An Ohio judge has made the decision to honor protection for children from preying medical professionals and uphold a gender-transition healthcare ban for those under 18.
The law, which echoes the sentiments of many on the right, and former President Donald Trump, cites potential harm to children if the ban is lifted, as The Washington Times reported.
This decision has sparked discussions about the rights of minors to access medical treatments without the consent of their parents or guardians.
However, while parental involvement in the health of their children is always important, it's especially so when faced with the possibility of permanently maiming the person of a child with gender transition treatments.
Critics who support the violation of children's bodies with expensive, dangerous, and optional treatments, contend that this decision violates the autonomy of " transgender adolescents" in determining their own healthcare and bodily functions.
They also express apprehensions regarding the mental health consequences of denying this type of medical care to young individuals who are vulnerable.
Advocates for LGBTQ+ rights are mobilizing to challenge this ruling, contending that it violates the principles of non-discrimination and equality. Their demand is for " increased inclusion" and support of transgender individuals, which includes access to healthcare services that are affirming.
The case in Ohio is part of a broader national conversation about transgender rights and healthcare access. Similar legislation and legal battles have emerged in other states, highlighting the ongoing struggle for equal treatment and protections for LGBTQ+ individuals.
Additionally, an Ohio law limiting gender-transition health care for youths under 18 could go into effect, a county judge ruled Tuesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio has announced that it will submit an appeal immediately.
Minors are prohibited from undergoing hormone therapies and transgender surgeries by law, unless a physician determines that it would be unsafe to discontinue the treatment. The law also imposes limitations on the types of mental health services that a minor may receive.
Moving forward, the debate about the legislation isn't likely to slow down. Critics of the decision assert that it will be important to continue to discuss the possible fallout and child welfare issues.
Former President Trump, however, has promised to ban gender-affirming care for minors if he is again elected to the Oval Office.
In January of this year, the former president said he would also move to prohibit any federal agency from working to “promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age," not just for minors.
An Ohio judge has given the green light to enforce a ban on minors receiving sex change treatments such as surgery and puberty blockers - or what the left calls "gender-affirming care."
Promoting gender-affirming care is a priority of the Democratic party, the mainstream media, and ideologized medical organizations like the American Medical Association.
Advocates of "gender-affirming care" often claim that children struggling with gender dysphoria will become suicidal if their parents do not consent to life-altering treatments.
A number of Republican states have banned gender-affirming care, but Ohio's Republican governor Mike DeWine vetoed his state's ban last year. He said it was too heavy-handed and interfered with parental rights.
The state Senate voted to override DeWine in January, triggering a legal challenge from the far-left American Civil Liberties Union, which sued on behalf of two Franklin County families.
The challengers claimed House Bill 68 violates a provision requiring bills to have one subject. The law bans gender-affirming care for children and also blocks boys from participating in girls' sports.
"An Ohio judge rejected our challenge to HB68, allowing the ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth to take immediate effect,” the ACLU wrote in response to the ruling. “Make no mistake – we will appeal this decision immediately. The fight for trans youth is not over.”
In a ruling Tuesday, Franklin County Judge Michael Holbrook allowed House Bill 68 to take effect.
The judge said the law "reasonably limits parents’ rights to make decisions about their children’s medical care consistent with the state’s deeply rooted legitimate interest in the regulation of medical profession and medical treatments."
The state's Republican attorney general, Dave Yost applauded the judge's ruling, which he said would protect children from permanent harm.
"The attorney general applauds the trial court’s decision,” spokesman Bethany McCorkle said in a statement. "This case has always been about the Legislature’s authority to enact a law to protect our children from making irreversible medical and surgical decisions about their bodies. The law doesn’t say 'no' forever; it simply says 'not now’ while the child is still growing."
Despite the life-lasting harm that "gender-affirming care" causes to children, it has been endorsed by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association.
