Daily Archives: November 15, 2011

CSMonitor.com: There are more than 500,000 unmarried 20-something women in Beijing. They’re part of a growing urban trend in which college educated, financially independent women are deliberately delaying marriage for personal reasons.

Mirror.co.uk: A church is at the centre of a gay rights row over claims it can “cure” homosexuality. The Frontline Church in Liverpool runs classes aimed at “helping Christian men and women out of homosexuality” by teaching that it is caused by “pain in childhood”.

Christian Concern: A church in Liverpool has been ostracised from other community groups in the city after it came to light that they had published a resource which labelled homosexuality “a sin” and suggested ways in which to help.

The Christian Institute: The Prime Minister has made his own choice of Bible verses to write out in long hand – rejecting those chosen by his officials – to celebrate 400 years of the King James Version. David Cameron chose Philippians 4:8-9 . . .

The Christian Institute: A Dutch woman suffering from severe senile dementia has become the first person in such a condition to have her life ended by doctors in the Netherlands.

ADF Attorney Jordan Lorence at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: When I read about Penn State and Nebraska football players and coaches praying for the victims of the repulsive child abuse at Penn State in the middle of the field before the game started last Saturday, I wondered whether some extremists would object that the opening prayer violated the Establishment Clause (I will refrain from the obvious comments about college football being a state religion, prayer or no prayer).

“Now a baker in Iowa has, based on the fact that she’s a Christian, refused to create a wedding cake for a lesbian couple.”

The Guardian: Lord Phillips and Lord Judge say judges need to be more critical as ECHR dealing too much with facts rather than principle.

The Times of India: The number of pregnancies terminated in south Mumbai is higher than in the rest of the city. While some health experts feel this could be a reflection of better access to healthcare in the city’s older and well-established parts, others were of the opinion that it could be an oblique indicator of gender-selected abortions.

News from The Associated Press: Officials of a California school system plan to meet with the agent who schedules celebrity guests to read to children after some parents complained that having a former adult film star as a participant was inappropriate.

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: The long standing tax provision that permits churches to provide pastors with a non-taxable housing allowance was recently challenged in the case Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Geitner in a California federal court. The radical group that filed the lawsuit voluntarily dismissed it after the Supreme Court handed down its decision in ACSTO v. Winn – an ADF case that severely restricts the ability of anti-religious organizations to challenge government programs that acknowledge the autonomy of religious organizations and the benefits they provide our communities.

But the atheist organization filed another lawsuit challenging the housing allowance in the federal court in Wisconsin on September 17, 2011

Boston.com: Massachusetts lawmakers on Tuesday passed a final version of a bill designed to license up to three resort-style casinos and a single slots parlor in the state.

JSOnline: The senators: Pam Galloway of Wausau, Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls, Van Wanggaard of Racine and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau.

Missouri families won a major victory today in our state courts. The Missouri Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, upheld the state’s new law regulating sexually oriented businesses

Lambda Legal (includes video): Today, the White House announced that former Lambda Legal client Janice Langbehn will be one of 13 recipients of the 2011 Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation’s second-highest civilian honor.

ADF Attorney Holly Carmichael at Townhall: “Despite the pain of absence or loss, the void left by a missing parent serves a valuable purpose: it drives us to seek something we know is missing. In other words, the fatherless know they are missing something, and that can motivate them to seek strong and healthy father and husband roles and replacements. The void gives them a model to work toward. Pretending there is no void only perpetuates the harm.”

EWTN’s Sunday Night Prime with Fr. Benedict Groeschel and Alan Sears appeared on Sunday, November 13 at 7 PM. Encores will be shown on Monday, November 14 at 2 AM and 9 AM and again on Saturday, November 19 at 5 PM.

Here is the link to EWTN’s schedule:
http://www.ewtn.com/tv/live/sundaynightlive.asp

Afterwards, the show will be archived in an online library and accessible at this site: http://ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/seriessearchprog.asp?seriesID=7054

Yesterday, ADF Attorney Steve Aden appeared on Zeb at the Ranch with Guest Host Sharon Hardy Milles to discuss the NC litigation (Stuart v. Huff) and the NJ litigation (Danquah v. University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey lawsuit). | MP3 audio 18:10 mins | Earlier on November 7th, ADF Attorney Matt Bowman also appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to provide an update on the NJ litigation. | MP3 audio 16:39 mins

News from The Associated Press: President Barack Obama’s historic health care overhaul divided the nation from the day he signed it into law, and that seems unlikely to change no matter how the Supreme Court rules on its constitutionality.

Businessweek: Republican Rick Perry, who needs a strong Iowa showing to resurrect his presidential campaign, used a speech in the state today to call for a streamlined federal government, term limits for federal judges and a “part-time” Congress with smaller pay and office budgets.

The Washington Post: Gay and Muslim groups say they are relieved after a Michigan lawmaker agreed to drop a provision in an anti-bullying bill that would have carved out an exemption for religious or moral beliefs.

