Breakout Box Office Hit: Pro-Life Film ‘Unplanned’ Does Exceptionally

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Despite intense media opposition, an “R” rating from the MPAA, and big tech censorship, pro-life film “Unplanned” is wildly outperforming expectations at the box office.

The biopic — which details Planned Parenthood defector Abby Johnson’s dramatic journey from abortion mouthpiece to pro-life crusader — has taken in an estimated $6,110,000 this weekend, expected to become the #5 movie at the box office. . .

Notably, “Unplanned” ($6 million budget) racked up a cumulative per-screen average of $5,770 per screen, edging out big-budget flick “Captain Marvel” ($152 million budget). . .

The pro-life film, unsurprisingly, has been thrown one obstacle after another due to its exposure of Planned Parenthood and the reality of abortion. “Unplanned” was hit with a controversial R rating from the MPAA and TV networks refused to the film’s ads. On Saturday, Twitter inexplicably suspended the official account for the movie; however, after swift backlash, the “error” was fix and the account was restored.

“Unplanned” is centered around Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood executive who assisted with over 22,000 abortions before witnessing an ultra-sound-guided abortion that made her leave the industry.

(Read more from “Breakout Box Office Hit: Pro-Life Film ‘Unplanned’ Does Exceptionally” HERE)

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Dick’s Sporting Goods Lost Millions Over Anti-Gun Policies – Here’s How Much the Backlash Cost

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Dick’s Sporting Goods took a loss of an estimated $150 million in sales last year after the company heavily restricted firearm purchases and began advocating for gun control.

The company made various policy changes after a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, left 17 dead. It announced it would no longer sell modern sporting rifles or high-capacity magazines and increased the purchase age for all firearms to 21. . .

The anti-gun shift made massive waves when it was first announced in February 2018 and Stack was accused of violating fiduciary duties by knowingly and purposely giving up money. Some gun manufacturers cut ties with Dick’s and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) expelled the company from its membership. The loss of customers was also almost immediately felt.

“Sales are so anemic and relations with gun manufacturers such as Mossberg so poor right now that you’ve even indicated Dick’s might get out the gun business entirely,” David Almasi, a vice president at the National Center for Public Policy Research, said in June on a shareholder’s call. “Meanwhile, Sportsman’s Warehouse reports that their gun sales and net sales were up 15 percent during the first quarter. That company credits consumer backlash against companies such as Dick’s as partially responsible for its success.” (Read more from “Dick’s Sporting Goods Lost Millions Over Anti-Gun Policies – Here’s How Much the Backlash Cost” HERE)

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‘Unplanned’ Star Obliterates Alyssa Milano on Pro-Life Bill

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Ashley Bratcher, star of the recently-released anti-abortion movie “Unplanned,” wrote a response to actress Alyssa Milano after Milano suggested that Hollywood might boycott Georgia over a bill banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, according to Deadline Hollywood.

Bratcher, who plays former Planned Parenthood executive turned pro-life advocate Abby Johnson in the movie, was nearly aborted herself and resides in Georgia, so she has some strong feelings on the topic.

“Well Alyssa, let me make something very clear to you,” Milano wrote. “In Georgia, we care just as much about being pro-life as being pro-film. We don’t believe in putting a price tag on the value of a human life. Our brave leaders have stepped up to say enough is enough, we will no longer sit idly by as innocent lives are taken by the thousands each day.” . . .

Milano attacked the bill as “the most anti-woman bill of its kind in the country” in a guest column for Deadline Hollywood, and suggested that if the bill passes, Georgia could lose some of the many film and television projects that boost its economy.

“To Georgia’s leaders: You have worked hard to showcase your state and bring in filming projects that have had a multiplier impact on your state’s economy, but these projects are not a given,” Milano wrote. “I urge you to think hard before making Georgia a state that is not welcoming of women. I urge you to defeat HB 481 and continue to be “The Hollywood of the South.” (Read more from “‘Unplanned’ Star Obliterates Alyssa Milano on Pro-Life Bill” HERE)

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Court Orders Christian to Pay $55,000 to Trans Politician for Calling Him ‘Biological Male’

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By Life Site News. A B.C. human rights tribunal has ruled that a Christian activist discriminated against a man who claims to be “female” by distributing flyers that referred to the man, who was running for political office at the time, as a “biological male.”

The court ruled for transgender activist “Morgane” Oger, born Ronan Oger, and against Christian activist Bill Whatcott by declaring it’s discriminatory not to accept transgender people as the gender they claim to be. . .

The tribunal also ordered Whatcott to pay Oger $35,000 in compensation for injury to his “dignity, feelings and self-respect,” and an additional $20,000 to Oger for Whatcott’s alleged improper conduct during and before the hearings, it reported. . .

Oger, who is vice president of the B.C. NDP, launched a discrimination complaint against Whatcott after the Christian activist distributed flyers in Vancouver-False Creek riding in 2017 when Oger was running as MLA for the B.C. NDP. . .

