U.S. Supreme Court. / Credit: PT Hamilton/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 17, 2025 / 19:00 pm (CNA).

The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that will determine whether parents have a right to opt their children out of public school coursework that promotes homosexuality, transgenderism, and sexual content.

Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim parents are suing the Montgomery County, Maryland, Board of Education over a policy that prohibits parents from opting their children out of coursework that promotes gender ideology to children as young as 3 or 4 years old.

Supreme Court justices will likely hear the religious freedom case this spring.

The parents, who are represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, have argued that the board’s refusal to allow opt-outs violates their First Amendment right to direct the religious upbringing of their children. The parents argue that the concepts promoted in the coursework conflict with their religious beliefs.

“The school board has pushed inappropriate gender indoctrination on our children instead of focusing on the fundamental areas of education that they need to thrive,” Grace Morrison, who serves on the board of the Kids First association, said in a statement.

“I pray the Supreme Court will stop this injustice, allow parents to raise their children according to their faith, and restore common sense in Maryland once again,” Morrison said.

One book called “Pride Puppy!” teaches preschool children the alphabet with a story about a homosexual pride parade, which introduces children to words like “drag queen,” “leather,” and “zipper.” It also introduces young children to Marsha B. Johnson — a drag queen, gay rights activist, and temporarily a prostitute.

The lawsuit was filed in May 2023.

The school district decided in October 2024 to remove “Pride Puppy!” and one other book from the school curriculum but kept them in libraries. Numerous other books that promote gender ideology still remain in the mandatory curriculum for all students. 

“Cramming down controversial gender ideology on 3-year-olds without their parents’ permission is an affront to our nation’s traditions, parental rights, and basic human decency,” Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said in a statement.

“The court must make clear: Parents, not the state, should be the ones deciding how and when to introduce their children to sensitive issues about gender and sexuality,” Baxter added. 

The parents are not seeking to have the books banned from the school but rather are asking for the opportunity to opt their children out of the coursework.

A survey released by Becket earlier this week found that 77% of Americans believe parents should be able to opt their children out of public school coursework that promotes concepts of gender identity and sexuality that conflict with the religious beliefs of the parents. Only 23% of people disagreed with opt-outs.

null / Credit: Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jan 17, 2025 / 17:35 pm (CNA).

A federal judge in Texas ruled that three other states can join a case challenging online prescriptions of the abortion pill mifepristone.

Trump-appointed Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Amarillo, Texas, ruled Thursday that Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri can pursue legal action to prohibit the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from allowing online prescriptions.

In the order, Kacsmaryk cited concerns that the FDA regulations could “undermine state abortion laws and frustrate state law enforcement,” ruling that the states shouldn’t be prevented from suing in Texas just because they’re outside of the state.

The states want the FDA to prohibit telehealth prescriptions for mifepristone and require three in-person doctor visits — rather than none — to obtain a prescription. The states also want to limit the use of the pill from the current 10 weeks’ gestation to seven weeks.

A chemical abortion takes place via a two-pill regimen. The first pill, mifepristone, kills an unborn child by blocking the hormone progesterone, cutting off the child’s supply of oxygen and nutrients. The second pill, misoprostol, is taken between 24 to 48 hours after mifepristone to induce contractions and expel the child’s body.

Chemical abortions carry risks for women, with 15% of women experiencing hemorrhaging and 2% experiencing infection. A chemical abortion has a complication rate four times that of a surgical abortion, according to a study by the Charlotte Lozier Institute. 

A coalition of doctors in 2022 challenged the FDA’s regulation of the abortion pill due to safety concerns. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Pediatricians, and the Christian Medical and Dental Associations claimed in the lawsuit that the FDA ignored safety regulations to approve the abortion pill regimen, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the FDA in 2024, saying that they lacked the legal right to sue.

Most abortions in the U.S. in recent years are chemical abortions via the abortion pill regimen. Doctors and pro-life advocates have voiced concerns about the safety of chemical abortion, especially when prescribed via telemedicine without a medical examination. 

In the U.S., abortion pills are illegal in 18 states and limited in 11. Louisiana last year classified the drugs as “controlled dangerous substances.” 

