Daily Archives: February 9, 2011

The Alliance Defense Fund sent officials of Florida A&M University a letter Tuesday urging them to reinstate a Christian student group they de-recognized in January and banned from engaging in activities on campus.

“A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to block a prayer luncheon at the Air Force Academy.”

BBC: “David Cameron told MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions: “I don’t see any reason why prisoners should get the vote . . . The prime minister has said he feels “physically ill” at the thought of granting convicted criminals the right to vote but he had to abide by the European Court’s 2005 ruling.”

AP: A Christian astronomer who sued the University of Kentucky for religious discrimination says the perceived divide between faith and science is an “illusion.”

Dayton Daily News: “In the courtyard where the statues stand, a brick wall had “666” painted in black. The other side of the wall had a red pentagram . . . ”

Catholic Culture: “Indonesian police have stepped up security around Christian churches in Java in the wake of a series of attacks by Muslim militants, amid complaints that the government has not provided adequate protection for religious minorities.”

Radio Iowa: “A bill that would have allowed Iowans to fire or refuse business services to people involved in a homosexual relationship has been tabled, but backers hope to craft another bill that would allow Iowans with “sincere” religious objections to refuse to do business with gays and lesbians.”

Journal Gazette: “An Indiana Senate committee has endorsed a bill to require doctors to tell women seeking an abortion that human life begins at conception and that a fetus might feel pain at or before 20 weeks.”

PR Newswire: “A permanent ban on abortion funding is long overdue, which is why the U.S. bishops support the No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act (H.R. 3), said a representative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in a February 8 testimony to the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the House Judiciary Committee.”

Boston Globe (AP): “The House on Wednesday rejected a Republican-led effort to force the United Nations to give back $179 million in overpayments, falling short in the face of Obama administration arguments that much of the money already had been designated to boost security around an international headquarters susceptible to terrorist attack.”

Politics on the Hudson: “In a question-and-answer session this afternoon on Long Island, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would push to have a same-sex marriage bill pass the Legislature this session.”

WSJ Law Blog: “Say it ‘aint so: Is law school starting to lose some of its luster? Are college graduates increasingly doubting the long-held notion that a law degree is a certain path to financial stability?”

Courier Press: “A proposal that would require women seeking an abortion in Indiana to be told that human life begins at conception and that a fetus can feel pain at or before 20 weeks is set for a vote in a state Senate committee.”

The Star Advertiser: “The House could vote on the bill this week or early next week. Both the House and Senate must agree on the final language of the bill before it can go to Abercrombie. Senate Bill 232 substantively mirrors the much-debated House Bill 444 from last year that was passed by the Legislature but vetoed by then-Gov. Linda Lingle.”

News and Views from Norway: “Marriage between cousins was once fairly common, not least in royal circles, with Norway’s own king the product of parents who were first cousins. Now the Labour Party’s committee on integration, headed by Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, wants to ban such unions, setting off debate because of the stigmas it could create.”

CNA (Google Translation): The Spanish platform Professionals for Ethics (PPE), which has filed claims with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), an entity specializing in the defense of human rights, has indicated that the applicants, EPC conscientious objectors ” allege a violation by the Spanish state of several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. ”

Keen News Service: “The case is Collins v. Brewer from Arizona. The case, brought by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, pits a group of 10 gay state employees (including Tracy Collins) against a new state law barring them from signing up their domestic partners and children for family health insurance coverage. Such family coverage is made available to straight employees who are married.”

TheLedger.com: “A Lakeland man told the Polk County School Board on Tuesday that it could have free legal representation against any group that wants to stop prayers before the meetings. Morgan Smith, who is a member of the Liberty Council, said the board won’t have to worry about legal fees should it get sued.”

Washington Times: If the House of Representatives – the people’s house – is free to begin daily sessions with a religious invocation, public schools that choose to mount the Ten Commandments for display ought not to be accused of violating the Constitution. Those who find such displays troublesome should run for the school board to push for change instead of running to activist judges to impose their will on the community.

