![Human rights group calls Nicaragua’s constitutional reforms a ‘usurpation of power’ #Catholic Nicaragua’s National Assembly, controlled by the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president, Rosario Murillo, “unanimously” approved a constitutional reform barring “traitors to the homeland” (the term the regime uses for its political opposition) from participating in elections. The measure has sparked widespread domestic and international condemnation.The reform was “unanimously approved in general terms,” Assembly President Gustavo Porras stated on Sept. 1 during a special session held in the city of León, according to the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa.The reform amends the constitution, which extends the presidential term, as well as those of other high-ranking officials, from six to seven years, with the possibility of renewal.Ortega has governed Nicaragua for about 30 years: since 2007, and previously, from 1979 to 1990. On July 19, he stated that there would be no further elections in Nicaragua, and on July 31, he proposed the reform — set to take effect in 2027 — that excludes “coup plotters” and “terrorists,”, terms he uses to refer to the political opposition, from participating in elections.Reforms are a ‘formalization of the usurpation of power’Ruta del Cambio (Pathway for Change), an organization which defends human rights and the rule of law, declared in a Sept. 2 statement that it “categorically rejects and and gives no legal recognition to the partial reform to the Political Constitution [of the Republic of Nicaragua] approved during the first legislative session on Sept. 1, 2026, by a National Assembly stripped of all independence and reduced to a mere rubber stamp for the will of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.”Ruta del Cambio counts among its leaders Félix Maradiaga, a former presidential candidate and former political prisoner now living in exile.“What has been approved is not a constitutional reform. It is the formalization of the usurpation of power through a text drafted in secret, approved without opposition, and voted for with unanimous obedience by those who owe their positions, privileges, and impunity to the couple that has hijacked the state,” Ruta del Cambio charged.“Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have turned the constitution into a family’s title deed. They have transformed the state into personal property, the law into an instrument of vengeance, and the republic’s [law enforcement apparatus] into tools of terror against the very people they swore to serve,” the organization emphasized.Ruta del Cambio called for “rejecting the legal validity of this reform and of any act, mandate, extension, or appointment derived from it, and formally declaring it without force under international law.”Elections ‘without legitimacy’“What we are seeing in Nicaragua right now is a reform attempting to hold elections without competition, without legitimacy, and without any possibility of change. In other words, Ortega controls the judges and the playing field, and seeks to firmly establish his authoritarian model without any competition,” stated Arturo Mcfields Yescas, Nicaragua’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), in a Sept. 3 interview with EWTN Noticias, the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News.“This further undermines not only civil and political freedoms but also another fundamental freedom: religious freedom,” he pointed out.McFields explained that when the regime speaks of “traitors to the homeland,” it is referring to those who dissent from its rule. “People who questioned Ortega’s authority immediately became traitors to the homeland,” as did those who “simply thought differently” or called for “international mediation.”“This means,” he charged, “that anyone who does not applaud Ortega becomes a traitor to the homeland.”U.S. reactionOn Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on X that “the Murillo-Ortega’s National Assembly gutted what remained of Nicaragua’s democracy in the second constitutional rewrite in two years. The U.S. will implement measures at the next @OAS_official [meeting of foreign ministers] to ensure that our hemisphere stops business as usual with this dictatorship.”Regarding the United States’ call for countries to sever diplomatic and commercial ties with Nicaragua, McFields called it “an extraordinary start.” “For the first time, Ortega is facing pressure of this nature. For the first time, the OAS has approved a resolution on Nicaragua almost unanimously,” by convening a meeting of foreign ministers to address the situation, McFields said.Likewise, neighboring Costa Rica expressed its “deep concern regarding the ongoing deterioration of democracy in Nicaragua, exacerbated by the recent constitutional reform that further limits political and electoral participation,” and stated that it “will support a firm and coordinated response” with the OAS.The government of Peru, led by President Keiko Fujimori, also rejected the approval of the constitutional reform. In a Sept. 2 statement, it declared that it “will stand with the Nicaraguan people, their political prisoners, their exiles, and all those who are currently persecuted for dreaming of free elections.”Persecution of the Catholic Church in NicaraguaMcFields questioned the stance of countries like Brazil and Mexico, which did not support the resolution against Nicaragua, stating that “it’s surprising, painful, and something that ought to change. There should be empathy for the suffering of the Nicaraguan people, for persecuted politicians, for priests who have been imprisoned, exiled, or banished, and for the churches that have, at times, been burned down. It is truly grotesque, yet ideology seems to be prevailing over democracy.”Since 2018, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has waged a fierce campaign of persecution against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. Its latest known victim is the bishop emeritus of Estelí, Abelardo Mata (80), who suffers from diabetes, a heart condition, and vision problems. His condition remains uncertain, despite the regime’s claim that he is at home. In mid-August, the regime released a video of an interview with the prelate, who recently celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest, without specifying when the footage was recorded.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/human-rights-group-calls-nicaraguas-constitutional-reforms-a-usurpation-of-power-catholic-nicaraguas-national-assembly-controlled-by-the-dictatorship-of-president.jpg "Human rights group calls Nicaragua’s constitutional reforms a ‘usurpation of power’ #Catholic Nicaragua’s National Assembly, controlled by the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president, Rosario Murillo, “unanimously” approved a constitutional reform barring “traitors to the homeland” (the term the regime uses for its political opposition) from participating in elections. The measure has sparked widespread domestic and international condemnation.The reform was “unanimously approved in general terms,” Assembly President Gustavo Porras stated on Sept. 1 during a special session held in the city of León, according to the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa.The reform amends the constitution, which extends the presidential term, as well as those of other high-ranking officials, from six to seven years, with the possibility of renewal.Ortega has governed Nicaragua for about 30 years: since 2007, and previously, from 1979 to 1990. On July 19, he stated that there would be no further elections in Nicaragua, and on July 31, he proposed the reform — set to take effect in 2027 — that excludes “coup plotters” and “terrorists,”, terms he uses to refer to the political opposition, from participating in elections.Reforms are a ‘formalization of the usurpation of power’Ruta del Cambio (Pathway for Change), an organization which defends human rights and the rule of law, declared in a Sept. 2 statement that it “categorically rejects and and gives no legal recognition to the partial reform to the Political Constitution [of the Republic of Nicaragua] approved during the first legislative session on Sept. 1, 2026, by a National Assembly stripped of all independence and reduced to a mere rubber stamp for the will of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.”Ruta del Cambio counts among its leaders Félix Maradiaga, a former presidential candidate and former political prisoner now living in exile.“What has been approved is not a constitutional reform. It is the formalization of the usurpation of power through a text drafted in secret, approved without opposition, and voted for with unanimous obedience by those who owe their positions, privileges, and impunity to the couple that has hijacked the state,” Ruta del Cambio charged.“Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have turned the constitution into a family’s title deed. They have transformed the state into personal property, the law into an instrument of vengeance, and the republic’s [law enforcement apparatus] into tools of terror against the very people they swore to serve,” the organization emphasized.Ruta del Cambio called for “rejecting the legal validity of this reform and of any act, mandate, extension, or appointment derived from it, and formally declaring it without force under international law.”Elections ‘without legitimacy’“What we are seeing in Nicaragua right now is a reform attempting to hold elections without competition, without legitimacy, and without any possibility of change. In other words, Ortega controls the judges and the playing field, and seeks to firmly establish his authoritarian model without any competition,” stated Arturo Mcfields Yescas, Nicaragua’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), in a Sept. 3 interview with EWTN Noticias, the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News.“This further undermines not only civil and political freedoms but also another fundamental freedom: religious freedom,” he pointed out.McFields explained that when the regime speaks of “traitors to the homeland,” it is referring to those who dissent from its rule. “People who questioned Ortega’s authority immediately became traitors to the homeland,” as did those who “simply thought differently” or called for “international mediation.”“This means,” he charged, “that anyone who does not applaud Ortega becomes a traitor to the homeland.”U.S. reactionOn Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on X that “the Murillo-Ortega’s National Assembly gutted what remained of Nicaragua’s democracy in the second constitutional rewrite in two years. The U.S. will implement measures at the next @OAS_official [meeting of foreign ministers] to ensure that our hemisphere stops business as usual with this dictatorship.”Regarding the United States’ call for countries to sever diplomatic and commercial ties with Nicaragua, McFields called it “an extraordinary start.” “For the first time, Ortega is facing pressure of this nature. For the first time, the OAS has approved a resolution on Nicaragua almost unanimously,” by convening a meeting of foreign ministers to address the situation, McFields said.Likewise, neighboring Costa Rica expressed its “deep concern regarding the ongoing deterioration of democracy in Nicaragua, exacerbated by the recent constitutional reform that further limits political and electoral participation,” and stated that it “will support a firm and coordinated response” with the OAS.The government of Peru, led by President Keiko Fujimori, also rejected the approval of the constitutional reform. In a Sept. 2 statement, it declared that it “will stand with the Nicaraguan people, their political prisoners, their exiles, and all those who are currently persecuted for dreaming of free elections.”Persecution of the Catholic Church in NicaraguaMcFields questioned the stance of countries like Brazil and Mexico, which did not support the resolution against Nicaragua, stating that “it’s surprising, painful, and something that ought to change. There should be empathy for the suffering of the Nicaraguan people, for persecuted politicians, for priests who have been imprisoned, exiled, or banished, and for the churches that have, at times, been burned down. It is truly grotesque, yet ideology seems to be prevailing over democracy.”Since 2018, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has waged a fierce campaign of persecution against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. Its latest known victim is the bishop emeritus of Estelí, Abelardo Mata (80), who suffers from diabetes, a heart condition, and vision problems. His condition remains uncertain, despite the regime’s claim that he is at home. In mid-August, the regime released a video of an interview with the prelate, who recently celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest, without specifying when the footage was recorded.This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.")
The Ortega-Murilla regime has approved reforms that bar the opposition from participating in elections, drawing strong opposition from exiled leaders, the United States, Costa Rica and Peru.
The program has been a fixture of the Church calendar since 2000, when it was launched by St. John Paul II.
The bishops discussed the pastoral challenges facing the Church in North America as a whole and concelebrated a Mass on Aug. 30 in the Cuernavaca, Mexico, cathedral.
President Donald J. Trump awarded NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor on Aug. 28, 2026, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Read More
A student challenges a 2004 Supreme Court decision, the Diocese of Scranton reopens its seminary, and Benedictine College names a speaker for its library dedication in this week’s education roundup.
Vietnamese youth drawn to the TLM, Holy Land priests highlight plight of Christian community, Philippine dioceses call for end of mining agreement, and more in this week’s world news roundup.
Bishop Erik Varden invoked a ninth-century prayer for the dying as he commended King Harald V to God’s mercy on behalf of Norwegian Catholics.
With Archbishop Paul Gallagher’s visit to Moscow this week, the Vatican continues to try to be a facilitator in bringing about a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Ecuadoran lawyer Pablo Proaño’s remarks followed the death due to a pregnancy complication of Stefano, the son of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa and his wife, Lavinia Valbonesi.
![Advocates warn New Jersey law could criminalize prayer outside abortion clinics #Catholic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Aug. 20 signed a bill that criminalizes “interference” with “reproductive” or “gender-affirming” care, a law that opponents say has serious implications for freedom of speech.The law criminalizes inflicting “emotional harm” against those seeking or providing “reproductive health care services.” It also bans filming and sharing videos within 100 feet of an abortion clinic.Under the new law, an officer can “order the immediate dispersal of a gathering that substantially impedes access to or departure from an entrance or driveway to a reproductive or gender-affirming health care facility during the business hours of the facility.”The measure is a type of “bubble” law, which creates zones around abortion clinics where free speech is limited in “buffer zones.”Violations of the law could be punished by up to 18 months’ imprisonment and/or a $10,000 fine.New Jersey Right to Life Executive Director Marie Tasy criticized the law, describing its provisions as “inherently subjective” and the law itself as “a serious danger to free speech.”“Peaceful sidewalk counseling, prayer, holding signs, or simply offering help and alternatives outside a facility can easily be labeled ‘intimidation’ by someone who claims to feel threatened, leaving pro-life advocates open to criminal charges that are difficult to disprove and chilling constitutionally protected expression,” Tasy said.Catholic diocese leads campaign against abortion amendment referendumThe Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, is leading a campaign to oppose an amendment referendum that could create a right to abortion in the state constitution as well as another measure that would remove a same-sex marriage ban in the state.The campaign Catholics Vote No is opposing the ballot measure titled the “Virginia Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment” as well as the “Virginia Remove Constitutional Same-Sex Marriage Ban Amendment.”Arlington Bishop Michael Burbidge describes the measures as “very serious legal threats to human life and marriage” in a video statement.“If written into Virginia’s Constitution, these unjust amendments would be extraordinarily difficult to reverse,” the campaign website states. The abortion amendment would “effectively” make Virginia “a sanctuary for abortion and commercial abortion businesses,” it states. “Basic health and safety standards that protect women from harm would be eliminated, parents would be pushed out of life-altering decisions involving their family and children, and unregulated abortions would be possible, performed even on healthy babies up to the moment of birth for any reason with no limits,” the campaign says.Live Action says it will keep referring to abortion as ‘killing’The pro-life group Live Action has said it will not stop calling abortion “killing” after a pro-abortion group threatened the organization with legal action.Live Action made the declaration in response to a cease-and-desist letter sent by the abortion-supporting legal group Amplify Legal. The dispute is over claims made by Live Action in multiple articles about abortion cases where the unborn baby had a serious life-threatening diagnosis.