Ohio is now the 23rd state to ban so-called gender-affirming care.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
'And I want to hold those two truths at the same time. The folks you see out there at Brooklyn Center are in trauma and they're rightfully angry at a system that does not serve them and puts black youth and people of color at risk.'
Those rioters that hit and destroyed entire city blocks in Minnesota cities – and other cities around the nation? Those who turned to vandalism, arson, and worse?
They were "rightfully angry," according to Tim Walz, now Kamala Harris' pick to be vice president.
It was in an interview with WCCO that Walz was asked if the state was going to be ok if businesses were "going to go down."
It was at a time when rioters were destroying everything in their path.
"I would tell Minnesotans that we are doing everything in our power to do that," he said.
"And I want to hold those two truths at the same time. The folks you see out there at Brooklyn Center are in trauma and they're rightfully angry at a system that does not serve them and puts black youth and people of color at risk."
He said, "That is all true. We also know from experience in May that some will exploit that."
The Brooklyn center area of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Twin Cities has been wracked by violence multiple times, including when George Floyd, a black, died at the hands of a white police officer who was restraining him. Those responsible for his death later were convicted and sentenced.
There have been other times in that community where violence has erupted over other incidents, too.
It happened when Floyd was killed, it happened again the next year when there was a shooting at a traffic stop and looting and rioting erupted again.
Both times businesses were "destroyed," according to reports.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the so-called humanitarian organization which only represents the Palestinians, finally officially admitted this week what has been known for several months already – namely its operatives took part in the Hamas-inspired Oct. 7 slaughter of Israelis in southern Israel and its communities.
Well, sort of.
"For nine people, the evidence was sufficient to conclude they may have been involved in the seventh of October attacks," Deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said. They have apparently had their employment terminated. Nineteen people in all were investigated through the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). It delivered a confidential report – which will not be made public – to United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.
In nine other cases, the OIOS claimed the evidence of involvement was insufficient, and in one case, it said there was no evidence.
Israel's outgoing Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, who recently received the "Defender of Israel" award from Christians United for Israel (CUFI), lambasted both the timing of the report and its findings.
He labeled it a "disgrace" and "too little too late." "The investigation ignored the thousands of agency employees involved in Hamas terrorism and the extent of their involvement. Israel has provided the U.N. with precise details of over a hundred UNRWA employees who are members of the terrorist organization Hamas," Erdan said in a statement.
To rub salt into an already festering wound Guterres recently awarded UNRWA-Gaza the U.N. Secretary-General's Award for 2023. Erdan also called for Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general, to resign and for the entire organization to be shut down. Lazzarini was recently embarrassed at an event in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he was the honored guest of the socialist mayor's Swiss National Day ceremony. As he attempted to speak, a woman – Ayelet Samerano – whose son, Jonathan, was killed and his body kidnapped to Gaza – stood up and declared, "UNRWA kidnapped my son!" Following up with, "Where is he Mr. Lazzarini?" Jonathan Samerano's lifeless body was infamously seen on a security camera being dumped into a white pickup truck by two Gazans wearing, clearly visibly wearing UNRWA jackets.
Lazzarini released a statement on behalf of UNRWA saying, "UNRWA is committed to continue upholding the fundamental principles of the United Nations, including the humanitarian principle of neutrality, and to ensure all its staff abide by the Agency's policy on outside and political activity."
Hillel Neuer, executive director of United Nations Watch, has been one of the key figures holding the leadership of UNRWA accountable. It was he who invited Ayelet Samerano to Lausanne to embarrass Lazarini, and his organization has been instrumental in pushing back against UNRWA's obfuscations, aided and abetted by the corporate media.
He was highly critical of the Colonna report, named for Catherine Colonna, the former French Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was selected to head the review group. In an article posted on UN Watch's website, he said its composition was clear evidence the fix was in. Moreover, he added the real point of the report was, according to a former UNRWA spokesman, Chris Gunness, who retired from his post in 2019 but who recently returned as a surrogate for UNRWA and who has been an organizational mouthpiece on Al-Jazeera, "to provide cover for donors."
