Religion & Law

Australia: ?ACT Greens to OK gay wedding laws?

Posted on December 10, 2009
The Age: "The ACT Greens have succumbed to a 'veiled threat' from the federal government and will pass amendments to laws legalising same-sex weddings."

?Republic of Ireland defends its strict abortion laws?

Posted on December 10, 2009
Belfast Telegraph: "'The right to life of the unborn is based on profound moral values deeply embedded in the fabric of Irish society,' he told the court, including Irish High Court Judge Mary Finlay Geoghegan . . . Mr Gallagher said that Ireland's protection of the right to life of the unborn had been endorsed in three referenda and was explicitly recognised in a protocol attached to the Maastricht Treaty...

?Planned Parenthood and UN Foundation Honor Congresswoman Nita Lowey for International Family Planning Leadership?

Posted on December 10, 2009
UN Foundation: "While in Congress, Rep. Lowey, who serves as the chair of the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, has worked to increase the level of funding for international reproductive health programs to an all-time high of $648...

Diocese of Memphis: Proposed Planned Parenthood site too close to school

Posted on December 10, 2009
Memphis Daily News: "The Catholic Diocese of Memphis says the proposed new location for Planned Parenthood on Madison Avenue is too close to its high school."

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Lisa Miller Case With Conflict Between States Over Same-Sex Union at Court of Appeals

Posted on December 10, 2009
Liberty Counsel: "Yesterday, Liberty Counsel appeared in court to defend Lisa Miller. The ACLU and Lambda Legal Defense Fund are seeking to transfer custody of Lisa?s biological daughter, Isabella, to Janet Jenkins, a lesbian living in Vermont . . . The prior litigation focused only on whether Virginia had to register the Vermont order...

Dutch MP: Religious schools should be required to teach their pupils about sex and homosexuality

Posted on December 10, 2009
Dutch News: "Orthodox Christian and Muslim schools should be required to teach their pupils about sex and homosexuality, D66 MP Bors van der Ham says in an interview with website nu.nl."

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America divided over homosexuality decision

Posted on December 10, 2009
All Headline News: "The largest synod in the Lutheran Church has done an about face with its policies pertaining to homosexuals, upsetting members of Maumee St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church who are now threatening to separate themselves from the Evangelical Lutheran church in America...

Daniel Henninger: ?ObamaJobs: Uncle Sam?s Hiring Hall?

Posted on December 10, 2009
Daniel Heninger writes at the Wall Street Journal: "Every serious person should welcome the president's proposals to lift the dormant economy and reduce unemployment. Not because every serious person would agree with them but because they are a clear test of how a left-wing government would run the American economy...

PA: House bills attacking your children?s education

Posted on December 10, 2009
Pennsylvania Family Institute: "The House Education Committee heard testimony on two bills, crafted with the help of Planned Parenthood, seeking to eliminate abstinence-only education in public schools. HB 1163 would require schools to teach so-called 'comprehensive' sex education and mandate state funding for this curriculum, and HB 1162 requiring parental notification (not a bad thing) by schools, but only when abstinence is being taught, when there is no such requirement for condom demonstrations!"

Archbishop Chaput: Manhattan Declaration will ?galvanize? Christians in difficult times

Posted on December 10, 2009
Catholic News Agency: "'The signers didn?t create the declaration's urgency or its timing. Others did that for them,' [Chaput] told CNA. He said the effort was provoked by those who want to 'force' religion out of the public square, to 'redefine' marriage and human sexuality, or to 'sacrifice' women and unborn children on the 'altar of a fraudulent "right"'to abortion...

U.K. Church Could Face Prosecution for Refusing to Ordain Women, Homosexuals: Bishops

Posted on December 10, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have warned that they could be prosecuted under Britain's proposed Equality Bill for refusing to allow married men, women, practicing homosexuals, and 'transsexuals' into the priesthood, reports the Catholic News Service (CNS)...

Gay ?Marriage? Vote Killed in NJ Senate

Posted on December 10, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "Homosexual advocates in New Jersey snatched a same-sex 'marriage' bill from the jaws of defeat on Wednesday, cancelling Thursday's scheduled vote in the state Senate after realizing that they lacked the votes for the measure's successful passage...

Jones School of Law at Faulkner University accredited by ABA

Posted on December 10, 2009
"As part of the Faulkner University community, the School of Law shares Faulkner University?s mission to glorify God by embracing academic excellence and emphasizing a strong commitment to integrity within a caring Christian environment . . . "

Another Major Problem With the Senate Health Care Bill: Sex Education Promotion

Posted on December 10, 2009
LifeNews: "Here we come to the nub of the matter. The "personal responsibility education" referred to in the Baucus amendment is actually sex education. The Senate health care plan is going to teach kids about sex. Graphically, and early. With heaps of tax dollars...

