Here is a roundup of recent pro-life and abortion-related news.
Florida judge rules against Planned Parenthood in false advertisement case
A circuit court judge in Florida said the state can continue legal action against Planned Parenthood over the abortion giant's claims that the abortion pill is safer than Tylenol.
In a May 27 ruling, First Circuit Court Judge J. Scott Duncan of Santa Rosa County struck down Planned Parenthood's attempt to dismiss a Florida lawsuit that accused the company of false advertising.
In November 2025, state Attorney General James Uthmeier sued Planned Parenthood for $350 million, alleging that the abortion provider spread information that was deceptive and misleading by claiming abortion drugs are safer than Tylenol, Viagra, and penicillin.
Planned Parenthood then asked for the suit to be dismissed, but the judge refused, allowing the legal action to continue.
Colorado governor signs bill requiring college health centers to provide abortion pills
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill requiring college student health centers to provide chemical abortion pills on-site.
The law includes exemptions, however. Colleges are exempt from providing abortion pills "if doing so would jeopardize an institution's federal grant participation, require the institution to deviate from generally accepted billing practices, [or] modify the generally accepted standards of medical practice."
Colleges are also allowed to opt out of the mandate if the rule would "conflict with the institution's sincerely held religious beliefs or practices."
Babies lost to abortion at a record high in Scotland
Scotland saw a record high in the number of babies lost to abortion in 2025, with recent statistics showing that 18,783 babies died from abortion last year.
The count is the highest on record, according to statistics released May 26 by Public Health Scotland.
Scotland currently protects unborn children after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Report details Planned Parenthood transgender ideology and services
A recent report by the organization Biological Integrity, a project of the American College of Pediatricians, details Planned Parenthood's transgender, or "sex-rejecting," procedures.
The report notes that Planned Parenthood provides free chest binders for minors and distributes hormones to patients as young as 16 years old.
According to the report, Planned Parenthood provides birth control to halt periods of minor girls without parental consent as a "loophole."
Planned Parenthood is a "primary distributor" of sexual education, spending more than $70 million on training participants in fiscal year 2025 and providing resources about transgenderism for children as young as three years old.
The report highlights malpractice lawsuits filed against Planned Parenthood by people who detransition after receiving hormones and surgery.
Following federal cuts, Catholic Charities is experiencing an "elevated need in our communities, and we're seeing fewer dollars to meet that need with," said Jonathan Tetrault.
Catholic Charities Boston has seen a surge in the numbers of families who need food pantry assistance, offering nearly 3 million pounds of food over the past year.
Over the past three months, Catholic Charities Boston has "seen over 2,000 new households register who have never come to our food pantries before," said Jonathan Tetrault, the vice president of economic empowerment at Catholic Charities Boston.
Tetrault told "EWTN News Nightly" on May 29 that these families "are seeking help with food assistance because of the many pressures that are … colliding to put pressure on their family budgets."
"So they're reaching out to us for help," he said.
The organization operates "four food pantries across the cities of Brockton, Dorchester, Lowell, and Lynn. This past year, we've served nearly 70,000 people through these four food pantries – almost 3 million pounds of food through these four locations," Tetrault said.
"We offer fresh fruits and veggies, frozen lean proteins, shelf-stable dry goods," he said.
"[W]hat we're hearing from [families] when they're coming in to get these critical groceries is that it's ... a number of factors" that are causing the need, he said.
Following federal cuts to programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Catholic Charities is experiencing an "elevated need in our communities, and we're seeing fewer dollars to meet that need with," he said.
"For some folks, the SNAP work requirements are going into effect. Most of our other clients are being impacted by the high cost of gas" and "utility prices soaring," he said.
"This is all coming together to strain their family budgets over the past several months," he said.
"It is becoming harder to stand in the gap, but that is our commitment [to] those families, those individuals who are coming to us for support. And so we're figuring out ways to do that," he said.
The organization is adapting to meet the urgent needs and acquire the necessary food, he said.
"Most recently, we had to double the credit limit on our fuel cards" to ensure delivery trucks and vans could continue to get fueled up, he said.
Call for community involvement
As Catholic Charities Boston's food pantries operate with small numbers of staff members, they rely on volunteers and are calling for community support.
"We recognize that it takes each one of us to meet the needs of our neighbors in our communities. So we would love for … our community to support us with their time, their talent, their treasure," Tetrault said.
To help, Tetrault called on the community to "find out where your local food pantry is" and "show up to volunteer."
"You can bring donations of dry goods there as well. And then supporting us financially ... is critical because oftentimes we're able to purchase food at a better scale, better price points, when we pull those funds together," he said.
