Religion & Law

European Court rules Portugal broke the law by blocking abortion boat

Posted on February 04, 2009
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Portuguese government broke the law in preventing the Dutch abortion boat from landing when it attempted to enter Portuguese territory in 2004, when abortion was against the law. Abortionist and foundress of the "Women on Waves" project, Rebecca Gomperts, said she is delighted with the finding...

North Carolina: County to study domestic partner benefits

Posted on February 04, 2009
The Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners approved a plan last week to study whether to offer domestic partnership benefits to the same-sex and opposite-sex partners of county employees. According to the Charlotte Observer, the Commission discussed the issue at a two-day planning retreat where it voted 6 to 3 to allow county staff to begin studying the issue including how much it would cost and any potential legal problems...

DoJ attorney fired due to lesbian rumors returns to her job

Posted on February 04, 2009
The HRC Back Story Blog reports: “Attorney Leslie Hagen, who was fired from her position in the Bush Administration’s Justice Department due to rumors regarding her sexuality, was rehired to her DoJ position in the Executive Office for U.S...

Virginia: Bill would give OK to any prayer by chaplain

Posted on February 04, 2009
The Free Lance-Star: “The House of Delegates will vote today on a bill that would allow State Police chaplains to pray to Jesus Christ during official functions.” Visit Site » Share This

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Sarvis: No More Studies on ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell?

Posted on February 04, 2009
GayPolitics.com reports: Servicemembers Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis has rejected a new plan to study the implications of repealing ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell? before the Obama administration attempts to repeal the policy . . . What we don?t welcome ? what we strongly oppose ? is yet another ?study,? which is Washington-speak for saying ?let?s [...

NPR Story on the Faith Based Initiative

Posted on February 04, 2009
Greg Baylor writes at the CLS Blog: “NPR did a story this morning about the future of the faith-based initiative under the Obama Administration. The story featured a CLS Center case, Pedreira v. Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children (KBHC) . . . ” in which proponents of homosexual behavior and the ACLU attempted to prevent [...

?British grandparents lose custody of children to gay couple?

Posted on February 04, 2009
The Christian Telegraph: Two British grandparents aged 59 and 46 have been told that they are too old and unfit to care for their grandchildren, who are to be placed with an adoptive homosexual couple, reports Catholic News Agency. The children had been in their grandparents? care during their mother?s struggles with heroin...

New Video Shows Another Planned Parenthood Abortion Center Covering Up Rape

Posted on February 03, 2009
LifeNews: “After two videos depicting Indiana-based Planned Parenthood abortion center staff covering up potential cases of statutory rape, a new video has a Planned Parenthood in Tucson, Arizona doing the same thing. New hidden-camera footage implicates a third abortion facility in covering up a case of sexual abuse ...

David French: Cowboy Up, Yale Conservatives

Posted on February 03, 2009
David French, Director of ADF’s Center for Academic Freedom,  writes on the National Review Phi Beta Cons Blog: . . . I have two words for these people: Cowboy up. If you are not actively being censored (and Yale is a “yellow light” school according to FIRE, so there is no policy that clearly limits student [...

Private Baccalaureate Plans Satisfy All Sides In Florida School District

Posted on February 03, 2009
The Religion Clause Blog reports: “Yesterday’s NWF Daily News reported on the aftermath of a court decision preliminarily enjoining various religious activities– including religious baccalaureate services– that in the past have been sponsored by the Santa Rosa County (FL) School district ...

Tony Perkins: ?Securing the Future, Not Aborting It?

Posted on February 03, 2009
A nation with a dwindling population of workers has a bleak future . . . according to the Social Security Administration, in 1950 there were 16.5 workers for every retiree, while today it is 3.3 workers to 1 retiree. Within 40 years it will be 2 to 1.

Senate Version of SCHIP Authorizes Grants To Faith-Based Groups

Posted on February 03, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: “The White House has posted on its website for comment the Senate-approved version of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (SCHIP).” Visit Site » Share This

Iowa: Sioux City Council passes traditional-marriage resolution

Posted on February 03, 2009
Sioux City Journal: The City Council majority will send a message to the Iowa Legislature that voters should decide how to define marriage. Voting 3-2, the council Monday adopted a resolution supporting the legal definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, opposing efforts to redefine the institution as anything else and urging the Legislature [...

Massachusetts: ?Couple Whose Battle Legalized Gay Marriage Files For Divorce?

Posted on February 03, 2009
Thebostonchannel.com: “Hillary and Julie Goodridge, who share custody of their 12-year-old daughter, filed divorce papers in Suffolk Probate Court last week . . . “ Visit Site » Share This

LA Times: Same-Sex Insanity

Posted on February 03, 2009
LA Times: “. . . But AB 103 proposes to accord marriage-like property tax protection to any two people, including those who do not consider themselves ‘couples’ and make no commitments to one another, public or private — a brother and sister, two co-workers, two business partners...

