Report: Abortion declines even in states where it is still legal

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Andrea Izzotti/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 22, 2025 / 15:43 pm (CNA).
Leaders of several Catholic health care systems in the United States are expressing strong opposition to Medica… […]

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 12, 2020 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- A state senator in New Hampshire has drawn criticism for saying that working-class parents should not have the same freedom to make educational choices for their children as college-educated parents. 

“This idea of parental choice, that’s great if the parent is well-educated. There are some families that’s perfect for. But to make it available to everyone? No. I think you’re asking for a huge amount of trouble,” said Sen. Jeanne Dietsch (D-Peterborough) on Tuesday, June 9. Her comments were reported by InsideSources. 

Dietsch was speaking at an education committee hearing in favor of a bill that would repeal a statewide alternative schooling program, called Learn Everywhere. 

Learn Everywhere is a program that permits students to earn course credit “through hands-on, real-world experience” including jobs and apprenticeships outside of a classroom. 

The bill SB 514, which is sponsored by Dietsch, would require the state’s board of education “to establish a process for the approval of vendors offering alternative, extended learning, and work-based programs which may be accepted for credit by a local school board.”

Dietsch explained that as her father had not graduated from high school, it was important to him that she attend college, and that he would not have been helpful in picking out coursework. 

‘When it gets into the details, would my father have known what courses I should be taking? I don’t think so,” she said. 

Dietsch explained that she did not think some parents were qualified to make decisions for their children that extended beyond their own level of attainment. 

“If the dad’s a carpenter, and you want to become a carpenter,” she said “then yes — listen to your dad.”

“In a democracy, and particularly in the United States, public education has been the means for people to move up to greater opportunities, for each generation to be able to succeed more than their parents have,” said Dietsch. 

George D’Orazio, a senior board member of Catholics United For Home Education-New Hampshire, told CNA that the educational status of a parent does not factor when making medical or financial decisions for a child, and it should not matter in educational decisions either.

“CUHE utterly rejects the concept that only certain parents should have choice in education,” said D’Orazio. 

D’Orazio said that he believed Dietsch’s party affiliation shaped her comments on Tuesday, and that New Hampshire as a whole has typically been very friendly to homeschooling and alternative schooling choices.

“The current governor, who is a Republican, has worked hard to try to increase educational choices available to parents,” he said. “The current education commissioner (in the state of New Hampshire) has worked very hard to increase parental choice in education,” he said. 

“And they’re being criticized, thoroughly criticized (…) by the leaders of the Democratic Party for this.” 

Other experts and commentators in favor of school choice and parental rights were similarly critical of the senator’s comments. 

“Parents have the right, and duty, to make decisions about their child’s education – simply because they are parents,” Mary Rice Hasson, director of the Catholic Women’s Forum, told CNA. 

“The Church teaches that parents are the primary educators of their children– regardless of the parents’ education level. There’s no asterisk that says a college degree or PhD is required. Parents fulfill this responsibility out of love, with an eye towards the deepest needs of the child, spiritual as well as intellectual formation,” she added. 

“Opposition to educational freedom is often rooted in the paternalistic belief that disadvantaged families aren’t capable of making good choices for their own children,” Corey DeAngelis, the director of school choice at Reason Foundation, told CNA. 

“But that’s wrong–families are more likely to know what’s best for their own children than bureaucrats,” he added. 

Dietsch’s chosen example of carpenters as professionals unable to make informed choices for their children’s education also drew a backlash from local business owners. 

“With all due respect to the senator, I am a carpenter, and the idea that she, or any other government official, knows what’s best for me or any member of my family is preposterous,” Tim Hawes, owner of Perfection In Restoration in Candia, New Hampshire told NHJournal. 

“I may not have a degree, but I can guarantee that when it comes to decisions regarding my family’s interest I am far more educated and capable than any government official will ever be,” Hawes said.

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Frankfort, Ky., May 17, 2019 / 10:15 am (CNA).- Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) is urging his fellow governors to “be bold” on the issue of life.

