Welcome back. Or hello for a first visit to The Lifeline, National Review’s new weekly pro-life newsletter (sign up here if you did not receive this in your inbox so you will next time). You’ll get a little of what’s in the news, what’s important, what’s practical, what’s of interest or bothering me this week, and other things. We want it to be a resource for you as you consider what more you can do to bring peace to the culture wars by making constructive contributions to the world instead of pouring salt into open wounds, as our media and politics excel at. Wherever you are label-wise when it comes to the most contentious human life/human rights issues, we hope there is something here for you to consider or make use of or further explore or share. And please always feel free to holler with ideas, projects, ministries, events, speaking invites, questions, anything to klopez@nationalreview.com.
She’s Not Just Pregnant, She’s a Superhero
So I know the latest superhero movie is Superman, but there are wonder women living among us. There’s a group out of Canada called Choice 42 that helps abortion-minded women and makes creative use of social media, including with wish-list items for specific moms and updates when babies are born. (If you follow me on social media, I frequently share their requests on behalf of mothers.) I imagine other updates along the way the longer they are around (high school and college graduations, the births of their own children . . .).
Choice 42 has one short video, in particular, that I wish every high school and college student in America would see. I wish everyone would see it and share it and talk about it. Women are capable of such amazing things when they have encouragement and support — and the simple, basic love we all need. Watch So, You’re Pregnant . . .” here. And have a conversation with a young person in your life about it.
Can Foster and Adoptive Families Flourish?
With the support of faith, they sure do. While encouraging total transparency about the challenges and what’s prudent for a family, Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, talks about the results of a new study that CAFO commissioned, some realties of domestic and international adoption, and the upcoming summit CAFO is having in Houston at the top of October. The summit is an opportunity for empty nesters considering whether there is a call to foster or adopt — maybe a teen — in their future, couples already fostering or who have adopted looking for some fellowship and resources, or anyone else with an interest in finding or bolstering their role in helping vulnerable children. Listen to our conversation here.
Child Protective Services: Think Law Enforcement Before Social Work
Abby Johnson had Naomi Schaefer Riley on her most recent podcast to talk about adoption and foster care. Naomi talks about some of the encouraging approaches she found in some Christian churches to wrap around families while she was researching her book No Way to Treat a Child: How the Foster Care System, Family Courts, and Racial Activists Are Wrecking Young Lives.
Abby is the former Planned Parenthood clinic director who runs a number of pro-life ministries now. Naomi is an expert on child welfare, housed at the American Enterprise Institute. Her Lives Cut Short project, mentioned during the interview, is especially important — doing work the government isn’t doing in keeping tabs on the children dying in the United States from child abuse and neglect.
Listen to Abby and Naomi here.
Do Babies Belong to Drug-Addicted Mothers?
Ideally, you want a child with her mother. But sometimes that isn’t possible. New Mexico has newly come to that conclusion after putting too many children in danger for too long. Naomi writes:
Around 2021, the media also started covering these “CARA babies” — children who were going home with parents after being born substance exposed and then dying as a result of incidents of drug-related neglect, including unsafe sleep deaths or ingesting drugs that their parents had left within easy reach.
In 2022, Ricky Renova died at age 2 from an overdose. After being born substance exposed, he was sent home with a mother who was using drugs in the hospital and who already had two other children permanently removed from her custody. A lawsuit filed after Ricky’s death alleged: “Knowing that they left Ricky and other children like him born into a legal and regulatory void that they were obligated to fill regarding how to treat and protect drug-exposed infants, CYFD and (the Department of Health) failed to ensure at any time that Ricky was safe in the care of his mother.”
[Maralyn Beck, executive director of the Child First New Mexico Network,] estimates (based on her viewing of local autopsy reports since 2019) that there was at least one dead baby per month who was born substance-exposed. She fears there have been many more, pointing to the case of Brianna Stallings, who fell asleep on her 2-month-old, suffocating her and then burying her body so no one would find out.
Finally, it seems, the public had enough, and there was sufficient pressure on the legislators and the governor to fix things. The legislature passed a bill in February to address the problem, but now the governor has expedited things. “The evidence is, kids belong with their biological parents, right? But it creates conflict (when) you add fentanyl and alcohol and guns, and you’ve got a system that’s far too risky for us to be fighting to rebut the presumption that they’re not safe.” So, [Governor Michelle] Lujan Grisham explained, “We’re just switching it. ‘You’re not safe, we’re all involved.’”
