Court Blocks Law that Banned Abortion Pill Reversal

DENVER, CO – A federal judge blocked Colorado from enforcing its new abortion pill reversal law on a pro-life clinic ruling the law violates the staff’s religious freedoms. Enacted in April 2023, Colorado’s law is the first of its kind in the United States and bars physicians from prescribing medication to help women reverse incomplete chemical abortions to save their unborn babies. The judge’s preliminary injunction only applies to the clinic that brought the lawsuit while the judge considers a permanent injunction. 

Colorado SB 23-190 stipulates that any medical professional who “provides, prescribes, administers, or attempts medication abortion reversal in this state” is engaging in “unprofessional conduct” and is “subject to discipline.” The “medication” that many clinics and pregnancy resource centers offer for abortion reversal is progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone that sustains a pregnancy. Progesterone is the same treatment used to help women prevent miscarriages and according to physicians challenging the law, “abortion pill reversal is nothing more than supplemental progesterone.” 

The law’s challenger is faith-based health care provider Bella Health + Wellness, which has prescribed progesterone for thousands of women and has helped several women who had initiated a chemical abortion successfully continue their pregnancies with progesterone. According to the lawsuit, Bella Health considers it a religious obligation to protect unborn life and provide treatment to pregnant mothers seeking to stop an abortion in progress. The clinic alleges that biased legislators crafted the bill to “target” both women who have changed their minds about abortion and faith-based pregnancy resource centers that offer abortion alternatives. 

The lawsuit provided the Court unofficial transcripts from legislative debates that record legislators who sponsored SB 23-190 explicitly attacking the religious nature of pregnancy resource centers. Several lawmakers are recorded as labeling faith-based organizations that offer abortion alternatives as “fake clinics” that “lure and steer” patients “away from abortion” by offering a “life threatening” procedure. 

Bella Health specifically claims Colorado’s law violates the First Amendment and Free Exercise Clause rights of its workers because it forces them to “choose between giving life-affirming health care according to their sincerely held religious beliefs or face the loss of their licenses and severe financial penalties.” In addition, Bella Health alleges Colorado’s law “chills free speech” and “actively thwarts women” from stopping an abortion in progress. 

Judge Daniel D. Domenico agreed the law “is not neutral” and that legislators knew the law would “burden religious practice.” 

Judge Domenico wrote, “The target of the bill is plainly abortion bill reversal…it seems clear then, both given this legislative history and the bill’s text itself, that the legislature was aware that the burden of this prohibition would primarily fall on religious adherents…But when the practice [the state] chooses to ban is one that it knows is undertaken for religious reasons, it loses the protections.” 

Judge Domenico explained that while Colorado aims to bar the use of progesterone for reversing chemical abortion, the state simultaneously allows the medication for miscarriage prevention. The judge noted that Colorado’s law is also not a “neutral and generally applicable” law in this respect. 

“…the law treats comparable secular activity more favorably than Bella Health’s religious activity,” stated Judge Domenico. “The State generally cannot regulate an activity if that regulation burdens religious exercise, provides for individualized exceptions, fails to regulate comparable secular activities that raise similar risks, and otherwise targets religious activity. The law at issue here runs afoul of these First Amendment principles.” 

Colorado has until November 20, 2023, to appeal the injunction to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

In chemical abortions, the drug Mifepristone blocks progesterone and starves the baby to death. The abortion pill reversal protocol consists of giving extra progesterone within 72 hours after taking Mifepristone to “outnumber and outcompete” the abortion drug so the baby can survive. 

According to Dr. William Lile, who is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and who has delivered thousands of babies, progesterone is “bio-identical” and “as natural as it can possibly be” to what a pregnant woman produces. Dr. Lile told Liberty Counsel that he has personally reversed the abortion pill 15 out of 19 times (a 78 percent success rate) and that abortion pill reversal protocol has safely reversed Mifepristone more than 4,500 times across the nation. 

Johnson holds line against abortion pills

In a first “test” of his leadership as Speaker of the House, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-LA, is facing pressure to back down on his strong pro-life stance against a radical measure that would allow abortion-causing drugs to be shipped nationwide. Backing up Johnson, CatholicVote’s Tom McClusky is telling holdouts: “Look, you ran on a pro-life platform. You can’t say you’re pro-life and allow abortion drugs to be used so widely.’”  READ

Oklahoma Governor Blasts AG’s Lawsuit against Catholic Charter School

By S.A. McCarthy

(The Washington Stand) – The Sooner State’s governor is blasting his state’s attorney general for suing a Catholic charter school. Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced a lawsuit earlier this month against the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board for approving what his office called “what would be the nation’s first religious charter school funded by public tax dollars,” citing religious liberty concerns.

