Daily Archives: April 30, 2010

Catholic News Agency: “A Cuban immigrant living in Spain stated this week that the Socialist government’s mandatory education course, ‘Education for the Citizenry,’ reminds him of the indoctrination students receive in Cuba under the Castro regime.”

Catholic News Agency: “The National Association for the Defense of the Right to Conscientious Objection (ANDOC) has criticized Health Secretary Jose Martinez Olmos for calling the sale of the morning-after pill in pharmacies a triumph. The organization explained that by increasing the availability of the pill, ideological criteria has prevailed over scientific and health care concerns.”

Catholic News Agency: “The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that 13 additional human embryonic stem cell lines have been approved for federal funding and added to its Stem Cell Registry.”

International Christian Concern: “International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on April 28, hundreds of Egyptian Christians in Cairo protested against the third postponement of the trial of Mohammed al-Kammuni, considered to be a blatant judicial action stating that in an Egyptian court, Christian rights are not equal to those of Muslims. The protest was assembled after continued frustration among Copts over the postponement on April 18 of the court hearing of alleged murderer Mohammed al-Kammuni, believed to be the mastermind behind the killings of six Christians on January 6th in Naga Hammadi.”

LifeSiteNews: “Researchers at the University of Manitoba have published findings of a study showing a link between abortion, mental illness and suicide. The researchers, from the departments of psychology and psychiatry, as well as obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, found that abortion was associated with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse and suicide attempts.”

Telegraph: “A baby found alive nearly a day after a failed abortion in Italy had been rejected by his mother because he had a cleft lip and palate, according to reports.”

Houston Chronicle: “As many as six out of every 10 Central American women and girls are raped as they pass through Mexico hoping to cross illegally into the United States, Amnesty International said Wednesday.”

Floyd Abrams, Ira Glass and Joel Gora write at the Wall Street Journal: “If that headline has a certain man bites dog quality, it’s because for almost 40 years the ACLU was the one major liberal organization that opposed campaign finance restrictions as violating the First Amendment . . . Nonetheless, we’ve come to this: The premier First Amendment organization in America now favors limitations on the First Amendment in the area in which all agree it must have its most powerful application—political speech during election campaigns.”

“Mr. Abrams represented Sen. Mitch McConnell in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Mr. Glasser was executive director of the ACLU from 1978-2001. Mr. Gora, a professor at Brooklyn Law School, is counsel to ACLU on campaign finance cases.”

LifeNews: “The top Republican in the House of Representatives said today that GOP lawmakers will try to repeal the pro-abortion health care bill President Barack Obama signed into law if Americans give them the majority after the November congressional elections.”

BBC News: “A spokesman for the Muslim Association of Malawi told the BBC the proposed law would discriminate against the country’s Muslim minority.”

Capitol News Service: “With the House spending more than two hours debating the abortion legislation, dozens of bills that passed the senate are being ignored. A bill that would lessen penalties for teens caught emailing or texting nude pictures of themselves or their peers, an offense known as sexting, is one of those bills. Bill Sponsor Dave Aronberg is upset that the House is delaying the measure.” | HB 1335

The Christian Institute: “A leading group of Scottish healthcare professionals has attacked a Bill that would legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia in Scotland. The End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill, proposed by Margo MacDonald MSP, would allow the terminally ill and people who are ‘permanently physically incapacitated’ to seek assistance in ending their lives.”

“Eastman Victory Overturns Portion of Long Beach Campaign Finance Ordinance Which Unconstitutionally Limited Participation in Independent Expenditure Campaigns.”

The Christian Institute: “The condoms were distributed by workers from Cornerhouse, a Hull-based sexual health charity, which is largely funded by public money. But local mum Samantha Fuller was left fuming after she discovered that her 13-year-old daughter was given the condoms, and that her 8-year-old nephew was also offered them.”

LifeSiteNews: “Two BC hospitals have refused to divulge information about abortions conducted at their facilities, following a freedom of information request from a major pro-life group.”

Associated Press: “The draft constitution cuts down the Kenyan president’s current enormous powers by setting up an American-style presidential system of checks and balances. Kibaki, who is barred from seeking re-election because of term limits, supports the legislation. But church leaders, who hold sway in this religious country where the majority of the population is Christian, now say they are willing to forego those gains if the constitution includes a clause on conditional abortion. Christian leaders are also seeking to end Islamic courts, which arbitrate on personal matters such as inheritance and marriage for members of the country’s Muslim minority.”