The "food pantries operate with two staff each," he said. "So we rely heavily on our volunteer support" which is "critical for us to be able to serve the hundreds and hundreds of families that we see each and every day throughout the week."
The pontiff addressed members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation on May 30.
Pope Leo XIV on May 30 emphasized to Catholic lay leaders that, in a world increasingly divided by war and polarization, shared humanity can help unify it.
During a private audience at the Vatican with the members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation, Leo in his remarks referenced his recent encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, explaining that current challenges prompt fundamental questions about life.
"Indeed, it is precisely when faced with adverse circumstances that the human person is called to reconsider the fundamental questions that have gently prodded the heart of countless generations to more serious reflection: 'Where are we going? Toward what goal do we wish to orient ourselves? What direction should we choose as a people and as a human community?'" Leo said.
These questions, the pope said, clearly indicate humanity's common pursuit of truth.
"Such questions are a clear manifestation of humanity's search for truth, and give rise to a desire for something more, a thirst for God and lasting meaning," Leo said in his remarks.
"They also bear witness to the essential aspects of our humanity: the God-given gifts of reason and freedom by which we may come to know the truth and adhere to what is good."
Also referencing his predecessor, St. John Paul II, who founded the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation in 1993 to promote Catholic social teaching, Leo explained that while the modern concept of freedom "is often understood as the capacity to do what one wants," true freedom is lived "as a "gift of self and openness to others."
He also referred to Saint Augustine in his address, using Augustine's concept of the two cities.
"The City of Man, built on pride and love of oneself, is marked by selfish individualism," Leo said. "The City of God, built on love of God unto selflessness, and the cultivation of relationships, is what makes it truly possible to build a civilization of love."
He also reminded those present not to despair at the current state of the world, but engage in "small and steadfast acts of fidelity that serve as a bulwark against dehumanization".
"The problems not only are very, very present, but worsening," Schneck told EWTN News. "I think the situation for religious freedom in the world today is worse than it was when I came on the commission, and certainly worse than it was a decade ago."
In its 2026 report, the commission recommended 18 countries to be labeled as "countries of particular concern" (CPCs) — "the label that we give to the governments in the world who are the worst abusers of religious freedom," Schneck said.
The list includes 12 countries the U.S. Department of State designated as CPCs in December 2023, including Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
It also includes Nigeria, which President Donald Trump designated in 2025, and five additional recommendations: Afghanistan, India, Libya, Syria, and Vietnam.
India "is among the worst countries in the global community in regards to religious freedom from the analysis that has been done by the commission over the last decade or so," Schneck said.
"Since 2020, maybe 2019, the commission has been calling on the United States government to designate India as a CPC."
The religious freedom status in India is "particularly tragic" because it "is a country that is famous for its democratic traditions and … where many religions have actually emerged historically," he said.
"The principal driver" of the current problems "is a really powerful religious nationalism," he said. "Particularly it's Hindu nationalism that is being promoted largely for political reasons by the political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of the current prime minister, Narendra Modi."
"Since the separation from Great Britain and its independence after the Second World War, there have been a number of episodes of communal violence," he said.
There is "mob violence against minority religious believers increasingly being allowed, and frankly sometimes being promoted, or at least given legal impunity, under the government's control by the BJP."
"The State Department never really explains fully … why they decline to go along with our designation," Schneck said. It could be due to "geopolitical reasons of international politics and U.S. foreign policy."
"India is a particularly important country, for a variety of reasons," including being "an important country set against China in the geopolitical politics of our day, and it's an important country for trade purposes for the United States."
"Unfortunately, now through several administrations ... we have not seen the United States governments actually support our commission's recommended designation."
The commission also continues to recommend China as a CPC, which the State Department has listened to. It has continued to list China since it was first categorized a CPC in 1999.
Despite its designation, Schneck noted that the commission is "very concerned about the situation in China."
As Trump recently traveled to China and discussed political prisoners with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Schneck noted the commission has "called for Jimmy Lai's release and [has] made not only his case, but the case of millions of others within China."
The situation "gets worse and worse" and "it's not just limited to individuals," Schneck said. "We're talking about whole populations here — the Uyghur Muslims, the Tibetan Buddhists, Christians."
"Even our own Catholic Church is under the watchful eye of China … The repression of religion by China is a real deal and something that we should all be concerned about," he said.
Catholics should be 'on the front lines' of defending religious freedom
May marked the end of seven commissioners' terms, including Schneck's. He said: "I'm very concerned about leaving this work at this particular moment … that I see religious freedom really under a great deal of stress around the world."
