A team of nuns measures photographic plates for the Carte du Ciel project, circa early 1900s. / Credit: On Being, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, via Flickr

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Scientists recently named four asteroids after four Catholic religious sisters who helped catalog about 500,000 stars in the Vatican portion of the Carte du Ciel “Celestial Map” star atlas of the early 1900s.

Sisters Emilia Ponzoni, Regina Colombo, Concetta Finardi, and Luigia Panceri expected to be working as nurses when they joined the Suore di Maria Bambina community in Milan. Instead, they spent up to 11 years researching 481,215 celestial bodies for the Vatican Observatory. Their discoveries were then published in a 10-volume catalog.  

In June and September of this year, scientists announced their decision to name four asteroids after the four Catholic religious sisters, the last of whom passed away in 1982.

The four asteroids named for the religious were discovered at the Mount Graham Observatory in Arizona, where the Vatican Observatory operates the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope about 200 miles southeast of Phoenix.

Asteroid naming is a long process. A celestial body must be observed, registered, reported, and given an identification number; the data is reviewed for any duplicate unidentified celestial bodies. 

Once an exact orbit is determined, the researcher who calculated the orbit — not the asteroid’s discoverer — has the right to propose a name. The name is then reviewed by the Working Group: Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN), which is run by the International Astronomical Union. 

Vatican helped lead star-mapping effort in early 20th century

Jesuit Father John Hagen undertook the star mapping project for the Vatican Observatory in the early 1900s and approached the Suore di Maria Bambini order for help. The order specialized in nursing and education, but at the request of Hagen, the order sent a pair of sisters — Sister Emilia and Sister Regina — to the observatory to join the project in 1910. 

Years later, in 1917, another pair followed: Sister Concetta and Sister Luigia. By 1921 the sisters had jointly cataloged nearly 500,000 stars.

The Vatican’s mapping project was part of a worldwide endeavor to create a celestial map. The Vatican had a select part of the night sky to map through photography and analyses, while nearly 20 other observatories worked on their respective sections. The project involved recording the brightness and position of 5 million stars.  

Popes Benedict XV and Pius XI later honored the sisters for their services. Vatican Observatory archivist Father Sabino Maffeo, SJ, at the age of 94, rediscovered the identity of the sisters almost a decade ago.

Jesuit Father Gabriele Gionti, who works at the Vatican observatory, also had an asteroid named after him this year, becoming the 41st Jesuit to have a celestial body named for him.

One of the oldest observatories in the world, the Vatican Observatory’s earliest roots date back to the 16th century and the reform of the Gregorian calendar. The observatory is located outside of Rome in the town of Castel Gandolfo and continues to make scientific breakthroughs.

Campaigners against assisted dying gather outside the Houses of Parliament ahead of a House of Commons vote that rejected the legislation on Sept., 11, 2015, in London. Members of Parliament have voted 330 to 118 against a bill that would have allowed doctors to help some terminally ill people end their lives. Campaigners from both sides of the debate gathered outside Parliament, holding placards and voicing their opinions ahead of the first House of Commons vote on assisted dying for 20 years. / Credit: Rob Stothard/Getty Images

London, England, Oct 4, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

U.K. Church and pro-life leaders have warned Prime Minister Keir Starmer that plans to introduce assisted suicide will put vulnerable people at risk.

Volunteers smile while distributing relief supplies at Immaculata Catholic School in Hendersonville, North Carolina, October 2024. / Credit: Immaculata Catholic School

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2024 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

A Catholic school in North Carolina has become a major distribution point for critical relief after Hurricane Helene devastated the region last week with deadly flooding and massive power outages.

Immaculata Catholic School in Hendersonville, North Carolina — about half an hour south of Asheville — shared on Facebook this week that it had become a “distribution center” for aid supplies after Helene tore through the state, killing dozens and knocking out power to millions.

The school “converted Sunday into a drive-thru pickup area, with volunteers handing out everything from hot meals to diapers to bottled water,” Immaculata posted on its Facebook page.

