Tag Archives: State: Oregon

KTVZ.com: A cross in a public park in Coos Bay that has been at the center of a controversy over religious symbols in public places has been vandalize

LifeNews: With Governor Peter Shumlin’s signature on a bill the state legislature approved, Vermont today becomes the third state after Oregon and Washington to legalize assisted suicide.

EagNews: However the superintendent and board have declared that Planned Parenthood will continue to teach our children as long as its grant from the federal government lasts.

Statesman Journal: Data about sexual orientation are scarce on college campuses, leading an Oregon graduate student to turn to lawmakers for help to collect research.

Oregonian: You might have thought John E. Brennan’s troubles were history after a judge last year acquitted him of wrongdoing for stripping at Portland International Airport to protest what he saw as ridiculously invasive security measures.

LifeNews: Oregon Right to Life issued an action alert today asking pro-life people to contact their state legislators and urge opposition to a bill that attacks pregnancy centers providing women with abortion alternatives.

Washington Times: Rep. Duncan Hunter of California and Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina on Thursday introduced the “War Memorial Protection Act,” which they say will create a “foundation in federal law” for public veterans’ and war memorials that include crosses or similar items. | Duncan Hunter press release: Senator Burr joins Hunter to introduce War Memorial Protection Act

Liberty Institute is stepping in to help the city of Coos Bay, Oregon, after city leaders received a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, demanding they remove a Vietnam Veterans memorial because it includes a cross.

Religion Clause Blog: In In re M.M., (OR App., April 3, 2013), the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the authority of a juvenile court to order immunization of children who are wards of the court, even though the children’s mother and father have religious objections to immunization.

The World: Beginning at 7, the City Council will talk about a letter — received from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion group — asking the city to remove a memorial cross from Mingus Park because it allegedly violates the Constitution.

The Blaze (includes video): An Oregon public school teacher says he’s on the verge of being fired because of his outspoken views against Planned Parenthood and abortion.

Huffington Post: New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley plan to file a friend-of-the-court brief on Friday, their offices said. Officials in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia, will join the amicus brief.

(1/17) Lambda Legal today announced that the State of Oregon has changed an employee health care policy to remove all language that denies coverage to transgender people for transition-related health care.

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.”

Oregon Public Radio: Oregon voters could decide next year whether to legally recognize same-sex marriages. Supporters of gay marriage submitted an initiative Monday aimed at putting such a question on the Oregon ballot in November of 2014.

Religion Clause Blog: According to today’s New York Daily News, Aaron Klein, the owner of Sweet Cakes in Gresham, Oregon, says he was following his strong religious beliefs in deciding not to be a part of a same-sex marriage.

LifeNews: The number assisted suicide deaths were: 77 in 2012, 71 in 2011, 65 in 2010 and 59 in 2009. There has been a 30% increase in the number of assisted suicide deaths in Oregon since 2009.

Oregonian: She brought her partner, Aimee Wilson, to stand beside her as she was sworn in as speaker — thereby making national publicity as the first openly lesbian to serve in that position in the nation.

Washington Post: Regulators in Oregon and California have quietly directed some health insurance companies to stop denying coverage for transgender patients because of their gender identity.

Oregon Live: . Oregon voters passed the gay-marriage ban by nearly 57 percent, putting Oregon near the front of the state-by-state movement to formally seal off marriage from gay people. Today, Oregon is one of 31 states with constitutional bans.

LifeNews: The following article was written by Seattle lawyer, Margaret Dore and published on December 31 on the Missoulian website under the title: Oregon, Washington assisted suicide laws include no protections for patients. Margaret Dore indicated that she had titled the article: Assisted suicide in Washington and Oregon: A recipe for elder abuse and cloaked in secrecy.

The Republic (AP): Police in Portland say a maximum $1,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest in the case of Italian marble religious statues damaged at a Catholic shrine and botanical garden.