The ruling comes shortly before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has committed to keeping abortion pills accessible during his second term, raising criticism from pro-life advocates who hope the new administration will increase safety regulations around chemical abortions.

null / Credit: XanderSt/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 17, 2025 / 17:05 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Supreme Court decided on Friday that a federal ban on the popular Chinese-owned social media application TikTok could go into effect Sunday — but the future of the app remains uncertain as President-elect Donald Trump assumes office the following day.

TikTok, which has more than 100 million active users in the United States, will be banned on Sunday, Jan. 19, if its owners fail to sell the platform. 

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, China, and lawmakers have expressed national security and privacy concerns over the Chinese Communist Party potentially having access to American data.

Although the law goes into effect on Jan. 19, the Associated Press reported that President Joe Biden will not implement any enforcement action on that day, citing an unnamed United States official as its source. 

Trump, who has gone back and forth on whether he supports banning the platform, has been unclear what his plans are when he assumes office.

“The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it,” Trump said in a post on TruthSocial on Friday. “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not-too-distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!”

TikTok has also generated concerns from child safety advocates who have warned that some children could be exposed to sexually explicit content, targeted by predators, become victims of cyberbullying, or be subjected to content harmful to their mental health.

“If parents are breathing a sigh of relief [amid the upcoming TikTok ban], it would be perfectly understandable, but that doesn’t mean they should be letting their guards down,” Melissa Henson, the vice president of the Parents Television and Media Council, told CNA.

“In anticipation of the Supreme Court upholding the forced sale of TikTok, many teens have already migrated over to new social media platforms; and if TikTok is bought by an American company, it doesn’t necessarily follow that it will become safer for children or teens, as Senate hearings less than a year ago proved,” Henson said.

“The issues that make TikTok dangerous for minors are rife on most — if not all — social media platforms, even those owned and operated by U.S. companies,” she said.

“As parents and grandparents, we need to exercise caution and vigilance when giving children access to smartphones and other devices,” Henson added. “As concerned citizens, we need to continue to push Congress to pass bills that will hold tech and social media companies accountable.”

According to TikTok’s community guidelines, users must be at least 13 years old to access most features, and some content is restricted for users who are younger than 18 years old. Children under the age of 13 can create accounts that are heavily restricted and contain additional safeguards.

In spite of the concerns, TikTok is also used by numerous Catholic apostolates, priests, and evangelists who use the platform to reach young people about Jesus Christ and the Church — some of which have hundreds of thousands of followers.

Father David Michael Moses, who has more than 320,000 followers on TikTok, told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, last week that “there are a lot of lost people on TikTok, and the more lost they are, the more we need to bring them back to the Church.” Although he uses the platform as a tool for evangelization, he said he’d discourage young people from making an account.

“Every bad neighborhood should have a Catholic church and a priest there,” Moses said. “I would not recommend my nieces and nephews all go on TikTok. But just like in a bad neighborhood, there are souls that need to be ministered to, and that is what missionary work is all about.”

In response to the expected ban, many Americans have been turning to other social media apps. One popular alternative is RedNote, another Chinese-owned company that could pose similar national security and privacy concerns if it gains popularity in the United States.

Pro-life demonstrators listen to President Donald Trump as he speaks at the 47th annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, 2020. Trump was the first U.S. president to address in person the country’s biggest annual gathering of pro-life campaigners. / Credit: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Jan 17, 2025 / 16:35 pm (CNA).

As President-elect Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day approaches, leaders of the pro-life movement are highlighting important policies and sharing their hopes and expectations for the new administration.

While the Trump-Pence administration is remembered for its role in overturning Roe v. Wade, Trump was criticized by many for pledging during his campaign to veto an abortion ban and for his support of in vitro fertilization.

Nevertheless, pro-life advocates and policy experts are hopeful that the new administration will take concrete actions on behalf of the unborn in the post-Roe landscape.

Cut public funding for U.S. abortion providers 

Pro-life advocates and policy experts are hopeful that the Trump-Vance administration will undo Biden-era pro-abortion policies that fund or subsidize abortion both domestically and abroad. 

Taxpayer funding of abortion giant Planned Parenthood totalled $1.6 billion from 2019–2021, averaging $533 million per year according to a 2023 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Pro-life advocates “hope the Trump administration will be even more aggressive in their efforts to cut taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood,” Michael New, professor at The Catholic University of America and senior associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, told CNA.