Speaking at a U.N. press conference on February 22, Colonna said:
"The aim of this important and delicate mission, entrusted to us by the Secretary General, is to enable donors, the largest among them, but in fact everyone, to regain confidence, when they have lost it or when they have doubts, in the way UNRWA operates."
Also in February, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed at least 12 UNRWA workers directly took part in the atrocities, and a further 30 assisted or facilitated those heinous crimes. He also charged as many as 12% of the organization were affiliated in some way with the various Gaza terrorist organizations.
In April, and as a result of the accusations regarding UNRWA, several countries including the United States, which according to Congress will withhold funds until 2025, ceased sending aid to the organization until the U.N. undertook a deeper investigation. However, many of those countries have resumed funding, including the United Kingdom, whose government has altered from the largely pro-Israel Conservative Party, to the much more critical Labour Party, under Sir Keir Starmer. Canada and Australia – two countries with an active and vocal Palestinian Diaspora community – also quickly resumed their funding.
Israeli academic Einat Wilf, who has written extensively on the so-called "Right of Return" has been particularly scathing of UNRWA's role in keeping Gazans and non-Israeli Arabs living in Judea and Samaria, hypnotized by a fantasy for more than 75 years. A political centrist, she is of the opinion – as are most Israelis – the time has come to completely disband the organization as it is not fit for purpose.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Elon Musk has posted on social media a simple statement regarding his opinion about Kamala Harris.
And the leftists are melting down.
His statement wasn't complicated: "Kamala is quite literally a communist. She wants not merely equal opportunity, but equal outcomes."
Musk then cites the social media page of a group called AsTheWorldBurnz, which has documented the Harris agenda.
It includes: abolishing ICE. decriminalizing illegal crossings, defunding the police, mandatory gun buybacks (confiscations), nationalizing energy, banning fracking, banning offshore drilling, and abolishing the filibuster.
Of course, in recent days as Harris tries to create an image as a legitimate presidential candidate, she's been reversing course on some of her long-held positions. But the Twitter posting included the receipts for Harris's extremism.
The posting list also cites Harris for her demands for an EV mandate, climate equity, banning gas stoves, bailing out criminals, and worse.
Her agenda, it explains, is a repackaged version of Karl Marx, who demanded, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need," the mantra for communism.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
One of the world's bigger speech influence schemes that has been operating now is calling it quits – after an antitrust lawsuit was filed against it by Elon Musk and X.
It is the World Federal of Advertisers that announced the end of its "Global Alliance for Responsible Media."
A report at the Post-Millennial said the group that orchestrated boycotts of various targets based on their beliefs and messages was facing the legal action for its use of monopoly power.
The House Judiciary Committee, which had been looking into the manipulations being used by GARM said it was a "Big win for the First Amendment" and "for oversight."
The advertisers' special campaign would target those carrying messages the group did not like.
Rumble CEO Chris Pavlosvki still wondered, however, "What are they hiding?"
The WFA set up GARM specifically to help "police speech online using ad placement and the withholding of same," the report said. That means those web organizations that failed to carry the correct political messaging, or carried something that was politically incorrect, might not get advertising revenue.
The Post-Millennial report noted WFA members were told of the decision Thursday in an email.
Pavloski explained what was going on. "They created a monopoly to basically tell all these advertisers how they should spend money based on certain speech."
CEO Linda Yaccarino of X said, 'I was shocked by the evidence uncovered by the House Judiciary Committee that a group of companies organized a systematic illegal boycott against X. It is just wrong. And that is why we are taking action."
GARM had boasted of working with advertisers, "media agencies, media platforms and industry associations" to target what it determined was "harmful" content online.
But it didn't define 'harmful" meaning whatever it said was bad was bad.