SB Sun: Coming off successful measures legalizing gay marriage in Maine, Maryland and Washington, gay rights activists are targeting:

— Oregon and Hawaii in the West;
— Minnesota and Illinois in the Midwest;
— New Jersey, Delaware and Rhode Island in the Northeast.
All of those states except Minnesota already allow civil unions. All are near other U.S. states which now allow gay marriage.

Politico: Advocates have identified Oregon, Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota, Colorado, Hawaii and New Jersey as states where they believe that as early as 2014 they’ll see gay marriage legalized through ballot measures, court decisions or state legislative action.

AP: An Oregon woman will be the first openly lesbian lawmaker to lead a state legislative chamber in the U.S.

NY Times: They are also preparing for what they hope will be another milestone: the electoral reversal of a constitutional amendment defining marriage . . . campaigners see the potential for legislative gains in Delaware; Hawaii; Illinois; Rhode Island; Minnesota, where they beat back a restrictive amendment last Tuesday; and New Jersey, where Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in February . . .

Washington Post: Three states made history Tuesday (Nov. 6) voting to approve same-sex marriage, and a fourth repudiated an attempt to ban it. Oregon, once known as a trailblazer for progressive causes, wasn’t among them. But that could change in 2014.

NY Daily News: Ted Clair was stabbed seven times in the abdomen and neck during a fight with Christopher Tolhurst, who had signs denouncing abortion and Planned Parenthood, officials said.

KBOI2.com (includes video): An Oregon couple says they were told their wedding wouldn’t be “a good fit” for a local venue because the couple is gay. The owner of the venue refused to comment on the issue, but the couple says everyone was fine with their wedding plans until they said they were lesbians . . . The ACLU’s legal director, Sarah Dunne, said businesses can’t pick and choose who they serve . . . According to the ACLU, Referendum-74 — the same-sex marriage law — has no bearing on this incident. The law would only allow clergy to opt out of performing marriages for religious reasons.

AP: The Vatican won a major victory Monday in an Oregon federal courtroom, where a judge ruled that the Holy See is not the employer of molester priests

Yahoo News: An Oregon judge ruled on Wednesday that stripping naked at the airport to protest the Transportation Security Administration is a protected form of free speech. In other words, if you’re protesting the TSA it’s OK to show a little T&A. | More information at Oregon Live.

Religion Clause Blog: In Dasmesh Darbar Sikh Temple v. Marion County Assessor, (OR Tax Ct., July 11, 2012), the Oregon Tax Court, Magistrate Division, held that a house provided as a residence for a Sikh temple’s three priests is entitled to a tax exemption.

Religion Clause Blog: Because of his religious belief in faith healing, defendant did not seek medical attention for his daughter who died of bacterial pneumonia and a blood infection associated with a large cystic mass that compromised her body’s immune defenses.

Americans United for Life Blog: Forced by a court order, Oregon taxpayers have paid for abortions for women receiving public assistance since 1984.[i] Millions of dollars have been lost to abortion. Since the court’s interference, Oregon has struggled to enact meaningful limitations on abortions, including funding restrictions supported by most taxpayers. One-third of all abortions in Oregon are paid for by taxpayers, according to the Oregon 2012 Petition Committee. From 2003 to 2009, that amounted to $11.1 million in state taxpayer dollars spent on 26,000 abortions. But Oregon taxpayers are fighting back.

Benjamin Bull at Townhall: Last week, the British Columbia Supreme Court emulated the state of Oregon’s assisted suicide law via a decision inCarter v. AG Canada, which “carves exceptions into the laws allowing Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in Canada.”

Elder Law Answers: Only two states have passed laws legalizing assisted suicide in certain limited circumstances. Under Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, physicians can prescribe lethal medication that will allow terminally ill individuals to end their lives. There are very specific steps–including waiting periods and release forms–that must be followed before the medication can be prescribed. Washington has a similar law. The law in a third state, Montana, is less clear.

