Religion & Law

Would the Supreme Court Strike Down Mandatory Health Insurance?

Posted on September 24, 2009
ABA Journal: Would the U.S. Supreme Court uphold a mandatory health insurance plan? The issue is being debated on blogs and in op-eds, with some big differences of opinion emerging. A proposal to require health insurance for every American is ?profoundly unconstitutional,? according to aWall Street Journal opinion column by two former Justice Department lawyers, David Rivkin Jr...

Illinois: Planned Parenthood to offer abortion pills

Posted on September 24, 2009
State Journal-Register: "Elective abortions will be available in Springfield for the first time next year when Planned Parenthood of Illinois begins to dispense abortion-inducing pills at its downtown health center."

DC lawmaker plans to introduce same-sex ?marriage? bill

Posted on September 24, 2009
EDGE: "Openly gay DC Councilmember David Catania [I-At Large] has drafted a bill. He plans to introduce it soon, but Catania told EDGE he is not playing his hand as to exactly when--describing himself 'not eager to telegraph to the other side when I plan to introduce it; but it will be within the next 60 days...

?BBC programme features call for legal age of consent to be lowered to 13?

Posted on September 24, 2009
Christian Concern for Our Nation (CCFON): "On 23 September, a Cambridge law professor has appeared on BBC Radio 4 programme Iconoclasts calling for the age of consent for sexual relationships to be lowered."

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Welcome to America 2009: Vermont judge threatens parent?s custody if visitation isn?t afforded to former lesbian partner

Posted on September 24, 2009
"Lisa Miller says that if she doesn't hand her daughter over to her former lesbian partner later this week, she may lose custody of her."

University of Calgary Pro-Lifers Hold Abortion Display Despite Free Speech Denial

Posted on September 24, 2009
LifeNews: "The members of the Campus Pro-Life group at the University of Calgary aren't letting a little thing like charges of criminally trespassing on their own campus stop them from speaking out against abortion."

Massachusetts? Paul Kirk Gets Kennedy Seat, Pro-Abortion Replacement Likely

Posted on September 24, 2009
LifeNews: "Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick chose a close friend of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy to fill his seat in the Senate. Patrick picked Paul Kirk, who was the chairman of the Democratic Party in the late 1980s, to replace Kennedy, the pro-life advocate turned champion of abortion...

Further Defense of College Students? First Amendment Rights

Posted on September 24, 2009
"Further Defense of College Students' First Amendment Rights and rejection of the 'must prevent hostile environment harassment' justification for broad campus speech codes -- from Judge George King in Lopez v. Candaele." Eugene Volokh discusses the case at the Volokh Conspiracy...

Massachusetts Governor Names Sen. Kennedy?s Successor

Posted on September 24, 2009
CNSNews: "Gov. Deval Patrick is to announce the appointment of Kennedy's successor at a news conference at the Statehouse, and former aide and longtime Kennedy friend Paul G. Kirk Jr. has the backing of the late senator's sons."

Should prostitution in Span be banned or regulated?

Posted on September 24, 2009
Euro Weekly: "In Spain the act of selling sex for money in itself is not illegal, but profiting from it by a third party is. Hence, brothels have been illegal in Spain since 1956, although thinly disguised as other ventures (known as Clubs de Alterne) they function freely without interference by the authorities...

Michigan: Pornography in Owosso libraries?

Posted on September 24, 2009
NBC25: "NBC25 has been following a hot issue that's been brewing in Owosso. Some residents are concerned that adults are looking at pornography on library computers, and they say its time for this to stop."

Group submits measure to strike California?s same-sex ?marriage? ban in 2010

Posted on September 24, 2009
"A group is pushing ahead with a campaign to repeal California's same-sex marriage ban, even though some other gay rights organizations say it is too soon for another expensive ballot fight."

House Committee Holds Hearings On Employment Non-Discrimination Act

Posted on September 24, 2009
Religion Clause Blog links to testimony from the hearings including this excerpt from Craig Parshall of the National Association of Religious Broadcasters: "Neither the Congress nor the courts have jurisdiction over the religious beliefs of people of faith...

Catholic Medical Association evaluates health care reform proposals

Posted on September 24, 2009
EWTN (CNA): "The Catholic Medical Association on Monday wrote an open letter to Catholic organizations and individuals to express its views on ?key prudential aspects? of health care reform proposals. Some provisions risk violating the patient-doctor relationship and could threaten the dignity of human life, the association says...

Three schools prove that urban minority students can overcome obstacles

Posted on September 24, 2009
WORLD Magazine: "Curry realized the problem wasn't lack of knowledge but a crippling governance structure. So he got involved in the school-choice movement and helped begin Girls Prep Lower East Side, a charter school that could give poor families the same option rich families had: a quality, all-girls education...

