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CNA Staff, Nov 22, 2025 / 08:20 am (CNA).
Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.
4 out of 5 Americans have concerns with embryonic screening, study finds
Four in five voters have some at least some concerns about embryo screening, a recent Ethics and Public Policy Center poll found.
Embryonic screening is the practice of selecting some babies to be born because of their genetic traits — such as appearance, health, or predicted intelligence — while discarding other unborn babies.
The Ethics and Public Policy Center poll, led by center fellow Patrick Brown, comes in the wake of some Silicon Valley-funded startups saying they will give parents the ability to screen embryos.
The poll found that very few Americans want Silicon Valley to “hack” reproduction.
“While Americans support measures to help infertile couples have children, they express concerns about broader implications of these technologies,” the report says.
Across demographic groups, voters voiced support for “commonsense regulations.”
Women were more likely to have concerns about embryo screening than men, while older voters (ages 46+) were more likely to have concerns than younger voters (ages 18-45).
South Carolina right-to-life group opposes proposed bill to criminalize women who have abortions
A South Carolina bill would enable prosecution of women who have abortions — a practice that South Carolina Citizens for Life (SCCL) and most pro-life groups oppose.
The bill, which would designate abortion as equivalent to the homicide of a born person, contains no provisions protecting women who obtain abortions.
While pro-life groups tend to support prosecution of abortionists who illegally perform the deadly procedure, most groups oppose the prosecution of abortive mothers themselves, whom they also consider to be victims of abortion.
Holly Gatling, who heads South Carolina Citizens for Life, called the bill “unacceptable.”
“This provision of the law alone would shut down post-abortion ministries such as Rachel’s Vineyard and jeopardize the livesaving, compassionate work of pregnancy care ministries,” she told CNA.
The Catholic bishops ask that Project Rachel, a counseling resource for post-abortive women, be present in every diocese in the U.S.
Gatling said she opposes the bill “because it criminalizes post-aborted women, jeopardizes the work of pregnancy care centers and post-abortion ministries, and undermines the pro-life legislation previously passed by the General Assembly.”
“Not only are post-aborted women subject to criminal prosecution, but pastors, counselors, and any ‘person’ also can be compelled to testify in the criminal prosecution of a post-aborted woman,” Gatling said.
Gatling noted that South Carolina’s current heartbeat law has saved thousands of lives while explicitly protecting women from prosecution.
“SCCL and many other pro-life and pro-family organizations in South Carolina oppose legislation that reverses this protection for women,” Gatling said.
U.S. government can’t compel Christian employers to accommodate abortions, judge rules
A federal court has issued a permanent injunction ruling that Christian employers will not be compelled to accommodate abortions.
The Herzog Foundation in a lawsuit had argued that a Biden-era rule requiring employers to accommodate abortions for pregnant employees violated the First Amendment.
On Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri granted the permanent injunction protecting faith-based employers.
Herzog Foundation spokeswoman Elizabeth Roberts lauded the court’s decision in a Nov. 20 statement, saying that the ruling “solidifies that the government cannot overstep its authority by trying to dictate or suppress our beliefs.”
3 state attorneys general file challenge to mail-in chemical abortion drugs
Attorneys general of Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri filed a challenge to stop mail-order abortion drugs and block the recent approval of generic mifepristone.
The Nov. 20 challenge claims that the FDA “cut corners when it removed safeguards from this dangerous drug.”
Mifeprisotone’s label says that 1 in 25 women will go to the emergency room after taking the drug, while other studies have found that it poses a risk to the women and girls who take it.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said in a statement that Missouri “will not stand by while manufacturers gamble with women’s lives.”
“Mifepristone is sending women to the hospital with life-threatening complications, and yet drug companies continue pushing new versions of it into the market without basic medical safeguards,” Hanaway said.
Texas sees decrease in minors getting abortions
After Texas implemented a heartbeat law protecting unborn children when their heartbeats are detectable, the state has seen a marked drop in abortions among minors, a recent study found.
Published online on Nov. 13 by the American Journal of Public Health, the study found that abortions decreased by more than 25% among minors in Texas.
Additionally, among Texans ages 18-24, abortions decreased by about 20%; for Texans aged 25-29, abortions decreased by 17%, the study found.
The study, which cited concerns about “young people’s reproductive autonomy,” has several authors affiliated with abortion clinics including Planned Parenthood as well as two authors affiliated with a pro-abortion research center, Resound Research for Reproductive Health.
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