Back in June, the Board greenlit St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School, which is sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa. Drummond’s office referred to the school’s Catholic affiliation as “religious indoctrination,” arguing that by approving St. Isidore of Seville, the Board “violated the religious liberty of every Oklahoman by forcing us to fund the teachings of a specific religious sect with our tax dollars. … Oklahomans are being compelled to fund Catholicism.” He added, “Because of the legal precedent created by the Board’s actions, tomorrow we may be forced to fund radical Muslim teachings like Sharia law.”

But Governor Kevin Stitt (R) is criticizing Drummond’s lawsuit. In an interview with The Daily Signal, Stitt said, “Nobody is forcing kids to go to any religious charter school. A charter school is just another option. And if a parent chooses that that’s the best option for their kids, why is the government standing in their way?” He added, “We believe in religious freedom. We believe in school choice. We believe empowering parents to let them choose where they think the best education is for their kids. So, it’s that simple.” The governor called Drummond’s lawsuit a “political stunt,” commenting, “He should be defending the board, but instead, he’s actively trying to join in with these left-wing groups out of California and challenging religious freedoms.”

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Previously, Stitt commended the Virtual Charter School Board for approving the Catholic school, saying back in June, “This is a win for religious liberty and education freedom in our great state, and I am encouraged by these efforts to give parents more options when it comes to their child’s education. Oklahomans support religious liberty for all and support an increasingly innovative educational system that expands choice.”

Brett Farley, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, told The Washington Stand, “We’re very thankful for Gov. Stitt’s leadership on this effort and generally for his diligence in defending religious liberty and expanding education choice in Oklahoma. Without his leadership, much of what we’ve accomplished — and what we hope to accomplish with St. Isidore — wouldn’t be possible.”

St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School states on its website, “The Catholic Church in Oklahoma believes that parents are the primary educators of their children. The primary goal of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School is to assist parents in the important responsibility of developing the heart, mind, and soul of their child.” The website adds, “Our statewide virtual charter school will enable students to be immersed in a robust liberal arts program that opens the student to the best of the Catholic intellectual tradition. … Our virtue-based program will help each student realize their individual gifts and talents while developing strong moral character and integrity.” The school’s contract also clarifies that no student will be denied admission on the basis of religious affiliation or lack of religious affiliation.

Farley expounded, “Our plan for St. Isidore, should the courts approve, is to open in the Fall of 2024 initially with 500 students. Our aim is to create new education options for kids specifically in our rural and special education communities who are under-served.” He added, “The overwhelming support of education choice programs in Oklahoma in recent years continues to demonstrate that parents demand more options for their kids, and the Catholic Church has a mandate to help provide them.”

While the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled (in both Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue and Carson v. Makin) that taxpayer dollars can be used to fund or subsidize religiously-affiliated schools, Drummond’s lawsuit argues that Oklahoma’s state constitution prohibits the use of taxpayer funds for religiously-affiliated schools.

In a statement sent to The Washington Stand, the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma declared: “Attorney General Drummond’s lawsuit employs the language of fear and discrimination, twists the law of religious liberty beyond recognition, and ignores the very real successes of faith-based schools in our country. Sadly, he also attempts to pit people of different faiths against each other. Religious freedom for all is a cornerstone of our society.”

The statement concluded, “We are optimistic that the court will see this lawsuit for what it is: a baseless attempt to enforce exactly the kind of religious discrimination that the Supreme Court has made clear the First Amendment forbids.”

Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow for Education Studies at Family Research Council, commented to The Washington Stand, “The idea that Oklahomans are being forced to fund Catholicism by approving an online Catholic Charter school as an option for parents to select for their children is just absurd. … The only ‘religious sect’ that’s being publicly funded is the religion of atheism which catechizes via critical race theory and queer theory indoctrination in public schools across the country. Parents who complain about that are called domestic terrorists by educrats and DOJ officials. Governor Stitt has been a staunch defender of parental rights and common sense. It seems like the Oklahoma AG is out of touch with the grassroots and out of step with the governor.”

She added, “Oklahoma has a generous school choice program and I’m sure many parents are spending that money in Catholic schools. Does the AG have a problem with that? Would he object to a STEM charter school offering? What about a school like the one in Alabama that specializes in LGBTQ?”