Wall Street Journal: “Now that two different federal courts have declared ObamaCare unconstitutional, the administration’s answer is to call the courts guilty of ‘judicial activism,’ ” writes the great conservative economist and columnist Thomas Sowell . . . ”

Providence Journal Blog: “Speakers will include Maggie Gallagher, the chairwoman of the National Organization for Marriage, Christopher Plante, the executive director of the local NOM chapter, Austin Nimocks, who is identified as the “Senior Counsel Alliance Defense Fund,”’ Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, president and founder of the Ruth Institute, which is described as a project of NOM, state Sen. Harold Metts and state Rep. Raymond Hull.”

LifeNews: “First-term Democratic Senator Jim Webb of Virginia announced today he will retire instead of seeking re-election in the 2012 election cycle. The news is good for pro-life advocates upset with his pro-abortion voting record.”

SCOTUS Blog: “With Virginia seeking to bypass the court of appeals in its bid to overturn the new federal health-care law, we look at the rules governing cert. before judgment and the Court’s past uses of the procedure.”

Boston Herald: “But House leaders have asked that the fight to repeal gay marriage be postponed until next year, and the latest WMUR Granite State Poll shows only 29 percent of New Hampshire adults support repealing the law, compared to 62 who want to leave it in place.”

TheBostonChannel.com (includes video): “If you live in the state of Massachusetts, there’s one thing that never ends: alimony. It’s a life-long financial obligation that can turn lives and finances upside down. Now a new legislative proposal could radically change that mandate.”

NBC17.com: “The NC Department of Revenue does not need access to private customer records that reveal which specific customers in North Carolina have ordered which specific books, music, or movies in order to complete its audit of Amazon and collect any taxes owed,” said Jennifer Rudinger, Executive Director of the ACLU of North Carolina in a press release.

CNN: “A baby boy is clinging to life at a South Carolina hospital, three days after being abandoned in an arena toilet after a circus show, police said.”

“A Chicago medical center has become one of the nation’s first Roman Catholic hospitals to adopt a practice of halting second-trimester abortions for women who change their minds after the multiday medical procedure has begun.”

Baltimore Sun: Baltimore County Sen. James Brochin found the testimony Tuesday by opponents of gay marriage “troubling,” and said this morning that he may support the bill. The Baltimore County Democrat had previously said he was against same-sex marriage.

LifesiteNews: Saskatchewan Justice Minister Don Morgan has advised MP Maurice Vellacott that though he has considered other options for marriage commissioners who do not want to perform ceremonies for homosexual couples, such as the “single entry point” system used in Ontario, he has “found no workable options. We have accepted the court decision.”

LifeSiteNews: “The Portuguese Federation for Life (FPV) is calling for a revision of the nation’s abortion legislation after a nurse was given a suspended sentence of three years years in prison for running an illegal and clandestine abortion clinic in the city of Matosinhos.”

USA Today: “Webb won one of the closest Senate races of 2006, defeating incumbent Republican George Allen. The GOP senator made one of the more memorable gaffes of that campaign season, calling a Webb campaign volunteer “macaca” — a derogatory term that means monkey in some countries.”

LifeNews: “Authorities investigating the activities of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who is accused of the murder of viable infants born alive in his Philadelphia clinic, are also putting together the pieces of his corrupt financial practices, according to a report by the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday.”

Paul Linton writes at LifeNews: Yesterday, Mary Balch responded to my article (posted on the Human Life Review’s website) criticizing the National Right to Life Committee’s “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” which would ban virtually all abortions during and after the twentieth week of pregnancy, including abortions of children who are not viable.

LifeNews: “U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer, this summer, granted a request from pro-life advocate Mary Kathryn Brown and ordered the city to pay $209,276 in attorney fees and costs, mostly to attorneys from The Alliance Defense Fund, a pro-life legal group that represented Brown.”

LifeNews: “The networks refused to acknowledge these stings. But it’s not a matter of journalistic principle, objecting to hidden cameras. It’s all about politics.”

Des Moines Register: “The list of nine finalists for the court includes five judges, three private attorneys and a University of Iowa law professor. Scholars and court-watchers say the group reflects a mix of legal experience from trial and appellate courts, academia and judgeships.”