Catholic agencies in western North Carolina have been mobilizing to help with relief efforts amid devastating flooding caused by the remnants of the hurricane, which dumped torrential rain on mountain communities there leaving serious damage and dozens dead.

Even Immaculata itself was not spared. Flooding and leaks from the roof and windows at the school inundated multiple classrooms, the gym, and its new STEM lab. 

“Even in the face of mass tragedy, we see hope and God’s grace each day,” Immaculata Principal Margaret Beale said in the post. “Each day when we’ve run out of water, somebody comes by with a truck to resupply.”

The school said that “more than 1,500 families have been helped,” nearly all of them requesting water.

“This distribution will continue as long as needed,” said Father David O’Connor, parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville.

Beale, meanwhile, said local restaurants have contributed hot food to distribute to victims of the storm.

“You don’t really know what a luxury hot food is until it’s not available,” she said.

Pope Francis and King Philippe listen to a speech by Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo during the pope's trip to Belgium in late September 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Deutsch, Oct 4, 2024 / 11:50 am (CNA).

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo criticized Pope Francis for comments the pope made on abortion last week when he was returning to Rome from Belgium.

Knoxville Bishop Mark Beckman speaks to “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. / Credit: EWTN News

CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2024 / 09:30 am (CNA).

Bishop Mark Beckman of the Diocese of Knoxville in eastern Tennessee — an area heavily impacted by the recent Hurricane Helene — said in an interview with “EWTN News Nightly” this week that the storm’s “devastation” has led to mounting physical, financial, and emotional needs. 

Hurricane Helene made landfall last week, passing through multiple southeastern states during its trek through the U.S. and leaving destruction in its wake. The storm killed more than 200 people, with hundreds more reported missing. The hurricane was the deadliest storm to reach the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The Category 4 storm further left millions of people stranded without electricity and hundreds of thousands in flooded areas.

Flooding is affecting eastern Tennessee in particular. Tennessee authorities have issued a water contact advisory, warning the public to avoid contact with bodies of water affected by the flooding, as they could be contaminated. 

“I would say the most affected areas are the northeastern portion of our diocese, closest to the mountains, where most of the rain fell,” Beckman told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol on Thursday.

“We had the opportunity yesterday to visit a few of the most affected communities — Erwin, Tennessee, was one of the more strongly affected areas — and to witness firsthand some of the damage that took place up there, but also to meet some of the people who’ve been affected and also many of the people who are helping as volunteers right now to reach out to those folks,” the bishop said. 

Beckman said the response of people in the diocese “has been absolutely incredible.”

“Our Catholic Charities here, on the ground, has really reached out and helped with the physical needs of those communities in an incredible way,” Beckman said. “I’ve seen the volunteers at work and all of the supplies that gathered and staged up in that area.”

When asked about how people are processing the tragedy, the bishop said it’s had a heavy emotional impact. 

“The spiritual and emotional needs are significant,” Beckman said. “And I will tell you, the first group of people that I met was a circle of people who were caught up in the flooding that took place in the factory in Erwin, Tennessee,” he said.

“And there’s a lot of grief there, a lot of sadness. Those who survived, I think, probably are feeling some of that survivor’s guilt. And there are still people missing.”

An investigation is ongoing after 11 factory workers at Impact Plastics in Erwin, Tennessee, were swept away by cataclysmic flooding. At least two people died and five others are still missing. Several employees have said they weren’t permitted to leave in time to escape the flooding. 

Beckman noted that authorities in Erwin are looking for numerous missing persons in that area.

“The family members who are left are very distraught,” he said. “So I think the most important spiritual and emotional support we could give was simply being present with them. And we did pray with them. We listened to them, [we] had the opportunity just to spend some time helping them to express some of the things that they are feeling right now.”

When asked what the biggest needs are for the community, Beckman said there are a variety of basic necessities right now, but the financial impact will grow in the coming weeks. 