Jonathan Small, president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, noted, “Families must proactively choose to send a child to a religious charter school rather than to the local non-religious public school. The U.S. Supreme Court and the Oklahoma Supreme Court have both ruled that parent choice severs any coercive tie between state and religion.” He added, “St. Isidore will provide Oklahoma parents with even greater choice and power in education. This should be celebrated.”

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) announced on Friday it will be defending the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board against Drummond’s lawsuit. ADF stated on its website, “People of faith should not be treated as second-class citizens. Just as non-religious parents can choose to send their children to non-religious charter schools, religious parents should be able to send their children to charter schools that align with their beliefs.”

Activists Attack Catholics And Protestants

By Bill Donohue, Catholic League president

Catholics and Protestants who take their religion seriously have long been the target of dissidents in their ranks who seek to manipulate public opinion. The malcontents were quite busy over the weekend. 

On Sunday evening, a man entered a Catholic church in San Francisco, took Communion, but did not consume the consecrated Host. When a man who was in attendance confronted the culprit, he was knocked unconscious; a knife was pulled on him as well. The offender jumped in his car and the police (after responding to a 911 call) chased after him. The man threw pipe bombs at the cops. He was arrested after he crashed his car. 

Also on Sunday, the Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida hosted a “Drag Gospel Worship”; it was meant as a statement against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ opposition to drag queen events for children. Several drag queens (men dressed as women) were there, and one was dressed as a Jesus look-alike. Kids were explicitly welcomed. On the church’s website it lists pro-abortion and pro-transgender activities, including a bail fund for pro-abortion activists. 

Catholics for Choice is an anti-Catholic letterhead (it has no members) funded by the establishment (e.g. the Ford Foundation, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and George Soros’ Open Society Institute). It has taken out billboards in Ohio promoting the lie that it is okay to be Catholic and pro-abortion; this stunt is designed to affect public opinion in an upcoming referendum on abortion. But it is no more legitimate for Catholics to publicly boast their support for child abuse in the womb than it is to publicly state their support for racial discrimination. 

A pastor at the First Congregational United Church of Christ (a left-wing Christian entity) is telling his flock that it is okay to be pro-abortion and a Christian in good standing. He says abortion is a “personal decision” that should reflect one’s own conscience. The same is true of racial discrimination, yet no one invokes conscience rights as a defense for Christians to support it. 

It’s always about sex. The passion to affirm abortion and the radical LGBT agenda is as strong as it is depraved. Worse, left-wing Catholics and Protestants are desperately trying to legitimate their deeds by telling the public it is okay to adopt their causes. While they have considerable media support, serious Christians know them as the charlatans that they are.  

This week on FOT: Misgendering pronouns; extra security for pro-life speaker

Our latest program, Episode 386, listen now at: 

https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/

Analysis on Speaker Johnson

Christopher Bedford has an insightful op-ed about what the election of Speaker Mike Johnson means for social conservatives. Bedford writes: “Christians have long formed a voting bloc essential to Republican victory, but long been forced to take a back seat to Republican power. In Washington, they are an inconvenience at best. Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell would much rather talk about inflation, block campaign finance reform, and sending more money to foreign wars.”  READ

Federal judge dismisses satanic temple suit in Indiana

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a challenge to Indiana’s pro-life law which was filed by The Satanic Temple. “This lawsuit was ridiculous on its face, but this court decision is important because it sustains a pro-life law that is constitutionally and legally sound,” said Republican Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita.  READ

Reminder: today we pray and fast

Pope Francis asked people throughout the world to make today, October 27, a day of prayer and fasting for peace. A vigil will be held this evening at 6pm in St. Peter’s Square, where the faithful may join the pope in “an hour of prayer in a spirit of penance to implore peace in our time, peace in this world.”

Majority of state AGs sue META

A bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from 33 of the nation’s 50 states sued Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms Inc. on Tuesday for pervasively harming the mental and physical health of young people. In a over 200-page complaint, the attorneys general wrote that Meta has “over the past decade … profoundly altered the psychological and social realities of a generation of young Americans.”  READ

BLUE-STATE AGS ATTACK PRO-LIFE CLINICS

California Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta and 15 other blue-state attorneys general published a letter accusing pro-life pregnancy resource centers of spreading “misinformation.” Attorneys general from Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia signed the letter. READ

Illiterate Sociologists Hate Jews

By Bill Donohue, Catholic League president 

Hating Jews is now the number-one sport in the world among left-wing activists. They may say they don’t hate Jews—it’s Israeli policies they find detestable. Don’t believe them: They hate Jews. Here’s the latest proof. 

