WASHINGTON — National Right to Life strongly condemns a federal court decision dismissing a legal challenge to Delaware’s new Medical Aid in Dying law, clearing the way for physician-assisted suicide to take effect on January 1, 2026.

“This ruling is deeply troubling for anyone concerned about the protection of vulnerable patients,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “The fact that a court dismissed this case on procedural grounds does not erase the serious moral, ethical, and public policy dangers posed by assisted suicide laws—especially for people with disabilities, the elderly, and those facing serious illness.”

The lawsuit, brought by disability and patient advocacy groups, raised urgent concerns that assisted suicide laws create a two-tiered system of care—one in which some patients are offered suicide instead of life-affirming treatment, support, and suicide prevention. Although the court concluded the plaintiffs lacked standing, it did not resolve the profound questions about how these laws affect medical ethics, disability rights, and equal protection under the law.

“Labeling assisted suicide as ‘voluntary’ ignores the very real pressures faced by patients who may feel like a burden, lack adequate access to palliative care, or fear prolonged suffering without sufficient support,” Tobias continued. “True compassion does not involve helping someone end their life. It means standing with them, treating their pain, and affirming their inherent dignity until natural death.”

National Right to Life also expressed concern that Delaware’s law is set to take effect without a fully developed regulatory framework in place, increasing the risk of abuse, coercion, and inadequate oversight.

Disability rights advocates plan to appeal the decision.

Oregon became the first state, in 1994, to legalize assisted suicide. Since then, twelve states (12) and Washington D.C. have passed similar laws.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON — National Right to Life welcomes yesterday’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that lifts a preliminary injunction issued in State of California et al. v. Department of Health and Human Services that sought to block a provision of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” which defunds major abortion providers. The provision prevents abortion providers—most notably Planned Parenthood—from receiving Medicaid funds if they exceed certain thresholds.

“This ruling is an important reminder that the federal government has both the authority and the responsibility to ensure taxpayer dollars are not used to subsidize elective abortion,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “The First Circuit correctly recognized that HHS is likely to prevail on the merits. Americans overwhelmingly oppose being forced to fund abortion, and this decision helps restore accountability and respect for long-standing federal law.” 

The One Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law on July 4th by President Donald J. Trump, includes critical provisions that halt the use of taxpayer dollars to subsidize the abortion industry. It passed narrowly in Congress after a strong show of resolve from pro-life lawmakers.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON — National Right to Life (NRL) applauds the Government of Puerto Rico and Governor Jenniffer González Colón for signing Senate Bill 504 into law, affirming that human life begins at conception and that unborn children are to be legally recognized as natural persons under Puerto Rico’s Civil Code.

“National Right to Life celebrates this landmark achievement for the pro‑life movement,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Puerto Rico’s clear and courageous recognition of preborn babies as persons reflects a deep respect for life and provides a powerful example for lawmakers throughout the United States. Legal personhood for the preborn is not only consistent with science and human dignity but is the foundation upon which a culture of life can flourish.”

This historic legal recognition marks one of the strongest pro‑life affirmations within U.S. jurisdictions. By explicitly acknowledging the inherent dignity and personhood of the preborn, Puerto Rico has taken a principled and scientifically grounded step to align its civil law with the biological reality that human life begins at fertilization. 

SB 504 amends the Civil Code to recognize the preborn child as a natural person from the moment of conception. While the law does not alter Puerto Rico’s current abortion statutes, it establishes an important legal and moral precedent by embedding recognition of the unborn child within the territory’s legal framework.

“Puerto Rico’s action stands as a compelling reaffirmation that the protection of human life at all stages is a fundamental civil right,” said Tobias. “This measure underscores the essential truth that every human being—born and unborn—deserves equal protection under the law.”

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON — National Right to Life today condemned the actions of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker for signing into law a bill that legalizes assisted suicide. This bill puts the lives of medically vulnerable Illinoisans at grave risk.

“Assisted suicide is not health care, and it is not compassion,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “This law abandons people at their most vulnerable moments and sends the message that their lives are not worth living. It sets Illinois on a path where the elderly, those with a disability or struggling with serious illness may find themselves pressured—subtly or overtly—to end their lives prematurely.”

Despite years of warnings from disability advocates, medical professionals, pro-life organizations, and members of the Illinois legislature, Governor Pritzker has chosen to open the door to a policy that has proven dangerous and destructive wherever it has been implemented. 

“Once again, ideological commitments have trumped patient safety,” Tobias continued. “The experience of countries and states that have legalized assisted suicide is clear: safeguards erode, eligibility expands, and the most vulnerable pay the price. Illinois will be no exception.”

The Illinois law was rushed through the legislature under the guise of compassion, but its passage followed a troubling pattern. As in other states, proponents relied on emotional appeals while downplaying or dismissing well-documented risks.

National Right to Life has long warned that legalizing assisted suicide undermines the foundational principle that every human life has value and deserves protection. The organization continues to advocate for policies that expand access to true compassionate care—palliative care, pain management, community support—not laws that facilitate premature death.

 “We grieve for the lives that will be lost because of this misguided law,” Tobias said. “But National Right to Life will continue working with Illinois pro-life advocates, medical professionals, and national partners to ensure that vulnerable patients are not abandoned and that no further erosion of life-affirming protections takes place.”

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON — National Right to Life today commended U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), along with a broad coalition of pro-life senators and representatives, for issuing a bicameral letter calling on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to stop administering taxpayer-funded health care plans that include elective abortion coverage for members of Congress and their staff. 