“Each of our clients has described the decision to end their wanted pregnancy as the most compassionate choice for their own health, future fertility, and family’s wellbeing,” the letter read, arguing that Live Action News “repeatedly [wrote] about our clients intentionally ‘killing’ their babies.”In its response Live Action said it would not follow the request to “delete years of reporting and commentary on the most contested moral and political question in American public life.”“We are fighting for a culture and legal system that respects every human life and refuses to treat the sick, disabled, or unborn as disposable,” said Live Action Founder and President Lila Rose in a statement. “Legal threats against our First Amendment right to speak will not change that mission.”Catholic dad Mark Houck continues pro-life work after federal legal battleCatholic father Mark Houck is joining CatholicVote’s development team as a gift officer, the group announced this week. Houck and his family are adjusting to life after their home in rural eastern Pennsylvania was raided by 20 armed federal agents in the early hours of Sept. 23, 2022. Houck was arrested in front of his family and interrogated for six hours. The incident led to nearly four years of legal battles, which concluded with the family earning a seven-figure settlement for damages.“I am still very much unpacking spiritually what happened to us — very profound and certainly God is revealing his ultimate plan for us through it all, CatholicVote being the latest direction he has taken us,” Houck told EWTN News. “We are so happy to be with an organization that shares our passion for our faith, the pro-life cause, and, of course, advocacy in the public square.”Houck’s role in the organization "will extend beyond that [of a gift officer],” CatholicVote spokeswoman Laurie Olsen told EWTN News. He will “have a voice in all our pro-life efforts,” she said.Houck, meanwhile, told EWTN News: “We measure success by one soul at a time.”“Save a soul, you save your own soul. It is that one soul that gets me going and up early to head into Philadelphia and serve the common good with sidewalk advocacy,” he said.Federal court strikes down Indiana abortion parental-consent lawThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled on Aug. 18 against an Indiana law that prevents doctors from providing abortion assistance to minors without parental consent.The 54-page ruling struck down a law that required parental consent to aid or assist a minor in obtaining an abortion. The ruling said that the parental-consent law violated the First Amendment.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/advocates-warn-new-jersey-law-could-criminalize-prayer-outside-abortion-clinics-catholic-new-jersey-gov-mikie-sherrill-on-aug-20-signed-a-bill-that-criminalizes-interference-with.jpg "Advocates warn New Jersey law could criminalize prayer outside abortion clinics #Catholic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Aug. 20 signed a bill that criminalizes “interference” with “reproductive” or “gender-affirming” care, a law that opponents say has serious implications for freedom of speech.The law criminalizes inflicting “emotional harm” against those seeking or providing “reproductive health care services.” It also bans filming and sharing videos within 100 feet of an abortion clinic.Under the new law, an officer can “order the immediate dispersal of a gathering that substantially impedes access to or departure from an entrance or driveway to a reproductive or gender-affirming health care facility during the business hours of the facility.”The measure is a type of “bubble” law, which creates zones around abortion clinics where free speech is limited in “buffer zones.”Violations of the law could be punished by up to 18 months’ imprisonment and/or a $10,000 fine.New Jersey Right to Life Executive Director Marie Tasy criticized the law, describing its provisions as “inherently subjective” and the law itself as “a serious danger to free speech.”“Peaceful sidewalk counseling, prayer, holding signs, or simply offering help and alternatives outside a facility can easily be labeled ‘intimidation’ by someone who claims to feel threatened, leaving pro-life advocates open to criminal charges that are difficult to disprove and chilling constitutionally protected expression,” Tasy said.Catholic diocese leads campaign against abortion amendment referendumThe Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, is leading a campaign to oppose an amendment referendum that could create a right to abortion in the state constitution as well as another measure that would remove a same-sex marriage ban in the state.The campaign Catholics Vote No is opposing the ballot measure titled the “Virginia Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment” as well as the “Virginia Remove Constitutional Same-Sex Marriage Ban Amendment.”Arlington Bishop Michael Burbidge describes the measures as “very serious legal threats to human life and marriage” in a video statement.“If written into Virginia’s Constitution, these unjust amendments would be extraordinarily difficult to reverse,” the campaign website states. The abortion amendment would “effectively” make Virginia “a sanctuary for abortion and commercial abortion businesses,” it states. “Basic health and safety standards that protect women from harm would be eliminated, parents would be pushed out of life-altering decisions involving their family and children, and unregulated abortions would be possible, performed even on healthy babies up to the moment of birth for any reason with no limits,” the campaign says.Live Action says it will keep referring to abortion as ‘killing’The pro-life group Live Action has said it will not stop calling abortion “killing” after a pro-abortion group threatened the organization with legal action.Live Action made the declaration in response to a cease-and-desist letter sent by the abortion-supporting legal group Amplify Legal. The dispute is over claims made by Live Action in multiple articles about abortion cases where the unborn baby had a serious life-threatening diagnosis.“Each of our clients has described the decision to end their wanted pregnancy as the most compassionate choice for their own health, future fertility, and family’s wellbeing,” the letter read, arguing that Live Action News “repeatedly [wrote] about our clients intentionally ‘killing’ their babies.”In its response Live Action said it would not follow the request to “delete years of reporting and commentary on the most contested moral and political question in American public life.”“We are fighting for a culture and legal system that respects every human life and refuses to treat the sick, disabled, or unborn as disposable,” said Live Action Founder and President Lila Rose in a statement. “Legal threats against our First Amendment right to speak will not change that mission.”Catholic dad Mark Houck continues pro-life work after federal legal battleCatholic father Mark Houck is joining CatholicVote’s development team as a gift officer, the group announced this week. Houck and his family are adjusting to life after their home in rural eastern Pennsylvania was raided by 20 armed federal agents in the early hours of Sept. 23, 2022. Houck was arrested in front of his family and interrogated for six hours. The incident led to nearly four years of legal battles, which concluded with the family earning a seven-figure settlement for damages.“I am still very much unpacking spiritually what happened to us — very profound and certainly God is revealing his ultimate plan for us through it all, CatholicVote being the latest direction he has taken us,” Houck told EWTN News. “We are so happy to be with an organization that shares our passion for our faith, the pro-life cause, and, of course, advocacy in the public square.”Houck’s role in the organization \"will extend beyond that [of a gift officer],” CatholicVote spokeswoman Laurie Olsen told EWTN News. He will “have a voice in all our pro-life efforts,” she said.Houck, meanwhile, told EWTN News: “We measure success by one soul at a time.”“Save a soul, you save your own soul. It is that one soul that gets me going and up early to head into Philadelphia and serve the common good with sidewalk advocacy,” he said.Federal court strikes down Indiana abortion parental-consent lawThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled on Aug. 18 against an Indiana law that prevents doctors from providing abortion assistance to minors without parental consent.The 54-page ruling struck down a law that required parental consent to aid or assist a minor in obtaining an abortion. The ruling said that the parental-consent law violated the First Amendment.")
Aid to the Church in Need has launched a petition that urges international leaders to take action to end religious persecution.
Commissioner appointee Heidi Overton has criticized the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s chemical abortion policies in the past. She is now poised to be in a position to change them.
