California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state is withdrawing from a $54 million contract with Walgreens after the corporation revealed that it would not dispense the abortion pill in certain states where it is not legal to do so. The California Department of General Services gave Walgreens a formal notice Wednesday that it's withdrawing from a contractual agreement with the company set for renewal in May. The Democratic governor declared, "California will not stand by as corporations cave to extremists and cut off critical access to reproductive care and freedom. California is on track to be the fourth largest economy in the world, and we will leverage our market power to defend the right to choose." Fraser Engerman, senior director of external relations for Walgreens, told CP that the corporation was "deeply disappointed" by the state of California's decision not to renew a "longstanding contract due to false and misleading information." The spokesperson added that the retail pharmacy giant "is facing the same circumstances as all retail pharmacies, and no other retail pharmacies have said that they would approach this situation differently, so it's unclear where this contract would now be moved." Engerman further stated that the corporation has always maintained that it would dispense the abortion pill where it is "legally permissible" to do so, including California, once Walgreens obtains certification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Read more.

While Democrats and the mainstream media have tried to portray the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol as a violent insurrection orchestrated with the help of former President Donald Trump and an attempt to overthrow the duly elected government, security footage aired by Fox News' Tucker Carlson this week has raised questions about these assertions. As the Jan. 6 riot continues to have implications for American politics more than two years later, the office of newly elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., released "thousands of hours of surveillance video" to Fox News three weeks ago. The network's Tucker Carlson, who acknowledged that some of the individuals present at the Capitol on Jan. 6 were "hooligans" who "committed vandalism," began airing the video footage in question on his program "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Monday. He said his "producers had unfettered access to the Capitol's surveillance video." This article from CP highlights four things to know about the video footage and the fallout from its release, including that the protester known as the QAnon shaman was escorted by police as he walked around the Capitol. Read the full list now.

Michael Hugo, who served as chair of the Framingham Democratic Committee (FDC) in Massachusetts, resigned from his position after he suggested during public comments at a city council meeting that abortion is necessary to offset the cost of providing special education classes and services for children with disabilities. At the Feb. 7 Framingham City Council meeting where Hugo's public comments caused offense, the 11-member council unanimously passed a proclamation to ensure access to abortion for "persons capable of being pregnant" and announced that the city's website would provide a link for residents to file consumer complaints with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office against pro-life pregnancy centers because they do not provide abortions. Speaking in favor of the proclamation, Hugo—who specified he was speaking on behalf of the FDC—declared, "Our fear is that if an unqualified sonographer misdiagnoses a heart defect, an organ defect, spina bifida, that becomes a very local issue because our school budget will have to absorb the cost of a child in special education." The Democrat official, who faced backlash for his remarks, issued an apology last Thursday while announcing his resignation. Read more.

Dr. Michael Brown discusses former President Donald Trump's "I am your retribution" comments at CPAC and why Christians must remember that God says that vengeance is His. Brown points to Paul's words in Romans 12:19–21, where he draws from Deuteronomy 32:35 and Proverbs 25:21-22, reminding believers, "'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." While followers of Jesus are called to pursue justice, this is not the same as retribution, Brown asserts. "Retribution is about vengeance, about settling a personal score, about hurting the ones who hurt you. Paul says plainly that we are to leave that to God. He Himself will repay, and when He does, it will be dreadful." Read more.

In this op-ed, Jerry Newcombe discusses the promotion of a bill in the new U.S. House of Representatives that seeks to assert parental rights in education. Pointing to a Colorado elementary school's private emails showing leaders' plans to transition a child's gender behind their parents' backs and an Arizona schoolboard rejecting the hiring of teachers from a Christian college because the teachers were deemed "not safe," Newcombe praises Congress for fighting back against the anti-Christian bias at work in the public school system. "Perhaps Rep. Elise Stefanik says it all: 'Parents are the primary stakeholders in their child's education, and they have a right to know what is going on inside their child’s classroom.' Hear, hear," Newcombe concludes. Read more.

Transgenderism has exploded across the world in the past decade, particularly in the West.

