756 - Peace & Life: Trump & Leo / PP Developments - April 17, 2026
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Trump and Pope Leo
Donald Trump has ranted against the pope at length, and as would be expected the pope has stood firm. Though not explicitly stated, there are ways the consistent life ethic is doing good work behind the scenes:
Many Trump opponents are cheering the pope in his anti-war stance and defense of the marginalized. If they harbor animosity toward the anti-abortion pro-life cause because of the divided camp they’re in, they now have in the pope a better role model of what pro-life can be.
Many Trump supporters are aghast; see quote of the week below. Already by April of 2024, we collected quotations from conservatives showing Trump Sabotaging the Pro-Life Movement. Recent events help illustrate this all the more. Hopefully there will be more and more who catch on.
Opportunities
Destiny Herndon de la Rosa of New Wave Feminists is on a college speaking tour for the consistent life ethic, and we’re helping fund her visits for college groups that otherwise couldn’t cover travel expenses. Contact her on Facebook or at Destiny@NewWaveFeminists.com.
Our member group Rehumanize International is offering a summer Rehumanize Fellowship for students.
The Catholic Mobilizing Network, an anti-death penalty group, is offering an online participatory 2-hour Intro to Restorative Justice Workshop Monday, May 4 from 2–4 p.m. ET.
Planned Parenthood Developments
Three more centers have closed already in April. Closings are frequent, so we don’t always report them, but we keep a running list here (most recent at the bottom).
The Problems at Planned Parenthood website, a facts-only site aimed at those who don’t want pro-life polemic, has now started finding problems outside the U.S. For the list, see the international page. Many countries don’t have PP present and many more have only education and no clinics, but Colombia has over 40 clinics, Mexico and Australia have quite a few, and problems were also found in Canada.
Meanwhile, a lot of additional lawsuits and ambulance calls have been added to the U.S. listings.
Out and About
Latest on the Blog
Once the Roe era ended in the U.S. on June 12, 2022 with the Dobbs decision, predictions about what would happen in such a circumstance moved from speculation to reality. Rachel MacNair takes a look at what the fallout has been in one important aspect:
The idea of the slippery slope – that allowing one kind of killing will then get its justification applied to more and more kinds of killing – is a common feature in all the forms for violence we oppose. Jim Hewes details the dynamics for:
Quote of the Week
Eduardo Verástegui, Executive Producer of the movie Cabrini
Post on X / Twitter, April 7, 2026
My mission and the most important cause I have been fighting for over many years is the defense of the unborn. That is why, for years, I supported the Republican Party, because, although imperfect, it has held a firmer stance in defense of the unborn child than the vision promoted by the Democratic Party . . .
But I must also tell the full truth: the Republican movement . . . is not 100% pro-life. And today I want to be clear: I will no longer support any politician who does not fully defend life, without exceptions . . .
The recent message from the president regarding Iran is something that, as a Catholic, I cannot support or justify. One cannot speak lightly about the possible destruction of an entire civilization.
The message to which he’s responding:
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