Religion & Law

California Asks IRS to Change Tax Code to Accommodate Same-Sex Couples

Posted on March 24, 2010
Citizen Link: "California has issued a joint resolution asking the IRS to defer to state law on how to treat the property belonging to registered domestic partners and same-sex couples. [AJR 29] does not have the strength of law, but conveys the Legislature?s opinion...

Text of the Executive Order ? Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act?s Consistency with Longstanding Restrictions on the Use of Federal Funds for Abortion

Posted on March 24, 2010
Posted at WhiteHouse.gov The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release March 24, 2010 Executive Order — Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Consistency with Longstanding Restrictions on the Use of Federal Funds for Abortion EXECUTIVE ORDER ENSURING ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ABORTION RESTRICTIONS IN THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT By the authority vested in me as [...

Mo. Senate panel backs abortion restrictions

Posted on March 24, 2010
Washington Examiner: "A Missouri Senate panel responded quickly Monday to the passage of a federal health care overhaul by voting to expand a state ban on abortion coverage for basic health insurance policies." Missouri abortion bills are SB747 and HB1327...

WA: Oak Harbor bans public nudity, regulates sex shops

Posted on March 24, 2010
Whidbey News Times: "The Oak Harbor City Council approved a trio of laws to ban public nudity, and license and zone adult entertainment within city limits after more than four hours of public comment and discussion."

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Wilders backs out of US anti-Islam film premiere over Christian group?s position on homosexuality

Posted on March 24, 2010
Radio Netherlands Worldwide: "Christian Action Network says the screening won't go ahead as planned but Martin Mawyer says the decision isn't embarassing for the group: 'We understand that in this movement to fight Jihad and radical extremism in the Muslim world, there's going to be a variety of people with different political viewpoints...

Strip clubs, pornography vendors in Kansas Legislature?s crosshairs

Posted on March 24, 2010
Miami Herald: "A bill endorsed by House lawmakers would prohibit those businesses from being within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, libraries, day-care centers or churches. The bill also would prohibit fully nude dancing or waitressing." | SB 514 | Supplemental note on House substitute bill | HB 2633

Peruvian bishops criticize government?s efforts to distribute morning-after pill

Posted on March 24, 2010
Catholic News Agency: "The Peruvian bishops? Committee on the Family, Childhood and Life criticized the government?s stubbornness in pushing the distribution of the morning-after pill, despite the fact that the country's Constitutional Court ruled last year that the pill cannot be sold or distributed due to its abortifacient potential...

Obama Spokesman Gets Testy With Press on Obama?s Abortion Executive Order

Posted on March 24, 2010
LifeNews: "A top White House official defended the executive order President Barack Obama signed today supposedly nullifying the abortion funding provisions in the new health care scheme. The main Obama spokesman got testy with reporters, who challenged him on the details of the order ...

Google Official Calls for Action on Web Restrictions, Go Daddy halts Chinese domains

Posted on March 24, 2010
NY Times: ". . . censorship had become more than a human rights issue and was hurting profit for foreign companies . . . The fallout from China?s restrictive Internet policies widened on Wednesday when a Internet services company, the Go Daddy Group, said it would halt registration of Chinese domain names...

?U.S. State Dept. reports on LGBT life in nearly every nation?

Posted on March 23, 2010
Bay Windows: "This year?s U.S. State Department 'Country Reports on Human Rights Practices' looked at LGBT life in nearly every nation on the planet and did an excellent job of documenting anti-LGBT abuse across the globe, the Council for Global Equality said March 11...

Transcript: Obama?s Remarks at the Health Care Bill Signing

Posted on March 23, 2010
NY Times: "Following is a transcript of the remarks by President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday before Mr. Obama signed a landmark health care bill into law, as released by Federal News Service . . . "

?Gay Marylanders flocking to D.C. to exchange vows?

Posted on March 23, 2010
Baltimore Sun: "Attorney general's opinion that out-of-state nuptials should be recognized here has inspired couples to make the leap . . . "

?Gay Prom Date Approved at Georgia High School?

Posted on March 23, 2010
Fox News: "An 18-year-old senior at Bleckley County High School has won approval to bring a same-sex date to the school prom."

FL: Sexting bill passes House committee

Posted on March 23, 2010
Miami Herald: "The measure [HB 1335] separates this new form of digital intimacy from the harsh punishments of child pornography laws, but it does criminalize subsequent offenses." | National Conference of State Legislatures: 2010 legislation related to sexting

OK: Lawmaker says ?hate crimes? bill contains error

Posted on March 23, 2010
The Oklahoma Daily: "A bill intended to remove hate crime protections from gays and lesbians actually takes away rights from everyone else because of a 'legislative error,' according to one lawmaker. Oklahoma State Senate Minority Leader Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City, said when the Senate passed [Senate Bill 1965] on March 10, it eliminated hate crime protections for race and religion...