The first-term governor made the call during an interview Thursday on EWTN Pro-Life Weekly, as states across the country continue to debate abortion related legislation.

In recent weeks, Gov. Roy Cooper (D-N.C.), Gov. Tony Evers (D-Wisc.), and Gov. Steve Bullock (D-Mont.) all rejected their states’ versions of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Shortly after, Bullock launched a bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. In contrast, Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) and Gov. Kay Ivey (R-Ala.) signed major pro-life legislation.

Speaking to Pro-Life Weekly host Catherine Hadro, Bevin said that arguments against Born-Alive laws are “weak,” and that such measures are far from redundant.

“It would seemingly be the same argument you might say for ‘why have airbags in a car if we already have a seatbelt,’” Bevin argued.

“Not to protect a human life, and to ask a doctor to take responsibility for protecting that human life, and to hold them accountable if they do not—especially given that they have taken an oath to do so, and in fact are licensed to do so—would be irresponsible.”

Urging his fellow governors to stand in defense of unborn life, Bevin said, “Don’t be politically opportunistic, don’t be beholden to outside interests that are going to help you politically, but be bold and do the right thing.”

Alabama’s Governor signed the Human Life Protection Act into law.
Georgia’s Governor signed the Heartbeat Bill into law.

We speak with another pro-life governor on @EWTNProLife, @GovMattBevin, who says – while there is pressure – being pro-life is the right thing to do. pic.twitter.com/0BCxEIm8Mc

— Catherine Hadro (@CatSzeltner) May 16, 2019

While discussing his work to pass pro-life legislation in Kentucky, Bevin called the Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision a “travesty,” and said he believes the issue of abortion will ultimately be returned to the states.

“In the meantime, states like ours have passed very intentional laws related to things like informed consent and ultrasounds performed in advance,” Bevin said.

Bevin also pointed to a recent bill he signed into law prohibiting abortions based on the race, gender, or a disability diagnosis of an unborn child. He said that the “non-eugenics bill” might reach the Supreme Court and “may very well be involved in the ultimate decision making as it relates to Roe v Wade.”

“We passed a bill here in this past session in Kentucky that says you can’t kill a child based on its race, based on its gender, or based on some perceived disability. We used language very similar to what we find in the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal statutes that are already on on the books.”

After the anti-eugenics bill passed into law earlier this year, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky promptly announced they would sue over the legislation, but the governor said he is undeterred.

We will see the state of Kentucky in court (again) after they attempt to ban abortion (again) #HB5 #stopthebans #kyga19 https://t.co/dJGMYRBCpc

— ACLU of Kentucky (@ACLUofKY) March 13, 2019

Bring it!

Kentucky will always fight for life…

Always!#WeAreProLife #WeAreKY https://t.co/mFfqhGhAWe

— Matt Bevin (@MattBevin) March 13, 2019

Critics of the discrimination abortion ban, Bevin said, “think that they’re defending folks when in fact they’re standing in the way of human life.”

“I’m grateful for the fact that ours is a strongly pro-life state, and that people are standing in the gap on the side of the vulnerable and those who cannot speak for themselves.”

The governor said he was bullish about the state’s prospects defending the law in court. “The gild is coming off the lily on the other side of this issue,” he said.

“We are standing firm and we will continue to do so regardless of the money, and the reasons, and just the evil, frankly, that is opposing us on the other side of the equation,” he said.  

Bevin acknowledged that “there is pressure of course, politically” on governors who sign pro-life legislation, “but here’s the thing, to do the right thing is the right thing.”

“Sometimes of course, in politics and in other areas, it’s easier for some to do the easy wrong than to do the difficult right,” Bevin continued. “But I think we have a moral obligation, and for many it’s maybe a religious obligation, but I think for those for whom it’s not religious based, it’s moral to save a human life.”

Kate Scanlon is a producer of EWTN Pro-Life Weekly

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