Daily Archives: January 17, 2011

“The abortion rate in California has declined sharply over the last two decades, but remains higher than the nationwide rate, according to a new study from the nonpartisan Guttmacher Institute.”

“Minors from other states may ask Kentucky judges to give them permission to have abortions without their parents’ knowledge or consent, a state appeals court has ruled.”

LifeNews: “85 regions or affiliates aligned with Planned Parenthood must operate an abortion center by 2013 — which would ensure all 820 Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide either do abortions or provide abortion referrals to a Planned Parenthood abortion center. For the state of New Jersey, that could mean three additional abortion centers in the state.”

Clarion Ledger: “[N]ew government figures suggest[] that this once rock-solid institution continues to crumble, even in the reputedly pro-marriage state of Mississippi, where religious leaders, sociologists and others are pondering the reasons.”

Guardian: “The Chinese president, Hu Jintao, has held out the prospect of a clash with President Barack Obama over human rights when the two meet at the White House on Wednesday.”

Telegraph: “The author, who caused an outcry last year when he called for euthanasia booths to be installed on every street corner, says that he now regards euthanasia as nothing less than ‘an evolutionary inevitability.’”

Irish Times: “Glenn Cunningham and Adriano Vilar have become the first gay couple in the State to have their civil partnership formally recognised by the State. The couple, who work at Argos, formed a civil partnership at a ceremony in Northern Ireland last year.”

Star-Tribune: “At least eight measures in this year’s General Assembly take aim against discrimination based on sexual orientation. The proposals range from prohibiting such discrimination in employment, to targeting harassment of gay students at school, to overturning Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage.”

The Christian Institute: “A judge is expected to give his ruling tomorrow on the case of the Christian owners of a guesthouse sued by homosexuals for restricting double bed accommodation to married couples. The judgment is set to be handed down at Bristol County Court by His Honour Judge Rutherford at 10am tomorrow, Tuesday 18 January 2011.”

Jakarta Globe: “A hard-line Islamic group is set to file a class-action lawsuit against the Bogor administration for its failure to rescind the Indonesian Christian Church’s building permit. The move follows the announcement on Friday that the Supreme Court had rejected the administration’s request to uphold the revocation of the church’s permit to construct a place of worship.”

NJ.com: “The Planned Parenthood Federation of America has announced a national expansion that could double the number of abortion clinics it operates in New Jersey from three to six by 2013 and provide a wider array of health care for the tens of thousands of uninsured or low-income people it serves.”

ABC 7: “A planned anti-abortion rights demonstration ends in an unplanned crash. Protestors lined McGregor Boulevard outside the home of a Fort Myers doctor, when a car jumped the curb and ran over a protestor holding a sign.”

The Chronicle of Higher Education: “She has spent some 15 years . . . studying this emerging breed of ‘sociable robots’—including toys like Furbies and new robotic pets for the elderly—and what she considers their seductive and potentially dangerous powers. She argues that robotics’ growing trend toward creating machines that act as if they were alive could lead people to place machines in roles she thinks only humans should occupy. Her prediction: Companies will soon sell robots designed to baby-sit children, replace workers in nursing homes, and serve as companions for people with disabilities. All of which to Turkle is demeaning, ‘transgressive,’ and damaging to our collective sense of humanity.”

Orlando Sentinel: “A push by gay-rights activists for Orange County to offer domestic-partner benefits will likely come down to costs — a significant worry as local governments face harsh budget realities. But city and county governments in Florida that offer similar same-sex benefits show relatively low annual costs to taxpayers — about the same amount Orange commissioners awarded in staff bonuses during better times.”

Reuters: “Vietnam’s ruling Communists are replenishing their aging ranks with younger, better-educated policymakers and entrepreneurs as the 81-year-old party founded by Marxist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh struggles to stay relevant.”

