Tag: Thomas More Society

Pro-Life Activists Face 11 Years in Prison After Jury Hands Down Guilty Verdict

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

Six pro-life activists were found guilty of blocking access to an abortion clinic on Tuesday and could face a sentence of up to 11 years in prison, according to a press release from the Thomas More Society.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged 11 pro-life activists in October 2022 with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which “prohibits threats of force, obstruction and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services,” for blocking the entrance of an abortion clinic in March 2021. A jury ruled that the six defendants were guilty after a six-day trial at the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse in Nashville, Tennessee, according to the press release.

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Voter Drop Boxes Face Challenge in Arizona, as States Weigh Legalizing, Banning or Protecting Them

Just the News

As Arizona faces a lawsuit over its ballot drop boxes, states across the country have taken different approaches to using unmanned receptacles for elections.

The Arizona Secretary of State has been sued for allegedly overstepping state law by permitting unstaffed ballot drop boxes, while Wisconsin is facing a lawsuit to allow ballot drop boxes.

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Pro-Life Activist Appeals Lower Court Decision Denying Her Release from Jail Ahead of Sentencing

Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

The Thomas More Society has filed an emergency motion to appeal a lower court decision that denied pro-life activist Lauren Handy’s release from jail ahead of her sentencing.

Attorneys with the Thomas More Society filed their motion to appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday asking to reverse a lower court ruling that denied Handy’s immediate release from jail.

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Court Rules in Favor of Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers over Illinois Law Declaring Them ‘Deceptive’

Susan Berry, PhD

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Thursday that favors the request of the National Institute of Family Life Advocates (NIFLA) to block Illinois’ new law targeting pro-life pregnancy ministries.

Judge Iain D. Johnston, of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, issued a preliminary injunction in the case of National Institute of Family Life Advocates v. Raoul to put a halt to Illinois’ new law.

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Lawsuit Claims Pennsylvania School District Discriminates Against Parochial Students

The Center Square

A group of parents says State College Area School District bars their children from joining extracurricular activities simply because they attend faith-based schools.

The families, members of the Religious Rights Foundation, recently filed a lawsuit against the district for prohibiting their students from participating in sports, clubs, and college-level classes, based on religious discrimination.

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Pennsylvania State Senator Drafting Bill to Kill ‘Culturally Relevant’ Guidelines

Bradley Vasoli

A Pennsylvania state senator is working on legislation to abolish the commonwealth’s new Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Education (CR-SE) guidelines that impose leftist ideology on teachers and students. 

The document instructs teachers to “know and acknowledge that biases exist in the educational system,” biases the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) specifies as “racial and cultural.” Educators are further called on to “believe and acknowledge that microaggressions are real and take steps to educate themselves about the subtle and obvious ways in which they are used to harm and invalidate the existence of others.” Another guideline tasks teachers with “disrupt[ing] harmful institutional practices, policies, and norms by advocating and engaging in efforts to rewrite policies, change practices, and raise awareness.” 

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Pennsylvania Educrats Sued over Guidelines Imposing Leftism on Teachers, Students

Bradley Vasoli

Three school districts north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are litigating over new guidelines enjoined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) directing teachers and students to adhere to progressive ideology. 

Representing Laurel School District, Mars Area School District and Penncrest School District as well as teachers and families in those jurisdictions, attorneys for the nonprofit Thomas More Society contend that the instructions violate both the state and federal constitutions.

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Acquitted Pro-Life Activist Describes Raid of Family Home by FBI and State Troopers

Susan Berry, PhD

Veteran Catholic pro-life activist Mark Houck described to Steve Bannon Tuesday the scene at his family’s home on September 23, 2022, when over 20 FBI agents and Pennsylvania state troopers banged on his door at 6:45 a.m.

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Commentary: Frustrated by Police Inaction, the Pro-Life Movement Takes Up the Work of Law Enforcement

RealClearWire

Last June a firebomb ripped through the CompassCare crisis pregnancy center in Buffalo, causing extensive damage but no deaths. Amid the rubble and soot, the words “Jane was here” were written on the wall, suggesting that the militant abortion rights group Jane’s Revenge was responsible. Almost immediately, authorities all the way up to the FBI assured the pro-life enterprise they would bring the perpetrators to justice.

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Government Employees in Four States Assist Left By Providing Voter Information, Legal Group Says

Star News Staff

Government employees in four states are violating federal laws and assisting the Left by providing voter information, a conservative legal group argues in suing those states.

The Thomas More Society alleges in its lawsuits against Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin that the Electronic Registration Information Center, also known as ERIC, shares voter information with at least one left-leaning nonprofit.

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Court Rules in Favor of Pro-Life Advocates Opposing Planned Parenthood’s Plan to Erect Abortion Clinic Next Door to Public Charter School

Susan Berry, PhD

The DC Court of Appeals has unanimously ruled in favor of pro-life advocates in the nation’s capital in a lawsuit brought by a public charter school that objected to the group’s efforts to stop a Planned Parenthood “abortion mega-facility” from opening next door to the school.

Two Rivers Public Charter School and its board of trustees brought a lawsuit in December 2015 that alleged longtime pro-life activist Ruby Nicdao engaged in harassment and intimidation of students in her campaign to educate parents and the greater community about the consequences of Planned Parenthood’s plans to erect an “abortion mega-facility” next door to the children’s school, a press release from Thomas More Society explained.

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15th Annual Easter Sunrise Celebration on Government Property at Chicago’s Daley Plaza

Susan Berry, PhD

Sunday will mark the 15th annual celebration of Easter on Chicago’s Daley Plaza – government property – including a sunrise service on Easter Sunday itself, to honor the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This sacred observance of Easter begins at Daley Plaza on Holy Thursday, 7:30 p.m. CDT, when a giant 19-foot-high cross is erected at 50 West Washington Street.

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Amistad Project Has Yet to Receive USPS Report on Ballots Allegedly Driven from New York to Pennsylvania

Bradley Vasoli
Shot of USPS vehicles

According to the director of the nonprofit Amistad Project, the U.S. Postal Service has yet to release a report on thousands of ballots allegedly driven from New York to Pennsylvania in 2020.

The allegations originated from York, PA resident Jesse Morgan, a driver who said he made out-of-state deliveries for a USPS contractor. In an affidavit signed on November 26, 2020 and in a press conference on December 1, 2020, Morgan described delivering 24 large cardboard boxes filled with trays containing “completed ballots” from Bethpage, NY to Lancaster, PA on October 21, 2020. 

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