Yes, Threats to Religious Liberty Happen Here; Advocates of same-sex marriage are classifying Biblical teachings as "hate speech."

By Ryan T. Anderson

Some on the left are criticizing Senator Ted Cruz's recent comments about how the drive to redefine marriage may threaten religious freedom -- but a closer inspection of the issue reveals his worries were accurate, prescient, and maybe even too cautious.

In an interview with Cruz, David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network raised the concerns that many Christians are now expressing: "A lot of Christian scholars, when they talk about the marriage issue, they see it as a religious-freedom issue . . . as in essence going down this line toward potential 'hate speech' from the pulpit," Brody said. In reply, Cruz pointed to problems abroad. "If you look at other nations that have gone down the road toward gay marriage, that's the next step of where it gets enforced," he said. "It gets enforced against Christian pastors who decline to perform gay marriages, who speak out and preach Biblical truths on marriage. That has been defined elsewhere as hate speech, as inconsistent with the enlightened view of government."

Advocates of redefining marriage contend that the First Amendment ensures that pastors, priests, and other clergy in America will remain free to preach what they want to -- they will never be forced to celebrate a same-sex wedding, and liberals suggest that this is the extent of the challenge to religious liberty posed by the redefinition of marriage.

To the contrary, if marriage is redefined, then a belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman ordered to procreation and family life -- a notion once shared by virtually every human society -- would increasingly be characterized as an irrational prejudice that ought to be driven to the margins of culture. The consequences for religious believers are becoming apparent.

Read the entire article at National Review Online here.

California school district pressured by feds to open boys’ locker room to transgendered girl

A California-based legal group says the Obama administration should be "ashamed" of forcing a school district in that state to cater to the LGBT agenda. A school district in a Los Angeles suburb has decided to allow a transgender girl who identifies as a boy to use the boys' locker room and restrooms after pressure from the Obama administration. The Arcadia school board last week passed a resolution that ends a civil rights investigation by the Department of Education into the school district.

"This is an outrageous violation of the privacy of all students involved,” says Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute. “It is an inhumane way of addressing students who do have gender-identity issues and need proper counseling and proper support."

The student started living as a male in fifth grade and is now entering ninth grade. The Department of Justice received complaints in October 2011 that the Arcadia Unified School District did not allow her to use the boys' restrooms and locker rooms. The complaints also alleged that when she was in seventh grade, the student was not allowed to sleep in a cabin with male students during a district-sponsored overnight field trip and was asked to stay in a separate cabin instead. The Obama administration told the school district that failure to comply with federal civil rights policies would be considered sex-based discrimination.

Christian chaplain censored for free speech; anti-Christian activists are demanding he be punished.

Breitbart News legal columnist Ken Klukowski is reporting on Lt. Col. Kenneth Reyes, a Christian chaplain currently stationed in Alaska.

“As an ordained clergyman whose duties are to provide religious instruction and spiritual counseling, he has a page on the base’s website called ‘Chaplain’s Corner.’

“Reyes recently wrote an essay entitled, ‘No Atheists in Foxholes: Chaplains Gave All in World War II’ . . . when Reyes referenced this famous line in his essay, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) contacted the base commander, Col. Brian Duffy, demanding he take action on Reyes’s ‘anti-secular diatribe.’ . . .

 “[O]nly five hours after MRFF’s complaint, the essay was removed from the website. Duffy has profusely apologized to MRFF for not stopping this religious leader from sharing religious thoughts.”

You can read the full article here.

Pastor being sent to Hell; and students standing up for their faith

This week on Faith on Trial: A pastor “consigned” to the eternal flames of Hell? We’ll have that pastor, Cary Gordon of Cornerstone World Outreach in Sioux City, with us. Actually, it was Pastor Cary and his entire family that was being dispatched to hell “the sooner the better.” Why would someone do that? And who would that person be?  You’ll find out when Pastor Cary Gordon joins us this week.  In addition to the good pastor (spoiler alert – he’s not in Hell) we are going to have Mike Berry of the Liberty Institute.  Mike is attorney for two students who have run afoul of the local political correctness police.  One student was told to remove her necklace that had a cross on it and the other was a high school valedictorian who had his microphone cut when he departed from the “approved” version of his address and mentioned God. This and more on Faith on Trial on Iowa Catholic Radio: 8 a.m. Saturday; Sunday at 2 & 7 p.m.; and 9 p.m. Monday (all times Central) – 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming live on http://iowacatholicradio.com.