Kotaku: “The birthrate in Japan is declining, leaving a big question mark on the country’s future. This didn’t begin when young males started reading comics or playing video games, but with the breakdown of the traditional family structure in the years after World War II, which meant that grandparents not longer lived with their children, putting an increasing burden on new mothers.”

Engage Family Blog: “The Family Policy Council of West Virginia (FPCVW) announced Monday that it is asking West Virginia lawmakers to support proposed legislation, the ‘Grieving Parents Act,’ which will close a legal loophole that has prevented parents of the legal means they need in order to bury, and properly grieve for, their stillborn or miscarried child.”

Telegraph: “It was a bitterly cold night in January when Geraldine Weller gave birth in the car park of a London hospital. Three hours earlier, the maternity unit had sent her away. Midwives who said they were short-staffed had confidently told her that it would be ‘ages yet’ before she went into labour. They maintained that view even as her husband made frantic phone calls, reporting from their Surrey home that the baby’s head could now be seen.”

“[Lawmakers] are being asked to consider two competing measures: one that would create rules for doctors who are asked to write a prescription for a lethal dose of medication and another that would ban assisted suicide altogether.”

Statesman-Journal: “Protesters from both sides of the abortion debate are rallying today in Salem to mark the upcoming anniversary of Roe v. Wade.”

The Commercial Appeal: “Tennesseeans will likely be able to decide whether there should be a ‘fundamental right’ to abortion in 2014 when a constitutional amendment proposed by state lawmakers could reach the ballot.”

Ruth Institute: “The Ruth Institute, a project of the National Organization for Marriage Education Fund, announces its first annual Reel Love Challenge, a video contest for young adults, aged 18-30. The contest is open to all young adults, married or single, male or female, in college, out of college, or never been anywhere near a college. This contest is for everyone in the next generation to give their ideas about what sustains love over the course of a lifetime.”

Joseph Mchangama writing at National Review Online: “The OIC’s efforts as the international defender of Islam are probably an attempt both to appease domestic religious extremism and to counter what is perceived as increasing hostility toward Muslims in the West . . . The plight of Muslims in the West is thus in no way comparable to the plight of residents — including Muslims — of OIC states, who are frequently subject to systematic denial of basic rights as well as increasing violence from terrorists.”

Daily Times: “Former federal minister Haji Hanif Tayyab said on Saturday that a 10-member committee would be formed to look into the cases pertaining to the misuse of blasphemy law.”

Chicago Tribune: “The county is also holding hearings over a controversial proposal to prohibit religious facilities in unincorporated residential areas, though pending projects would not be subject to the new ordinance, if it is adopted . . . On Thursday, the Zoning Board voted 5-2 to recommend rejecting the request by the Muslim Educational Cultural Center of America (MECCA) for a proposed mosque, school and recreation center in a residential area near Willowbrook. The issue now goes before the County Board’s Development Committee on Feb. 1.”

Associated Press: “In this Muslim-majority country, it’s OK to be Christian, Buddhist or Hindu. But not Shiite. Malaysian religious police raided a three-story shop-house last month and detained more than 100 Shiites who had gathered to mark the death of one of their most beloved saints, Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, who was killed in the year 680.”

Hurriyet Daily News: “A decision at Sunday’s Grand Alevi Congress will lead to mass lawsuits against compulsory religious education in Turkey and Alevi congresses being held abroad, the heads of leading Alevi organizations have said.”

Wall Street Journal: “A long-simmering controversy over whether Orthodox Jews can place a religious symbol on utility poles in a Hamptons community on eastern Long Island appears headed to court. Attorneys for the East End Eruv Association have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming officials in the town of Southampton and villages of Westhampton Beach and Quogue are intentionally infringing on their religious freedom by not allowing the placement of an ‘eruv.’”

The Hill: “Two prominent conservatives have joined forces in an attempt to get Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) into the race for president. A Draft Pence for President movement launched Monday, led by conservative former Rep. Jim Ryun (R-Kan.) and Ralph Benko, who served as an adviser to President Reagan.”

