Religion & Law

WV: Two legislators begin to feel the heat on marriage

Posted on March 20, 2009
The Charleston Gazette: "Council President Jeremiah Dys said his group hired a firm to begin making the calls in the past few days 'as part of our educational effort.' 'We've been encouraging people to make calls to Delegate Webster and Delegate Fleischauer,' Dys said...

Tennessee: Legislation Aims to Ban ?Gay? From School

Posted on March 20, 2009
NewsChannel5.com: One state lawmaker does not want homosexuality brought up at all in schools. Rep. Stacey Campfield said he believes the issue of homosexuality can be too complicated for young minds to understand. Campfield filed, the "Don't Say Gay" bill, which would essentially ban teachers from talking about the topic.

Texas Senate proposal targets state funding for Planned Parenthood facilities

Posted on March 20, 2009
Marcus Funk writing in the Dallas Morning News: A Senate budget proposal threatens to cut off state funding to Planned Parenthood in favor of "comprehensive primary care" facilities ? clinics that offer more than reproductive health services.

UK Prime Minister signals his opposition to assisted suicide vs. 100 MPs

Posted on March 20, 2009
The Guardian: "Gordon Brown today signalled his opposition to a proposal backed by more than 100 MPs to allow families to help their terminally ill relatives to die. A spokesman for the prime minister said that he retained his long-held opposition to the legalisation of assisted suicide, but that he also thought it was a matter for parliament, not the government, to decide in a free vote...

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Canada: Woman?s cryopreserved egg results in healthy baby

Posted on March 20, 2009
Reuters: A way of preserving the chances of having a child for women and girls facing cancer treatment that will leave them infertile has been demonstrated to work, for the first time. Specialists at McGill University in Montreal have developed a protocol in which they retrieve immature eggs (i...

Advocates of homosexual behavior display bigotry in Cambridge University student union elections

Posted on March 20, 2009
"Guolong Li, 20, was condemned by gay rights groups after he suggested the university should help to 'change' gay people and make them 'normal'."

?Gay rights group make new charges over LDS Prop 8 role?

Posted on March 20, 2009
Salt Lake City Tribune: "In new charges filed Thursday with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the Los Angeles-based Californians Against Hate accuses the church of creating the National Organization for Marriage in California as early as summer 2007 as a front group for its agenda ...

Atheist bus ad campaigns stalling in Germany

Posted on March 20, 2009
Tom Heneghan writing at Reuters' FaithWorld Blog: "The campaign there, which has its own website called www.buskampagne.de, reports that the transit authorities in Berlin, Cologne and Munich have turned down their requests to run the ads."

Alabama high court takes on out-of-state parental rights battle

Posted on March 19, 2009
Liberty Counsel press release: The Alabama Supreme Court accepted review of a case involving a child caught between two same-sex partners split between California and Alabama. The Alabama Court of Appeals ruled that the state must recognize and enforce a California decision, declaring that a former same-sex partner with no biological or adoptive relationship has parental rights.

6th Circuit sends harms to minors case to Ohio Supreme Court

Posted on March 19, 2009
The 6th Circuit has certified a number of questions regarding Ohio Revised Code § 2907.31(D)(1)--which prohibits the "dissemination or display of material harmful to juveniles"--to the Supreme Court of Ohio.

Spain: Roman Catholic Church launches anti-abortion campaign

Posted on March 19, 2009
Christian Today: "The Roman Catholic Church in Spain has launched a campaign against abortion following the government?s announcement earlier in the month that it intends to liberalise the country?s 1985 abortion law."

Alan E. Sears: Preying on Prayer

Posted on March 19, 2009
"It?s high time someone asked: where in the U.S. Constitution are so many angry people finding the legal right not to be offended?"

Conn. gov?t website uses Bible to promote homosexual agenda

Posted on March 19, 2009
"Advocates for LGBT rights have the same right to claim religious and traditional values as motivating factors in their advocacy. The same Bible that is a weapon in the hands of our opposition may become an instrument of healing as we discover its deeper and truer meaning when applied to political questions...

Atheists challenge roadside memorial crosses in Utah

Posted on March 19, 2009
OneNewsNow: "Atheists continue to challenge the Utah Highway Patrol over roadside memorial crosses honoring slain state troopers. In the case of American Atheists v. Davenport, Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Byron Babione is defending the state troopers association...

?Promoting Fetal Farming at the Huffington Post?

Posted on March 19, 2009
Wesley J. Smith at First Things: "[T]hat the Huffington Post considers this a legitimate and acceptable argument to run on its site?it would never countenance a racist utilitarian rant?shows precisely the dark place where the utilitarian left is more than happy to go...

Dancing with pornographers: The porn-star life is as solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short as you get

Posted on March 19, 2009
Mary Rose Ryback at First Things: One look at the data reveals the porn-star life is as solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short as you get.