AP: “But unlike most other parents, Morell and her husband, Paul, had no advice books on what they were going through: Their son was the result of an extraordinary mix-up at a fertility clinic in which another woman was implanted with the Morells’ embryo . . . ”

UK: Errors at IVF clinics ‘almost double’ in 12 months

“Senior Pentagon leaders on Friday warned Congress not to tamper with the ban on gays serving openly in the military until he can come up with a plan for dealing with potential opposition in the ranks . . . ”

Michael Gerson writing in the Washington Post: “The culture war is breaking out in American foreign policy. And the main culture warrior is not a ranting televangelist but America’s secretary of state.”

Guardian: “Errors at fertility clinics almost doubled in 12 months, it was reported today. The number of mistakes at IVF centres in England and Wales rose from 182 in 2007/8 to 334 in 2008/9. Blunders included embryos being lost or implanted in the wrong woman, and eggs being fertilised with the wrong man’s sperm . . . ”

“We’ve learned from our friends on the Hill that in the next few weeks Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) will introduce an amendment to the FY 2011 Defense Authorization bill for either a moratorium on the enforcement of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (DADT) or an outright repeal of the policy. If the Senate fast-tracks the process, it would short-circuit the military’s review of any potential fallout from the change.”

Christian Today: “The killing of Christians in Jos, Plateau state in Nigeria continued over the weekend with two journalists and five other persons falling victim to Muslim youth gangs.”

Catholic League: “[NY Times writer Rachel Donadio] . . . consistently refers to the problem as pedophilia. Perhaps Ms. Donadio missed reading the Times story of April 10 on Leslie Lothstein, a psychologist who has treated about 300 priests. He says that “only a small minority were true pedophiles.” Correct. All the data show that most of the molesters have been homosexuals . . . ”

NY Times article by Rachel Danadio: In Abuse Crisis, a Church Is Pitted Against Society and Itself

LifeSiteNews: “‘if the new Holy Father [i.e., Pope Benedict XVI] were to get rid of every gay priest, this Archdiocese could run maybe . . . ten parishes.’ The Archdiocese, at the time, operated at least 121 parishes and/or missions . . . ”

FRC: “Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) called for a Congressional investigation into speaking invitations that were withdrawn from Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and Rev. Franklin Graham.”

Times-Leader: “A federal judge today issued a permanent injunction precluding Wyoming County prosecutors from filing charges against several teen girls involved in a ‘sexting’ case . . . Munley’s ruling ends the case. Wyoming County may be on the hook to pay attorneys fees to the ACLU, however.” | Related: 3rd Circuit: Prosecutor’s offer of leniency to teens for sexting is unconstitutional retaliation

Catholic News Agency: “In response to a ruling by the country’s Supreme Court allowing a lesbian couple to maintain custody of two adopted girls, the regional public prosecutor stated his opposition to the decision saying the couple constitutes ‘a de facto society,’ thus the decision violates Brazilian law.”

IceNews: “The National Church of Iceland yesterday took no formal position on a current parliamentary bill which would amend marriage laws to include gay couples. The national synod instead voted to refer the matter to the church’s doctrine and rites committee.”

Washington Post: “A Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that judicial experience is the most valued quality among a list of professional and personal characteristics. Seven in 10 say service as a judge is a positive quality for a Supreme Court nominee, while only 5 percent see it as a negative. In contrast, 35 percent view experience outside the legal world as a positive . . . In the Post-ABC poll, the question of a gay nominee is more divisive. While only 4 percent consider it a positive, 22 percent say it would be a strongly negative factor.”

Sun Gazette: “As expected, the state Senate and House of Delegates on April 21 concurred with recommendations made by Gov. McDonnell on legislation establishing new specialty license plates. Lawmakers adopted the governor’s recommendations by a 38-0 vote in the Senate and 78-7 vote in the House of Delegates. The legislation creates a pro-choice license plate as a counterweight to the ‘Choose Life’ plate that was approved last year.” | SB 704 | HB 1108 | For more information see the ADF Alliance Alert compound tag: http://www.alliancealert.org/tag/state-virginia+topic-license-plates/

“The Kansas House failed to override Gov. Mark Parkinson’s veto of a bill that would have rewritten the state’s laws on late-term abortions, falling two votes short on Friday . . .”

“. . . Speculation now is that Crist will veto the bill and return to his pro-abortion roots after trying to woo GOP voters in the primary bid . . . ”

Christian Newswire: “Attorney Daniel P. Dalton of Tomkiw Dalton, plc in Royal Oak, Mich. will be a featured speaker at the 2010 American Bar Association spring meeting, which will be held in Miami from April 29 to May 2. Dalton will share his expertise in the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) on Friday, April 30.”

