Daily Archives: February 13, 2013

The Alliance Alert will not be published on the following dates: February 14, 15, 18. Normal publication will resume on Tuesday, February 19.

National Review Bench Memos: President Obama’s nomination of Caitlin Halligan to a D.C. Circuit seat is scheduled for a Senate Judiciary Committee vote tomorrow.

National Review: Oxnard Union School District superintendent Gabe Soumakian told Fox News Radio that “we need to pursue this further” and “work with teachers and students and the community about the concept of cultural proficiency.” Soumakian and Camarillo High School principal Glenn Lipman felt that the students’ actions might have had racist undertones since the schools have large Hispanic student populations.

Blog of the Legal Times: The Senate confirmed William Kayatta Jr. of Maine to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on Wednesday, making him the first new circuit judge to take the bench since June and the first federal judge confirmed during this session of Congress.

LifeNews The New Mexico Medical Board is seeking to change Board Regulations on Complaint Procedures in the wake of the high-profile case against late-term abortionist Shelley Sella, who was cleared last week on charges of gross negligence related to a botched 35-week abortion that resulted in a ruptured uterus.:

Travis Barham at Speak Up Movement: At Brooklyn College this week, it seems that everyone is talking about academic freedom.  A student group, Brooklyn College Students for Justice in Palestine, organized an event highlighting the “BDS” movement, which advocates for a boycott of Israel . . .

The Hill: Republican senators are blocking a vote on former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) this week unless he provides additional financial information, setting up what Democrats say is the first-ever filibuster of a Defense secretary nominee

Turtle Bay and Beyond: October 18th 2011, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered an important judgment in the area of the protection of the human embryo in the case C-34/10 Oliver Brüstle v Greenpeace e.V. In this case the judges in Luxembourg précised the legal definition of the human embryo, and relying on the respect due to human dignity, excluded from patentability all processes which would imply the destruction of human embryo, such as a processes using embryonic stem cells.

The Christian Institute: An Aberdeen congregation and its minister have become the latest to leave the Church of Scotland over its ordination of homosexual clergy.

Telegraph: An historic majority of MPs voted to press forward with a bill legalising gay marriage on Wednesday, but more than half of Conservative MPs and a significant minority of Labour MPs voted against it.

Christian Concern: The Church of England’s most senior figure has warned that teachers and “people of faith” could face legal challenges if the government’s same-sex ‘marriage’ Bill is pushed through.

GLAD: The American Bar Association Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity recognized Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defender’s Civil Rights Project Director Mary L. Bonauto with the newly created Stonewall Award for her significant achievements in advancing the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Hawaii Family Forum: Today, around 150 people gathered at the capitol to demand what they are calling “marriage equality” (another name for redefining marriage.) Tomorrow, (February 12, 2013) they plan to visit the capitol all day. The timing is critical because if nothing happens by Wednesday, than the issue will be off the table for this legislative session. That’s why the push is happening so strongly all of a sudden.

KIVITV.com: A tax break sought by an anti-abortion pregnancy center in Boise cleared the House on a near party-line vote. The measure to benefit Stanton Health Care by giving such clinics a sales tax exemption passed Tuesday on a 58-12 vote.

Michael J. New at National Review Online: Unfortunately, Kilgore fails to understand the main factors that influence attitudes toward abortion. Theological beliefs can certainly inform opinions to a certain degree. However, the best predictor of someone’s attitude toward abortion is his or her opinion on the morality of premarital sex.

LifeNews: Today is also the birthday of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), which formed on this day February 12, 1909. But unlike Lincoln, whose worldview was shaped by the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass (a slave born of rape but a man defined by limitless possibility), the NAACP has allowed itself to be shaped by an ideology that seeks control, conformity, and confusion as it advocates the destruction of greatness every day.

Houston Chronicle: Houston police were searching for a 5-month-old fetus after a woman told them she took some pills and tried to give herself an abortion Tuesday morning.

The Capital Times: And it sounds like the first bill to get a warm reception from Republicans will be what’s being dubbed the “Woman’s Right to Know her Unborn Child Act,” also being termed the “ultrasound bill” by pro-choice forces.

The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, an organization of chaplain endorsers, is expressing dismay that the Department of Defense issued a policy memorandum Monday extending benefits to “same-sex domestic partners” of military members without notifying Congress.

San Francisco Chronicle: A bill that would make it more difficult for girls younger than 18 to receive an abortion without notifying their parents was one of three abortion-related measures that easily cleared a House committee on Tuesday.

LifeNews: The political arm of the Planned Parenthood abortion business has launched an attack on pro-life Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli.

KTOO.org: Legislation that would limit the circumstances in which public funds can be used to pay for abortions was introduced in the Senate on Monday, but the bill may have trouble standing up to court scrutiny.

Oregon Live: “Put simply,” wrote Herbert Grey, the Kleins’ attorney, “they elected not to participate in an event that is not even officially recognized under Oregon law when doing so would violate their constitutionally protected conscience and religious beliefs.”

Pink News: The updated AP memo states “husband” or “wife” can be used if those involved regularly used those terms.

KSDK.com (includes video): It’s expected to clear the Senate without problems, and then goes to the House.

MyFoxDetroit: In a motion filed Tuesday, newly elected Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown said the county no longer wants to challenge the suit filed last year in federal court against Gov. Rick Snyder, Attorney General Bill Schuette and former Oakland County Clerk Bill Bullard.

