Right to Life Radio

John Gerardi and California Family Council CEO Jonathan Keller discuss abortion related bills awaiting Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision, including proposals affecting later abortions, community college health centers, and veterans. Then National Review’s Kathryn Jean Lopez joins John to discuss California’s lawsuit over abortion pill reversal and the broader debate about pregnancy centers and reproductive medicine.

What happens when Republican victories don’t deliver lasting pro-life policy? John Gerardi and Jonathan Keller of California Family Council examine California’s election outlook, Trump’s influence on Republican prospects, and the political obstacles facing the pro-life movement. They discuss missed opportunities to defund Planned Parenthood, the limits of congressional action, and whether federal action on abortion pills could offer a path forward after the midterms.

The Lindsay Clancy trial has sparked a disturbing cultural debate: Why are so many people focusing on the accused mother while three murdered children fade into the background? John Gerardi and Jonathan Keller examine the insanity defense, online cheerleading for Clancy, and society’s growing tendency to prioritize adult desires over children’s needs. They also explore the widening political divide between young men and women, changing attitudes toward sex and family, and the latest abortion legislation moving through Sacramento.

John Gerardi is joined by Jonathan Keller, CEO of California Family Council, to break down a heavy week of pro-life news. First, the heartbreaking case of Baby Gabriel: an Alaska nurse serving as a surrogate refused to abort a baby diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, then fought in Texas courts after the intended parents allegedly refused life-saving heart surgery. John and Jonathan make the case for why surrogacy is the "Wild West" of American law and why it exploits the financially desperate, just like organ sales and prostitution. Then they turn to Massachusetts, which has legalized abortion up to birth for babies with disabilities, and close with two alarming California bills: one putting abortion pills in community college health centers, and another allowing nurse practitioners and physician assistants to perform second and third trimester abortions with no physician oversight. It all traces back to one word driving the modern abortion movement: access. Right to Life Radio is a production of Right to Life of Central California. Learn more at rtlca.org.

California lawmakers want abortion pills offered at community-college student health centers—even though the pills can already arrive by mail. John Girardi breaks down AB 2540, Claire Densmore’s argument for greater “access,” the limited capabilities of campus health centers, and the lack of comparable prenatal support. He then turns to the Comstock Act, blue-state shield laws, and whether Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will follow through on a reported promise to stop abortion pills from being shipped into states that prohibit abortion. Then Ann Marie Paden, Executive Director of Tulare-Kings Resources for Life, joins John to preview Advancing the Mission 2026 on Thursday, September 3 at 6:30 p.m. at Visalia First, featuring Riley Gaines, Officer Brandon Tatum, and Seth Gruber. Paden reflects on last year’s sold-out gathering and explains TKRL’s expanding work in FertilityCare, the Creighton Model, school and parent education, and life-affirming resources across the Central Valley. Doors open at 5 p.m.; tickets and details are available at tkrl.org. Right to Life Radio is a production of Right to Life of Central California, heard on KMJ. Support the July–August matching drive at rtlcc.org, or invite John to speak at your church, school, or group by calling 559-229-2229 or emailing [email protected].

Anthony Fauci faced the Senate and answered with the Fifth Amendment—111 times. John Gerardi and Jonathan Keller unpack the “explosive non-testimony,” the legacy Fauci and Francis Collins left behind, and how federal research funding helped create a market for fetal tissue obtained from abortion providers. They revisit Sen. Joni Ernst’s questions about fetal-tissue research, David Daleiden’s Planned Parenthood investigations, and why so many Americans now see medicine through a political lens. Then, in Stories from the Sidewalk, Linda Teliha shares what happens when a pregnant young woman arrives at Planned Parenthood with a car full of friends, why the quiet friend may matter most, and how one flower, one honest conversation, and one person willing to say “I’ll help you” can change everything. Right to Life Radio is a production of Right to Life of Central California, heard on KMJ. Support the July–August matching drive at rtlcc.org, or invite John to speak at your church, school, or group by calling 559-229-2229 or emailing [email protected].