Star Telegram: “The Texas Ethics Commission has assessed a $100,000 civil penalty against the state’s highest criminal appeals judge for failing to disclose more than $2.4 million in real estate holdings as well as income from various sources . . . ”

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence writing at speakupmovement.org/university: “But university officials should learn from this case that historically, the point of the Establishment Clause was to stop government coercion of its citizens to conform their thinking to the prevailing state orthodoxy. Universities should be teaching students our best American constitutional traditions – that the government may not force people to believe a certain way, or punish them because they speak out against what the government supports. Also, universities should be teaching students that they should tolerate speech they disagree with and that ‘being offended’ by what someone else says does not give you the right to censor that person.”

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley writing at speakupmovement.org/church: “The attack on St. Mary’s bells is the latest salvo in Europe’s battle against Christianity, and steady march toward secularism. European society increasingly sees religion as useless and a nuisance. Churches have lost their distinctive role in Europe and are marginalized and treated as nothing more than any other secular business. What makes the St. Mary’s case even more striking, though, is the fact that the church bells at St. Mary’s have been ringing since the 16th century and only now has the government begun to crack down on the bells despite this heritage and history. There is no regard for the Christian heritage of the church in Europe.”

Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali. former Bishop of Rochester. writing in the Telegraph: “Lord Justice Laws’s judgment on the Gary McFarlane case in the Court of Appeal – that legislation for the protection of views held purely on religious ground cannot be justified – has driven a coach and horses through the ancient association of the Christian faith with the constitutional and legal basis of British society. Everything from the Coronation Oath onwards suggests that there is an inextricable link between the Judaeo-Christian tradition of the Bible and the institutions, the values and the virtues of British society. If this judgment is allowed to stand, the aggressive secularists will have had their way.” | Related: UK: Christian counsellor loses court fight over sacking

AP: “Four-term Republican Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida is retiring from Congress, citing health concerns.”

NY Times: “In a seeming rejection of liberal orthodoxy, President Obama has spoken disparagingly about liberal victories before the Supreme Court in the 1960s and 1970s — suggesting that justices made the “error” of overstepping their bounds and trampling on the role of elected officials.”

Keen News Service: “No on 8 groups turned over CDs of ‘highly confidential’ material to attorneys for the Yes on 8 coalition this week, ending a months-long effort to fight a court order to do so . . . Equality California sent its materials April 27 to the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative group that has helped the Yes on 8 group’s effort to defend California’s same-sex marriage ban. The ACLU sent a CD for ‘No on Proposition 8, Campaign for Marriage Equality: A Project of the ACLU-Northern California.’”

Evangelical Examiner: “‘An individual’s conscience is often what brings health care workers into the medical field,’ said lead counsel Joseph Ruta, one of more than 1,600 attorneys in the ADF alliance. ‘Denying or coercing their conscience will likely drive them right out.’”

The Capitol Fax Blog: “The problems of bullying at schools has attracted much attention over the past several years, and the General Assembly has just sent an anti-bullying bill to the governor. Schools will have to adopt anti-bullying policies. It was watered down from its original format, which also required education and record-keeping . . . Even so, Focus on the Family is not pleased . . . ‘There are good alternatives that provide protection to kids, but avoid entrapment in identity politics—such as the fair and objective model anti-bullying policy language drafted by the Alliance Defense Fund.’”

Wausau Daily Herald: “[Joel Oster], attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, a defender of our religious freedoms, had this to say about Judge Crabb’s ruling: ‘The National Day of Prayer provides an opportunity for all Americans to pray voluntarily according to their own faith and does not promote any particular religion or form of religious observance,’”

LifeSiteNews: “Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit Friday against Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York state court, on behalf of a nurse forced to participate in a late-term abortion procedure under threat of disciplinary action, including possible termination and loss of her license . . . ‘Pro-life nurses shouldn’t be forced to assist in abortions against their beliefs,’ said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. ‘It is illegal, unethical, and a violation of Cathy’s rights of conscience as a devout Catholic to require her to participate in terminating the life of a 22-week pre-born child.’”

Stars and Stripes: “At a press conference Wednesday, [Jordan Lorence], spokesman for the Alliance Defense Fund, said a repeal means that sermons against gay marriage or counseling advising against gay relationships could lead to demotions and dismissal for chaplains.”

OneNewsNow: “‘This is a great event [that] happens every year,’ [David Cortman] explains. ‘It’s called the ‘Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity’ and it’s organized by a group called Stand True — and these students in their silence speak for the voices of the unborn, millions of whom have been killed by abortion since Roe v. Wade.’”

OneNewsNow: “A pro-family group in Virginia is grateful to their new governor for taking a stand in defense of religious liberty rights — and that as a result, police chaplains in the commonwealth can resume praying in the name of Jesus . . . Victoria Cobb says there are hints from the ACLU of a lawsuit, but she is convinced that Alliance Defense Fund, Liberty Counsel, and other constitutional law ministries can successfully defend the policy if need be.”