The Protection and Alienation of Religious Minorities: On the Evolution of the Endorsement Test

Posted on March 19, 2009
Mark Strasser: The Court?s more recent applications of the test have conveyed a message far different from the one previously communicated, and the former difficulties surrounding the test have been replaced by new, related difficulties.

Oregon federal court: RFRA requires exemption for religious use of hoasca

Posted on March 19, 2009
Eugene Volokh reports at the Volokh Conspiracy: "A federal district court has just upheld another religious exemption claim for the use of hoasca." The ruling in Church of the Holy Light of the Queen v. Mukaseyn, No. 08-3095 PA (D. Ore. March 18, 2009) begins ...

Is Originalism Crossing Over? Was Lochner right?

Posted on March 19, 2009
Randy Barnett writes at the Volokh Conspiracy: "Next week, I will be giving my talk on 'Was Lochner Right? Natural Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment' at Georgetown Law on Tuesday at noon and at GMU Law on Thursday at 5pm. In my talk, I explain the original meaning of the Privileges or Immunities Clause and its connection to the Ninth Amendment...

ND proposals require ultrasound before abortion, notice that abortions can?t be forced

Posted on March 19, 2009
Seattle Times: "The Senate Human Services Committee voted unanimously to recommend a measure that would require clinics to give a woman a chance to look at an ultrasound image of her fetus before she has an abortion. The House Human Services Committee endorsed a separate bill that requires abortion clinics to post a sign saying women cannot be forced to have an abortion...

ACORN to Partner With Government for 2010 Census

Posted on March 19, 2009
Newsmax: "The Association of Community Organizations for Reform (ACORN) is now a 'national partner' with the U.S. Census Bureau, soon to help the White House find 1.4 million workers to canvass for the country?s 2010 census. If the acronym rings a bell, it?s because the organization has a history of voter fraud charges in the last election cycle, according to a report by FOXNews...

Governor Bill Richardson Signs Repeal of the Death Penalty

Posted on March 19, 2009
The Governor of New Mexico issued the following statment: "Governor Bill Richardson today signed House Bill 285, Repeal of the Death Penalty. The Governor?s remarks follow: 'Today marks the end of a long, personal journey for me and the issue of the death penalty...

Ultrasound abortion provision revived in Florida House

Posted on March 19, 2009
Miami Herald: "A measure that would require women seeking an abortion to get an ultrasound exam and have the option to view the scan was revived Wednesday, after the state Senate rejected a similar proposal last year in a dramatic 20-20 tie vote. Following more than an hour of debate, the House Health Care Regulation Policy Committee cast a party-line vote in favor of the bill, with Republican supporters saying the ultrasound provision helps women make informed medical decisions and helps doctors prevent complications...

Ken Starr, Bill Clinton, and the California Supreme Court on the meaning of ?is?

Posted on March 19, 2009
The Wall Street Journal carries this report: "Will Gay Couples' Marriage Vows Survive California Court Review?" "The California Supreme Court is weighing an incendiary question: Should it recognize the gay couples who married last year, when same-sex marriage was briefly legal? ...

Teens? abortion technique: Drink poisonous mixture

Posted on March 19, 2009
WorldNetDaily: "Some teens in rural America are now self-inducing abortions with chemicals intended to abort livestock, reports one of the nation's oldest and most influential pro-life organizations."

Pro-Life Groups? New Web Site Responds to Obama Ditching Abortion Protections

Posted on March 19, 2009
LifeNews: A coalition of pro-life groups has launched a new web site to respond to President Barack Obama's proposal to rescind protections for pro-life medical centers and professionals. The new Freedom2Care.org makes it easier for pro-life advocates to respond to the decision ...

Webster dictionary redefines ?marriage?

Posted on March 19, 2009
WorldNetDaily: "One of the nation's most prominent dictionary companies has resolved the argument over whether the term 'marriage' should apply to same-sex duos or be reserved for the institution that has held families together for millennia: by simply writing a new definition...

ADF argues religious displays in a church-run contract postal unit are constitutional

Posted on March 19, 2009
?Private Christian entities shouldn?t be censored for displaying information about their own religious ministries, on their own properties, simply because they participate in contracts with the government. The First Amendment does not call for that,? said Shafer.

Teen Challenge Sues Over Zoning Denial By North Carolina City

Posted on March 19, 2009
The Religion Clause Blog: "Monday's Elizabeth City, North Carolina Daily Advance reports that a lawsuit was filed in a North Carolina federal district court last week challenging Elizabeth City's refusal to permit Albemarle Teen Challenge to operate a residential addiction treatment center for women in an historic district in the city...

Pa. Amish farmer gets jailtime in outhouse dispute

Posted on March 19, 2009
AP: A western Pennsylvania Amish farmer was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in jail after refusing to bring a pair of outhouses into compliance with state sewage laws.

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