“DOGE,” the Department of Government Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, is seen by some leaders as an avenue for cutting funding to abortion providers. 

“Defunding Planned Parenthood should be one of the items recommended by DOGE as a great way to reduce the federal budget deficit and removing a highly objectionable organization from government funding,” said Joseph Meaney, past president and senior fellow of the National Catholic Bioethics Center. 

Noah Brandt of Live Action called on Trump to “defund Planned Parenthood for every taxpayer dollar it receives.”

“During its last reported year, Planned Parenthood committed 392,715 abortions, killing an average of 1,076 preborn babies every day, nearly 45 every hour, and one every 80 seconds,” Brandt told CNA. 

Restore Mexico City Policy

Addressing funding for abortion providers internationally is another high priority for pro-lifers. The Mexico City Policy, which Biden rescinded early on in his term, prevents the federal government from funding abortion providers abroad. Pro-lifers hope Trump will quickly restore this policy.  

“One of the most important policies to restore is the Mexico City Policy that restricts U.S. international aid recipients to entities that do not provide or advocate for abortion,” Meaney told CNA. 

Reintroduce safety protections for abortion pill 

Pro-life policy experts also highlighted the importance of regulating the abortion pill to protect women’s health.

New suggested that Trump’s FDA should require medical professionals to report complications arising from chemical abortions, a requirement dropped in 2016. 

Alison Centofante of Americans United for Life — a policy-oriented pro-life advocacy group — called for an evaluation of the safety of the chemical abortion pill regimen by implementing the FDA’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) on the abortion pill.

“These commonsense safety regulations, which were recklessly removed by the previous administration, are vital to protecting women,” Centofante told CNA. “Without REMS, women are at higher risk of life-threatening complications such as hemorrhage and infection as well as being left without proper follow-up care.”

“Ensuring that the abortion pill is regulated with appropriate safeguards is critical to upholding medical standards and protecting women’s health,” Centofante said. 

Melanie Israel, a visiting fellow at the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family for the Heritage Foundation, said it is important to show people “just how unsafe these pills are.”  

“It gives us additional tools to be able to convince people who are on the fence that we need to be doing more to protect women and girls from those drugs,” Israel said. 

Pro-lifers also called for an end to telemedical chemical abortions where the pills are received by mail, citing safety concerns. The new administration, Live Action’s Brandt said, should “curtail the deadly abortion pill, revoke its illegitimate approval, and immediately end dangerous tele-med chemical abortions.”

Implement pro-family policies

Many pro-life advocates hoped the upcoming administration in a post-Roe America would implement more pro-family policies.

Live Action’s Brandt called on the administration to “work to make America the most welcoming country for raising a family by supporting policies like expanding the child tax credit.” 

“For the first time since Roe was overturned, we are hopeful to see a federal administration that prioritizes mothers and their unborn children,” AUL’s Centofante added.

Centofante advocated for “preferential treatment to mothers and families at all stages” by the new administration as well as “practical resources to help women carry their pregnancies to term.” 

In the post-Roe landscape, the new administration can look to policies that help families flourish. 

“Because we do want people to feel empowered to choose life,” Heritage’s Israel said. “We don’t want people to feel that they need to have an abortion, that that’s their only option; that they need to go to great lengths to travel to another state or to order pills from some sketchy online pharmacy overseas.” 

“We’re interested in turning to these other ways of, how do we truly help families flourish? How do we help people feel that they can provide for a family and raise a family?” Israel said. 

Prioritize bioethics regarding IVF

Pro-life advocates highlighted the bioethical concerns surrounding in vitro fertilization (IVF), a fertility treatment that involves the lab creation of a large number of human embryos — most of which are never brought to term.

Meaney of NCBC — a leading Catholic voice in bioethics — said that educating people on the bioethical concerns surrounding IVF is “a very high priority for pro-life groups.” 

“This technique is not a harmless or beneficial solution to infertility,” Meaney said. “It is a horrific practice that results in the death or permanent freezing of upwards of 90% of the human embryos conceived in labs. In many countries, more children die from IVF than from abortion every year.” 

Trump has been criticized by pro-life leaders for his promise to make IVF more widely available. 

Israel noted that Europe has much “more robust” policies in place for IVF, while in the U.S. “it’s more a Wild West of policies.” She advocated for research into “some of the alternative protocols with restorative reproductive medicine.”

