Daily Archives: June 2, 2010

Yahoo (Reuters): “Women who have an abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy are more likely than women who terminate their pregnancies earlier to have repeat abortions, new research shows.”

LifeNews: “The Planned Parenthood abortion referral center in Waterbury, Connecticut is closing up shop after having a location there since 1985. The center closed on May 27 and Grace Mayer, a staffer there, said it had been doing abortion referrals in addition to legitimate medical services.”

The Salt Lake Tribune: “The West Valley City Council, in a 5-1 vote, approved Tuesday an anti-discrimination ordinance similar to those recently passed in other Utah cities.”

ADF Attorney Daniel Blomberg appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss the impact of the normalization of homosexual behavior in the military on religious freedom. | MP3 32:58 mins

ABC Tucson: “The University of Arizona has found a way to offer health insurance to same-sex partners of UA employees, after a new state law banned the use of state funds for health benefits to the same-sex partner.”

Reuters: “New polygamous marriages and sharia courts will be banned on France’s Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte when it becomes a department of the French state next year, according to a draft ordinance presented on Wednesday.”

“I renew my call for swift passage of an important piece of legislation pending in both Houses of Congress—the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act.”

Reuters: “A Spanish town council has voted to ban the wearing of the face-covering Muslim veil in public buildings, the first authority in the predominantly Catholic country to do so.”

Pew Forum: “Afghan officials have ordered two international church-backed humanitarian groups to suspend operations while they investigate allegations of illegal proselytizing, which the groups strongly deny . . . ‘Norwegian Church Aid does not proselytize in any of the countries in which it works. This policy is also enforced in Afghanistan,’ NCA said on its website. ‘Norwegian Church Aid has been working in Afghanistan since 1979 and has since 1995 mainly implemented its programs through Afghan organizations.’”

Maggie Gallagher writing at NRO | The Corner: “The answer is: At typical rates of contraceptive failure, nine out of 100 of these young women will get pregnant. (Actually, that’s the average for all Pill users; young users probably have higher failure rates.) Among condom users, 17 young women will get pregnant for every 100 who rely on this method (IUD’s and implants are the most successful methods in “typical use”). That’s just the risk in the first year. If you spend ten years being unmarried and sexually active, the odds you will get pregnant, or get someone pregnant, are quite substantial.”

aerzteblatt.de: “[The Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) in Karlsruhe will rule concerning] the [attempted] euthanasia of a terminally ill woman at [a] hearing on Wednesday. She [had lain] in a coma since a cerebral hemorrhage in 2002 at a nursing home in Bad Hersfeld, and [had previously] expressed the wish that [in such a case] the artificial diet [would be] discontinued . . . [Following the attempt] the court sentenced [the daughter's lawyer] to a term of imprisonment of nine months probation for attempted homicide; the daughter was acquitted because [she] had acted in view of the legal advice of the lawyer [and] without guilt. Both the lawyer and the prosecutor appealed to the Supreme Court. Whether the judge make a ruling on Wednesday, is completely open.” [Modified Google translation]

AdelaideNow: “At a rally on the steps of Parliament House yesterday, Labor backbencher Steph Key announced she would introduce a private member’s bill to decriminalise the industry.”

Forum 18: “Legal provisions in the Russian North Caucasus republic of Dagestan restricting religious education are a major element in the near monopoly on Muslim public life enjoyed by the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Dagestan, Forum 18 News Service has found.”

Tucson Citizen: “This morning, the Supreme Court denied a request the Goldwater Institute filed two weeks ago asking for an injunction to stop the use of matching funds this year. But the Court gave the Institute permission to file the request again along with an assurance that the Institute plans to appeal the recent opinion from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that overruled the District Court and declared matching funds to be legal. A new request and a commitment to appeal the Ninth Circuit decision was filed this afternoon.”

Hartford Courant: “The town has approved new regulations that limit where adult-oriented businesses can be located and require them to get licenses.”

Independent Press: “The Board of Education and a group of parents are at a standoff regarding the school district’s reliance on Planned Parenthood to help with the fourth and fifth grade human growth curriculum . . . In response to objections from some parents, the Board of Education recently assured parents that Planned Parenthood operatives would no longer be co-teaching the students. Nevertheless, the board stood firm in its decision to allow Planned Parenthood materials to be used.”

ABC 4 Charleston (AP): “A committee of House and Senate members tried again Wednesday morning to hash out differences in the versions each chamber passed. But, as in previous attempts, no progress was made.”

Forbes (AP): “South Carolina lawmakers refused on Wednesday to agree on a compromise version of a nearly $5 billion state spending plan as Republicans angled for abortion restrictions in the state health insurance plan and Democrats decried deep cuts in spending for health and social service programs.”

At the New Ledger Pejman Yousefzadeh reviews Hunter Baker’s The End of Secularism: “I take issue with his claim that the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment cannot be incorporated against the states. As we know, of course, pursuant to the Incorporation Doctrine, the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses are found to apply against the states via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.”