NCRegister.com: Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Matt Bowman, legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, joined some of the 12 nurses at a press conference yesterday, Nov. 14, outside of University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, N.J.

Daily Mail Online: Matthew Bowman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Vinoya and the eleven other nurses. He said each ‘possess[es] strongly held religious and moral beliefs that she may not participate in the process of an abortion that causes the death of a pre-born child’.

World Net Daily: hat’s according to Alan Sears, an executive with the Alliance Defense Fund, which has gone to court to obtain an order halting the hospital’s plans for now. “Cases like this are increasingly common in the U.S., as the battle over abortion spurs attacks on rights of individual conscience,” he penned in a website column posted by the ADF. “ADF is involved in a similar lawsuit in New York State court.”

WSJ: Our colleague Ashby Jones reports that U.S. Senate staff members are gathering a trove of information about legal education in the U.S., including figures on law school job placement and student-loan debt, that could serve as a backdrop to congressional hearings on the issue.

Western Front Online: The exclusion was based on Liberty’s discrimination against queer-identified people, according to a statement by Paul Cocke, director of University Communications. Administrators determined Liberty’s presence at the info fair would violate Western’s nondiscrimination policy.

NewsOK.com: The Oklahoma City Council added employment discrimination protection to gay and bisexual employees in city jobs by a 7-2 vote on Tuesday.

TheHill.com: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) met Tuesday, a sign they may take a larger role in deficit talks, say congressional aides.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund together with the Center for Arizona Policy, the Bioethics Defense Fund, and the Life Legal Defense Foundation defended the law.

LaTimes.com: an Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a Republican whose decision in 2007 to drop his opposition to same-sex marriage put him at odds with the GOP, has joined Gov. Brown and the mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco — all Democrats — in urging Congress to overturn a law denying recognition of such marriages.

LifeSiteNews.com: A report released last week criticizes Québec’s oft-extolled set of family programs as unsustainable and “problematic” due the province’s snowballing debt and low fertility rates.

LifeNews: The Missouri affiliate of the Planned Parenthood abortion business has decided to close an abortion-referral clinic it operated in Jefferson City, the state capital, and it will merge the facility with its Columbia office.

BradentonHerald.com: The Manatee County Commission has been asked by a non-profit organization to halt prayers before its meetings, contending they violate the nation’s constitutional principle of separation of church and state.

The Washington Post: In 2009, the University of Notre Dame set off months of intra-Catholic controversy by inviting a champion of abortion rights to deliver the school’s commencement address. When the day arrived, President Obama skillfully deflated the tension. He extended a “presumption of good faith” to his pro-life opponents.

Todd Starnes at Fox News: Matthew Bowman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Vinoya and the eleven other nurses. who “possess strongly held religious and moral beliefs that she may not participate in the process of an abortion that causes the death of a preborn child.”
Bowman told Fox News & Commentary that the hospital had been performing abortions for decades without forcing nurses to violate their religious beliefs. But that changed a few weeks ago.

Philly.com (11/11): The hospital is playing word games, as noted by the nurses’ attorney, Matt Bowman: But once the media began asking UMDNJ about their illegal behavior, they lied to cover it up. As of the time of this writing, UMDNJ still will not tell ADF attorneys if it has backed off from its Nov. 2 directive requiring nurses to assist. Yet UMDNJ continues to tell the media that no nurse is so require.

Findlaw: Despite this requirement, a recent Colorado Supreme Court ruling states the attorney-client privilege does not apply to guardians ad litem. Confidentiality between a guardian and an abused or neglected child does not exist. Guardians are not advocates, explained the court. Their job is to represent the child’s best interests, not the child’s interests.

The Nation: Today, the Supreme Court agreed to hear constitutional challenges brought on by twenty-six states and a business group to President Obama’s healthcare reform bill. There will likely be arguments in the spring and a ruling by July, right in the heat of the presidential election.

LaTimes.com: The day the Supreme Court gathered behind closed doors to consider the politically divisive question of whether it would hear a challenge to President Obama’s healthcare law, two of its justices, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, were feted at a dinner sponsored by the law firm that will argue the case before the high court

Nichols, Joel A., Marriage and Divorce in a Multicultural Context: Table of Contents and Introduction (2011). MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN A MULTICULTURAL CONTEXT: MULTI-TIERED MARRIAGE AND THE BOUNDARIES OF CIVIL LAW AND RELIGION, Joel A. Nichols, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2012; U of St. Thomas Legal Studies Research Paper No. 11-36. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1957847

Garcimartin, Carmen, Education in the Secular State: Whose Right is it? (November 4, 2011). International Journal of the Jurisprudence of the Family, Vol. 2, 2011 . Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1954843

Religion Clause links to and discusses the statistics.

