Daily Archives: June 7, 2011

FoxNews.com: Two Democratic lawmakers are calling on Congress to pass legislation that would make it legal for federal funds to be used to pay for abortions for service women who are victims of rape or incest or whose lives would be endangered by a pregnancy.

Catholic News Agency (CNA): Catholic bishop in Pakistan is expressing concern about an Islamic group’s petition to ban the Bible. The extremist group says the Christian scriptures contain “blasphemy” and “pornography.”

Hartford Courant: The measure, which passed on a largely party-line vote of 20-16, seeks to bar discrimination in the workplace or while seeking housing or obtaining credit based on gender identity and expression. I

Sir, we joined the Marine Corps because the Marine Corps has a set of standards and values that is better than that of the civilian sector. And we have gone and changed those values and repealed the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy . . .

WSLS 10: The Giles County School Board is expected to vote on a proposal this afternoon, that would put the Ten Commandments back-up in all county schools, as part of a display on historical douments.

Engage Family Blog: And now we learn that San Fran is on the cusp of making it the first city to require pregnancy care centers (PCC’s) – those organizations who help women choose life for their children, teach them how to care for their children, provide them with free clothing for their children – post signs across their advertisements and in their waiting rooms that tell everyone what most already know: that they do not abort their clientele.

LA Times: The rainbow theme was fitting: On Friday, officials launched the city’s first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Heritage Month.

Lawyers for Catholic Charities in the dioceses of Springfield, Peoria and Joliet are seeking an emergency injunction that would protect religious agencies who turn away unmarried couples who want to become foster parents — including couples in civil unions.

The Department of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded GSA Network over $285,000 for this multi-level project . . .

LifeNews.com: Federal law and the laws of more than two dozen states offer protection and justice for pregnant women and unborn children who are victims of violent crimes by holding criminals accountable for killing or injuring both. But the Maine Senate rejected the measure.

LifeNews.com: Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defense Fund says Judge Garbis’ ruling was a correct one. “The judge ruled that the law’s attempt to burden speech unconstitutionally discriminated against noncommercial, unlicensed speech on the explicit basis that it came from a perspective disfavoring abortion,” he said, calling it a “monumental decision protecting free speech and women’s health.”

LifeNews.com: In fact, at least half of the death row inmates facing an imminent execution in the last two years have filed suit challenging the chemicals used in lethal injections.

Steve Mosher at LifeSiteNews.com: You will be glad to learn that we all have official permission from the UN people-counters to panic about about “overpopulation” — yet again.

Washington Times: Stepping into a growing national debate over abortion rights, the Mississippi Supreme Court heard arguments Monday about whether to allow a “personhood” amendment to remain on the ballot this fall.

San Francisco Chroncle: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge Monday to a California law granting college tuition discounts to high school graduates in the state, regardless of immigration status – a law that saves illegal immigrants, among others, nearly $23,000 a year at UC campuses.

Religion Clause: Yesterday, Iran’s women’s soccer team was disqualified from competing in an Olympics qualifying match because of the head coverings which the women were wearing. The Washington Post and AFP report on developments.

Religion Clause: Huffington Post yesterday reported that the U.S. military has appointed its first Hindu chaplain and has developed a new badge for Hindu chaplains. It features the symbol “Om.”

Religion Clause: Egypt Recognizes Muslim Brotherhood’s New Political Party: Egypt’s Committee of Party Affairs on Monday gave official recognition to the Freedom and Justice Party, according to a report today from the Egyptian Gazette.

OneNewsNow.com: A Republican congressman is calling for more transparency concerning the waiver process in regards to President Obama’s new national healthcare program.

Findlaw: Crouched in her cell, Ophelia De’lonta hoped three green disposable razors from the prison commissary would give her what the Virginia Department of Corrections will not – a sex change.

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Jody Hice Show to discuss this: Kansas town sued for taxing church attendance. | MP3 audio 16:13 mins

WABE: Some Gwinnett County students have complained to the American Civil Liberties Union that the school system blocks access to gay and lesbian websites. Now, the ACLU has written a letter to the Gwinnett County Schools asking them to “unblock” the sites.

