Daily Archives: April 13, 2011

CNBC: A quarter of teenagers were jobless in March, representing a surprising increase from February, even as the unemployment rate for the rest of the population decreased.

LifeSiteNews: “In a powerful op-ed in today’s Irish Times, an Irish man with degenerative motor neurone disease (MND) has revealed how he was heavily pressured by the medical community to refuse the ventilator that is keeping him alive.”

Houston Chronicle: Kobe Bryant has been fined $100,000 by the NBA for using a derogatory gay term in frustration over a referee’s call.

Guardian: “Economic growth hasn’t brought gender justice, as sex-selective abortion means more boys than girls are born every year.”

Appellate court rules that La. cannot be forced to issue a birth certificate to two NY men who adopted child born in La.

KWQC.com: The measure needed 60 votes to pass, but it got only 57 votes Wednesday before the sponsor halted the action. Fifty-one people voted no.

Global Montreal: Last year the province of Quebec tabled Bill 94, which would ban individuals from receiving or delivering public services if wearing a full-face veil. The controversial legislation is currently sitting before a committee in parliament, but a poll from late last year showed that the majority of Quebecers would support Bill 94.

Schafer v. Astrue, No. 10-1500 (4th Cir. April 12, 2011) Don and Janice Schafer married in 1992. Don died the next year. With the help of in vitro fertilization, however, Janice gave birth to W.M.S., Don Schafer’s biological child, a …

Christian Post: The U.S. Department of Justice joined in on a 2010 lawsuit on Tuesday against a South Carolina jail that bars prisoners from receiving any reading materials other than the Bibl

Spero News: In the Netherlands, a court ruled that Catholic school in Volendam is allowed to a ban a girl from wearing a headscarf.

Reuters: Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has signed two anti-abortion bills, including one that bans abortion after 21 weeks based on the view that a fetus can feel pain at that point, officials said Tuesday.

ADF attorneys file second suit against Coweta County this year for prohibiting new church building

Pravda: The debate regarding officially allowing polygamy in Russia has been going on for years. The main arguments in favor of polygamy are the existing families with multiple wives, whose position is now not protected by law, as well as shortage of men. Perhaps the fate of the third or fourth wife is better than being alone?

The Canadian Press: A lawyer for so-called polyamorists says their non-religious, egalitarian relationships are the “Achilles heel” in the governments’ defence of the anti-polygamy law.

Guardian: MPs have recommended criminalising clients of sex workers, saying 80% of prostitutes are victims of slavery and trafficking

Christian Newswire: Fourteen members have been named to the Commission on Accountability and Policy for Religious Organizations, ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability) has announced . . .

WCTV.tv: Private, faith-based organizations can often provide valuable services for less money than the public sector, therefore lowering government costs for taxpayers. However, current constitutional language prohibits the state from tapping into these potential resources, according to a Florida Senate release.

LifeNews: A North Carolina county has voted to drop taxpayer funding of abortions from the health insurance plans all public employees receive from the Davidson County government.

Washington Post: France would need to demonstrate terrorist threat overides women’s right to veil the face for religious reasoons . . .

Washington Post: South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters Wednesday that he will block votes on any nominations until he is assured that $40,000 will be devoted to a study related to deepening the Port of Charleston.

Yahoo News: The IMF singled out European banks as it insisted Wednesday that more needs to be done to shore up the global financial system, saying Europe’s weak banks are “caught in a maelstrom” and must beef up their financial buffers.

Right Side News: . . . According to a complaint letter filed in this case,[5] conditions attached to federal funding that it receives require Vanderbilt not to discriminate against applicants who object to abortion, and after a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund became involved, the university clarified that its policy was that no health care provider would be required to assist with abortion if doing so would violate the individual’s religious beliefs or moral convictions . . .

Maggie Gallagher writes at National Review: Judge Walker had promised that witness from the bench that the videotape was only for his personal use and would not be released.

Chicago Tribune: “A measure to ensure faith-based groups could turn away committed same-sex couples who want to adopt children or provide foster homes failed in the Illinois Senate today.”

MPR News (includes audio): Two pieces of legislation that would make big changes in Minnesota’s abortion laws are making their way through the House and Senate. Committees in both chambers approved the abortion bills Tuesday. One measure would prohibit taxpayer-funded abortions, and the other would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Telegraph: “A university has elected a student with links to Muslim extremism as president of the student union, prompting fears that it has been infiltrated by radicals.”

AP: “An advocacy group has filed 13 civil rights complaints on behalf of homosexual and transgender immigrants who it says were abused and neglected while in custody at detention centers run by the Department of Homeland Security in nine states.”

AP on ABC15: The Arizona Senate has approved a revised bill requiring presidential candidates to prove they are U.S. citizens eligible to run for the office.

Wall Street Journal: “Here is the prepared text of President Barack Obama’s speech on the deficit, as released by the White House . . . ”

LifeNews: Pro-life advocates and sponsors of a North Dakota bill that would make it illegal to kill any unborn child are fuming after the measure was unexpectedly tabled Monday by a Republican senator.