Business Insider explained the lawsuit by X charged GARM "illegally colluded to 'collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue' from Twitter, now known as X."
GARM claimed over its tenure that it was working on "hate speech, brand safety and misinformation."
Online commenters said those trying to censor speech simply would re-emerge under another name and format.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Joe Biden and Democrats long have claimed that it was an insurrection in January 2021 when Biden was installed in the White House over the protests of many who thought the election was irretrievably tainted.
And they've long blamed President Donald Trump, his supporters, and in fact all Republicans, for that less-than-smooth week in Washington.
Now Biden has admitted that if Trump wins in November, there won't be any peaceful transfer either.
In an interview to be released this coming weekend, with CBS' Robert Costa, he was asked, "Are you confident that there will be a peaceful transfer of power in January 2025?"
Biden said, "If Trump wins, no, I'm not confident at all."
Then he changed his mind, and added, "I mean if Trump loses, I'm not confident at all. He means what he says. We don't take him seriously. He means it, all the stuff about, 'If we lose, there'll be a bloodbath, it'll have to be a stolen election.'
"Look what they're trying to do now in the local election districts where people count the votes, or putting people in place in states that they're going to count the votes, right?"
Biden's response actually didn't make much sense either time, as under the first scenario he would be accusing Democrats of failing to let there be a peaceful transfer. Under the second scenario, if Trump loses and Democrats win, would there then be a violent transfer from the Biden-Harris camp to the Harris-Walz camp?
An online report pointed out that, "Biden said the quiet part out loud before correcting himself."
WND reported earlier that Biden supporter U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., promised there would be "civil war" conditions if Trump wins, as he would try to have the GOP nominee declared ineligible to hold office.
He gave the impression he was planning an "insurrection."
That would be his plans to have Congress deny Trump the presidency should he win in November.
He explained his agenda:
What can be put into the Constitution can slip away from you very quickly and the greatest example going on right now before our eye is Section 3 of the 14th amendment which they're just disappearing with the magic wand as if it doesn't exist even though it could not be clearer what it's stating.
And so they want to kick it to Congress.
So it's going to be up to us on January 6, 2025, to tell the rampaging Trump mobs that he's disqualified and then we need bodyguards for everybody and civil war conditions, all because denying justice is not all of them, but these justices who have not many cases to look at each year, not that much work to do, a huge staff, great protection, simply do not want to do their job.
His argument stems from his own interpretation of that section, which states "no person can hold certain offices under the United States or any state if they have previously taken an oath to support the Constitution but have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against it, or provided aid or comfort to its enemies."
He has claimed repeatedly that Trump, because others rioted on Jan. 6, 2021, is ineligible for office.
Of course, Trump never has been charged with insurrection, much less convicted. Congress tried twice to impeach and remove him, including once after he already was out of office. And Congress failed both times.
Nonetheless, Raskin has adopted his own interpretation of that provision and insists on its application, to his satisfaction. Raskin is not the only member of Congress who apparently believes that it is within their power to determine a president guilty of a constitutional violation, as Pelosi's partisan January 6 committee largely spent all of its time and millions of tax dollars trying to assemble a storyline that portrayed Trump as guilty of something on that day when a protest turned into a riot.
Online commenters showed that Raskin's arguments were not being considered seriously.
"Raskin has a few missing screws!" said one. Another added, "I also know Raskin is a complete moron that nobody takes seriously as he talks out of his *** more than he talks out of his mouth."
While Democrats often talk about Trump and Republicans and conservatives and January 6 and insurrection, that action by definition is an organized plan to usurp a government, take over its leadership, is economy, its military, its foreign relations and much, much more, none of which was attempted or even planned that day.
Further, without a solid majority of Democrats in Congress, Raskin's agenda likely would not even make it out of committee.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A planned economic pressure campaign by New York City comptroller Brad Lander against corporations that have not jumped quickly enough to suit him into the business of selling abortion pills is facing shocking headwinds.
