Life, Liberty, and Law

Where can we go for truthful reporting in a time when so much of our news media has returned to the age of sensationalism, dubious tabloid-style journalism, and blinkered partisanship? If we're searching for truthful and reliable news on the pro-life cause, we need look no further than EWTN Pro-Life Weekly.

Today we speak with Prudence Robertson, host of EWTN Pro-Life Weekly, the leading national media coverage source dedicated exclusively to pro-life news. As Robertson stated in an interview with NCR, her pro-life convictions have been "strengthened by seeing the beauty of adoption, attending a faithful Catholic college, and witnessing the fruits of how reasoned, charitable dialogue can persuade people to become pro-life.”

We speak today with Samuel D. Green, President & General Counsel of Reason for Life. Reason for Life encourages, equips, and educates Christian leaders who are hesitant to address abortion, helping them see that sharing the truth about this subject is both essential and loving.

Before founding Reason for Life, Samuel spent five years at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), where he engaged in litigation to defend the sanctity of life, freedom of speech, and religious liberty. Samuel has also worked as a litigation associate at a large law firm (Jenner & Block), as a member of a presidential campaign’s legal team, and as a law clerk to the Honorable Raymond W. Gruender of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. 

Samuel finished first in his class at Pepperdine University School of Law, where he earned a Juris Doctor degree in 2011. He also studied political science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he graduated, summa cum laude, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2008.

Samuel has provided legislative testimony, preached sermons about the sanctity of life, and given presentations across the country to various groups or their chapters (including Students for Life of America, 40 Days for Life, Summit Ministries, Teen Pact Leadership Schools, the Federalist Society, and the St. Thomas More Society). Samuel has also participated in media interviews and published articles with various outlets, including Newsweek, The Seattle Times, The Hill, Washington Examiner, The Federalist, and The Daily Signal. Additionally, Samuel authored a legal brief in the historic Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade.

We speak today with Dr. John Bruchalski, a physician who has committed himself to the practice of holistic and life-affirming medicine.. Nearly 30 years ago, Dr. Bruchalski and his wife founded the Tepeyac Family Center, a pro-life obstetrics and gynecology medical practice. Tepeyac’s mission? To provide affordable care to all women, especially those in most need and those experiencing unexpected pregnancies. Dr. Bruchalski also started the Divine Mercy Care network, an umbrella organization, to support Tepeyac.

Prior to starting Tepeyac, Dr. Bruchalski was a physician who performed abortions and specialized in advanced fertility treatments. After several alarming and heart-gripping experiences, he began rethinking his career and found a new, life-affirming vocation in medicine. Dr. Bruchalski is a doctor, husband, speaker, teacher, and we speak with him about what it means to be a pro-life physician and the culture-shaping vision and mission of Tepeyac and missions like it.

We speak today about the relationship between the human right to life and the right to religious freedom. 

Our freedoms of thought, conscience, and religion are natural and interdependent rights, and when rightly understood, they serve to elevate our conception of the meaning and purpose of human life—the goods we recognize that are a part of the created order, and what this created order suggests about our origins and our destiny.

The human right to life is the first and more fundamental of all human rights, but the human right to religious freedom matters, too, because to be human is to pursue the truth.

Today we speak with Amb. Sam Brownback, who served most recently as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom and continues to work with coalitions around the globe to promote and protect the right to religious liberty.  He is currently serving as a fellow at the Center for Religous Studies at The Catholic University of America.

Before his appointment as U.S. Ambassador, Brownback previously served as a U.S. Senator and the 26th Governor of Kansas. Amb. Brownback is a prolific attorney, politician and diplomat and we speak with him about the importance of religous liberty, the human right to life, and what faith means to him personally.

We speak today with Melissa Ohden, a survivor of a failed salient infusion abortion and the founder and director of the Abortion Survivors Network, which seeks to educate the public about failed abortions and provide emotional, mental, and spiritual support to the abortion survivors. Melissa is the author of “You Carried Me: A Daughter’s Memoir” and a frequent contributor in various pro-life and conservative media outlets such as Focus on the Family, Alliance Defending Freedom, and Fox News.

We listen in today to a lecture by Dr. Charles Camosy delivered to the Americans United for Life 2022 Summer Fellows cohort. Dr. Camosy speaks on how COVID-19 has impacted our sense of human dignity and what human persons are owed both in medicine and the culture broadly.

Dr. Camosy is a Professor of Medical Humanities at the Creighton University School of Medicine and is the Msgr. Michael J. Curran Fellow of Moral Theology at Saint Joseph’s Seminary and College. He is author most recently of Losing Our Dignity: How Secularized Medicine is Undermining Fundamental Human Equality (New City Press, 2021) and the forthcoming Bioethics for Nurses: A Christian Moral Vision.

The reversal of Roe v. Wade is changing the landscape for the human right to life across America. We know of so many states where the human right to life is being affirming, enshrined, and upheld. Unfortunately, however, many states and cities will continue to perpetuate abortion. Planned Parenthood and abortion businesses are multi-billion dollar Goliaths whose power remains intact, even though abortion is no longer recognized, as it unfortunately was for too long, as a right.

Today we are excited to speak with Mayra Rodriguez, former director of three Planned Parenthood facilities. Mayra left the abortion industry, and in 2019 Mayra prevailed in a $3 million lawsuit for wrongful termination against Planned Parenthood. Mayra sees her life has having been transformed by the mercy of God, and now sees it as her life mission to expose Planned Parenthood, abortion businesses, and to make abortion unthinkable.