Christian Post: For millennia, all societies have viewed marriage as an exclusively heterosexual club. But in the last few years, more and more people are saying it’s time to open the marriage door to homosexuals. After all, we are told, if marriage is all about love and mutual commitment, gay people can do that at least as well as straights – who have thoroughly messed up the institution in any event. And besides, it would be discriminatory to deny homosexuals the right to marry, no?

National Review: Tonight, he called for an end to the financial penalties often facing low-income couples who marry. Specifically, Obama said, “we’ll work to strengthen families by removing the financial deterrents to marriage for low-income couples.” Concretely, this could be done in two ways . . .

Politifact: “I’m pleased with the direction the Institute is taking,” wrote Sears, who has been a board member of the group for several years. “Unlike David, I was never against same-sex marriage. But much like David, I’ve witnessed the fallout from broken families in the past several decades, during which divorce and out-of-wedlock births have skyrocketed, and unstable, serial cohabiting relationships have become the norm for raising children.”

The Telegraph: Gay marriage proposals in Britain and France have shined a spotlight on the countries’ contrasting family law systems, says Monique Fauchon

Daily Mail: The incoming head of the CIA converted to Islam while working as a station chief in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, a former FBI agent has claimed. John Guandolo, who retired from the FBI in 2008, said in a radio interview that John Brennan – who has been nominated by Barack Obama as the new director of the CIA – visited the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina accompanied by Saudi officials who may have persuaded him to convert.

WTAQ.com: The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Walker administration yesterday. The group wants the state to stop requiring permits to demonstrate at the Capitol – and to stop arresting protestors who don’t have those permits.

One News Now: ADF attorney Matt Bowman tells OneNewsNow that pro-life personnel should not be forced to assist abortions. “The hospital seems to have decided to do the right thing — to respect the freedom of conscience of employees — because these employees are protected by both federal and state law in their freedom not to assist abortions,” he explains. Bowman adds that Mt. Sinai had known of DeCarlo’s religious objections since 2004.

LifeNews: “Pro-life medical personnel shouldn’t be forced to participate in abortions, and the new policies and procedures at Mt. Sinai reflect that,” said Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The hospital seems to have decided to do the right thing and respect the conscience rights of its employees, who are protected by both federal and state law. We will continue to monitor the situation to make sure that the new policy is followed.”

Fox News: Gay rights activists are calling for DC Comics to fire the author of a new digital Superman project because he is opposed to gay marriage.

LifeSiteNews: Fourteen abortion centers were cited as having infractions that violated inspections, yet due to the weakness of the current law, only one was fined by the state. Although many of the violations were recorded, much of the reports was blacked out. Below is a summary of the little that is actually legible . . .

LifeSiteNews: After a history of violations that produced a 76-page report from the Alabama Department of Public Health, a Birmingham abortion facility is finally calling it quits.

LifeSiteNews: Canada’s Conservative government is defending its grant to a Christian organization working to improve water access in Uganda after a media report on Sunday called for its defunding because of its Christian beliefs on sexuality.

LifeSiteNews: Canada’s Official Opposition leader is under fire Tuesday after saying traditional Christian beliefs on sexuality go “completely against” Canadian values, and even Canadian law.

LifeNews: “The Vermont Senate today voted not to accept the Senate Judiciary Committee’s recommendation that Senate Bill 77 be rejected,” Mary Ann Beerworth of Vermont Right to Life told LifeNews. “Thirteen senators voted to reject the bill, while 17 voted not to reject the bill. As a result of today’s vote, debate on the Bill will continue. S.77 is now scheduled for further debate on Thursday, February 14th, at 1:00 p.m.”

LifeNews: This highlights the little known fact that abortion is still effectively illegal in Northern Ireland but there is a situation tantamount to abortion on demand in the rest of the UK where there were over 200,000 abortions last year, 98% on mental health grounds.

WSJ Market Watch carries the text of the speech.

U.S. News and World Report: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul delivered the Tea Party rebuttal to Obama’s State of the Union speech

Volokh Conspiracy: Intelligence Squared is hosting a provocative debate on the motion “Prohibit Genetically Engineered Babies” — this Wednesday, February 13, 6:45-8:30pm, at the Kaufman Center, 129 West 67th Street (btw Broadway and Amsterdam), New York City.

Washington Post: Maine’s highest court prepared to weigh in on whether a man can be charged with invasion of privacy for viewing videos of accused johns who were recorded without their knowledge while engaging in sex acts with a woman who’s charged with using her Zumba studio as a front for prostitution.

Religion Clause Blog: The Conway, Arkansas Log Cabin Democrat reports that yesterday the Conway school board approved a policy that will allow youth ministers back on school campuses, after their lunch hour visits with students were temporarily suspended in reaction to a complaint by the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

AP: President Barack Obama is telling Congress that he will take action to combat climate change if lawmakers don’t do it themselves.

AP: “It has turned into a childish spectacle. I don’t want to be there to lend dignity to it,” Scalia said, with a certain amount of mischief.

AP: Sen. Patrick Leahy want the government to start affording same sex, married couples the same immigration benefits that heterosexual couples now enjoy.

SCOTUS Blog: U.S. Circuit Judge Merrick B. Garland on Tuesday became the new chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Kellie Fiedorek at Townhall: And while not every couple has a biological child, every child has a mother and a father. It is this powerful fact that defines what marriage is all about.

Public Discourse: With money as the biggest incentive for sperm donation, donors are set up to be absent fathers. Politicians, charitable organizations, academics, and donors themselves should counter the ills of sperm donation through law, journalism, and funding for anti-sperm donation advocacy. The second of a two-part series.

Daily Beast carries the video and text.