Tag Archives: State: North Dakota

One News Now: Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Jonathan Scruggs explains that as part of an assignment, their client created a pro-life poster that the principal ordered to be taken down after just one parent complained. But as the attorney notes, restricting speech based on one complaint is known in legal circles as a “heckler’s veto.”

Bloomberg: U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright in Little Rock in a ruling yesterday denied a request by the state’s attorney general to dismiss the lawsuit. The judge said the two doctors have standing to sue even though the law hasn’t gone into effect and they have sufficiently alleged the law infringes women’s constitutional rights.

Center for Reproductive Rights: The Center for Reproductive Rights will soon file a lawsuit challenging both HB 1456 and HB 1305 on behalf the Red River Women’s Clinic before they are scheduled to take effect on August 1, 2013. The Center filed today’s proposed supplemental complaint, MKB Management Corp d/b/a Red River Women’s Clinic, Tammi Kromenaker, Kathryn Eggleston, M.D., v. Birch Burdick and Terry Dwelle, M.D., along with law firm Turman & Lang Ltd.

LifeNews: “Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said Legal Counsel Jon Scruggs. “We commend Griggs County Central High School for believing in this principle and promptly allowing the pro-life poster to be redisplayed.”

One day after receiving a letter from Alliance Defending Freedom, a North Dakota high school and its district agreed to allow a student’s pro-life poster that was part of a class assignment to be placed back on the walls of the school.

Grand Forks Herald: A judge said Thursday he will permanently block a 2011 North Dakota law that would have limited drug-induced abortions, a decision the director of the state’s lone abortion clinic hopes will “pave the way” for future challenges in a state where lawmakers have adopted four anti-abortion laws this session alone.

Washington Times: In April 2013, North Dakota enacted the “fetal heartbeat” ban to criminalize all abortion services after just 6 weeks of pregnancy. “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an individual may not knowingly perform an abortion on a pregnant woman with the specific intent of causing or abetting the termination of the life of the unborn child the pregnant woman is carrying and whose heartbeat has been detected.”

AP: Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed into law a measure that outlaws abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the disputed premise that at that point a fetus can feel pain.

AP: North Dakota’s House approved a measure Friday that would outlaw abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the disputed premise that at that point a fetus can feel pain.

Reuters: North Dakota’s only clinic that offers abortion services is vowing to challenge the state’s adoption of new restrictions that its backers say imperil its ability to operate.

AP: Rival legal teams, well-financed and highly motivated, are girding for court battles over the coming months on laws enacted in Arkansas and North Dakota that would impose the nation’s toughest bans on abortion.

LifeNews: The governor of North Dakota is facing death threats following his signing of a bill that would ban abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy and another to stop abortions on disabled babies.

NPR audio: In North Dakota, voters will decide next year whether to approve a constitutional amendment saying life begins at conception. A number of other bills in that state await the governor’s signature including one that prohibits abortion if a fetal heartbeat is present at about six weeks. In Arkansas, a ban at 12 weeks passed earlier this month. Abortion opponents hope to get one of those laws before the U.S. Supreme Court.

LifeNews: North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed three pro-life bills this morning, including one that would ban most abortions in the state. Dalrymple acknowledged a court battle is expected and asked state legislators to set aside funds to pay for the expenses.
The governor’s office released the following statement on the bills he signed . . .

AP: More than 300 abortion-rights activists carried signs and chanted, “Veto! Veto! Veto!” in a demonstration Monday at the state Capitol protesting a package of measures that would give the state the toughest abortion restrictions in the nation.

LifeSiteNews: For the first time in United States history, a legislative body has approved a personhood amendment in both the House and the Senate. Now the amendment will be referred to the people of North Dakota for a vote.

Steve Aden at Townhall: On March 15, the North Dakota senate approved a bill that prevents abortions from being performed once a developing child’s heartbeat is detected in the mother’s womb.

Bismark Tribune: House Bill 1305 would make it a Class A misdemeanor for a physician to willingly perform an abortion based specifically on gender or on genetic abnormalities. House Bill 1456 requires a physician to determine whether there’s a detectable heartbeat prior to performing an abortion

LifeNews: The North Dakota state Senate today approved legislation that would have the state banning most all abortions. The measure stops any abortions after the first 6 weeks of pregnancy.

