Charles Dickens' novel called A Tale of Two Cities (1859) depicted the plight of French peasants' civil conflict with its aristocracy in the years leading up to the French Revolution. Despite their linguistic differences, Dickens showed many parallels with the social atmosphere of London and Paris during that time period.

In contrast to Dickens' work, my commentary today explores the dramatic difference in the value of human life (versus the value of animal life) in privileged versus impoverished communities in the same city - Philadelphia. I am concerned that Philadelphians seem more committed to protecting the lives of animals than they seem to be committed to saving the innocent lives of unborn children and their young mothers. Let me explain.

Last month, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick was forced to cancel a planned book tour because of credible threats on his life. According to his publisher, "protests escalated into threats of violence." Threats were made to harm Vick himself and the employees of bookstores and other venues planning to host the athlete as he promoted his new book, Finally Free. Everyone concerned decided it was safer to keep the athlete out of the public eye for the off-season. The anger against Vick stems no doubt from his role in the death of between six and eight dogs in a dog fighting and gambling operation he owned. Vick pled guilty to felony charges in 2007 and has since been released from prison. more >>

Jack McMahon, defense attorney for abortionist and convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell, shocked America Wednesday during his first live cable news interview since the jury's verdict in his client's case. McMahon twice spoke the words, "thank God," and revealed to Fox News host Megyn Kelly that he believes banning abortion after 17 weeks should become law, and all abortion clinics must be inspected annually.

"I've come out of this case realizing that 24 weeks is a bad determiner," McMahon told Kelly. "It should be like 16, 17 weeks. That would be a far better thing, and I think the law should be changed to that. I think there will still be the right to choose, but they've got to choose quicker. I think that's something that should come out of this. I think more regulations should come out of these locations."

McMahon isn't the only person whose opinions about abortion have been altered after hearing the graphic details of the procedures. JD Mullane, a columnist for The Intelligencer, who was lauded by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for his coverage of the Gosnell trial, told CP that a fellow journalist is rethinking his stance on abortion. He might remain pro-choice, but "he's soul-searching, and is more pro-life than he was at the beginning of the trial." The anonymous reporter is expected to break his silence and share his journey about the abortion issue in an upcoming column. more >>

A federal judge has issued a "stipulating order" that allows an activist to display pro-life messages inside his car in front of a Planned Parenthood facility in Michigan.

U.S. District Judge Gershwin A. Drain of the Eastern District of Michigan granted the stipulated motion on behalf of Paul Dobrowolski last Friday in his suit against the City of Ann Arbor.

Last month, Dobrowolski opted to file a lawsuit against the City of Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor Chief of Police John Seto over a city code that the pro-life activist believed violated his freedom of speech. more >>

A federal judge temporarily blocked an Arkansas law which would have banned abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy and subsequently give the state one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.

U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright ordered a preliminary injunction for the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act on Friday, ruling that the law, which was supposed to go in effect in August, was "more than likely unconstitutional."

Wright told the court that the law's argument that a fetus is viable after 12 weeks does not coincide with generally accepted viability of a fetus on behalf of the medical community, which is 24 weeks. more >>

The prime minister, or taoiseach, of Ireland gave what some onlookers described as a "rousing speech" at Boston College despite fervent protests from pro-life students and others.

Enda Kenny, current prime minister of the Republic of Ireland, spoke to graduates at the Catholic academic institution even as some clergy refused to attend and one group garnered thousands of signatures protesting his invitation.

TFP Student Action, a project of the conservative Catholic group American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, gathered approximately 7,400 signatures within a week against Kenny's invitation to speak at Boston College's commencement event on Monday. more >>

Finally, it's over. The trial of one of the most repulsive and repugnant murderers in history is finally over. The jury has rendered its opinion and the defendant now will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Although the story broke in March of 2011 when a grand jury indicted him, few Americans fully know the story of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, of the Women's Medical Society, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was a doctor who specialized in late term abortions. The Grand Jury report stated:

This case is about a doctor who killed babies and endangered women. What we mean is that he regularly and illegally delivered live, viable, babies in the third trimester of pregnancy – and then murdered these newborns by severing their spinal cords with scissors. The medical practice by which he carried out this business was a filthy fraud in which he overdosed his patients with dangerous drugs, spread venereal disease among them with infected instruments, perforated their wombs and bowels – and, on at least two occasions, caused their deaths. more >>