USA Today: “Before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 there were about 1.4 million Christians in Iraq, a Muslim-dominated nation of nearly 30 million. Since then, about 50% of Iraq’s Christians have fled the country, taking refuge in neighboring Jordan, Syria, Europe and the USA, according to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).”

Washington Times: “Angry over health care reform and the abortion fight it reinvigorated, worried about the expansion of gay rights and frustrated by President Obama’s criticisms of Israel, religious conservatives are eager to play a key role in the outcome of the 2010 midterm elections.”

San Francisco Chronicle (AP): “A growing number of teen girls say they use the rhythm method for birth control, and more teens also think it’s OK for an unmarried female to have a baby, according to a government survey released Wednesday. The report may help explain why the teen pregnancy rate is no longer dropping.”

“Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence will join members of the Minnesota Family Council in a press conference Thursday at the Minnesota State Capitol to announce their intention to submit a request to intervene to defend marriage against a legal attack filed in state court.”

Xinhua: “A senior Chinese official has called for promoting the values of the country’s religions, such as sincerity, harmony, safeguarding the nation and loving the people.”

ABC News: “One local council is bracing for a community backlash as it moves toward introducing non-denominational cemeteries. Cemeteries in the Nambucca Shire are expected to abandon the use of denominational burial sites within the next 10 years. The council plans to introduce unsegregated areas at Nambucca Heads, Macksville and Bowraville cemeteries because they are running out of plots and the lack of space could push up burial costs.”

European Center for Law and Justice: “For the first time in the record of the ECHR, ten member States are simultaneously intervening as ‘third party’ in one single case. The case at stake is the Lautsi case – also known as the ‘crucifix case’ – which will go before the Grand Chamber of the ECHR on June 30th. The Court has communicated to the ECLJ the list of the following Member States: Armenia; Bulgaria; Cyprus; Greece; Lithuania; Malta; Monaco; San-Marino; Romania; The Russian Federation.”

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up University / Church: “Recently a federal court in Maryland undermined the independence of religious organizations when it allowed a nurse’s religious harassment claim against a Catholic institution to go forward. It was the first such decision of its kind. Villa St. Catherine’s is a Catholic nursing center that the Court recognized is exempt from religious discrimination provisions of Title VII – the federal law that prohibits employment discrimination. Congress wisely included this exemption so that religious organizations can maintain their religious character. This makes constitutional and practical sense. A Jewish ministry to the poor should not have to hire a Muslim, and vice versa. And when government entangles itself in the hiring and firing decisions of religious organizations, it violates the First Amendment’s protection of religious freedom. A good analysis of this aspect of Church Autonomy can be read here.

LifeSiteNews: “Michigan abortionist Abraham Alberto Hodari has admitted to having an assistant forcibly restrain a woman who changed her mind about having an abortion, claiming he had already begun the procedure and wanted to guarantee a ‘safe abortion.’” | [11.24.2009] Victim of Forced Abortion Says Practitioner Hodari “Ripped the Life” Out of Her

LifeSiteNews: “American Life League and 26 other pro-life organizations have joined together for ‘Protest the Pill Day: The Pill Kills the Environment’ on June 5. At the national event launch at 11 a.m. outside of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Dr. James Joyce, M.D., Jennifer Giroux, R.N., and pro-life activists Marie Hahnenberg, Michael Hichborn and Katie Walker will testify to the harmful effects birth control has on our environment and our health.”

American Constitution Society for Law and Policy: “ACS is pleased to distribute ‘The Prop 8 Court Can Have it All: Justice, Precedent, Respect for Democracy, and an Appropriately Limited Judicial Role,’ an Issue Brief by Rebecca L. Brown, Newton Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. In this Issue Brief, Professor Brown discusses Perry v. Schwarzenegger, in which the United States District Court for the Northern District of California is considering whether the United States Constitution requires states to permit marriage between individuals of the same sex. While strong arguments may very well exist for a broad ruling, Professor Brown suggests that the case might also lend itself to a more modest resolution of the claims raised. Proposition 8 was a ballot initiative that originated as a reaction to a California Supreme Court decision interpreting California’s Constitution as requiring the state to permit same-sex couples to marry; Proposition 8 subsequently added to the California Constitution a provision that ‘[o]nly marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.’ After extensive analysis of case law, the author concludes that the United States Constitution’s Equal Protection jurisprudence dictates that Proposition 8 be struck down, since ‘[a]ny legislation must have a public purpose other than stigmatization,’ and ‘no public purpose that could plausibly be served by this retroactive reduction in status has been offered to dispel the usual inference that any act of stigmatization is a violation of the state’s obligation to legislate impartially.’”

Catholic News Agency: “Dr. Ruairi Hanley made his remarks in an April 29 article, commenting on what he feels is a blatant intolerance for Catholicism in Modern Ireland and arguing that Catholic doctors have a right to act according to their faith, in what he believes to be an increasingly state-controlled realm of medicine in the country.” | Dr Ruairi Hanley: The crime of being Catholic

TIME: “[A] recent study revealed that 1 in 5 Brazilian women of child-bearing age has terminated a pregnancy, and statistics by the Health Ministry show that 200,000 women each year are hospitalized because of complications arising from unsafe abortions.”