Schneck was appointed to the commission in June 2022 by President Joe Biden. He was later reappointed to the commission and served as its chair for the 2024-2025 term.
Schneck joined the commission after having worked as a political philosopher, a professor, department chair, and dean at The Catholic University of America for more than 30 years. There, he founded and directed the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies.
Schneck served as a national co-chair of Catholics for Biden, part of Biden's presidential campaign. The group worked to rally Catholics to vote for Biden, despite the then-nominee's support for legislation and policies that did not align with Church teaching. Prior to that, Schneck was appointed by President Obama to the White House Advisory Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
Prior to that, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to the White House Advisory Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
Schneck was also the executive director of Franciscan Action Network, a national organization promoting environmental, economic, and social justice for the Franciscan communities of the United States.
Following his multiple positions, Schneck said serving on USCIRF was the "capstone" of his career.
The work "is so meaningful," he said. "But sometimes it's incredibly hard. You talk to people whose relatives have been killed. You talk to people … who have just come out of prison. You go to refugee camps and you see how refugees are living in absolutely dire situations."
"So, emotionally it can be tremendously hard," he said. "But at the same time…you really do feel that bearing witness to what has happened to these people is important work and makes a difference."
"It was a privilege … to be a representative of my own faith on the commission," Schneck said. "I do feel that my own faith really was strengthened as a result of my participation on the commission."
"The famous document from the end of Vatican II, Dignitatis Humanae, really laid down for our Church what religious freedom should be about, how we as Catholics should be on the front lines in trying to defend religious freedom around the world."
"I feel like I was called in a way by that teaching of our Church to do this work. I mean, truly, even though it's only four years, it did feel like a vocation," he said.
While Schneck is no longer a USCIRF commissioner, he said he plans to continue his advocacy work through other organizations.
Schneck serves on the governing board of Catholic Climate Covenant, a U.S. organization that advocates for care for creation and climate action. He also is on the board of the Catholic Mobilizing Network, an organization working to end the death penalty.
"Both of these two organizations … spun out of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops," he said.
"I'm pleased to continue my work for the Church with both of these fine organizations, by working on behalf of care for creation ... and working on the Church's pro-life mission in working against the death penalty here in the United States," he said.
When a Benedictine College senior was dying from cancer, the college's president, along with 30 students, traveled to his home to give him a graduation ceremony.
Outside the packed school chapel, Benedictine College students continued to gather, kneeling on the ground to pray for Alex Lynch.
On the night of May 8, the news had spread across the campus that Lynch, a Benedictine student suffering from cancer, had died.
A college senior, Lynch had just had his graduation ceremony. He didn't walk the stage, however; instead, the college president went to him.
On May 7, Benedictine College President Stephen Minnis traveled from the school in Atchison, Kansas, to Lynch's family home in Indianola, Iowa, along with 30 Benedictine students for Lynch's personal baccalaureate Mass and graduation ceremony.
"Graduation is a powerful moment for these students," Minnis told EWTN News. "They have worked so hard for it, including their whole primary and secondary education."
"I want to make that moment special for every student," he said. "It's a moment that is powerful for me too — I pray a Hail Mary for every student by name when they come and when they graduate, but I have prayed especially for Alex."
"It just took an extra step in his case, but I didn't want to miss his big moment," Minnis said.
Father Ryan Richardson, Benedictine College's chaplain, told EWTN News he spoke "directly to Alex" in his homily, detailing how Lynch lived out the fruits of the Holy Spirit while at school.
"He radiated the Holy Spirit and the love of Christ," Richardson said. "Alex often said that his desire was that others see Christ in him. He definitely accomplished that."
Benedictine College chaplain Father Ryan Richardson speaks "directly" to Alex Lynch at his personal baccalaureate Mass on May 7, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Ryan Richardson
Finnegan Ritchie, a close friend of Lynch's, was among the 30 students who attended the ceremony.
"We were both worried that it was going to be unreasonably long," Ritchie said in an interview with EWTN News. "Entertaining people is exhausting. But Alex was able to sit and stand at will; he had a lot of grit."
"After the ceremony, he had a little graduation party and greeted his family and friends," Ritchie said. "It was wonderful to see how everyone came together to bring food, drinks, and tables for the occasion. People were catching up with each other and treating it like any other grad party."
Alex Lynch and Benedictine College President Stephen Minnis with diploma at Lynch's at-home commencement ceremony on May 7, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Finnegan Ritchie
Ritchie said goodbye to Lynch in the evening, "around 5:30 p.m."
