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‘Hellscape’: Women Increasingly Charged With Pregnancy-Related Crimes After Roe’s End

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Women are increasingly being charged with pregnancy-related crimes since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that had found a constitutional right to abortion. Abortion bans are playing a role.

A new study, “Pregnancy As a Crime: A Preliminary Report on the First Year After Dobbs,” found 210 cases of pregnancy-related crimes were charged in the first year since the Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court ruling that rescinded the constitutional right to abortion. That is the largest number of cases in any 12-month period since the year Roe v. Wade was decided.

“Most of the cases identified were in just two states: Alabama and Oklahoma,” according to the Associated Press. Essentially half of all cases (104) were charged in just one state: Alabama. Oklahoma ranked second with 68.

“Wendy Bach, a professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law and one of the lead researchers on the project, said one of the cases was when a woman delivered a stillborn baby at her home about six or seven months into pregnancy,” the AP reports. “Bach said that when the woman went to make funeral arrangements, the funeral home alerted authorities and the woman was charged with homicide.”

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Mary Ruth Ziegler, a legal historian focusing on abortion at University of California Davis School of Law, told CNN, “Prosecutions of pregnant women for conduct during pregnancy didn’t start with the anti-abortion movement, but they definitely accelerated with the anti-abortion movement.”

Lourdes Rivera, president of Pregnancy Justice, the nonprofit organization that released the study, told the AP, “It’s an environment where pregnancy loss is potentially criminally suspect.”

Rivera, speaking to Jezebel, “said the report’s findings reflect how ‘post-Dobbs, abortion bans have created a chilling effect, an environment for law enforcement to misapply existing criminal laws and the ideology of fetal personhood’ to wrongly criminalize a range of legal behaviors from pregnant people.”

Earlier this year the Republican National Committee released its first new platform in eight years. Some media reports claimed it was “softening” on abortion, and some far-right activists blasted the RNC for that stance. But the new platform included language paving the way for what some call fetal personhood, the belief that human life begins at conception and therefore a fertilized egg is immediately conferred the same civil rights as every other person in America.

CNN reports fetal personhood “is at the root of many of the allegations” examined in the Pregnancy Justice report.

“The goal was not just to have these individual people go to prison, it was meant to set a precedent about what fetal rights look like,” Ziegler said. “So going for the easiest target made sense.”

CNN adds that “the data from June 2022 to June 2023 shows that the vast majority of pregnancy-related charges alleged substance use during pregnancy, according to the new report from Pregnancy Justice. In more than half of the cases, substance use was the only allegation made against the defendant.”

The vast majority of the defendants were low income, and proof that the fetus was actually harmed was not required for most of the 210 charges.

“About half of cases were in Alabama, where residents voted in 2018 to amend the Constitution to include protections for unborn life and where the state Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos are children and those who destroy them can be held liable for wrongful death,” CNN noted.

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“The People of Alabama have declared the public policy of this State to be that unborn human life is sacred,” Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote in his concurring opinion earlier this year. “We believe that each human being, from the moment of conception, is made in the image of God, created by Him to reflect His likeness.”

Pregnancy Justice on social media explained that after the Dobbs decision, “State actors are emboldened, putting pregnant people under INCREASED surveillance and making a dire situation even worse.”

Dr. Norman Ornstein, a political scientist, senior fellow emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute, and contributing editor for the Atlantic weighed in on Alabama Public Radio’s report from the Associated Press.

“Alabama. Elected Tommy Tuberville. Katie Britt. Kay Ivey. A Hellscape of racism and cruelty,” Ornstein wrote, referring to the state’s Republican freshmen U.S. Senators and longtime Republican governor.

READ MORE: ‘Conditional Adherence’: Speaker Johnson Slammed for Wavering on Certifying 2024 Election

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‘Utter Detachment From Reality’: Expert Breaks Down Trump’s Economic Policy Flaws

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November 12, 2025

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Amid increasing bipartisan anger over the state of the Trump economy, one economist says he can explain the flaws at the root of President Donald Trump’s economic policies.

The most recent available data show a steady uptick in inflation, to 3%. Costs at the grocery store checkout line have increased across a large range of goods. Major corporations have announced or are planning to lay off thousands — or even tens of thousands — of workers. Unemployment is estimated to be up, to a four-year high, per the most recent data. Consumer confidence has dropped to a near-record low. There is a possibility that some parts of the country may already be in a recession, according to one economist.

As the Trump White House weighs launching a nationwide blitz to improve the President’s economic approval numbers, which are underwater, Justin Wolfers, professor of economics and public policy and a frequent cable news guest, is targeting what he sees as the underlying problem in the president’s economic policies.

READ MORE: ‘What Could Go Wrong?’: Religious AI Chatbots Let You Text With ‘Jesus’ — or ‘Satan’

Trump has been highly criticized for holding a “Great Gatsby” themed party on the eve of tens of millions of Americans losing SNAP benefits. Demolishing the East Wing of the White House was widely unpopular. Overall, according to data from The New York Times, Trump’s average approval rating has never been lower and his average disapproval rating has never been higher.

“The problem isn’t losing touch with the American people,” Professor Wolfers told CNN. “It’s literally losing touch with reality.”

“The claim that prices are falling at the drugstore, at the grocery store, in our everyday lives, is just on its face flat out false,” he continued. “You and I can see it. I can point you to any number of data collections that show it. I could point you to any number of stores whose annual report suggests that their prices are continuing to rise.”

“This is literally undisputable,” said Wolfers, who is also a nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution.

