Religion & Law

Attack on marriage in Minn. draws intervention effort

Posted on June 02, 2010
"Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence will join members of the Minnesota Family Council in a press conference Thursday at the Minnesota State Capitol to announce their intention to submit a request to intervene to defend marriage against a legal attack filed in state court...

China: Senior official calls for promotion of religious values

Posted on June 02, 2010
Xinhua: "A senior Chinese official has called for promoting the values of the country's religions, such as sincerity, harmony, safeguarding the nation and loving the people."

Australia: Council moves to non-denominational cemeteries

Posted on June 02, 2010
ABC News: "One local council is bracing for a community backlash as it moves toward introducing non-denominational cemeteries. Cemeteries in the Nambucca Shire are expected to abandon the use of denominational burial sites within the next 10 years. The council plans to introduce unsegregated areas at Nambucca Heads, Macksville and Bowraville cemeteries because they are running out of plots and the lack of space could push up burial costs...

Ten member states join Italy in support of the crucifix

Posted on June 02, 2010
European Center for Law and Justice: "For the first time in the record of the ECHR, ten member States are simultaneously intervening as 'third party' in one single case. The case at stake is the Lautsi case - also known as the 'crucifix case' - which will go before the Grand Chamber of the ECHR on June 30th...

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Kevin Theriot: Federal court erodes religious freedom

Posted on June 02, 2010
ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up University / Church: "Recently a federal court in Maryland undermined the independence of religious organizations when it allowed a nurse?s religious harassment claim against a Catholic institution to go forward...

Michigan abortionist admits to forcing client into abortion

Posted on June 02, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "Michigan abortionist Abraham Alberto Hodari has admitted to having an assistant forcibly restrain a woman who changed her mind about having an abortion, claiming he had already begun the procedure and wanted to guarantee a 'safe abortion...

26 pro-life groups unite in nationwide protest against birth control pill

Posted on June 02, 2010
LifeSiteNews: "American Life League and 26 other pro-life organizations have joined together for 'Protest the Pill Day: The Pill Kills the Environment' on June 5. At the national event launch at 11 a.m. outside of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D...

?The Prop 8 Court Can Have it All: Justice, Precedent, Respect for Democracy, and an Appropriately Limited Judicial Role?

Posted on June 02, 2010
American Constitution Society for Law and Policy: "ACS is pleased to distribute 'The Prop 8 Court Can Have it All: Justice, Precedent, Respect for Democracy, and an Appropriately Limited Judicial Role,' an Issue Brief by Rebecca L. Brown, Newton Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law...

Irish doctor defends ?fundamental right? to conscience protection

Posted on June 02, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "Dr. Ruairi Hanley made his remarks in an April 29 article, commenting on what he feels is a blatant intolerance for Catholicism in Modern Ireland and arguing that Catholic doctors have a right to act according to their faith, in what he believes to be an increasingly state-controlled realm of medicine in the country...

Abortions in Brazil, though illegal, are common

Posted on June 02, 2010
TIME: "[A] recent study revealed that 1 in 5 Brazilian women of child-bearing age has terminated a pregnancy, and statistics by the Health Ministry show that 200,000 women each year are hospitalized because of complications arising from unsafe abortions...

MN: Adult store prompts Owatonna residents to petition

Posted on June 02, 2010
Owatonna People's Press: "Three separate groups have entered the fray, and could present the city council with dueling petitions ? two against the new Lion?s Den Adult Boutique and another in support."

CA: Exeter Union High School commencement won?t include prayer

Posted on June 02, 2010
Visalia Times-Delta: "Exeter Union High School seniors will have a moment of silence instead of a prayer at Friday's graduation ceremony. High school district trustees Tuesday voted 3-0, with Joe Conley and Charlie Norman absent, to eliminate the student-led prayer...

FL: Bill would allow teachers to pray with students

Posted on June 02, 2010
Central Florida News: "There's a bill awaiting Gov. Charlie Crist's signature that would allow coaches, teachers and principals to take part in student-led worship." | HB 31

?Aussie Rules star suspended over gay comments?

Posted on June 02, 2010
AFP: "Australian Rules star Jason Akermanis has been suspended by his club over a controversial newspaper column in which he urged gay players to 'stay in the closet'."