"It was very difficult to leave him," Ritchie said.
On May 8, less than a day after his home graduation ceremony, Lynch died. It was late in the evening on a Friday night. Off-campus parties stopped. Students gathered in the chapel, again, this time to pray for a friend who had passed away.
"Students left parties and gathered spontaneously in our adoration chapel," Minnis said. "It was filled until late that night. It was an overwhelming response."
The following day, Benedictine held a Mass on campus in his memory.
Students traveled from all over the country for Lynch's funeral at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Indianola, Iowa, on May 14, nearly filling the pews in the church.
"He made such an impact," Minnis said. "The way he lived and the way he died will change these students for years."
Yellow pins and applause
On Saturday, May 16, just over a week after Lynch died, Benedictine's official graduation took place. The crowd was peppered with students wearing yellow pins, which they wore, Richardson said, "to remember Alex."
While at Benedictine, Lynch was a resident adviser (RA) on campus. He played intramural sports, was active with FOCUS, and sang in the choir at Mass.
"The best way I can describe Alex is that he was faith-filled," Richardson said. "Faith in Christ was the foundation of his life and his faith in Christ spilled over into all his relationships."
"[Lynch] had a friendship with the Holy Spirit that was alive and active," the chaplain continued.
"He loved people sincerely and intensely," he said. "Even in the midst of his illness he would often look me in the eye and intentionally ask how I was doing and how he could pray for me."
Alex Lynch and Father Ryan Richardson at Lynch's graduation celebration on May 7, 2026. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Father Ryan Richardson
"We have grieved as a community," Richardson said.
"Since Alex's passing, though, I think many of us have transitioned from sadness to peace," he continued. "In his death Alex showed us what it means to truly live and what it means to live the faith to the end."
Lynch's friend Jack Figge, a recent Benedictine graduate and a Catholic journalist, wrote a tribute to Lynch in Benedictine's school publication.
"I spent three days with Alex at the beginning of the week he passed away. It's a series of days I will never forget because Alex lived out what it meant to be a suffering servant," Figge told EWTN News.
"He never complained about the pain he was in; he was so generous with his time making sure that everybody who wanted to see him could," Figge recalled. "Whenever you walked in, the first question he asked was 'How are you?'"
"Even in the midst of being close to death, he remained joyful, laughing, and cracking jokes," Figge continued. "On the day of his graduation, so many people wanted to say goodbye and he was clearly tired. But he sat and talked with everybody for hours, making sure he had a moment with everybody."
In the last week of his life, Lynch visited his parish to pray a Holy Hour.
He died reciting his baptismal promises — promises made by Catholics at baptism and renewed at the Easter Vigil.
Benedictine students and faculty remembered Lynch at the school's graduation ceremony, where Lynch's parents walked the stage in his place.
Alex Lynch's parents and brother accept Lynch's framed diploma at graduation on May 16, 2026. | Credit: Isabella Wilcox/Benedictine College
"It was truly fitting to have Alex's family with us at graduation," Richardson said. "The resounding applause they received was a tribute to the impact that Alex had on each of us and the legacy he has left at Benedictine College."
Shaved heads and a walk down the aisle
When Lynch discovered he would lose his hair from chemotherapy, 30 of his friends at Benedictine shaved their heads, Ritchie recalled.
"We did it to be funny, but we also wanted to present ourselves as Alex's friends," Ritchie said. "He and I, along with many others, had spiritual conversations often — we wanted to do college well. We wanted to know what our purpose in life was and how to go about getting it."
Benedictine College students shaved their heads in solidarity with Alex Lynch, center, as he went through chemotherapy. Also pictured: Finnegan Ritchie, back row, left, and Jack Figge, third row, third from left. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Finnegan Ritchie
"At the end of the day, we wanted to be virtuous; it was the way to a happier life on earth and an even more perfect one in the next life," Ritchie said.
"Alex sought to see God in everyone he met in order to love them well. We rarely talked about his disease; I figured he wanted to let go of it while he was with people," he said.
"He loved the quiet; he enjoyed eating breakfast at the door to St. Joseph Hall and seeing people he loved walk by," Ritchie continued. "I was always struck by his take on things, since death was a real threat for him; it put my life in perspective. He taught me that I have a lot to be grateful for, and that it is best to take action now than wait until later."
In one of their last conversations, Lynch told his friend he had learned from him as well. "I'm honored to have been taught by him," Ritchie said. "I'm even more honored to have taught him something. I think we just wanted to seek God together."
