Right to Life Radio

Sometimes, the turning point starts with a flower and a simple question. On this episode of Right to Life Radio, Linda Talia shares how a sidewalk conversation connected an overwhelmed couple with practical support and renewed confidence to choose life. Plus, John examines what he sees as a double standard in the debate over capital punishment and euthanasia, discusses Canada’s medical assistance in dying program, and reflects on Pope Leo XIV’s message about the dignity of human life.

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.

What happens when compassion for adults causes us to lose sight of the suffering of children?

This week on Right to Life Radio, John Gerardi returns to the Lindsay Clancy case and the troubling public reaction following the mistrial. He examines what he sees as a growing tendency to prioritize adult suffering, desires, and self-fulfillment over the lives and well-being of children, and asks whether the abortion mindset has shaped the way our culture thinks about children both inside and outside the womb.

Then, ahead of his Constitution Week presentation at Reedley College, John gives a crash course in the history of American abortion law. From English common law and the concept of “quickening,” to Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Dobbs, and today’s interstate battles over abortion pills, John explains how abortion law developed and where the biggest legal fights are headed next.

John Gerardi and Jonathan Keller break down California’s latest abortion-related legislation, including efforts to expand abortion access through community colleges and allow non-doctors to perform surgical abortions. John also examines the mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy case before Linda joins the show with two powerful Stories from the Sidewalk—one painful, one hopeful—and reflects on staying faithful, learning from loss, and “failing forward.”

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].