Mayra is a speaker, wife, mother, and courageous pro-life leader. Mayra joins Tom Shakely and Elli Jochims on Life, Liberty, and Law.

Tom Shakely introduces an important recent joint-webinar hosted by Americans United for Life and the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights and the American Founding, held in the wake of the Dobbs decision and the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Glenn Foster, President & CEO of Americans United for Life, Hadley Arkes, Founder of the James Wilson Institute, and Josh Craddock, Affiliated Scholar at the James Wilson Institute, come together to discuss the Dobbs decision and how it changes the pro-life movement.

Hadley Arkes is Professor emeritus at Amherst College, Founder of JWI, main advocate, and architect of the Born-Alive Infants’ Protection Act, and leading natural rights scholar. Catherine Glenn Foster, J.D is President & CEO of Americans United for Life, leading scholar on abortion, and litigator of precedent-setting § 1983 and other constitutional questions and on abortion and maternal health. Josh Craddock, J.D is a affiliated scholar with JWI, public speaker, and writer. Josh’s writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Newsweek, National Review, First Things, Public Discourse, The Stream, and Providence Magazine. The webinar, held July 7th, 2022, was moderated by Garrett Snedeker, Deputy Director of the James Wilson Institute.

The overturning of Roe v. Wade continues to send shockwaves through not only the United States of America, but also our allies internationally. For the first time, many are discovering that the overturning of Roe and the ending of our extreme abortion jurisprudence actually doesn’t change that much on the ground in states that will continue to be pro-abortion, and that in states that are embracing pro-life law and policy, most American pro-life law mirrors European-style protections—for instance, Mississippi’s law which the U.S. Supreme Court just upheld protects life at 15 weeks of a preborn child’s life. This means that Mississippi’s abortion laws are, actually, more liberal than the abortion laws on the books in nations like Italy, France, or most other European allies.

If Roe’s reversal means that even pro-life states will generally mimic European-style laws, where killing is still permissible throughout the first months of a child’s life, does this represent a true pro-life victory? No. There’s more to be done—Americans United for Life will continue to call upon the Executive, Legisltive, and Judicial branches to clarify that abortion is fundamentally incompatible with constitutional justice. We will continue to call upon the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify that natural human rights precede the letter of any constitution, and that our first and most fundamental of all human rights—the human right to life—means that unborn children are entitled to the equal protection of the laws.

Today we feature an important conversation hosted by our friends at Live Action on June 24th, 2022, the day of the release of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision and its reversal of Roe v. Wade. Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO of Americans United for Life speaks on what true constitutional justice looks like, and how the pro-life movement can cast a vision of a truly brighter future for all. Catherine is joined by Josh Craddock, Affiliated Scholar at the James Wilson Institute and Noah Brandt, Director of Government Affairs at Live Action.

Clarke Forsythe, Senior Counsel at Americans United for Life, joins Carolyn McDonnell, Staff Counsel, and Tom Shakely on "Life, Liberty, and Law" to discuss the overturning of Roe v. Wade, what the U.S. Supreme Court Justices have to say in the final opinion, and what's next.

“We are grateful to millions of Americans across our nation who sacrificed to see this day,” said Clarke Forsythe, Senior Counsel at Americans United for Life. “We know there is a lot of work ahead to save lives and help mothers balance their family, work, and future. We will continue our work for an America that upholds the dignity of the human person and protects every member of the human family in culture, law, and policy.”

Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO of Americans United for Life joins Steven H. Aden, Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel and Tom Shakely on AUL's "Life, Liberty, and Law" to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade and the future of pro-life advocacy.

In light of the unprecedented leak of the U.S. Supreme Court's draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, issues of human dignity and the human right to life are front and center in our culture. We speak today with someone who has worked at the intersection of human dignity issues for many years and across a range of institutions.

Arina O. Grossu, M.A., M.S., is Founder and Principal at Areté Global Consulting and a Fellow with Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism. She focuses on the protection of human dignity, human rights, and the sanctity of human life from fertilization to natural death. Her areas of expertise include abortion, women’s health, bioethics, conscience, pornography, sex trafficking, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020 and Americans entered into what authorities assured us would be "two weeks to slow the spread," many predicted a baby boom would be the natural result of this time of closeness in quarantine. Yet there’s been no baby boom. And in fact, it looks like family formation and birth rates may, in fact, be continuing to decline as a result of the pandemic and the economic fallout of more than two years of ad hoc state and fiscal policy decisions.

As human persons, we’re make for relationship. We’re made for each other. We’re made for family and for community. We’re made for love. These insights are at the heart of Americans United for Life and our mission to advance the human right to life in culture, law, and policy.

So what do these challenging trends in birth rates, family formation, and economic portend for American life—and a possible poe-Roe cultural and political environment? 

We’re thrilled to speak today with Dr. Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, Associate Professor at The Catholic University of America. Dr. Pakaluk joined the faculty at the Busch School in the summer of 2016, and is the founder of the Social Research academic area, where she is an Associate Professor of Social Research and Economic Thought. Formerly, she was Assistant Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at Ave Maria University. Her primary areas of research include economics of education and religion, family studies and demography, Catholic social thought and political economy.

A leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court, published in full by POLITICO and confirmed by Chief Justice John Roberts as authentic, suggests that the U.S. Supreme Court is on the verge of reversing Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. What does this mean for the pro-life movement? What does this mean for America? What does it mean at this moment in time?

Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO of Americans United for Life joins Steven H. Aden, Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel and Katie Glenn, Government Affairs Counsel, to break down the leak, what it may mean for the pro-life cause, and where we go next.

America has been grappling with suicide for decades. The anti-life logic of Roe v. Wade in 1973 made it inevitable that suicide, and the effort to legalize suicide, would join abortion as a major national issue. Although the Supreme Court, thankfully, ruled 9-0 in the 1997 case Washington v. Glucksberg that the Constitution contains no right to assisted suicide—the Court in essence punted the issue to the states, allowing assisted suicide to be imposed on the state level. So although the Court saved us in 1997 from a Roe v. Wade style national imposition of assisted suicide, the Court did not find that the Constitution is incompatible with the injustice of suicide and suicide assistance. What has taken place over quarter century since that 1997 case is a slow but steady increase in states permitting suicide assistance—most commonly through what is termed “physician assisted suicide”.

Dr. Jeffrey J. Barrows joins us today to speak about physician assisted suicide, why suicide prevention (rather than assistance) is at the heart of good medicine, and how to respond hopefully and positively to the challenges of life. Dr. Barrows serves as Senior Vice President of Bioethics and Public Policy for Christian Medical & Dental Associations. Dr. Barrows is an obstetrician/gynecologist, author, educator, medical ethicist and speaker.

Today we share an important talk by Dr. Donna Harrison, a physician, board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology, who serves as CEO of the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Dr. Harrison recently joined Clarke Forsythe, Senior Counsel at Americans United for Life, for one of AUL's "Quarterly Calls" on timely and relevant issues facing America and the pro-life movement. Dr. Harrison speaks on chemical abortion pills, the risks of abortion pills to women, and the post-Roe pro-abortion strategy.

At Americans United for Life, we’re committed to advancing the human right to life in culture, law, and policy. We do this at the federal level, by working with and influencing all three branches of our federal government, and we do this work in the states, by working with advocates and lawmakers to pass robust laws that protect children, their mothers and fathers, and whole communities.

You can’t foster the kind of culture needed for a thriving America without family, without friends, without working together with a shared vision of a better future. We need allies in the work, or else it doesn’t get done.

The same is true in politics, especially at our federal level. Americans can elect powerful pro-life politicians, but if they’ve got no one to work with when they get to Washington, DC, if they’ve got no allies, no reliable staffers, no support—what can we really expect them to get done?

Saurabh Sharma, President of American Moment, is working to improve Washington and build community for the leaders who need it. We speak with Saurabh today on Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement, the stakes for pro-life law and policymaking, the work of American Moment and its mission and priorities, and potential post-Roe politics.

We’re taking another trip back in time today, journeying into the Americans United for Life archives. We journey today to Chicago. We’re heading into the AUL 1986 “Forum on Commitment for Life” to hear from two of America’s pro-life advocates. Our first speaker is Maura Quinlan, Chief Staff Counsel of Americans United for Life, and our second speaker is Dr. Bernard Nathanson, M.D.

We’re so thankful for the generations of advocates who have made the work of Americans United for Life possible. We celebrate their continuing impact through our mission as we celebrate our 50th anniversary. And we invite you to stand alongside us at this time by becoming a new or monthly supporter of AUL by visiting AUL.org.

"There is a wide-spread myth that Roe v. Wade is settled and entitled to respect as judicial precedent. The purveyors of this myth must ignore the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions going back to the earliest days of the Court—which point to judicial criticism and legal-scholarly criticism as keeping prior decisions unsettled. 

"Most importantly, they purveyors of the myth that Roe is settled and entitled to respect as judicial precedent must ignore four decades of detailed, comprehensive, and specific judicial and scholarly criticism of Roe itself. It is precisely because Roe has never been settled that it is entitled to no respect as precedent. In fact, because Roe is radically unsettled, long-standing principles of precedent dictate that it must be reconsidered."

These words are from Clarke Forsythe, Senior Counsel at Americans United for Life and author of AUL's just-released, “A Survey of Judicial and Scholarly Criticism of Roe v. Wade Since 1973: Legal Criticism and Unsettled Precedent”. We speak with Clarke today about his new and important survey of judicial and scholarly criticism of Roe and what lessons that advocates and lawmakers can take away from the past half century of popular, constitutional criticism of Roe and abortion culture.

Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses have been on the decline in America for years now. It's common knowledge amongst Americans within the pro-life community that life-affirming pregnancy resource centers today outnumber abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood by more than three to one. If you were to scatter all those pro-life pregnancy resource centers evenly across the country, every county in America would have at least one pro-life pregnancy resource center.

What makes America's experience since Roe all the more remarkable is that there is no pro-life equivalent of Planned Parenthood—there's no mega-NGO or national nonprofit organization organizing the alternatives-to-abortion movement. It's everyday women and men, the hometown heroes who we sometimes imagine only still exist in our cultural imagination, who are building the alternatives that charity, justice, and simple decency calls for.

Aubrey Schlackman, Founder & Executive Director of Blue Haven Ranch, is one of these American heroes. We speak with Aubrey today to learn what drew her, and her husband Bryan, to the issue of abortion alternatives, what sets Blue Haven Ranch apart, and how supportive communities can come together to promote resilient alternatives for the future.