 

Obama court nominee: Abortion necessary to free women from “conscription to maternity;” says HHS mandate necessary to protect women from becoming “presumptive breeders;” celebrating motherhood creates a “self-fulfilling cycle of discrimination”

President Obama has nominated Cornelia "Nina" Pillard, a Georgetown law professor, to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, who once wrote that abortion is necessary to help "free women from historically routine conscription into maternity."

In her writings she also slams anyone who opposes the HHS contraception mandate as "reinforce[ing] broader patterns of discrimination against women as a class of presumptive breeders."

She wrote a 2011 paper, "Against the New Maternalism," which argues that by celebrating motherhood, society is creating a "self-fulfilling cycle of discrimination." Those ideas bleed into Pillard's, extreme pro-abortion views, which suggest that technology is somehow manipulating Americans to consider the personhood of the unborn. In one of her most jaw-dropping statements, the president's nominee even criticizes the ultrasound. She believes it manufactures "deceptive images of fetus-as-autonomous-being that the anti-choice movement has popularized since the advent of amniocentesis."

As crazy and outrageous as her other comments are, this one is a denial of basic biology! She actually rejects modern science on human development because it conflicts with her hard-core ideology. Pillard is fiercely opposed to abstinence education and has said publicly she would declare it unconstitutional. In "Our Other Reproductive Choices," She argues that abstinence-only curriculum is "permeated with stereotyped messages and sex-based double standards" which, in her mind, makes it "vulnerable to an equal protection challenge."

Sioux City pastor “damned” to hell by city civil rights commissioner

A controversy over a newly appointed member of the Sioux City, Iowa human rights commission has developed over revelations that he damned a local pastor to hell after the debate over retaining judges who voted to approve so-called gay marriage in the state.

The Rev. Cary Gordon, pastor of Cornerstone World Outreach, has asked the city council to remove the newly appointed commissioner Scott Raasch who wrote on Rev. Gordon’s Facebook page in December 2010: “You are haters and bigots and you will get what’s coming to you sooner or later. I hope you rot in hell.” 

Wrote Raasch, “I know Christ and don’t need a snake oil salesman like you to tell me about him. I guess that’s the difference between us because I think there are many people that deserve to burn in hell … including you and your entire family. The sooner the better for our community!”

Raasch, who is gay, said he was angry about Rev. Gordon's role in urging voters to remove three Iowa Supreme Court judges, citing their ruling that legalized gay marriage in the state.

"This was three years ago and all of a sudden Pastor Gordon makes a point of it now?" Councilwoman Rhonda Capron said. "He just doesn't want Scott on the commission." Councilman Tom Padgett agreed,

Mayor Bob Scott told the Sioux City Journal he wants to discuss the matter with his fellow council members.

Court: Ohio's refusal to recognize Maryland gay marriage likely unconstitutional

An Ohio federal district court granted a temporary order requiring the state to recognize the validity of a same-sex marriage performed in Maryland.  The court, relying on the Supreme Court's recent DOMA decision, as well as an earlier decision held:

“Quintessentially, Plaintiffs have established a substantial likelihood that they will prevail at trial on their claim that by treating lawful same sex marriages differently than it treats lawful opposite sex marriages (e.g., marriages of first cousins and marriages of minors), Ohio law, as applied here, violates the United States Constitution which guarantees that ‘No State shall make or enforce any law which shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction equal protection of the laws.’"

The plaintiffs had been living together in a committed relationship for over 20 years. They recently traveled to Maryland to marry as one of the two, John Arthur, was approaching death from ALS. The court ordered the local state registrar to only accept a death certificate that lists John Arthur as married at the time of his death and that lists James Obergefell as his surviving spouse.

Mary Ann Glendon and the Structure of Religious Freedom

Richard W. Garnett writes about religious freedom in today’s column on the Witherspoon Institute’s Public Discourse:

“The problem [Mary Ann] Glendon and [Raul] Yanes identified—namely, that an excessively expansive (and ahistorical) understanding of the establishment of religion and an unduly narrow understanding of religious exercise combine to compress and constrict the freedom of religion—was and still is real and pressing.”