Kagan Joins Supreme Court Bar

Posted on February 03, 2009
The Blog of the Legal Times: “When Elena Kagan was named Jan. 5 as the new administration’s pick as solicitor general, we and others noted she was not a member of the Supreme Court bar — a reminder that she has never argued before the high court, or any appellate court for that matter...

GSU?s ?experts? on sex issues anger state legislator

Posted on February 03, 2009
The Atlanta J. Constitution: A powerful state lawmaker believes Georgia?s university system must not be too bad off financially if it can afford to employ experts in oral sex, male prostitution and ?queer theory.? Rep. Calvin Hill (R-Canton) said the university system has resisted accepting the budget cuts that nearly every other part of state government has [...

How do U.S. Supreme Court justices time retirement? The answer may not be what you think.

Posted on February 03, 2009
National Law Journal: “Do U.S. Supreme Court justices, as some historical evidence suggests, time their retirements with an eye to the partisan or political affiliation of the president or the Senate majority? No, when it comes to retirement decisions, justices care more about power than party and policy, according to a new empirical study...

Study: ?1 in 5 Irish gays have attempted suicide?

Posted on February 03, 2009
GayNZ.com reports: “New research into LGBT Irish citizens has suggested that over 80% have experiences homophobic abuse, and one in five have attempted suicide . . . 25% of the over 1,100 online respondents said they had been punched, kicked or beaten in homophobic attacks, and 20% had wagged school because of bullying behavious by [...

George launches site to counter Obama ?assault on pro-life laws?

Posted on February 03, 2009
The Daily Princetonian: Fearing that the Obama administration will ?swiftly begin an assault on pro-life laws and pro-marriage policies,? politics professor Robert George has joined forces with conservative academics from around the country to create a website which he says will hold anti-abortion voters ?accountable? for supporting President Obama...

Obama risks losing middle ground

Posted on February 03, 2009
The Reflector: . . . Regarding abortion, Obama has repealed George W. Bush’s reinstatement of a policy restricting American funds for overseas abortions, a policy Bill Clinton repealed in the ’90s after Ronald Reagan created it in 1984, according to Time Magazine...

Kenya: ?Abortion: ?If only I had known more??

Posted on February 03, 2009
The BBC carries this account of a Kenyan’s experience having an abortion. She discusses her infertility as a result of the abortion. Visit Site » Share This

Senate Finance Chair Baucus Accepts Daschle?s Excuse

Posted on February 03, 2009
Bloomberg: “Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the panel that must approve Thomas A. Daschle as Health and Human Services secretary, said he was satisfied that Daschle?s failure to pay more than $120,000 in back taxes wasn?t intentional and he would vote in favor of the nomination at next week?s hearing ...

Holder Confirmed As the First Black Attorney General

Posted on February 03, 2009
The Washington Post: “The Senate confirmed Eric H. Holder Jr. as the nation’s first African American attorney general by a vote of 75 to 21 yesterday, opening a new chapter for a Justice Department that had suffered under allegations of improper political influence and policy disputes over wiretapping and harsh interrogation practices ...

Arizona Judge rules against Yuma church in downtown zoning case

Posted on February 03, 2009
The Yuma Sun: A federal judge has ruled against a church in its lawsuit claiming that the city of Yuma had unfairly targeted a religious organization by denying a permit for it to operate a place of worship in property it had purchased on historic Main Street ...

The Battle for Marriage in New York

Posted on February 03, 2009
"New York very clearly does not permit same-sex marriage, that was articulated by the Court of Appeals in the Hernandez case and to recognize [same-sex] marriage in another jurisdiction is in direct conflict with that," Mr. Raum said.

Gallup: Most American?s don?t approve Obama?s funding of abortion

Posted on February 03, 2009
Gallup: “. . . Obama’s decision to reverse the prohibition on funding for overseas family-planning providers may be the least popular thing he has done so far. This was an executive order that forbade federal government money from going to overseas family-planning groups that provide abortions or offer abortion counseling...

Argentina: Lawyer offers to adopt and raise baby threatened with death by abortion

Posted on February 03, 2009
A young Argentinean lawyer with a family of his own has offered to adopt and raise a child scheduled for abortion in the northern province of Santiago de del Estero.

MySpace admits to finding 90,000 sex offenders on its site

Posted on February 03, 2009
MySpace Inc. has identified 90,000 convicted sex offenders on its social-networking site, 40,000 more than acknowledged earlier, according to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Canada: Court backs parental right of known sperm donor

Posted on February 03, 2009
For the first time in Canada a court has ruled on the legitimacy of a donor contract in determining the competing parental rights of a lesbian couple and a gay man who was the sperm donor.

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