The algorithms are a funny thing. On my screens, Andy Burnham, the new prime minister of Britain, is everywhere. So be it. The skit on the London version of Saturday Night Live got funny once the comedian portraying him walked into the room. But on a more serious note, his father just died of dementia. I had no idea that was going on in his life as Parliament debated legalizing assisted suicide. Parliament rejected assisted suicide, albeit in a close vote, on Friday. Burnham’s father died on Monday.
This is beautiful, from an interview about his father on the day Burnham became PM.
This speech may very well be the reason Parliament voted the way it did. God bless Ashley Dalton.
California Goes for a Golden Opportunity to Double Down on the Culture of Death
Insane. Evil. Total waste of taxpayer money. These are some of the things that come to mind when I think about The People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions. There were closing arguments in the endless-feeling trial. The attorney general of California believes it’s a priority to shut down any talk of abortion-pill reversal. Most Americans — maybe even most pro-lifers — probably don’t even know what that is. That’s for a mix of reasons. For one thing, it’s not a dramatic treatment. It’s progesterone. Progesterone is just about the most natural thing in the world when it comes to pregnancy (and even, in the biological life of a woman). So what is abortion-pill reversal, or APR? If you have taken mifepristone, the first pill in the standard abortion-pill cocktail, it is possible to take progesterone and stop the impact of the mifepristone. Mifepristone blocks progesterone, making the uterus inhospitable to the unborn child. So adding progesterone can undo the mifepristone and save the life of the baby. It’s not guaranteed. The sooner after taking mifepristone the better. But if you were just pressured — or forced — to start a chemical abortion, this is a last option that might possibly save the life of your baby.
The chief madness of this lawsuit that California has brought against Heartbeat and RealOptions Obria is that it’s pretty much a miracle if you happen to have just taken the first pill and happen to know you might have a way out of the abortion still. I’ve seen a girl walk out of a Planned Parenthood, beside herself that she just took that first pill, find herself in a conversation with a sidewalk counselor, and wind up on the phone — in one situation I’m thinking of, with two Sisters of Life who immediately lined up a doctor to help with a reversal. In that case, the girl’s mother — who had insisted on abortion — later took the phone away from the girl. The pregnant 17-year-old had left the clinic to go pick up her brother from daycare — otherwise she seemed interested in going straight to meet the Sisters and get a breather from the pressure cooker of her life and this terrifying moment that she wasn’t allowed by her mother to tell her boyfriend about. “He’d love to be a father,” she said. She wanted life for this child, even though the pregnancy wasn’t planned. In the end, she never got the reversal. But there was another pregnancy, as there often is, and she went to the same Planned Parenthood. She was further along, and pills were not an option. Someone by the grace of God described the surgical abortion procedure to her and mentioned the point at which the heartbeat would stop. She immediately got the courage to leave. She was having none of that. She reconnected with that sidewalk counselor and then the Sisters. She’s raising that baby now.
In that case, knowledge of reversal actually was never even made use of, but it still wound up being lifegiving down the line. The story I mentioned was from New York, but it could have easily been California. The Golden State believes one of its priorities is to make sure that women aren’t even told about abortion-pill reversal. And that’s not because millions of abortions are being reversed by APR. It’s because the ideology of abortion is about the right to a dead baby. That’s why there have to be “born alive” bills. Because if the culture of death had its way, the baby who survives a failed abortion would be left to die. A former governor of the State of Virginia, a pediatric medical doctor, in fact talked about this reality in an infamous interview, thinking there was nothing controversial about what he was saying. That’s not where most reasonable people want our doctors to be. It suggests “do not harm” is gone.
Medicine is not just a vocation. It’s a business. And it’s been overcome with this ideology that does not value all life — only the lives that are most convenient.
I was listening in on some of the arguments on Thursday in the case against Heartbeat, and the poor people following me on X were subject to essentially me yelling at the Zoom window. They’ve tried to make it a pernicious threat to women that there is even a hotline — Heartbeat calls this the “helpline” — for women and girls who have taken that first abortion pill and would like to give reversing it a try. And here I thought we were supposed to believe abortion advocates like California Attorney General Rob Bonta were for choices. The attorney for the state on Thursday of course kept referring to “APR” — conveniently, you don’t even have to remind people that we are talking about the most intimate violence of abortion. I don’t know, but APR could sound like one of the groceries stores we had in New York when I was a kid (A&P), or something having to do with mortgage rates. Nope, it’s helping a mother with the only option left when the developing baby within her is about to unnecessarily die. California doesn’t want her to have that last potential chance for life. Gotta have another dead baby.
It drives me mad because we don’t tell women about all kinds of dangers and complications when it comes to abortion, contraception, and assisted reproductive technologies. But California doesn’t want the relatively small likely population that might access abortion-pill reversal to know it’s an option.
That’s not women’s health care or freedom or choice — silencing all knowledge of the option. Of course, what this is really about is the larger project of demonizing pro-life resources for pregnant women — because abortion is an industry, after all, that does rely on dead babies. And the less information and more euphemisms the better for the profits to be made.
