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On May 1-8, Right to Life citizens went to the polls and voted down Proposition 1: Freedom from Discrimination. The first formal referendum in regional history, Prop 1 utilized Article 7 of the Constitution of Right to Life, granting citizens the right, by petition, to bypass the Senate and initiate direct public votes to recall regional officials or to amend regional law. Prop 1 sought to augment RTL Code 9:13, which bans private discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or sex. New protected classifications would have been religion, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and political affiliation.

Supporters of the bill argued that Prop 1 was desirable because it would prevent region members from treating one another unreasonably, especially in the regional marketplace, and because it would show the world that Right to Life is an open, tolerant society. Opponents contended that the bill was unnecessary because there is no history of private discrimination or prejudice in Right to Life and because regional law already protects citizens from unjust discrimination by the government.

Both sides of the debate appealed to the region's bill of rights. Supporters said that there is an "important regional interest" in forbidding private discrimination and that the regional judiciary would read the legislation, if passed, narrowly. Opponents said that Prop 1 would violate the fundamental rights of conscience, religion, expression, association, and contract, all of which the region's bill of rights guarantees.

Although none of the region's political parties took an official position on Prop 1, the bill's main supporters were members of the Liberals for Life Coalition (the region's center-left party). Its main opponents were members of the Libertarian Party (libertarian) and the Life Party (right-wing). Conservative Federalists (center-right) and independents were largely divided.

There was 55% citizen turnout in the election. Among voters, 52% were against Prop 1 while 33% were in favor. "The people have spoken," proclaimed Stellonia, the co-leader of the "say NO to 1" campaign, following the defeat of the proposition. United Massachusetts, the leader of the "Yes On One" campaign, commented, "I just want to say thank you so much for the tremendous support in opening up the Big Tent to all pro-lifers. I promise you, our time will come." In the near future, anti-discrimination will remain a salient political and legal issue in Right to Life as candidates stake out positions ahead of the June senatorial election.

Appellate Court Decides Spam Case (By Ovybia)

In an unusually long court case, the defendant and now regional citizen Texasa was accused of posting "a large quantity of intentionally disruptive, spammy content" by regional citizen and former senator Stellonia. Texasa admitted that some of his posts were unnecessary, apologized, and claimed that his motives had not been malicious. Justice of the Peace New Dolgaria ruled against Texasa, explaining that spam is spam regardless of the motives behind it, and then sentenced him to a temporary forum ban.

Texasa appealed the case to the Senate, which is not only Right to Life's legislature but also its court of appeals. After written arguments by both sides and multiple posts by amici curiae, including the region's founder, Culture of Life (Christian Democrats), Senator Imperii Ecclesia delivered a unanimous opinion partially reversing the lower court's ruling. In its decision, the Senate said, "Spam is the sending of 'disruptive online messages.' Texasa did commit it, but his intent was not malicious. Therefore, he does not have the same culpability as someone who intends to spam. . . . We [the Senate] think that even though he is guilty, he has since bettered his ways and has tried not to commit spam and should not be banned."

Texasa and one of his lawyers, United Massachusetts, expressed their joy at winning the case, which spanned several months. Texasa reapplied for regional citizenship shortly afterwards and was accepted.

Citizens Debate Private Senate Forum (By Ovybia)

The issue of whether the Right to Life government should maintain a Private Senate Forum, where senators can discuss their duties in secret and where other senators (in some cases) can face legal penalties if they publicly disclose such discussions, has raised accountability concerns among a number of regional citizens.

Founder Culture of Life (Christian Democrats), Senator Imperii Ecclesia, and former President Aawia have been the most vocal defenders of the private forum, arguing that it is useful for regional governance for senators to have a place to discuss their ideas without worrying about partisan grandstanding, external interference, or security leaks. Imperii Ecclesia compares it to the NationStates telegram system, saying that if you'd like to see the Private Senate Forum eliminated, "I think you should also [write] to NationStates to ban telegrams, [and have] Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc. ban email, and Verizon, AT&T, etc. ban phones."