Wesley J. Smith, Chair and Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute's Center on Human Exceptionalism, returns to "Life, Liberty, and Law" to speak with Tom Shakely about his new "Humanize" podcast and some of the powerful guests he has interviewed so far. Tom and Wesley also speak about the Chinese Communist Party on human dignity, human rights, and the upcoming Winter Olympics taking place in February. Finally, Tom and Wesley look ahead to the importance of medical conscience and other issues likely to dominate the upcoming state legislative sessions.

It’s been a full and fruitful year! Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health presented the most comprehensive oral argument the U.S. Supreme Court has heard on abortion—covering a spectrum of abortion issues, including stare decisis, the undue burden standard’s viability line, women’s social reliance upon abortion, the distorted legal history of abortion, federalism, and the impact of safe haven laws. This case is primed to overrule Roe v. Wade and nearly fifty years of a federal constitutional travesty that manufactured a woman’s right to abort her unborn child. Instead of speaking in vague terms, today we will break down each of the Supreme Court Justice’s arguments and questions presented on December 1st. 

We are joined today by Carolyn McDonnell, Americans United for Life Staff Counsel. Carolyn focuses on amicus briefs, federal legislative affairs, and international advocacy for the human right to life. Carolyn recently joined our team and we are excited to kick off the New Year reflecting on lessons from 2021 and casting a vision for the future. 

Christmas is coming, and it is a time where we remember the importance of family and friends and gather around the table or in the living room to enjoy a Christmas classic. Unfortunately, it’s getting harder and harder to sift through the junk on TV and find something that highlights the beauty and fun of art and life. Peter Atkinson is an off-broadway star who has made it his mission to produce wholesome, engaging audio entertainment for the whole family. His entertainment company the Merry Beggars is merging with Relevant Radio in order to provide world-class entertainment to families across the United States. We are interviewing him today because his distinctive work—uplifting mothers, fathers, and family life, affirming the good where it is, nourishing goodness where it isn’t, and enlivening the culture—all of this intersects with the vision of the cause for life in America. Peter has found a way to combine his gifts and talents with advocacy for the dignity of the human person. We think Peter is the perfect person to help us celebrate this season of light and love. Create your free account at themerrybeggars.com and visit aul.org to support our daily work of advancing the human right to life.

What do we do when we feel like the world is burning down? Afghanistan, lack of trust in American leadership, uncertainty when it comes to pro-life momentum? In uncertain times, we speak with our friends—that means Alexandra DeSanctis, Staff Writer at National Review, returns to "Life, Liberty, and Law" to speak with Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt on the news of the day and how the pro-life movement can think about the reasons for hope and fear as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider Dobbs and Mississippi's abortion law.

Planned Parenthood has been gaining influence over lives and minds for a century. It monopolizes women’s reproductive health and engineers our culture to accept a flawed vision of the human person. The battle to reclaim the minds and hearts of Americans for life is a team effort, and today we are joined by an expert in building the pro-life team. Elizabeth Graham is the Vice President of Operations and Life Initiatives for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Through her work, Elizabeth is not afraid to call out lies in Planned Parenthood’s message to women to match Planned Parenthood’s efforts step for step and ultimately expose their goal of profiting at the expense of the women they claim to serve.

The inestimable value of every human person lies in who they are. Reclaiming a properly oriented understanding of human rights and flourishing means embracing the economics of dignity. Anna Claire Noblitt, a student at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt on Life, Liberty, and Law this week. Anna Claire has been interning with Americans United for Life this summer and shares her optimism on the human right to life, on her time in the nation’s capital, and the need to embrace the economics of dignity.

Courage always begins in the heart, and although we don’t think of it this way nearly often enough, the virtue of courage (or bravery, fortitude, whatever you want to call it) is the foundation for every good and true act of politics and action of politicians. We see the importance of courage powerfully in Mississippi’s recent brief in defense of their state’s common sense 15-week pro-life protection law.

The Court will consider Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization this fall and will likely reveal its ruling in June 2022. Americans United for Life is filing two briefs in this critical Supreme Court case, meant to guide the thinking of the justices on the path to not only upholding Mississippi’s common sense pro-life law, but also reversing Roe v. Wade and ending the violence of abortion across the states.

We must overcome cynicism in our politics if we want to build a better America, and that starts by recovering the virtue of courage in our imaginations as much as in our lives. We speak with Katie Glenn, GA Counsel at Americans United for Life, about Mississippi’s powerful arguments, what we’re arguing at Americans United for Life, and why there will be a fundamental reckoning if the Court does not protect life in this case.

As Americans United for Life carries out our mission of advancing the human right to life in culture, law, and policy, we seek partnership and guidance from experts in various fields, especially the medical discipline of obstetrics and gynecology. A multi-faceted team enables us to care holistically for the women and children at risk of being harmed by abortion.

Dr. Christina Francis joins Tom Shakely, Noah Brandt, and Anna Claire Noblitt of Americans United for Life to discuss these important issues. Dr. Francis is a practicing OB/GYN who offers her in-depth medical expertise, knowledge of bioethics, and life-affirming reasoning with those wrestling with the reality of abortion. She is chair of the board of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), a board member of Indiana Right to Life, and an associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Dr. Francis currently resides in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she works with women and children who are often victims of the abortion industry.