“The first need that came up right away was water, clean drinking water, and that has certainly been met in a huge, abundant way. We saw a lot of bottled water up there,” he said. “A lot of people still do not have electricity or good communication. Many have lost homes. Some people will need assistance with burials of family members.” 

“The needs would be across the board for things that we often take for granted, especially if people’s homes were flooded,” Beckman continued. “And it will be a while before some of those folks will be able to go back to work. So the financial needs, as we progress in the next several weeks, I’m sure, are going to mount.”

When asked how people can help, Beckman said that awareness, support, and prayer are key. 

“The most important thing is the awareness of what’s taking place so that the people know that they’re not forgotten,” he said.

The storm has caused devastation in large parts of the U.S., especially Tennessee’s neighbor, North Carolina, Beckman noted. Amid the “devastation,” Beckman said he is grateful to see people’s generosity. 

“There are national organizations that are helping, like Catholic Charities, to support the rebuilding efforts,” he said. “All of those things matter. And, of course, the prayerful support, you know, that people know that they’re not alone, that people are praying for them.”

“Sometimes we forget that each of these people have their own individual stories, and each one of them were caught unexpectedly in the remnants of the storm,” the bishop added. “And so it’s learning to accompany persons where they are right now at this particular moment.”

Photos of King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola. When abortion was first legalized in Belgium in 1990, King Baudouin chose to abdicate from his duties as king of the Belgians from April 3 to 5 in order not to sign the bill into law. When Baudouin died at the age of 63 in 1993, he had reigned continuously for 42 years except for those three days. / Credit: Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 4, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis called King Baudouin a man of faith who serves as an example for leaders today.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and also leads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. / Credit: "EWTN News In Depth"/Screenshot

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 3, 2024 / 15:25 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is asking the U.S. bishops to invite the faithful throughout the country to join in prayer on the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.

In an open letter to the bishops published Wednesday, Broglio lamented the “horrific attack” by Hamas on Israeli citizens on Oct. 7, 2023. He also expressed his sadness over the continued captivity of Israeli hostages, the deaths of the Gazan civilians killed in the ensuing war against Hamas, and the “dramatic rise” in antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes throughout the U.S. and the world.

“The terrible loss of life in Israel and in Gaza, as well as the spike in crimes of hate here in the U.S. and elsewhere, is a source of great sorrow to us as Catholics,” Broglio said.

He went on to say that “compassion is not a zero-sum game.”

“We hear the cries of lament of all our brothers and sisters — Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Muslims and Christians — all of whom have been traumatized by these events. We join in mourning all whose lives have been cut short. We share the earnest desire for lasting peace,” he emphasized.

Broglio also shared his dismay over the recent escalation of the conflict at the Israeli-Lebanese border. In recent weeks both Iran and the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah have launched hundreds of missiles into Israel. In response, Israel has launched a series of missile barrages and attacks into Lebanon.

Calling to mind the invitation for the faithful to participate in a day of prayer and fasting on Oct. 7 from the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Broglio asked his brother bishops to extend the commemoration to the faithful throughout the United States.

“Our Catholic faith teaches us to hope even amidst the darkest of circumstances, for Christ is risen from the dead. Out of death God brings forth a new creation,” he said.

“As this anniversary approaches, in a time of anguish and trauma,” he went on, “let us seek ways to express our solidarity with our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters. Let us also commit ourselves to combat all forms of hatred directed towards Jews and Muslims, and to work for a lasting peace in the land of the Lord Jesus’ birth.”

Broglio asked that his letter be distributed to the clergy and lay faithful throughout the Catholic Church in the United States “to invite them to join the Christians of the Holy Land, together with the Holy Father, Pope Francis, in fervent prayer for an end to the violence in the Holy Land, for the safe and prompt return of all hostages, and for the conversion of hearts so that hatred may be overcome, opening a pathway to reconciliation and peace.”