I don’t how this case is going to shake out. But it’s certainly not a good sign that most of the country hasn’t even noticed it’s happening.
If you would like more information on the case, go here. And that helpline that saves the occasional life or more is here.
Dovie Died
You may have seen me mention Dovie Eisner, a wonderful man who fell into a coma in May 2025 that he never got out of. I’m heartsick to say he died last Friday — his brother shared the news late Wednesday. Please pray for the repose of his soul and for his family — I can’t stop thinking about his mother and father and their tremendous love for him. I hope I never forget his father praying the Psalms over him beside his hospital bed. I wrote a little more here. And there will be more. Please feel free to send me your remembrances of Dovie. I’ll be putting something together. (klopez@nationalreview.com)
Other Things
I’d like to think there was some language translation issue in this headline, but it does align with what the hemlocked-interest groups would want you to believe: “First-ever case of euthanasia on very young child, 2, was handled well: Dutch committee.” How on earth killing a child could ever be “handled well” is beside me and should be anathema to us. Of course, for as long as we are okay with abortion, we will be okay with infanticide. It’s not new, and it’s not going away. It’s only expanding and becoming more mainstream again.
The focus is to keep siblings together. There are:
12 furnished homes including two studio apartments for those transitioning out of foster care. With over 30,000 children in the system, Los Angeles has the highest population of children in foster care in the United States. Organizers said the village will offer programs focused on stability, support and care.
“A place where everyone is welcomed, a place that keeps families together, a place that creates community, a place where you can find hope in the most challenging of times,” Together California Executive Director Tim McCormick said in a statement to the local outlet.
Adoptive mother (and religious-freedom warrior) Melissa Buck talked about the importance of keeping siblings together with me here a few years ago.
Speaking of foster care and adoption: Oregon mother is free to adopt after winning legal battle over gender-ideology mandate
PENDLETON, Ore. — To resolve a lawsuit brought by Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys, Oregon child-welfare officials agreed to a court order freeing Jessica Bates to seek a license to adopt children from foster care without violating her religious beliefs about human sexuality.
Bates filed a lawsuit in April 2023 challenging an Oregon Department of Human Services rule that categorically excluded her from adopting any child—no matter their age or beliefs—because she would not lie to children about their identity by promoting the view that girls can become boys and vice versa. Under the agreed-upon court order, Bates may now reapply for her license and need not promote gender ideology to a vulnerable child.
Bill McGurn: Yes, Virginia, There Is an Abortion Vote
In November, Virginians will vote on an amendment to the state constitution Planned Parenthood says would “protect the right to abortion.” It would do much more than that.
Virginia illustrates how things have changed since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. That decision took abortion law out of the federal courts and returned it to the states and the people, acting at the ballot box and through their elected representatives.
So far there have been few polls on the Virginia amendment. But the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported earlier this month that the committee campaigning for passage raised $3 million through August — more than 10 times the $254,000 four pro-life groups raised in opposition.
But whether or not the amendment is approved, the vote itself is a step forward. Abortion is no longer a constitutional right. And that holds out hope for a more honest politics.
Judge shields more Catholic health providers as Illinois assisted suicide law takes effect
Pope Leo talked about “the precious gift of our humanity.” Citing the Second Vatican Council, he made clear that means abortion and euthanasia are “infamies.”
Around National Review
Wesley J. Smith:
• Italian Doctors Under Threat of Criminal Prosecution for Refusing Participation in Assisted Suicide
• Real Hope for Ethical Way to Reduce Wait for Organs
• Michael Brendan Dougherty: The New Morality of the Assisted-Suicide Cause
Michael J. New:
• The Importance of State of Louisiana v. FDA
• No, Pro-Life Laws Are Not Responsible for Reported Increase in Ectopic Pregnancy Deaths
• Kamden Mulder: One in Four Obamacare Plans Cover Elective Abortions Despite Hyde Amendment Restrictions, GAO Finds
Me:
• Feminists for Life announced a new executive director this week after 32 years of the force of nature Serrin Foster. I talked with Kara Sorenson-Smith here.
• America the Cool and Clever: Leaning into our Heritage of Virtue — an interview with Matthew Mehan about The American. Book of Fables
Upcoming
• Ross Douthat’s interview with Patrick Clancy airs this Sunday night. Caitlin Flanagan makes an excellent point here.
• Applications for Live Action’s North Star Fellowship for “rising” “pro-life leaders” are open through November 20.
• September 21, Pennsylvania March for Life in Harrisburg
• September 23–November 1: 40 Days for Life Fall Campaign
• September 25: Reclaiming Our Belovedness, from ITHIRST Initiative and Catholics in Recovery
• October 23–25, The 2026 MedConference: “Hands, Heart, and Mind at the Bedside,” at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School by The American Association of Medicine and the Person
Final Things
God bless Michael J. Fox and his family.
Thank you for being here. Come again. Holler to klopez@nationalreview.com between times. Always want to hear from you. Available for talks and things. Sign up for The Lifeline here.
See you again. God bless you!