![Catholic bishops urge prayers against abortion by mail that ‘leaves women vulnerable’ #Catholic With an increasing number of abortions done via sending pills through the U.S. mail, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging Catholics across the nation to pray to St. Joseph to “stop the spread” of abortion pills.The bishops are calling for sustained and dedicated prayer from Aug. 18 to Oct. 31, with the campaign launching ahead of Respect Month Life in October.USCCB President Archbishop Paul Coakley and Bishop Daniel Thomas, who heads the bishops’ committee on pro-life activities, urged Catholics to “join a focused effort of prayer and action to stop the spread of abortion pills.” Activists have criticized the mailing of abortion pills as a largely unregulated and dangerous practice. Pro-life advocates were dealt a blow in May when the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily allowed for the continued mailing of abortion pills throughout the U.S. amid a legal dispute over the practice. “Every abortion involves the death of a child and harm to the mother,” the two bishops wrote in an Aug. 18 letter. “Now with easier access to abortion pills, the abortion rate is tragically climbing, along with increased health risks.”“The Food and Drug Administration has enabled a nationwide mail-order abortion industry by allowing abortion pills to be prescribed in telehealth appointments and sold both at neighborhood pharmacies and online, circumventing state laws that protect life in the womb,” the bishops wrote.They said the federal government’s lack of regulation makes women “vulnerable to suffering an abortion alone at home, without any medical supervision” and “sets up additional opportunities for exploitation by violent partners or human traffickers.”The bishops urged Catholics to visit the USCCB’s Respect Life campaign website, where visitors can “learn about the danger of abortion pills [and] send messages to pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies that are involved.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/catholic-bishops-urge-prayers-against-abortion-by-mail-that-leaves-women-vulnerable-catholic-with-an-increasing-number-of-abortions-done-via-sending-pills-through-the-u-s-mail-the.jpg "Catholic bishops urge prayers against abortion by mail that ‘leaves women vulnerable’ #Catholic With an increasing number of abortions done via sending pills through the U.S. mail, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging Catholics across the nation to pray to St. Joseph to “stop the spread” of abortion pills.The bishops are calling for sustained and dedicated prayer from Aug. 18 to Oct. 31, with the campaign launching ahead of Respect Month Life in October.USCCB President Archbishop Paul Coakley and Bishop Daniel Thomas, who heads the bishops’ committee on pro-life activities, urged Catholics to “join a focused effort of prayer and action to stop the spread of abortion pills.” Activists have criticized the mailing of abortion pills as a largely unregulated and dangerous practice. Pro-life advocates were dealt a blow in May when the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily allowed for the continued mailing of abortion pills throughout the U.S. amid a legal dispute over the practice. “Every abortion involves the death of a child and harm to the mother,” the two bishops wrote in an Aug. 18 letter. “Now with easier access to abortion pills, the abortion rate is tragically climbing, along with increased health risks.”“The Food and Drug Administration has enabled a nationwide mail-order abortion industry by allowing abortion pills to be prescribed in telehealth appointments and sold both at neighborhood pharmacies and online, circumventing state laws that protect life in the womb,” the bishops wrote.They said the federal government’s lack of regulation makes women “vulnerable to suffering an abortion alone at home, without any medical supervision” and “sets up additional opportunities for exploitation by violent partners or human traffickers.”The bishops urged Catholics to visit the USCCB’s Respect Life campaign website, where visitors can “learn about the danger of abortion pills [and] send messages to pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies that are involved.”")
Leading U.S. Catholic bishops are calling for a dedicated time of prayer as chemical abortions by mail are on the rise.
The president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales urged world leaders to enforce religious freedom standards in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
![Medicaid formally ends funds for ‘sex-rejecting procedures’ for minors with final rule #Catholic The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it has implemented a final rule that formally bans using funds for “sex-rejecting procedures” for minors, which are drugs and surgeries used to facilitate “gender transitions.”According to a CMS news release, this includes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical operations. It states these medical procedures cause irreversible damage, including infertility, impaired sexual function, diminished bone density, altered brain development, and other physiological effects.The move formalizes a policy of President Donald Trump’s administration to prevent minors from accessing these drugs and surgeries. In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order that instructed agencies to adopt rules to “end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”The final rule includes a tapering-off period of up to six months for children who are receiving cross-sex hormones, which allows them to be gradually weaned off the medicine. It does not affect mental health services.“Children deserve our protection, not experimental interventions that pose serious risks and convey no proven benefits,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement.“By cutting off federal funds for these sex-rejecting procedures, we’re following the science, saving taxpayer dollars, and, most importantly, protecting children from potentially irreversible harm so they can truly flourish,” he said.Rachel N. Morrison, director of the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Administrative State Accountability Project, told EWTN News that government funding should never support “harmful, sterilizing, and often irreversible sex-rejecting procedures.”“I am grateful to CMS and the Trump administration for their efforts to combat gender ideology, protect children from the harms [of] sex-rejecting procedures, and advance policies that reflect a true understanding of the nature of the human person,” she said.The Church’s positionThe U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) referred EWTN News to a Feb. 17 letter to CMS, which said the proposed ban on federal funding “aligns with Catholic teaching on the nature of the human person” and “reflects true distinctions between the sexes.” “Rejection of our God-given bodies, such as by modifying them to appear as the opposite sex, is a grave matter, and when done with full knowledge and complete consent, is a grave sin,” the letter states.In November 2025, the USCCB published a new edition of its ”Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services” guidelines, which prohibit Catholic institutions from providing treatments that “aim not to restore but rather to alter the fundamental order of the human body in its form or function” such as “interventions that aim to transform sexual characteristics of a human body into those of the opposite sex (or to nullify sexual characteristics…).”Joseph Meaney, past president and senior ethicist for the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), told EWTN News CMS “should be applauded for putting an end to federal taxpayer funding of transgender procedures on children.”“There is substantial agreement between U.S. government policy and Catholic teaching in this area of healthcare policy,” he said.Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, an NCBC senior ethicist, told EWTN News that the implementation of the rule “is very sensible and long overdue.”“Countless youth have already been railroaded along this path, placing themselves at great risk and damaging their bodies as they struggle with this confusion,” Pacholczyk said. “Once a young person steps onto that train, they often become ‘regular business customers,’ with a lifelong dependence on the continued prescribing of hormones and additional cycles of expensive surgeries.”He said tax money should not pay for “a hysterectomy on a girl who wants to live as a boy, nor to provide breast implants into a boy who thinks he is a girl.” He said children “deserve far better from the world of medicine and psychiatry.”“They are entitled to solid psychotherapy as a means of assisting them to reintegrate their subjective gender identity with their objective lifelong biology so they can recognize and embrace the beautiful gift of the biological sex they have been endowed with from the beginning,” Pacholczyk said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/medicaid-formally-ends-funds-for-sex-rejecting-procedures-for-minors-with-final-rule-catholic-the-centers-for-medicare-medicaid-services-cms-announced-it-has-implemented-a-f.jpg "Medicaid formally ends funds for ‘sex-rejecting procedures’ for minors with final rule #Catholic The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it has implemented a final rule that formally bans using funds for “sex-rejecting procedures” for minors, which are drugs and surgeries used to facilitate “gender transitions.”According to a CMS news release, this includes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical operations. It states these medical procedures cause irreversible damage, including infertility, impaired sexual function, diminished bone density, altered brain development, and other physiological effects.The move formalizes a policy of President Donald Trump’s administration to prevent minors from accessing these drugs and surgeries. In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order that instructed agencies to adopt rules to “end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.”The final rule includes a tapering-off period of up to six months for children who are receiving cross-sex hormones, which allows them to be gradually weaned off the medicine. It does not affect mental health services.“Children deserve our protection, not experimental interventions that pose serious risks and convey no proven benefits,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement.“By cutting off federal funds for these sex-rejecting procedures, we’re following the science, saving taxpayer dollars, and, most importantly, protecting children from potentially irreversible harm so they can truly flourish,” he said.Rachel N. Morrison, director of the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Administrative State Accountability Project, told EWTN News that government funding should never support “harmful, sterilizing, and often irreversible sex-rejecting procedures.”“I am grateful to CMS and the Trump administration for their efforts to combat gender ideology, protect children from the harms [of] sex-rejecting procedures, and advance policies that reflect a true understanding of the nature of the human person,” she said.The Church’s positionThe U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) referred EWTN News to a Feb. 17 letter to CMS, which said the proposed ban on federal funding “aligns with Catholic teaching on the nature of the human person” and “reflects true distinctions between the sexes.” “Rejection of our God-given bodies, such as by modifying them to appear as the opposite sex, is a grave matter, and when done with full knowledge and complete consent, is a grave sin,” the letter states.In November 2025, the USCCB published a new edition of its ”Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services” guidelines, which prohibit Catholic institutions from providing treatments that “aim not to restore but rather to alter the fundamental order of the human body in its form or function” such as “interventions that aim to transform sexual characteristics of a human body into those of the opposite sex (or to nullify sexual characteristics…).”Joseph Meaney, past president and senior ethicist for the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), told EWTN News CMS “should be applauded for putting an end to federal taxpayer funding of transgender procedures on children.”“There is substantial agreement between U.S. government policy and Catholic teaching in this area of healthcare policy,” he said.Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, an NCBC senior ethicist, told EWTN News that the implementation of the rule “is very sensible and long overdue.”“Countless youth have already been railroaded along this path, placing themselves at great risk and damaging their bodies as they struggle with this confusion,” Pacholczyk said. “Once a young person steps onto that train, they often become ‘regular business customers,’ with a lifelong dependence on the continued prescribing of hormones and additional cycles of expensive surgeries.”He said tax money should not pay for “a hysterectomy on a girl who wants to live as a boy, nor to provide breast implants into a boy who thinks he is a girl.” He said children “deserve far better from the world of medicine and psychiatry.”“They are entitled to solid psychotherapy as a means of assisting them to reintegrate their subjective gender identity with their objective lifelong biology so they can recognize and embrace the beautiful gift of the biological sex they have been endowed with from the beginning,” Pacholczyk said.")
