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This week on Faith On Trial, Iowa Catholic Radio Network. Listen now: https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/  Episode 378

 

Abortion groups sue over Ohio amendment language

 Pro-abortion activists are suing Ohio ballot officials for adopting the term “unborn child” in the new official language for a ballot measure that could make abortion a constitutional right in November. The ballot’s language states that Issue 1 would grant a pregnant woman’s physician “the authority to determine … whether an unborn child is viable,” and subsequently whether they believe an abortion is necessary for the life of the mother. READ

U.S. Bishops’ Pro-Life Chairman Rejects Distortion of Pregnant Workers’ Protection Law

WASHINGTON - On Monday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released proposed regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, responded with the following statement:

“We supported the bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act because it enhanced the protection of pregnant mothers and their preborn children, which is something that we have encouraged Congress to prioritize. The Act is pro-worker, pro-family, and pro-life. It is a total distortion to use this law as a means for advancing abortion, and the complete opposite of needed assistance for pregnant mothers.

“The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s proposed interpretation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to include accommodations for obtaining an abortion is wrong and contrary to the text, legislative history, and purpose of the Act, which is to help make it possible for working mothers to remain gainfully employed, if desired, while protecting their health and that of their preborn children. We are hopeful that the EEOC will be forced to abandon its untenable position when public comments submitted on this regulation demonstrate that its interpretation would be struck down in court.”

Nashville Murderer’s Manifesto Still Secret

By Bill Donohue, Catholic League president 

As we begin the new school year, five months after a mass murder at a Christian school in Nashville, the manifesto of the killer has still not been released to the public.  

On March 27, 2023, a 28-year-old female, Audrey Hale, who falsely claimed to be a male, shot and killed three children and three adults at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. The transgender person had attended Covenant School and apparently expressed her disdain for it. 

Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake told the media at that time, “There’s some belief that there was some resentment for having to go to that school.” He was not speculating. We know that she was planning the attack “over a period of months.” More important, she left behind a manifesto that sheds light on why she did what she did. But it has not been made public. 

According to a spokesman for Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, it is the FBI and the Metro Nashville Police who are stopping the manifesto from being released. Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett blames the FBI. 

What’s the reason for balking? The fear, as expressed by school officials, Covenant School parents, the media, and LGBT activists is that the public may learn the real reasons why Hale did what she did. In other words, if she made vicious anti-Christian remarks, they don’t want to deal with the fallout. 

School officials and the school’s parents understandably want this issue behind them. But no such slack can be cut the media and LGBT activists. Had Hale been a white supremacist, and the manifesto contained racist statements, is there anyone who doubts that it wouldn’t have been released by now? Anti-Christian bigotry is no less invidious. 

Metro Nashville Police Department Deputy Chief Mike Hagar has reviewed the unredacted version of the documents, as well as the redacted one, and he “does not believe” the release of the redacted papers would “impede the investigation.” Then let’s do it. 

On August 26, a white racist shot and killed three black people in Jacksonville, Florida. We know all about his bigotry. So why are we still being kept in the dark about the anti-Christian bigotry of a transgender person?

“Gender Industry” Targeting Children for Medical Mutilation

ORLANDO, FL – The Journal of the American Medical Association published a new study last week analyzing the number of people in the U.S. who underwent medical mutilation procedures––what it referred to as “gender-affirming surgeries” (GAS)––discovering that more than 48,000 people, including 3,678 patients aged 12-18 years, were surgically mutilated between 2016-2019.

The Columbia University study, “National Estimates of Gender-Affirming Surgery in the US,” stratified surgical patients into seven age groups, in which the youngest category was notably grouped ages 12-18. The study revealed that in this age group 87 percent underwent breast or chest procedures, 11 percent had genital surgery, and nearly 10 percent had facial or cosmetic interventions. For reasons not specified in the study, the researchers did not separate minors into their own 12-17 group making it impossible to know exactly how many children under age 18 were surgically mutilated. 

However, a different study by Vanderbilt University researchers in October 2022 titled, “Gender-Affirming Chest Surgeries Increase by Nearly 5x in Teens,” did stratify children into a 12-17 age group finding that 489 minors had chest surgeries in the same four-year time period. These studies clearly indicate by including ages as low as 12 that children that young are being mutilated. 

While the researchers at Columbia University also did not break down specific surgeries by age, they did reveal out of dozens of procedures that the most common ones amongst all the patients studied (48,019) were breast reconstructions (21,244), mammaplasties (4,926) hysterectomies (4,489), and “orchitectomies” (testicle removal, 3,425). Notably, the study confirmed with past research that the number of these procedures, surgeries, and interventions are increasing over time. The study stated, “A prior study examining national estimates of inpatient GAS procedures noted that the absolute number of procedures performed nearly doubled between 2000 to 2005 and from 2006 to 2011. In our analysis, the number of GAS procedures nearly tripled from 2016 to 2020.” 

Going beyond 2020, other researchers at Komodo Health, Inc., also found the same rate of increase stating that gender dysphoria tripled in minors from 2017 to 2021. In commensurate fashion, the number of gender clinics treating children in the United States has grown from zero to an estimated 200 to 300 clinics in the past 15 years. The first gender clinic for children in America was founded in 2007 at Boston Children’s Hospital where at the time doctors there did not limit candidates for puberty blockers to a “minimal age” but advised children needed to “wait for pubertal signs.” 

