Week in Review
Governor Hochul Signs Assisted-Suicide Bill into NY State Law
Days after Illinois governor JB Pritzker signed its MAID (“Medical Aid in Dying”) Act into law, New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, announced that she would sign an amended version of Bill S138 into New York state law, making New York the 13th US state to legalize assisted suicide.
Both of these very disheartening laws were signed during the holy Advent season. Additionally, despite her strong support for the murder of the preborn child and now the murder of the sick by assisted suicide, Hochul has repeatedly claimed that she is a Catholic. In her op-ed published by the Times Union, Governor Hochul even admitted that she would support the bill despite it going against Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life.
As American Life League previously reported, New York’s Senate passed the assisted-suicide bill in June 2025, even opening the door for assisted suicide to people who are not residents of the state. In Hochul’s announcement on Wednesday, she tried to justify her decision to sign the bill by adding what she referred to as “guardrail” protections to the amended bill. These “protections” include only allowing residents of New York to kill themselves if they are over the age of 18, have been given six months to live because of their illness, undergo a mandatory mental health evaluation, and wait five days from the writing to the filling of the deadly prescription. Hochul also justified her signing of the bill by allowing “religiously oriented home hospice providers to opt out of offering medical aid in dying.”
The evil of assisted suicide has permeated our culture and is making its way into our nation state by state. This disregard for human life due to age and illness is heinous, and to be signed into law by someone who claims to follow the teaching of Our Lord through His Church is nothing short of absolute hypocrisy. We must continue to pray and educate others about the dignity of the human person at all stages of life and about why assisted suicide deliberately disregards this dignity bestowed on each of us by God.
This action by Governor Hochul is once again a very important reminder that our bishops and priests should teach about and uphold Canon 915, which states, “Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.”
Vatican Reveals Nativity Scene Honoring Babies Saved from Abortion
This week, the Vatican debuted a nativity scene by Costa Rican artist Paula Sáenz Soto, who donated a pro-life nativity to the pope.
The nativity scene features a pregnant Blessed Virgin Mary and incorporates 28,000 colorful ribbons that symbolize lives saved thanks to the prayers and support provided by Catholic organizations to pregnant mothers.
“The scene depicts a life saved from abortion thanks to prayer and the support provided by Catholic organizations to many mothers in difficult circumstances,” stated Pope Leo XIV.
The powerful nativity scene serves as a silent reminder of the important work of Catholics in the pro-life movement, including many of you!
Those of us who continuously work and pray for an end to abortion are humbled at the tens of thousands of babies saved this year. And those are just the ones we know about!
Let us pledge to continue to work and pray in 2026 for an end to all abortion and for the total protection of all human beings.
A Year of Action and Perseverance: STOPP’s 2025 Achievements
As we approach the end of the year, we want to highlight the fact that 2025 has been a year of action, hope, and perseverance as STOPP has diligently worked to shut down Planned Parenthood once and for all. With new lawsuits from states against the abortion giant, temporary defunding of several Planned Parenthood affiliates, and a record-breaking 50 facility closures (so far) within the calendar year, Planned Parenthood is facing pressure because of its lack of government funding looming.
STOPP has played a major part in the battle against Planned Parenthood for years, but 2025 was certainly a year of many accomplishments. These highlights include:
- The release of our 2025 Report on Planned Parenthood CEO Compensation in March 2025. This report revealed that Planned Parenthood’s top CEO made nearly $1 million in fiscal year 2023, while its Los Angeles CEO earned an annual compensation of nearly $876,000. Planned Parenthood CEOs are in the 98th percentile of wage earners compared to other nonprofit organizations in the US. Our report gained coverage across numerous news agencies, with an initial exclusive of our report published by the Daily Wire.
- Our report on Planned Parenthood’s CEO salaries additionally sparked action in Congress, as five representatives cited STOPP’s research in a penned letter to DOGE, asking it to investigate the financial practices of Planned Parenthood, given its exorbitant CEO salaries.
- STOPP was the first to analyze and report on Planned Parenthood’s 2024 Annual Report, A Force for Hope, released the day after Mother’s Day. STOPP’s research team highlighted the rise in abortion numbers in just one year—from 392,715 to 402,230—as well as the almost $800 million Planned Parenthood received in our tax dollars.