Thanks to a splendid piece by sociologist David Ayers in The American Spectator, I learned of an open letter titled, “Sociologists in Solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian People”; it was signed by more than 1,900 sociologists (and students pursuing a doctorate). After reading it, I am almost embarrassed to be a sociologist. Almost. 

I stopped being embarrassed years ago about my fellow sociologists—I simply gave up on most of them. But I never gave up on sociology. They did. They are nothing but left-wing ideologues disguised as sociologists. Indeed, they don’t even know what sociology is. 

“Sociology as a discipline is rooted in a recognition of relationships of power and inequality.” That’s how the letter begins. They are wrong. That is not an accurate definition. What they are describing is social stratification and political sociology, two areas of study within sociology (which happen to be the focus of my own sociological work). 

Emile Durkheim, who did more to make sociology a legitimate social science than anyone else, was proud to call sociology the “queen of the social sciences.” In capable hands, it still is. He wrote that “the object of sociology as a whole is to determine the conditions for the conservation of societies.” That is clearly not what motivates these charlatans. As left-wing activists, they are more interested in destroying Western societies than they are in conserving them. 

Now for the Jew-hating part of the letter. “As sociologists and human beings [are there sociologists who are not human?], we unreservedly condemn the latest violence against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank at the hands of the Israeli regime.” 

Throughout the letter, the Israelis are called “murderers” who are committing “genocide” against the Palestinians. Never once does the letter comment on the unprovoked assault on innocent Jews. 

Children have been beheaded, women have been raped, hospitals have been bombed and yet not a word of protest. It’s as if October 7 never happened. Instead, the deep thinkers lash out at Jewish leaders who said they are “fighting human animals.” The sociologists labeled such language “dehumanizing”—not the savagery of Hamas. 

These savants are also illiterate, and not just in the sociological sense. Here is my favorite sentence. “As of writing, over 6,500 Palestnians have been murdered, including a staggering 2,360, and over 17,400 injured.” 

Did they not notice that the word “this” belongs in between “of” and “writing”? More revealing is the bit about “over 6,500 Palestinians have been murdered, including a staggering 2,360 (my italic).” Only an illiterate would write such gibberish and only a dunce would sign such a letter. 

Here’s another great part of the letter. They say that as educators “it is our duty to stand by the principles of critical inquiry and learning.” But as the letter shows, it more accurately reflects a groupthink mindset, one anchored in hate. 

If these sociologists read more of Durkheim’s works and less of Marx’s, they might mature intellectually. In the meantime, they should at least learn how to write a coherent sentence.

Former NYT Reporter: Americans Seeing Trump Was Right, Coming Out of 'Woke Slumber'

Former New York Times reporter Bari Weiss sees a “political awakening” happening in the United States, contending that the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel have spurred the change.

Weiss made the argument in a Monday piece that she co-wrote with Oliver Wiseman for The Free Press.

Read the entire article:

https://www.westernjournal.com/former-nyt-reporter-americans-seeing-trump-right-coming-woke-slumber/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=AE&utm_campaign=can&utm_content=2023-10-24

Secure the Border and Stop Human Trafficking

WASHINGTON, D.C.—New numbers released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Saturday revealed the southern border crisis has worsened each year of the Biden administration, with more than 2.4 million illegal immigrants detected at the southern border in FY2023, including 169 individuals on the terror watch list. This is an increase from over 2.3 million southwest border land encounters in FY2022, 1.7 million in FY 2021, and 458,000 in FY2020. Venezuela is now the top country that border crossers originate from, second to Mexico. Recently, federal agencies have expressed increased concern that Hamas and Hezbollah could be crossing the southern border. 

Recently, a human trafficking operation uncovered in Polk County, Florida, led to the arrest of over 200 people, but many did not realize that 35 of those arrested were here illegally. Sadly, the flood of people at our southern border has exacerbated the human trafficking industry in the United States. 

Some sex trafficking victims are often forced into prostitution by the “coyotes” who smuggle them across the border. The connection to human trafficking and the border is certainly not isolated to this single event, nor is it isolated to border states. The arrests in Florida were more than 1,700 miles from the Mexican border. With more than 137,000 unaccompanied/single minors encountered at the southern border in this fiscal year alone, it is estimated that cartels exploit 60% of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) through child pornography, abuse, and drug trafficking. 

Liberty Counsel Action Senior Counsel for Governmental Affairs Jonathan Alexandre said, “The criminal invasion at our southern border is a real ugly mix of national security chaos and a humanitarian nightmare. Biden-picked politicians in the federal government have taken a wrecking ball to our security, tossing the rule of law out the window, and providing a haven to criminal activity like sex trafficking. Congress must act now before it’s too late and pass HR 2, the Secure the Border Act.” 