While we usually focus on what is going on right here in the United States, today we have the opportunity to discuss what is happening on the human right to life across the Atlantic. In June, the European Parliament adopted the Matic Report, an extreme pro-abortion step that seeks to enshrine abortion as a fundamental right. To break down what pro-life advocates are doing to protect life in Europe, Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt speak with Jean-Paul Van De Walle. Jean-Paul serves as Legal Counsel, Europe for ADF International in Brussels where he advocates for religious freedom, life, and the family at the European Union. Jean-Paul speaks on the work of ADF International, the danger posed by the Matic Report, and the rising hope of pro-family policies in Europe.

Anyone who has spent any time in Washington, DC, or cities like it, has experienced the phenomenon: a young man and woman walking down the street, pushing a stroller—but in that stroller, there’s no baby. There’s a dog. It’s true.

In so many circles the decisions surrounding family formation, and especially children, are becoming nothing more than another lifestyle choice. We are increasing drinking the kool-aid as a culture, that children, similar to pets or a new car, are little more than a symbol of status or achievement. But children are so much more. And while children are a part of a family, they are also endowed with rights of their own.

Katy Faust, Founder and Director of Them Before Us, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt to talk children's rights, bioethics, and how we can strengthen the American family

We’re living through a time when, despite all our pretending in culture, in media, in law, it increasingly seems as it “might makes right”. As Americans, we’ve got a Constitution that we’re proud of—but on so many of the key issues, our Constitution and its guarantees and protections seem to evaporate. When our Constitution is silent, Supreme Court justices spring into action to creatively furnish cultural mores or supply new rights that they discovered in “emanations” from the written text. Most Americans understand this to be what it is: raw judicial power, rule by conjecture and innuendo. What Congress won’t do, and what Americans won’t vote for, judges can simply impose.

This plays out nowhere more clearly than with the human right to life. We have a Constitutional right to life. And yet: if someone wants to void that right we simply call the situation “complex” and that right vanishes in the form of abortion, euthanasia, suicide by physician, etc. We’ve got to recover a sense in America of what’s true, what’s fundamental, what’s right.

Bill Saunders, international human rights scholar who has devoted his life to recovering first principles, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt on "Life, Liberty, and Law." Bill Saunders is a Law Fellow with the Institute for Human Ecology at The Catholic University of America, where he is also Professor and Director of the Program in Human Rights in the School of Arts & Sciences and Co-Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Columbus School of Law. Bill also serves as Chair of the Religious Liberties Practice Group of the Federalist Society. Prior to joining The Catholic University of America, Bill served as Senior Counsel with Americans United for Life for a decade.

We marked the most serious baby bust in more than four decades last year. A country without children is a country without a future. Some understand that and are getting serious about how America can become more friendly and encouraging towards starting and raising a family.

Mary Margaret Olohan, Social Issues Reporter at The Daily Caller News Foundation, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt to speak about her experience growing up in a large family of 13, what messages the culture communicates regarding what a "perfect" family should look like, and the proposals from politicians on Capitol Hill about how advocates and lawmakers can strengthen American family life.

When any member of the human family is a victim of violence, they deserve justice. This inherent truth is the guiding truth behind why "Unborn Victims of Violence" acts, also called fetal homicide laws, exist.

Clarke Forsythe, Senior Counsel at Americans United for Life, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt to walk us through why and how fetal homicide laws came into being, the impressive success they continue to have in communities across the country, and why they are an important part of protecting life.

Over the span of a decade, the state of Missouri went from have multiple abortion businesses—each performing tens of thousands of abortions every year—to having only one abortion business licensed in the state and fewer than 50 abortions performed last year. 

Achievements like this don't happen by chance. In Missouri's case, these pro-life achievement was forged by advocates and lawmakers committed to a holistic understanding of the human person and human rights.

Mike Kehoe, Missouri Lieutenant Governor, is one of those leaders who participated in his state's pro-life revolution first-hand. Mike Kehoe joins Noah Brandt and Catherine Glenn Foster to speak on the importance of advocacy to state lawmakers, the inherent dignity and value of every human life, and playing the long game in the cause for life. Mike serves as Missouri's 48th Lieutenant Governor and previously served in the Missouri State Senate.

This is the third of three conversations with Midwestern leaders recorded during the Midwest March for Life in Jefferson City, Missouri. The Midwest March for Life takes place annually and this year celebrated Missouri becoming the first state in the union where abortions do not regularly take place.

Although they may appear to be crystal clear, thoughtful and intelligent people nonetheless disagree on human rights. We don't have to like it, but we must understand why it happens. Through understanding, we can learn to more effectively communicate with our friends and colleagues on behalf of the human right to life.

Dr. Bob Onder, Missouri State Senator and a medical doctor, joins Catherine Glenn Foster and Noah Brandt of Americans United for Life to speak on what it means to be a pro-life physician in the legislature, how scientific knowledge informs our pro-life convictions, and how we can reach new people in the cause for life.

This is the second of three conversations with Midwestern leaders recorded during the Midwest March for Life in Jefferson City, Missouri. The Midwest March for Life takes place annually and this year celebrated Missouri becoming the first state in the union where abortions do not regularly take place.

Even the best legislation meant to protect life at the state level won't have its intended effect without a state attorney general ready to vigorously defend state law in court. In the face of opposition from abortion activists and their political allies, pro-life states need strong attorneys general.