In 2021, the “gender surgery industry” in the United States was valued at $1.9 billion, and was estimated to be $2.1 billion in 2022, and is expected to grow to $5 billion by 2030. Despite many gender hospitals today touting “the minimum age of 18 as eligibility” to undergo these procedures, these studies and reports show that surgeons are performing them on children younger than 18 years. 

As the American medical community sees record profits from irreversibly mutilating children and adults, therapeutic counseling is largely ignored as an alternative treatment to gender dysphoria. 

Liberty Counsel has represented several licensed counselors who have used therapeutic counseling to help many people get beyond gender dysphoria. Through Liberty Counsel’s efforts, city ordinances in Florida and Iowa banning this type of counseling have been struck down or repealed preserving the free speech rights of counselors so they can help their clients to reduce or eliminate unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, or gender confusion. Several clients of these counselors have testified under oath that without counseling they would have continued down a dark, irreversible path, and it was the counseling that helped them resolve their health issues to embrace their biological sex. 

Counseling for gender dysphoria, which the “gender industry” and media falsely refer to as “conversion therapy,” is actually talk therapy and is a lot like a GPS map system for mental health. The clients tell the counselor the direction in which they want to go, and the counselor helps them reach that destination. Counseling operates from the viewpoint that people do not have to be chained to gender dysphoria or unwanted desires, behaviors, or confusion. 

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The fact that children are being irreversibly mutilated is appalling. Gender ideology and greed are rotting the medical community to its core making the mutilation of children a billion-dollar industry. This insanity needs to stop, for real science shows that counseling is effective in treating gender dysphoria. Liberty Counsel has successfully defended licensed counselors who have helped people with gender dysphoria and this talk therapy is protected by the First Amendment.”

Pro-Life Advocate Lauren Handy Seeks Emergency Jail Release After FACE Act Conviction

(Washington, D.C.) Thomas More Society attorneys filed August 30 an emergency
motion with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking the Court to reconsider its order detaining pro-life advocate Lauren Handy while she awaits sentencing. 

Concluding that Handy’s violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act was a “crime of violence,” U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Handy and her four co-defendants be immediately taken into custody after the federal jury returned its verdict on August 29, 2023. In their motion, Thomas More Society Senior Counsels Martin Cannon and Steve Crampton argue that under federal law and binding precedents from the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, the FACE Act is not categorically a “crime of violence,” and should not lead to pre-sentencing detention. 

Handy and her co-defendants were found guilty of violating the FACE Act during a peaceful protest at a notorious Washington, D.C. abortion facility in October 2020. Thomas More Society attorneys plan to appeal Handy’s conviction. 

After the jury returned its verdict, an army of U.S. Marshals led Handy and her co-defendants out of the courtroom. “That is outrageous. These pro-life advocates committed no violence during their protest at the abortion facility as they kneeled and prayed, distributed pro-life literature and counseled women considering abortions,” said Crampton. “The real violence is what happens to an innocent child during an abortion procedure.”  

In a drive to prosecute FACE cases, the Biden Department of Justice charged Handy and her co-defendants with one count of “Conspiracy Against Rights” and one count of “Clinic Access Obstruction” in March 2022. The charges were filed nearly one and a half years after Handy organized the October 2020 protest at the facility operated by notorious late-term abortionist Cesare Santangelo, who has long been suspected of refusing care to infants born alive during abortions. This week, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department confirmed it is investigating  Santangelo and his facility. 

During the trial, Handy testified that she had viewed an undercover video produced by pro-life group Live Action that showed an abortionist at the facility would refuse to treat an infant who had survived an abortion attempt. She also passed out flyers at the protest that asserted that live-birth abortions were being performed at the facility. 

“Ms. Handy was there to prevent these horrific live-birth abortions, which does not violate the FACE Act,” said Cannon. “However, she has become a victim of the merciless drive by Biden’s Department of Justice to prosecute those who are trying to protect preborn human beings. To add to that injustice, she was incarcerated when the true violence continues to be committed against innocent children.” 

A national non-profit leader, Handy founded Mercy Missions in 2017. The mutual aid organization assists families and mothers in crisis pregnancies and provides relief for the homeless. “Clearly, Ms. Handy does not pose a danger to the safety of any person or the community and is not a flight risk,” Cannon added. “Therefore, she should be released immediately.”  

Read the emergency motion filed August 30, 2023 by Thomas More Society attorneys in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Lauren Handy’s Emergency Motion for Reconsideration of Order of Detention Pending Imposition of Sentence, here [ https://tinyurl.com/52utdcjx].

CDC may have exaggerated COVID deaths by over 5000%

Newly-released data suggests that nearly 99% of the new COVID deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may primarily be attributed to other causes. Of the 324 “COVID deaths” reported in the week that ended August 19 by the CDC, fewer than 2% (1.7%) were recorded as being primarily caused by COVID.  READ

Reports: Associated Press funded by far-left groups

The Associated Press (AP) received millions of dollars from “partnerships” with far-left organizations, especially relating to its coverage of race and the “climate crisis.” The AP “last year announced a series of ‘partnerships’ to subsidize reporters covering climate change, race, and democracy. A review of the donor roster shows that the vast majority fund left-wing political causes.”  READ

Va school board tells off bidden administration

A Virginia school board has declined the Biden administration’s proposal to direct its policies regarding so-called “trans” issues. An agency of the Justice Department had emailed Roanoke School Board members that it was “aware of ongoing community tensions in Roanoke following the release of the new model policies for transgender students” after two activists were removed from a meeting for interrupting the proceedings with shouts of “protect trans kids!”  READ

 

Wisconsin supreme court chief warns of ‘coup’

The chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court has said its liberal justices are staging “an unprecedented coup” and destroying the state’s constitution ahead of a key term that could deliver decisions on election integrity measures and abortion. Chief Justice Annette Ziegler slammed the actions of the new liberal 4-3 court majority, taking aim at them for terminating a longstanding court director. READ

Pro-lifers found “Guilty” in D. C. case

In the latest effort to chill pro-life speech and activism, a federal court jury fraught with bias has delivered the Biden Department of Justice the conviction of several life advocates. The group of peaceful pro-life citizens were charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act along with a conspiracy against ‘rights’ that the United States Supreme Court has not found in the Constitution. The defendants were arrested in March 2022, a year and a half after their alleged actions outside of a Washington, DC abortion facility.  