Centofante added that she hoped the new administration “will recommission the President’s Council on Bioethics to guide ethical policies on emerging biomedical issues.”

Appoint a pro-life Cabinet

Pro-lifers also highlighted the importance of having pro-life personnel.

Leadership in the Cabinet positions across departments, Centofante noted, is “critical in ensuring the protection of long-standing pro-life statutes … which prevent taxpayer funding from being used for abortion.”

The Trump administration’s staff appointments are a key concern for pro-life advocates, especially at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

The HHS plays an important role in abortion-related issues as it manages regulations protecting conscience rights for medical professionals and federal funding for abortion providers. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the pro-choice former Democrat nominated for the role of secretary of the HHS, recently came out in support of pro-life policies. He pledged to reinstate the Mexico City Policy, end domestic funding for abortion, and reinstate conscience protections for health care providers. Former vice president Mike Pence, however, urged senators to oppose the RFK Jr. appointment over his stance on abortion. 

At the Department of Justice, pro-life leaders are hopeful that Trump’s attorney general pick Pam Bondi will end the prosecution of pro-life activists under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. 

At her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday, Bondi vowed to end the weaponization of the FACE Act against pro-life activists. 

Live Action’s Brandt called on the upcoming administration to “pardon every unjustly imprisoned peaceful pro-life activist, including Joan Bell, Bevelyn Williams, Lauren Handy, and others, who are unjustly prosecuted and imprisoned by the current DOJ.” 

“If confirmed as attorney general, she is not going to stand for the FACE Act being used to unevenly target pro-lifers,” Israel noted. “That’s an example where it really matters to have that pro-life presence throughout the administration, not just one agency.”

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, speaks with Father Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Holy Family Church, during his December 2024 visit to Gaza. / Credit: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 17, 2025 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, believes the ceasefire agreement reached by Israel and Hamas was “absolutely necessary” and called for immediate attention to be given to food, health, and educational needs.

In an initial assessment offered to Vatican News, the cardinal said that in the Holy Land “people are happy because this war has worn us down, exhausted us, and wounded everyone’s lives,” even though “the situation remains very fragile.”

“This is only the first step,” the cardinal said, noting that the peace process is a long one, involving the resolution of conflict through negotiation.

“Peace will take much longer to achieve because the end of the war is not the end of the conflict,” he added.

Pizzaballa expressed the need to “do everything possible to ensure that the ceasefire lasts,” which has been possible now “because perhaps the human and international political conditions have matured,” despite the fact that the ceasefire was put forward in the same terms months ago.

“The important thing at this moment is to turn the page immediately and begin to deal above all with the very serious humanitarian situation in Gaza,” he said, since “from a humanitarian point of view, it should be easier to provide what is necessary for the life of the population, which depends 100% on foreign aid.”

Beyond the food crisis, the cardinal emphasized the need to “face the other two great urgent needs of the population,” which are education and health, including for the Christian community.

“I am sure that with the help of the many international organizations we will be able to create the necessary coordination to begin to resolve the humanitarian problem, which will take a long time,” he predicted.

Holy Family Parish in Gaza will also be involved in this task, with which Pizzaballa is in constant contact: “The people of our community in Gaza are very happy, of course; they still can’t believe it! But the idea that there is a ceasefire and that we are turning the page gives a feeling of liberation at the moment.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Archbishop Dionisio Guillermo García of Santiago de Cuba prays before an image of Mary in the Basilica National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Charity on March 24, 2024. / Credit: Archbishopric of Santiago de Cuba

ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 17, 2025 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

The Cuban government’s announcement of the release of 553 prisoners has been described by an analyst and the opposition as “a swap” by the regime to obtain economic benefits from the United States, including removing the island from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

The government of President Miguel Díaz-Canel reported on Monday, Jan. 14, that it was releasing the prisoners “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025” and that the decision had been communicated to Pope Francis in a letter sent at the beginning of January.

In its statement, the Cuban regime did not indicate how many of those released were political prisoners but noted that “the releases are carried out on the basis of a careful analysis based on the different modalities envisioned by the legislation” and that “these people will receive their respective benefits gradually.”

The announcement was welcomed by the Holy See, whose secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said “it is a sign of great hope at the beginning of the jubilee.” Vatican News reported Jan. 15 that the releases were carried out “within the framework of mediation with the Catholic Church that has been going on for years.”