AP: One bill would ban most abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected. That can happen as early as six weeks into pregnancy. A second bill would prevent women from having abortions based on gender selection or a genetic defect, such as Down syndrome.

Bismark Tribune: The House Human Services Committee heard nearly four hours of testimony Wednesday on four abortion-related bills.

WDAY.com: Abortion-rights attorneys will be watching closely actions taken by the North Dakota Legislature this week on a package of measures aimed at strengthening the state’s already strict abortion laws.

LifeNews: The North Dakota state Senate on Monday approved two pro-life bills – including one that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Senators voted 30-17 to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on scientific information showing unborn children feel pain at least at that point in pregnancy.

Williston Herald: Freier referred to lawyer Kellie Fiedorek with the Alliance Defending Freedom to explain some legal matters, including how the bill would put the LGBT community against businesses operating in line with their religious beliefs. Fiedorek cited examples in Colorado and other states of businesses that faced discrimination suits for refusing to provide a service, such as wedding photography or making a wedding cake, for a gay couple. In one example, she said the business referred the couple to a different business that provided the service. “This isn’t discrimination,” Fiedorek said. “This is religious intolerance.”

Personhood North Dakota: Confirming that the protection of every human being is within reach, The Defense of Human Life Act, HB 1450, has passed in the North Dakota House with an overwhelming majority of 68 – 25.

San Francisco Chronicle: The North Dakota Senate has passed legislation that would require a doctor performing abortions to be an OB-GYN with hospital-admitting privileges.

InForum: Kellie Fiedorek, attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, said expanding the state’s laws would create multiple legal issues and undermine First Amendment rights. “Religious freedom is not confined to only the four walls of a church,” she said. She highlighted a case in Colorado where a baker declined to bake a cake for a same-sex couple because of his religious beliefs. The couple filed a complaint, which Fiedorek called “religious intolerance.” She also said a counselor in Georgia was fired after she respectfully referred a gay woman to another counselor. Fiedorek said the woman was overly pleased with the counseling service, but still filed a complaint.

Bismark Tribune: Tom Freier, executive director of the North Dakota Family Alliance, said state law already has adequate provisions for the GLBT community. “It does create a protected class,” Freier said. “We believe equal protections certainly do exist.” Lawyer Kellie Fiedorek, with Alliance Defending Freedom, said SB2252 pits the GLBT community and its lobby on the federal level against those operating their businesses in a way that mirrors their religious beliefs. “This isn’t discrimination. This is religious intolerance,” Fiedorek said. Fiedorek cited the example of a Colorado bakery last year that was subject to a discrimination suit after refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. She said legislation such as SB2252 could work to force people of faith out of the marketplace. “They should not have to choose between their conscience and their livelihood,” Fiedorek said. | Also Grand Forks Herald | Jamestown Sun

MPRNews: A North Dakota House committee is considering a bill that would ban abortions in the state if a fetal heartbeat is detected.

WDAZ.com: Legislation was announced today that would protect people from being discriminated against because of their sexual preference when it comes to housing and employment. Currently the law does not include this in North Dakota so it is legal to discriminate someone on that basis.

The Republic: North Dakota’s House Republican majority leader says the Legislature may revisit whether the state should take part in running a new health insurance marketplace that is a key part of the new federal health care law.

CNN (includes video): The Forum of Fargo-Moorehead will accept for publication announcements of same-sex marriages, engagements and anniversaries if the marriage takes place in a state or country where it’s legally recognized, editor Matt Von Pinnon announced over the weekend.

MinnPost.com: The Fargo Forum — flagship paper of a chain that owns several Minnesota papers — is under fire for rejecting a same-sex couple’s announcement of their legal marriage in New York.

Religion Clause Blog: Voters in North Dakota yesterday soundly defeated Initiated Constitutional Measure No. 3 that would have placed a broad version of state religious freedom restoration laws in the state’s constitution.

NY Times: In an election here on Tuesday, residents of North Dakota will consider a measure that reaches far beyond any of that — one that abolishes the property tax entirely.

The HIll: The race for retiring Sen. Kent Conrad’s (D-N.D.) seat has set up a test case for whether Democrats can count on voters splitting the ticket in states where people have soured on President Obama.