EWTN: “Three days after he called attention to an alarming 41 percent rate of abortion in New York City, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York extolled the work of both religious and secular pro-life activists, praising them for their commitment to ‘the premier civil rights issue of our day.’”

Sun-Sentinel: “It’s so easy perhaps to think of the impact of miscarriage in terms of how it affects the woman who must endure both the physical and emotional damage, we forget in most cases there’s also a dad trying to come to grips with the pain, disappointment and uncertainty himself — all while trying to be strong for his reeling wife.”

Mail & Guardian: “She is the most powerful politician to advance an explicitly feminist agenda. Even in that most delicate and crucial relationship with China — on which the world’s attention will be fixed this week for the Chinese president’s visit to the US — Clinton has gone out of her way to press feminist issues. In China’s case, she has highlighted the country’s growing gender imbalance caused by the high abortion rate of female foetuses.”

Cherokee Tribune: “The Cherokee County school board is expected to take one of its most anticipated votes in recent years on Thursday. The board is scheduled to consider whether to continue using First Baptist Church of Woodstock for the Cherokee County School District’s high school graduation ceremonies.”

OneNewsNow: “The American pro-life community is looking to future challenges after a recent Guttmacher report on abortion . . . Jeanne Monahan of the Family Research Council tells OneNewsNow that RU-486, the abortion pill, played a role in the totals. ‘Interestingly, [chemical abortions are] more expensive than surgical abortions,’ she notes. ‘So I find that fascinating just in as much as they’re touted as being easier on women, which is absolutely not true.’”

OneNewsNow: “With last week’s recognition of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, one group is encouraging people to stay involved in the battle, especially in the area of child trafficking and pornography. Though human trafficking mainly involves women and children, males are also impacted. Lynette Lewis, founder and president of Stop Child Trafficking Now, tells OneNewsNow it is a significant problem.”

Christian Post: “Mohamed Ahmed Hassanein, also known as Hamam el-Kamouny, was sentenced to death by an Egyptian state security court on Sunday for his part in the 2010 killing of Coptic Christians.”

OneNewsNow: “Joseph Parker, pastor of two African-Methodist-Episcopal churches in Mississippi, says today’s culture often overlooks the critical questions and issues related to life and the unborn. Instead, he says, people tend to avoid pushing their moral views on others or agree that it is up to a woman to decide what she should do with her body.”

The Columbus Dispatch: “Legislation that would ban late-term abortions is among the priority bills rolled out last week by the Ohio House Republican leadership. The measure is the only bill among the initial offerings sponsored by a Democrat: Rep. Lorraine Fende of Willowick.”

Detroit News: “Detroit Public Schools would close nearly half of its schools in the next two years, and increase high school class sizes to 62 by the following year, under a deficit-reduction plan filed with the state.”

NY Daily News: “Andrew Cuomo said during his campaign that he wants to make gay marriage legal in New York and a new appointment may signal he means business – even if it’s still an uphill battle. Cuomo is naming Erik Bottcher, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s liaison to the gay community, to the newly created cabinet post of special assistant for community affairs.”

SCOTUSblog: “The Justice Department on Friday asked the Ninth Circuit Court either to put on hold the constitutional case on gays in the U.S. military, or else give it more time to file its written arguments — a plea that would stretch out the briefing schedule another month. The request came in a new filing (found here) after a gay rights advocacy group had opposed any further delay in the appeals court process.”

LifeSiteNews: “Pro-life advocates in Louisiana will soon be gathering for the first ever Louisiana Life March to mourn the 38th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in all 50 states.”

LifeSiteNews: “Organizers expect more than 35,000 peaceful pro-life activists for the rally at Justin Herman Plaza and walk along the Embarcadero to Marina Green. The 2010 Walk drew a massive crowd with media estimates ranging from 23,000 to 35,000 people.”

LifeNews: “Republicans, who enjoy a majority control of the state House, announced their legislative agenda yesterday and it included legislation helping parents not be in the dark when their daughters are contemplating an abortion.”

