Tag Archives: Topic: Legislation

MPR: Roback Morse founded the California-based Ruth Institute, which promotes marriage to college students. Many Minnesotans voted against amending the Constitution in November, Roback Morse said, because they thought there was no threat to traditional marriage. She believes those voters were surprised to have state legislators propose same-sex marriage legislation so soon.

Miami Herald: Controversial bills that would prohibit the use of Islamic law being applied in state courts, make the death of an unborn child a separate crime from an offense committed against the mother, and ban abortions based on an unborn child’s gender or race passed the Florida House Thursday.

Christian Post: The Florida House of Representatives Thursday passed a bill, 71-44, that would make it a crime for abortion providers to knowingly provide an abortion to a customer seeking to abort their fetus because of his or her race or gender. Some Democratic lawmakers walked out of the House chambers in protest as the bill was debated. The bill, H.B. 845 . . .

RR Daily Herald: Abortion-rights advocates and political observers say a series of measures in the North Carolina General Assembly adding new restrictions for the procedure could set up the first test of wills between the GOP majority in the legislature and Republican Gov. Pat McCrory.

Hawaii Free Press: Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Joseph La Rue speaks out regarding Hawaii Senate Bill 535 SD1 HD2, a proposed law that would make it illegal for any Hawaii family to fire or otherwise change the employment status of many incompatible nannies, babysitters, caretakers, and other domestic workers . . . The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom allied attorney James Hochberg . . .

Non-discrimination doesn’t mean anything goes. Being responsible enough to employ someone you trust to watch your baby or bathe your grandmother is not engaging in unlawful discrimination, and the Hawaii Legislature should know better.

Chicago Tribune: Kansas Governor Sam Brownback on Friday signed into law a far-reaching anti-abortion bill that creates new restrictions on the procedure and defines life as beginning “at fertilization.”

Washington Post: Under the proposal, no new civil unions would be performed after July 1, and couples in civil unions could convert to marriages before July 2014 by applying for a marriage license. On July 1, 2014, all remaining civil unions not subject to dissolution, annulment or legal separation would automatically convert to marriages.

National Review: On Monday, the Montana state senate voted 27–23 to defeat a bill that would have definitively outlawed doctor-assisted suicide in the state.

AZ Catholic Conference: The Arizona Senate has passed an important school choice bill (HB 2617) today that would expand the pool of potential donors under the existing corporate scholarship (tuition) tax credit to include S corporations and Limited Liability Companie

Brown Daily Herald: The House approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in January that is slated for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee next week.

Miami Herald: Temporarily setting aside debate over the legality of abortion, the Florida House unanimously passed a measure Wednesday that would require doctors to provide emergency care if a failed abortion somehow produces an infant who is born alive. HB 1129 . . .

San Francisco Chronicle: The Missouri House gave preliminary approval Wednesday to legislation that would require a doctor to be present for the administration of any drug used to induce an abortion.

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: Montana Gov. Steve Bullock will sign into law a bill that decriminalizes gay sex, 16 years after the state supreme court ruled the law unconstitutional.

Orlando Sentinel: But a little-noticed tweak in a sweeping education bill expected to become law muddles which grades are protected by a federal law prohibiting discrimination against school clubs. The American Civil Liberties Union says that Lake County schools are obligated to allow the Gay-Straight Alliance club to form because the middle school has other non-academic clubs.

Illinois Review: “They’re doing it. Fifty percent of high school students surveyed said they’re having sex,” State Rep. Christian Mitchell (D-Chicago) said, “We want to make sure students do it properly and safely.”

Alan Sears at Alliance Defending Freedom: This week’s deadline for filing your 2012 U.S. income taxes is a good reminder that many organizations you care about depend on Alliance Defending Freedom to defend their tax credits and tax-exempt status. Just this month, we’ve intervened in two cases to protect your religious freedom from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, who once again are proving that their idea of liberty does not include parents deciding where their children are educated.

Seattle Post Intelligencer: A Republican-dominated coalition in the state Senate has blocked discussion on a plan to require insurers to cover abortion.