Group aims to reverse S.D. ban on embryonic stem cell research

Posted on September 24, 2009
KOTA: "It's estimated that more than 100 million Americans suffer from debilitating diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and cancer. But leaders of a new campaign called 'South Dakotans For Lifesaving Cures' say reversing the state ban on embryonic stem cell research can stop or lessen patients' pain...

Christian leaders urge sanctions against Iran

Posted on September 24, 2009
Beliefnet (RNS): "High-profile evangelical leaders and religious liberty groups called for get-tough sanctions against Iran on the eve of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday."

Study confirms most Americans want health care change but not abortion funding

Posted on September 24, 2009
Catholic News Agency: "A new study has found that while most Americans agree that changes must be made to the current health care system, the majority does not want their tax-dollars or health care premiums to go toward abortions."

Tight schedule on move to block Ariz. abortion law

Posted on September 24, 2009
Associated Press: "Judges considering newly filed lawsuits face tight deadlines to decide whether parts of a new Arizona law that imposes restrictions on abortions will take effect next week as scheduled . . . Unless put on hold, the new law takes effect at 12:01 a...

3rd Circuit Ruling Broadens Protection of FMLA

Posted on September 24, 2009
Law.com (The Legal Intelligencer): "In a ruling that broadens the scope of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the statute's retaliation provisions may be invoked by workers who claim they were fired for merely asking permission to take a leave and cannot be limited to those who actually exercised the right...

Is DOMA Doomed? Marriage Under Attack in Congressional and Legal Action

Posted on September 24, 2009
National Catholic Register: "An analysis by the Alliance Defense Fund found that repealing DOMA would open the door for litigation to force states to recognize 'marriages' between same-sex couples . . . 'Many of those in favor of this bill argue that the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act is not intended to force same-sex ?marriage? on all the states,' said Brian Raum, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund...

Dinesh D?Souza: Sex, Lies, and Abortion

Posted on September 24, 2009
Dinesh D'Souza writing at Christianity Today: "If I?m on the right track, pro-life arguments are not likely to succeed by simply continuing to stress the humanity of the fetus. The opposition already knows this, as probably do most women who have an abortion...

Petition to Notre Dame: Please drop the charges

Posted on September 24, 2009
TFP Student Action: "The 88 outspoken pro-lifers peacefully walked onto Notre Dame?s campus in May to be the voice of the unborn ? when pro-abortion president Obama was honored there ? and were arrested for trespassing. Among those arrested were Fr. Norman Weslin, several Catholic nuns, Norma McCorvey, the 'Jane Roe' of Roe v...

Pastors ready for second annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday on Sept. 27

Posted on September 24, 2009
"More than 80 pastors nationwide will be participating in the Alliance Defense Fund?s second annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday on Sept. 27."

BC Law School in Disarray Over Prof?s Defense of Marriage

Posted on September 24, 2009
Cardinal Newman Society: "Law dean seems to welcome faculty opposition to Catholic teaching on gay 'marriage' and abortion."

Illinois Supreme Court: Will disinheriting grandchildren married to non-Jews is legal

Posted on September 24, 2009
"An Illinois court ruled that a Chicago dentist's last will and testament disinheriting his grandchildren if they marry non-Jews is legal."

Full Text: Netanyahu?s UN General Assembly speech

Posted on September 24, 2009
Capital J: "Here's Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the UN General Assembly Thursday, in which he responded to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial by holding up documents proving the existence of the Holocaust, blasted the Goldstone Report and urged the international community to stop Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons...

Alaska Court of Appeals: Child porn statute is not unconstitutionally overbroad because it does not outlaw ?virtual? child porn

Posted on September 24, 2009
Community Defense Counsel: Ferrick v. Alaska, No. A-9976, (Alaska App., Sept. 18, 2009) The Alaska Court of Appeals concluded that ?the search warrant in Ferrick?s case was supported by probable cause . . . and that Alaska?s child pornography statute ...

4th Circuit: Westboro protest at local Marine?s funeral was protected free speech

Posted on September 24, 2009
York Daily Record: "The U.S. fourth circuit court of appeals on Thursday said the Rev. Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church were within their First Amendment rights to protest at the funeral of Matthew Snyder, a Marine with local ties who died in Iraq...

Public School Co-ops Christian Children?s Hymn for Student Program Praising Obama

Posted on September 24, 2009
Christian Newswire: "The national advocacy group In God We Trust today blasted the B. Bernice Youngs Elementary School in New Jersey for forcing children to sing a rap version of the hymn 'Jesus Loves the Little Children' in which references to Jesus were replaced with name of President Obama...

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