Doug Napier at the Christian Post: On June 12, North Dakotans will have the opportunity to freely decide the fate of that state’s Religious Liberty Freedom Amendment…unless, of course, Planned Parenthood dumps another half a million dollars into state coffers from places as distant as California and New York, to confuse voters in what will or won’t be the status of religious liberty in North Dakota.

Citizen Link: An updated financial disclosure report reveals that Planned Parenthood has donated an additional $400,000 more to fight a religious-liberties amendment in North Dakota.

Religion Clause Blog: In Red River Freethinkers v. City of Fargo, (8th Cir., May 25, 2012), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a organization dedicated to promoting atheist and agnostic views has standing on behalf of its members to challenge a Ten Commandments monument that has stood for 50 years outdoors on city property in Fargo, North Dakota.

Religion Clause Blog: In Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe of Indians v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, (D ND, May 1, 2012), a North Dakota federal district court dismissed a lawsuit brought by a group Sioux Indians who are challenging an NCAA policy that led the University of North Dakota to end the use of  ”Fighting Sioux” as its team nickname . . .

The Jamestown Sun: An ordinance to tighten regulations on sexually oriented businesses moved a step closer to passage at a City Council committee meeting Monday.

In Forum: The topic will be Constitutional Measure 3, the Religious Liberty Restoration Amendment, and featured speakers will be Tom Freier of the North Dakota Family Alliance and Joe Infranco of the Alliance Defense Fund.

The Hill (includes video): North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) called on Congress to quickly pass legislation to green-light the Keystone XL oil pipeline, arguing that the Obama administration is “killing energy development.”

WDAY | Fargo, ND (includes video): After years of legal wrangling, the controversial law banning gay couples from marrying is about to be challenged in North Dakota. Two Fargo men will make history trying to become the state’s first married gay couple.

San Francisco Examiner: Abortion-rights supporters want a North Dakota district judge to block a law that they say would ban the use of drugs to cause abortions.

News from The Associated Press: Johannes and other farmers took notice last year when The Humane Society of the United States pushed a ballot proposal to abolish fenced hunting preserves. They’ve also followed efforts to pass animal welfare laws in other states, and they don’t want any unreasonable rules in North Dakota.

CTPost: A Fargo judge on Thursday put the brakes on a new state law that some believe could stop North Dakota’s only abortion clinic from using medicines to induce abortions.

CanadianBusiness.com: An abortion rights group is challenging a new North Dakota law that restricts how medicines can be used to induce abortions. | Center for Reproductive Rights press release

OneNewsNow.com: North Dakota residents will have the chance to decide whether the state will adopt a constitutional amendment that defines religious freedom, as enough petition signatures were gathered to place it on a future ballot.

The Republic: The Catholic bishop in Fargo has commissioned the diocese to open a chapel near North Dakota’s only abortion clinic in Fargo.

WorldNetDaily: The lawmakers decided that “no provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 may interfere with an individual’s choice of a medical or insurance provider except as otherwise provided by the laws of this state.” According to officials with the Tenth Amendment Center, the law adopted by the legislature and signed yesterday by Gov. Jack Dalrymple is a modification of model legislation it has offered a number of states under the title of the Federal Health Care Nullification Act.

NewsTimes.com: The proposed amendment says the government must have a compelling interest before it regulates religious practices. Any regulation must be done in the least-restrictive manner possible.

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.

Williston Herald: “An ordinance that would govern where adult entertainment businesses could be located was tabled a second time Tuesday by the Williston City Commission.”

LifeSiteNews: “Personhood bills and amendments are gaining notice and approval across the United States, with a one such bill having passed the House in North Dakota and another the Iowa House subcommittee. Georgia, Montana, Texas, and Oklahoma have also introduced personhood legislation, reports Personhood USA.”

LifeNews: While pro-lifers are optimistic about the bill’s survival in the Senate, Woodard said that supporters would “be taking no chances” and continue to lobby for its passage. A vote in the Senate is expected around March 10.

Christian Newswire: “Confirming that the protection of every human being is within reach, The Defense of Human Life Act, HB 1450, has passed in the North Dakota House with an overwhelming majority of 68 – 25.”

Christian Science Monitor: So far, five senators have announced that they will retire at the end of of their terms rather than seek reelection. With the 2012 campaigns not far off, the departures of these incumbents are shaking things up. Here’s how.”