Autistic Catholics is an online resource and support system that offers weekly meetings for Catholics on the autism spectrum. / Credit: Autistic Catholics

CNA Staff, Oct 3, 2024 / 14:55 pm (CNA).

Several Catholics have banded together to create a support system for Catholics on the autism spectrum. Autistic Catholics, an online resource and support group, kicked off this week with the group’s first online meeting.

Allen Obie John Smith, a Catholic convert who lives in Ridgway, Colorado, with his wife, is the founding executive director of Autistic Catholics. Inspired by his own experience with autism, Smith — who goes by his middle name, John — founded the group this past summer to help build fellowship among autistic Catholics while giving them a voice. 

“I think my own experience of feeling alone as a diagnosed autistic person really contributed the most to the founding, and I knew I wasn’t alone in my feeling of isolation,” Smith told CNA. 

The new president of Autistic Catholics, Father Matthew Schneider, an openly autistic priest, told CNA the project is a response to Pope Francis’ call to go to the peripheries, “as autistic people are often on the periphery in our society.”

Schneider, who was ordained in 2013, is a priest with the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi and teaches at St. Patrick’s Seminary near San Francisco.

Filling a niche

Schneider noted that people with autism are disproportionately more likely to be atheists. 

“If we don’t fill that niche to help autistics live a full Catholic life, non-Catholic and non-Christian groups will do that and lead autistics away from Christ and his Church,” Schneider said. “We already know we autistics are about almost twice as likely (1.84 times) to never attend church and significantly more likely to be atheists and agnostics or to make their own religious system.” 

Schneider compared this to Catholic inculturation: evangelization “where you adapt how you explain the Gospel to reach people while maintaining the whole Gospel.”

“The differences in autistic brains create differences in communication that are analogous to differences between cultures,” Schneider explained. “The Church has evangelized each culture first from outside, but the biggest evangelization happened once one from inside this culture is able to explain the Gospel in a way appropriate to that culture.”

Facing challenges: sensory overload

People with autism face a variety of challenges, some of which can directly impact their faith life. Being involved in the parish community or even attending Mass can be a challenge for a Catholic who has autism.

Schneider and Smith, when asked how Catholics can better support the autistic community, both suggested “sensory-friendly Masses.”

Sensory overload, a common experience for someone with autism, is when a person experiences hypersensitivity in one of their senses: sound, sight, taste, touch, or smell, triggering a fight-or-flight response. People with other conditions such as anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may experience this as well. 

Mass offers “various sensory challenges” and may overstimulate olfactory (sense of smell), auditory, or visual senses, Smith told CNA. The lights might be too bright, the music too loud, or the scent of incense too strong. 

As a resource for neurodivergent Catholics, Schneider developed a sensory-friendly Mass directory, which often features not only Masses designed for autistic Catholics but also low forms of the Traditional Latin Mass that are often less stimulating. Some parishes, such as St. Pius X in Rochester, New York, even offer sensory-friendly rooms for neurodivergent Catholics attending Mass.

Schneider, who was diagnosed with autism early on in his ministry, has been working to build more resources for Catholics with autism in recent years.

“I had always felt different, but having a diagnosis alerted me to how I was different,” Schneider said, recalling his diagnosis of autism in 2016.

Following his diagnosis, Schneider searched for support but found there were few resources from a Catholic or Christian perspective.

“Given autistics are about 2% of the population, I realized this is a group the Church needs to reach out to,” he said. “As an autistic priest and religious, I realized some of that fell on me.” 

Schneider has since written a book on autistic prayer as well as published shorter pieces on sensory-friendly Masses in addition to the sensory-friendly Mass directory. 

Not everyone who is autistic struggles with sensory overload at Mass, Schneider noted. 

“The first thing I would suggest for non-autistic people to do to help is to ask autistic people where you are,” Schneider said. “Autism is a spectrum and different individuals struggle most with different things.”

Finding community

Finding community is another challenge autistic Catholics may face, whether it’s due to social differences or a lack of fellow autistic Catholics.