Religion Clause: The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday that the Catholic dioceses of Joliet, Springfield and Belleville, Illinois have dropped their lawsuits against the state of Illinois in which they were seeking to retain state funding for foster care services without placing children with same-sex couples who had entered civil unions.

NECN.com: A Montana judge abdicated his responsibility when he dismissed a lawsuit by six gay couples seeking the same legal benefits as married couples, the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday in an appeal to the state’s highest court. | ACLU press release and information page

LifeNews.com: Efforts by the watchdog group Judicial Watch to demand that Justice Elena Kagan recuse herself when the Affordable Care Act (Health Care Reform) is brought before the Supreme Court later this year resulted in the release of emails between Kagan (back when she was Solicitor General) and a top Department of Justice official. They unsurprisingly, confirm what pro-lifers have been saying all along about the phony agreement which Democrats have claimed prevented health care reform from creating new abortion funding streams.

Columbus Telegram: Patrons of Lakeview Community School District, including eight senior students, showed their support Monday night for the continuation of prayer during graduation ceremonies.

CBS New York (AP)(includes audio): dozen nurses who object to assisting abortion procedures on religious and ethical grounds say they’re still being compelled to help with the procedures despite having filed suit against New Jersey hospital where they work. (ADF not mentioned directly)

OneNewsNow.com: The 1974 Church Amendment and the 2005 Hyde-Weldon Conscience Law prohibits violations of religious and moral beliefs. The Alliance Defense Fund sought and received a temporary order to halt the practice until the case is resolved.

OneNewsNow.com: Giving women the information they need before such a weighty decision is clearly more important than an abortionist’s bottom line,” contends ADF attorney Steven H. Aden. “Those attacking this law are obviously more concerned about financial gain from abortion than the best interests of women and their pre-born children.”

NJ Star Ledger: “The law said they don’t have to assist any part of the (abortion) case,” said Matt Bowman, the attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund. Demetrios Stratis, a Fair Lawn attorney who’s the local counsel, said the definition of what constitutes assisting in an abortion could be very fine.

News from Missouri Family Policy Council: The Alliance Defense Fund is representing the nurses in the case. Matt Bowman, legal counsel for ADF, says the hospital’s actions are “flatly illegal.” “These twelve nurses have encountered threats to their jobs at this hospital ever since the policy change required them to participate in abortions regardless of their religious and moral objections.” [more]

Christian Post: The Alliance Defense Fund, the legal firm defending the nurses, estimates that the university receives about $60 million annually in federal funds.

Greeley Gazette: ADF Senior Counsel, Jeff Shafer, says the court’s ruling is a victory for free speech. “Pro-adoption organizations should be allowed to express their message as part of a program where others are freely allowed to express theirs,” Shafer continued “The state’s not authorized to censor The Children First Foundation for its life-affirming viewpoint, but it’s gotten away with doing so for ten years now since the application was first submitted.”

Washington Examiner: Matt Bowman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a coalition of Christian lawyers and organizations that is representing the nurses, said the hospital had previously hired per-diem nurses or those who volunteered to assist with abortions to help perform them. Bowman said the hospital notified nurses in writing in September that its new policy would require same-day surgery unit nurses to assist in abortions. The nurses filed suit on Oct. 31, claiming the hospital was compelling them to undergo training that involved assisting in abortions, and indicated they could be subject to termination if they didn’t comply.

Jane Robbins and Emmett McGroarty at Public Discourse: People of faith must reclaim their religious freedom, granted by the Creator and protected by the Constitution.

News from The Associated Press: The company doing the first government-approved test of embryonic stem cell therapy is discontinuing further stem cell work, a move with stark implications for a field offering hope of future medicines for conditions with inadequate or no current treatments.

News from The Associated Press: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she favors allowing a parliamentary vote on same-sex marriage – although she personally opposes changing the law.

The Hill: Priority will be given to sustainable projects that can get off the ground within six months and rapidly hire, train and deploy “new types” of healthcare workers.

The Hill: Democrats on Capitol Hill are worried that the Supreme Court will rule against President Obama’s healthcare reform law.

SCOTUSblog: In a lawsuit filed directly in the Court, without prior action in lower courts, the state contended that it has been denied one potential seat in the House because illegal immigrants are counted in census totals, putting Louisiana at a disadvantage in House apportionment.

Bloomberg: A Bloomberg News poll shows Cain at 20 percent, Paul at 19 percent, Romney at 18 percent and Gingrich at 17 percent among the likely attendees with the caucuses that start the nominating contests seven weeks away.

NBC New York: Hours later, a judge granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting the city from enforcing rules of the plaza — like a ban on tents and tarps — that she said were published “after the occupation began.”

CNSnews.com: The March 2010 email exchange between Kagan and Tribe raises new questions about whether Kagan must recuse herself from judging cases involving the health-care law that Obama signed–and which became the target of legal challenges–while Kagan was serving as Obama’s solicitor general and was responsible for defending his administration’s positions in court disputes.