Americans United for Life speaks with Eric Schmitt, one of America's great pro-life Attorneys General who is defending life-saving laws that protect mothers and their children. Eric Schmitt is Missouri's 43rd Attorney General, and previously served as Missouri State Treasurer and as a pro-life legislator in the Missouri State Senate. Attorney General Schmitt speaks on defending pro-life laws in court, what it takes to represent Missouri's people rather than special interests, and the reason why he has taken the Biden administration to Court more times than any other state attorney general.

This is the first of three conversations with Midwestern leaders recorded during the Midwest March for Life in Jefferson City, Missouri. The Midwest March for Life takes place annually and this year celebrated Missouri becoming the first state in the union where abortions do not regularly take place.

Every year communities across the nation gather together to march for the lives of those lost to the violence of abortion. From Washington, DC and San Francisco and Annapolis to Jefferson City, Americans proudly and boldly stand for life. Kathy Forck, leader of the Midwest March for Life, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt to speak about this year's Midwest March for Life, taking place on April 14th outside of the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri. Kathy speaks on what the March for Life and Midwest March for Life mean for so many, the incredible pro-life achievement that is the "Missouri Miracle," and how Americans can take action in their communities for the righteous cause for life.

In Roe v. Wade, Justice Harry Blackmun structured the argument of the majority around the history of abortion laws. The problem? Blackmun's history simply doesn't hold up—it didn't at the time, and it doesn't today.

Joseph W. Dellapenna, Professor of Law at Villanova University School of Law, literally wrote the book on the true history of abortion. Professor Dellapenna's incredible 1,300 page book, "Dispelling the Myths of Abortion History," takes the reader through the past, present, and future of abortion jurisprudence. Professor Dellapenna lays out how an unbroken tradition refutes the claims that falsely suggest that children in the womb have not been treated as persons in our law—or as persons under the Constitution of the United States.

Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt speak with Professor Joseph Dellapenna on the myths of abortion history, the true history of abortion in America, and Roe v. Wade and its future.

Wesley J. Smith, Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute and Chair of the Center on Human Exceptionalism, returns to Life, Liberty, and Law with Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt. Wesley speaks on the historical status of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, the ongoing Uyghur genocide and other human crises in China under its Communist regime, and the need to conserve the spirit of true American freedom.

Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler represents Missouri's 4th Congressional District and joins Noah Brandt and Tom Shakely on "Life, Liberty, and Law" to speak about the role of elected officials in carrying the torch for the human right to life in law and policy. Congresswoman Hartzler leads the House Value Action Team and is one of America's best advocates for life and adoption.

Roger Severino, Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt to discuss civil rights, EPPC's HHS Accountability Project, and rights of conscience. Before joining the EPPC, Roger was the Director of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he led a team of more than 250, responsible for enforcing our nation’s civil rights, conscience and religious freedom, and health information privacy laws.

Jeanne Mancini, President of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt on "Life, Liberty, and Law" to discuss the March for Life, advocacy across the states, and America's bright future. The annual March for Life in Washington, DC commemorates the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

Previously Jeanne worked with the Family Research Council (FRC), where she focused on issues related to the inherent dignity of the human person, including abortion, women’s health, and end-of-life issues. Prior to FRC Jeanne worked for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of the Secretary. Her federal government experience includes global health policy, as well as domestic and international health care issues. Before working in public policy, Jeanne worked for the Catholic Church in a variety of positions involving educating on life issues, human sexuality, marriage, and family.

Jeanne has made frequent media appearances including interviews on MSNBC, CNN, FOX, ABC, CBS, and others. Jeanne’s writings have appeared in The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, USA Today, the Washington Post and numerous others publications.

Jeanne holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from James Madison University and a Master’s degree in the theology of marriage and family from the Pope John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. Jeanne resides in northern Virginia with her husband, David.

Dr. Ryan Anderson, President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt on AUL's "Life, Liberty, and Law" to introduce the basics of human dignity, human rights, and religious liberty as a means to restore American culture. Before his recent appointment as president of the EPPC, Ryan was the William E. Simon senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Ryan continues to serve as John Paul II Teaching Fellow at the University of Dallas and Founding Editor of Public Discourse. Ryan received his B.A. from Princeton University and his Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Notre Dame.

Every year the team at Americans United for Life ranks all 50 states on how welcoming and protective each state is to all human life. These rankings play an integral role in advancing the human right to life in culture, law, and policy at the state level, allowing advocates and lawmakers to understand where their state stands and what should be done to better protect human life. Today we will listen in to leaders from the state of Arkansas as they celebrate their state’s first place ranking on the Americans United for Life "Life List" for 2021.

President Joe Biden. Ready for that? It’s time to take an honest look at what pro-life gains are at risk and to examine where pro-life advocates and lawmakers may be able to find common ground with the new administration.

Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt speak with Steve Aden, Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel and Katie Glenn, Government Affairs Counsel at Americans United for Life. Steve and Katie break down what changes we could see in the coming year when it comes to the federal government’s policy as it relates to life and how we can preserve the protections which continue to save lives across the country.

Among the most important players within the pro-life movement are those advocates on the ground—the leaders in communities across the country working for strong pro-life candidates running for public office. In politics, it’s especially true that passion must be matched with action, and our guest today knows firsthand how important both action and passion are for forging a successful political future.

