Welcome to the TMS Weekly Dispatch for February 20, 2026—with the latest news and updates from the front line, to keep you in-the-know on all things Thomas More Society. If you missed last week's edition, click here.

Here's the latest from the past week:

ELIZABETH'S STORY GOES VIRAL: This week, thousands of you shared the story of Elizabeth, a young cashier at Lowe's who was barely scraping by when she found out she was pregnant. Feeling cornered, she took the first abortion pill. She hadn't even left Planned Parenthood when she learned the baby's father wanted to keep their child. And it hit her—she'd wanted that too, all along.

Desperately looking for a way to save her baby, Elizabeth found the Abortion Pill Reversal helpline. A nurse answered, then a doctor called back in 15 minutes. By that evening, she'd started treatment. Her beautiful baby daughter was born healthy in January 2024. “I didn’t even know [the abortion pill] could be reversed. That’s awesome!” one commenter said.  

Now California's Attorney General is suing Heartbeat International and RealOptions, the very groups that helped Elizabeth, claiming it's "fraud" to tell women about Abortion Pill Reversal. We’re fighting back in court, and our hearing is coming up on April 15.  

Read Elizabeth's story here.

OLP ON ILLINOIS' ABORTION REFERRAL MANDATE - THE CLOCK IS TICKING: As Tom Olp, TMS Executive VP, wrote to the editors of the Chicago Tribune this week, Illinois has until today, February 20, to answer for a law that violates the conscience rights of physicians and pregnancy centers across the state, or risk losing federal health care funding. Inaction could cost Illinois crucial federal public health funding.  

In January, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights issued a finding that Illinois' abortion referral mandate, which forces physicians who object to abortion and pregnancy centers to provide women with information on abortion providers—even when doing so violates their deeply held religious beliefs—conflicts with federal conscience protections.

Nearly a decade ago, Thomas More Society filed an ongoing lawsuit on behalf of pregnancy centers and physicians who cannot in good conscience comply. That constitutional challenge is now on appeal in the Seventh Circuit. (Learn more about our case, Schroeder v. Treto, here.)

"While Illinois' elected officials are entitled to their own views on abortion, they are not entitled to trample the conscience rights of religious and anti-abortion Illinoisans," wrote Olp. "Illinois has an opportunity to correct course."

Read the full letter here.

8,000+ BABIES SAVED THROUGH ABORTION PILL REVERSAL, AND COUNTING: More than 8,000 lives have been saved through the Abortion Pill Rescue Network, announced Heartbeat International—and that number grows every day! Behind every one of those numbers is a story like Elizabeth's, a mother who changed her mind and found help when she needed it most.

Thomas More Society is proud to represent Heartbeat International and fight for their right to share the truth about lifesaving Abortion Pill Reversal.

THOMAS MORE SOCIETY CO-HOSTS 2026 ILLINOIS PRO-LIFE MARCH: Thomas More Society is proud to co-host the 2026 Illinois Pro-Life March. With the post-Dobbs fight for life increasingly playing out at the state level, showing up locally is more important than ever.

This year's theme, "Illinois Abortions Hurt American Women,” is a powerful reminder that the abortion industry's expansion in Illinois comes at a devastating human cost that spreads beyond one state. Join us as we march for the women and children who deserve better than abortion.  

Learn more about the Illinois Pro-Life March here.