Daily Archives: June 16, 2011

Comprehensive survey shows support for marriage remains high despite recent, flawed polls that create illusion of momentum against it

WSJ.com: City Clerk Michael McSweeney says he is proof-reading new, gender-neutral forms for marriage license applications.

A disturbing study conducted by Belgian doctors and reported on in the medical journal Applied Cardiopulmonary Pathology involved killing patients via euthanasia in a room next to the hospital’s operating theater, and then wheeling them next door and harvesting their organs immediately after being pronounced dead. The study found that lungs from those who die by euthanasia are more suitable for transplant surgery than lungs taken from accident victims.

Reuters: Planned Parenthood said on Thursday it is considering a legal challenge of North Carolina’s decision to eliminate state funds to the organization because it provides abortions.

LifeNews.com: The Senate has again delayed a vote on pro-abortion federal appeals court nominee Steve Six after Republicans sought and received a week-long delay last week on President Barack Obama’s latest pro-abortion nominee.

Courthouse News Service: In a federal class action, physicians say an unconstitutionally vague Texas law that takes effect Sept. 1 threatens them with criminal prosecution and loss of their medical licenses if they fail to obtain “informed consent” of women who seek abortion, by giving them “visual and auditory depictions of the fetus” beforehand.

Reuters: Unions representing public workers in Wisconsin filed a lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday to block the state’s new curbs on collective bargaining, which were upheld by the state’s Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Newser: A LGBT groups says the divorce involves a female couple who married on April 20. The 46-year-old and 25-year-old are splitting due to an alleged infidelity

NYTimes.com: For generations, parents who saw their toddler boys put on tutus or play with dolls would either ignore the behavior as a phase, or reflexively repress it. But in recent years, more parents have chosen the approach taken by Harry’s mother and father. Rather than looking away, they are trying to understand their toddler’s unconventional gender behavior, in order to support it and prepare for what they fear could be a life of challenges.
“Is my 4-year-old gay?” read postings . . .

The Washington Post: Women who had sex for the first time when they were teens are at higher risk for divorce, with 31 percent divorcing within five years of marriage and 47 percent within 10 years of marriage, a new study says.

The Local: Only 15 percent of members of the Church of Sweden say they believe in Jesus, and an equal number claim to be atheists according to the results of a recent survey.

The Local: A municipality in northwestern Sweden wants to offer financial aid to employees in need of fertility treatment in an attempt to recruit new residents to the area and boost dwindling population figures.

The National: The Arab Spring is posing a threat to Christian communities throughout the Middle East, the spiritual head of the Anglican Church has warned.

The Christian Institute: Children should be protected from seeing online pornography, a “suppressed” Ofcom report has said. Ofcom passed the report to the Government nine months ago, but the Coalition has not published it nor acted on its recommendations, according to the Guardian

The Christian Institute: Christian prayers have been dropped from the beginning of council meetings by the new mayor of Bridport in Dorset.

The Christian Institute: A London council has appealed for homosexuals to help make up the shortage in foster carers in the capital. Lambeth Council . . .

American Federation for Children: Forty-two states have introduced legislation in 2011 to create or expand school voucher and scholarship tax credit programs, according to an analysis completed today by the American Federation for Children — the nation’s voice for school choice.

The Family Research Council has posted a new video documentary on the topic.

LifeNews.com: The Chicago Tribune newspaper has released the details of a new investigative report revealing the number of abortions in the state has been massively underreported. Those numbers include six women who have died from botched abortions and 4,000 who were injured.

LifeNews.com: New Hampshire Governor John Lynch has vetoed a bill that would allow parents to know when their minor daughter is considering an abortion, so they could help the young girls find better alternatives.

UN delegates are receiving copies of the research at a time when debates about “gender identity” are heating up: member states are engaged in a contentious vote on the issue at the Human Rights Council this week and they are preparing for a battle on sexual orientation and gender identity during this fall’s General Assembly.

OneNewsNow.com: Senator Doug LaMalfa’s bill (A.B. 102) . . . The Republican lawmaker announced during a recent floor speech that The Golden State currently spends $23 million of taxpayer money to fund abortions each year.

OneNewsNow.com: “They closed down several dozen clinics this year,” he notes. “They are down to 785 clinics, which is the lowest number they’ve been at since 1986.”

OneNewsNow.com: The president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary says his denomination needs to repent for a “form of homophobia” that has condemned homosexuals instead of embracing them as fellow sinners.