READ MORE: GOP ‘Complicit’ in ‘Massive’ Epstein Files ‘Cover-Up’: Democrat

Wolfers paraphrased President Trump from an earlier CNN clip, saying, “The economy is booming, because I brought in $20 trillion worth of investment.”

“That is quite literally a number that he made up out of whole cloth,” Wolfers charged. “I would challenge your viewers, go to the White House website, see if you can find out where he made this up. It is implausible, it’s impossible, it’s not true, and it’s made up.”

“And this utter detachment from reality, which, I think, sort of began with the 2020 election, but now has become an increasing part of their economic policy: if you can’t see the reality and the facts in front of you, you can’t design the right policy to correct the real problems that exist.”

READ MORE: Trump Stumbles Over ‘God Bless America’ Lyrics at Veterans Day Ceremony

 

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‘What Could Go Wrong?’: Religious AI Chatbots Let You Text With ‘Jesus’ — or ‘Satan’

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November 12, 2025

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As Americans drift from organized religion and congregations consolidate, pastors are turning to artificial intelligence to shoulder parts of their ministry — while some worshippers are turning to AI for something else entirely. Certain AI tools help clergy manage schedules or craft sermons; others invite believers to text directly with “Jesus,” or even “Satan.”

Calling it a “new digital awakening,” Axios reports that “AI is helping some churches stay relevant in the face of shrinking staffs, empty pews and growing online audiences. But the practice raises new questions about who, or what, is guiding the flock.”

“New AI-powered apps allow you to ‘text with Jesus’ or ‘talk to the Bible,’ giving the impression you are communicating with a deity or angel,” according to Axios. “Other apps can create personalized prayers, let you confess your sins or offer religious advice on life’s decisions.”

READ MORE: GOP ‘Complicit’ in ‘Massive’ Epstein Files ‘Cover-Up’: Democrat

The apps that “allow” people to “talk” to “Jesus,” “Mary,” the “Bible,” or even “Satan” are reportedly the most popular.

“What could go wrong?” Robert P. Jones, CEO of the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute, sarcastically asked, according to Axios.

Text With Jesus bills itself as “a new, interactive way to engage with your faith.” Its website calls it “a revolutionary AI-powered chatbot app, designed for devoted Christians seeking a deeper connection with the Bible’s most iconic figures.”

In the FAQ section of the website, one question asks, “Am I really talking to Jesus? Isn’t this blasphemous?”

“Our app is a tool for exploration, education, and engagement with biblical narratives,” is the response, “and it is not intended to replace or mimic direct communication with divine entities, which is a deeply personal aspect of one’s faith.”

READ MORE: White House Eyes Major Blitz as GOP Voters Blame Trump for Failing Economy

Last month, FOX 32 Chicago reported on criticism of the app.

“Critics call the app blasphemous. In an essay for The PreachersWord, minister Ken Weliever wrote that he would ‘just open my Bible and read it for myself,’ questioning how accurate an AI ‘Jesus’ could ever be. He pointed to answers on same-sex marriage signed with rainbow emojis and called the app’s ‘Satan’ feature chilling.”

“Moody Center President James Spencer wrote in The Christian Post the AI ‘Jesus’ seemed ‘less concerned with fulfilling the Law and the Prophets than providing answers palatable to the itching ears of 21st century users.'”

According to the app’s Mac App Store pages, the company that produces Text With Jesus has additional offerings, including Text With History, Text With Authors, Texts From Bernie Sanders, and Texts From Oscar Wilde.

READ MORE: Trump Stumbles Over ‘God Bless America’ Lyrics at Veterans Day Ceremony

 

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GOP ‘Complicit’ in ‘Massive’ Epstein Files ‘Cover-Up’: Democrat

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November 12, 2025

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The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee alleged a “massive coverup” of the Epstein files, accused congressional Republicans of being “complicit,” and signaled that he and his Democratic colleagues will release even more documents, likely later on Wednesday.

“Jeffrey Epstein referenced President Donald Trump in emails to his associate Ghislaine Maxwell and a journalist, claiming in one that Trump ‘knew about the girls,’ according to emails released by House Democrats,” NBC News reported. “Democrats on the House Oversight committee released three email chains, sent between 2011 and 2019, saying the documents came from the convicted sex offender’s estate as part of the committee’s investigation of the Epstein case.”

Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-CA) told MSNBC his committee received about 23,000 emails “last week, and we’ve been going through — our team, of course — through all of these very carefully over the last few days.”

READ MORE: White House Eyes Major Blitz as GOP Voters Blame Trump for Failing Economy

“We obviously released some today,” he said, referring to the bombshell emails. “We’ll be releasing additional documents, likely later today.”

Noting that “we’ve been demanding that Donald Trump and the DOJ release the full Epstein files,” Garcia added, “what’s been released today” are “some quite serious, I think, connections between what Donald Trump may have known.”

Garcia said, “what’s important right now is that we want to know why Donald Trump spent the entire campaign, saying that he would release the files. And now that he’s in the White House, there is a massive cover-up going on.”

Responding to claims from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt that the release of the documents is a “hoax,” Garcia replied, “Then release all the files.”

READ MORE: Johnson Refuses to Commit to Key Part of Senate Shutdown Deal

“If the president has nothing to hide, if the press secretary were there in her comments and statement, if they have nothing to hide at the White House or Department of Justice, then all we want is for them to release the full files,” he urged. “You can’t spend your entire campaign, saying you’re gonna do something, and make a commitment to the American people, and then backtrack.”

READ MORE: Trump Stumbles Over ‘God Bless America’ Lyrics at Veterans Day Ceremony

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