Personal Liberty Digest: “Recently, some of those activists have taken Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele to task for failing to meet with members of the ex-gay community . . . Meanwhile, in the sign that the fight over “don’t ask, don’t tell” is heating up, Family Research Council and the Alliance Defense Fund representatives held a news conference on April 28 to announce the release of a letter to President Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, signed by more than 40 retired military chaplains.”

The Economist: ” . . . a broader groundswell of debate that is beginning to erode the religious conservatives’ long-uncontested control. Saudi Arabia’s beleaguered liberals had placed high hopes in King Abdullah, who succeeded to the throne in 2005 with a reputation for reformist tendencies. But the 85-year-old monarch has proved wary of provoking a conservative backlash. It is only now that slow, gentle pressure from the top is producing inklings of change.”

High court mentions roadside memorials as part of Mojave Cross ruling after ADF-allied attorney representing Utah Highway Patrol Association filed brief in case

BeliefNet (RNS): “The letter was spearheaded by the Family Research Council and the Alliance Defense Fund. ADF lawyers sent a letter with similar concerns to Obama and Gates in February.”

Wendy Kaminer writing in The Atlantic: “Judge Crabb cited numerous complaints from members of minority faiths about the ‘hi-jacking’ of Prayer Day by conservative Christians. Joel Oster, Senior Legal Counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), disputes the prevalence of these complaints, suggesting that they are isolated incidents instigated by “special interest groups that create their own devisiveness’ . . . What’s the harm of National Prayer Day? It equates prayerfulness and patriotism, as its congressional history makes clear; it sends a ‘message of exclusion’ to religious minorities and other heretics, and, again, it threatens sectarian divisiveness.”

On Top Magazine (“gay advocacy website): “The measure would allow gay Americans to sponsor an immigrant partner for citizenship.”

“Do we really want first-graders to be taught that gay marriage is OK, or that the influence of a mother and a father on the development of a child somehow doesn’t matter?”

David E. Smith of the Illinois Family Institute writes at the Chicago Tribune: “Marriage is not a relationship that society created in order to give some people benefits and deny them to others. Marriage is the institution that societies worldwide have recognized and encouraged because this unique relationship between a man and a woman provides particular benefits to society, chief among them, the procreation and nurturing of the next generation . . . ”

The Republic: “A federal judge will hear arguments Friday over whether a central Indiana high school should be allowed to have a prayer said during its graduation ceremony.”

North Little Rock Times: “The Arkansas Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is still considering a lawsuit against North Little Rock for its practice of opening City Council meetings with prayer . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “In Council on American-Islamic Relations v. Callahan, (ED MI, April 29, 2010), a Michigan federal district court dismissed a case in which a Muslim woman, Raneen Albaghdady, sued a state court judge who requested that she remove her hijab in his court room . . . ”

PoliticsDaily.com: “The issue of D.C. Statehood — or alternatively of adding members to the U.S. House so the District can get some voting representation — has been bouncing around Capitol Hill for decades.”

Fox News carries this transcript of an Interview by Sean Hannity with S.E. Cupp the author of this new book that “explores why the liberal elite is only suspicious when conservatives invoke religion. Now, the book is called ‘Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media’s Attack on Christianity.’”

LA Times: “The Supreme Court sends the message the government can treat a Christian symbol as a national emblem and display it on public property . . . ”

Washington Post: “The White House vowed Friday that no expansion of offshore oil drilling will take place until investigations are completed into a rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, which is sending thousands of gallons of crude oil lapping toward Louisiana’s shores.”

One News Now: “The nation’s largest public policy women’s organization is appalled that leading feminists, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, continue to give Muslims a pass when it comes to their treatment of women.”

“The bill now goes to Gov. Linda Lingle, . . . a Republican, has not said whether she would sign, veto or allow the bill to become law without her signature . . . ”

SCOTUS Blog has published it most recent “Stat Pack” containing facts and statistics about the current session of the U.S. Supreme Court.

National Catholic Register: “Catholic moral theologians and pro-life advocates applauded the appointment of Brother Daniel Sulmasy, whose record on abortion, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide and human embryonic stem-cell research is consistently pro-life. They suggest he possesses the perseverance and diplomatic gifts required for extended debates on ideologically charged issues.”

Yahoo News (AFP): “Spain’s jobless rate topped 20 percent in the first quarter, national statistics institute INE said Friday, fueling fears over the country’s public finances which have rattled global financial markets.”

Fox News: “The House of Representatives voted Thursday to allow Puerto Ricans to decide their own political future and relationship with the United States. The vote was 223 to 169. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., voted present. The bill introduced a two-step ballot measure for Puerto Rico to decide if its residents want to change their current relationship with the United States.”