The Hill: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) vowed Wednesday to join with abortion-rights groups and fight a forthcoming GOP bill to ban most abortions in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Dallas Morning News: Citing patient safety, a Senate committee approved a bill Tuesday that would require doctors who perform abortions to maintain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

The Times Picayune: Legislation requiring a board-certified physician to be present in the room when abortion-inducing drugs are administered to a pregnant woman cleared a Senate panel Wednesday. Senate Bill 90 . . .

Wesley J. Smith at LifeNews: Now, fueling my suspicion, new California legislation has been filed to permit researchers to pay women for undergoing egg extraction–which can cost ”donors” their health, fecundity, even their lives. First, the prices paid would be set by the researchers: From AB 926 . . .

High Point Enterprise: When can students at a public school in North Carolina voluntarily and independently pray on school grounds? A bill introduced recently — and co-sponsored by state Sen. Stan Bingham, R-Davidson — would clarify the instances and situations where prayer at public schools would and wouldn’t be permitted. Senate Bill 370 . . .

One News Now: Nicole Theis of the Delaware Family Policy Council (DFPC) points out that in a state where the governor’s mansion is occupied by Democrat Jack Markell — the same party as a majority of both houses of the legislature — defeating the measure is a matter of public involvement in the process.

Providence Journal: As the debate over same-sex marriage moves closer to a vote in the Rhode Island Senate, lawmakers are wrestling with a key question: If legislators approve same-sex marriage, how will the rights of same-sex couples interact with the rights of people who oppose it?

USA Today: Republicans in the Pennsylvania House on Monday pushed out of committee a bill that would prevent most coverage for abortions under the health exchange in Pennsylvania being set up as part of the federal health care overhaul.

Jeremy Tedesco of Alliance Defending Freedom and John O’Connor of Equality California on Due Diligence Voice of Russia Radio to discuss this: Should Calif. punish Boy Scouts with loss of tax-exempt status? | MP3 audio 16:58 mins

Alliance Defending Freedom at Christian Post: California Senator Ricardo Lara is the latest in a series of people and entities to bully young boys. This phrase is intended to be as shocking as it sounds, only because the advocacy he is engaging in is equally so.

KnoxNews.com: A bill to create a new state panel that could authorize charter schools when local school boards reject them has been revised to apply only in five counties, including Knox, and remains a contentious issue as legislators push toward adjourning the 2013 session.

Alliance Defending Freedom: Senator Lara and Equality California should issue a formal apology for trying to bully BSA into changing its values. And, if UPS or Intel has the courage to stand up to the bullies and defend Scouts’ honor, they should publically reward Boy Scouts of America’s excellent service with true charitable gifts—the kind that come with no strings attached.

WSOCTV.com: A new bill introduced in North Carolina’s House on Wednesday would stop “a person from performing or attempting to perform an abortion when the sex of the unborn child is a significant factor in seeking the abortion.”

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.

The Pennsylvania Record: A western Pennsylvania lawmaker recently introduced a bill in the General Assembly (Pa. State Rep. Tim Krieger) that would require parties bringing lawsuits attacking religious symbols in public to reveal their identities and not proceed through the litigation anonymously.

LifeNews: Liberal billionaire George Soros has apparently found a new cause to put his money behind, having already supported President Barack Obama, liberal candidates and abortion. His new venture appears to be assisted suicide.

Boston Globe: Senate Bill 107, the measure that strikes from the state code the obsolete language criminalizing gay sex as deviate sexual conduct, passed its final legislative hurdle Wednesday with a 65-34 vote in the House.

LifeNews: A pro-life group in Indiana is celebrating the fact that the state legislature is sending a bill that targets the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug to Governor Mike Pence. Today, Senate Bill 371 . . .

Delaware Online: “If you promise to do your part and to assure that the marriage equality bill reaches my desk this year, I make a promise to you. I will sign it.”

KOLOTV.com: SJR13 was approved Thursday on a 3-2 party line vote by the Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections. It now goes to the Senate floor.

Eugene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy: A Florida bill would ban “knowingly transmit[ting] or post[ing]” to any web site, a “photograph or video that depicts nudity of another person” coupled with “personal identification information” of that other person, “for the purpose of harassing the depicted person or causing others to harass the depicted person.” “Harass” is defined as “to engage in conduct directed at a specific person that is intended to cause substantial emotional distress to such person and serves no legitimate purpose.”