Bismark Tribune: “The House Education Committee met Tuesday to consider a bill that would force health teachers to push saving sex until marriage. House Bill 1229 . . . ”

WDAY.com: “It’s a bill starting to get a lot of attention in the North Dakota legislature: The debate over divorce. A group of North Dakota Republicans wants to require couples wanting to get a divorce wait one year and go through mandatory marriage counseling.”

Associated Press: “North Dakota U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad said Tuesday he will not run for re-election in 2012, saying he will concentrate instead on reducing the national debt and dependence on foreign oil.”

Grand Forks Herald: “Kenneth Mahoney Jr., Topeka, Kan., pleaded guilty in October after he was stopped in Pembina, N.D., at the U.S.-Canada port of entry.”

The Bismarck Tribune: “Fargo authorities are investigating whether a doctor with an expired medical license performed abortions at North Dakota’s only abortion clinic.”

INFORUM (Fargo-Moorhead): “A doctor at the Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo has a state medical license that expired four months ago due to an oversight, the clinic acknowledged Friday.”

Grand Forks Herald: “The North Dakota Supreme Court refused Tuesday to order that a proposal to change the state’s pharmacy ownership law be put on the November ballot, but a supporter of the change promised the fight would continue. The voter initiative sought to abolish North Dakota’s requirement that most pharmacies in the state be owned by pharmacists. Industry officials say it is the only law of its kind in the country, and its critics say the law prevents large retailers, such as Walgreen Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., from offering less expensive prescription drugs through pharmacies they own.”

InForum: “Magistrate Judge Karen K. Klein said the Red River Freethinkers are raising similar issues already decided by the court and they fail to meet the necessary criteria to bring the lawsuit.” | Report and Recommendation in Red River Freethinkers v. City of Fargo, No. 3:08-cv-32 (D.N.D. Aug. 16, 2010)

KXnet.com (AP): “Supporters of several measures that didn’t make the cut say they’ll keep working to get the signatures they need. They include proposals to abolish property taxes and strengthen protection of religious freedom. [Secretary of State] Jaeger says those proposals could still appear on the June 2012 primary ballot if supporters get enough petition signatures.” | North Dakota Religious Freedom Amendment (2010) at Ballotpedia

Tom Fiebiger, member of the legislative Interim Human Services Committee, writing in the Grand Forks Herald: “When the data about teenagers and abortion in North Dakota was released last week during testimony as part of this study, one thing was clear: We have to do more to reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy in the state of North Dakota. … This is a complex problem that requires comprehensive solutions, including support for parents as the primary sexuality educator of their children, medically accurate sex education and access to reproductive health care services.”

Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “A Minnesota man has been barred from an annual bike tour in North Dakota after objecting to a prayer said during the event. Morgan Christian, 54, of St. Paul, rode the 500-mile CANDISC tour three consecutive years. He objected last summer to a prayer said before a meal at a public high school gym in Turtle Lake, one of several host communities along the route . . . he has contacted the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom from Religion Foundation about the issue.”

Grand Forks Herald: “In a 5-3 vote Monday night, the Moorhead City Council said ‘no’ to a domestic partnership registry.”

“This case concerns the crime of neonaticide, which is the killing of a newborn child on the first day of life. This crime is practically unknown in the federal courts. Neonaticide is a crime relating to family and domestic concerns and, thus, federal courts do not generally deal with these crimes.”

Associated Press: “North Dakota transportation officials have turned down a Fargo atheist’s request for a personalized license plate declaring there ‘ISNOGOD.’ Brian Magee says the state has allowed plates proclaiming ‘ILOVGOD’ and other religious messages.”

The Jamestown Sun: “The public discussed many topics at its state-required community forum Tuesday, but the most talked-about among them was the district’s facility rental policy. The policy was criticized recently after a local pastor said allowing religious-affiliated groups to rent the facility during school hours is improper.”

INFORUM: “After a procession of people spoke in favor of a domestic partnership registry, the Moorhead City Council on Monday directed staff to draft an ordinance similar to one that established a registry in Duluth, Minn., last year.”

LifeSiteNews: “A North Dakota grassroots pro-life organization is announcing the official beginning of an effort to circulate petitions for an initiated measure that would prohibit physicians from decapitating and crushing the skulls of living unborn children. ‘The Baby Decapitation and Skull Crushing Ban’ . . . ”