Earlier this year, Lynch walked down the aisle as a groomsman at the wedding of one of his best friends, Ben Shonka, who recently served as a pallbearer at Lynch's funeral.
"Alex was a goofy man; he loved his faith and loved to have fun," Shonka, also a Benedictine graduate, told EWTN News. "He made every moment count whether he was with friends or whoever."
Alex Lynch, right, was among the groomsman at Ben Shonka's wedding. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Ben Shonka
"He was one of the groomsmen in my wedding because he was one of the best men in my life," Shonka said. "He really showed me what masculinity could look like at our age."
"He was so intentional in everything he did," Shonka recalled. "He knew everyone's name and would always greet them accordingly. He would always be down to talk whenever. He lived a life of prayer, often going to Mass and adoration."
Alex Lynch, center, with friends, including Ben Shonka, right. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Ben Shonka
After Lynch's death, Shonka's wife observed that Lynch had walked down the aisle as a groomsman at their wedding and now her husband had carried Lynch "down the aisle as a pallbearer to his final resting place."
The college president noted the impact Lynch had on both students and himself.
"I think the students saw him as a representative of the best of what they are and a model to aspire to," Minnis said. "I see him that way, too."
Team spokesman Sean Hudson had been caught on video apparently admitting to the team's blacklisting of Catholic pitcher Trevor Williams.
The Washington Nationals have fired a spokesman after video surfaced in which he appeared to admit that the team discriminates against one of its outspoken Catholic pitchers.
EWTN News confirmed on May 29 that the Nationals had dismissed its former community relations director Sean Hudson amid media coverage and criticism from religious groups over the video.
Hudson was at the center of controversy earlier in the week when footage posted to X by "guerrilla journalist" James O'Keefe apparently showed him claiming that the baseball team "[doesn't] use" Williams in certain team activities due to his having criticized an LGBT group that mocks Catholic religious imagery.
Williams had spoken out in 2023 against the Los Angeles Dodgers' decision to honor the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" with a "Community Hero Award." Members of the group of drag performers dress up in attire resembling Catholic nuns and engage in sexualized performances.
The group also uses imagery of Jesus and the Blessed Mother in its performances. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has referred to the displays as "blasphemy."
A source confirmed to EWTN News that Hudson had been dismissed following the video controversy. An email to Hudson's Nationals address earlier in the day had been returned with the notification that the address was "no longer a system account," while Hudson's LinkedIn account had been taken down at some point prior to May 29.
Prior to a May 29 game against the San Diego Padres, team business president Jason Sinnarajah said in an interview on the Nationals broadcast channel that the team is "not anti-Catholic" and does "not hide players from social media."
"We were horrified by the comments that were made on the video," he said. "The comments don't reflect us as an organization, our values and who we are. We took action right away, and that individual is no longer employed by the team."
The recent O'Keefe video, posted to X on May 26, features a man identified as Hudson describing Williams as a "super Catholic" and referencing his criticism of the drag group.
"Because of that, [the team doesn't] use him on social [media]," Hudson claims in the video.
Williams told "EWTN News in Depth" in 2023 that his criticism of the Dodgers "had to be said."
"We cannot stand idly by while Our Lord gets mocked," he said at the time.
WBVM/Tampa (90.5 Spirit FM) announces the promotion of Davis Watts to Program Director. Watts will continue to serve as Music Director and host of the More Music Middays (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.) Watts says, "It's been an honor serving the Tampa Bay community with this amazing team for the past 13 years. I feel that the Lord, our listeners and the industry friends I've made over these years have prepared me for the exciting challenge of leading our air staff and I'm eager to get started."
WBVM/Tampa (90.5 Spirit FM) announces the promotion of Davis Watts to Program Director. Watts will continue to serve as Music Director and host of the More Music Middays (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.) Watts says, "It's been an honor serving the Tampa Bay community with this amazing team for the past 13 years. I feel that the Lord, our listeners and the industry friends I've made over these years have prepared me for the exciting challenge of leading our air staff and I'm eager to get started."
Watts joined the Spirit FM team in 2008, moving through the ranks of night time announcer, to middays, Music Director and now Program Director. "I've seen tremendous growth in Davis, and a hunger to improve not only his craft, but the station's as a whole. I'm excited that he's up to the challenge." said John Morris, Station Manager.
Spirit FM is a 100,000 FM station serving the Tampa/St. Petersburg market since May 1986. The station is owned by the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg, the only Catholic station in the country programming contemporary Christian music. For more information about Spirit FM, visit myspiritfm.com.