“Federal law has long prohibited taxpayer dollars from being used to subsidize elective abortions,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “It is unacceptable for OPM to ignore these clear legal protections and force Americans to underwrite abortion coverage for Congress and its staff. We applaud Senator Lee, Representative Smith, and all the signers for demanding accountability and adherence to the law.”

Since 1984, the Smith Amendment has explicitly barred the use of appropriated funds to pay for abortions or “the administrative expenses in connection with any health plan” that covers elective abortion — except in cases of rape, incest, or where the life of the mother is endangered. Despite this longstanding and unambiguous restriction, OPM has continued to administer government contributions toward nearly all available health plans offered to congressional employees, the vast majority of which include elective abortion coverage. This is something explicitly forbidden for every other federal employee under the Smith Amendment.

OPM has attempted to justify these subsidies by attributing abortion-related costs to individual enrollees rather than to taxpayers—an approach the letter’s authors rightly describe as an “accounting gimmick.” 

“Taxpayers should not be compelled to finance abortion through hidden subsidies or bureaucratic loopholes,” Tobias added. “Members of Congress should play by the same rules as every other federal employee when it comes to abortions paid for with tax dollars.”

National Right to Life strongly supports this oversight effort and urges OPM to immediately end the unlawful subsidization of abortion coverage.

The letter was signed by Senators Jim Banks (R-IN), Steve Daines (R-MT), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ted Cruz (R-TX), James Lankford (R-OK), and Pete Ricketts (R-NE), along with Representatives Sheri Biggs (R-SC), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Ben Cline (R-VA), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Russ Fulcher (R-ID), Michael Guest (R-MS), Clay Higgins (R-LA), Mark Messmer (R-IN), Mary Miller (R-IL), Barry Moore (R-AL), Keith Self (R-TX), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), and Daniel Webster (R-FL).

The full letter is available here.

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

Warns Against Government Intrusion into Donor Privacy and Pro-Life Advocacy

WASHINGTON — National Right to Life today commended the U.S. Supreme Court for taking up First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin, a case that strikes at the heart of Americans’ constitutional freedoms of speech and association. The case arises from an attempt by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin to compel First Choice Women’s Resource Centers—a longstanding, life-affirming charity—to disclose the private donor information associated with nearly 5,000 individual contributions.

“No government official needs to know which charitable organizations Americans support, and no attorney general should be allowed to misuse state power to intimidate or harass pro-life groups,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Forcing disclosure of donor information has been used throughout history as a political weapon. This kind of government overreach chills free speech, threatens the safety and privacy of donors, and diverts vital resources away from helping women and saving lives.”

Attorney General Platkin’s demand echoes troubling historical precedents in which compelled disclosure was used to punish dissenting viewpoints. Even the threat of compelled disclosure is enough to deter Americans from joining, supporting, or donating to causes they believe in. This violates the core constitutional protections that ensure that any viewpoint—such as the core belief in the right to life held by pro-life Americans—cannot be silenced by government intimidation or public pressure campaigns.

“Political disagreements must never become an excuse to weaponize the investigative power of the state,” Tobias added. “If officials can rummage through the private records of a pregnancy help center without cause, then no nonprofit—regardless of its mission—will be safe.”

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

WASHINGTON — National Right to Life today called on Members of Congress to firmly reject attempts by abortion advocacy groups to pressure lawmakers into abandoning efforts to protect taxpayer dollars from subsidizing elective abortion through Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans.

“For decades, federal policy has been clear: taxpayers should not be forced to fund or subsidize abortion,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Attempts to undermine that consensus are deeply out of step with the values of the American people.”

Despite claims by pro-abortion groups such as Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Freedom for All that current law fully safeguards taxpayer dollars, the ACA’s structure circumvents the traditional Hyde Amendment protections that apply to most federal healthcare programs. For more than four decades, Hyde protections have represented a durable, bipartisan agreement: taxpayer dollars should not be used to pay for or promote elective abortion. Under Section 1303 of the ACA, insurers participating in the Marketplace may include abortion coverage in subsidized plans as long as they engage in a bookkeeping exercise that “segregates” funds. In practice, this mechanism has proven opaque, inconsistently enforced, and insufficient to ensure that public funding and abortion coverage remain meaningfully separate.

“For years, federal watchdogs have warned that the ACA’s segregation scheme lacks transparency, accountability, and reliable oversight,” Tobias continued. “The American public deserves better than a paper barrier that does little to ensure that their tax dollars are not supporting unlimited abortion.”

Pro-life lawmakers have repeatedly sought to ensure that ACA Marketplace subsidies mirror the same Hyde-like protections that govern Medicaid, federal employee health plans, and other major healthcare programs. These provisions do not restrict anyone’s ability to purchase abortion coverage with private funds, but they do prevent taxpayers from subsidizing plans.

Current proposals in Congress would simply restore this widely supported framework. Contrary to the claims of abortion advocacy groups, these efforts do not “create chaos,” or “eliminate coverage.” They restore clarity, consistency, and integrity to federal policy.

“Comparing basic taxpayer protections to ‘chaos’ is a cynical attempt to bully lawmakers into ignoring their constituents and the clear moral and policy concerns at stake,” said Tobias. “Congress has a clear mandate to ensure that taxpayer funds are used responsibly and in accordance with longstanding federal policy.”

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.