cultural crisis related to relational trust and commitment in modern relationships.

Existing data shows women choose abortion for a variety of complex reasons that are largely multi-factorial. However, many frequently cite relational instability or unreliability of the father as a contributing factor in their decision. In addition, the CDC reports that 87% of women seeking abortions are unmarried, and many are not in a serious relationship with the father of the child.

Abortion research has focused almost exclusively on women’s experiences, but new research from Vitae Foundation into men’s emotional responses to unexpected pregnancy revealed that the quality of the relationship with the mother was one of the strongest predictors of how men responded to the possibility of parenthood.

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Men who could envision a future with their partner were significantly more likely to support choosing life. Conversely, men who did not see long-term potential in the relationship were more likely to encourage abortion or remain ambivalent.

In a culture that has increasingly normalized casual sex while deprioritizing commitment and marriage, many perceive abortion as necessary to avoid a lifelong connection to someone they do not see themselves building a future with. A society seemingly cannot sustain such a culture of “sexual freedom” and de-prioritization of commitment without abortion as a backstop.

For leaders of pro-life organizations seeking to end abortion, these trends raise an important question: are we adequately addressing the relational and cultural conditions that make abortion feel necessary in the first place?

Father Wounds and the Relationship Factor

It should not surprise us that younger generations struggle to form strong relationships and question their own judgment in choosing a partner, after witnessing the devastating effects of divorce in previous generations. Many have firsthand experience that they carry into adulthood, shaping the way they approach relationships and commitment.

In fact, one of the striking insights from Vitae’s study was the profound impact of father wounds. Many men interviewed had experienced absent fatherhood themselves and expressed a fierce determination to avoid repeating their fathers’ mistakes, resolving instead to be present and engaged fathers.

Yet past wounds and distrust can still shape how men perceive relationships, even when those fears are not warranted with their current partner. The research indicated that men, in particular, needed a strong sense of trust in their partner and in the relationship before they could envision a future with her that included a child.

Men in short-term or low-trust relationships were significantly more likely to consider abortion, often viewing a child as an extension of a commitment they were unwilling to make. In contrast, men who felt secure in their relationship and emotionally connected to their partner were far more likely to support parenting.

These findings reveal an uncomfortable truth: abortion cannot be separated from the broader decline of relational trust and long-term commitment. A society shaped by casual relationships and delayed marriage becomes increasingly incompatible with children, ultimately resulting in a culture widely accepting of abortion as a way to avoid the lifelong implications of an uncommitted relationship.

And in a culture that increasingly avoids duty and traditional responsibilities, abortion can begin to feel like the mature or practical response to rectify a mistake amidst difficult circumstances.

Rebuilding a Culture of Commitment

Alexandra DeSanctis, fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, made a similar observation in her article “Fathers Can Help Prevent Abortion.” She argues:

“But without restoring a culture of marriage, a culture in which sex takes place primarily in the context of love and commitment, a significant number of people will always believe that women need access to abortion in order to be equal to men and free. No welfare check or government program, no pregnancy-resource center or supportive community, can replace a husband and a father.”

Her argument appears consistent with the broader relational trends reflected in the data surrounding abortion decisions. Yet there are practical ways our culture can work to reduce abortion.

It is imperative that pro-life organizations recognize that addressing abortion requires more than responding at the point of crisis. We must also help rebuild the relational and cultural foundations that make welcoming children feel possible.

According to a 2025 report by the Institute for Family Studies, many young adults are largely unaware that there are intentional steps they can take to build durable relationships and marriages. The report notes:

“There is a growing need to help young people understand that the true roots of enduring marriage are within their reach and that there are proactive ways that they can initiate and form an enduring union. Given young adults’ high desire for marriage, understanding the truth of how loving and lasting marriages are formed can help the rising generation have confidence in their own ability to pursue this path in their own lives.”

If we can equip men with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to build healthy relationships and embrace their role as fathers, we can help create the relational context that makes choosing life more likely.

This may require leaders of pro-life organizations to adopt a more expansive definition of what pro-life advocacy is, broadening the conversation beyond abortion alone. If relational instability and lack of commitment are major drivers of abortion decisions, then educational efforts should also address relationship formation, fatherhood, trust, and marriage. Organizations that help young people form durable relationships are ultimately addressing one of the root causes of abortion.

The Missing Piece

It is widely acknowledged that the father of the child has the most influence on an unexpected pregnancy. However, many men enter these conversations programmed by decades of cultural messaging surrounding “her body, her choice,” leading them to assume that the most supportive and appropriate response is, “I’ll support whatever you choose.”

What men do not realize, though, is that some women are resentful of this kind of response, as they perceive the response as leaving the burden of the decision entirely on their shoulders.

In a culture where parenthood is increasingly viewed as optional, many women long to hear reassurance that the father of the child will step forward rather than step away.

The abortion industry has worked diligently to ensure that men are entirely excluded from conversations related to unexpected pregnancies and that the only appropriate response is to affirm her “choice”—whatever it may be.

If we hope to end abortion, pro-life organizations must not only allow men a voice in these conversations but also address the deeper relational ills driving abortion decisions in the first place. This research suggests that fatherhood, relationship stability, and cultural attitudes toward commitment deserve far great attention within pro-life educational and outreach efforts.

A culture that deprioritizes commitment and delays responsibility will continue to view abortion as necessary. Rebuilding a culture of life ultimately requires rebuilding a culture of trust, commitment, and fatherhood.

LifeNews Note: Barbara Adamson is the Digital Media Coordinator for Vitae Foundation, a national nonprofit that facilitates research on abortion decision-making to inform effective pro-life messaging. Her writing has also appeared in The Christian Post.

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