Oger, who narrowly lost to a former Vancouver mayor, alleged the flyer was discriminatory and exposed him to “hatred and contempt” under Section 7 of British Columbia’s Human Rights Code. (Read more from “Court Orders Christian to Pay $55,000 to Trans Politician for Calling Him ‘Biological Male'” HERE)

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B.C. Human Rights Tribunal Rules in Favour of Transgender Politician

By Global News. . .On Wednesday, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ruled that Whatcott violated Oger’s human rights and engaged in hate speech.

Oger called the ruling historic.

“This win is a win for everybody who is in a community who faces state propaganda in Canada,” Oger said.

“For the first time ever, gender identity or gender expression has been protected in a B.C. court against hate propaganda.”

Oger was the first person who identified as transgender to run for election in B.C.’s legislature. (Read more from “B.C. Human Rights Tribunal Rules in Favour of Transgender Politician” HERE)

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Marijuana-Related ER Visits Have Tripled in Colorado Since Legalization

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Marijuana-related emergency room visits tripled in Colorado since the legalization of cannabis in 2012, according to a study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital reviewed the records of nearly 10,000 patients who had pot-related visits at the hospital between 2012 to 2016. They found a three-fold increase in cannabis-associated emergency department visits during that period.

“Lawmakers rushing to legalize marijuana need to slow down and consider the implications it could bring upon their state,” Dr. Kevin Sabet, founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said in an email to TheBlaze. “They are certainly not receiving information such as this from the pot industry’s army of lobbyists.”

Pot smokers visited the emergency room more often, but edibles accounted for a higher number of cardiovascular and psychiatric symptoms, the study showed. Edibles are food products containing tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC. It is the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. . .

“Acute psychiatric visits like acute panic attacks, acute psychosis, and acute-onset of chronic conditions such as acute exacerbations of schizophrenia were also much more commonly associated with cannabis edibles,” he added. (Read more from “Marijuana-Related ER Visits Have Tripled in Colorado Since Legalization” HERE)

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NASA Nixes 1st All-Female Spacewalk

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By AP. Astronaut Anne McClain was supposed to float out of the International Space Station this Friday with newly arrived Christina Koch, to replace old batteries. But McClain pulled herself from the lineup because there’s not enough time to get two medium suits ready for them. Koch will go out with a male crewmate, Nick Hague.

NASA spokeswoman Brandi Dean said Tuesday that McClain trained before flight in both medium and large spacesuits. She wore a medium when she went out on her first spacewalk last Friday and was supposed to switch to a large this week. But after last week’s spacewalk, she decided that a large would be too big. . .

In 54 years of spacewalking, women have only gone outside with men. That’s because men have always outnumbered women in space. As women continue to make up a greater percentage of the astronaut corps, more gender records will be set and not just in spacewalking, Dean noted. (Read more from “NASA Nixes 1st All-Female Spacewalk” HERE)

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NASA Explains Why It Didn’t Have Enough Space Suits for an All-Female Spacewalk

By BGR. This was supposed to be a history-making week for NASA, with the first all-female spacewalk originally planned to take place on Friday. Unfortunately, a last-second swap has led to one of the expected participants, Anne McClain, being replaced with fellow ISS inhabitant Nick Hague.

NASA’s explanation was that McClain wouldn’t have a space suit available to her for the spacewalk due to sizing, since Christina Koch will be wearing the medium-sized suit that McClain wore during her previous spacewalk last week. This left a lot of people scratching their heads. After all, NASA says there’s two of every size of space suit on board the ISS, so why can’t both McClain and Koch wear the same sized suits? Speaking with CNN, NASA representatives offered a deeper explanation. . .

NASA has two of each size of space suit on the ISS, but only one of them is fully outfitted and ready to use at any given time. The other suits, which are considered backups, can’t be pulled out and used immediately, and they must be prepped for use in space. . .

Training in various space suits on Earth can’t adequately predict what suit will fit you better in space, and in this case the time crunch between the two spacewalks has forced NASA to replace McClain with Hague. It’s obviously a bummer for McClain, but nobody wants to be floating around in space in a suit that doesn’t fit. (Read more from “NASA Explains Why It Didn’t Have Enough Space Suits for an All-Female Spacewalk” HERE)

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College Athlete: Teammates DESTROYED Bibles He Gifted Them

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A former walk-on for the University of Southern California football team has written a new book that details the struggles he faced trying to share his love for Christ with teammates.

Ben Malcolmson, who was once on one of the most dynamic college football teams of its day, now serves as the director of external relations for the Seattle Seahawks and special assistant to head coach Pete Carroll. Malcolmson has authored the book, Walk On, what he calls an “unlikely story of football, purpose and following an amazing God.” . . .

Malcolmson said that throughout his time on the team, he tried a number of ways to share his faith with his teammates. . .

Malcolmson sneaked into the team locker room late Christmas Eve 2006 and placed Bibles on the seats in front of each locker. Malcolmson wrote that he felt the locker room fill with an “undeniable holy presence.”