Smith wanted to form the group to “reach out to fellow autistic Catholics who may also be experiencing any type of loneliness, isolation, and lack of fellowship,” he said. 

“We often struggle with social clues so we can feel excluded even if that is not people’s intention,” Schneider said. 

While Autistic Catholics connects people online, Schneider suggested that parishes help initiate in-person communities.

Parishes could “help create autistic small groups where people can discuss both autistic struggles and the faith from an autistic perspective,” Schneider suggested.

People with autism may thrive among people with similar neurodivergence, but Schneider noted that there is “what is called the double-empathy problem.”

“Autistics and non-autistics seem to be able to communicate well with each other but there is often miscommunication in both directions between the two groups,” Schneider explained.

Having a voice 

In a world that offers many challenges for people on the autism spectrum, Smith believes that Catholics with autism should have a voice.

“We needed a way to communicate collectively; we needed representation from our point of view, as autistic Catholics, a special gift in and to the body of Christ,” Smith said. “I think that’s what this is: a voice of lamentation but also of joy in the gift of being autistic.”  

Smith explained that it’s important “to frame our perception from the viewpoint of those who are disabled.” 

“We may sometimes have support with sensory-friendly Masses, but our collective experience is still not yet fully apparent with regard to our family lives, work, and apostolate,” Smith said.

He hopes to make a difference by helping fellow autistic Catholics in “forming a collective voice while joining together in friendship while being encouraged to grow in the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.” 

Part of this voice is sharing that autism is a gift. 

Kaitey Sheldon, a board member for Autistic Catholics and a Catholic bioethicist, noted that autistic Catholics have much to offer within the body of Christ.

“Autistics and those who are neurodivergent not only belong to the body of Christ but offer beautiful, unique gifts to the Church and to the world,” Sheldon told CNA. 

The neurodiversity movement began in the 1990s with the work of Judy Singer, a sociologist on the autism spectrum who advocated for autism and other neurological differences to be viewed as variances, not deficits.  

“It’s a beautiful flourishing of the gift of autism in and for the body of Christ, once seen as a set of ‘deficits’ now, rather, as a neurotype itself with a sense of what it means to be gifted or twice exceptional,” Smith explained.

Smith also noted that the autistic community is moving away from categorizing people as high or low functioning. Instead, the group is “simply acknowledging the variety of support needs, needs we all share, to underscore the interdependence of human flourishing rather than this ugly view of ‘self-sufficiency’ as the goal of human life,” Smith said.

“We belong with one another sharing our various support needs and growing in mutual love and appreciation of one another as gifts,” he said.

Sheldon said the apostolate is all about “uplifting every member of the body of Christ.”

“I think of this apostolate as the friends who climbed the roof with a stretcher or the father begging Jesus to come to his home to heal his daughter — we are reaching out to him, seeking his love and mercy for autistics, who too often feel they are on the outside,” Sheldon said.

Hopes for the future 

Though the project is still in its early stages, Smith said dioceses across the U.S. that he has reached out to have had “an overwhelmingly positive response.” 

“People [were] saying things like, ‘We need this.’ and ‘This is a direct response to prayer,’” he said.

“The real fellowship, however, is just beginning to form,” Smith said. “I anticipate hundreds and hundreds will find a place of acceptance, belonging, encouragement, and support while growing in faith, hope, and charity as a community of friends.”  

The board of Autistic Catholics currently includes eight members, all of whom “either are autistic and have had direct experience feeling these challenges or identify strongly with the autistic community,” Smith noted. The group is awaiting approval for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

Sheldon said she hopes the ministry will be “a comfortable, affirming home” for people with autism and other neurodivergent people as well as those who love them. 

“I hope it is a place where the weekly meetings bring warmth and familiarity, a sense of importance and integral belonging in the Church,” she said. “And I do hope we are able to advocate and educate in dioceses so that the next generations of Catholic autistics are raised in an inclusive Church that recognizes their goodness, belovedness, and giftedness.”

null / Credit: Kryvosheia Yurii/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 3, 2024 / 12:10 pm (CNA).