The Secure the Border Act would: 

·        Strengthen physical barriers at the border. 

·        Give border control the technology needed to secure America. 

·        Hire staff and create a successful working model. 

·        Offer grants to border communities to enhance national security. 

·        Set a minimum number of flight hours over the border. 

·        Cut away the plants giving cover to smugglers and “coyotes.” 

·        Collect the DNA and fingerprints of illegal immigrants at the border. 

·        Run background checks on illegals. 

·        Report on foreign terrorist organizations’ efforts to infiltrate. 

·        Outline proper care for abandoned children. 

Human sex trafficking generates $150 billion annually around the globe. In the U.S., roughly 72% of those trafficked are immigrants, many of whom are here illegally. In the last fiscal year, human trafficking arrests rose by 50%, according to the Heritage Foundation.  

Of the more than 2.4 million illegal immigrants encountered at the southern border in FY2023, nearly two-thirds are single adults. To put this into perspective, the number of illegal immigrants who crossed our border in less than one year surpasses the entire population of the state of New Mexico. This does not count the countless immigrants who have illegally crossed the southern border undetected.  

Liberty Counsel Action Chairman Mat Staver said, “Our nation is being flooded with children, victims, and their abusers. Our government’s dereliction of duty is directly causing this surge in human trafficking, the exploitation of minors, crime, and illicit drugs like deadly fentanyl linked to the border crisis. Our southern border is emboldening the most heinous of crimes and making our country a more dangerous place. I fear we are seeing just the beginning of the carnage and irreversible damage being done to our nation due to the Biden administration’s open border policies. It is time for Congress to act to safeguard our nation by passing HR 2, the Secure the Border Act.”

Senator confronts state dept. Pronoun code

 Sen. Ted Budd, R-NC, is demanding the State Department rescind its requirement that employees use “trans” pronouns in the workplace. Congress "never authorized" the speech restrictions, Budd pointed out in a letter to the Department. "But even if Congress did so, this Guidance would be arguably unconstitutional,” because it “infringes upon the First Amendment rights of State Department employees….”  READ

FEDS worry terrorists may cross southern border

Federal officials in an October 20 memo warned that members of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad could be crossing the nation’s southern border. “San Diego Field Office Intelligence Unit assesses that individuals inspired by, or reacting to the current Israel-Hamas conflict may attempt travel to or from the area of hostilities in the Middle East via circuitous transit across the southwest border,” the memo reads. READ

Oklahoma attorney general sues Catholic school

 Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, has filed a lawsuit against the nation’s first religious charter school. Drummond’s suit claims the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board’s approval of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School violates the state’s religious freedom protections.  READ

Church Ideologues Never Learn

By Bill Donohue, Catholic League president

How ironic it is that those who boast how open-minded they typically prove to be the most intolerant. Indeed, they are more likely to be die-hard ideologues who have made up their mind and are impervious to reason. It is no different in the Catholic Church. 

Those who follow Church trends know that the most left-leaning clergy in the world are the Germans; the Africans are the most orthodox. There is one German bishop in the news this week that proves this point, and he is Essen Bishop Franz Josef Overbeck. He is participating in the Synod on Synodality in Rome, which ends its 2023 session this week. 

Overbeck said many people have asked, “Are you still Catholics and part of the Catholic Church?” He replied, “Yes, of course, we are Catholics, and we are here to stay.” But on whose terms? 

The reason Catholics are asking this question, and why even Pope Francis has expressed concerns about their dissidence, has to do with the results of a German Bishops’ Synod in 2019: they approved blessings for homosexual unions, infused transgender ideology into their ministry, and advocated for women priests. Overbeck says he is now in favor of ending priestly celibacy. 

In short, these members of the German clergy want to Protestantize the Catholic Church. But that hasn’t worked out too well—few Lutherans attend church services. 

Few are also attending Mass in Germany. Trendiness has failed completely, and yet clergy like Overbeck persist. In the last 13 years, he ordained 15 priests, and currently has no one in his seminary. So who is going to replace the 300 priests who died during this span? 

The Catholic and Protestant churches are dying not because, as Overbeck says, we are ignoring the “signs of the times,” but because they are mimicking them. Orthodoxy sells; heterodoxy fails. The data prove it in Germany and around the world. But to ideologues, none of this matters. Irrationalism reigns supreme. 