LifeNews: The Georgia state House voted this week for an amendment to a bill that would ensure no taxpayer dollars can be used to pay for abortions under the state health care exchanges created under Obamacare.

LifeNews: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill that would end the use of a state income tax credit for charitable contributions to the Planned Parenthood Arizona abortion business. The legislation also stop taxpayer-funded abortion training at colleges.

LifeNews: Leading pro-life organizations are working furiously to generate as many calls and emails as possible to members of the House and Senate ahead of expected votes on Planned Parenthood funding and Obamacare.

LifeNews: A new poll conducted by the Polling Company and WomanTrend reveals a majority of Americans, 54 percent, oppose giving tax dollars for family planning services to organizations that perform abortions.

Robert Knight at Townhall: It seems like only yesterday that progressives were warning us about “politicizing the judiciary.” That was after Iowa’s voters declined last November to retain three Supreme Court justices who had ruled to overturn the state’s marriage law. Today, after a feverish and expensive campaign by unions to remove conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, you’ll hear no such talk.

Bill Frezza at Forbes: Arguing that declining to tax someone is not the same as giving them a government handout, the majority reinforced the idea that not all wealth is owned by the government, which only deigns to let us keep some at its pleasure.

Michael Medved at Townhall: Those who insist that Planned Parenthood deserves its sacred claim on federal support ought to consult Chinese demographers about the long-term impact of governmental policies that officially discourage procreation. At a time of soaring budget deficits, catastrophic national debt and a sputtering recovery it makes no sense to invest $300,000,000 of taxpayer money on a private organization committed to slowing population growth and, inevitably, exacerbating each of these economic problems.

hen President Obama outlines his tax-increase plan on Wednesday, it’ll be based on the liberal assumption that all money belongs to the government, with Americans retaining only what bureaucrats allow. That’s the dangerous argument Supreme CourtJustice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, made last week in a case on education funding.

ADF attorney Dave Cortman appeared on KRLD News Radio 1080 with Mitch Carr to discuss this ruling in Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn. | MP3 audio 3:10 mins

ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco appeared on the radio to discuss this: ADF attorneys win Arizona parental-choice-in-education case. | Talk from the Heart with Rich Buhler, MP3 audio 9:24 mins | Kresta in the Afternoon, MP3 audio 9:27 mins

ADF attorney Doug Napier on the radio to discuss this ADF sponsored event: Decision Points: An Evening with President George W. Bush. | The Michael Medved Show, MP3 audio 4:33 mins | Janet Mefferd Show with J.D. Hayworth, MP3 audio 17 mins.

Religion Clause Blog: Virginia’s Attorney General last week issued an opinion (full text) concluding that under state law is is permissible for a citizen to carry firearms into a place of worship for personal safety purposes.

Religion Clause Blog: The complaint (full text) in Bethel v. Middletown City School District, (SD OH, filed 4/8/2011), challenges the constitutionality of Ohio’s compulsory school attendance law and a school practice of having children stand to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Religion Clause Blog: World Radio Switzerland and Swissinfo.ch reported yesterday that a judge has acquitted three Hindu men who were arrested when they announced last year that they planned to burn the Bible and the Qur’an outside the federal parliament building in Bern’s Parliament Square . . .

St. Michael Patch: “The fact is, we knew that, and we stated that in the complaint,” David Cortman of the ADF told Patch Tuesday, April 12. “We stand behind that complaint. There is no confusion. We want the pro-life club to have the same rights that are allowed other clubs. That is the issue here.”

One News Now: City zoning officials shouldn’t prohibit street signs for Christian organizations just because the message displayed happens to communicate something religious,” argues ADF attorney Joe Infranco. “Signs for Jesus” was prohibited for ten months because town officials thought the “objectionable” messages would be a distraction for motorists — until ADF became involved

Chuck Colson at the Christian Post: School officials had no problem with “Day of Silence” activities. But when it came to Heidi’s t-shirt, school officials were outraged. A counselor used a black marker to cross out the words “Not Gay,” effectively stifling Heidi’s message. Heidi, with the help of the Alliance Defense Fund, went to court. It took a ruling by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Heidi’s high school to finally back down. As the court put it, “People in our society do not have a legal right to prevent criticism of their beliefs or even their way of life.”

“With Arizona’s old voucher plan deemed unconstitutional, a new plan lets parents access an account to decide where their child attends school – with limits.”

Sherif Girgis at Public Discourse: People sometimes contrast those who go on evidence, facts, science, and reason, with those who “politicize the science.” But both of you seem to think that besides scientific findings, moral norms have to govern scientific inquiry and medical practice…

AP: “Volunteers with Citizens for a Better Arizona official said Tuesday they already have two-thirds of the 7,756 verified signatures required by May 31 to set a recall election for Republican Russell Pearce, who is the president of the Arizona Senate.”

AP: “The hate speech trial of Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders resumed Wednesday with defense lawyers seeking to discredit a judge who ordered the lawmaker to face trial on charges of inciting hatred against Muslims.”