A school board in Virginia will pay a teacher more than half a million dollars after he was fired for refusing to use a student’s transgender pronouns. 

The legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), representing Peter Vlaming in the dispute, said in an announcement this week that the West Point School Board “has agreed to pay $575,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees” to the teacher. 

Vlaming was dismissed by the West Point School District, about one hour east of the state capital of Richmond, in 2018 after he refused to use male pronouns to refer to a female student who believed she was a boy.

Vlaming had ”tried to accommodate the student by consistently using the student’s new preferred name and by avoiding the use of pronouns altogether” before his dismissal, ADF said. He sued the district in September 2019 over the firing, which he said violated his religious rights as an Anglican Christian. A lower court dismissed the suit, but in 2021 Vlaming appealed his case to the Virginia Supreme Court, which subsequently reinstated the case. 

“Peter wasn’t fired for something he said; he was fired for something he couldn’t say,” ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer said in the announcement. 

“The school board violated his First Amendment rights under the Virginia Constitution and commonwealth law,” Langhofer said.

Vlaming “was passionate about the subject he taught, was well-liked by his students, and did his best to accommodate their needs and requests.” But “he couldn’t in good conscience speak messages that he knew were untrue, and no school board or government official can punish someone for that reason.”

Vlaming in the announcement said his religious beliefs “put me on a collision course with school administrators who mandated that teachers ascribe to only one perspective on gender identity — their preferred view.”

“I loved teaching French and gracefully tried to accommodate every student in my class, but I couldn’t say something that directly violated my conscience,” he said, adding that he hopes the ruling “helps protect every other teacher and professor’s fundamental First Amendment rights.”

In addition to the payout, the school district will also change its policies to conform to new Virginia education rules the state put in place last summer. 

Those rules affirmed that parents in the state enjoy broad oversight of their children while enrolled in public school. They stipulate that parents exercise broad discretion over whether or not a child is permitted to present as a member of the opposite sex, including whether or not the child adopts new pronouns at school.

Parents also have control over whether or not their children are permitted to undergo “social transition” to a different “gender” at schools and whether or not the child “expresses a [different] gender” while in school.

null / Credit: BAUER Alexandre/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 3, 2024 / 04:30 am (CNA).

Here’s a roundup of the latest developments in the U.S. regarding abortion and pro-life issues.

Bishop responds to court’s striking down of pro-life law

In response to a court decision this week striking down Georgia’s pro-life law protecting unborn babies starting at six weeks, Savannah Bishop Stephen Parkes highlighted the damage done by abortion and urged abortion-minded women to “go to any Catholic church” for help.

“I am very disappointed in the ruling. We as a society need to remember the sacredness of human life and thus our responsibility to protect it. We need to listen to the cries of the unborn,” Parkes told CNA on Tuesday.

He said the ruling “opens up the potential for both the loss of innocent human life and for the psychological and sometimes physical damage abortion causes the people affected by it.”

He praised Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s decision to immediately appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court, saying it is “obviously a good thing.”

Kara Murray, a representative for Carr’s office, told CNA on Wednesday that the attorney general had requested an emergency block of the ruling to allow the pro-life law to continue to be enforced as the case works its way through the court.

Regardless of the legal outcome, Parkes said that “Catholics should continue doing what we’ve been doing even before the ruling, which is working to build a culture of life.”

“Laws protecting the unborn are important, but as we saw yesterday, laws aren’t necessarily permanent,” he said. “A culture of life is cultivated in the home. It is cultivated in the public square. It is cultivated when we help pregnant women, when we assist those in need, when we recognize Jesus Christ in our neighbor and offer hope and comfort.”

“For a woman feeling that an abortion is the only option,” Parkes said, “I urge you to talk to your pastor or to go to any Catholic church. I promise you; you are not alone and there are other options.”