We’re delighted to speak with Mallory Quigley, Vice President of Communications at Susan B. Anthony List. Mallory breaks down what the 2020 elections mean for pro-lifers and what opportunities we may have in the years to come.

In politics, there are no permanent victories. We’ve just lived through what we were told was the most important election of our lifetimes.

We’re told that every four years and with a seeming increasing fury, but the story of American voter turnout does suggest that this election felt different—at 74 million+ votes, President Donald Trump won more voters than any other sitting president and increased his vote totals by more than 11 million from those of his shock 2016 victory. And against all apparent odds, President Joe Biden looks to have secured more than 80 million votes—securing not only the presidency, but crushing President Barack Obama’s previous high-water mark in terms of voter turnout.

Alexandra DeSanctis, Staff Writer at National Review and Visiting Fellow at EPPC, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt to consider the prospect of a Joe Biden and Kamala Harris presidency, but even more importantly, the victories and takeaways from across the states, the state of the states and courts, and one election that is still to come.

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected more than ten million Americans. And the virus has claimed the precious lives of more than 200,000 Americans. Even if you were never sick, you may know someone who had it—and your life was definitely impacted by the decisions policy makers made in response to the virus.

Dr. Jay Richards joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt to speak about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and our global public response. Jay is an Assistant Research Professor in the School of Business and Economics at The Catholic University of America, Executive Editor of The Stream and a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute's Center on Wealth, Poverty, and Morality. Jay speaks about his most recent book, "The Price of Panic: How the Tyranny of Experts Turned a Pandemic into a Catastrophe."

While Americans United for Life primarily focusses on defending the dignity, value, and basic human rights for at risk persons here in the United States, the fight to defend the human right to life is also raging across the world through international institutions and throughout nations far from our shores. Elyssa Koren, Director of United Nations Advocacy at ADF International, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt on "Life, Liberty, and Law" to speak about how she advocates for the human right to life at the United Nations and through international institutions.

Jessica Anderson, Executive Director at Heritage Action for America, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt to speak about grassroots engagement and the challenge of holding lawmakers accountable on life issues, the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and what the future may hold in the year to come.

Erika Bachiochi joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt to reflect on Amy Coney Barrett as a new feminist icon, the problems with "capitalistic" ways of treating human beings, and recovering a sense of true rights and relationships. Erika also previews her forthcoming book, “The Rights of Women: Reclaiming a Lost Vision”. Erika is a Fellow with the Ethics & Public Policy Center and a legal scholar specializing in equal protection jurisprudence, feminist legal theory, Catholic social teaching, and sexual ethics. Erika is also a Senior Fellow at the Abigail Adams Institute in Cambridge, MA, where she founded and directs the Wollstonecraft Project.

Americans United for Life was the first pro-life organization in America to explicitly call for President Trump to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Katie Glenn, Government Affairs Counsel at Americans United for Life, joins Noah Brandt to talk shop on Judge Amy Cony Barrett's U.S. Supreme Court nomination hearings and what comes next.

While many have heard about the horrors that occur behind the doors at Planned Parenthood businesses across the country, far fewer have experienced those horrors as a way of life. Indeed, while many have the first-hand experience of the tragedy of abortion from either the patient or the abortion business side of the table, Abby Johnson understands the tragedy from both sides—as both patient and perpetrator.

In "Divided Hearts of America," Benjamin Watson laces up for a new cause: bringing empathy and understanding to all sides of the abortion debate. A million-dollar budget isn’t much for Hollywood, but Benjamin Watson is hoping that it’s enough to tell a story and bring empathy to a hot-button topic. Venturing onto a new field, the New England Patriot’s tight end has executive-produced and partially self-financed Divided Hearts of America, a look at the debate around abortion in America.

Ben Watson joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt on Life, Liberty, and Law to speak about "Divided Hearts of America" and how to build a culture of life in a nation deeply divided over the issue of abortion.

Katie Glenn, Government Affairs Counsel at Americans United for Life, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt on Life, Liberty, and Law to commemorate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and contemplate the future of her seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In time, the United States of America is projected to become a majority minority nation. Latino Americans are projected to grow the most during the coming decades, particularly those having migrated from Central and South America. Meanwhile, the human right to life continues to demand the attention of all Americans.

Alfonso Aguilar, President of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt to speak about American ideals, the human right to life in the Latino community, and what the future holds for our country.

Americans United for Life was the very first national pro-life organization in America—incorporated in 1971, two years before the infamous Roe v. Wade decision. While so much has changed since 1971, the fight to protect the human right to life is more relevant than ever. 

Patrick Trueman, former Executive Director of Americans United for Life, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt on "Life, Liberty, and Law" to reflect on the early days of the organization and its continuing work to advance the human right to life in culture, law, and policy. Patrick Trueman is President of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation and is a former Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Criminal Division at the U. S. Department of Justice from 1988 to 1993.

Every election cycle we tend to see a lot of opinion polls and studies of what the American people think and believe on important public policy issues. Interpreting this data is vital to fostering an understanding that cuts across our stale and fractured public discourse. Dr. Michael New, a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Catholic University of America and an associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, returns to "Life, Liberty, and Law" to discuss new information on Americans really think about abortion.

We’re sure you’ve heard about the U.S. Supreme Court’s latest abortion decision, June Medical Services v Russo. We’ve spoken about it a lot at Americans United for Life. And you’ve no doubt heard that a close majority of the Justices ruled against Louisiana’s “Unsafe Abortion Protection Act,” striking down basic health and safety protections and handing what appeared to be a win to abortion businesses and activists. But the story—it turns out—isn’t so simple.