So why are the German dissidents committing institutional suicide? Overbeck says the reason why he is pushing to change the teachings of the Catholic Church on matters such as sexuality, ordination and governance (more women and lay persons) is to correct the systemic causes of clergy sexual abuse. 

As I detailed in The Truth about Clergy Sexual Abuse: Clarifying the Facts and the Causes, the factors cited by Overbeck played no role in the scandal. It was driven by a refusal of Church leaders to insist on fidelity to Church teachings on sexuality. The breakdown in discipline, in particular with promiscuous homosexuals—they are the ones who caused the crisis—was commonplace in the late 1960s and the 1970s. The evidence is overwhelming. 

It is astonishing to see at this late date, after all the damage that predatory homosexual priests have done, that there are senior voices in the Catholic Church in 2023 who still don’t get it. Ideologues never learn.

Marriage disappearing from Europe

Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury, England recently commented that the institution of marriage is not merely in “cataclysmic decline” but is at risk of being eradicated altogether. “The social consequences of such a loss are only beginning to be worked out, not least for the well-being of children,” he said.  REA

Record number distrust media

Americans’ appraisal of the media is now “the grimmest in Gallup’s history,” the polling company reported last week. Thirty-nine percent of Americans (a record high) told Gallup they have “no trust at all” in “the mass media – such as newspapers, TV and radio.” Only 32% said they have either a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the media’s news reporting.  READ

California vs. Homeschoolers

A group of homeschooling parents is suing California after the state singled out and excluded Christians from a taxpayer-funded education program. "Our clients simply want to be able to choose curricula that fit their families’ needs without facing religious discrimination," said attorney Justin Butterfield of First Liberty.  READ

America First Legal Releases Statement Following Partisan Gag Order Imposed on President Trump

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) issued the following statement from Gene Hamilton, America First Legal Vice President and General Counsel, regarding the partisan targeting of President Trump and the latest gag order imposed on him:

“The Biden regime has now sought and obtained a court order to prevent the President’s primary political opponent from speaking. This absurd order cements the administration’s position as a model for all future banana republics across the world to follow. With each action they take, they further erode the public’s confidence in the strength of our First Amendment, the equal application of justice, and the Department of Justice generally,” said Gene Hamilton.

TUBERVILLE CONFRONTS BIDEN NOM OVER TRAGIC STUDY

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-AL, had a heated exchange with Biden’s nominee for director of the National Institutes of Health over a taxpayer-funded “gender transition” study that was connected to the suicides of two children who participated. “That’s obviously a tragedy,” Tuberville said to Dr. Monica Bertagnolli. “But what concerns me even more is the fact that the NIH was funding this research, and beyond that I believe the NIH even called the study a success. That’s sick.”  READ

Trump leading Biden in five swing states

A new Morning Consult-Bloomberg News poll found that Former President Donald Trump holds an advantage over President Biden in a number of swing states in a hypothetical head-to-head 2024 general election match. Trump leads with registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.  READ

Appeals court reaffirms religious land use policy

By Deacon Mike Manno, The Wanderer

          In 2020 the Catholic Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, deeded a 40 acre tract of undeveloped wooded land in Genoa Charter Township, to Catholic Healthcare, Inc. which created a prayer walk through the woods which contained the fourteen Stations of the Cross, as well as other religious stations where people could come for quiet outdoor devotion.

          The wooded area was similar to the surrounding area which contained family homes on large acreages. Ironically, the township owned a similar wooded area of approximately 38 acres on which it placed a fifteen station Leopold the Lion Reading Trail.  The reading trail was a series of signs that told the story of Leopold, a character in a popular series of children’s books.

          Because of the Stations of the Cross, the township decided to treat the Catholic property as the zoning equivalent of a church building. That required Catholic Healthcare to submit a zoning application for a special land use permit to the township for approval.

          In that application Catholic Healthcare was required to provide: A $2,825 application fee; a complete site plan for the property; four sets of site plans that would comply with the applicable requirements found in the site plan review, and four copies of an environmental impact assessment.

          In December of 2020, Catholic Healthcare complied and filed the requested applications. In that application it also submitted a special land use application for permission to build a 6,000 square-foot adoration chapel which would seat 95 along with a parking lot for 39 vehicles. The township’s planning commission recommended approval, stating that the application had gone “above and beyond and addressed all of the concerns of the planning commission and its consultants.”      

          The township then denied both applications and ordered Catholic Healthcare to remove the Stations of the Cross. Catholic Healthcare ultimately filed suit in federal district court asking for an injunction against the township which would permit the re-erection of the Stations. Twice that request was denied by the district court, by two different judges.