Read the entire article here.

German home schooling parents to appeal asylum decision

The German home schooling parents whose application for asylum was denied by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals plan to appeal that ruling to the U. S. Supreme Court.

The family moved to Tennessee in 2008 after a fight with German officials over their right to home school their children.  Germany does not allow home schooling and threatened to take the children.  The family had been granted asylum by a federal immigration judge in Tennessee, but that grant was overturned by the appeals court in May.

The family is being represented by the Home School Legal Defense Association.  Attorney and chairman of the association, Michael Farris said he believes the appeals court was wrong when it did not find that the German school law did not discriminate against religious minorities.

Report: CRS gave $2.7 million to pro-abortion group and other news

From the “I wonder why we are losing department” come this report from LifeSiteNews:

“Catholic Relief Services is in the midst of distributing a projected $2.789 million grant to one of the leading voices in the international abortion movement.”  Follow this link to read Patrick Craine’s full story: U.S. Bishops’ relief agency caught giving $2.7 million to top abortion-marketing firm.

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee vetoed a bill that would allow the state to produce license plates with the message “Choose Life.” The funds would have gone to support the efforts of crisis pregnancy centers. Chafee vetoed the bill because “[i]t is my belief that state participation in the transmission of funds to this organization would violate the separation of church and state

In Massachusetts a bill to ban therapists from offering sexual conversion therapy for minors struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction is moving forward with the support of the state's LGBT lobby. California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a similar ban, and lawmakers in New Jersey have considered barring doctors from providing the practice, as well. Brad Dacus from the Pacific Justice Institute has been on our program discussing the California law.

Court enjoins veterans memorial containing religious symbols

A California federal district court held that a monument to military veterans that depicts a soldier kneeling before a Christian cross, with several more crosses and a Star of David in the background likely violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.  

The court concluded: "it is likely that Plaintiffs will be able to demonstrate that the Latin crosses and Star of David were included ...because of their religious symbolism," and that "Plaintiffs are likely to prevail on their contention that a reasonable observer would perceive [the monument] as 'sending primarily a message of' endorsing religion." The court issued a preliminary injunction barring the City of Lake Elsinore, California, where the monument was to be displayed,from displaying the monument.

Historic abortion center closure announced by 40 Days for Life

From David Bereit, national director of 40 Days for Life:

Bryan/College Station, Texas -- The most significant abortion center closure -- in the 40 years of legalized abortion since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision -- was made public today when Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Inc. announced that it was shutting down its abortion facility in Bryan/College Station, Texas after fifteen tumultuous years in business.

In 2003, on the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, ABC's Nightline spotlighted pro-life efforts in Bryan/College Station and said the community was "shaping the abortion debate" in America. Since that time, the local Planned Parenthood abortion facility gained worldwide notoriety as:

* Site of the first-ever 40 Days for Life campaign in 2004, an effort that has since grown into a worldwide pro-life mobilization of 575,000 volunteers in 501 cities around the globe; saving 7,536 babies from abortion, closing 37 abortion centers, and helping 83 workers to quit their jobs in the abortion industry

* Place where former abortion center director and Planned Parenthood employee of the year Abby Johnson experienced a conversion, quit her job, and became an outspoken pro-life advocate, going on to found And Then There Were None, a new ministry which has since   helped 60 other workers to leave the abortion industry over the last year

* Home of the Coalition for Life, the grassroots organization which Planned Parenthood credited for making the community "the most anti-choice place in the nation" in which Planned Parenthood experienced its "most consistent and active" opposition in the nation

This news was also accompanied by announcements of closures of two other Texas Planned Parenthood centers -- in Huntsville and Lufkin -- both of which were sites of 40 Days for Life campaigns.