Owatonna People’s Press: “Three separate groups have entered the fray, and could present the city council with dueling petitions — two against the new Lion’s Den Adult Boutique and another in support.”

Visalia Times-Delta: “Exeter Union High School seniors will have a moment of silence instead of a prayer at Friday’s graduation ceremony. High school district trustees Tuesday voted 3-0, with Joe Conley and Charlie Norman absent, to eliminate the student-led prayer. Many at the special board meeting had spoken out in favor of the 50-year tradition, and some stood and prayed as trustees met in closed session.”

Central Florida News: “There’s a bill awaiting Gov. Charlie Crist’s signature that would allow coaches, teachers and principals to take part in student-led worship.” | HB 31

AFP: “Australian Rules star Jason Akermanis has been suspended by his club over a controversial newspaper column in which he urged gay players to ‘stay in the closet’.”

Associated Press: “White House Counsel Bob Bauer said a Clinton aide is reviewing Kagan’s files from her stint in his administration to see whether any of the 160,000-page trove of records held at the Clinton presidential library should be kept secret.”

Telegraph: “Germany’s President Horst Koehler resigned on Monday after being criticised for appearing to link military deployments in Afghanistan with the country’s economic interests.”

Peggy Hartshorn, president of Heartbeat International, writing at the blog of the St. Michael Society: “In three places now, restrictions on center advertising have been rushed into place: Austin, Baltimore, and Montgomery County, Maryland. In case you missed it, two small pregnancy help centers in these targeted areas are suing to have the reputations of all our centers cleared! The Washington Post and Washington Times recently covered one of the lawsuits, just filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, close to Washington, D.C., by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of a small Spanish language center, Centro Tepeyac. The other suit has been filed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore on behalf of Baltimore’s Center for Pregnancy Concerns. Yeah! We are not sitting still in this attempt at strangulation through regulation.”

SCOTUS Blog provides a round up of information on the Supreme Court’s recent activity.

Times Herald-Record: “A new lawsuit against Kiryas Joel and its main religious institution raises the question of whether the village has a legitimate zoning board of appeals to settle zoning disputes and grant relief from local codes.” | Via Religion Clause.

Christian Post: “U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Kahn issued a Temporary Restraining Order to the school district that allows 13-year-old Raymond Hosier to resume classes and wear the rosary to school starting Wednesday. The American Center for Law and Justice, which represented Raymond, had only filed the federal lawsuit against the Schenectady City School District Tuesday morning.” |
R.H. v. Schenectady City School District, (ND NY, filed 6/1/2010) | For more information see Religion Clause.

LifeNews: “Abortion advocates say they want safe abortions, but they are challenging a new Fort Wayne, Indiana measure designed to keep women’s health and safety in mind. In April, the county commissioners approved an ordinance cracking down on botched abortions that injure women.”

How the Wheels Come Off: The Inevitable Crash of Irreconcilable Jurisprudence: Laws Based on Orthodox Judeo-Christian Theology in a Pluralistic Society
Roederick C. White, Sr., 37 S.U. L. Rev. 127

“This article discusses the early use of orthodox Judeo-Christian theology as the foundation of many American laws. The article argues that as society shifts its philosophical viewpoint, it removes the linchpin that keeps the wheels on a given area of law. When this happens, an inevitable crash of irreconcilable jurisprudence in a given area of doctrinal law occurs.”

Nidhi Nigam and Neha Vaidya, Sex Trafficking as a Human Rights Issue (May 20, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1612383

“Multilateral treaties and customary international law condemn slavery. Since its inception, the United Nations has always been committed to the abolition or elimination of slavery.But despite a multitude of U.N. recommendations, decisions, and other pronouncements, slavery is not dead, and the traffic and sale of human beings for sexual exploitation are flourishing. Trafficking should be dealt with not as an immigration problem requiring exclusionary laws and practices, but as a human rights issue. Conceptual clarity with regard to trafficking is the only way we can prevent the enactment of laws and programmes to prevent trafficking that violate other human rights of women.”

Alternatives for Adult Uses Required When Town is Sued
Anthony S. Guardino, 5/26/2010 N.Y.L.J. 5, (col. 2)

“The particular issue in TJS was whether the constitutionality of a zoning ordinance should only be evaluated with regard to the ‘alternative avenues of communication‘ the ordinance left open at the time it was passed, or those it left open at the time it was challenged. In TJS, the Second Circuit held that the First Amendment required courts to consider the adequacy of alternative sites available when the ordinance was challenged. Although the ruling necessitates further proceedings in the district court in the TJS case, it also may signal the coming end of a more-than-15-year-battle over a topless bar in the Town of Smithtown on Long Island.” | TJS of New York, Inc. v. Town of Smithtown, No. 08-2789-cv (2nd Cir. March 10, 2010) [CDC Abstract]