FEDERAL NEWS
This page last updated 6-5-26
Dated News Articles are generally available for about 2 months.
Pro-life Orgs Ask Congress
to Extend Moratorium
On Taxpayer Funding of Abortions
Zeale.co | 5-20-26 | by Hannah Heister
A coalition of 60 pro-life organizations across the U.S. have signed a letter urging Congress to extend a moratorium — set to expire at the beginning of July — that protects taxpayer funds from being used for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.
In an emailed press release, Christus Medicus Foundation (CMF) said that it and the other organizations are asking Congress to uphold its “moral, ethical, and fiscal obligation” to extend the moratorium, which went into effect last summer as a provision of the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
“The principles of justice and human dignity obligate Congress to stop sending hundreds of millions of dollars to an abortion industry that destroys unborn life and victimizes pregnant mothers,” CMF stated.
The organization pointed to the Hyde Amendment, which has for decades banned taxpayer funds from paying for abortions and called for the idea behind the amendment to be “broadened to ensure that no federal tax dollars go to any organization or entity that kills unborn children and harms pregnant mothers.” CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING ARTICLE
Pro-Life Americans Hope
New FDA Leaders
Will Finally Stop Mail-Order Abortions
LifeNews.com | Joshua Arnold | 5-20-26 | Washington, DC
Leadership changes continue at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with more high-level departures after FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s exit.
The effect of these changes remains to be seen, but pro-life advocates hope the personnel shake-up will also shake loose the stalled review of a Biden-era policy that removed critical safeguards around the use of mifepristone, the chemical abortion drug.
At least three high-ranking FDA officials have departed since Makary’s sudden resignation last Tuesday. Acting Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Tracy Beth Høeg refused to sign a letter of resignation and was subsequently fired. Høeg was the fifth acting director of CDER during the second Trump administration (acting officials can serve no longer than 210 days in positions requiring Senate confirmation) and was influential in altering the FDA’s recommended immunization schedule, a policy change now blocked in federal court. CLICK HERE to continue reading this imformative article.
Trump Restores HHS Civil Rights Division to Protect Pro-Life Conscience Rights
LifeNews.com | S.A. McCarthy | 5-20-26 | Washington, DC
President Donald Trump and his administration are restoring a religious liberty office dismantled under former President Joe Biden. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Monday that it is reorganizing its Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and establishing three divisions: the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, the Civil Rights Division, and the Health Information Privacy, Data, and Cybersecurity Division. The Conscience and Religious Freedom Division was originally established by Trump in 2018, during his first term. Under Biden and his Health Secretary, new California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra (D), the division was eliminated.
“This reorganization restores the HHS Civil Rights Division and the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division and strengthens the Office for Civil Rights’ ability to defend religious liberty, enforce conscience protections, and combat unlawful discrimination,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a statement. He added, “Under President Trump’s leadership, HHS will defend these rights with clarity, accountability, and resolve.” HHS OCR Director Paula M. Stannard said, “This reorganization reinstitutes a structure that rightly prioritizes civil rights and conscience and religious freedom alongside health information privacy and security.” She observed, “All three areas are deserving of subject-matter expertise and distinct senior executive leadership for OCR to best serve the American people.” CLICK HERE to read more of this article.
Supreme Court Allows
Mail-Order Abortions to Continue
LifeNews.com | Steven Ertelt | 5-14-26 | Washington, DC
This means the dangerous abortion pill mifepristone can still be mailed to customers nationwide while the lower court addresses a case from Louisiana seeking to stop them nationwide long-term.
The high court’s temporary stay, issued on
May 8, expired at 5 p.m. ET Thursday. The court extended the stay today while the case continues. Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, dissented.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a separate dissent that allowing mail-order and telehealth access to mifepristone is a “scheme to undermine” the court’s decision in Dobbs overturning Roe v. Wade and the right of states to protect babies from abortions, which he authored. CLICK HERE to read the full article.
Speaker Mike Johnson
“Doing Everything He Can”
to Defund Planned Parenthood Again
LifeNews.com | Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell
May 6, 2026 | Washington, DC
Speaker Mike Johnson has assured some members of Congress and pro-life leaders that he will try to stop the resumption of Planned Parenthood funding, but he faces opposition from Democrats and even members of his own party.
Johnson told Pro-Life Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and other members of Congress that he is working to prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding again on July 4, Smith told The Daily Signal.
“He said he’s doing everything he can to make sure that happens.” “I have a great deal of respect for Speaker Johnson. I do believe he will do everything he can.”
President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” passed through the process of reconciliation, defunded Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, for one year. Reconciliation requires a simple majority vote instead of the usual 60 votes in the Senate. However, the defunding provision expires on July 4, America’s 250th birthday. CLICK HERE to read the full article.
SCOTUS GRANTS
PREGNANCY CENTERS RIGHT
TO CHALLENGE NEW JERSEY
PROBE INTO DONORS
By Hannah Hiester on 4-28-26 for Zeale.co/news
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) unanimously ruled April 29 that a New Jersey coalition of pregnancy resource centers may proceed with a First Amendment lawsuit against state officials who demanded private information about the centers’ donors.
SCOTUS held that former New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin’s actions against First Choice Women’s Resource Centers violated the centers’ First Amendment right to freedom of association. As Zeale News previously reported, Platkin subpoenaed First Choice in 2023 and demanded up to 10 years of private records, including donor information, internal documents, and communications.
According to the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), New Jersey also argued that First Choice could lead donors to believe that facilities offer abortions, citing the fact that their donor portal features pictures of people holding babies.
State courts did not overturn the subpoena and instead sought to redraw its scope. When First Choice brought a case to federal courts, those courts decided the suit could only be heard at the state level since the centers had not yet been forced to comply with Platkin’s subpoena, ruling that no actual violation of the First Amendment had yet occurred.
However, the new SCOTUS ruling holds that the subpoena did harm First Choice by burdening the centers’ constitutional right of association. The ruling allows the centers to argue their case before federal courts instead of waiting for the subpoena to be enforced, the ERLC explained. CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS NEW ARTICLE.
Senator Asks FTC to Investigate
Abortion Drug Manufacturers
LifeNews.com | Pedro Rodriguez | Apr. 20, 2026 | Washington, DC
Indiana Sen. Jim Banks urged the Federal Trade Commission on Monday to investigate abortion drug manufacturers and distributors for potentially false or misleading medical and safety claims.
In a letter to the FTC, Banks called on the commission to uphold federal prohibitions against deceptive trade practices by holding abortion drug companies to the same standards as other companies.
“Mifepristone manufacturers and dispensers continue to mislead pregnant women into thinking that abortion drugs are much safer than they really are, and that even if something bad does happen, they can receive appropriate treatment without disclosing their abortion,” the letter stated.
“Companies that profit from abortion drugs should be honest about their risks,” the letter added. “The FTC has the tools in its toolbox to hold abortion drug companies to their obligations under consumer protection law.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE