Religion & Law

Abortion foes rally online against health care reform

Posted on July 24, 2009
William Wan reports at On Faith (Washington Post): "James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, opens his pre-recorded message with this opening salvo: 'The health care bill being advanced by congress is the abortion advocates' dream come true.'"

UK: Secularist elite will not tolerate faith in politics

Posted on July 24, 2009
The Christian Institute: "Groups like the National Secular Society are gaining success in their campaign for a 'state where religion is only allowed in private' writes Daily Telegraph commentator Ed West."

The case for maintaining abstinence education funding

Posted on July 24, 2009
Katherine Bradley and Christine Kim, writing at The Heritage Foundation: "Abstinence education equips today's youth with the knowledge of the positive benefits of delaying sexual activity and decision-making skills to help them achieve their future goals...

GOP Sen. Cornyn to vote against Sotomayor

Posted on July 24, 2009
Associated Press: "In the end, Cornyn said he believes 'the stakes are too high' for him to support a nominee who might approach important constitutional issues like gun and property rights 'from a liberal, activist perspective.'"

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Pro-lifer cleared of violating buffer zone charges

Posted on July 24, 2009
OneNewsNow reports: "Birmingham News reports Andrew Spear was acquitted of two misdemeanor charges he received in 2006 and 2007 for protesting inside a buffer zone outside of the New Woman All Women abortion clinic. However, attorney Eric Guster tells OneNewsNow his client was not protesting at the time of his arrest...

Pence amendment passes rules committee, up for House vote today

Posted on July 24, 2009
Kathleen Gilbert reports at LifeSiteNews: "An amendment introduced to strip Planned Parenthood of its taxpayer funding has passed the Rules Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, and is up for a vote on the House floor Friday, reports Jim Sedlak of the American Life League...

UK: ?Should Muslim children receive sex education??

Posted on July 23, 2009
Lila Green reports in The Independent: "Patel's organisation, SREIslamic, was established eight months ago to encourage Muslims to respond to the Government's consultation about whether to make SRE compulsory and extend it to five-year-olds. Since then, the organisation claims, it has held 40 workshops across the country and collected tens of thousands of signatures from Muslims opposed to the measures...

EU: Czech president threatens to throw Lisbon plans off schedule

Posted on July 23, 2009
Simon Taylor reports at European Voice: "Václav Klaus, the president of the Czech Republic, is threatening to thwart the ambitions of Sweden's presidency of the EU to see the Lisbon treaty take effect before the end of the year. If he lives up to his threat, the appointment of the next European Commission could be delayed until 2010...

San Francisco seeks to close strip club

Posted on July 23, 2009
CBS-5 reports: "San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera today filed court papers to shut down a North Beach strip club he says is a public nuisance, having allegedly violated city codes and having been cited for prostitution."

Number of U.S. abortion clinics falling

Posted on July 23, 2009
UPI reports: "Women seeking to terminate pregnancies in the United States are facing a dwindling supply of providers, an abortion rights group says . . . Center [for Reproductive Rights] President Nancy Northup says the number of physicians and clinics providing abortions have fallen by 25 percent since the 1990s...

Florida mothers suing over religious-themed songs

Posted on July 23, 2009
UPI: "Two mothers allege in a lawsuit against the school board for St. Johns County, Fla., their children should not have been taught songs with religious themes."

Obama staffer urges pro-abortion lobbying at Planned Parenthood event

Posted on July 23, 2009
LifeNews reports: "A top official with the administration of pro-abortion President Barack Obama spoke to gathering of Planned Parenthood activists last week. There, she promised leaders of the abortion business that Obama is a pro-abortion president and urged them to continue their pro-abortion lobbying efforts...

?Teen pregnancy: An epidemic in foster care?

Posted on July 23, 2009
Amy Sullivan reports in Time Magazine: "[T]he numbers for girls in the foster-care system have reached truly epidemic levels. A study at the University of Chicago found that nearly half of girls who had spent time in the foster-care system had been pregnant at least once by the time they were 19 years old...

Virginia: House 20 candidate discusses Buddhism

Posted on July 23, 2009
Bob Stuart reports at NewsVirginian.com: "A prominent local Democrat, Augusta County Supervisor Tracy Pyles has raised Curren?s faith as a potential problem in November, even as Republicans scramble to field a candidate in the wake of Chris Saxman?s withdrawal from the race...

UK: Sikh victims can select own-faith officers

Posted on July 23, 2009
Catrin Nye reports at the BBC: "Sikh victims of crime in London are to be given the option of asking for a police officer of their own faith to work on their case."

SC: Aiken City Council to end Sunday sales ban despite religious objection

Posted on July 23, 2009
Haley Hughes reports in the Aiken Standard: "Aiken County Council voted 7-2 on Tuesday night in favor of an ordinance proposing the suspension of blue laws, which prohibit the sale of certain items before 1:30 p.m. on Sundays."

Catholic nurse forced to participate in abortion, lawsuit filed

Posted on July 23, 2009
Catholic News Agency: "Matt Bowman, legal counsel for the ADF, explained that the hospital could not legally have required the nurse to participate in the abortion even if the case had been a 'Category I,' meaning that the patient required 'immediate surgical intervention for life or limb threatening conditions...

New York nurse forced to help in late term abortion

Posted on July 23, 2009
The Christian Institute: "ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman said: 'Chasing away workers from the health care field is disastrous health care policy.' . . . 'An individual?s conscience is likely what brought them to the healthcare field. Denying or coercing their conscience will likely drive them right out...

Christian nurse forced to assist in late-term abortion

Posted on July 23, 2009
Jennifer Riley reports in The Christian Post: "'Pro-life nurses shouldn?t be forced to assist in abortions against their beliefs,' said ADF legal counsel Matt Bowman, in a statement Wednesday. 'Requiring a devout, Catholic nurse to participate in a late-term abortion in order to remain employed is illegal, unethical, and violates her rights of conscience...

?Foes sue over gay partner law in Wisconsin?

Posted on July 23, 2009
Carlos Santoscoy reports at On Top Magazine: "The group Wisconsin Family Action (WFA), which supported passage of the anti-gay marriage amendment as the Family Research Institute, and the Christian-based Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) announced Thursday they would join forces to fight Governor Jim Doyle's domestic partnership registry...

Abortion opponents criticize health reform bills, plan webcast

Posted on July 23, 2009
Dan Eggen and Rob Stein report in the Washington Post: "But the health-care legislation has reignited allegations from antiabortion groups that such pledges are an attempt by Obama and his allies to paper over their support for abortion rights with policies that will do little to reduce use of the procedure...

Canada: ?Homosexual groups petition to keep pro-family advocate off library board?

Posted on July 23, 2009
LifeSiteNews: Ken O'Day, a pro-family advocate who is applying to fill a vacancy on the Bonnechere Union Public Library Board in Eganville, Ontario, is being opposed by homosexualist groups for holding positions that "condemn gay and lesbian people in the area of social acceptance, legal rights, and education...

Urgent lawsuit filed with Wis. Supreme Court to stop violation of marriage amendment

Posted on July 23, 2009
?This new domestic partnership scheme is precisely the type of marriage imitation that the constitutional amendment approved by Wisconsin voters was intended to prevent."

Lawsuit challenges Wis. domestic partnership law

Posted on July 23, 2009
Associated Press: "'This new domestic partnership scheme is precisely the type of marriage imitation that the constitutional amendment approved by Wisconsin voters was intended to prevent,' said lawyer Brian Raum of the Alliance Defense Fund, who is representing them...

Wisconsin Family Action asks WI Supreme Court to declare Gov. Doyle?s statewide, same-sex domestic partnership registry unconstitutional

Posted on July 23, 2009
Wisconsin Family Action Press Release: "'The registry is precisely the type of marriage imitation that the constitutional amendment approved by Wisconsin voters was intended to prevent,' said ADF Senior Counsel Brian Raum. 'Those who wish to redefine marriage are attempting to evade the clear language of the state constitution...

A glimpse of America?s future?

Posted on July 23, 2009
Elizabeth Delaney reports in the Cincinnati Christian Examiner: "Reports from last week indicated that today could possibly be the day when the Senate would vote on the hate crimes bill. . . . And then there are a few Christian Attorneys at the Alliance Defense Fund who have actually read the bill (as opposed to Obama and members of our congress who evidently don?t necessarily read bills) and told the Christian post, 'No one should fall for the idea that this bill does anything to bring about greater justice for Americans...

Catholic nurse ordered to help with abortion

Posted on July 23, 2009
WorldNetDaily: "'Pro-life nurses shouldn?t be forced to assist in abortions against their beliefs,' said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. 'Requiring a devout, Catholic nurse to participate in a late-term abortion in order to remain employed is illegal, unethical, and violates her rights of conscience...

India: ?Religious leaders pass resolution against gay sex ruling?

Posted on July 23, 2009
Thaindian News: "Maintaining that homosexuality is against Indian culture, religious leaders at a [New Dehli] meeting passed a resolution Thursday opposing the Delhi High Court judgement decriminalising gay sex."

Classical Influences on the American Founding Fathers

Posted on July 23, 2009
SSRN: "The American Revolution was a Whig revolution, which made it also a neo-Roman revolution from the start. Americans petitioned, remonstrated, and eventually fought to preserve neo-Roman conceptions of mixed government, liberty, and the rule of law that had dominated British political discourse since the Glorious Revolution of 1688...

Walter Bagehot and the American Constitution

Posted on July 23, 2009
SSRN: "This Article examines Walter Bagehot's classic book on the English Constitution and applies his analysis to some contemporary constitutional issues."

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