Religion & Law

Clark Forsythe: The Supreme Court?s back alley runs through Philadelphia

Posted on January 26, 2011
Clark Forsythe writing in the The Weekly Standard: "We can thank, in large part, the Supreme Court, after 38 years of Roe v. Wade, for the lurid reports coming out of Philadelphia . . . Philadelphia?s clinic conditions and lackadaisical approach to regulating clinics are the direct result of the 'fine print' in Roe...

Samuel Gregg: Risk, uncertainty, and the rule of law

Posted on January 26, 2011
Samual Gregg, Research Director at the Acton Institute, writing at Public Discourse: "The Economics journalist Robert Samuelson recently observed that signs of undue risk adverseness are creeping into the American economy . . . Given the severity of the 2008 financial crisis and the associated recession, such trends are understandable...

GOP senators prep balanced budget amendment

Posted on January 26, 2011
The Hill: "A group of Republican senators plan to debut on Wednesday their proposed amendment to the Constitution requiring Congress to approve a balanced budget each year."

District taking money, but censoring Christians?

Posted on January 26, 2011
WorldNetDaily: "'The government cannot single out Christians because their religious viewpoint does not coincide with campus orthodoxy,' said ADF Senior Counsel [David Cortman]. 'Christians have the same First Amendment-protected rights as everyone else does on public school campuses, and their messages are no less worthy of exposure than other individuals...

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Cali school speaks out on brick paver controversy

Posted on January 26, 2011
Charisma: "[T]he Desert Sands Unified School District Board of Education seems confused by an Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) lawsuit defending two California women who?s brick pavers were rejected as part of a sidewalk because they were inscribed with the Word of God...

Bible verses forbidden

Posted on January 26, 2011
California Catholic Daily: 'Christians shouldn?t be discriminated against and excluded from expressing their faith on public high school campuses when that door of communication is open to virtually everyone else,' said ADF Senior Counsel [David Cortman]...

Alan Sears: Universities continue nursing grudges against conscience and liberty

Posted on January 26, 2011
ADF President and CEO Alan Sears writing at Inside the Issues: "The fight goes on, to protect the vital freedom of health care professionals to honor their conscience and religious convictions, particularly with regard to abortion. Please pray that Christian medical professionals across the country will continue to stand for that freedom, and that ADF will continue to be blessed to successfully defend those stands...

IA: Amendment to ban same-sex ?marriage? gets first OK in House

Posted on January 26, 2011
"The Iowa House Judiciary Committee approved a proposal Monday to amend the Iowa Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriages."

House Republicans vote to roll back spending levels

Posted on January 26, 2011
The Hill: "Hours before President Obama was to make his own deficit reduction proposals in the State of the Union address, the House on Tuesday voted 256-165 to slash spending this year to 2008 levels 'or less.'"

President vows in State of the Union to veto any bill ?larded? with earmarks

Posted on January 26, 2011
The Hill: "The president?s promise to eliminate pork-barrel spending, long seen as a symbol of Washington?s waste, was a rhetorical exclamation point in a speech clearly designed to prevent Republicans from owning the mantle of fiscal responsibility."

Desert Sands Unified School District faces federal lawsuit

Posted on January 26, 2011
Southwest Riverside News Network: "'The government cannot single out Christians, because their religious viewpoint does not coincide with campus orthodoxy,' said [David Cortman], senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. 'Christians have the same First Amendment-protected rights as everyone else does on public school campuses, and their messages are no less worthy of exposure than other individuals...

Houston pastors defend Joel Osteen?s response on homosexuality

Posted on January 26, 2011
US Pastor Council: "The Houston Area Pastor Council is defending Pastor Joel Osteen?s comments that homosexuality is a sin to be aired on national television tonight and affirmed that he was not giving his 'opinion,' but rather expressing his beliefs...

?Constitutional converts?: ADF lauds separation of church and state in church tax case?

Posted on January 26, 2011
Americans United for Separation of Church and State: "[Erik Stanley], senior legal counsel for the ADF, told the Religion News Service, 'It makes no sense to tax churches and to limit their ability to provide their services, and it does damage to the constitutional separation between church and state...

New study denying abortion-mental health link contains flaws

Posted on January 26, 2011
Yahoo / HealthDay News: "Women who undergo an abortion don't seem to face a greatly increased risk of mental health problems after having the procedure, a new study suggests. Trine Munk-Olsen, lead author of the study published in the Jan. 27 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, said she was 'not surprised by [the] findings,' given that they mirror previous research on the subject...