Now that the verdict is in, pro-life advocate Lauren Handy has been found guilty in federal court in United States of America v. Lauren Handy, et al. Ms. Handy and her Thomas More Society defense team will appeal this decision, handed down today in United States District Court for the District of Columbia. 

STATEMENT FROM MARTIN CANNON, THOMAS MORE SOCIETY SENIOR COUNSEL: 

“We are, of course, disappointed with the outcome. Ms. Handy has been condemned for her efforts to protect the lives of innocent preborn human beings. We are preparing an appeal and will continue to defend those who fight for life against a Biden Department of Justice that seems intent on prosecuting those who decry abortion and present it as it is—the intentional killing of children in utero.” 

STATEMENT FROM STEVE CRAMPTON, THOMAS MORE SOCIETY SENIOR COUNSEL: 

“In an unexpected twist, the Court found that because the violation of FACE—in this case—was a crime of ‘violence,’ all five defendants must be immediately incarcerated. So, the defendants were led out of the courtroom by an army of U.S. Marshals. This is an outrage, and the one thing the defendants had really agreed upon was to remain non-violent. The real violence is what happens during the abortion procedure.” 

Read more about the Thomas More Society's defense of Lauren Handy and background on the case here: UNITED STATES v. HANDY: Defending Lauren Handy Against the Biden Department of Justice.

Pope writing second part of climate encyclical

Pope Francis is writing a second part to his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si, adding new climate-related concerns to the original document. Francis has written that Christians must “put an end to the senseless war against creation,” adding: “The unrestrained burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of forests are pushing temperatures higher and leading to massive droughts. Alarming water shortages increasingly affect both small rural communities and large metropolises.”  READ

Opponents try to remove Trump from 2024 ballot

Lawyer Bryant “Corky” Messner, once a Trump-backed Republican Senate candidate, is trying to disqualify the former president from appearing on the 2024 GOP primary ballot in New Hampshire. Messner argues that Trump should be barred from seeking office because he “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the” United States. Similar efforts are underway in other states as well. READ

DC Democrat attorney general targets pro-life attorney

The Democratic Attorney General of Washington D.C. is targeting Leonard Leo, a Catholic lawyer who was instrumental in setting the stage for the overthrow of Roe v. Wade. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced last week that he is investigating Leo and a few of the many conservative non-profit organizations he has worked with for alleged financial improprieties.  READ

Waterloo, Iowa Repeals Counseling Ban

WATERLOO, IA – After receiving a demand letter from Liberty Counsel, the city council in Waterloo, Iowa repealed its local ordinance last week that prevented counselors from providing minor clients with help to reduce or eliminate unwanted same-sex attractions, behaviors, or gender confusion.

In May 2023, Waterloo’s City Council voted 6-1 to approve Ordinance 5701 banning verbal counseling meant to “change behaviors or gender expressions” in gender-confused children. However, the city council recently voted 4-3 to repeal that ordinance before facing potentially costly litigation as similar bans in other cities have been ruled unconstitutional.

Liberty Counsel’s June 30 demand letter showed that local governments in Iowa do not have the authority to regulate licensed counseling because the Iowa Legislature has given that power solely to Iowa’s Board of Behavior Science. In addition, the letter explained that Waterloo’s ban on counseling therapy (erroneously called “conversion therapy”) was “offensive to the First Amendment” because it banned counseling “based on the viewpoint of that counseling.” The ordinance also left professional counselors guessing as to how far the city would go in punishing violators since the municipal code prescribed variable fines and jail time for ordinance violations.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has recently struck down two similar city ordinances in Florida ruling that prohibiting licensed counselors from providing voluntary counseling therapy to minors seeking help with unwanted gender confusion is unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The Court found that the bans were both content and viewpoint based and violated the First Amendment right to free speech.

Under the laws that were struck down, a counselor could encourage a client to take life-altering hormone drugs or even undergo invasive surgery to remove healthy body parts but could not help a client who sought to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions, behavior, or confusion.

Liberty Counsel represented professional counselors in both cases. In Otto v. City of Boca Raton, the Court ordered Palm Beach County and the City of Boca Raton to financially compensate two counselors totaling $175,000 in damages. Boca Raton and Palm Beach County still face liability for attorney’s fees and costs. In Vazzo v. City of Tampa, the City of Tampa paid a $950,000 settlement in the case.

In the Vazzo case, Judge William F. Jung’s ruling refuted the made-up term “conversion therapy” that activists and the media frequently use. In his order he stated, “Broadly stated, the Ordinance bars therapy within the City by medical doctors and mental health professionals that seeks to assist a minor patient in a goal to change gender expression or to change sexual orientation/attraction. These two subjects are separate and distinct, but related. The cases have generically referred to these two subjects as ‘SOCE’ or sexual orientation change efforts. The Ordinance uses the term ‘conversion therapy.’ Neither term is entirely accurate.”