“Everywhere I looked, shredded tissue-thin pages of the Bibles were strewn upon the floor, so much that I could hardly see even a sliver of the cardinal carpet,” he wrote. “I stood frozen in place as my heart sank and I felt the blood drain from my face. Never in any of my daydreams had I envisioned a scene like this.” (Read more from “College Athlete: Teammates Tore up Bibles He Gifted Them” HERE)

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Senate Passes Bill to Ban Most Abortions Once Fetal Heartbeat Is Detected

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The Georgia Senate passed legislation Friday to ban abortion on most babies once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, albeit with more exceptions than the version originally introduced in the state House.

House Bill 481’s original language states that “no abortion is authorized or shall be performed if the unborn child has been determined to have a human heartbeat,” except to save a mother from death or “serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function,” or if the pregnancy has been deemed “medically futile” (i.e., the child would die shortly after birth). The bill specifies that mental or emotional conditions do not qualify.

Earlier this month, Georgia Right to Life president Ricardo Davis called the measure, which was introduced alongside a trigger bill to automatically ban most abortions once Roe v. Wade is overturned, a “hopeful step toward the ultimate goal of adopting a ‘personhood’ amendment to the state constitution that will protect all innocent human life from fertilization through natural death.”

The measure passed the House 93-73 earlier this month, and a version passed the Senate on a 34-18, party-line vote Friday. The vote followed four hours of contentious debate, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“I applaud the members who supported the heartbeat bill’s passage for protecting the vulnerable and giving a voice to those who cannot yet speak for themselves,” Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said. But despite Kemp’s campaign-trail pledge to enact the “toughest abortion laws in the country,” the Senate version is notably weaker than both the original House version and the heartbeat laws of other states. (Read more from “Senate Passes Bill to Ban Most Abortions Once Fetal Heartbeat Is Detected” HERE)

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The Next Big Challenge to Roe v. Wade Is Brewing

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Now that Donald Trump’s nominees have shifted the makeup of the Supreme Court, we’re starting to see what the next legal challenges to Roe v. Wade might look like.

Last week, federal judges blocked two Kentucky pro-life bills: one banning abortion based on sex, race, or a disability diagnosis (otherwise known as eugenics) and the other a heartbeat law. Also last week, a federal judge blocked an Ohio law banning dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion procedures. Indiana’s eugenics abortion ban was blocked by a federal judge and is still waiting to hear back from the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, other states are passing and considering new pro-life legislation at an impressive pace. Mississippi recently enacted a heartbeat law, banning most abortions after the fetal heartbeat can be detected, at about six weeks of pregnancy. Iowa put one in place last May. One is working its way through the Georgia legislature, along with others in Tennessee and Missouri. Utah’s governor recently signed a bill banning abortion based on a Down syndrome diagnosis, while a similar Arkansas measure is working its way up in Little Rock. A dilation and evacuation ban bill is being deliberated in North Dakota.

And, naturally, whenever a new pro-life bill becomes law, the abortion industry mounts a new legal offensive. When you’ve got multiple legal challenges in different circuits, you increase the chance that there’s going to be disagreement among the courts and therefore increase the likelihood that the issue will be taken up by the Supreme Court.

Between the number of heartbeat laws, anti-eugenics abortion bills, and D&E bans, the real question is which issue will get the chance to chip away at Roe v. Wade first.

With Justice Brett Kavanaugh now sitting in the seat vacated by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the unborn Americans’ odds at the Supreme Court are better than they’ve been in decades, though some serious pro-life concerns about Chief Justice John Roberts are now cropping up.

At National Review, David French makes the argument that now is the time to bombard the judicial branch with legal challenges to Roe v. Wade like these: “it’s time to throw down the gauntlet, declare to the world (and to the Court) that the era of incrementalism is over, and show that the people are ready to embrace life.”

The number of new laws passing may well signal that bombardment is under way. (For more from the author of “The Next Big Challenge to Roe v. Wade Is Brewing” please click HERE)

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Pregnant California School Teacher Repeatedly Stabbed, Carjacked

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Five suspected gang members have been accused of attempted murder and other charges after investigators said the group attacked, stabbed and carjacked a pregnant Catholic school teacher in Southern California last week.

Tanya Nguyen, 33, was parking her car in front of her house on March 20 when she was attacked by 20-year-old Christian Reyes, 19-year-old Andrew Bran and 18-year-old Jesus Morales, investigators alleged. In dashcam footage made public Monday, Nguyen could be heard screaming and pleading with her attackers, at one point telling them, “I’m pregnant!”

Despite her pleas, Nguyen was stabbed nearly a dozen times — including in her face — suffering a punctured lung and losing her front teeth in the process, Fox 11 reported. The attackers then took off in Nguyen’s car, striking other vehicles as they tried to leave the scene.

Reyes, Bran, Morales and two other suspected accomplices — Christina Luna, 24, and Monica Gomez, 25 — were arraigned Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. All five were charged with one count each of attempted murder, carjacking, second-degree robbery and misdemeanor hit-and-run driving resulting in property damage. Reyes faced a separate count of aggravated mayhem and an allegation of personal use of a deadly and dangerous weapon.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Reyes’ bail had been recommended at $1.9 million, with $1.4 million for the other four defendants. All five face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

(Read more from “Pregnant California School Teacher Repeatedly Stabbed, Carjacked” HERE)

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