The development formalizes a policy of the Trump administration. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has urged government action in this area.
The Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) criticized an executive order targeting birthright citizenship. The U.S. Catholic bishops are reviewing and monitoring the order.
![Federal court hears arguments on Oklahoma’s ban for religious charter schools #Catholic A federal court heard oral arguments on Aug. 5 about whether an Oklahoma law banning religious charter schools violates the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion.Oklahoma established a charter school system in 1999, which provides public funds for privately run K–12 schools to which parents can send their children instead of a public school operated by a school district. The law only allows “nonsectarian” applicants, which prevents any participation from schools that have a religious identity.In 2023, the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board (SCSB) approved an application from a proposed Catholic charter school — St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School — which led to a legal challenge from Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who opposed religious charter schools.The Oklahoma Supreme Court sided against the school, finding that charter schools are public schools and that public schools must be secular. St. Isidore appealed this to the U.S. Supreme Court, but that resulted in a 4-4 deadlock with no majority opinion because Justice Amy Coney Barrett had a conflict of interest and recused herself.Amid no clear guidance from the federal courts, a Jewish organization — National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation — filed an application to set up a charter school, which was denied. The group, represented by lawyers at the Becket Fund, filed a new lawsuit and asked a federal district court to require the SCSB to consider religious applicants.“Oklahoma makes room in its charter program for schools of all shapes and sizes, from those focused on science and fine arts to language immersion and classical education,” Daniel Chen, a Becket attorney representing the Jewish foundation, said in a statement.“The one it refuses to make room for is a faith-based school,” Chen added. “That is religious discrimination, plain and simple, and the state deserves a failing grade for it.”Chen told EWTN News that Becket is asking the federal court to immediately allow National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation to set up a charter school, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent that requires government programs to allow religious institutions the same access as secular institutions.“They’re private actors,” he said. “And because they’re private actors, they cannot be excluded from participating in a public benefits program.”Chen said the federal district court is not bound by the precedent of the Oklahoma Supreme Court because that is a state court, so it could rule in favor of the school. He also said if the case goes to the U.S. Supreme Court, he hopes Barrett can weigh in to break the 4-4 deadlock.“We’re hoping that [for] our case, there wouldn’t have to be any recusals,” he said.School board’s hands are tiedAlthough the charter school board denied the application from the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation, one of its lawyers at First Liberty Institute explained to EWTN News that its hands are tied by the statute and the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision.“They’re following that order,” said Hiram Sasser, executive general counsel for First Liberty and the lawyer representing SCSB. “But [they] would be happy if the federal court didn’t [require the school board] to engage in that kind of discrimination.”Sasser said the SCSB does not want to exclude an applicant “simply because it’s religious” and would rather evaluate applicants “just based on the merits.” But he said the order “makes them exclude religious schools just because they’re religious.”“They want to maximize all of the various choices and opportunities for parents,” he added.Sasser said he hopes the question goes to the U.S. Supreme Court again so “we’ll get an answer — a real answer.” He said it would provide more clarity for the school board, which “needs an answer.”John Meiser, director of the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic at the University of Notre Dame and the lawyer who represented St. Isidore at the Supreme Court, told EWTN News that the question ultimately comes down to whether charter schools are private or public institutions.In Oklahoma, he said charter schools “are called public schools” and that label “introduces a confusion that I don’t think would be present if they chose any other word.”He said Supreme Court precedent is clear that religious institutions must have equal access to government programs available to private institutions, but if a charter school is a “government school,” that “doesn’t apply” because the government “doesn’t and can’t run religious schools.”In spite of the label, Meiser said charter schools in Oklahoma are “formed and designed and run by private groups” and people who work there “are private employees.” He said the structure “looks just like a government contract” and funding from the government “doesn’t turn all those private contractors into the government itself.”“The dispute is really just about, ‘Well is a charter school in some way different?’” he said.Although Meiser said he is not aware of any ongoing Catholic efforts to recreate a charter school, he said that a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s constitutional arguments for equal access “would presumably apply to all religious operators of schools, and so it would open the door to a Catholic charter school or other religiously based charter school.”Attorney general stands firmDrummond, who remains Oklahoma’s attorney general, is standing firm in opposing the creation of religious charter schools and is fighting against National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s efforts."This matter was resolved when the state Supreme Courtʼs ruling to prevent taxpayer funded religious charter schools was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year,” Leslie Berger, press secretary for the attorney general’s office, told EWTN News.Drummond has also criticized the charter school board in public statements surrounding this legal battle in March, accusing the SCSB of “playing politics with the taxpayers' money” and alleged it “manipulated the record [about why National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s application was rejected] to make that lawsuit easier to lose — not win.”"A state agency that deliberately hobbles its own legal position is not doing its job — it is betraying Oklahoma taxpayers,” he said. “I will not allow that.”Drummond has garnered support from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) for opposing the creation of religious charter schools.Attorneys for FFRF are representing seven Oklahomans who oppose their tax money being used to support religious charter schools.“The federal court should rule according to constitutional principles,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement. “A religious public charter school has no place in our secular public education system.”It’s unclear when the federal court will issue its ruling, but National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation has asked the judge to issue a preliminary injunction against the state so it can begin operating a school while the litigation plays out.