WASHINGTON (BP) – In a day punctuated with references to God and Judeo-Christian principles, Donald Trump was inaugurated Jan. 20 as the 47th president of the United States. “Those who wished to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and, indeed, to take my life,” Trump said in his inaugural address. “Just a few months ago in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then and believe even more so now that my life was saved for a reason: … [Read more...]
Laws in 20 states guarding kids from online porn at risk in High Court appeal
WASHINGTON (BP) – Laws in 20 states aimed at shielding minors from online pornography are under fire as the U.S. Supreme Court hears a legal challenge Jan. 15, with the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) among many interceding for the Texas law at the center of the case. At issue is Texas House Bill 1181, one of a string of 20 such laws passed since Louisiana began the charge in 2022 to require websites containing at least 33 percent pornographic materials … [Read more...]
ERLC speaks out against proposed rule expanding coverage of contraceptives
NASHVILLE (BP) – The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has filed public comments voicing concerns with a proposed rule which would expand coverage of contraceptives under the Affordable Care Act. The rule would require private insurance providers to cover over-the-counter contraception, including abortifacients such as the Plan B pill, without a prescription at no cost. It would also require insurers to cover every FDA-approved contraceptive drug or product without cost sharing … [Read more...]
Judge’s split decision leaves Missouri abortion clinics closed for now
EDITOR’S NOTE: Mike Whitehead is a Kansas City trial attorney and outside general counsel for Missouri Baptist Convention. His views are his own. This article is not legal advice but provides information for educational purposes only. KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Abortion clinics will remain closed in Missouri for now, in spite of Amendment 3, after a split decision by a Kansas City trial judge on Friday, Dec. 20, enjoined the total ban on abortions, but left in place certain licensing regulations … [Read more...]
Statewide prayer initiative announced ahead of Jan. 8 Legislative Prayer Service
JEFFERSON CITY – Lawmakers and citizens will gather for what has become a Jefferson City tradition when Concord Baptist Church, in conjunction with the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) Christian Life Commission (CLC), hosts the 21st annual Prayer Service for Missouri government leaders, Jan. 8, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. The event always marks the first day of each new session of the General Assembly. The featured speaker for the prayer service is Wes Fowler, executive director for the Missouri … [Read more...]
California baker in court again in fight to follow Christian beliefs in work
FRESNO, Calif. (BP) – California Christian baker Cathy Miller, who won two lower court battles in her refusal to custom design a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, continued to plead her case for individual religious freedom Dec. 17 in a California appeals court. “It takes a special kind of spite to spend almost a decade bullying a small-business owner because she wants to run her bakery without sacrificing her Christian faith,” Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket … [Read more...]
Christians challenge law blocking some religious colleges from state-funded program
MINNEAPOLIS (BP) – Minnesota Christian parents are challenging a state law that blocks certain Christian colleges from a program that allows colleges to enroll high schoolers in tuition-free college credit courses. Through Minnesota’s Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program, 10th through 12th graders have been able to take college credit courses tuition-free at state colleges since 1985, according to attorneys at Becket Law. But the state changed the PSEO program in 2023, … [Read more...]
Judge hears motions in Planned Parenthood suit on Missouri’s Amendment 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For nearly 4½ hours on Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 4, Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang listened to detailed legal arguments from New York attorneys for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, regarding various motions in their lawsuit to strike down two dozen Missouri statutes regulating abortion providers, based on the newly enacted Amendment 3. Missouri’s Solicitor General Josh Divine told the judge that the State agreed that the “trigger ban” on abortion … [Read more...]
U.S. Supreme Court hears case on Tennessee law protecting children from transgender medicines
EDITOR'S NOTE: Mike Whitehead is an attorney in private practice in Lee’s Summit, Mo., and serves on the Board of Directors for Alliance Defending Freedom. The opinions of the author are his own. This article is not legal advice, but is provided for education and information only. WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court considered on Dec. 4 whether to uphold a Tennessee law protecting children from high-risk medicines that alter their bodies to try to make them look like the opposite … [Read more...]
Trump selects former Southern Baptist pastor, chaplain to lead Veterans Administration
WASHINGTON, D.C. (BP) — President-elect Donald Trump has nominated a former Southern Baptist pastor to be the next head of the Department of Veterans Affairs. A native of Gainesville, Ga., Doug Collins was senior pastor of Chicopee Baptist Church from November 1994 through October 2005, according to the church’s annual church profile reporting. He also served as chaplain for Chattahoochee Baptist Association and earned his Master of Divinity degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological … [Read more...]
Planned Parenthood files lawsuit to enforce Missouri Amendment 3
READ UPDATE: 'Judge hears motions in Planned Parenthood suit on Missouri’s Amendment 3' (Click link here.) KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Just a few hours after passing Missouri constitutional Amendment 3, abortion industry lawyers filed a lawsuit in Kansas City, asserting their new fundamental right to make money by providing abortions in Missouri. Confident that the investment of $30.9 million would buy them a simple majority victory (as it did, with 51.6% of the vote), Planned Parenthood lawyers … [Read more...]
Federal judge strikes down Biden overtime rule nationwide
SHERMAN, Texas – This summer, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) adopted a new rule increasing the salary thresholds for overtime pay exemption, and the rule may have had a negative impact on churches and ministries. But a federal judge, last week, struck down the new overtime rule nationwide. On Nov. 15, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated and set aside the DOL's final regulation increasing the salary threshold for the “white collar” overtime exemption … [Read more...]
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