AP: Hirsh, 22, contends the Oregon psychiatrist was practicing “conversion therapy” to change his sexual orientation. His experience is the subject of an ethics complaint filed this month by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which plans to take the same action in other states as part of a national campaign to stop therapists from trying to make gay people straight. | Southern Poverty Law Center press release and complaint

OregonLive.com: Nonetheless, Richard Baldwin, Nena Cook and Timothy Sercombe each have tried to stand out in the race for one of Oregon’s most influential judicial seats.

LifeSiteNews: A homosexual activist group calling itself “Angry Queers” claimed responsibility for smashing nine windows in a church known for teaching traditional sexual morality early Tuesday morning.

Education News: In a move that is being described as “retaliatory” against a Christian school that was overcharged water and sewer fees for decades, an Oregon town has redefined “apartment” to include a dorm room so that it annually can collect tens of thousands of dollars in fees.

LifeNews: One such state is Oregon, which has paid for abortions for women receiving public assistance pursuant to court order since 1984.[i] According to the Oregon 2012 Petition Committee, one third of all abortions in Oregon are funded by taxpayers.

LifeNews: A couple in Oregon has been awarded $2.9 million because they would have aborted their little girl had they known she had Down Syndrome. Deborah and Ariel Levy told an Oregon court that prenatal testing they received said little Kalanit did not have Down Syndrome

NPR (includes audio): One of the first physicians to voice support for Oregon’s controversial assisted suicide legislation in the early 1990s has used the state’s Death with Dignity Act to end his own life.

Volokh Conspiracy: D accused father of physically abusing her, and is now in foster care. The father says “D was lying about the physical abuse and was an ‘out of control’ teenager.” The father is awaiting trial on the physical abuse charges.

Statesman Journal : Five Oregon state workers have asked a federal court to block a new health insurance program that requires them to fill out an online risk assessment survey or pay a monthly penalty: $20 for individuals, $35 for couples.

FIRE – The Moral Liberal: Under the new policies, which were put into place after pressure from the Alliance Defense Fund, students may still reserve the table in the free speech zone, but may also speak elsewhere on campus spontaneously and without prior approval. The college also eliminated a speech code that banned “offensive” or “derogatory” speech.

Free speech now allowed campus-wide (OneNewsNow.com): ADF legal counsel David Hacker says that was reasonable . . . “Universities across the country are censoring Christian and pro-life speech on really a rapid scale,” he laments. “But we’re really pleased that Chemeketa was willing to work with us and change its policies to open up the campus to more speech.” [more]

LifeNews.com: “Pro-life students shouldn’t have to get a permission slip to share their beliefs on campus,” said ADF Legal Counsel David Hacker. “Making free speech the exception rather than the norm and then corralling it to a limited area is unconstitutional and contrary to the ‘marketplace of ideas’ that a university is supposed to be. We appreciate the college’s efforts in working with us to revise its policies and rectify this problem.”

ADF Attorney David Hacker appeared on the Victoria Taft Show to discuss the situation at Chemeketa Community College in Oregon. | MP3 audio 5:20 mins

Chemeketa Community College revises policies after interaction with ADF attorneys representing pro-life students

“Oregon Gay Activist Opposes Boy Scout Tree Program” | Fox News: A Portland gay rights activist is urging his neighbors to boycott the Boy Scout Christmas tree recycling program.

KBND.com: Prineville’s Nativity Scene is still creating controversy in the small town. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is complaining the display is not inclusive.

Wesley Smith at Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: This letter to the editor from a physician about the failure of Oregon’s doctor-prescribed suicide guidelines to protect a vulnerable patient is poignant, but ultimately, irrelevant. All that matters is a desire to die by the patient coupled (for now) with a terminal diagnosis.

Sally Satel at WSJ.com (full access via Google): In October of 2009, Kumud Majumder, the father of an 11-year-old son with advanced leukemia, joined a lawsuit challenging the federal ban on compensating bone-marrow donors. He wanted to save his son’s life. Last week Mr. Majumder and his co-plaintiffs enjoyed a victory. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the majority of bone-marrow donors may lawfully be compensated.