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/federal-court-hears-arguments-on-oklahomas-ban-for-religious-charter-schools-catholic-a-federal-court-heard-oral-arguments-on-aug-5-about-whether-an-oklahoma-law-banning-religious-charter-s.jpg "Federal court hears arguments on Oklahoma’s ban for religious charter schools #Catholic A federal court heard oral arguments on Aug. 5 about whether an Oklahoma law banning religious charter schools violates the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion.Oklahoma established a charter school system in 1999, which provides public funds for privately run K–12 schools to which parents can send their children instead of a public school operated by a school district. The law only allows “nonsectarian” applicants, which prevents any participation from schools that have a religious identity.In 2023, the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board (SCSB) approved an application from a proposed Catholic charter school — St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School — which led to a legal challenge from Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who opposed religious charter schools.The Oklahoma Supreme Court sided against the school, finding that charter schools are public schools and that public schools must be secular. St. Isidore appealed this to the U.S. Supreme Court, but that resulted in a 4-4 deadlock with no majority opinion because Justice Amy Coney Barrett had a conflict of interest and recused herself.Amid no clear guidance from the federal courts, a Jewish organization — National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation — filed an application to set up a charter school, which was denied. The group, represented by lawyers at the Becket Fund, filed a new lawsuit and asked a federal district court to require the SCSB to consider religious applicants.“Oklahoma makes room in its charter program for schools of all shapes and sizes, from those focused on science and fine arts to language immersion and classical education,” Daniel Chen, a Becket attorney representing the Jewish foundation, said in a statement.“The one it refuses to make room for is a faith-based school,” Chen added. “That is religious discrimination, plain and simple, and the state deserves a failing grade for it.”Chen told EWTN News that Becket is asking the federal court to immediately allow National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation to set up a charter school, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent that requires government programs to allow religious institutions the same access as secular institutions.“They’re private actors,” he said. “And because they’re private actors, they cannot be excluded from participating in a public benefits program.”Chen said the federal district court is not bound by the precedent of the Oklahoma Supreme Court because that is a state court, so it could rule in favor of the school. He also said if the case goes to the U.S. Supreme Court, he hopes Barrett can weigh in to break the 4-4 deadlock.“We’re hoping that [for] our case, there wouldn’t have to be any recusals,” he said.School board’s hands are tiedAlthough the charter school board denied the application from the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation, one of its lawyers at First Liberty Institute explained to EWTN News that its hands are tied by the statute and the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision.“They’re following that order,” said Hiram Sasser, executive general counsel for First Liberty and the lawyer representing SCSB. “But [they] would be happy if the federal court didn’t [require the school board] to engage in that kind of discrimination.”Sasser said the SCSB does not want to exclude an applicant “simply because it’s religious” and would rather evaluate applicants “just based on the merits.” But he said the order “makes them exclude religious schools just because they’re religious.”“They want to maximize all of the various choices and opportunities for parents,” he added.Sasser said he hopes the question goes to the U.S. Supreme Court again so “we’ll get an answer — a real answer.” He said it would provide more clarity for the school board, which “needs an answer.”John Meiser, director of the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic at the University of Notre Dame and the lawyer who represented St. Isidore at the Supreme Court, told EWTN News that the question ultimately comes down to whether charter schools are private or public institutions.In Oklahoma, he said charter schools “are called public schools” and that label “introduces a confusion that I don’t think would be present if they chose any other word.”He said Supreme Court precedent is clear that religious institutions must have equal access to government programs available to private institutions, but if a charter school is a “government school,” that “doesn’t apply” because the government “doesn’t and can’t run religious schools.”In spite of the label, Meiser said charter schools in Oklahoma are “formed and designed and run by private groups” and people who work there “are private employees.” He said the structure “looks just like a government contract” and funding from the government “doesn’t turn all those private contractors into the government itself.”“The dispute is really just about, ‘Well is a charter school in some way different?’” he said.Although Meiser said he is not aware of any ongoing Catholic efforts to recreate a charter school, he said that a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s constitutional arguments for equal access “would presumably apply to all religious operators of schools, and so it would open the door to a Catholic charter school or other religiously based charter school.”Attorney general stands firmDrummond, who remains Oklahoma’s attorney general, is standing firm in opposing the creation of religious charter schools and is fighting against National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s efforts.\"This matter was resolved when the state Supreme Courtʼs ruling to prevent taxpayer funded religious charter schools was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year,” Leslie Berger, press secretary for the attorney general’s office, told EWTN News.Drummond has also criticized the charter school board in public statements surrounding this legal battle in March, accusing the SCSB of “playing politics with the taxpayers' money” and alleged it “manipulated the record [about why National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation’s application was rejected] to make that lawsuit easier to lose — not win.”\"A state agency that deliberately hobbles its own legal position is not doing its job — it is betraying Oklahoma taxpayers,” he said. “I will not allow that.”Drummond has garnered support from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) for opposing the creation of religious charter schools.Attorneys for FFRF are representing seven Oklahomans who oppose their tax money being used to support religious charter schools.“The federal court should rule according to constitutional principles,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement. “A religious public charter school has no place in our secular public education system.”It’s unclear when the federal court will issue its ruling, but National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation has asked the judge to issue a preliminary injunction against the state so it can begin operating a school while the litigation plays out.")
Oklahoma’s Statewide Charter School Board wants to approve religious charter schools, but a ruling from the Oklahoma Supreme Court and efforts by the state attorney general prevent it from doing so.
Bishop Daniel E. Garcia said the Voting Rights Act was born from the sacrifice of those who fought to secure equal access to the ballot, especially for communities of color long denied that right.