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The City of Waterloo made a wise decision to repeal their unconstitutional ordinance. The First Amendment affords counselors and clients the freedom to choose the counsel of their choice free of political censorship. With these laws out of the way, minors who are struggling with gender confusion are able get help they need from licensed counselors.”

Pope Francis Slams ‘Very Strong Reactionary Attitude’ Among U.S. Catholics

Pope Francis

ROME — Pope Francis has appealed for more changes in Catholic teaching, lamenting the “backwardism” of conservative Catholics in the United States.

“The situation is not easy in the United States where there is a very strong reactionary attitude,” the pontiff told a group of Jesuits in an interview published Monday. “It is organized and shapes the way people belong, even emotionally.”

Read the article: https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2023/08/28/pope-francis-slams-very-strong-reactionary-attitude-among-u-s-catholics/

Can Conservatives Get A Fair Trial In D.C.?

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) – Last week I posed the question whether pro-lifers could get a fair trial in Washington, D.C. I had not planned on a follow-up column, but recent political stories have changed my mind and my focus. No longer do I ask the question about pro-lifers, but now I ask it about conservatives and Republicans in general.

And the closer I look at this, the more I have grave concerns about the state of justice in our Capitol City. The state of justice should be of concern for any American; after all, this is the land of fairness where Lady Justice wears a blindfold. But are we still sure?

Just a couple of things from recent news coverage that should shake the faith of anyone that is if it hasn’t already been shaken enough by the Merrick Garland version of judicial hide-the-ball.

Recently the Trump special prosecutor, Jack Smith, went to court to get the former president’s Twitter communications. Twitter resisted and the matter ended up on the D.C. courtroom of Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee. When the question was raised about notifying the subject of the investigation, Donald Trump, Howell ruled that the matter should be kept from Mr. Trump.

The reason: Ms. Howell thought that the former president was a flight risk. Now in this political climate could any judge be so transparently stupid? Oh yes, read on.

The matter went before a panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The three judges that heard the case were Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, and two Biden appointed members of the court, Julianna Childs, and Florence Yu Pan. They upheld Howell’s ruling that Mr. Trump was a flight risk.

Talk about swamp creatures!

But that’s not all.

There is a new federal judge who will preside over any trial of the former president in the Capitol City. He is James Boasberg, another Obama appointee. Boasberg presided over the matter of Kevin Clinesmith as part of the FISA court. The Trump-Russia investigators were trying to get authorization from the court to do something prohibited by law. The only way they could open that door was to have a legitimate investigation of a U. S. citizen for being some type of Russian shill.

The shill, chosen by the special prosecutor, was Carter Page, a minor Trump foreign policy adviser. Page often traveled overseas on business and had an agreement with the CIA to turn over to it any useful information he acquired overseas.

When Page was contacted by the FBI about his foreign activities he told investigators that he had a relationship with the CIA and that the FBI should check with it. They did, and in answer to the question if Page was working with the CIA, the CIA responded “yes,” he was a source for the CIA.
Of course, that answer would provide a roadblock for the investigators who wanted a broader field of U.S. citizens to investigate.

No problem; that was easily fixed. Mr. Clinesmith, an attorney with the FBI, simply changed the CIA’s answer from “yes” to “no,” he was not a source for the CIA. Now the government could represent to the court that Mr. Page was a renegade international broker with possible ties to Russia and the plot to interfere with the 2016 election.

When Mr. Clinesmith’s number finally came up and he had to answer to his fraud, he was allowed to plead guilty.

Judge Boasberg took Clinesmith’s plea and, instead of sentencing the man to prison as a felon, and recommending that he be disbarred, Clinesmith was given a one-year probation. That’s it!

And, of course, this just in as reported by LifeSiteNews: “A former pro-life rescuer has signed an agreement with the federal government that requires her to fully cooperate with the pro-abortion Biden administration whenever it calls upon her for information on pro-life operations.

“The deal contains no time limit, and allows the government to resurrect FACE Act felony charges with years in prison if it deems the agreement has not been kept.”

And in a related matter, Judge Colleen Kollar-Korelly, a Clinton appointee featured in last week’s column, has just reprimanded an attorney correcting a Catholic abortion staffer who misrepresented the Catholic Church’s position on abortion. “That’s very unprofessional,” she said. “And you’ve talked back to me several times. You’re here as a defense attorney, not a Catholic theologian.”

I guess the truth of Catholic teaching is irrelevant in a D.C. court.
Any wonder why we consider D.C. a swamp? Obviously, Donald Trump will not get a fair trial there, neither will anyone who disagrees ideologically with the current Marxist regime that controls justice in America, which includes pro-lifers and those darn domestic terrorists, traditional Catholics and public-school parents.

The “How do we tell our story department?”
Most readers are aware of my radio program, Faith On Trial, on the Iowa Catholic Radio Network. The purpose of the program is to examine the effects of law and society on people of faith. In the 10 years we’ve been on we’ve had some of the most distinguished religious liberty litigators as guests, as well as professors, experts from various fields, and many others who can help listeners see the effects of government and corporate policies on regular citizens.

Now most of our guests come from the large public affairs law firms, academics, and experts attached to one “think tank” or another. But recently I’ve noticed a number of newer groups that are engaging in the fight, especially for parental rights.

