(WNS) - As expected, the newly elected slate of anti-choice school board members in Douglas County, Colo., voted Dec. 4 to end the yearslong litigation over one of the most sweeping school voucher programs in the nation. The program, approved by the suburban Denver district in 2011, allowed students to use publicly funded vouchers to attend any school they wanted. Douglas County was the only school district in the nation to adopt a voucher program. The group that filed suit against the … [Read more...]
Commissioning conflict: Civil rights board recommends creating protected classes for sexual orientation and gender identity
(WNS) - The headquarters of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) is a mile and a half, or a brisk 20-minute walk, west of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. Despite its geographic proximity, the release last week of a report calling for a federal LGBT nondiscrimination law indicates the commissioners are far removed from what was heard at the high court Tuesday. Gay rights activists and their supporters in Congress have for decades sought passage of a federal … [Read more...]
The Times, they are a-changing
(WNS)-- The list of entertainers, journalists, and politicians accused of sexual misconduct got so long last week that The New York Times compiled an interactive chart to keep track of it. A new age of accountability for sexual aggression has dawned, spurred by some notable changes in news reporting. First, women are more willing to go on the record with their stories and let journalists identify them by name. For decades, media accounts of sexual misconduct were easier to discount … [Read more...]
Baptists still fighting HHS mandate
WASHINGTON (BP) – Southern Baptist institutions and other objectors to the six-year-old abortion/contraception mandate are still working to protect their freedom of conscience on a number of fronts after the Trump administration provided aid through a new rule. The challengers to the controversial requirement are negotiating with the federal government, pushing for permanent relief in court and, in the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor, fighting new suits now being waged by California … [Read more...]
Fighting taxpayer-funded abortion in Illinois: Lawsuit filed by pro-life organizations and lawmakers could have national implications
(WNS) - Opponents of an Illinois law that would allow state funding of abortion on demand for state employees and Medicaid recipients have filed suit. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the law, known as HB 40, earlier this year, and the Thomas More Society filed suit last week on behalf of 10 pro-life organizations, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, and eight state legislators filing as taxpayers. The suit, a request to “restrain and enjoin” a misuse of tax … [Read more...]
Will Supreme Court ‘safeguard’ liberty in landmark case?
WASHINGTON (BP) – Religious liberty advocates left the U.S. Supreme Court Dec. 5 with some hope that the justices would rule in favor of a Colorado cake artist who refused to design a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding celebration. The high court heard oral arguments in a major free-speech and free-exercise-of-religion case at the center of the contentious debate between religious liberty and sexual liberty. Multiple cases involving wedding vendors who oppose using their talents in … [Read more...]
Do as we say, not as we do: Australian Christians hope to avoid U.S. religious liberty battle with conscience protections in same-sex marriage bill
(WNS) - As attorneys for Colorado baker Jack Phillips prepare to defend his religious and free speech rights before the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 5, the Australian Parliament is drafting same-sex marriage legislation that some fear could criminalize similar dissent Down Under. Australians overwhelmingly showed their approval of same-sex marriage in a recent postal poll. The results, published Nov. 15, showed 61.1 percent approve of state-recognized same-sex marriage. Legislators are … [Read more...]
Rights to life and free speech intersect at Supreme Court
(WNS) - A U.S. Supreme Court case testing the constitutionality of a California abortion law will affect free speech beyond the battleground over unborn lives. National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, which the high court agreed this month to hear, focuses on whether the government can prescribe a message for groups that disagree with it - in this case, a message that promotes abortion. Pro-life groups that have filed suit against the law are optimistic the court will … [Read more...]
Missouri Baptists follow Leland’s lead in historic case
It may be the most important religious liberty case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in our lifetime – and Missouri Southern Baptists are right in the middle of it. Such action is not unusual because Baptists have always been champions of religious liberty. So it is right and proper for Missouri Baptists to challenge tyranny whenever it threatens a free conscience. “God alone is Lord of the conscience,” states The Baptist Faith & Message 2000. Our rights come from God, not … [Read more...]
GOP tax bill gives boost to school choice
(WNS) - A provision in the Republican tax reform plan would provide more school-choice options for families saving for their children’s education. Under the GOP proposal, parents could use up to $10,000 per year from a 529 education savings account to pay for K-12 schooling. The law currently restricts funds from those accounts, whose earnings are not taxed, to go toward expenses related to higher education. “This is a good step forward, reflecting that education should be an investment … [Read more...]
To tweet or not to tweet: Who gets to say?
(WNS) - A liberal advocacy group in Wisconsin is asking a federal court to declare the Twitter accounts of three state representatives “designated public forums.” As such, blocking access to the accounts is unconstitutional, the group argues. The lawsuit is the second such case filed this year demanding unfettered access to the virtual conversations on elected officials’ Twitter accounts. One Wisconsin Now v. Kremer, filed Oct. 31, claims Wisconsin state Reps. Jesse Kremer, John Nygren, … [Read more...]
Paradise Papers reveal cash stashes of the world’s wealthiest
(WNS) - One year after the Panama Papers unveiled how some of the world’s public officials and wealthy people used shell companies for fraud and tax evasion, journalists this week published the Paradise Papers with similar findings. The 13.4 million documents expose more than 120 politicians, wealthy individuals, and international businesses that evade taxes under the cover of international shell companies in locations like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. German newspaper Süddeutsche … [Read more...]
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