At the Volokh Conspiracy, Eugene Volokh reports on opportunities in the for the two-year Stanford Constitutional Law Center Academic Fellowship. “The Stanford Constitutional Law Center is directed by Professor (and former Circuit Judge) Michael McConnell . . .”

Family Research Council (FRC) responded today to the release of a national survey showing that 62 percent of Americans agree that “marriage should be defined only as the union between one man and one woman.” The national survey was commissioned by the Alliance Defense Fund and conducted by Public Opinion Strategies last month.

Federicksburg.com: Elementary reason puts this fear to flight. The disabled children in question are already in a school with mostly non-disabled children. “They are not explosive,” says Erik Stanley, a Kansas attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing Calvary Christian. The notion that they would be violent, he adds, “is based on unfounded prejudices and stereotyping about the disabled.” Finally, the two groups–the non-disabled pupils and the disabled students–would study on different floors of the two-story building and attend classes at different times of the school day.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a petition with the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit Thursday in an effort to ensure that churches and other religious groups can continue to meet at New York City public schools.

LifeNews.com: owever, language in HR 1249, the America Invents Act, a bill pending in the House of Representatives, will codify an important pro-life policy rider included in the federal appropriations bills since 2004.

“No one wants to be in the position where we shut down Catholic adoption agencies or religious organizations and the governor has got to, in my opinion, pay real attention to that possibility,” Ball said.

The Blog of Legal Times: An assistant U.S. attorney, a public defender and a Hogan Lovells partner have been tapped as nominees to fill Judge Noël Kramer’s seat on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission announced the three nominees – Alan Burch, Catharine Easterly and Christopher Handman – this afternoon.

SCOTUSblog: The government will appeal a federal judge’s ruling nullifying a criminal charge based on a 1907 law that bans corporations from direct contributions to federal candidates. The appeal will go to the Fourth Circuit Court.

Religion Clause: Two recent unrelated cases involve disputes over whether certain property is used for religious purposes so that it is exempt from property taxes

Religion Clause: 5th Circuit Interprets “Equal Terms” Clause of RLUIPA: In The Elijah Group, Inc. v. City of Leon Valley, Texas, (5th Cir., June 10, 2011), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals weighed in on an issue that has split various circuits– what test to use to determine whether a zoning decision violates RLUIPA’s “equal terms” clause . . . Becket Fund issued a press release on the decision.

AP: House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday rejected President Barack Obama’s contention that U.S. forces face no hostilities in Libya, saying the argument doesn’t “pass the straight face test.”

In New Jersey, it’s the first time a lawmaker has put forward a bill on gay marriage since it was defeated in the state Senate in January 2010 — just before Gov. Chris Christie took office.

EPPC: EPPC seeks outstanding candidates for new position of Executive Director of forthcoming EPPC program on domestic religious freedom. Executive Director will be responsible for developing all aspects of program, including working with Congress and state legislators to protect religious freedom, building an online repository of information on ongoing threats to religious freedom in the United States, and educating policymakers and the public. Candidates should have excellent communication, organizational, and leadership skills and at least 10 years of experience. Some work history with Congress is desirable. Salary competitive and commensurate with experience. Full benefits. Send cover letter, resume, and any other supporting material to religiousfreedom@eppc.org.

Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski at Washington Examiner: Third of a series of three excerpts from “Resurgent: How Constitutional Conservatism Can Save America,” published by Threshold Editions of Simon & Schuster.
Conservative success comes from rebuilding the Republican Party around constitutional principles. We’ll explain in this chapter how all three parts of America’s modern conservative coalition need each other.

LifeNews.com: The home state senators of Steve Six, the former Kansas Attorney general and Planned Parenthood supporter, have said they both oppose his nomination by President Barack Obama to a federal appeals court position.

VIS news – Holy See Press Office: At midday today in the Holy See Press Office a forthcoming international conference on the theme “Adult Stem Cells: Science and the Future of Man and Culture” was presented. The conference, organised by the Science and Faith Department of the Pontifical Council for Culture, is due to be held in the Vatican from 9 to 11 November.

NCPA Policy Digest: Congress established a mint in 1792 and defined the dollar in terms of a specific weight in both gold and silver. This put the new republic on a bimetallic standard, common at the time, says Robert McTeer, a distinguished fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis.

NCPA Policy Digest: Consumers could see their electricity bills jump an estimated 40 to 60 percent in the next few years. The reason: Pending environmental regulations will make coal-fired generating plants, which produce about half the nation’s electricity, more expensive to operate. Many are expected to be shuttered, says the Chicago Tribune.