Wall Street Journal: “Chinese President Hu Jintao emphasized the need for cooperation with the U.S. in areas from new energy to space ahead of his visit to Washington this week, but he called the present U.S. dollar-dominated currency system a ‘product of the past’ and highlighted moves to turn the yuan into a global currency.”

NDTV: “The roughing up of the family forced them to go into hiding for fear of being killed. The fresh incident has come as the country is yet to recover from the assassination of outspoken governor Salmaan Taseer for his support to Christian woman Aasia Bibi in jail on blasphemy charges.”

Law Enforcement Examiner: “President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law does not specify which companies or labor unions should receive waivers for its requirements and under what circumstances. Critics of how Heath and Human Services Department has chosen to handle these waiver requests highlight the haphazard nature of the approval process and the fact that companies able to secure these coveted Obamacare exemptions are given an unfair competitive advantage over their rivals.”

Star Parker writing at Townhall: “A widely held assumption in our national discourse today is that there are ‘economic issues’ and ‘social issues’ that are separate, unrelated concerns. The fact that many actually believe that our nation’s economic vitality has nothing to do with the condition of the American family or our general attitudes toward life and personal responsibility is a symptom of rather than an answer to our problems.”

Yahoo News (AFP): “More than 1,000 infants — most of them girls — were killed or abandoned to die in Pakistan last year according to conservative estimates by the Edhi Foundation, a charity working to reverse the grim trend.”

Lambda Legal: “The full 16-member U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on Wednesday, January 19, 2011, regarding the New York adoption of a Louisiana-born baby boy by a same-sex couple.”

Byron York writing at Townhall: “For years, Republicans have wanted to cut off federal funding for National Public Radio. They tried and failed in the 1990s, but now, with a new GOP majority in the House, they’re ready to try again. It’s still a long shot, but they have a fighting chance.”

Dick Morris and Eileen McGann writing at Townhall: “When the states come calling, the House must say, ‘No.’ What’s more, it’s time to amend the federal bankruptcy laws to create a procedure for state bankruptcies — allowing states to abrogate their municipal-union contracts from the school-board level on up.”

Tennessean: “Tennessee’s highest-ranking judges don’t want to run for elected office statewide to keep their jobs, but many of those same members of the judiciary give heavily to the campaigns of politicians who could help decide the fate of Tennessee judicial elections.”

Des Moines Register: “The Iowa Supreme Court’s four justices, who face an increased workload after voters ousted three colleagues, will release their first batch of opinions in 2011 in February. In a typical January, the court releases between eight and 10 rulings, said Iowa state courts spokesman Steve Davis. The court is scheduled to release a round of opinions on Feb. 3.”

Radio Iowa: “The chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court has agreed to meet with one of the state’s leading critics of the court’s gay marriage ruling. Chuck Hurley of a group that recently changed its name to The FAMiLY Leader says he’ll ask the chief justice to ‘pray and search his heart’ and Hurley says he’s confident the justice will then resign.”

Associated Press: “Congress may be less likely to pass legislation on the issue than it had been last year, when both chambers were under Democratic control. A bill to give U.S. companies a means of challenging what they view as an unfair export subsidy sailed through the House, but died in the Senate.”

Fox News: “The Council on American-Islamic Relations said it will remove a poster from the group’s website promoting an upcoming conference that encourages people not to talk to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The poster, which appeared on the website of CAIR’s California chapter, features a sinister-looking FBI agent with the headlines ‘Build a Wall of Resistance’ and ‘Don’t Talk to the FBI.’”

Christian Concern: “On Thursday 20 January, a Christian counsellor will be summoned before a Professional Conduct Panel for giving therapy to a homosexual man who pretended to be a Christian wishing to stop practising homosexuality . . . Throughout the two therapy sessions, Patrick repeatedly told Lesley that he wanted to leave his homosexual lifestyle, that it had become meaningless to him and that he wanted to change. However, after the sessions, he lodged a complaint to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy alleging that Lesley had failed to respect the fixed nature of his homosexuality.”