This week: Remember Terri Schiavo? End of life issues with her brother Bobby Schindler and St. Jude Hospice CEO Tom Moreland

Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schiavo, starved to death by order of a Florida judge in 2005, will join us for this week’s edition of Faith on Trial.  Bobby heads up the Terri Schiavo Life &Hope Network and will discuss some of the legal and societal issues involving persons with disabilities or who are incapacitated who face life threatening situations.  Also joining us will be Tom Moreland, founder and chief executive officer of St. Jude Hospice.  We will be discussing the legal issues, pitfalls, and warnings for those with loved ones who may be facing terminal illnesses, and how to avoid the pressure to “euthanize” (and “yes” it happens!) those you love.  Check out our new times: Saturday at 8 a.m.; Sunday at 2 & 7 p.m.; and Monday at 9 p.m. – all times Central – on Iowa Catholic Radio, 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming live on IowaCatholicRadio.com.

 

Michigan judge nixes religious rights of business owner

A federal judge has rejected as “precedent” the Tenth Circuit’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case because the court was divided on the ruling.  So says Federal District Court Judge Paul Borman of the Eastern District of Michigan, in a ruling denying a business owner’s request for a temporary exemption from the Obama Administration’s HHS contraception mandate.

Judge Borman held that since the company is a for-profit business, the owners Karen and Rodney Mersino, are not entitled to the same religious freedoms as individuals.

 “Karen and Rodney Mersino, who are not required individually to comply with the regulations, do not suffer actual injury (they incur no out of pocket costs as individuals) from the contraceptive coverage mandate,” the judge wrote. “[The company], as a secular for profit company, cannot ‘exercise’ religion and cannot act as the alter ego of its owners in challenging the contraceptive mandate ... Nor can Karen and Rodney Mersino impute their own religious beliefs to their corporation so that the corporation can act as their alter ego and assert those rights on behalf of the Mersinos.”

Borman held that when the Mersinos chose to start a commercial business instead of a religious charity, they gave up their rights to run their organization in full compliance with their religious beliefs. 

Why the tepid Catholic response to the Boy Scout decision on gays?

If you were wondering why the Catholic response to the decision of the Boy Scouts to admit openly gay members, you might want to read this article on LifeSiteNews.  It is reprinted from Crisis Magazine.

Liberty Institute backs programs denied grant over prayer & God

In Louisiana, the U. S. Department of Justice, under Eric Holder, has informed a local sheriff that he must prohibit the local chapter of the Young Marines and Youth Diversion programs from participating in voluntary prayer and must excise the word "God" from the oath taken by program members. The sheriff says that because he refused to submit to the DOJ demands he has lost a $30,000 grant for the programs.

In response, The Liberty Institute has sent a demand letter to the DOJ Civil Rights Division and the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement (LCLE) about their decision to deny funds for programs. The DOJ action was triggered when a March DOJ audit of the program noted their “special emphasis on the love of God and fidelity to our country.”

The letter states that the DOJ’s denial of funds to the youth programs violates the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause because it constitutes unlawful viewpoint discrimination. It demands that the programs' grant application be approved without delay or special conditions.

School concedes pro-life speech cannot be censored

A Minnesota public school has revised its literature distribution policy after Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a 6th-grade student. Nova Classical Academy prohibited the student from distributing pro-life fliers to her classmates during non-instructional time but now agrees that pro-life expression must be allowed.

“Public schools should encourage, not shut down, the free exchange of ideas,” said Legal Counsel Matt Sharp. “The First Amendment protects freedom of speech for all students, regardless of their religious or political beliefs. The law on that point is extremely clear: free speech cannot be censored simply because it expresses a certain viewpoint that administrators don’t favor.”

In late February, the 6th-grade student and her friends peacefully handed out pro-life fliers at lunchtime to friends and classmates interested in the topic. One of the fliers read, “Save the baby humans. Stop abortion.”

A few days later, they were called into the school director’s office and told that some students find pro-life fliers offensive and that they were no longer allowed to pass them out during or after school hours, even if students requested them.

In an e-mail to the student’s parents, the school’s executive director claimed that the content of the fliers was inconsistent with the school’s educational mission and that “such political activism is limited to students in the School of Rhetoric [the high school] only.”

“The school has a right to censor students without violating their free speech,” the executive director wrote. “In short, public schools have every right to prohibit student speech.”

As a result of the settlement and the enactment of the new policy, students are permitted to distribute literature as the 6th-grade student and her friends originally sought to do.