UK: Equality Bill could be amended by Lords to benefit Catholic adoption agencies

Posted on March 23, 2010
Telegraph: "A group of influential peers will attempt to use Harriet Harman?s [Equality Bill] to overturn the anti-discrimination law that currently forbids the organisations from refusing same-sex couples as potential parents. The peers will argue that the [Sexual Orientation Regulations] that came into force in January 2009 have driven Catholic adoption agencies to close or sever their links to the church, potentially leaving hundreds of children in care homes rather than with loving families...

Despite settlement, Fla. school district again denies church access to flier program

Posted on March 23, 2010
The Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter to the attorney for the Collier County School Board Tuesday after it violated a legal settlement by again refusing to allow a church to participate in the school district?s flier distribution program.

Islamic clerics in Yemen oppose child bride ban

Posted on March 23, 2010
The Star: "Some of Yemen's most influential Islamic leaders, including one the U.S. says mentored Osama bin Laden, have declared supporters of a ban on child brides to be apostates . . . "

Justices to Weigh Law on Gaining Citizenship via Parents

Posted on March 23, 2010
"The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide if mothers and fathers may be treated differently in determining whether their children may claim American citizenship . . . "

Poles resolute in opposition to same-sex ?marriage,? adoption; abortion on demand

Posted on March 23, 2010
Warsaw Business Journal: "The results of a poll by the GfK Polonia institute, carried out for Rzeczpospolita, established that only five percent of respondents supported free access to abortion, while 79 percent opposed legalizing marriage between homosexuals...

FL: St. Johns Settles Religious Song Lawsuit

Posted on March 23, 2010
News4jax.com: "St. Johns County schools have agreed to pay $140,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by two parents who objected to a song with religious lyrics being performed by elementary school students. The parents of two third-graders at the Webster School in St...

A Review of ?In Justice? by Alan Sears

Posted on March 23, 2010
Family Policy Council of West Virginia, The Engage Family Blog: "Fiction is a story that describes imaginary people and events. After reading through this captivating legal thriller penned by [Alan Sears], President, CEO, and General Counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), you will walk away wondering if you have actually read a fictional work, or just pulled yourself away from current events ...

Gilbert begins work on religious ordinance

Posted on March 23, 2010
KTAR: "A motion has been approved by the Gilbert Town Council that would change an ordinance that bars people from having a religious gathering in their home . . . [Doug Napier] with the Alliance Defense Fund said his group wants the order to comply with constitutionally-protected religious freedoms...

Okla. Appeals Court upholds ?gay? divorce ruling

Posted on March 23, 2010
CBN News: "The decision by the three-judge panel affirms that the state's courts do not have the jurisdiction to grant same-sex divorces . . . 'What you have here is a fraudulent attempt to try to undermine the marriage amendment of Oklahoma that was passed by 76 percent of the voters,' [Tim Tracey] explained...

Ariz. town officials OK home Bible studies

Posted on March 23, 2010
Christian Post: "The Gilbert, Ariz., town council agreed on Monday to amend an ordinance that banned one small church from meeting in homes . . . ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Douglas Napier] told the local TV news station that they are simply seeking protection of religious freedoms...

?Gay marriage foes challenge trial idea?

Posted on March 23, 2010
The Advocate ("LGBT monthly news magazine"): "According to The New York Times, the latest complaints are an extension of marriage equality opponents? long-running argument that the question does not belong in the courts . . . 'To think that somehow the rules of evidence can lead you to the right answer is just not right,' said Jordan W...

Making home Bible study illegal?

Posted on March 23, 2010
The MetroWest Daily News: "Have you ever thought of having a Bible study in your home? If so, don't plan on moving to either San Diego, California or Gilbert, Arizona. It seems there are regulations, which forbid you to hold a 'religious assembly' in your home ...

Penn. school washes its hands of T-shirt case

Posted on March 23, 2010
OneNewsNow: "A middle-school student in Pennsylvania will be allowed to wear a T-shirt with the message 'Abortion is not healthcare' after the school district there reached a settlement with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) . . . 'The Supreme Court has held for years that students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate, and that certainly applies to Christian and pro-life students also,' [David Cortman] contends...

President Obama Signs Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill, Ignores Executive Order

Posted on March 23, 2010
LifeNews: "President Barack Obama signed the pro-abortion government-run health care bill into law today but did not sign an executive order that would supposedly nullify the abortion funding . . . "

High Court rejects challenge to abortion clinic ?buffer? zones

Posted on March 23, 2010
Christian Post: "The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday from anti-abortion protesters who challenged a Massachusetts law that created a protest-free zone around the entrances and driveways of clinics . . . 'It's ironic that Massachusetts, the "cradle of liberty," would pass a law that effectively creates a First Amendment-free zone that silences those who seek to share the truth about abortion,' said ADF Legal Counsel [Tim Chandler] in a past statement...

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