Delaware Online: Democratic lawmakers will introduce legislation today to legalize same-sex marriage in Delaware, a measure proponents have aggressively sought in recent months and are determined to make law before the close of this year’s General Assembly session.

Religion Clause Blog: Yesterday, Kansas governor Sam Brownback signed HB 2203, the Preservation of Religious Freedom Act (full text). The new law provides in part . . .

WWMT.com: The legislation will require “any health facility–at the patient’s request–to put in writing, services that they can receive to save their life.”

KECNTV.com: Under the current “Romeo and Juliet” defense, both sexual partners are legally protected as long as they’re older than 14 and within three years of age of each other. But that protection doesn’t apply to homosexual teens.

Missoulian: After a half-hour of emotional debate, both for and against the measure, the House voted 64-36 to endorse Senate Bill 107 – one day after House members narrowly voted to remove it from the House Judiciary Committee, where it had been tabled on a party-line vote with Republicans in favor.

AP: The Senate Governance and Finance Committee voted 5 to 2 to move the first-of-its-kind bill to the Senate Appropriations Committee for review.

CBS Local: A Texas House panel is set to debate hot-button legislation to ban abortions in Texas after 20 weeks. That’s the point at which anti-abortion activists contend a fetus can feel pain.

CBS: A state senate committee in Harrisburg has given its approval to a bill that would have Pennsylvania opt out of abortion coverage as part of the new federal health care law taking effect.

Reuters: Governor Mike Beebe, a Democrat, has not said whether he would sign the bill. But the Arkansas legislature last month overrode his veto of two previous bills placing new restrictions on abortions, including one to ban most abortions from being performed after the 12th week of pregnancy.

Delaware Online: Fresh from the governor’s desk, a bill aimed at expanding legal opportunities for public school prayer has been signed into law even as the Lincoln County School District remains in talks with the American Civil Liberties Union over charges of unconstitutional prayers in the district.

The Blaze: “SB 323′s primary purpose is to penalize BSA based on its constitutionally protected membership policy and the values that underlie it,” lawyers for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom wrote in a letter to lawmakers last week. “This type of targeted punishment of a group based on how it exercises its associational and free speech rights violates the First Amendment.”

Washington Post (AP): “SB 323’s primary purpose is to penalize BSA based on its constitutionally protected membership policy and the values that underlie it,” lawyers for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom wrote in a letter to lawmakers last week. “This type of targeted punishment of a group based on how it exercises its associational and free speech rights violates the First Amendment.” | also at NBC

Examiner.com: Lawyers for the Alliance Defending Freedom, took not of the bill, pointing out that it is a violation of the First Amendment: “SB323′s primary purpose is to penalize BSA based on its constitutionally protected membership policy and the values that underlie it. This type of targeted punishment of a group based on how it exercises its associational and free speech rights violates the First Amendment.”

AL.com: Gov. Robert Bentley on Tuesday will sign into law a bill to place new regulations on abortion clinics passed by the Alabama Legislature last week.

Charisma: Youth organizations that have benefitted America for generations should be free from harassment by politicians who don’t agree with the very values that have made these groups successful,” said Senior Counsel David Cortman. “The Constitution protects the freedom of youth organizations like the Boy Scouts to promote the values that have defined them as an organization and to ensure that their leaders and members adhere to those values.” . . . “The First Amendment protects the freedom of youth organizations to associate with members and leaders who share their values,” added Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “Our youth deserve to continue to benefit from these groups, and bills like SB 323 severely threaten their ability to do so.” [more]

One News Now: Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel David Cortman says nonprofits serving youths have constitutional protection to promote their beliefs and values. “America’s youth organizations that have benefitted our country for generations should be free from harassment by politicians who don’t agree with the very values that have made these groups successful,” says Cortman. “The Constitution protects the freedom of youth organizations like the Boy Scouts to promote the values that have defined them as an organization for well over 100 years.” . . . . ADF senior legal counsel Jeremy Tedesco explains further. “The First Amendment protects the freedom of youth organizations to associate with members and leaders who share their values,” he explains. “Our youth deserve to continue to benefit from these groups, and bills like SB 323 severely threaten their ability to do so.”

a href=”http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MEDICAL_MARIJUANA_MARYLAND?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-04-09-06-10-43″>AP: The Maryland General Assembly on Monday approved a measure allowing medical marijuana programs at research centers that choose to participate.