Robert Verbruggen writes at National Review: “As the challenge to Obamacare’s constitutionality approaches the Supreme Court, the question on everyone’s mind is: How will Anthony Kennedy vote? But perhaps we should also ask: How will Antonin Scalia vote? Scalia is known as one of the Court’s most conservative justices, but a concurrence he wrote in a 2005 case should give opponents of the health-care law pause.”

AZ Republic: “This year, legislation is aimed at furthering restrictions on an increasingly popular prescription abortion pill as well as preventing doctors from using remote video technology to serve rural patients seeking abortions.”

Hazteoir.org (Google Translation): Recalling that the lawsuits were filed by Professionals for Ethics and Alliance Defense Fund , with legal assistance from the European Centre for Law and Justice , the information in A. Matthew states that the Spanish families who have appeared before the ECHR “argue that Spain has violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights : right to privacy of minors (art. 8), freedom of thought, conscience and religion children and their parents (art. 9); right of parents to educate their children according to their convictions (Article 2 of Protocol I) and non-discrimination (art. 14).

Europapress.es (Google translation): Professional ethics, has filed claims with aa Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), an entity specializing in the defense of human rights, has indicated that the applicants, conscientious objectors to EPC, “allege the violation by the Spanish state of several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to privacy of minors, freedom of thought, conscience and religion of children and their parents, the right of parents to educate their children according to their convictions; and non-discrimination). ”

Daily Record: “The legislation before you is inconsistent with the purposes of Maryland’s marriage laws,” Austin R. Nimocks, senior legal counsel of the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defense Fund, told the committee. “Men and women still comprise the two great halves of humanity.” The intense debate before them was reflected in the comments of senators on the committee.

Robert Oliphant writes at The Economist: “As might be expected the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible (May 2nd 2011) is being celebrated with great verve and panache this year.”

Wall Street Journal: “Now, House Republican leaders, with the backing of social conservatives, are pushing ahead with a series of antiabortion bills that will share the stage with jobs in this legislative session. That move is reviving tension in the party between those who want to press ahead on social issues and those who say doing so could backfire among voters.”

The Examiner: Montgomery County’s top attorney is standing behind a local law that requires pregnancy centers to post signs in their waiting rooms informing patients if they don’t employ medically licensed professionals, even though a judge threw out a similar ordinance in Baltimore . . . But now the Alliance Defense Fund, a District-based organization that focuses on anti-abortion and freedom of speech cases — and represents Centro Tepeyac in the ongoing lawsuit — says the ordinance won’t be on the books much longer. “What it communicates to women is that the government thinks you should go somewhere else,” said attorney Casey Mattox. “The laws are virtually indistinguishable. They intentionally crafted this bill to make sure it would not cover abortions but would single out pregnancy centers.”

NECN: “Brown and the Alliance Defense Fund had argued that the combination of buffer and bubble zones kept protesters too far away from clients to hand them anti-abortion leaflets and to conduct conversations about abortion without having to shout.”

AP: A leading House Republican says that even as struggling state and local governments seek federal help to make it through widespread budget problems, “the era of the bailout is over.”

Washington Post: Tuesday’s hearing grew combative at several points, particularly during testimony by Austin R. Nimocks, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a national organization that seeks to defend “religious freedom.” Nimocks argued that government should keep marriage between a man and a woman as an incentive to foster “responsible procreation.” “Men and women still comprise the two great halves of humanity,” Nimocks said. “It matters that a child has a mom and a dad.” . . . In response to questioning by senators, Nimocks acknowledged that children of some same-sex couples could be better off than children of some heterosexual couples. But he said research has shown that in most cases, the best situation for a child is “a low-conflict marriage” between a man and a woman.

Baltimore Sun: Austin R. Nimocks, a lawyer for the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, argued that marriage is intended to create a “stable union for the sake of responsibly producing and raising the next generation.” ”By adopting same-sex marriage you are telling those families that mothers and fathers don’t matter,” said Nimocks, who has testified around the country against gay marriage. He ruffled feathers on the committee when he suggested that there was a valid argument for single parents to rear children but not for ame-sex couples to be parents. He defined the ideal environment for raising children as “with a married mother and father in a low-conflict household.”