Here’s the rub: As much as I would like to visit with these folks and give them some publicity on our network, many of these start-up and ad hoc groups have no easy way to be contacted.

The groups all have websites, many are very professionally done, but they do not show how to make a media contact. Many have a single e-mail, some have a form you fill out to get more information, join, or make a donation. However, what frustrates me is that the e-mails go to a mailbox that is not monitored.

I will leave a message, explaining who I am and what I want, dates, times, etc. But I never get a response.

So, here’s my free advice to those engaged in such organizations. Always list on your media announcements, and on your webpage, a number for media inquiries. Now I realize the problems with crank phone calls to the homes of local volunteers for non-woke causes. If that is your concern, at least have a media contact e-mail and make sure it is checked at least twice a day.

Just a few words of help for those struggling to break through the publicity maze.

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/ FBI whistleblower and Iowa Attorney General: Episode 377)

This week on FOT: Whistleblowers and the heartbeat bill

Listen now: https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/  Episode 377

High court upholds South Carolina heartbeat law

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a revised version of the state’s “heartbeat” law, reversing a previous ruling from the high court earlier this year that deemed the law unconstitutional. In the 4-1 decision, the court said abortions are not protected under the state’s constitutional safeguards against invasions of privacy. The pro-life law is in keeping with South Carolina’s legitimate “interest in protecting the unborn,” the ruling stated.  READ

Iowa Attorney General in studio this week for Faith On Trial

This week we hosted Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird (pictured center) in our studio with Deacon Mike Manno and Gina Noll. She spoke about Iowa’s new Heartbeat law which is now tied up in the courts, as well as other matters pertaining to her office. Our other guest (via phone from Texas) was Kyle Seraphin, the FBI whistleblower who blew the whistle on the FBI investigations of traditional Catholics as domestic terrorists. The program number is 377 and can be found on our blog post with all of our other programs at: https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/.

Catholic farmer wins in court

 A federal district court sided with a Michigan farmer on Monday, ruling that he is free to participate in a city-run farmer’s market after he was booted over his Catholic views on marriage. Steve Tennes, who owns Country Mill Farms, was banned in 2017 from the East Lansing farmer’s market by city officials after he posted on Facebook that he adheres to the Catholic Church’s teachings on marriage.  READ

Can Pro-Lifers Get A Fair Trial In D.C.?

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) – For far too long we have been hearing complaints about a two-tiered justice system in the United States where favored people get breaks that other mere mortals cannot. As an adjunct to that claim, there is also the question of whether people with certain political beliefs can obtain a fair result in certain venues.

For example, there is a complaint that Donald Trump cannot get a fair trial in New York City due to the political breakdown of the juror pool and the demographics of the city. There is also the question about pro-lifers and fair trials in other blue states and districts, again due to the demographic and political views of the local jury pool.

Of course, to most folks such questions of fair trials for pro-life defendants in deep blue venues may seem more academic than practical since the thesis of the question is not easily proven, nor is there an easy correction if it is finally proved. It seems that this is an enormous hill to try to climb.

But there is a recent report on LifeSiteNews by Monica Miller, Ph.D., that looked at a jury pool in a case involving pro-lifers charged with violation of the FACE Act as well as conspiracy charges for conspiracy to interfere with the civil rights of women seeking abortions in the District of Columbia. If convicted the nine defendants face 10 years in prison and fines of $230,000.

Dr. Miller, president of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, examined the 34 written questions that were submitted to the 154 potential jurors. She focused on three of the questions asked potential jurors individually:

Q. 20: “In this trial ‘abortion’ will be mentioned, but this case is not about abortion — not whether it is right or wrong, just or unjust — it’s about whether clinics have a right to operate. Do you have any beliefs about abortion that would render you to not be fair and impartial in this case?”

Q. 21: “Have you ever belonged to or contributed to any group that advocates for or against abortion?”

Q. 22: “Have you or a close friend or family member ever participated in any demonstration either for or against abortion?”

According to Dr. Miller, four jurors answered “yes” to the questions above, two admitted to donating to Planned Parenthood, and one said that his wife donated to Planned Parenthood and he was okay with that. Another admitted that she had attended women’s marches in the city supporting abortion and other women’s issues and she was employed as a media consultant to a pro-abortion member of congress.

Another potential juror said that she had been raised Catholic but left the Church over the abortion issue and was now an agnostic.

As each of these potential jurors answered, the defense attorneys raised objections to their remaining members of the jury pool due to their specific support of organizations which promoted abortion. The objections made were for “cause,” meaning that the potential juror was not in a position to fairly hear the case due to their support of Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry.

In each objection the presiding judge, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a Clinton appointee to the bench who also serves as presiding judge for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA), denied the defense motion to strike the potential jurors for cause despite the jurors’ obvious support for abortion. In answer to the defense attorneys the judge reportedly indicated that access to abortion is legal and thus a juror cannot be struck for supporting something that is legal.

Here are some of the other jurors who were also not struck for bias, according to Dr. Miller:

“One juror contributes money to Planned Parenthood and stated he believes protecting access to abortion is important.

“Another juror also heard through media about ‘unborn children being taken from clinics.’ Since he called the unborn ‘unborn children’ — we had hope for him! But, no. He actually donated money directly to abortion centers in Florida, attended pro-abortion rallies, was very concerned about maintaining access to abortion, and even attended a protest at the Supreme Court against the Dobbs decision and admitted that he disapproved of persons who denied women access to abortion. . . .

“A juror said he contributed to Planned Parenthood, wanted to be sure that people had access to ‘reproductive care,’ and admitted that such ‘care’ included abortion.”