However, geopolitical expert Alberto Fernández, a Cuban-American who spoke with the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News in Washington, D.C., pointed out that, although the communist regime “has given its announcement a religious disguise,” it’s “an exchange of hostages for economic and political reasons with the [President Joe] Biden administration.”

The Democratic administration of Biden, which will hand over power to Republican Donald Trump on Jan. 20, announced that it will remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism that also includes North Korea, Syria, and Iran.

According to the White House, this decision was facilitated with the help of the Vatican to secure the release of political prisoners on the island.

The island was on this list from 1982–2015, when President Barack Obama removed it as part of his policy of “thawing” relations with Raúl Castro. However, it was included on the list again on Jan. 11, 2021, in the final days of the first Trump administration.

The Republican administration said its goal was to “deny the Castro regime the resources it uses to oppress its people at home and to counter its malign interference in Venezuela and the rest of the Western Hemisphere.”

Robert L. Muse, a lawyer specializing in U.S. sanctions on Cuba, told the Spanish-language edition of BBC World News that now, by leaving the list, the island could benefit in areas such as tourism, key to its economy, since travelers from the European Union, Chile, South Korea, or Japan could visit the Caribbean country without fear of losing a U.S. tourist visa exemption.

Cuba could also now access financing from foreign entities, although this is not certain, as it is a technically bankrupt country that has defaulted on its payments.

However, all this could come to nought if Trump again includes Cuba in the group of countries sponsoring terrorism.

Fernández highlighted the mediation of the Catholic Church to seek the release of political prisoners, especially “those who were arrested after the demonstrations of July 11, 2021.”

That Sunday, thousands of Cubans protested in dozens of cities over food and medicine shortages, power outages, and to demand freedom. It was the largest demonstration under the communist regime, which reacted by imprisoning an undetermined number of protesters, many of them young.

In this regard, Fernández said that “if the regime wanted to honor the jubilee, the first thing it should do is resign, that is, end the regime, because this is a regime that is the complete opposite of what faith is, what the jubilee is, what liberation is.”

Prisoners must be released ‘without conditions’

The Christian Liberation Movement (MCL by its Spanish acronym) said that “Cuban political prisoners should not be the object of bartering and/or negotiations regarding the policies of other states toward Cuba.”

The MCL, which throughout its history has suffered persecution, imprisonment, and exile of several of its members, added that political prisoners “must have their dignity respected as human beings and all of them should be released and without conditions.”

“Not only for humanitarian reasons but essentially as a matter of justice, since they are innocent of the charges that have been fabricated against them,” MCL continued in a statement titled “Another Day of Infamy.”

The pro-democracy organization also pointed out that the “policy of appeasement” of the United States government “only encourages and emboldens dictators and empowers the forces of repression and terrorists by giving them the feeling, and more than that, the certainty, that they can act with total impunity.”

“We deplore that the Democratic administration is trying to clean up the image of a bloody dictatorship, perhaps as revenge for the broad political support of the Cuban exile community [in the U.S.] for its adversary from the Republican Party in the last presidential election,” MCL said.

The advocacy organization pointed out that “freedom and democracy in Cuba should be the goal of the two main political parties in the United States and not a political campaign issue.”

Getting out of prison in Cuba doesn’t mean you’re free

On its website the nongovernmental organization Prisoners Defenders, which monitors the situation of political prisoners in Cuba, also spoke out, calling attention to the terms under which the regime is releasing the 553 people, because “according to the official statement ... their sentences would remain intact” and therefore it would be necessary to “talk about releases with reduced sentences under certain conditions” such as good conduct and working. 

“If this were confirmed, the news would not be as positive as the Cuban regime wants to make it seem. In Cuba, releasing prisoners doesn’t mean they’re free.”

Prisoners Defenders explained that if this were the case, “some would be granted parole, others perhaps for humanitarian reasons, and others a series of reduced sentences under certain conditions that, if not complied with, the person goes back to prison, which is far from having your full freedom restored.” 

Martí Noticias posted the audio testimony of Liván Hernández Sosa, one of the first political prisoners released “on parole.”

“They explained to us the conditions under which I was going to be released: I have to work, I can’t be on social media, I can’t protest, much less against the regime. I am very happy, and even though it is under unjust conditions, I am happy to be here, in my house, with my wife, with my children,” he said.