OregonLive.com: Cornilles said that, contrary to Right to Life, he supports allowing abortion in cases of rape and incest. His campaign manager, Mary Anne Ostrom, said Cornilles also parts way with Right to Life on two other controversial issues. She said he supports in vitro fertilization and embryonic stem cell research, both of which have been opposed by Right to Life because it leads to the destruction of embryos.

The Denver Post: Denver-based anti-abortion group that sponsored an unsuccessful personhood amendment in Mississippi — declaring fertilization the starting point of life — is mobilizing again to push a fortified measure in Colorado, Oregon and Montana.

OregonLive.com: After a three-year campaign to build support for legalizing same-sex marriage, Oregon’s largest gay rights group has decided against putting the issue up for a vote in 2012

Statesman Journal: It will mark the first time in almost 25 years that two justices will retire and leave their seats to be filled by election rather than appointment by the governor.

News from The Associated Press: The boy was born two months prematurely, weighed less than four pounds and lived less than nine hours.

Register Guard: Basic Rights Oregon’s board will soon make a decision on whether to put forward a ballot measure for the November 2012 election to overturn Oregon’s 2004 constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

Christian Post: The protesters took issue with the church’s stance on homosexuality, and carried banners and shouted obscenities at those in attendance as they exited the church. Then, after a request by a police officer, the protesters moved across the street from the church.

Religion Clause: In Oregon City, Oregon last week, Dale and Shannon Hickman were convicted of second degree manslaughter in the death of their seriously ill infant son for whom they prayed and who they anointed with olive oil instead of seeking medical help.

News from The Associated Press: When the FBI notified police in Oregon that a Springfield man had purchased a mail-order suicide kit, officers went to his home and kicked down his door to make sure he was OK.

OregonLive.com: Wording that essentially condemned same-sex marriage and civil unions, and that stated such couples were unfit to be parents, was removed from the official party platform during a weekend convention in Bend.

Statesman Journal | statesmanjournal.com (includes video): The group plans to begin collecting signatures in October for a possible 2012 ballot campaign, said Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon.

Religion Clause: On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate, by a vote of 64-35, confirmed the nomination of Michael Simon as federal district judge for the district of Oregon.

OPB News: Oregon lawmakers want to stop companies from selling home suicide kits. The bill passed this week doesn’t affect existing “manslaughter” laws.

Christian Faith-Healing Parents on Trial for Refusing Medical Attention: An Oregon couple has been accused of medically neglecting their baby daughter after refusing medical treatment for a large tumor that developed over her left eye. Opening statements were heard Friday at the Clackamas County Courthouse, and the trial will resume today. Timothy and Rebecca Wyland . . .

Washington Post: Oregon lawmakers have given approval to a bill that would drop faith healing as a legal defense in murder or manslaughter cases.

AP: Oregon senators voted Monday to impose a crackdown on companies that sell so-called “suicide kits,” which contain hoods or other items intended to help a person end his or her life.

AP: Muslims from Oregon who had planned to celebrate the death of Osama bin Laden in downtown Portland Monday night canceled the event due to threats.

Oregonian: In response to a Oregon Supreme Court ruling this year, the Oregon Senate voted today to make it a crime to view child pornography online for free. | Oregon v. Barger, No. CA A138678 (Ore. Jan 6, 2011) | Senate Bill 803

Pacific Justice Institute: A public high school that reportedly suppressed student speech on last year’s “Day of Silence” opted to change its approach after facing the threat of legal action from Pacific Justice Institute.

LifeNews: Representative Tim Freeman (R-Roseburg) held a press conference today announcing the House Judiciary Committee hearing of a bill that would ban abortion in Oregon after the fifth month of pregnancy except to save the life of the mother. HB 3512 . . .

Religion Clause Blog: In State of Oregon v. Brumwell, (OR Sup. Ct. March 25, 2011), the Oregon Supreme Court, in reviewing the murder conviction and death sentence imposed on defendant, rejected defendant’s argument that evidence of Satanism introduced at the penalty phase of his trial violated his free exercise rights.