Clinton representative reviewing Kagan documents

Posted on June 02, 2010
Associated Press: "White House Counsel Bob Bauer said a Clinton aide is reviewing Kagan's files from her stint in his administration to see whether any of the 160,000-page trove of records held at the Clinton presidential library should be kept secret...

German president quits over military remarks

Posted on June 02, 2010
Telegraph: "Germany's President Horst Koehler resigned on Monday after being criticised for appearing to link military deployments in Afghanistan with the country's economic interests."

Pregnancy centers fight back against NARAL attacks

Posted on June 02, 2010
Peggy Hartshorn, president of Heartbeat International, writing at the blog of the St. Michael Society: "In three places now, restrictions on center advertising have been rushed into place: Austin, Baltimore, and Montgomery County, Maryland. In case you missed it, two small pregnancy help centers in these targeted areas are suing to have the reputations of all our centers cleared! The Washington Post and Washington Times recently covered one of the lawsuits, just filed in U...

Five new decisions emerge from a productive holiday weekend at the Court

Posted on June 02, 2010
SCOTUS Blog provides a round up of information on the Supreme Court's recent activity.

Another lawsuit in battle between neighboring Hasidic synagogues

Posted on June 02, 2010
Times Herald-Record: "A new lawsuit against Kiryas Joel and its main religious institution raises the question of whether the village has a legitimate zoning board of appeals to settle zoning disputes and grant relief from local codes." | Via Religion Clause.

NY judge allows student to return to school, wear Rosary

Posted on June 02, 2010
Christian Post: "U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Kahn issued a Temporary Restraining Order to the school district that allows 13-year-old Raymond Hosier to resume classes and wear the rosary to school starting Wednesday. The American Center for Law and Justice, which represented Raymond, had only filed the federal lawsuit against the Schenectady City School District Tuesday morning...

Finland: Late abortion ups later pregnancy termination risk

Posted on June 02, 2010
Yahoo (Reuters): "Women who have an abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy are more likely than women who terminate their pregnancies earlier to have repeat abortions, new research shows."

CT: Planned Parenthood abortion referral business closes

Posted on June 02, 2010
LifeNews: "The Planned Parenthood abortion referral center in Waterbury, Connecticut is closing up shop after having a location there since 1985. The center closed on May 27 and Grace Mayer, a staffer there, said it had been doing abortion referrals in addition to legitimate medical services...

Utah: ?WVC approves legal protections for LGBT people?

Posted on June 02, 2010
The Salt Lake Tribune: "The West Valley City Council, in a 5-1 vote, approved Tuesday an anti-discrimination ordinance similar to those recently passed in other Utah cities."

Daniel Blomberg on the Michael Medved Show: Religious liberty and the normalization of homosexual behavior in the military

Posted on June 02, 2010
ADF Attorney Daniel Blomberg appeared on the Michael Medved Show to discuss the impact of the normalization of homosexual behavior in the military on religious freedom. | MP3 32:58 mins

University of Arizona to provide health insurance to same-sex partners

Posted on June 02, 2010
ABC Tucson: "The University of Arizona has found a way to offer health insurance to same-sex partners of UA employees, after a new state law banned the use of state funds for health benefits to the same-sex partner."

France to bar polygamy, sharia on Mayotte islands

Posted on June 02, 2010
Reuters: "New polygamous marriages and sharia courts will be banned on France's Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte when it becomes a department of the French state next year, according to a draft ordinance presented on Wednesday."

President Obama extends additional benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees

Posted on June 02, 2010
"I renew my call for swift passage of an important piece of legislation pending in both Houses of Congress?the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act."

Spanish town council bans Muslim veils in public buildings

Posted on June 02, 2010
Reuters: "A Spanish town council has voted to ban the wearing of the face-covering Muslim veil in public buildings, the first authority in the predominantly Catholic country to do so."

Church aid groups deny Afghan charge of proselytizing

Posted on June 02, 2010
Pew Forum: "Afghan officials have ordered two international church-backed humanitarian groups to suspend operations while they investigate allegations of illegal proselytizing, which the groups strongly deny . . . 'Norwegian Church Aid does not proselytize in any of the countries in which it works...

Guttmacher: Facts on contraceptive use in the United States

Posted on June 02, 2010
Maggie Gallagher writing at NRO | The Corner: "The answer is: At typical rates of contraceptive failure, nine out of 100 of these young women will get pregnant. (Actually, that's the average for all Pill users; young users probably have higher failure rates...

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