Citizens who support abolition of the Private Senate Forum argue that senators shouldn't be entitled to special privacy privileges and that they should perform their functions in the public square. News Director Ovybia, who along with former Senator Stellonia has been pushing for abolition, compares the legal penalty facing senators if they disclose certain private information to a gag order. "A gag order is an order preventing someone from talking about something. In this case, [the government is] forcing permanent gag orders on people who may not want them and never asked for them."

RTL Reaches Out to Liberal and LGBT Regions (By United Massachusetts)

Under the leadership of President RCS (Conservative Federalist Party) and Foreign Minister United Massachusetts (Liberals for Life Coalition), Right to Life's embassy program has taken a bold new turn. Right to Life traditionally has had a more difficult time reaching out to liberal and LGBT regions but recently began exchanging embassies with, among other regions, the Place That Has No Big Banks (the world's largest region of Bernie Sanders supporters), the Transgender Region, and Gay Equality.

United Massachusetts is elated about the new embassy projects. As he put it on the regional message board (RMB), "expanding embassies, especially with regions typically shut out of the pro-life message, is a very good thing. There are pro-life gays, and we need to reach out to them. We are pro-life, not socially conservative. Improving dialogue will be a positive step for both regions." Right to Life has since adopted an informal policy regarding said regions, outlined by Culture of Life (Christian Democrats): that Right to Life residents discuss life issues on others' RMBs while letting other regions use Right to Life's RMB to talk about gay and trans issues.

While Right to Life's response to liberal and LGBT outreach has generally been positive, several citizens wished to clarify that the region doesn't necessarily endorse liberal positions, homosexuality, or transgender identification. Several residents have said that embassy construction should follow a careful route. One citizen opined, "Since we are starting to get embassies with more immoral regions, I think we should exercise caution. Although I have stated that embassies are not endorsements, I do think we should not establish embassies with grossly offensive region names (such as "Hell") or regions with grossly offensive World Factbook Entries." This belief was broadly affirmed by both the Founder and the Foreign Minister, who added that there is much to be gained from reaching out to gay pro-lifers and liberal pro-lifers, many of whom sometimes find themselves feeling excluded within the pro-life movement.

Regional Labor Union Opens (By United Massachusetts)

Foreign Minister United Massachusetts recently founded the first labor union for Right to Life's governmental employees, dubbed RAGE (the Regional Association of Governmental Employees). The union has expressed the desires to negotiate higher wages and to expand workers' rights. Two people have signed up; however, many citizens are skeptical. One Right to Lifer urged governmental employees to "abstain from wasting their time on this." Others asked whether Right to Life really needs a union. In response, proponents argue that unionization will help balance the regional government's fiscally austere tendencies. At present, the Bank of Right to Life holds almost 50% of the region's capital.

UMC Withdraws Abortion Support (By Culture of Life)

On May 19, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) voted 425-268 (61%) "to withdraw immediately from membership in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC)." The RCRC, originally the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights (RCAR), is a faith-based association of Christians, Jews, and Unitarian Universalists that promotes the legality and availability of elective abortions and contraceptives in the United States. Under the guidance of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, the RCAR/RCRC was established in 1973 to oppose Catholic social teaching on abortion and to counter efforts to restore human rights following the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous Roe v. Wade decision.

In its recent legislation, the UMC denounces the RCRC as "a one-sided political lobby" whose "advocacy often directly contradicts our Social Principles." For the pro-life movement, the UMC's turnabout in its abortion stance is a welcome change. With 3.6% of American adults identifying as United Methodists (Pew Research Center 2015), the UMC is the third largest religious denomination in the United States. Already, the two largest denominations -- the Catholic Church (20.8%) and the Southern Baptist Convention (5.3%) (Pew Research Center 2015) -- explicitly uphold the dignity of unborn persons. It is not yet clear how the RCRC, having lost its earliest and chief benefactor, plans to continue its anti-child, anti-mother activism.