Point Pleasant, NJ Patch: Now Municipal Clerk Maryann Ellsworth reads a prayer that does not use words like “Jesus” or other references specific only to certain religions and is similar to an invocation used in Metuchen.

Daily Mail Online: ‘Christians should be allowed to express themselves on public school campuses just like everyone else,’ Mr Cortman told Fox News. ‘It is cowardly to shut down everyone’s participation in this programme simply out of animosity toward Christian speech. ‘There is absolutely nothing unconstitutional about a Bible verse on a brick when a school opens up a programme for anyone to express a personal message. ‘The school could simply have allowed the Bible verses, but instead, it chose to punish everyone,’ he added.

Catholic News Agency (CNA): n a June 13 press conference, Alliance Defense Fund senior legal counsel Austin R. Nimocks said that Walker failed to disclose he had been in a committed same-sex relationship for over 10 years. Nimocks claimed that Walker and his partner had a “direct interest” in the case. “Judge Walker’s course of conduct in this case heightens the appearance of partiality. Indeed, on two separate occasions, for example, his orders in this case have already been reversed, including a dramatic intervention by the United States Supreme Court to stop his effort to televise the trial,” Nimocks said.

OneNewsNow.com: “No government must offer abortions simply because pro-abortion advocates demand that they be provided,” contends Croatia-based ADF attorney Roger Kiska. “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.” (Listen to audio report)

UPI.com: Christian legal group Alliance Defense Fund and attorneys representing the state argued that the lower-court decision was incorrect.

Meredith Carroll at the Strollerderby Blog (Babble.com): Christians should be allowed to express themselves on public school campuses just like everyone else,” David Cortman, an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, said in a written statement to Fox News. Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian organization, initiated the lawsuit for the two women involved. “It is cowardly to shut down everyone’s participation in this program simply out of animosity toward Christian speech. There is absolutely nothing unconstitutional about a Bible verse on a brick when a school opens up a program for anyone to express a personal message. The school could simply have allowed the Bible verses, but instead, it chose to punish everyone.”

Jonathan Sumpton at WSJ.com: The lives of Frederick II and St. Francis of Assisi overlapped for some three decades in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, but the Holy Roman Emperor and the founder of the Franciscan Order never met. If the two men ever thought about each other, those thoughts are not recorded. The men’s interests and destinies were poles apart.

Phyllis Schlafly at The Moral Liberal: I would hate to admit that Italy has more freedom of religion than the United States, where we like to brag about our First Amendment rights . . . A conservative public-interest law firm in the United States, called the Alliance Defense Fund, persuaded the judges to allow 33 members of the European Parliament to intervene in this lawsuit.

WSJ.com: “One of the courts that we are charged with supervising has usurped the legislative power which the Wisconsin Constitution grants exclusively to the legislature,” the majority wrote. If a court can swoop in and block bills before they are even published, the majority continued, it replaces the legislature’s role to determine what will be law.

LifeSiteNews.com: he American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) and the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) have asked for a preliminary injunction against implementation of the NYC Pregnancy Services Center Local Law 17 on behalf of three local crisis pregnancy center operators.

Bronx News Networkbronx: In 1994, they wrote a letter to the Board of Education, asking for permission to use PS 206 on Aqueduct Avenue. When they were rejected, BHOF, with the help of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a newly formed conservative Christian legal group (“the ACLU for Christians,” Hall calls it), filed a lawsuit against the Board. They lost and then lost again.

David Tyree: Gay Marriage Will Lead To ‘Anarchy’: Asked what he thought would happen if gay marriage was legalized across the US, Tyree said, “This will be the beginning of our country sliding toward, it’s a strong word, but anarchy.

The Hill: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) saw her net worth rise 62 percent last year, cementing her status as one of the wealthiest members of Congress. Pelosi was worth at least $35.2 million in the 2010 calendar year . . .

Yahoo! News: Greece’s rapidly evolving political crisis comes a day after anti-austerity riots in central Athens and the collapse of negotiations to form a coalition government triggered a sell-off in global financial markets. Investors are deeply worried that a default in Greece could hurt banks elsewhere and set off a financial chain reaction that experts predict would be catastrophic.

TheHill.com: A series of policy battles that have broken out among House Republicans poses a significant challenge to Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) effort to unify his troops on a bill raising the nation’s debt ceiling.