Report: Senators Get More Money From Pro-Abortion Than Pro-Life Groups

Posted on December 10, 2009
LifeNews: "Individuals and organizations on the pro-abortion side have contributed about $3.4 million to current senators since 1989, according to the Center. By contrast, individuals and PACs classified as pro-life have contributed just $559,000 to current senators during the same period...

UMass trustees approve Dartmouth public law school proposal

Posted on December 10, 2009
The Herald News: "The proposed University of Massachusetts law school in Dartmouth passed the most significant hurdle yet on Thursday with approval from the UMass Board of Trustees."

AK: Parnell picks Anchorage judge Stowers for Supreme Court

Posted on December 10, 2009
Anchorage Daily News: "Gov. Sean Parnell has made his first appointment to the Alaska Supreme Court, an Anchorage Superior Court judge considered a conservative in the field of candidates from which Parnell could pick . . . Parnell's choice has the approval of the Alaska Family Council, a Christian group that lobbied hard against then-Gov...

UK gov?t: Schools must record all cases of bullying

Posted on December 10, 2009
Mirror: "Every school must record all sexist, racist and homophobic bullying, the Government will announce today."

Pope sees signs of religious freedom in Cuba

Posted on December 10, 2009
AP: "Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday there are growing signs of religious freedom in Cuba and that there is an opportunity for reconciliation between the communist nation and the United States."

Why the Personal Mandate to Buy Health Insurance Is Unprecedented and Unconstitutional

Posted on December 09, 2009
Randy Barnett, Nathaniel Stewart and Todd F. Gaziano writing at the Heritage Foundation (Legal Memorandum #49): "Any power to establish a national health care program simply does not entail the distinct constitutional power to compel persons to purchase a contract of insurance from a private insurance company...

Russia?s Supreme Court: Jehovah?s Witness Publications Are ?Extremist?

Posted on December 09, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "Forum 18 reports that under the 2002 Extremism Law, the publications will now be added to the Justice Ministry's Federal List of Extremist Material and banned throughout the country."

Canadian Street Preacher Acquitted of Noise and Other Charges

Posted on December 09, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: ". . . The court acquitted a street preacher on seven charges, finding that six of the charges infringed his rights to free expression and freedom of religion . . . "

Coakley coasting to easy win in Mass. Senate Dem. primary

Posted on December 09, 2009
The Hill: "Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is on the fast track to replace the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). The Associated Press has declared Coakley the winner of the Democratic primary in Massachusetts?s special election on Tuesday ...

Ex-Hedge Funder Won?t Be Giving ACLU His Usual $20 Million This Year

Posted on December 09, 2009
BusinessInsider: "A long-time donor for the A.C.L.U. won't be making his usual gift this year -- a gift that made up 25% of the civil liberties group's budget . . . Sources inside the A.C.L.U identified the donor as David Gelbaum . . . "

Switzerland: Last bulwark against the judges

Posted on December 09, 2009
Paul Belien writing at Hudson New York: On the eve of the referendum, the Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf had already warned that the ban on constructing minarets might constitute a violation of the freedom of religion as expressed in the Council of Europe?s Convention on Human Rights...

Texas Education Law Earns D From National Reform Group

Posted on December 09, 2009
EducationNews.org: "Texas?s charter school law is one of the nation's weakest, according to a study released today by the national nonprofit Center for Education Reform. In terms of providing children with access to great public schools, Texas ranks 25th in the country with a D grade, the report indicates...

Jordan Lorence on the Hugh Hewitt Show: CLS suit against Hastings Law School at the U.S. Supreme Court

Posted on December 09, 2009
ADF attorney Jordan Lorence appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss this: U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear lawsuit against UC-Hastings. The MP3 runs just over 7 minutes.

?Abortion rights? before the European Court of Human Rights

Posted on December 09, 2009
Katholische Nachrichten: "The three Irish applicants try in the process A, B and C v. Ireland to enforce a 'right to abortion in Ireland, and finally as a precedent for all of Europe.' This case was a 'key event' not only for Ireland and Europe, but also for the U...

Making the ?right to abortion? mandatory in Europe (Translation)

Posted on December 09, 2009
Magyar Kurir [Excerpt via Google Translator from Hungarian]: "The court allowed a four-abortion organizations, including two Americans, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Family Research Council (FRC) [to] enter the trial. Nobody has the right to decide that an innocent life is unnecessary ...

WSJ: Charter schools against the odds

Posted on December 09, 2009
Wall Street Journal Editorial: "Charter schools reached a new milestone this year. According to the Center for Education Reform, more than 5,000 charters are now operating in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Considering that the first charter didn't open until 1992, and that these innovative schools have faced outright hostility from teachers unions and the education bureaucracy, their growth is a rare gleam of hope for American public schools...

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