The Williams Institute at the UCLA Law School reports that the number of young people identifying as transgender has doubled in just the last few years and that one out of five people who identify as transgender are thirteen to seventeen years of age.

The number of minors in America receiving a diagnosis of gender dysphoria tripled from 2017 to 2021, with more than forty-two thousand receiving the diagnosis in 2021. On the popular social media platform TikTok, #trans has logged 50.2 billion views as of this writing, having nearly doubled within the last year.

In a podcast interview with former SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore, Rick Warren identified three biblical passages that led him to conclude that women can serve in the office of pastor. The founder and former Saddleback Church pastor stated, "This is not a battle between liberals and conservatives. All the liberals left a long time ago. Everybody in the SBC believes in the inerrancy of Scripture. Now we are talking about difference of interpretation." Warren, who is the best-selling author of The Purpose Driven Life, cited Matthew 28:19-20, a passage known as the Great Commission, as the first piece of evidence that women can serve as pastors. "We claim that we believe that the Great Commission is for everybody, both men and women are to fulfill the Great Commission," Warren argued. He next pointed to Acts 2, in which the Holy Spirit came down upon the early church, with those present speaking in foreign tongues. "We know that women were preaching in languages that other people couldn't hear to a mixed audience," stated Warren. Last, he noted that in John 20:17 when Jesus told Mary Magdalene to tell the disciples about His resurrection, Jesus "chose her to be the first preacher of the Gospel." Warren added that he is not bothered by those who disagree with him, explaining, "I have to say, I could be wrong." The Southern Baptist Convention expelled Saddleback Church last month for having a woman fill the office of teaching pastor; the church plans to appeal the decision. Read more.

Citing documents turned over by a whistleblower, Andrew Wilkie, an independent member of the Australian Parliament accused Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston and other leaders of money laundering, tax evasion and lavish shopping sprees. Records from the cash cow Evangelical megachurch network also showed popular American televangelists like Joyce Meyer and T.D. Jakes being paid tens of thousands of dollars in honorariums for engagements with the church. Meanwhile, others like Chris Hodges, founder and leader of Church of the Highlands, received "curious payments." During the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, four members of the Houston family vacationed in Cancun, Mexico, and billed the church for the $150,000 three-day luxury retreat. "These other documents show former leader Brian Houston treating private jets like Ubers—again, all with church money. For example, in one three-month period, Brian Houston's trips cost $55,000, $52,000, $30,000, $22,000 and $20,000," Wilkie said. He also alleged that newly appointed Global Senior Pastor Phil Dooley splurged right along with the church's embattled founder, noting that records show that Dooley spent up to $58,0000 in business-class flights to Guatemala, $42,000 in business-class flights to Mexico and $32,000 in business-class flights from Cape Town to Sydney via the U.S. "Hillsong followers believe that the money they put in the poor box goes to the poor, but these documents show how that money is actually used to do the kind of shopping that would embarrass a Kardashian," Wilkie added. Read more.

Openly queer actor Joshua Bassett from the Disney+ streaming series "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" shared his Christian faith at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards weeks after being criticized for his baptism at Bethel Church. The 22-year-old attributed his success to his supporters and thanked his "Savior Jesus Christ" while accepting the award for "Favorite Male TV star." Bassett stated, "There are a lot of people here who are burdened, broken-hearted and have been beaten down by life. And I'm here to tell you, for those of you who have lost hope, there is a very real God who loves you more than you will ever possibly know," adding, "His promise is peace, and my testimony is my healing." The actor, who identified himself as a member of the LGBT community in 2021, shared in early February that he was baptized at Bethel Church. The California-based megachurch teaches that homosexuality is sinful. "I grew up Christian, and I ran the other way, as far as I could go, in pursuit of the 'truth.' That only ended in addiction, depression, suicidal ideation, eating disorders," said Bassett in his baptism video filmed at the Bethel Church. The video went viral and received backlash from many who disagree with the church's stance on marriage and sexuality. Bassett wrote in a tweet following his baptism that he "visited this church and happened to get baptized" there but stated that he was unaware of some of the church's beliefs and does not "endorse all of them." Read more.