Helen Alvaré, Greg Pfundstein, Matthew Schmitz and Ryan T. Anderson writing at The Public Discourse: “One of the most frequently repeated canards of the abortion debate is that pro-lifers really don’t care about life . . . This lazy slander is as common as it is untrue . . . pro-lifers have taken the lead in offering vital services to mothers and infants in need . . .  It’s time the media takes notice . . . No major pro-abortion group or institution has taken on a comparable commitment to vulnerable Americans.”

New York Post: “Less than two weeks into her new gig, Schools Chancellor Cathie Black has riled parents and public officials by jokingly suggesting that ‘birth control’ was the solution to school overcrowding.”

Associated Press: “The maker of BlackBerry promised Indonesia on Monday it will meet the country’s request to filter out pornographic content on its smartphones in the next four days, according to a government spokesman.”

Kyle Olson writing at Townhall: “‘Kids Aren’t Cars‘ is a new short film series set for release February 1st. Using examples from the Midwest, it documents the impact organized labor has had on the American education system, creating a one-size-fits-all assembly line model that leaves students behind and treats teachers equally, stifling innovation and improvement.”

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “In C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, the senior devil Screwtape writes to the junior devil Wormwood, ‘Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels he is “finally finding his place in it,” while really it is finding its place in him.’ No, the National Labor Relations Board didn’t really quote (or even mention) Lewis, but it did hand down a decision on January 10, 2011 that applies Screwtape’s observation. The Board ruled it had jurisdiction over the labor practices of Manhattan College in the Bronx – a traditionally Catholic School.”

ADF attorney David French writing at Patheos: “Sometimes, the truth is not civil. Sometimes, our consciences need to be shocked, and those who occupy the halls of power should be directly challenged. There is injustice in this world—including deadly injustice—and it is a simple fact that civil disagreement is quite often the easiest form of dissent to handle, the easiest to disregard.”

WorldNetDaily: “Judges at the European Court of Human Rights for more than six months have ignored a separated Swedish family’s plea for justice and reunification, and advocates for Christer and Annie Johansson say now it’s time for the citizens of the world to demand action . . . ‘I am absolutely astonished that they haven’t replied to any of the applications that [ADF attorney] Roger [Kiska] filed for Christer and family and sent him a case [number]. They haven’t replied to my fax letter of September 29, in which I inquired about the application,’ [Ruby Harrold-Claesson, the president of the Nordic Committee for Human Rights] said in a statement to the HSLDA.”

The New American: “On Wednesday, January 12, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee changed its policy for nurse residency applications, one day after the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed a complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) on behalf of a nursing student opposed to VU requirements that nursing residents participate in abortions.”

Washington Examiner (AP): “The state of Vermont has ended a years-long legal dispute with a man who has been fighting for the right to display a reference to one of the Bible’s most famous passages on a vanity plate . . . ‘This really is a great victory for free speech,’ said [Jeremy Tedesco], the general council for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, which represented Byrne.”

The Keene Sentinel: “Town officials will propose a new ordinance to voters at town meeting in March in an attempt to come into compliance with federal laws regarding religious land use. Last summer the town settled a religious discrimination lawsuit with the St. Benedict Center for $1.15 million. At the time, the settlement was said to be one of the largest of its kind, according to the Alliance Defense Fund . . .”

ChristianNewsWire: “Hundreds maybe thousands of patriotic citizens along with local and national leaders will rally tomorrow 10am PST in San Diego in relentless defense and support of the Mt Soledad Veterans Memorial Cross atop Mt Soledad near La Jolla, Ca . . . ‘It’s tragic that the court chose a twisted and tired interpretation of the First Amendment over the common sense idea that families of fallen American troops should be allowed to honor these heroes as they choose. No one is harmed, constitutionally or otherwise, by the presence of a cross on a memorial. The memorial cross should stand in honor of the sacrifice made by American troops.’ said [Joe Infranco], Senior Counsel, Alliance Defense Fund.”

