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Pro-life group pledges million to Georgia and Michigan Senate races

unitedyam September 26, 2025

null / Credit: Andy via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

CNA Staff, Sep 26, 2025 / 16:28 pm (CNA).

Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news:

Pro-life group pledges $9 million to Georgia and Michigan Senate races

A pro-life advocacy group is launching a massive $9 million campaign in the Senate races of Georgia and Michigan.

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and its partner group, Women Speak Out PAC, are working to flip the U.S. Senate in Michigan, pouring $4.5 million into a field effort for the state’s open Senate seat.

Focused in Lansing, Detroit, and Grand Rapids, the pro-life groups aim to expand the U.S. Senate’s pro-life majority. In Michigan, four Planned Parenthoods have closed this year after Congress paused funding for abortion providers.

In Georgia, the same groups will pour $4.5 million into a field effort for Georgia’s U.S. Senate election. The campaign — aiming to defeat U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Georgia senator who has backed pro-abortion policies — will be focused in Savannah, Augusta, Columbus, and Chattanooga.

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a Sept. 24 statement that the group aims to “stop the abortion lobby from clawing back $500 million in annual Medicaid dollars for their own political machine.”

“No American should be forced to bankroll a brutal industry that kills over 1.1 million unborn children each year, harms women with substandard care, and funnels millions into partisan politics — especially when better, more accessible health care alternatives outnumber Planned Parenthood 15 to 1,” Dannenfelser said.

Pro-life groups celebrate as Google admits to political censorship

Pro-life groups that have experienced censorship in the past are celebrating after Google admitted to political censorship under the Biden administration.

The tech giant admitted the censorship to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and said it was taking steps to open previously banned YouTube accounts.

Kelsey Pritchard, the political communications director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said companies like Google have a pattern of targeting pro-life advocacy groups.

“We are not at all surprised by Google’s admissions of censorship,” Pritchard told CNA.

“For years, tech giants have demonstrated a pattern of bias, actively undermining, suppressing, and censoring groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, who share the pro-life message in a highly effective way.”

In a timeline on its website, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America detailed censorship and suppression of pro-life groups since 2015 by sites such as Facebook, Yelp, and Google.

For instance, in 2022, Google allegedly shadow banned an online educational resource by Life Issues Institute. In 2021, Google banned Live Action and Heartbeat International’s abortion pill reversal advertisements, including Live Action’s Baby Olivia video, detailing the growth of an unborn child.

SBA Pro-Life America also criticized the Biden administration for allegedly targeting pro-life activists with the law.

“The Biden administration, too, weaponized federal might to target pro-life Americans and even put peaceful activists in jail,” Pritchard said. “The right to voice one’s convictions is a foundational American value and the pro-life movement will always fight back against censorship.”

Students for Life of America spokesperson Jordan Butler, meanwhile, told CNA that the pro-life group “is no stranger to the challenges of free speech in the digital age.”

“While we’ve been fortunate to avoid censorship on platforms like YouTube and Google, TikTok has proven to be a battleground: banning our content 180 times in just 24 hours,” Butler said.

After outcry from pro-life advocates, Butler said the TikTok account, belonging to Lydia Taylor Davis, was restored.

She sees this as “proof that when we stand together, we can push back.”

“That’s why unity matters now more than ever in defending pro-life free speech across America,” Butler said.

“Abortion propaganda is everywhere online, saturating platforms from social media to search engines,” she continued. “Whether it’s digital censorship or campus pushback, we fight relentlessly to protect our voice and our values.”

‘Second-chance-at-life’ bill could protect unborn children across the nation

A group of U.S. congressmen is introducing a bill that could give unborn children a second chance at life even if a mother takes the first pill in the chemical abortion regimen.

U.S. Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, recently introduced the Second Chance at Life Act, which is designed to protect unborn children and mothers from the harms of abortion.

The act, co-sponsored by 16 representatives from 13 states, would establish federal informed consent requirements for abortion pills. This would require abortion providers to inform women seeking to terminate their pregnancies that a chemical abortion can be reversible after the first abortion pill is taken.

Pfluger said many women “are pressured into taking the abortion pill without being fully informed of all their options” and later “express deep regret as they come to terms with the loss of their unborn child.”

“It is unacceptable that so many women are never told by their provider that the effects of the first pill can be reversible,” Pfluger said in a Sept. 18 statement.

Pfluger said the legislation will “empower women to make fully informed choices at every stage of the process, protecting their right to know the full details” about the drugs.

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, supported the bill in a statement, noting that women are often pressured into abortion.

“Many mothers regret their abortions and wish they had been told about abortion pill reversal before it was too late,” she said. “And too many women are exposed to the deadly pills by those who are coercing them.”

Senate investigates alleged abortion facilitation by Virginia school faculty

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, is investigating allegations that school officials in Virginia facilitated an abortion for a minor and attempted to do the same for another student without notifying their parents.

Cassidy, who chairs the U.S. Senate Health Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, sent a letter to Superintendent Michelle Reid demanding answers after an investigative reporter broke the news that officials at Fairfax County’s Centreville High School reportedly pressured students to have abortions.

Missouri judge approves pro-life ballot measure, requires plainer language

A Cole County Circuit judge approved a ballot measure that would protect minors and unborn children from transgender surgeries and abortion, respectively, if passed by Missouri voters.

Because the ballot combines protections for minors against transgender surgeries and pro-life protections, activists challenged it in court. But Judge Daniel Green approved the combination in a Sept. 19 ruling, with the caveat that the ballot measure language must explicitly state that it would repeal a previous ballot measure.

The previous ballot measure, passed in 2024, created a right to abortion in the Missouri Constitution.

Wisconsin Planned Parenthood pauses abortions after federal funding cut

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin will stop scheduling abortions beginning Oct. 1 following federal funding cuts by the Trump administration.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin President and CEO Tanya Atkinson said the pause is meant to be temporary as the group deals with Medicaid funding cuts following the “Big Beautiful Bill.” The location will continue to operate and offer other services in the meantime.

The Trump administration temporarily paused any funding for abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood. At least 40 Planned Parenthoods are closing this year.

Catholic University of America panel explores how Christians should think about AI

unitedyam September 25, 2025

From left: Ross Douthat, media fellow at the Institute for Human Ecology; Will Wilson, CEO of AI company Antithesis; Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome; and Brian J.A. Boyd, director for the Center for Ethics and Economic Justice at Loyola University New Orleans discuss AI and the Church on Sept. 23, 2025, at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini/CNA

Washington, D.C., Sep 25, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic University of America (CUA) hosted a panel this week to discuss how Christians should think about the developing technology surrounding artificial intelligence (AI).

The Sept. 23 panel was hosted by CUA’s Institute for Human Ecology, which works to identify the economic, cultural, and social conditions vital for human flourishing. The group discussed the threats posed by AI, the future of the technology, and the Church’s place in the conversation.

Ross Douthat, media fellow at the Institute for Human Ecology, led the discussion between Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome; Will Wilson, CEO of AI company Antithesis; and Brian J.A. Boyd, director for the Center for Ethics and Economic Justice at Loyola University New Orleans.

Douthat asked the panelists what they each believe to be the greatest threat of the emerging technology as it poses new challenges to the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.

According to Boyd, the potential loss of human connection is the most prominent threat of AI. He said: “To be human is to be created in and for relationships of love — by love of God. Our nature is made to be receptive to grace.”

AI becomes an issue if “our main relationship and reference point is talking to a computer rather than to humans,” Boyd said. “I think that is an existential threat, and something worth discussing.”

“If we’re habituated to look at the screen before we look at our neighbor … and AI is [the] constant reference point, it will make habits of prayer much more difficult to include. It will make it harder to learn to listen to the voice of God, because the answer is always in your pocket.”

Baggot said his greatest concern is that “artificial intimacy is going to distract us from, and deter us from, the deep interpersonal bonds that are central to our happiness and our flourishing.”

“Companies now grip not only our minds but also are capturing our affections,” Baggot said. “We can all read about these tragic cases of exploitation and manipulation that are only going to continue unless we put proper guardrails in place and also provide the information that allows us to have the kind of deep interpersonal relationships we were made for.”

While many people worry that AI could create “mass unemployment,” Wilson said he disagrees: “I think that this is a very silly fear because human desires and human wants are infinite, and therefore, we always find new things for people to do.”

Rather, Wilson shared his concern that humans will no longer create their own ideas and will lose their intelligence and knowledge.

“The trouble with AI is even if it’s not actually intelligent, it does a very good simulacrum of intelligence, and it’s very tempting to use it to substitute for human intelligence,” Wilson said. “It’s very possible that we’re entering a world where very soon any cognitive labor, any reason, [or] any thought will be a luxury.”

Catholic AI

While there are dangers to AI, Baggot addressed the positive aspects the tool can offer, highlighting the benefits of Catholic AI companies.

“I’ve been privileged to work on the Scholarly Advisory Board of Magisterium AI, which is basically a Catholic answer engine that’s very narrowly trained on reliable documents, magisterial documents, [and] theological texts,” Baggot said.

Magisterium AI is a “system designed to give people reliable responses to their questions about the Catholic faith,” Baggot explained. “This is appealing to Catholics who want to go deeper, but it’s also quite appealing to people who have never really had the chance, or aren’t quite ready, to speak to another human person about their curiosities regarding Catholicism.”

Baggot explained that creators of the technology work hard to keep it from being “anthropomorphic” to avoid users confusing the AI with actual connection. He said: “We do not want people having an intimate relationship with it.”

While Magisterium AI can provide useful information, Baggot acknowledged that it is not a tool for spiritual direction. He said: “Spiritual direction … should be with another living, breathing human being who actually has insight into human experience [and] who can develop a relationship of real empathy and real compassion.”

The Church’s place in AI

The panelists had differing viewpoints about the Church’s place in AI and how Christians should approach it. Wilson said he believes “the conversation about where the technology is going and what we’re going to do with it is happening among people who do not care … what any Christian church has to say on the topic.”

“It’s actually a little hard to blame them because Christians have basically sacrificed their place at the forefront of science and technology, which is where we were in centuries past,” Wilson said.

“Control goes to those who can deploy the most capital, and capital gets allocated very fast to people who are able to deploy very efficiently. And by and large, those people are not Christians because Christians aren’t really trying.”

Baggot said that while AI does pose dangers, the Church “has a lot of insight and wisdom” that can help guide the conversation. “The Church is in a privileged position to leverage its incredible patrimony, its reflection on the human person, [and] human flourishing.”

“The Church has reflected a lot about the meaning and value of work, the subjective value of work. It’s not just about economic efficiency, but it’s about how I use my own God-given talents to grow as a person and then also to serve others in intrinsically valuable activities.”

Bankruptcy court accepts Diocese of Syracuse’s 6 million abuse settlement

unitedyam August 28, 2025

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse, New York, where a federal court accepted the diocese’s $176 million settlement plan. / Credit: debra millet/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Aug 28, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

A federal bankruptcy court has accepted the Diocese of Syracuse, New York’s massive $176 million abuse settlement plan, Bishop Douglas Lucia said this week.

The decision comes after a yearslong negotiation process between the diocese and victims of clergy abuse as well as between the diocese and insurers that will pay into the settlement fund.

Lucia said in an Aug. 27 letter that the diocese will contribute $100 million to the fund, as diocesan leaders first announced in 2023.

Fifty million dollars will come from the diocese itself, with $45 million from parishes and $5 million from “other Catholic entities” associated with the Syracuse Diocese.

The remaining $76 million will be contributed by diocesan insurance companies, the bishop said.

Further “nonmonetary items” in the agreement include provisions such as strengthening diocesan safe environment policies.

The diocese initiated the bankruptcy process in 2020. In his letter, Lucia thanked his fellow Catholics “who throughout these five years have prayed for this resolution and for those whose hearts were broken by the betrayal that came at the hands of Church members.”

“Together I now pray we will grow ever more as the body of Christ in this part of the world community,” he said.

The Syracuse decision comes amid a wave of high-value abuse settlement payouts from U.S. dioceses, including throughout New York.

Abuse victims in New York last month agreed to a massive settlement from the Diocese of Rochester, which is set to pay $246 million to survivors of clergy abuse there.

The Diocese of Buffalo, New York, earlier this year agreed to pay out a $150 million sum as part of its own abuse settlement.

The largest diocesan-level bankruptcy settlement in U.S. history thus far has been from the Diocese of Rockville Centre — also in New York — which last year agreed to pay $323 million to abuse victims.

The largest Church abuse payout total in U.S. history thus far has been at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, which last year agreed to a near-$1 billion payment to abuse victims.

U.S. bishops identify several policy priorities in Congress this fall

unitedyam August 27, 2025

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops headquarters in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington D.C., Aug 27, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

As lawmakers prepare to return next week from their August recess, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) wants them to get to work on immigration reform and bolstering federal safety net programs, among other issues, framing its advocacy work around protecting human dignity and supporting the most vulnerable.

“As a nonpartisan organization, the USCCB is engaged with members of Congress, their staff, and the White House and the administration to advance the common good for all and uphold the sacredness of human life and the God-given dignity of the human person,” Chieko Noguchi, the USCCB’s executive director for public affairs, told CNA.

“This means that the care for immigrants, refugees, and the poor is part of the same teaching of the Church that requires us to protect the most vulnerable among us, especially unborn children, the elderly, and the infirm,” Noguchi noted.

Addressing the conference’s ongoing public policy priorities, Noguchi referenced a letter to members of Congress earlier this year from USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio that in addition to immigration reform called for legislation that supports vulnerable communities, especially children and low-income families.

But following this summer’s passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act spending package, Broglio faulted that measure for including “unconscionable cuts to health care and food assistance, tax cuts that increase inequality, immigration provisions that harm families and children, and cuts to programs that protect God’s creation.”

A recently emerging issue for the bishops is digital safety. In a joint letter this July with other faith-based and family organizations, the USCCB voiced support for the Kids Online Safety Act. The measure would place greater responsibility on technology companies to design platforms that protect minors from harmful content and addictive features. The bishops described the legislation as consistent with their commitment to safeguarding children and promoting environments where families can thrive.

This fall, immigration remains central to USCCB advocacy efforts. The bishops continue to press Congress to provide permanent protections for so-called “Dreamers,” referring to people who were brought to the U.S. as children.

“The continued uncertainty associated with the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program is untenable and unjust, depriving hardworking people the ability to be fully recognized members of our society,” the conference maintains.

The bishops also oppose changes to social safety net programs that would limit eligibility for mixed-status families (those with both legal and unauthorized members). They cite, for example, the Child Tax Credit, which currently only requires the benefiting child to have a Social Security number.

“This is consistent with the goals of such programs, which exist to empower families and to prevent them from falling into poverty,” the USCCB asserts.

Religious Workforce Protection Act

The bishops are also urging passage of the Religious Workforce Protection Act, which as of Aug. 22 had 10 Democrat and three Republican lawmakers cosponsoring the House bill and would authorize the continuation of lawful nonimmigrant status for certain religious workers affected by the current backlog for religious worker immigrant visas.

A similar bill in the Senate now has five Republicans and one Democrat cosponsoring. Numerous Catholic institutions such as parishes and schools depend on international clergy. In an Aug. 7 interview with EWTN, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is committed to fixing the ongoing backlog of religious worker visas.

Despite the fact that earlier this year the USCCB ended its decades-long partnership with the federal government to resettle refugees due to funding cuts and suspended agreements that made the program unsustainable, the bishops continue to call for generous resettlement policies and humane border enforcement.

Housing is also an increasing policy focus. In an Aug. 8 letter, the bishops pressed Congress to strengthen funding for affordable housing and community development in the fiscal year 2026 appropriations process.

Community members tour a housing unit at "Caritas Casitas" in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. Credit: Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City — Community members tour a housing unit at “Caritas Casitas” in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. Credit: Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City

Meanwhile, the USCCB’s advocacy around health care policy remains linked to the Church’s pro-life stance. The bishops have been strongly supportive of congressional efforts to ensure that federal programs such as Medicaid do not fund abortion. In July, a federal judge blocked a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that was aimed at defunding Planned Parenthood for one year and ordered the federal government to resume Medicaid reimbursements to the abortion giant while litigation over the law continues.

The USCCB also supports expanding access to maternal health services, pediatric care, and palliative care. Broadly on fiscal policy, the USCCB has called for a federal budget that prioritizes the poor and reflects Catholic principles of solidarity centered on the common good.

The bishops also continue to press for robust support for international humanitarian aid. As global crises intensify, the bishops have asked Congress to provide funding for humanitarian and development assistance in the fiscal year 2026 budget. Funding for the current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. The USCCB frames these legislative priorities as connected parts of a single mission.

“The decisions you make in your important work on behalf of our nation will have a lasting impact on the well-being and common good of many people,” Broglio wrote. Congress returns from its summer break on Sept. 2.