The trial is now underway in Washington and the defense attorneys are left to use their limited number of “free” strikes. We’ll have to wait and see how the jury selection process and the judge’s handling of the defense motions to strike apparently biased jurors plays into the final result.

This report disturbs me for a number of reasons. Any time a case is about abortion or related “rights,” there appears to be an automatic bias in favor of one side over the other, and those biases are very personal and difficult for an individual to overlook. When a trial is being held in a venue where the wind only seems to blow in one direction it would seem to me that the courts should recognize the inherent unfairness in that and be willing to move the trial to a more balanced venue.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem there is a recognition of that. In fact, it almost seems as if some prosecutors and plaintiffs’ lawyers are specifically seeking such an unbalanced venue to give their side an edge with the jury pool. Now it may be unwieldy to try to do so. I know “forum shopping” is something that appeals to the plaintiffs’ bar but I think our courts need to take a look at this issue and to start to draft ideas to make trials fairer to all litigants.

We already have enough questions about the state of justice in a polarized population but it’s worth a try. 

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/)

Governors Reynolds, Abbott, Pillen, Stitt and Noem Ban Together To Secure Border

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds

DES MOINES – Governor Greg Abbott today held a press conference in Eagle Pass withIowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to provide an update on their joint efforts under Texas' Operation Lone Star to respond to President Joe Biden's reckless open border policies.  

"Texas is ground zero, front and center of the border crisis," said Governor Reynolds. "On day 1 of the Biden Administration, they reversed policies that protect the sovereignty of this country and its citizens. Iowa is located at the intersection of two major interstates, and it is a pathway for Mexican cartels and humans traffickers in the Midwest. I thank the 14 other Governors who have stepped up to do the job that President Biden has failed to do. It is time for the President to do his job."  

"These Governors here with me today are deploying military and law enforcement officers to help Texas secure the border," said Governor Abbott. "We have 14 Governors who are deploying personnel to secure the border that President Biden has abandoned. President Biden is not doing his job, and he is responsible for the largest amount of illegal immigration in the history of the United States and has rolled out a deadly welcome mat with a record number of people dying attempting to cross the border. There is a reason the United Nations has named the border between the United States and Mexico the deadliest land border in the entire world. President Biden is responsible for that deadly border, and we're not going to stand idly by. We, as states, share an obligation and that's to step up and address this unparalleled catastrophe caused by President Biden."  

"President Biden continues to let the crisis at the border go unchecked, and it is growing," said Governor Pillen. "This is a national security issue that must be addressed. We stand with Governor Abbott as his state works daily to halt the influx of illegal drugs, weapons, and criminals into the U.S."  

"What we're literally witnessing is a war zone, and it is astonishing to witness our President allow this to happen," said Governor Noem. "The cartels are out for blood, and they are facilitating the trafficking of our children every day. The lack of humanity in these policies. These policies are inhumane of what they're doing to people and these families. This country needs to realize that our President breaks the law and ignores the law. I thank Governor Abbott for all that he's done to fight this fight. I'm all in helping support Operation Lone Star."  

"The chaotic scenes at the southern border are a stark reminder of the consequences of disastrous open border policies," said Governor Stitt. "The Biden Administration is asleep at the wheel. Make no mistake, every state has become a border state, but I’m encouraged by my fellow Republican Governors who are stepping up to secure the border. It is essential that we protect our communities by supporting our law enforcement and putting a stop to the flow of illegal drugs pouring into our nation."  

The Governor was also joined at the press conference by DPS Director Steve McCraw, Texas Adjutant General Major General Thomas Suelzer, and Texas Border Czar Mike Banks.  

Prior to the press conference, Governor Abbott held a border security briefing with his fellow Governors where they received updates from Director McCraw, Major General Suelzer, and Border Czar Banks on the multitude of effective strategies used by Operation Lone Star to secure the border, including Texas' floating marine barriers installed in the Rio Grande River.   

During the briefing, Governor Abbott thanked the Governors for their support in Texas' Operation Lone Star border security mission and highlighted the value of their states' resources being used to secure the border and curtail the influx of illegal immigration, dangerous weapons, and deadly drugs like fentanyl coming into Texas from Mexico.  

Director McCraw outlined the success of Operation Lone Star's border security efforts, noting that just DPS alone has seized over 426 million lethal doses of deadly fentanyl—enough to kill every man, woman, and child in America. He also highlighted the importance of state law enforcement along the border, pointing to their critical role in supporting Border Patrol agents as the first line of defense against surges of illegal immigration between ports of entry.  

Major General Suelzer provided an update on Texas’ and other states' National Guard soldiers’ efforts to hold the line, install strategic barriers, and turn back migrants along the Texas-Mexico border. Specifically, Major General Suelzer described soldiers' significance to help push out illegal activity from El Paso by installing 18 miles of concertina wire in the area and noted that turnbacks have gone up 38 percent with the help of other states.   

Border Czar Banks thanked the other Governors for their support in Operation Lone Star's border security efforts and reminded them that Texas knows that border security means national security for the rest of the country. He also corrected claims made about Texas' floating marine barriers, explaining their efficacy as deterrents for illegal, unsafe crossings from Mexico into Texas.  

Today's border visit comes after Governor Abbott sent letters to America's Governors in May requesting support for Texas’ border security mission following President Biden's decision to end Title 42.  

As of today, 14 other states—including Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming—have stepped up to support Texas' efforts and deployed personnel and resources to secure the border in President Biden's absence.  