There's nothing new under the sun. In this evergreen audio essay, host John Gerardi traces a startling line from the child sacrifice of the ancient world to the abortion debate in modern California. Reading through Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, John unpacks why the Israelites were tempted to worship pagan gods like Baal, Asherah, and Molech, and how those religions divorced worship from morality (think Julius Caesar as both high priest and war criminal) in ways that made discarding inconvenient children disturbingly ordinary, from Roman infant exposure to Spartan eugenics. Then John turns to the revolution: how Judaism and Christianity reshaped Western civilization by insisting that women, slaves, the poor, and the unborn all bear the image of God, and how the earliest Christians stood apart precisely because they refused to abandon their children. Finally, he tackles the question every pro-lifer wrestles with: if the science is settled, why is abortion more popular than ever? His answer is a challenge to rethink compassion itself, from moral imagination and the difference between empathy and sympathy, to the cold economics of Medi-Cal that pay for abortion while maternity wards like Madera Community Hospital shut their doors. Right to Life Radio is a production of Right to Life of Central California, heard on KMJ. Support our summer matching drive (every gift doubled through August) at rtlcc.org. Want John to speak at your church, school, or youth group? Call 559-229-2229 or email [email protected].

John Gerardi is joined by Jonathan Keller of California Family Council to unpack the disturbing expansion of Canada's euthanasia program, from proposals to euthanize infants with disabilities to recommendations that minors consent to their own deaths without parental input. This week's mystery clip reveals just how far the MAID program has gone, with roughly half of 2024 recipients citing feeling like a burden rather than terminal illness. The guys then break down how activists quietly corrupt language, sliding from physician assisted suicide to medical assistance in dying to simply assisted death, and why that shift matters. Finally, they take on a New England Journal of Medicine article arguing to contextualize the dead donor rule, a euphemism for harvesting organs from euthanasia patients before death, and explain why the slippery slope keeps proving pro-lifers right.

John Gerardi is joined by his friend Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review, the pro-life movement's leading chronicler and author of the Lifeline newsletter. The two dig into the biggest and most frustrating story in pro-life politics: Congress quietly letting Planned Parenthood's Medicaid funding come roaring back after just one year of defunding, and why, in KJL's words, "not enough raging" is happening in Washington. Along the way they cover the GOP's fading abortion plank and the legacy of platform warriors like Phyllis Schlafly, the New York Times' fascination with Heritage Foundation scholar "Mrs." Emma Waters and the rise of restorative reproductive medicine, and the courtroom showdown over abortion pill reversal, where the abortion lobby's star witness is crumbling under cross-examination. Then, in the final segment, John and Kathryn push back on the "toxic empathy" discourse. If pro-lifers become the movement known for being against empathy, we've lost the plot. They'll know we are Christians by our love, from the sidewalk to the Obria clinic in Fresno. Subscribe to the Lifeline at National Review and never miss an episode of Right to Life Radio, Sundays on KMJ.

California says it is all about choice, so why does every Medi-Cal dollar point poor women toward abortion? John Gerardi breaks down how the state fully covers abortion with zero out-of-pocket cost while OB care pays so poorly that Madera County lost its only maternity ward. Then, Assemblyman Joe Patterson's budget amendment to fund prenatal care at the same level as abortion, and why Sacramento let it die. Plus, Attorney General Rob Bonta's multimillion dollar lawsuit against abortion pill reversal, and why the case may be weaker than the press release announcing it. Finally, Stories from the Sidewalk: Linda Teliha shares what the team learned from Fresno anti-trafficking nonprofit Breaking the Chains about recognizing the signs of sex trafficking outside Planned Parenthood, and the story of a young mom who reached out to Lifehouse for support months after her baby was born. This July, celebrate America's 250th with us: the first $25,000 given at righttolifeca.org will be matched, doubling your gift.

In this episode of Right to Life Radio, John Gerardi and Jonathan Keller unpack a Gallup poll revealing shifting American attitudes on moral issues. They explore the rise of ethical libertarianism, the troubling normalization of doctor-assisted suicide, and the cultural contradictions in valuing animal life over human life, culminating in a discussion of a YouTuber's public decision to abort a child diagnosed with Down syndrome.