Trump vows to veto national pro-life law

During the vice presidential debate on Tuesday night, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump posted on social media that he would veto any federal abortion ban sent to his desk.

“Everyone knows I would not support a federal abortion ban, under any circumstances, and would, in fact, veto it,” Trump said in a post written in all caps.

Though Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has previously said Trump would veto any national abortion restriction sent to him, this is the first time the former president has said this himself. Trump has previously said he would not sign a national abortion restriction. 

Consistent with his campaign’s messaging on abortion, Trump said in his post that “it is up to the states to decide based on the will of their voters.”

Trump noted that he supports exceptions for abortion in cases of rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is in danger.

He added that Democrats such as Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, support a “radical position of late-term abortion” up to the ninth month of pregnancy with “the possibility of execution of the baby after birth.”  

During the debate, Vance confronted Walz about a Minnesota bill he signed as governor that removed language that had previously required doctors to “preserve the life and health of the born-alive infant” after a failed abortion. The new standard only requires doctors to “care for the infant who is born alive” but does not expressly require them to take lifesaving measures.

In response Walz claimed “that’s not what the law says.” He did not explain his understanding of the law any further but accused Vance of “trying to distort the way a law is written to try and make a point.” 

Ohio reports uptick in abortions in 2023

The Ohio Health Department released a new report showing an uptick in abortions in 2023.

According to the report, the total number of abortions in Ohio in 2023 was 22,000. This is an increase from the 2022 number — 18,488 — but is relatively on par with abortion numbers in the state over the last 10 years.

This comes after the citizens of Ohio voted in October 2023 to pass a constitutional amendment repealing the state’s six-week pro-life law and enshrining a “right” to abortion. Currently, abortion is legal up to 20 weeks in pregnancy or later if needed to promote the health of the mother.

The majority — 63% — of the abortions in the state were performed on women who were fewer than nine weeks pregnant. Nearly a quarter — 23.4% — were performed on women who were between nine and 12 weeks pregnant, while 10.4% were 12 through 18 weeks, 1.4% were conducted in the 19th or 20th weeks, and 0.6% were late-term abortions at 21 weeks or beyond.  

About half — 49.8% — of all 22,000 abortions in Ohio were performed on Black women while 42.2% were on white women and the remaining 8% were on other racial identities.

The single most common abortion method was surgical curettage, which accounted for 45.7% of the state’s total. The study noted that surgical abortions have been consistently declining since 2001 when this type of abortion accounted for 87% of all abortions. The abortion pill mifepristone accounted for approximately 45% of all abortions in 2023.

Overall, the state’s abortion numbers have been declining since an all-time recorded high of more than 45,000 in 1982.

California sued for censorship of pregnancy centers

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a law firm specializing in religious liberty cases, sued California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week for his efforts to block pregnancy centers in the state from promoting abortion pill reversal.

ADF filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates and SCV Pregnancy Center, which is based in Santa Clarita, California. The law firm is arguing that Bonta’s censorship violates the pregnancy centers’ First Amendment right to free speech and constitutes “viewpoint-based discrimination.”

Abortion pill reversal is a medication meant to stop a chemical abortion after the process has already been initiated. While the chemical abortion pill mifepristone works by cutting off progesterone, essentially starving the unborn baby to death, abortion pill reversal can restore progesterone flow in the womb, reversing the effects of mifepristone.

In 2023 Bonta sued a group of pregnancy centers in California seeking to keep them from promoting what he called “false and misleading claims” about abortion pill reversal that he said endangered women.

Caleb Dalton, a senior counsel at ADF, said that “every woman should have the option to reconsider going through with an abortion, and the pro-life pregnancy centers we represent in this case truthfully inform women about that choice.”

“Attorney General Bonta and his allies at Planned Parenthood may not like it, but the truth is that many women regret their abortions, and some seek to stop the effects of chemical abortion drugs before taking the second drug in the abortion drug process,” Dalton said. “Women deserve to know all their options every step of the way.”