Mental health crisis among children

A surge of mental health emergencies among children has overwhelmed emergency rooms, according to a joint paper released last week by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the Emergency Nurses Association. The children showing up in crisis are often suffering from emergencies related to anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts or attempts, the groups said.  READ

Biggest Virginia school district defies pro-parent rules

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) announced that they are defying new educational guidelines against pushing “trans” pronouns on students and letting boys use girls’ bathrooms. Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office responded that FCPS may be infringing on the rights of Fairfax County parents. READ

School Year Begins With Religious Lawsuits

By Bill Donohue, Catholic League president 

The new school year is beginning with lawsuits to ensure religious liberty. 

In Colorado, the Denver Archdiocese is suing the state over strictures in its new universal preschool program that would force Catholic schools to violate Catholic teachings. To be explicit, the archdiocese is saying that Colorado’s Department of Early Childhood would mandate that Catholic preschools enroll “LGBTQ people.” This cannot be done without violating Catholic teachings on marriage, the family and sexuality. 

The archdiocese correctly argues that accepting the children of gay parents “is likely to lead to intractable conflicts” because the Church does not believe in same-sex marriage. The Church also rejects gender ideology, the idea that the sexes are interchangeable. Ergo, to accept students who have “transitioned” to the opposite sex is contradictory to its professed beliefs. 

In short, Colorado’s new preschool program does not provide for religious exemptions, and is therefore the subject of the lawsuit. 

In California, Orthodox Jewish families are suing the state for excluding religious schools from public funding for young people with disabilities. The state’s Education Code allows funding for “nonpublic, nonsectarian schools,” but provides no money for religious schools. Three Orthodox Jewish families are suing, insisting that their disabled children have religious needs that cannot be met in traditional public or private schools. 

Catholic parents who have children with disabilities are also at risk. At the federal level, Congress has long committed funds for the disabled, knowing that their needs require special attention. Those needs should not be exclusionary of religion.   

The secular vision of morality, which is entertained by the ruling class, is intolerant of religious liberty. State officials know that the courts are much more religious friendly than they are, making these lawsuits unnecessary. It just goes to show the zealotry that imbues in them. 

This is a never-ending battle for our First Amendment right to religious liberty.

This week on FOT: What to expect on campus; DC Circuit's ruling pro-lifers arrested improperly

This week on Faith On Trial, Iowa Catholic Radio Network

Listen now: https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/  Episode 376

Catholic healthcare giant partners with abortion group

The largest U.S. Catholic health network, CommonSpirit, partnered with a women’s health telemedicine company that later began offering abortion pills, according to a new report by the Lepanto Institute. CommonSpirit partnered with Tia Women’s Health in 2021, and following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, Tia began to offer medical abortions. READ

Wisconsin girls quitting sports over male presence

When a Wisconsin high school allowed a male to compete on the girls' sports team, parents pulled their daughters off the team. Parents reported their daughters returning from summer games with unusual bruises and welts. “They’re just not used to the ball coming at them that hard,” said one parent. “A lot of these girls are specifically quitting this team because they’re concerned for their safety.”  READ

Dems push climate policy after Hawaii fires

In the wake of the devastating ongoing Hawaii wildfires, the state’s governor and other Democrats are blaming “global warming” and “climate change.” Global warming is “very real for us and everywhere,” said first-term Hawaii Democratic Gov. Josh Green. “There’s no question this catastrophe is going to change the way everyone looks at fire across the globe.”  READ

BUT

Climate experts weigh in against wildfire narrative  

While Hawaii’s governor and other Democrats are pinning the state’s deadly wildfires on “climate change,” environmental experts are saying there is no connection. Read their explanations here.  READ

Toxic Femininity

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) – I saw last week a news story reporting that adolescent boys as they near voting age are becoming conservative politically. Myself I’d like to see them become more Catholic and Christian, but I suppose I can live with conservative.

Girls, on the other hand, are trending liberal. Jean Twenger, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University was quoted as saying, “Among liberals, the future is female. And among conservatives, the future is male.”

My first reaction to the news was that it was no surprise to me. For some years I’ve been watching young boys pushed to the sidelines while schools, teachers, and society measured conduct by a girls’ standard. Let me give you an example:

When I was a school boy we played rough, much rougher than the girls did. The nun’s main job in babysitting us was to make sure we didn’t permanently harm one another. Now there were occasional fights, which usually never lasted very long since those wonderful black-veiled women were quick to pull the offenders apart before either received a black eye or bloody nose.

And for guys, once the fight was over (and thank you, Sister for breaking this thing up before I really got beat) that was it. We had shown our manhood by asserting ourselves with our fists, and that was all we needed to prove.

You see boys played hard. We didn’t skip rope or play Ring Around the Rosie. And, in fact, that hard playing was what kept us calm and our fights short: We simply wore ourselves out. But in recent years that is not what I hear happening. Boys who are a little too energized behave outside the norms set for them. And those norms have been patterned after how young girls play, quietly with no rough-housing. You see, the girls were setting the decorum rules for the boys.

And, of course, when boys began to act up — that is, like boys — the message was sent home and far too often they were put on drugs to keep them calm. Getting the picture?

Boys were not allowed to act like boys; their conduct was circumscribed by rules natural to girls. Girls were nice and sweet but the boys were ADHD.

I’ve known a lot of schoolteachers in my lifetime and I cannot think of one who has not told the story of a boy on Ritalin because he didn’t comport himself as the girls did. It simply made for a better classroom. And, of course, it was necessary to send the message to the girls that they could succeed just as a boy could.

