Faced With Legal Threat, Live Action Stands by the Word 'Killing' When Describing Abortion

Quinn Delamater : Aug 20, 2026
The Washington Stand

"Of course, it's an uncomfortable word. But what are you doing in an abortion? You are killing a living human being. Uncomfortable, but certainly true. And [it is] well within the First Amendment rights of Live Action and any pro-life group to be able to use that word and say very clearly that abortion is killing." -Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of Litigation at the Thomas More Society

[WashingtonStand.com] A powerful voice in the pro-life movement is refusing to back down from calling abortion what it is: killing. Live Action is refusing to back down, despite a cease-and-desist letter from the Amplify Legal group claiming that the organization has defamed women who chose to abort their pregnancies. (Screengrab image: via YouTube-The DeVory Darkins Interview)

The letter from Amplify to Lila Rose, Live Action's president and founder, claimed that the organization published "false and defamatory" stories about 13 clients of Amplify. According to Live Action, each of the individuals written about had previously publicly shared about their abortions. 

Amplify Legal is the litigation arm of the organization Abortion in America, a group that "exists to make access a reality for everyone." Abortion in America was founded by Cecile Richards, the late president of Planned Parenthood. Amplify is also funded through the Hopewell Fund, backed by George Soros, the American investor and far-left political activist. 

"We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars every year, being fed into these funds by various left-wing billionaires," Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of Litigation at the Thomas More Society, explained during a Tuesday appearance on "Washington Watch."

Breen warned that this is also an attack on pro-lifers' freedom of speech. "Of course, it's an uncomfortable word," he acknowledged of the word "killing." "But what are you doing in an abortion? You are killing a living human being. Uncomfortable, but certainly true. And [it is] well within the First Amendment rights of Live Action and any pro-life group to be able to use that word and say very clearly that abortion is killing," Breen asserted.

Live Action issued its response through the Thomas More Society: "Live Action will not cease reporting on abortion. It will not desist from expressing the view—shared by tens of millions of Americans and by the pro-life movement your clients have made careers of publicly opposing—that abortion takes the life of a living human being and is accurately described as ‘killing.' Live Action will not delete its archive, will not retract protected opinion, and will not submit its future coverage of public figures, public lawsuits, public convention speeches, and public political campaigns to your pre-clearance."

Breen said one of the women Live Action wrote about used her abortion story to promote a political agenda.

In 2023, Kate Cox sued the state after Texas refused to allow her to get an abortion when she discovered her unborn daughter had been diagnosed with the genetic disorder Trisomy 18. Unable to receive the procedure in Texas, Cox traveled elsewhere to have her abortion. In 2024, Cox was the guest of First Lady Jill Biden at the State of the Union Address.

"Conception is an inherently miraculous process because it creates a new human life—a unique, irreplaceable little person. Avoiding certain terms because they make you uncomfortable doesn't change the reality of what you're doing when you commit or undergo an abortion," policy analyst for Family Research Council's Center for Human Dignity Joy Stockbauer told The Washington Stand.

Breen said that Live Action's articles are an example of good journalism, not defamation, and that the organization will not be silenced.

"When a bully confronts you in the schoolyard, you've got to stand up for yourself, and you've got to ... strike back. And so, we've done that to make sure that they know they can't silence our folks. And if they want to go to court, they're going to lose." Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Quinn Delamater is a reporter for The Washington Stand.