Among the hundreds of other released prisoners are José Daniel Ferrer, founder of the Patriotic Union of Cuba; Donaida Pérez, a 53-year-old woman imprisoned for protesting on July 11, 2021; and Yandier García Labrada, an MCL activist sentenced four years ago for having “publicly protested against the disorganization and irregularities in the distribution of supplies.”

Pérez told Martí Noticias: “I know that this has been nothing more than the result of the international campaign that has been carried out in favor of us political prisoners, which has nothing to do with what the Cuban regime has done. The Cuban regime simply uses us as its bargaining chip to get Cuba removed from the list of terrorist countries.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Women demonstrate for the Equal Rights Amendment in 1978. / Credit: Unknown photographer|Flickr|CC BY 2.0

CNA Staff, Jan 17, 2025 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

Legal experts on Friday criticized President Joe Biden’s apparent attempt to unilaterally ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), with scholars dismissing the move as “unserious” and a “stunt.” 

The president on Friday morning proclaimed that the ERA — a long-debated constitutional measure that abortion advocates have said could help legalize abortion nationwide — is “the law of the land.”

Biden’s declaration appeared to carry no legal weight. U.S. Archivist Colleen Shogan — who is officially charged with entering an amendment into the Constitution upon its ratification — has said the amendment failed to make the congressional deadline of June 30, 1982, set by Congress. 

Shogan said she “cannot legally publish the Equal Rights Amendment” and that it “cannot be certified as part of the Constitution.”

The amendment holds that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” It was first proposed over a century ago in 1923.

‘Of no legal effect’

Robert George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, argued that the statement was a “stunt” that carried no legal force. 

Pointing to Biden’s awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards and his pardoning of his son Hunter Biden, George said that with the ERA declaration the president has “pile[d] disgrace upon disgrace on himself” in the waning days of his administration. 

“Of course, Biden’s declaration that the Equal Rights Amendment has been ratified is of no legal effect,” he said. “It’s nothing more than one man’s idiosyncratic (and, I strongly suspect, insincere) opinion.” 

Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network and a former Supreme Court clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas, said the pronouncement was “typical of how [Biden] has operated.”

“It’s an unserious attempt to rile up extremists in his base on his way out the door,” she said, arguing that the declaration was “legally meaningless and indefensible.” 

“Everyone from Justice [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg to the National Archives has acknowledged that the amendment ratification deadline expired in 1982,” she said. 

She pointed out that the amendment’s expiration occurred “so long ago that Biden was still the junior senator from Delaware.”

In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment, which nominally cleared the necessary threshold of three-fourths of the states needed to amend the U.S. Constitution. But shortly afterward Ginsburg told an audience at the Georgetown University Law Center that Virginia’s vote had come “long after the deadline passed.”

“I’d like it to start over,” the justice, who died in September of that year, told the audience.

On Friday the National Archives office reiterated the amendment’s dead-letter status. The office in a statement to CNA pointed to its earlier statement on the amendment deadline’s expiration, which occurred more than 40 years ago.

“This is a long-standing position for the archivist and the National Archives. The underlying legal and procedural issues have not changed,” the office said.

Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, director of the religious freedom nonprofit the Conscience Project, argued that Biden’s declaration was motivated by both LGBT and abortion politics. She pointed to the White House’s earlier redefinition of federal sex discrimination rules to include “gender identity.”

“Biden’s announcement has nothing to do with advancing the interests of women and girls in America,” she told CNA. “Instead this is nothing other than a brazen attempt to inject gender ideology and abortion into the Constitution.” 

The U.S. bishops, meanwhile, have expressed concern over the ERA. In a March 12, 2021, letter, the bishops urged members of Congress to vote against eliminating the deadline for the amendment, with the prelates citing the amendment’s possible advancement of abortion and gender ideology. 

“If the ERA were intended to have a more limited scope, it is unclear why federal and state law, which already forbids sex discrimination in so many areas, is not already adequate to that task,” the bishops said, pointing out that courts “generally do not construe constitutional provisions to mean nothing or to add nothing to the law.”

What happens next regarding the measure is unclear. An administration official told media on Friday that the archivist’s role in amending the Constitution is “purely ministerial,” suggesting that the White House might believe the archivist’s refusal to publish the amendment is immaterial. 

