The National Snapshot
Minnesota – Constitutional Amendment (SF 473)
Lawmakers are considering an abortion-up-to-birth constitutional amendment (SF 473). A 2024 poll indicated that 64% of Minnesotans did not support including abortion in the state constitution. However, this proposal is expected to resurface this year for further consideration.
Minnesota – Religious Response to Current Tensions
Catholic Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Bishops Michael Izen and Kevin Kennedy announced their intent to join others in Eucharistic adoration at the Minnesota State Capitol Vault Room B15 on March 6, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., as well as two other Fridays this spring to pray for Minnesota lawmakers.
Notre Dame – Leadership Update
Notre Dame pro-abortion professor Susan Ostermann has officially withdrawn from her appointment as director of the Liu Institute for Asia & Asian Studies as of February 26, 2026. This decision comes after much pushback from the acclaimed Catholic university. Students gathered on February 27 to pray at a candlelit service, originally meant as a protest, to give thanks for the university’s mission. Figures such as Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades have already expressed their gratitude to the Notre Dame community for their opposition to this appointment.
Ohio – HB 87 Tax Proposal
Ohio House Bill 87 aims to include unborn children as tax dependents, thereby granting them personhood. Planned Parenthood has described HB 87 as “a dangerous piece of legislation that would grant constitutional rights to an embryo at the moment of conception.”
Texas – Criminal Coercion Case
On February 23, a 25-year-old Texas man, Jon Rueben Gabriel Demeter, was jailed after being accused of secretly administering abortion medication to his pregnant girlfriend in order to terminate the pregnancy. The victim alleges Demeter made repeated demands to end the pregnancy via abortion. The child, already named Presley Mae, was delivered stillborn. Demeter was subsequently arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury.
Heartbeat International – APRN Report
Heartbeat International has announced that its Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN) has saved over 8,000 lives. The Network guides women to medical professionals who have the ability to prescribe lifesaving progesterone after the ingestion of mifepristone, the first step in chemical abortion. Studies indicate that if progesterone is administered within 24 hours of taking mifepristone, reversal rates sit between 64% and 68%.