If Adoption Is as American as Apple Pie, Why Don’t Americans Adopt More?
If you haven’t caught up with the new study from Elizabeth Kirk and Ryan Hanlon yet, they have a piece this week with the Institute for Family Studies, “Why Most Americans Admire Adoption But Don’t Choose It.”
And watch our video conversation about the study here.
Foster Considerations
Not everyone is called to foster or adopt. “Real Life Foster Mom” (on Facebook; on Instagram) has a good initial list for anyone thinking about how to start to make a contribution.
- Become a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate)
- Mentor or tutor
- Babysit or provide respite care
- Donate clothes and essentials
- Support foster care closets or pantries
- Bring a meal, or a coffee
- Help run errands
- Use your skills to support foster kids — like therapy, tutoring, photography, or haircuts
- Pray and encourage
- Help foster youth aging out of care navigate adulthood
- Support those who have already aged out of care
#FosterCare #DoSomething
Naomi makes the CASA recommendation, too. It’s a good way to help a child. It’s also a good way to get an immersion in what child welfare looks like in your area.
Planned Parenthood, Crushed?
So, about word choice . . .
Michael New, longtime contributor to National Review Online, found a Planned Parenthood ad on one of his screens that declared: “We are feeling crushed.” It didn’t take long for comments on social media about how unborn babies who are actually crushed to death by Planned Parenthood feel. They brought that on themselves there.
On a lighter note, though, when I googled to try to find the ad, Google AI was concerned for me and had advice to offer. I had searched for: “we are feeling crushed planned parenthood.” This is what AI had for me:
It appears you are expressing concern about Planned Parenthood and potentially feeling overwhelmed by the challenges it faces. Many people feel this way, especially when facing difficult news or changes related to healthcare access and policy. Planned Parenthood, despite providing a range of services beyond abortion, including contraception, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment, is facing financial pressures and clinic closures, particularly in some areas. These challenges can feel crushing for both those who rely on Planned Parenthood for care and those who support its mission.
Acknowledge your feelings: It’s normal to feel hurt, angry, confused, or sad when something you value is threatened or undergoing significant changes.
Talk to someone you trust: Sharing your feelings with friends, family, or a therapist can provide comfort and perspective. . . .
Focus on self-care: Engage in activities that bring you joy and help you relax, such as exercise, hobbies, or spending time in nature. Consider professional help: If you’re struggling to manage your mental health, seek professional help from a therapist or counselor. Planned Parenthood itself offers mental health resources and referrals in some areas.
I’m doing okay with Planned Parenthood’s being defunded — delighted even — though we have miles to go in a fair judiciary and in making sure women and girls and families are inundated with access to alternatives to abortion. I don’t think Planned Parenthood wants me coming there for my mental-health problems. And even if we all wanted that to happen, my Planned Parenthood offers me abortion and gender-affirming care, but no mental-health options, on its website.
Rather than being upset about Congress’s finally defunding Planned Parenthood, even for a year, I’m encouraged by the West Virgina ruling this week that lets stand the state’s protection of women and the unborn against the abortion pill cocktail. As the president of March for Life — also not losing sleep over Planned Parenthood’s defunding — put it Tuesday night:
Don’t sleep on the Fourth Circuit’s decision today re whether a state can restrict abortion drugs. In other words, when the fed govt has approved a drug to be on the market, can a state nonetheless ban it? CA4 says YES. This is huge. The court — in the first federal appellate decision re mifepristone access — says states are free to regulate abortion drugs more strictly than the feds do.
That’s a win for freedom and life and women’s health care, thanks to Alliance Defending Freedom and the governor and attorney general of West Virginia.
Death of the Irish
Abortions are up 300 percent in Ireland since it became legal there in 2018. Three hundred percent. This reminds me of being at a lunch with a prospective Republican presidential candidate, years ago. He was positively giddy about the possibility of Ireland’s adopting a flat tax. (No, this was not Phil Gramm or Steve Forbes.) The late, great Kate O’Beirne, who was probably Washington editor of NR at the time, replied: “But they are post-Christian.” He had expected O’Beirne (née Walsh) to be at least as excited as he was (and from the magazine that once endorsed Gramm for president!). That took the wind out of his erin-go-flat sails, alas.