Robert George, meanwhile, said Biden’s apparent effort to unilaterally ratify the amendment was “sad to see.” 

It “speaks poorly of a man holding the office of president of the United States,” George said. 

Men ride mules in Via della Conciliazione as they take part in the feast of San Antonio Abate (St. Anthony the Abbot), the patron saint and protector of animals, in Piazza Pio XII in front of the Vatican, in Rome on Jan. 17, 2025. Italian farmers and member of the Coldiretti farmers association gathered in the Vatican where families and animals received a benediction from Cardinal Mauro Gambetti. / Credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Jan 17, 2025 / 12:50 pm (CNA).

Italian farmers, who are among this year’s pilgrims of hope for the 2025 Jubilee, brought their animals to the Vatican on Friday to be blessed by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti on the feast of St. Anthony the Abbot.

Several farmers from across the country transported horses, cattle, goats, geese, chickens, and rabbits to a makeshift stable set up in front of St. Peter’s Square to celebrate the Jan. 17 feast day of the patron saint of farmers and animals.

St. Anthony the Abbot — also known as St. Anthony of the Desert or St. Anthony the Great — was a fourth-century hermit known for his asceticism and is considered the father of Christian monasticism. His holy life in the Egyptian desert was also recorded by St. Athanasius in “The Life of St. Antony.”

Following the morning Mass celebration inside St. Peter’s Basilica, Gambetti personally greeted livestock breeders attending this year’s festival, thanking them for their care of God’s creation.

“God cherishes his creation. He cares for the animals, the plants, because these create the conditions for life to continue and flourish, especially intelligent life, the life of humankind,” Gambetti told crowds outside St. Peter’s Square.

“God cares for each of you, especially you who have responded to his original call to cultivate and care for his creation,” he continued.

Fulvio, a horse breeder from the northern part of the Lazio region, told EWTN News that the blessing of the animals on St. Anthony’s feast day is important for him and his family.

“This event is the blessing of the animals, and as we care for our animals it is very important for us to receive this blessing for our animals,” he shared. “St. Anthony is an inspirational figure for us — he is the protector of our farm.”

Each year, the Italian state police lead a parade down Via della Conciliazione, the main street leading toward the Vatican, to St. Peter’s Square as part of the day’s celebrations.

President Joe Biden at the White House on Aug. 28, 2023. / Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

CNA Staff, Jan 17, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).

President Joe Biden on Friday proclaimed that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) — a long-debated constitutional measure that some critics have argued could legalize abortion nationwide — is “the law of the land,” a declaration that appeared to carry no legal weight but which could set off a protracted political and legal fight for the incoming Trump administration.

The amendment holds that “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” It was first proposed over a century ago in 1923. It has been championed by advocates in the decades since and has been ratified by numerous states.

Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the amendment in 2020, nominally clearing the necessary threshold of three-fourths of the states needed to amend the U.S. Constitution.

But U.S. Archivist Colleen Shogan — who is officially charged with entering an amendment into the Constitution upon its ratification — has said the amendment failed to pass the congressional deadline that was set by Congress of June 30, 1982.

The archivist stated that she “cannot legally publish the Equal Rights Amendment” and that it “cannot be certified as part of the Constitution.” Shogan was appointed to the role by Biden in 2022 and confirmed in 2023.

In his statement on Friday, Biden made no mention of the archivist’s earlier refusal to publish the amendment.

“The American Bar Association (ABA) has recognized that the Equal Rights Amendment has cleared all necessary hurdles to be formally added to the Constitution as the 28th Amendment,” the president said in his statement.

“I agree with the ABA and with leading legal constitutional scholars that the Equal Rights Amendment has become part of our Constitution.”

“In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex,” Biden added.  

It is unclear what, if any, legal weight the declaration carries. 

In addition to the assertions of the archivist, in a 2020 opinion Steven Engel — at the time the U.S. assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel — said the ERA resolution “has expired and is no longer pending before the states.”

Pro-abortion advocates have argued that the ERA could be used as a means of forcing states to legalize abortion.

Smith College Professor Carrie Baker wrote in 2022 that the ERA could serve as “an avenue for shoring up women’s rights, especially reproductive rights,” specifically that it “could provide a new basis for abortion rights in the United States.”