YMCA boots pro-life students: The can’t use shower facilities because they are too political, which upsets pro-abortion crowd

A local YMCA has refused to allow a pro-life student group to use its shower facilities, after initially agreeing to do so.  The Town Lake Branch of the Austin, Texas YMCA refused to honor its promise after pro-abortion patrons complained. 

The Students for Life took a caravan of college-aged students from across the country to the capital of Texas to show support for a state bill that would ban abortions after the 20th week. "We had absolutely no problems on Monday night when we used their facilities," said Brendan O'Morchoe, SFLA director of field operations, as reported by LifeSiteNews. But the pro-abortion activists who helped shout down legislators objected strongly – and YMCA officials kicked the pro-lifers out.

“Some angry pro-abortion activists were being very aggressive with YMCA staff members and the staff said they felt threatened,” O'Morchoe said. “The YMCA rescinded their offer to help because of the complaints of a few people on one side of the abortion issue and we were discriminated against based on our political position."

The YMCA blamed the students claiming that their use of the shower facilities was bringing politics into the facility.  The students were later accommodated at a local Catholic school.

I suppose if they will stoop to baby killing, the pro-aborts will stoop to anything! Remember that when the YMCA comes calling for your dollars.

This week: HHS “accommodation” and troubles on campus

Returning for this week’s program will be Dana Cody, president and executive director of Life Legal Defense Foundation. Dana will be discussing the latest “accommodation” that HHS is offering on its contraception mandate, which is little different than the original mandate. Dana will be followed by David Hacker, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom.  David is representing a pro-life student group against the University of Buffalo.  Apparently the university has different rules for how it deals with different campus organizations thus the pro-life group had to pony up over $600 for campus security for a debate on abortion while other groups were charged nothing.

Check us out: Saturday 8 a.m.; Sunday 2 & 7 p.m.; and Monday 9 p.m. on Iowa Catholic Radio 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming live at http://iowacatholicradio.com.  All times Central.

Georgetown: Abortion champion represents “very best” of university

The Cardinal Newman Society is reporting that the Jesuit institution, Georgetown University, has issued a press release celebrating the fact that pro-abortion rights Congressman John Dingell (D-Michigan) is a Georgetown graduate.

Georgetown President John DeGioia is quoted in the press release saying, “Through his decades of public service, and his thoughtful, careful leadership, Congressman Dingell has represented the very best of our Georgetown tradition.”

Dingell earned a 100-percent score in NARAL Pro-Choice America's 2011 Congressional Record on Choice for his votes on abortion. He reportedly said, "I have voted to protect a woman's right to choose under Roe v. Wade and will continue to fight to uphold this constitutionally protected right."

He has also “evolved” on gay marriage by co-sponsoring a bill in 2012 to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and to ensure federal recognition of same-sex marriage. Dingell received his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown in 1949 and his law degree from Georgetown Law School in 1952, just three years before he became a congressman.

And we wonder why we are losing!

The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) press release on the latest HHS mandate attempt at "accommodation:"

The Department of Health and Human Services issued final rules on contraceptive coverage in the Affordable Care Act at the end of June. The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) has closely followed the policy's development and advocated for strong religious freedom protections for those who object on religious grounds to include contraception in their company health plans.

"The final rule still leaves many religious employers unprotected," said Leith Anderson, NAE President. "The government should not compel any of its citizens to violate their consciences."

While most evangelicals do not oppose the use of contraception, there are concerns that some of the drugs required to be covered by health insurance policies are abortifacients. Many also believe that the limited definition of "religious employer" in the rule sets a dangerous precedent.

The final rule exempts churches from the mandate. Religious non-profits that object to the mandate may offer insurance policies that do not include contraceptive services. But the insurance companies or third party administrators are required to provide the beneficiaries of those policies free contraceptive services. Religious organizations that are structured on a for-profit basis do not even receive this accommodation.

"With the administration digging in its heels and Congress unlikely to act, it is up to the courts to restore the constitutional protection guaranteed to all Americans under the First Amendment," Anderson said. "We are encouraged that many of the lawsuits filed on behalf of religious employers are receiving a favorable hearing."

