The Trump administration has implemented a near-total ban on abortion and abortion counseling at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities across the nation. The policy move not only affects veterans but also the families of eligible veterans covered by the VA’s…
Laws shield taxpayer-funded crisis pregnancy centers from oversight
Half a century after Christian abortion opponents founded the first crisis pregnancy centers, the centers receive hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. But a powerful legal group is working to shield them from taxpayer oversight. Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian…
Banning abortion is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes
Pregnant women crossing borders to get an abortion. People who miscarry facing jail time or dying from infection. Doctors who won’t perform lifesaving procedures on a pregnant patient for fear of prosecution.
The Perfect Victim Myth undermines bodily autonomy
AI-enhanced perfection, whether by fashion magazines or Hollywood, is perpetuating unattainable standards for what it means to be a person, but this new model isn’t new. For generations, marginalized people have been subject to the myth of the perfect victim….
Religion often shapes someone’s view of abortion – but what about a woman’s actual decision?
Many factors can shape how someone views abortion – gender, age and education, to name a few. Around the world, however, religious belief is the most powerful predictor that someone will disapprove, as I document in my 2025 book, “Fetal…
The Culture War’s Quiet Front: Abortion Opinion in 2024
I can’t write a newsletter about religion and politics without including a semi-regular update on how the public feels about the topic of abortion. Looking back on the 2024 election, I think the Democrats believed it was going to be…
Pregnant veterans, criminalizing abortion and opposition to IVF
Reproductive rights continue to weaken in the United States under the Trump administration, and pregnant people are dying. It’s nearly impossible to keep up with the news as states continue to change their laws to make it harder for pregnant…
Texas anti-abortion bill would nullify RFRA
As the Texas Legislature convenes for yet another special session this week, lawmakers will face a surprise item buried on the agenda that would affect religious liberty. Senate Bill 7 (originally Senate Bill 2880 and then Senate Bill 6), which…
Lawsuits stack up, but Trump administration stonewalls challenges to Anti-Christian Bias Task Force
A constitutional watchdog group has filed a second lawsuit against the Trump administration’s Anti-Christian Bias Task Force. The president created the commission in a Feb. 6 executive order directing U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch investigations into “anti-Christian conduct”…
‘Pro-family’ policies may worsen American women’s maternal health
Christian groups that identify as “pro-family” say America’s declining birth rates are an urgent crisis, and they support President Trump’s efforts to spawn a “baby boom.” But policies promoted by these groups may actually make becoming mothers more difficult —…
Religious Challenges to Abortion Bans are Winning in Unlikely Places
Almost immediately after Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health overturned the federal right to an abortion, more than a dozen states passed legislation effectively banning abortion. Soon thereafter, Jewish individuals and groups working in coalition with other religious groups began to challenge these…
3 years after abortion rights were overturned, contraception access is at risk
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization eliminated a nearly 50-year constitutional right to abortion and returned the authority to regulate abortion to the states.