Governor?s Council approves Duffly for Mass. SJC

Posted on January 26, 2011
Boston.com (AP): "Appeals Court Associate Justice Fernande 'Nan' Duffly endured a close vote Wednesday to take her place as the first Asian-American member of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court."

Hawaii Senate committee passes civil unions bill

Posted on January 26, 2011
Hawaii News Now: "After three hours of testimony, SB 232 passed 3 to 2. It's now heading to the full Senate."

MD House bill to redefine marriage gets 58 sponsors

Posted on January 26, 2011
"House Majority Leader Kumar Barve today submitted the House plan to legalize same-sex marriage -- a proposal backed by 58 delegates who have signed on as co-sponsors."

UK: Forced marriage laws a step closer

Posted on January 26, 2011
UKPA: "Legislation to tackle the 'abhorrent' practice of forced marriages has passed a parliamentary hurdle. The Bill aims to establish protection orders, which if breached could carry a two-year prison sentence."

House GOP rift stalls effort to narrow Iowa abortion laws

Posted on January 26, 2011
Des Moines Register: "An ideological difference among Iowa House Republicans has sidelined their push to narrow the state's abortion laws and keep a Nebraska doctor from opening a Council Bluffs abortion clinic."

NC: Medical waste incinerator faces protest from pro-life group

Posted on January 26, 2011
The Times-News (Burlington, NC): "An anti-abortion group has begun a campaign against Stericycle, an international company that burns medical waste. Stericycle, which has a plant in Haw River, has drawn attention from local and regional activists who are concerned about the facility?s impact on the environment...

UK: Christian health worker suspended for abortion views is restored to work

Posted on January 26, 2011
Christian Today: "Margaret Forrester, 39, was suspended by her NHS employers just before Christmas after she mentioned in private to colleagues that she was concerned that women facing an unexpected pregnancy were not being given enough information about the potential negative effects of abortion...

Tennessee school boards push fight against unions

Posted on January 26, 2011
Tennessean: "The driving force behind a new bill that would strip Tennessee teachers of their collective bargaining rights is the group on the other side of the bargaining table ? the Tennessee School Boards Association."

NH: One marriage redefinition sponsor wants it held to 2012

Posted on January 26, 2011
Boston.com (AP): "The sponsor of one bill to repeal New Hampshire's gay marriage law says he will ask for it to be held over until 2012. Manchester Republican Leo Pepino said Wednesday he will ask the committee hearing his bill to retain it until next year when they have more time...

Ohio mom jailed for sending kids to better school district

Posted on January 26, 2011
ABC: "Kelley Williams-Bolar was convicted of lying about her residency to get her daughters into a better school district . . . Williams-Bolar said she did it to keep her children safe and that she lived part-time with her dad. 'When my home got broken into, I felt it was my duty to do something else,' Williams-Bolar said...

Obama ignores pro-life issues in SOTU

Posted on January 26, 2011
LifeNews: "President Barack Obama delivered a State of the Union speech last night that was long on political rhetoric on other political topics but essentially ignored pro-life issues at a time when they are prominent on the minds of Americans."

MD: Washington Co. delegates to oppose same-sex ?marriage? bill

Posted on January 26, 2011
"Some Democratic state lawmakers are trying again to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland. The proposed bill ? the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act ? would change the state's Family Law, which currently reads: 'Only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid in this State...

Growing majority of Americans say they are pro-life: poll

Posted on January 26, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "Of the 900 registered voters who were surveyed, 50% identified themselves as pro-life, and 42% as pro-choice. Five percent considered themselves some combination of the two, and 3% said that they didn?t know. The poll has a 3% margin of error...

Philippine government backs down on ?reproductive health? bill

Posted on January 26, 2011
LifeSiteNews: "Catholic leaders in the Philippines are cautiously optimistic after the country?s government appears to have backed off of its hard-line stance on the controversial 'reproductive health' bill."

Judicial emergency declared in District of Arizona

Posted on January 26, 2011
US Courts: "The chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona has declared a judicial emergency that temporarily suspends a time limit set by federal law for brining criminal defendants to trial."

MT: Same-sex issue heard in Helena court

Posted on January 26, 2011
KXLH: "The American Civil Liberties Union appeared in district court in Helena for arguments on behalf of six same-sex couples seeking domestic partnership recognition. The case, Donaldson and Guggenheim v. State of Montana, was filed in July 2010."

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