          Catholic Healthcare then took its appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals claiming that the actions of the township violated the U. S. Constitution, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), and the Michigan Constitution.

          The local officials then took direct action against Catholic Healthcare. The Livingston County Road Commission issued a permit allowing Catholic Healthcare to construct a “field driveway” but banned it from being used for “organized gatherings.” Then the township sued Catholic Healthcare in state court over the display of religious items on the property. It then sought an ex parte order – one in which only the moving side is heard – often without notice to the other – from which it received a state court order requiring Catholic Healthcare to remove all religious displays and banned organized gatherings from the property.

          Finally the Sixth Circuit got around to hearing the case, shortly after a new federal judge appointed by President Biden finally, after a long delay, released her decision to deny Catholic Healthcare relief from the actions of the township. The judge said the issue was not ripe for adjudication.

          The Sixth Circuit unanimously replied:

          “The district court’s ripeness determination, in turn, was plainly mistaken.  A claim is unripe when it rests upon contingent future events that may not occur as anticipated or indeed may not occur at all. In land-use cases, the necessary event is simply that the government has adopted a definitive position as to how the regulations at issue apply to the particular land in question. That has manifestly happened here:  the township has uniformly insisted that the plaintiffs obtain a special land-use permit for their religious  displays;  the  township  board  has  twice  refused  to  grant  them  one,  even  when presented with an application limited almost entirely to those displays … Moreover, those events have inflicted an actual, concrete injury on plaintiffs because the township has actually forced them to remove the religious displays from their property.”

          Then the court turned to the religious liberty aspect of the case. It noted that the township carries the burden in any action involving the claims by Catholic Healthcare that its actions violated RLUIPA. That statute the court noted says:

          “No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person, including a religious assembly or institution, unless the government demonstrates that imposition of the burden on that person, assembly, or institution: (A) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (B) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.”

          That is known as strict scrutiny, the highest legal bar for cases of this type.

          It all went downhill for the township from there. The court found that all the factors required to be examined for the entry of a preliminary injunction favored Catholic Healthcare:

          “The remaining preliminary-injunction factors also favor plaintiffs: the forced removal of their religious displays inflicts an ongoing harm to their religious exercise; the restoration of those  displays  would  impose  negligible  harm  on  others;  and  the  public  interest  favors vindications of rights protected under RLUIPA,” the court wrote.

          In addition to the majority opinion there were two concurring opinions. It ordered the religious items that the township ordered removed, to be replaced within three days. 

          Now this was a significant victory for religious liberty, but remember, this was only a ruling on a preliminary injunction and it did not involve the question of the adoration chapel. But a victory for this type of injunction indicates that the court sees that the plaintiff, in this case Catholic Healthcare, is likely to prevail on the merits when the case moves forward for final proceedings.

          Robert Muise, chief counsel for the American Freedom Law center, who briefed and argued the case in the Sixth Circuit was on my radio program and said that the township’s attorneys have notified him that they intend to appeal the case. The appeal from a circuit panel decision, such as this, can go to the entire Sixth Circuit, which means that all the judges of that court would be asked to overrule the case.

          That is highly unlikely, said Mr. Muise, since the three-judge panel ruled unanimously which give the other judges little reason to re-look at it. The other appeal would be directly to the U. S. Supreme Court where Mr. Muise would relish the argument to make the legal ruling applicable across the nation.

          Mr. Muise’s interview, along with that of Erick Kaardal on election integrity efforts, can be heard following the link below. Look for episode 383.

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(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com, and listen to him every week on Faith On Trial on the Iowa Catholic Radio Network, or https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/).

This week on Faith On Trial: Students’ religious rights; Covid19 and the Church.

This is episode 385 and it can be found with all our podcasts at:: https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/.

War Is Ugly; Not Responding Is Uglier

 By Bill Donohue, Catholic League president

“Witness to War: World Trade Center Bombing.” That was the title of the lead story in the October 2001 edition of Catalyst. I made a personal statement about what we witnessed that day: we saw the Twin Towers crumble before us.

Once again, I am taking the occasion to address war, only this time the war is against Israel. I am writing this at home on the “Day of Rage,” Friday, October 13. I closed the office today because of the huge anti-Jewish rally in Times Square, just blocks from our office. I have seen enough of the New York crazies to know what to expect.

Catholics are fortunate to have a long history of Church teachings on war. Thanks to St. Augustine and St. Aquinas, it is helpful to recall what “Just War” theory is.