From other investors in a number of major corporations.
The Washington Stand documented that Lander wrote threatening letters to multiple companies, Costco, Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons and McKesson, "extorting" them with warnings that if they didn't start selling the dangerous abortion chemical, mifepristone, he would dump $1.3 billion in company shares.
For example, his threat to Costco was, "The Costco Board of Directors' and management's failure to publicly commit to Costco becoming a certified mifepristone dispenser therefore raises significant investor concerns. These concerns include the company's responsiveness to a growing market opportunity, its mitigation of potential reputational risks, and its commitment to maximizing sales and long-term shareholder value."
But there soon was a "counterpunch," the report said.
That message was from companies with more than $100 billion in assets under management, including, the report said, "Inspire Investing, Guidestone, Morgan Stanley, Truist, Bowyer Research, Innovest Portfolio Solutions, Transform Retirement, Barbara Mull Investment Solutions, Pax Financial Group, Harvest Investment, Steward Guide Wealth Partners, WSI Financial Partners, Kingdom Focused Financial, Christian Wealth Management, Chandler Wealth Management, Insight Financial, 4:8 Financial, Blue Jasper Capital, Bright Portfolios, Surepath Financial Services, Sage Oak Financial, Schwallier Wealth Managers," and more.
It was Lander who claimed, falsely, that "mifepristone's safety is well established," as the Stand explained that's "a common lie that's been debunked by countless personal testimonies, emergency room statistics, and in-depth research."
Specifically, there's the drug's stunning 10% failure rate, and multiple studies, including one from Finland that found 20% of some 42,600 women who used the potentially deadly drug had serious complications.
What Lander demanded was for the companies "to immediately take the necessary steps to receive certification to dispense the medication mifepristone in states where it is legal. Following pharmacy industry leaders, and competitors, CVS and Walgreens, Costco has the opportunity to provide access to abortion medication through its pharmacies. Making mifepristone available benefits customers and employees and increases sales, while also generating long-term shareholder value. It is incumbent on the Board and management to promptly act to ensure that Costco quickly becomes certified and starts dispensing mifepristone without delay."
Conservatives, however, have established a reputation of late for expressing their desires, too. Just ask companies like Target, Bud Light, John Deere and Tractor Supply how their forays into leftism worked out. All of those, in fact, were hit financially by their progressive ideologies.
Bud Light, long the most popular beer in America, now is down in the pack, and the collapse has cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars.
Those opponents to mifepristone explained, "Maximizing shareholder value requires Costco to avoid politicizing its services and to continue to do what it has always done best, provide excellent grocery and retail goods to families. The 'growing market opportunity' of abortion drugs is legally and politically fraught, raises significant reputational issues, and reduces the company's customer base, both literally and because it would drive away many existing customers."
Robert Netzly of Inspire Investing said there is no question that Costco moving into the abortion business "would automatically risk its brand reputation."
Financial adviser David Bahnsen pointed out that promoting chemical abortions literally snuffs out possible customers.
The Stand reported, "There aren't many companies these days willing to risk the billions of dollars in public backlash that comes with embracing the Left's agenda. If Costco, Walmart, Kroger, and others want to stay in Americans' good graces, they'll stick with serving customers, not eliminating them."
Former President Donald Trump joked that he's "never going back" to his wife, Melania Trump, after getting a kiss from one of his supporters, the Inquisitr reported. This caused humorless leftists online to charge that the former first lady doesn't care anyway.
Donald Trump engaged in a playful exchange with Michaelah Montgomery, founder of the grassroots Conserve the Culture group, who spoke at his rally in Atlanta, Georgia. "This one is so smart, so sharp. She grabbed me. She gave me a kiss. I said, 'I think I'm never going back home to the First Lady,'" Donald Trump quipped.