- After a four-year hiatus, STOPP released its 2025 Planned Parenthood Facilities Report in June, which reported on the number of closures, openings, and temporary closures of Planned Parenthood facilities throughout the country from 2022-May 2025. It also exposed the reality that despite its facility closures, Planned Parenthood’s “Virtual Health Centers” are on the rise to get abortion pills into the hands of women throughout the country.
- In August, STOPP released a special report that informed the public on Planned Parenthood affiliates’ income in so-called “pro-life states” and how many of them rake in almost the same amount of money in states with abortion restrictions than in states without restrictions. EWTN even invited our own Katie Brown Xavios to discuss STOPP’s findings on a segment on its Pro-Life Weekly.
- Florida’s attorney general, James Uthmeier, cited STOPP’s 2025 Report on Planned Parenthood CEO Compensation and a previous STOPP article from 2022 in his November 2025 lawsuit against Planned Parenthood’s “deceptive marketing” about the “safety” of the abortion pill mifepristone.
- STOPP also worked with our supporters by providing several calls to action in our Wednesday STOPP Reports throughout the year, as we work together to combat the evils of Planned Parenthood in our local communities and states.
Thanks to the prayers and support of everyone reading this, STOPP has had a very busy but fruitful year. We are incredibly grateful for your support over the decades, and we are most especially grateful to Our Lord, who since STOPP’s beginning has guided and helped us in this great fight. We humbly ask for your continued prayers and support as we continue our mission to stop Planned Parenthood in 2026.
ALL in the News
The 2025 winners of the annual Pro-Life Essay Contest have officially been announced! This week, each of the winners was notified, and ALL made the announcement in a press release. ALL’s Susan Ciancio was a guest on Real Presence Radio to discuss the contest’s success, highlight the winners, and discuss CLSP’s Advent booklets.
Susan Ciancio, editor of Celebrate Life Magazine and director of the Culture of Life Studies Program, penned an op-ed entitled “Christmas Commandos: A Modern-Day Saint Nicholas.” It was published by Catholic World Report.
You can still download any of the Culture of Life Studies Program’s Advent booklets. Each is just $1!
Katie Brown Xavios, ALL’s national director, regularly posts updates about American Life League and its important work on social media channels X and LinkedIn. Follow her accounts to stay up to date.
Twice a week, Judie’s commentaries are distributed to an expansive media list. The list contains over 100 media outlets such as Fox News, The Federalist, Breitbart, and The Daily Caller, among others. Judie’s commentaries are each featured on the front page of ALL.org.
Pro-Life Education
Culture of Life Studies Program
Christ, the True Gift of Christmas: This downloadable lesson shows children the story of the first Christmas through the eyes of Santa Claus/St. Nicholas, reinforcing the pro-life message through the life of St. Nicholas and reminding children that Christmas is about God’s greatest gift to us—His Son Jesus. Through his work to help the most vulnerable, St. Nicholas shows us how to care for the less fortunate members of our society. Like St. Nicholas, we must learn how to build a culture of life without looking for a reward or earthly recognition. ORDER HERE
ALL’s Education Materials
The Presence Is Real: This brochure presents a powerful argument in support of the Catholic Church’s right and obligation to protect both Christ in the Eucharist and the child in the womb. SHOP NOW
Pro-Life Social Media
LISTEN: Pro-Life Essay Contest Winners Get Creative
On Real Presence Live, hosts Lynn Devitt and Bob Noel welcome Susan Ciancio.
Ciancio discusses ALL’s programs, including Celebrate Life Magazine, the Marian Blue Wave rosary initiative, the Charity Watchlist, and the Culture of Life Studies Program, which provides pre-K through 12th grade lesson booklets teaching respect for human life. She highlights the success of the annual Pro-Life Essay Contest during Respect Life Month. This year, entries nearly tripled from 175 to almost 500. This year’s entries included 3rd-4th graders alongside middle and high school students. Essays came from schools nationwide, with many classes submitting large batches.
Ciancio personally reads all entries, narrowing them to top choices judged by a team for completeness, compassion, and understanding of pro-life values. Prompts varied by age: Elementary focused on human dignity via Bible verses or fetal development, middle school emphasized moral courage, and high school explored mercy toward preborn babies with disabilities.
Winning essays, now posted at prolifeessay.com, showcase students’ deep compassion, creativity (e.g., comparing abortion to destroying a LEGO creation), and insights tying pro-life beliefs to Sacred Scripture and real-life examples. Ciancio also promotes ALL’s affordable Advent family reflection booklets and encourages parents to use the Culture of Life Studies Program to build moral courage and respect for life from an early age.