Dissident nun “approves” HHS mandate for Catholic institutions

The latest “accommodation” by the Department of Health and Human Services to the contraception/abortion pill mandate, rejected by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has received the blessing of the Catholic Health Association.  Pro-abortion, and dissident nun, Sister Carol Keehan, president of the association, has notified members of the association that the latest accommodation provided by HHS is acceptable to her.  You might remember that Sr. Keehan defied the bishops over the original Obamacare bill and has been a consistent supporter of legislation and court decisions that protect abortion.  And we wonder why we are losing [see our earlier story on Ralph McCloud].

Three major American newspapers rejected this pro-life ad

The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, and the LA Times refused to run an advertisement created by Heroic Media. The ad features a hand holding a 20- to 24-week-old baby with the quote, “This child has no voice, which is why it depends on yours. Speak Up.”

“I am disturbed that these papers would run article after article promoting the notion that abortion is a victimless act without consequences,” Heroic Media Executive Director Joe Young said. “The fact remains, children who are unique individuals – never again to be duplicated – are being killed in the most violent way imaginable and they feel the excruciating pain of that death.”

The newspapers took issue with the image of the baby. The Chicago Tribune has now agreed to run the ad with the second image as long as Heroic Media indicates that it is an advertisement.

Heroic Media is a non-profit whose mission is to educate the public in general and reach women facing unplanned pregnancies with life-affirming alternatives through the use of mass media, such as television commercials, internet outreach, and billboards.

University “charging” for pro-life free speech; ADF files suit

Attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom, representing a pro-life student group, filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, for charging the group fees in order to exercise its freedom of speech.

University officials charged the group nearly $650 for security officers because it deemed an abortion debate that the group sponsored “controversial.” The university has no guidelines for such a designation and leaves it to the whim of officials, a practice that the U.S. Supreme Court has found to be unconstitutional in other cases, attorneys claim. The university did not assess such fees to a group holding a similar event on campus in the same building at the same time.

“Public universities should encourage, not stifle, the free exchange of ideas,” said Senior Legal Counsel David Hacker. “University officials cannot arbitrarily decide to deem an event ‘controversial’ and then weigh down students with burdensome fees to engage in constitutionally protected free speech.”

UB Students for Life, an officially recognized student organization at the University at Buffalo, reserved space for a debate in April on the topic of abortion. The university required the group to pay for campus security officers at the event because school officials anticipated the event would be “controversial.” At the same time and in the same building as the debate, another campus organization was hosting a debate between a Christian and an atheist; however, the university did not levy security fees for that event.

No major disruptions occurred at the abortion debate, which approximately 225 people attended. The total bill to UB Students for Life was $649.63, about $150 more than the entire amount of funding that UB Students for Life receives from the Student Association each year. The fees will cause UB Students for Life to cancel some of the expressive activities it had planned for this year.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys argue in the lawsuit that the university’s security fee policy and practice violates the First Amendment “because they grant UB officials unbridled discretion to discriminate against speech based on its content or viewpoint” and “provide no narrow, objective, or definite standards to limit the discretion of UB officials in deciding whether to require security at a student organization event.” As the complaint explains, they “create a system in which speech is reviewed without any standards, thus giving students no way to prove that a denial, restriction, or relocation of their speech was based on unconstitutional considerations.”

IRS and physician assisted suicide this week on Faith on Trial

This week’s guests include Peter Breen, vice president and senior legal counsel for the Thomas More Society.  He will be discussing how some public officials are thwarting the will of the people by not defending certain laws when challenged.  He was also involved with an Iowa pro-life group whose application for tax exempt status was challenged by the IRS.

Following Peter we’ll have Jennifer Popik, legal counsel with the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics and she’ll be discussing the movement to expand physician assisted suicide.  As you may know, Vermont just enacted a law that shields doctors from all civil or criminal liability for providing death inducing drugs for their patients that wish to end their lives.  Along with the bill come some very minimal guidelines, so minimal as to be non-existent.

Check out the program: Saturday 8 a.m.; Sunday 2 & 7 p.m.; Monday 9 p.m. The program can be heard on Iowa Catholic Radio: 1150 AM; 88.5 & 94.5 FM and streaming on iowacatholicradio.com. All times are Central.