Montgomery responded, "Shh, you were supposed to keep that quiet!" Trump was ready with his own quick retort, "See, now, for the average politician, that's death. For me, I don't care."
Trump: She gave me a kiss. I may never go back to Melania.
Melania: 🥳🎉🤞💃🍾pic.twitter.com/WBuwGIwDZu
— W Smith Ω 🧢 (@WesSmith123) August 4, 2024
Trump's exchange with Montgomery pointed to a wonderful rapport the pair have. They first met when Montgomery was "behind the counter" at a Chick-fil-A and thanked the former president for what he did to save Clark Atlanta University, which is designated one of the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
While the live crowd understood and appreciated their lighthearted exchange, the internet tried to turn it into a scandal. Some took offense to the verbiage Trump used to describe Montgomery.
"Wait, did I hear him correctly? 'This one is smart?' What does he mean 'this one?' Why am I offended by that? Melania doesn't want him!" one user posted to X, formerly Twitter.
Others took swipes at Trump's wife and their marriage. "I don't think Melania cares, Donald," another user said.
A user chimed with one post saying, "She doesn't!" while another claimed, "She's celebrating." Trump's detractors have no sense of humor and will use any excuse to denigrate at his character and his marriage.
Before Trump and Montgomery engaged in the banter that made the internet denizens apoplectic, Montgomery spoke out against Harris and her pandering. Last week, Trump pointed out that Harris "happened to turn black" only recently when it became convenient, the UK Daily Mail reported.
The vice president and Democratic presidential nominee's background is Asian and Jamaican. However, Harris and her surrogate have embraced her identity only as a Black woman.
Montgomery echoed Trump's viewpoint about this shift in her remarks at the rally. "I'm trying to figure out what all the outrage is about because she's only black when it's time to get elected," Montgomery said.
"The same Black people who are mad at Trump for being confused about her race, ethnicity, nationality, whatever, are seemingly forgetting that while you're touting her as a savior for black people, she identifies as an Asian woman. She chose her side, and it wasn't ours," Montgomery added.
Trump is naturally funny, and that is part of his charm among his supporters. However, the left is devoid of such lightness about many things, most especially when it involves Trump.
Congress appears to mirror some of the aprehensions of the American people, and according to a recent announcement in The Hill, an investigation is under way with Vice President Kamala Harris at the center.
As Harris takes over the Democrat 2024 presidential nomination, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee has decided to oversee and attempt to pull some accountability out of the White House by investigating Harris' actions regarding the border.
Earlier this week, the committee started asking an agency outside of the VP's portfolio to turn over the documents pertaining to her immigration work, launching what could be one of the more contentious investigations of the last few years.
In sending the request, committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) is seeking to elevate an issue Republicans hope will help them at the polls in November.
President Biden appointed Harris to oversee the administration's root causes strategy, which is designed to reduce immigration flows to the United States by investing significantly in democracy-building and development initiatives in Latin America.
As part of the investigation, Comer has requested requests that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provide any correspondence with Harris's office.
Because of their position in the administration, CBP is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the border, but it has limited influence in the pursuit of regional immigration objectives.
In addition to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the U.S. Trade Representative are among the agencies that are most actively involved in the fundamental causes strategy.
Unlike the State Department and USAID, which both have extensive online resources on the strategy, CBP's website does not mention the program at all.
In his letter to CBP, Comer said it’s “unclear what actions, if any, Vice President Harris has taken to fix the border crisis.”
The lawmaker has also asked for any and all documents and communication with Harris’s office “related to the southwest border or illegal immigration.”
While the congressional committee is required to go through their due diligence, there has been a strong theory going through Republicans that the vice president has been derelict in her duties regarding the border.
Even though the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) plays a relatively minor role in the implementation of the root causes strategy, it does process migrants who present themselves at the border at ports of entry and vetts migrants from another initiative of the Biden administration.
This initiative allows citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua to enter the United States temporarily if they have a sponsor based in the United States.