Empire State of Waiting Mode
A number of news outlets asked me this week: What’s up with the assisted-suicide legislation in New York? Did Kathy Hochul secretly veto it? Did it become law, and we were too distracted by Jeffrey Epstein or something to notice? No. While the assembly and senate both passed the doctor-assisted suicide law, it has not been officially presented to the governor yet. It may be months. Do pray for the miracle of wisdom.
By the way, speaking of New York and life matters: Texas keeps trying to get some justice/punishment for an abortion doctor who sent abortion pills to Texas, where abortion, in case you haven’t heard, is illegal. “No way in hell. New York won’t be bullied,” remains the state’s answer. (Quote from Governor Hochul.)
Lord, help the abortion capital of the world repent and protect the most vulnerable. The upside of Andrew Cuomo’s still being in the picture in the New York City mayoral race is maybe we can more properly revisit what happened in nursing homes during Covid under his gubernatorial watch, because of his administration. We can’t have any confidence we won’t repeat history if we don’t even acknowledge why deaths happened unnecessarily. And what is a healthier culture of aging? It’s not assisted suicide. And it’s not warehousing. The Little Sisters of the Poor and the Hawthorne Dominicans have the right idea. More on them another day (though feel free to click and explore and support).
Around National Review
Michael New: New Data Show Abortion Rate Increases Overseas
Moira Gleason: Federal Appeals Court Upholds State’s Ability to Regulate Mifepristone
Benjamin Rothove: Nearly One-Third of Pregnancies in England End in Abortion, New Report Shows
John Gerardi: What Defunding Planned Parenthood (for a Year) Will Do
To lose out on approximately $700 million, even for one year, will be devastating to an organization that is already struggling and nearly impossible to make up via increased donations or increased state funding. Even if they do find more revenue from such sources, Planned Parenthood will face such an enormous one-year loss that it will have to downsize: in some cases, massively. . . .
Deep-blue California might be the state where Planned Parenthood experiences the most financial pain. In total, Planned Parenthood’s seven California affiliates in 2023 had $583.3 million in expenses and $599.8 million in revenue, of which $475.75 million was from program services. While most Planned Parenthood affiliates’ revenue is derived roughly 50–50 from donations and clinic services, the California affiliates receive 81.5 percent of their revenue from clinic services, the bulk of which derives from Medicaid (in California, Medi-Cal). As a result, they could be particularly devastated by a loss of Medicaid revenue.
Planned Parenthood is arguing that it would need $25 million per month, $300 million for a year, in additional state funding to make up the loss of federal funds in California. Given the $12 billion budget deficit that Governor Gavin Newsom is desperately trying to resolve, this money for Planned Parenthood is not likely to materialize. In fact, two months ago, Newsom infuriated Planned Parenthood by trying to take for other purposes state funding earmarked for family planning. If federal funding is cut off, Planned Parenthood’s California clinics will go from making $16.5 million in profit in 2023 to suffering a nine-figure loss in 2026. That would be a train wreck, and there is almost no way that donations or other funding sources could make up the loss.
A K-Lo Rant
Pure Courage in the Christian Tradition: Knowing Saint Kateri Tekakwitha and Her Living Legacy
Ongoing and Upcoming
Show Hope has an open application (deadline September 30) for families seeking financial adoption aid, with grants ranging from $8,000 to $12,000. Details here.
Show Hope also sponsors the HowToAdopt.org website.
(Show Hope was founded by Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman, who are themselves adoptive parents.)
Because it’s helpful to authors when we preorder their books on Amazon, and it’s helpful to the cause of building a culture of life to make sure pro-life books do well:
In late August, Charlie Camosy has this coming out: Living and Dying Well: A Catholic Plan for Resisting Physician-Assisted Killing.
And in earlier October, Leah Libresco Sargeant has The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto being published.
Thank you. Please, before you move on, would you make sure that you received this in your inbox, or sign up here to make sure you don’t miss an edition of The Lifeline? And would you please consider adding ten of your friends/neighbors/fellow countrymen to the list? Maybe we can help one another be a Lifeline to others by connecting here.
God bless you and the lives you most treasure.