“Absolutely not. That decision was crafted with all of the energy, all of the strength — everything that we do as judges is in that opinion,” Cady said. “Everything that Iowa is about is in that opinion.”

Daniel O. Conkle, Religious Truth, Pluralism, and Secularization: The Shaking Foundations of American Religious Liberty (January 12, 2011). Cardozo Law Review, Vol. 32, 2011. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1739244

“In this Essay, I recount John Locke’s 1689 Letter Concerning Toleration and explain how religious liberty continues to rest on Lockean and related justifications. These various justifications depend in part on religious-moral reasoning (both Christian and non-Christian) and in part on political-pragmatic considerations. I then discuss recent and ongoing developments in the American religious landscape, including a radical increase in religious diversity, the modernization of traditional faiths, the individualization or ‘spiritualization’ of religion, and the increasing secularization of individual belief structures. I suggest that these developments, over time, may seriously threaten the underlying religious-moral and political-pragmatic foundations of religious liberty and therefore America’s commitment to religious liberty as a fundamental value. If I am correct, the long-term future of American religious liberty may be in peril.”

Paula L. Abrams, The Reasonable Believer: Faith, Formalism, and Endorsement of Religion (January 10, 2011). Lewis & Clark Law Review, Vol. 14, No. 4, p. 1537, 2010. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1737939

“The reasonable observer standard, used in Establishment Clause cases to determine whether government action endorses religion, marks a retreat by the Court from vigorous scrutiny of government purpose and effect. The standard, which examines whether a reasonable observer, familiar with First Amendment values and with the history and context of government action, perceives endorsement, embodies a shift toward formalism in Establishment Clause doctrine.

This Essay argues that the reasonable observer standard, which bypasses the role of faith in perception, undermines the protection of a core Establishment Clause value – inclusion. The reasonable observer standard, representing the abstracted perspectives of a “community” of indeterminate faith, decreases the significance of the effect of government action, particularly on the nonadherent. Application of the standard thus tends to validate the perspective of the majority. The value of inclusion is best served by an inquiry into purpose and effect that considers the perceptions of both adherents and nonadherents.”

Dena S. Davis, Line-Drawing, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, and the Dickey-Wicker Amendment (November 3, 2010). Cleveland-Marshall Legal Studies Paper No. 10-201. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1702477

“Human embryonic stem cell (hesc) research is the culmination of a multi-step process: creating an embryo through in vitro fertilization (IVF), deciding whether to donate or destroy embryos ‘left over’ from that process, harvesting stem cells from embryos donated for research, and finally doing research with the stem cells themselves. Each of these points presents different ethical issues. For those for whom human embryos command relatively little moral weight, this entire process is acceptable. But for those who consider embryos the moral equivalent of persons ,and also for those for whom embryos, while not equal in importance to born humans, do carry a great deal of weight, everything depends on when in that process one comes to a moral crossroads.

I argue that the line drawn by NIH in its response to the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, is not morally defensible. I also argue that for those who wish to stop or at least to decrease the destruction of embryos for stem cell research, the moral crossroads occurs much earlier: with the creation of those embryos in the fertility clinics.”

Thaddeus Mason Pope, Conscientious Objection by Health Care Providers (January 6, 2011). Lahey Clinic Medical Ethics Journal, 2011. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1736183

“Conscience clauses are state and federal statutes and regulations that protect the rights of health care providers to decline to provide or participate in health services that violate their religious or moral beliefs. But for such legal protection a provider’s refusal of treatment could result in civil, criminal and/or disciplinary sanctions. Conscience clauses vary in strength and scope. But there is increasing consensus that the right of the provider to conscientiously object to the performance of health services must be balanced against the need to ensure patient access to those services. This brief article observes that two key components of this equilibrium are the duty to transfer and the duty to treat in emergency situations.”