After all, nowadays there is no real difference between the boys and the girls, they are interchangeable. And the disservice is that boys are not allowed to play, horse- play, and rough-house as boys are inclined to do. After all, a boy’s role model should be his dad, the support and protector of the family. Unfortunately, due to societal changes inspired by governmental programs, far too few boys have that father figure in the home to guide them into strong adults capable of negotiating the complex ways of today’s world.

Back in 2019 clinical psychologist Michael Alcee, Ph.D., wrote in Psychology Today:

“While it is wonderful that society has been focused on helping girls, empowering them not to feel like the ‘odd girl out’ and tackling issues surrounding ‘mean girls,’ boys’ experiences, unfortunately, have often been neglected. And by failing to zero in on this important aspect of a boy’s psychology, we not only do boys a disservice, but we also miss the boat in treating them with the kind of empathy that will truly help them become strong. Fortunately, this doesn’t need to be a zero-sum game: We can empower, support, and celebrate girls and boys at the same time.”

Years ago, I am told, some schools tried to tie a left-handed student’s left hand to his desk so he would learn to write with his right hand. It didn’t take long for the professional educators involved to realize that it wouldn’t work. You can’t force someone to be something he is not; you can’t turn a lefty into a righty and you can’t turn an energetic young boy into a hop-scotch fan. It’s as simple as that. Eventually you have to untie the left hand, just like you have to let boys act out their natural personhood.

But I don’t think that has been the experience for far too many boys in this critical period of their lives. They have been demoralized and demonized, warned to avoid all that toxic masculinity that is running the country and the world. Far too many grow up in either female-headed households, or whose only male role model is some transient companion picked up to take care of mom’s needs with little regard to the effect they will have on the adolescent boys in the home.

So, while the nation was warned about toxic masculinity, the boys were suffering from toxic femininity by being measured against girls’ social development, not their own.

This was illustrated to me by a cable-TV commentary on a fight at a major league baseball game. Those brawls happen and they oftentimes clear the benches as one team tries to stand up for one of their own. In this particular case there were four hosts, two women and two men.

They split on their view of the fight, with the women calling it unprofessional and unsportsmanlike, and the men took the position that while it may not be a very good part of the game, these things happen and, in effect, the guys will be guys.

Now you might ask: What about all the riots and gang violence we see on the news these days? Aren’t most of those people guys? That’s right, we do see them. If I might be permitted to make this observation: Most of those you see have not had the role models — male and female — needed to develop into true adulthood.

So now look at the boy-problem from the boys’ perspective. For all his life he has been told to play nice like his sister, his growth dynamic has been pooh-poohed by teachers and administrators, and many were raised by single moms who lack the skills to raise a boy without a male role model. And on top of that, society is now telling him that there is no difference between boys and girls, unless a girl accuses you of something, then she must be believed.

Is it any wonder they are becoming conservatives? They are growing into manhood and that tie on the left hand has to be broken. A boy is a man and a man should be a man.

Any wonder who these new conservatives will vote for? Someone they see as filling a very masculine role: leader, defender, national father.

 Sorry, Joe. It won’t be you.

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every weekend on Faith On Trial or podcast at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/)

Remember about Redskins: A chief factor of sports teams' names is aim for blush of victory

By Dexter Duggan, Substack

PHOENIX — Interesting that a Native American organization wants to change the name of football’s Washington Commanders back to what it had been, the Washington Redskins.

Under the proclamation “Educate NOT Eradicate,” the Native American Guardian’s Association (nagaeducation.org) describes itself as “a 501c3 non-profit organization advocating for increased education about Native Americans, especially in public educational institutions, and greater recognition of Native American Heritage through the high-profile venues of sports and other public platforms.”

For decades Native names on teams weren’t regarded as taunts. When Dad took little pre-teeners my sister and me to an occasional Indianapolis Indians baseball game, we popcorn eaters expected to see athletic accomplishment, not ethnic mockery. Nor did Dad feel the need to warn us that we shouldn’t sneer at “Indians” while watching players display skills of hitting home runs and stealing bases.

However, the day arrived that the social elitist establishment decided for itself — and therefore, of course, for everyone else, to whom it presumes to dictate — that some Native names on teams were intolerable bigotry and must be discarded. Hardly anyone else had perceived this, so it took a lot of twisting and turning to try to make everyone else agree. They still didn’t agree, but the elitists finally can get so exasperated with their social inferiors that they just ram things through anyway.

(Somehow certain names dodged the assault, like Kansas City Chiefs, even though that was as Native a name as others. Oh, wait. Maybe “Chiefs” was exempted because that was sort of like saying the Top Guys, whereas “Redskins” might just be guys on the assembly line or working behind the lunch counter or on the sales floor. If it had been “Redskin Business Executives,” would that have received the okay? When some such Business Executives had finished off supremacist Gen. George Armstrong Custer and his salesmen, they showed they knew how to close a deal.)

This present-day establishment’s attitude of white superiority used to identify itself as such when shoving around others, whether the others also were white or some other skin persuasion. But now, to maintain its power while hiding its identity in these super-progressive times, this white upper class passes itself off as anything but. Maybe call it white superiority trying to hide under a deep suntan.

NAGA’s website recognizes the trickery when it says, “The truth of the matter is the opposition doesn’t believe Native Americans are capable of self-determining whether something is offensive or revered. The opposition looks to silence Native opinions.”

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