ADF attorney David Cortman appeared on the Jody Hice Show to discuss this the recent victory in Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn. | MP3 audio 16:38 mins

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Bott Radio Network with Dick Bott to discuss this: Va. town says church school prohibited because disabled kids would ‘endanger’ other children. | MP3 audio 29:29 mins

ADF attorney David Cortman appeared on the Bott Radio Network with Dick Bott to discuss free speech in public schools including this: Solid victory in NY’s Half Hollow Hills: ADF wins recognition for Christian student club. | MP3 audio 29 mins

The Detroit News: General Motors Co. CEO Dan Akerson wants the federal gas tax boosted as much as $1 a gallon to nudge consumers toward more fuel-efficient cars, and he’s confident the government will soon shed its remaining 26 percent stake in the once-bankrupt automaker.

ADF attorney David Cortman at Townhall Magazine: The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Alliance Defense Fund case Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn is no small victory.

ADF attorney Gary McCaleb at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: When highway patrolmen wanted to honor thirteen troopers who died serving in the vast expanses of Utah, they decided to use roadside crosses. The private Utah Highway Patrol Association then used volunteer labor, donated materials, and a lot of heart to carefully place memorials at or near where each trooper died.

Gregory S. Baylor at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: A National Labor Relations Board regional director has ordered an adjunct professor union election at St. Xavier University, a Catholic educational institution in Chicago.

ADF attorney Greg Baylor at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: Messiah College, a Christ-centered educational institution in Pennsylvania, is being pressured to abandon its commitment to biblical sexual ethics.

ADF attorney Jordan Lorence at The Speak Up Movement University Blog: The big flaw here is that the majority views a “worship service” as a singular event and refuses to see it as a collection of specific expressive acts. But that is essentially a theological determination, and not a matter of constitutinal law. A federal court, or a public school district can only use the Constitution when examining whether to permit a “worship service” in its forum. That means it should view a ”worship service” as a summation of component expressive elements

Charisma: “No government must offer abortions simply because pro-abortion advocates demand they be provided,” ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska says. “Neither European nor international law requires the Czech Republic to offer abortions. The Czech Parliament made the right decision to derail this bad and unpopular legislation.” [more quotes by Roger at the link]

OneNewsNow.com: “School officials here did the right thing by finally granting the ALIV Club official status and no longer assuming they have the authority to jump the Constitution,” notes David Cortman, senior counsel for ADF. “The United States Supreme Court has said decades ago students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.”

NCRegister.com: With a push on by supporters of same-sex “marriage” to legalize it in New York state, supporters of traditional marriage — including New York’s archbishop — are mounting their own campaigns to keep marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League at the NCRegister.com: Despite many strengths, what seriously mars the report is its ideological reluctance to deal forthrightly with the role of homosexuality. Let it be said at the outset that it is not my position that homosexuality causes predatory behavior. Indeed, this argument is absurd. As I have said many times, while it is true that most homosexual priests are not molesters, most of the molesters have been priests who are homosexual. Nothing in the report changes my mind, and indeed there is much in it that fortifies my position.

EducationNews.org: As the Texas House is set to consider budget cuts that have already passed the state Senate, public school unions are rallying the troops to protest

Islamist Watch: Recent U.S. Department of Justice press releases on terrorism-related indictments could have listed CAIR as a coauthor. The defensiveness, lecturing tones, and prostration before Islamist talking points reflect a government ever more obsessed with mollifying Muslims.

WSJ.com (via Google): Perhaps you’ve heard politicians call for “independence” from foreign oil, however unrealistic the goal. What you probably haven’t heard about is the determined environmental campaign, abetted by the Obama Administration, to shut down the 38-year-old Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

Richard A. Epstein and Mario Loyola at WSJ.com: The constitutional battle over ObamaCare has largely focused on the constitutionality of the individual mandate. Namely, does forcing individuals to buy health insurance violate the commerce clause? But as the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals prepares to hear Florida v. United States, a second issue is of equal importance: Was District Court Judge Roger Vinson correct to rule that the federal government can force states to expand their Medicaid programs as a precondition for continuing to receive matching federal funds for the program?

CNBC: The dollar fell to a one-month low against a basket of currencies on Tuesday and a record low against the Swiss franc after a Chinese official said the greenback would continue to weaken versus other major currencies.

USATODAY.com: The $61.6 trillion in unfunded obligations amounts to $534,000 per household.

The Hill: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday accused Democrats of planning to do nothing about the nation’s financial woes while they prepare for the 2012 elections.

Pacific Justice Institute: The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has announced that it will hear a constitutional challenge to the controversial “individual mandate” in President Obama’s health care overhaul

Kentucky.com: The traditional husband-wife couple makes up just 49.3 percent of the total households in Kentucky, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. That’s down from 53.9 percent in 2000.