The fight to protect human life will play an integral role in the November elections and beyond, whether gatekeepers and elites like it or not. In this era of fake news, it‘s more important than ever that we have good and reliable journalism—news that you know you can trust. Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt speak with Leah Hickman, a reporter covering pro-life issues with WORLD News Group, on the role that the human right to life life will play in the November elections, how we speak about life in our culture, and WORLD's new newsletter, "Vitals."

It’s been six weeks since seven men on the United States Supreme Court imposed the violence of abortion upon America through Roe v. Wade. The date is March 7, 1973 and Americans United for Life has been called to testify before a committee of the U.S. Senate on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe. Journey back with us in this special episode to hear the words of Dr. Victor Rosenblum and Americans United for Life from this pivotal moment in American history and the history of human rights.

We listen in today to a special conversation on the Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court between Ed Whelan, President of the Ethics & Public Policy Center and Steve Aden, Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel of Americans United for Life. Steve leads the conversation as part of Americans United for Life’s Legal Fellows and Summer Internships program, a part of our commitment to equipping and empowering rising generations of attorneys and experts on the Constitution and the human right to life. Steve and Ed speak on originalism and textualism, the future of the U.S. Supreme Court as an institutional force in American life, and the future of Roe, Casey, and abortion jurisprudence in light of John Roberts’s June Medical services decision and how we forge ahead in the times to come.

The US Supreme Court has issued its first major decision relating to abortion since Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement. But what was at issue was ultimately represented a much lower bar for the high court than abortion itself, relating simply to whether a state has the power to uphold health and safety standards meant specifically to protect women from substandard forms of care. Tragically, the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief John Roberts repudiated common sense health and safety laws of the sort at issue in this case, June Medical Services v. Russo. Worse, the High Court determined that abortion businesses can in effect litigate in order to lower standards of care for those who become their patients. It’s a terrible day for Louisiana, for Sen Katrina Jackson, the Democrat who sponsored the law at the heart of this case, and ultimately for human rights. Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO of Americans United for Life, Steven H. Aden, Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel, and Clarke Forsythe, Senior Counsel, join Tom Shakely to discuss June Medical Services v. Russo, Chief Justice John Roberts, and the future for advancing the human right to life in culture, law and policy.

Obianuju Ekeocha (Uju) is biomedical scientist who lives and works in the United Kingdom. A native African woman, Uju is the founder of “Culture of Life Africa,” an organization dedicated to defending the sanctity and dignity of human life through the dissemination of good information, research, and education. Uju is an internationally acclaimed pro-life speaker and strategist who has spoken in 18 countries, as well as the United Nations. Uju joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt to speak about Africa and the culture of life, ideological neocolonialism, philanthropic racism, and more.

Ben Clapper, Executive Director of Louisiana Right to Life, and Alex Seghers, Director of Education, join Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt to share Louisiana’s road to the Supreme Court in the June Medical Services v. Russo case, Louisiana Right to Life's work to protect life across the spectrum, and Louisiana's shining example to the entire nation of bipartisanship in upholding the human right to life.

One person dies of suicide every eleven minutes in our country. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Americans between 10 and 34 years of age. The fight against suicide is in many ways, the rallying cry of the next generation. 

While the broad consensus to fight suicide across society has been extolled from almost all corners, suicide by physician is less often understood to be the tragedy that it is. Indeed, the scourge of suicide by physician is infecting American healthcare and culture and reversing the age-old understanding of the physician as a healer. Nihilistic but powerful activists, tacitly in league with monied insurance interests, promote suicide by physician as an antidote to the uncertainty that can come from disability, increasing age, and other forms of vulnerability. 

If a woman chooses abortion because she feels she has no other options, has she made a free choice? Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses exist to push one choice in response to unexpected pregnancy: abortion. But America has thousands of pregnancy resource centers that exist to help women seeking choices other than abortion. Truly, pregnancy resource clinics make it possible to plan parenthood. 

Who are the people making real and life affirming choice as possible for those mothers who may feel they have no other choice than abortion? They’re not being run for profit, like some abortion businesses, and they’re not generating hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer funding, like Planned Parenthood. They're run by everyday hometown heroes, women and men who volunteer their time out of love and in the spirit of solidarity to change lives for the better.

Michele Menke, RN Manager of Hand 'n Hand Pregnancy Help Center, joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt on "Life, Liberty, and Law". Michele is one of America’s everyday heroes, offering real choice to those in need. Michele shares with us what it’s like to help women make life-affirming choices, and also shares with us her life story as a wife and mother of five who has overcome the trauma and violence of abortion.

Conserving, encountering, or rekindling the true goods of life amidst uncertainty seems like just the common-sense thing to do. But what makes the “good life” good? And how might we strive to come through this moment in time to live in truly better and perhaps even a more humane way? Gracy Olmstead joins Tom Shakely and Noah Brandt on "Life, Liberty, and Law" to consider these questions and more. Gracy grew up in rural Idaho and now lives in Northern Virginia. Gracy is a wife and mother who writes on farming, localism, and family, and publishes the monthly newsletter Granola, on these themes and more. Gracy’s writing has appeared in many places, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The American Conservative, National Review, and Christianity Today.