MO Family Policy Council: The Missouri Senate has given final passage to pro-life legislation which would protect the conscience rights of the owners of licensed pharmacies in the state. The Senate has approved Senate Bill 126, sponsored by Senator David Sater of Cassville, by a vote of 24-9.

Gazette Extra: With Arkansas and North Dakota legislators enacting laws they hope will end abortions in those state—and laws those lawmakers hope invite the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its Roe v. Wade decision—it’s a fair question: Will Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Legislature debate new abortion restrictions this session?

Miami Herald: Florida lawmakers are poised to pass an abortion-related bill this year that would require doctors who provide abortions to offer emergency medical care in the unlikely event a baby is born alive.

lliance Defending Freedom sent a letter to members of the California Legislature Friday to explain the significant legal and policy problems of a proposed bill designed to punish non-profit youth organizations like the Boy Scouts of America

AP: Private investment groups could place sports wagers on behalf of investors under a proposed law in Nevada that would allow the state to reap millions of dollars in untapped revenue.

Wesley J. Smith at National Review: Leave it to my state of California to head off in radical and expensive directions. Legislation has been filed that would require group insurance to cover gay and lesbian infertility treatments just as they do heterosexual. But, as I note elsewhere, AB 460 . . .

KUHF FM: There are five key bills that many are watching. Here is what they would do:
Ban all abortions after 20 weeks (the “Preborn Pain Act”).
Force abortion clinics to be licensed as “ambulatory surgery centers.”
Require a doctor (not a nurse) to dispense the medical abortion pill RU-486.
Require that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.
Ban any health insurance plan, including those offered in the upcoming “exchanges” under the federal health law, from offering abortion coverage, unless purchased as separate coverage and paid for with a separate premium.

NY Times: The Alabama Legislature late Tuesday adopted stringent new regulations for abortion clinics that supporters called a step to protect women but that others called medically unnecessary and a disguised effort to force the closing of the state’s five abortion clinics.

Minneapolis Tribune: The fight to legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota is about to get a new twist at the Capitol as a group of legislators unveil a proposal to allow civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.

Dallas Morning News: If passed, the bill would outlaw the discrimination of employees or potential employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. That includes segregating the employee or failing to hire them on the basis of gender preference. It would add on to the state labor code that already prohibits discrimination because of race, color, disability, religion, sex or national origin.

Miami Herald: The abortion debate reignited Wednesday in a divided Florida House committee that approved a bill seeking to ban sex- and race-selective abortions.

WRAL: A bill filed by Republican lawmakers would allow North Carolina to declare an official religion, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Bill of Rights, and seeks to nullify any federal ruling against Christian prayer by public bodies statewide . . . House Bill 494, a resolution filed by Republican Rowan County Reps. Harry Warren and Carl Ford, would refuse to acknowledge the force of any judicial ruling on prayer in North Carolina – or indeed on any Constitutional topic . . .

LifeNews: The Indiana state House today approved a bill supported by the state’s leading pro-life group to limit the dangerous abortion drug RU 486 and protect women’s health.

Wall Street Journal: States are becoming increasingly polarized over abortion, as some legislatures pass ever-tighter restrictions on the procedure while others consider stronger legal protections for it, advocates on both sides say.

AP: The bill requires abortion clinics to use doctors who have approval to admit patients to hospitals in the same city.

USA Today: The debate pits those who believe a person is born gay or lesbian versus those who think it is a choice.

The Florida Family Policy Council sent this letter to the Senate Children and Families Committee in connection with its consideration of domestic partnerships/

Herald Tribune: In a landmark vote that may signal a shift in legislative attitudes, a Senate committee on Monday narrowly endorsed the creation of a statewide domestic partnership registry that could extend some legal protections to same-sex couples. “We have made history in the Florida Senate,” Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, said, as the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee voted 5-4 for the registry bill (SB 196).