Heritage Foundation legal fellow Thomas Jipping, meanwhile, in 2023 argued that the “ERA-abortion connection” has been established for decades and that “the groundwork has already been laid” to use it as a pro-abortion measure.

Participants at the OneLife LA walk in Los Angeles on Jan. 21, 2023,. / Credit: Stefano Garzia

Los Angeles, Calif., Jan 17, 2025 / 10:40 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ annual OneLife LA event will go on this weekend despite the wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles, albeit with a modified program and focus.

While previously the event was a walk through the streets of downtown Los Angeles concluding at L.A. Historic Park, the combination of unhealthy air and the demand such an event has for local law enforcement meant a new plan was needed this year. So earlier this week archdiocesan officials announced the event would be held entirely in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

“The 2025 OneLife LA is not only an opportunity to focus on ‘womb to tomb’ life issues but is our chance to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who have suffered so much from the fires that have devastated Los Angeles,” said Michael Donaldson, senior director of the Office of Life, Justice, and Peace for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and organizer of OneLife LA.  “It is our chance to show not only that human life is sacred but to honor fire victims and let them know we care.”

Organizers are uncertain of how the fires will affect attendance; the 2024 OneLife LA drew 6,000.  (The cathedral seats over 4,000.)

Participants are invited to gather beginning at 1 p.m. local time. Partner groups such as 40 Days for Life and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul will man tables outside the cathedral to greet and share information with visitors.

A speaker and performance program will commence at 2 p.m. A focus will be testimonials from victims of the fires and reflections on the most vulnerable negatively impacted by the fires.

The event culminates at 5 p.m. with an annual Requiem Mass for the Unborn celebrated by Archbishop José Gómez at 5 p.m. The theme of the day will be “Let Us Stand Up Together in Hope.”

Among the featured speakers are Jennifer and George Magallon of Altadena whose home was destroyed in the Eaton fire. George is a contractor and apartment owner; the pair lived in a home on a large lot in a community backing up to the Angeles National Forest. It was their “dream home,” George said, and a place where they regularly welcomed family and friends.

On the evening of Jan. 7, Santa Ana winds were blowing up to 100 mph and local authorities turned off the power to reduce the possibility of sparking fire. The Eaton fire began nonetheless, and the Magallons gathered up what possessions they could and fled.

George and his neighbors did what they could to douse their homes with water beforehand, but by the early morning hours the water pressure had slowed to a trickle.

Meanwhile, an “orange rain” of burning embers fell on the neighborhood. Everything burned in the early morning hours of Jan. 8. When the Magallons were able to return, they discovered their once prosperous neighborhood now “looked like the surface of the moon.”

While devastated by the loss, the couple has pledged to rebuild and plans to stress to the OneLife LA attendees how their Catholic faith has been key to their emotional and psychological well-being during the ordeal. Jennifer pointed to one sign of hope: When they returned to the ruin of their home one object stood unscathed amid the rubble — an outdoor statue of the Blessed Mother.

“It gave us the inspiration we needed and the will to go on,” Jennifer said.

Visit www.onelifela.org to register as an individual or group or to sign up as a volunteer.

Walk for Life West Coast

Nearly 400 miles to the north, the Walk for Life West Coast will begin at Civic Center Plaza in downtown San Francisco on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 12:30 p.m. local time. The San Francisco event has an exclusive focus of ending abortion and stressing the harm it has had on women.  

The day begins at 10:45 a.m. with a Silent No More Awareness Campaign led by Georgette Forney and Frank Pavone from Priests for Life, which includes testimonies from those directly harmed by abortion. From 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. there will be an information fair with material offered by a variety of pro-life organizations.

The main event is a rally beginning at 12:30 p.m. followed by the walk at 1:30 p.m. Participants will walk 1.8 miles from the civic center to the Embarcadero.

The event is organized by Catholics and many who attend are parishioners and clergy from local parishes as well as students from Catholic schools.

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone celebrates a Walk for Life Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral at 9:30 a.m. before the event; he is also a regular participant in the walk.

Rally speakers at the Walk for Life West Coast include Ryan Bomberger, Sister Deirdre “Dede” Byrne, Kelly Lester, and Rev. Clenard Childress.

For additional information and to register visit www.walkforlifewc.com.