![March for Life president steps down to become ‘full-time mom’ #Catholic March for Life president steps down to focus on familyJennie Bradley Lichter, the president of the March for Life, is stepping down to devote more time to her family as a “full-time mom,” the leader said this week.“I have been humbled and inspired by the stories — so many stories, everywhere I go — of how the March for Life has changed people’s minds and hearts, how for so many Marchers it has sparked a lifetime of action and advocacy on behalf of the unborn, and in some cases, how it has changed the entire trajectory of their lives,” Bradley Lichter wrote in a farewell statement.She and her husband “are raising two tweens and a rising kindergartner, and it has become very clear that my family needs more of my time and my active presence than I’m able to give while leading the March for Life,” she said in the statement “My most important titles of all are not ‘President’ — but ‘wife’ and ‘Mom,’” she said.Bradley Lichter said that her role has been “the highlight of my professional life.”The resignation is effective July 31. The March for Life Board is actively searching for a new president.The annual demonstration draws tens of thousands to the nation’s capital yearly to advocate for the rights of unborn babies.Abortion drug present in municipal water, study findsA study published on July 20 in the Journal of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine highlighted the need for “significant additional investigation into the levels of various hormones and [endocrine-disrupting chemicals], including mifepristone, in water sources,” with researchers finding high levels of the abortion drug in municipal water supplies.Mifepristone is used in chemical abortions, as well as in treatment for miscarriages, and works by blocking progesterone, a hormone necessary for pregnancy. The investigation found “significant levels of mifepristone (up to 0.041 μgram/l) in the water of all but one of the nine sampling classes,” the study read. Water samples “were collected from sites upstream and downstream of water treatment facilities, and from municipal tap water,” from multiple American cities.“Because of the plethora of effects of progesterone, this contaminant could affect the physiology of aquatic animals; and human health, including fertility, pregnancy and fetal development,” the researchers said. Justice Department settles with pro-life father after FBI raidThe U.S. Department of Justice reached a seven-figure settlement with pro-life father Paul Vaughn after his home was raided by the FBI in connection with his pro-life work.The settlement affirmed that under the Biden administration, the government’s actions “were an abuse of government power,” according to a July 28 press release by the Thomas More Society, the legal nonprofit that defended Vaughn.Vaughn, a Catholic father of 11, was arrested at gunpoint after the FBI raided his house in connection with his protest at an abortion clinic. He is one of several pro-life advocates prosecuted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act during the Biden administration.“My family has been through a traumatic ordeal that never should have happened. But today brings an end to this portion of the story,” Vaughn said in a statement.“This chapter is finally closed, and our family looks forward with gratitude and hope, as we continue to serve God, advocating for the most vulnerable among us without fear.”Catholic bishops of Massachusetts speak out against late-term abortion billThe Catholic bishops of Massachusetts spoke out this week against a bill that will legalize late-term abortion in the state.“As Catholic bishops we have a moral responsibility to present and uphold Catholic teaching and the sacred God-given dignity of every human life from conception to the natural death,” the bishops said in July 29 statement signed by Bishop William Byrne of Springfield, Archbishop Richard Henning of Boston, Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, and Bishop Edgar da Cunha of Fall River.The state legislature passed the bill in July, with the Massachusetts Senate voting in favor of it on July 31. The measure, if signed into law, will remove the stateʼs 24-week limit on abortion.“The proposed elimination of any legal restraint on late-term abortion is, in our judgement, a radical measure which is gravely immoral,” the bishops’ statement read. The advocacy group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is also strongly opposing the bill; the group’s president Marjorie Dannenfelser called for nationwide protections for unborn children.“If Gov. [Maura] Healey signs this bill into law, Massachusetts will join 10 states and Washington, D.C. with an all-trimester abortion policy where babies are killed after the point they can survive outside of the womb,” Dannenfelser told EWTN News. “These extreme laws that only 10% of Americans support are enabled by the ‘states-only’ philosophy on abortion,” she said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/march-for-life-president-steps-down-to-become-full-time-mom-catholic-march-for-life-president-steps-down-to-focus-on-familyjennie-bradley-lichter-the-president-of-the-march-for-life-is-stepping.jpg "March for Life president steps down to become ‘full-time mom’ #Catholic March for Life president steps down to focus on familyJennie Bradley Lichter, the president of the March for Life, is stepping down to devote more time to her family as a “full-time mom,” the leader said this week.“I have been humbled and inspired by the stories — so many stories, everywhere I go — of how the March for Life has changed people’s minds and hearts, how for so many Marchers it has sparked a lifetime of action and advocacy on behalf of the unborn, and in some cases, how it has changed the entire trajectory of their lives,” Bradley Lichter wrote in a farewell statement.She and her husband “are raising two tweens and a rising kindergartner, and it has become very clear that my family needs more of my time and my active presence than I’m able to give while leading the March for Life,” she said in the statement “My most important titles of all are not ‘President’ — but ‘wife’ and ‘Mom,’” she said.Bradley Lichter said that her role has been “the highlight of my professional life.”The resignation is effective July 31. The March for Life Board is actively searching for a new president.The annual demonstration draws tens of thousands to the nation’s capital yearly to advocate for the rights of unborn babies.Abortion drug present in municipal water, study findsA study published on July 20 in the Journal of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine highlighted the need for “significant additional investigation into the levels of various hormones and [endocrine-disrupting chemicals], including mifepristone, in water sources,” with researchers finding high levels of the abortion drug in municipal water supplies.Mifepristone is used in chemical abortions, as well as in treatment for miscarriages, and works by blocking progesterone, a hormone necessary for pregnancy. The investigation found “significant levels of mifepristone (up to 0.041 μgram/l) in the water of all but one of the nine sampling classes,” the study read. Water samples “were collected from sites upstream and downstream of water treatment facilities, and from municipal tap water,” from multiple American cities.“Because of the plethora of effects of progesterone, this contaminant could affect the physiology of aquatic animals; and human health, including fertility, pregnancy and fetal development,” the researchers said. Justice Department settles with pro-life father after FBI raidThe U.S. Department of Justice reached a seven-figure settlement with pro-life father Paul Vaughn after his home was raided by the FBI in connection with his pro-life work.The settlement affirmed that under the Biden administration, the government’s actions “were an abuse of government power,” according to a July 28 press release by the Thomas More Society, the legal nonprofit that defended Vaughn.Vaughn, a Catholic father of 11, was arrested at gunpoint after the FBI raided his house in connection with his protest at an abortion clinic. He is one of several pro-life advocates prosecuted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act during the Biden administration.“My family has been through a traumatic ordeal that never should have happened. But today brings an end to this portion of the story,” Vaughn said in a statement.“This chapter is finally closed, and our family looks forward with gratitude and hope, as we continue to serve God, advocating for the most vulnerable among us without fear.”Catholic bishops of Massachusetts speak out against late-term abortion billThe Catholic bishops of Massachusetts spoke out this week against a bill that will legalize late-term abortion in the state.“As Catholic bishops we have a moral responsibility to present and uphold Catholic teaching and the sacred God-given dignity of every human life from conception to the natural death,” the bishops said in July 29 statement signed by Bishop William Byrne of Springfield, Archbishop Richard Henning of Boston, Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, and Bishop Edgar da Cunha of Fall River.The state legislature passed the bill in July, with the Massachusetts Senate voting in favor of it on July 31. The measure, if signed into law, will remove the stateʼs 24-week limit on abortion.“The proposed elimination of any legal restraint on late-term abortion is, in our judgement, a radical measure which is gravely immoral,” the bishops’ statement read. The advocacy group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America is also strongly opposing the bill; the group’s president Marjorie Dannenfelser called for nationwide protections for unborn children.“If Gov. [Maura] Healey signs this bill into law, Massachusetts will join 10 states and Washington, D.C. with an all-trimester abortion policy where babies are killed after the point they can survive outside of the womb,” Dannenfelser told EWTN News. “These extreme laws that only 10% of Americans support are enabled by the ‘states-only’ philosophy on abortion,” she said.")
The measure, if signed by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, will remove the last few restrictions on abortion in the state and replace them with “the professional judgment of the physician.”
