In today’s News:
Undercover journalist ask for charges be dismissed
Sandra Merritt is asking the California Court of Appeals to dismiss all eight remaining felony charges pending against her. The criminal investigation and tactics began under then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris (now senator and VP candidate) and then her replacement, Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who filed 15 charges for Merritt’s undercover journalism work in exposing Planned Parenthood’s trafficking in baby body parts. During a press conference, Becerra stood with a sign reading, “I stand with Planned Parenthood.” Multiple counts have already been dismissed. Becerra has not shown probable cause for any of the charges. Merritt’s appeal details with evidence that she did not intend to violate any laws but used legal undercover techniques to investigate and expose potential fetal-trafficking abuses and crimes being committed by Planned Parenthood.
Teenagers sue state medicaid program
Two teenagers in Arizona have sued the state’s medicaid program, arguing that the state was violating their civil rights by declining to pay for gender transition surgeries. Under the banner of anti-discrimination provisions in the Affordable Care Act, the claimants argue that a 1982 state ban on using medicaid funds is an affront to their civil rights. The lawsuit goes on to argue that two biological females who came out as transgender a few years ago experienced challenges as puberty started changing their bodies and that they had to rely on breast binders and heavy hoodies in order to appear more masculine. Presently, 22 states and Washington, D.C., cover transgender medical practices through government agencies. Eighteen states have no explicit policy and 10 states prohibit it.
City funds abortion efforts
Austin, Texas, is doubling down on their stance as a sanctuary city for the abortion industry. The city’s 2021 budget, approved unanimously by the all-Democrat Austin City Council yesterday, cuts funding for the Austin Police Department and redirects a portion of the funding to subsidize abortion. Last year, the Texas legislature passed a law prohibiting state and local governments from using taxpayer dollars to support abortion businesses and their affiliates. However, the city of Austin circumvented this law by including a line item of $150,000 in the city’s budget for abortion logistical services. While the funding cannot pay for the abortion procedure directly, this money is earmarked for expenses related to abortion, including transportation to the appointment, lodging, childcare, and legal services.
Chinese authorities tell Christians to pray to its president
Authorities in Communist China replaced a cross in the home of an elderly Christian man with an image of Xi Jinping and ordered him to pray to the country’s president instead of God as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to “sinicize” Christianity. The 84-year-old man in Shanxi province was among a number of Christians in several provinces ordered to remove Christian imagery from their homes and replace them with pictures of communist leaders, religious rights magazine Bitter Winter reported.