![Archbishop Wenski meets lawmakers to gain support for Haitian migrants amid deportation fears #Catholic Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski traveled to Washington, D.C., on July 28 to advocate on behalf of Haitian migrants who fear they will soon be targets of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.Wenski’s meetings with lawmakers came one day after the expiration of the automatic work‑permit extension under temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians. The Supreme Court ruled last month that the administration has the authority to terminate TPS, which ended their work authorization and could subject them to deportation orders. “Haiti is a house on fire,” Wenski told “EWTN News Nightly” Capitol Hill correspondent Erik Rosales before entering the office of Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia.The archbishop said TPS expiration and possible deportation of hundreds of thousands of Haitians is bad for the migrants — who would be sent back to an unstable country — and for the American communities in which the migrants live and work. About 353,000 Haitian nationals hold TPS status in the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).“To think that we can send 350,000 people back to Haiti without that having very bad consequences in Haiti — but also here because these people are working, they’re not on the dole, they’re working, and if they’re removed from their jobs, if they lose their work permits, that’s going to have a negative economic impact on the communities in which they live,” Wenski said.As Haitian TPS status ends, some lawmakers have introduced bills to compel the DHS to extend the status. In April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation, H.R. 1689, that would extend TPS for Haitians for three more years. No legislative efforts have gained traction in the Senate.The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has advocated strongly on behalf of Haitian migrants, asking the Trump administration and lawmakers to extend TPS. About two-thirds of Haiti is Catholic.Chieko Noguchi, spokeswoman for the USCCB, told EWTN News that Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, USCCB Committee on Migration chair, “has encouraged his brother bishops across the country to engage with their elected officials” on Haitian TPS status and broader immigration reform efforts.“As pastors committed to upholding the common good, the bishops are actively engaging in this dialogue and continue to be grateful for the opportunity to do so, which they acknowledged in their special message last November,” she said.In November 2025, the USCCB adopted a message in a 216-5 vote that opposed the “indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and policies that revoke the legal status of migrants, such as the terminations of TPS for various groups of migrants.Kaine, an advocate for extending TPS, told EWTN News after meeting with Wenski that he was glad “to discuss the critical need for Congress to do what is right and protect TPS holders who have been in the U.S. legally for years” and looks forward to working with the USCCB to advocate for TPS holders.TPS holders “have made countless contributions in important sectors such as healthcare and construction, and developed deep roots in our communities through their U.S. citizen families and businesses,” he added. “Many TPS holders, such as those from Haiti, should not be forced to return to the extremely dangerous conditions that made them seek safety in the United States.”Status of Haitian migrantsOn July 27, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin reposted a DHS post on X, which said “temporary protected status is exactly that — TEMPORARY” and urged anyone whose TPS has expired to self-deport out of the U.S.“For those with terminated TPS: it’s closing time,” the post read. “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”When asked whether DHS intends to specifically target Haitians for deportation amid the TPS expiration, a spokesperson told EWTN News that the department “does not discuss ongoing or future operations” but is conducting law enforcement activities daily.“For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent,” the spokesperson said.Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and a resident fellow in law and policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, told EWTN News that TPS was initially approved for Haiti in 2010 after a devastating earthquake.Although Haiti continues to face serious safety and political stability concerns, he said the effects of the earthquake no longer impact the country. He noted that Haitians can apply for permanent status under other programs, such as if they are eligible for asylum, but that TPS is not a permanent resettlement program.Arthur said Haitians who are in the U.S. under temporary legal status “had the opportunity to work in the United States and make money” and learn skills, which they can take back “to Haiti and [it can] help them make Haiti a better country.”The former judge said he expects immigration enforcement toward Haitians to be part of “the larger enforcement efforts” rather than a targeted campaign against Haitians, with a priority toward people who have been convicted of crimes.“The response [now] is foreign aid on the part of the United States and aid from the Catholic Church toward making Haiti a better place,” Arthur said.TPS status for Syrian migrants also ended on July 27. El Salvador’s TPS designation is set to expire Sept. 9.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/archbishop-wenski-meets-lawmakers-to-gain-support-for-haitian-migrants-amid-deportation-fears-catholic-miami-archbishop-thomas-wenski-traveled-to-washington-d-c-on-july-28-to-advocate-on-behalf-of.png "Archbishop Wenski meets lawmakers to gain support for Haitian migrants amid deportation fears #Catholic Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski traveled to Washington, D.C., on July 28 to advocate on behalf of Haitian migrants who fear they will soon be targets of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.Wenski’s meetings with lawmakers came one day after the expiration of the automatic work‑permit extension under temporary protected status (TPS) for Haitians. The Supreme Court ruled last month that the administration has the authority to terminate TPS, which ended their work authorization and could subject them to deportation orders. “Haiti is a house on fire,” Wenski told “EWTN News Nightly” Capitol Hill correspondent Erik Rosales before entering the office of Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia.The archbishop said TPS expiration and possible deportation of hundreds of thousands of Haitians is bad for the migrants — who would be sent back to an unstable country — and for the American communities in which the migrants live and work. About 353,000 Haitian nationals hold TPS status in the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).“To think that we can send 350,000 people back to Haiti without that having very bad consequences in Haiti — but also here because these people are working, they’re not on the dole, they’re working, and if they’re removed from their jobs, if they lose their work permits, that’s going to have a negative economic impact on the communities in which they live,” Wenski said.As Haitian TPS status ends, some lawmakers have introduced bills to compel the DHS to extend the status. In April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation, H.R. 1689, that would extend TPS for Haitians for three more years. No legislative efforts have gained traction in the Senate.The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has advocated strongly on behalf of Haitian migrants, asking the Trump administration and lawmakers to extend TPS. About two-thirds of Haiti is Catholic.Chieko Noguchi, spokeswoman for the USCCB, told EWTN News that Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, USCCB Committee on Migration chair, “has encouraged his brother bishops across the country to engage with their elected officials” on Haitian TPS status and broader immigration reform efforts.“As pastors committed to upholding the common good, the bishops are actively engaging in this dialogue and continue to be grateful for the opportunity to do so, which they acknowledged in their special message last November,” she said.In November 2025, the USCCB adopted a message in a 216-5 vote that opposed the “indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and policies that revoke the legal status of migrants, such as the terminations of TPS for various groups of migrants.Kaine, an advocate for extending TPS, told EWTN News after meeting with Wenski that he was glad “to discuss the critical need for Congress to do what is right and protect TPS holders who have been in the U.S. legally for years” and looks forward to working with the USCCB to advocate for TPS holders.TPS holders “have made countless contributions in important sectors such as healthcare and construction, and developed deep roots in our communities through their U.S. citizen families and businesses,” he added. “Many TPS holders, such as those from Haiti, should not be forced to return to the extremely dangerous conditions that made them seek safety in the United States.”Status of Haitian migrantsOn July 27, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin reposted a DHS post on X, which said “temporary protected status is exactly that — TEMPORARY” and urged anyone whose TPS has expired to self-deport out of the U.S.“For those with terminated TPS: it’s closing time,” the post read. “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”When asked whether DHS intends to specifically target Haitians for deportation amid the TPS expiration, a spokesperson told EWTN News that the department “does not discuss ongoing or future operations” but is conducting law enforcement activities daily.“For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent,” the spokesperson said.Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and a resident fellow in law and policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, told EWTN News that TPS was initially approved for Haiti in 2010 after a devastating earthquake.Although Haiti continues to face serious safety and political stability concerns, he said the effects of the earthquake no longer impact the country. He noted that Haitians can apply for permanent status under other programs, such as if they are eligible for asylum, but that TPS is not a permanent resettlement program.Arthur said Haitians who are in the U.S. under temporary legal status “had the opportunity to work in the United States and make money” and learn skills, which they can take back “to Haiti and [it can] help them make Haiti a better country.”The former judge said he expects immigration enforcement toward Haitians to be part of “the larger enforcement efforts” rather than a targeted campaign against Haitians, with a priority toward people who have been convicted of crimes.“The response [now] is foreign aid on the part of the United States and aid from the Catholic Church toward making Haiti a better place,” Arthur said.TPS status for Syrian migrants also ended on July 27. El Salvador’s TPS designation is set to expire Sept. 9.")
The Department of Homeland Security defended its policy, saying temporary protected status was not meant to be permanent.
The White House has issued a string of statements acknowledging prominent Catholic feast days and observances.
“His memory places a duty upon us. It compels us to tirelessly defend the freedom of conscience that the Republic guarantees and protects,” the French president said.
| Picture of the day |
|---|
|
|
The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. commemorates the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826). Today marks the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s death as well as the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, drafted primarily by Jefferson.
|