For a war to be just, it must abide by several criteria. There must be a just cause; it should meet the standard of comparative justice; a legitimate authority must execute it; the right intention must be evident; the probability of success should be operative; the means used should be proportionate to the situation; and it should be done as a last resort.

Israel has met these criteria. The vicious attack on Israeli citizens, including the beheading of children, was unprovoked. Even more vile, its leaders pledged to kill all the Jews. That’s what Hamas has said over and over again. Ergo, Israel had a just cause.

It also met the definition of comparative justice, meaning the injustice suffered by Israelis justifies the damage done to Hamas. The decision to defend Israel was made by its elected leader. The prime minister’s intent was noble—to defend his people. Given the Israelis past success in combat situations, the probability they will prevail is realistic.

Israel alerted residents of Gaza to leave their neighborhood—giving them ample time to clear out—before their soldiers entered, thus was their response proportionate to current conditions. Despite decades of diplomacy, and the total withdrawal of soldiers from Gaza in 2005—giving the Palestinians what they wanted—it was not enough to satisfy Hamas, which is why they attacked Israel two years later. Thus, the decision to fight back was the last resort.

The left-wing indoctrinated American students who hate Israel also hate America. As a Catholic leader, a veteran, and a professor, I know what motivates these maniacs. Israel had no other choice but to defend itself and seek to defeat Hamas, once and for all.

Pray for Israel, but also pray for those innocent Palestinians who have long suffered under Hamas.

Bishops Call For Day Of Prayer, Fasting October 17

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has joined the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and the bishops in the Holy Land in their call for a worldwide day of fasting, prayer, and abstinence for peace on October 17. “[In] this time of sorrow and dismay, we do not want to remain helpless. We cannot let death and its sting (1 Cor 15:55) be the only word we hear,” Pizzaballa wrote.  READ

Lobbyists Repeatedly Cited Bishops’ Praise of PWFA to Get Abortion Provision Through

CV NEWS FEED Pro-abortion groups repeatedly cited the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ endorsement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act in order to push through the legislation’s controversial abortion provisions.

Pro-life groups issued numerous warnings to the USCCB not to praise the PWFA, asking them to rescind their December 2022 endorsement of the bill. The bishops’ endorsement came after the House approved the PWFA and as the legislation was being debated in the Senate.

CatholicVote told the USCCB and outlined in public reports that the PWFA’s implementation would inevitably force Catholic employers to accommodate abortions.

And as CatholicVote reported earlier this week, that is exactly what happened after the PWFA went into effect in July 2023:

The PWFA has the potential to fill a void in American employment law, requiring employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” for “limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions.” To its detriment, however, the original act left the interpretation of those terms to the Biden administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency responsible for regulating workplace discrimination laws. 

As lawmakers considered the PWFA, the nation’s leading pro-abortion organizations made use of the bishops’ endorsement of the bill, citing it as proof that the legislation was moderate and would not be offensive to religious voters.

The “long overdue legislation” would merely fix “a legal loophole to ensure that workplaces allow for basic, humane accommodations needed to have a healthy pregnancy while holding down a job,” the pro-abortion National Partnership for Women & Families (NPWF) argued in a December 2022 statement.

Objectors “claim that they are standing in the way of the wellbeing of nearly three million pregnant workers in the name of religious liberty,” NPWF argued, “a claim made even more absurd by the fact that the bill in its current form is endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.”

The ACLU made similar use of the bishops’ backing just this week. The PWFA would simply ensure “that roughly 1 million additional workers nationwide now will enjoy the right to reasonable accommodation,” the abortion lobbyist stated in an October 11 press release:

The PWFA’s passage marked the culmination of a decade of advocacy by the ACLU and its coalition partners and was enacted with broad bipartisan support, including from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Once the EEOC openly stated its intention to use the PWFA to enforce an abortion mandate on employers in July, the bishops appeared to recognize the mistake they had made in uncritically supporting the bill. The USCCB quickly became a leader in calling for public comments objecting to the attack on religious freedom.

Republicans Override Democrat Governor’s Vetoes On Election Security Bills

On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled legislature in North Carolina voted to override Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes of two election security bills.

Senate Bills 747 and 749 contain measures to ban ballot drop boxes, prohibit accepting mail-in ballots after electionday, limit the use of private money in elections and shift authority over the state’s board of elections away from the governor.

While Cooper falsely claimed that the bills are a “threat” to democracy, Republicans argue that they will increase election integrity.

North Carolina Speaker of the House Tim Moore (R) celebrated the news in a press release following the vote to override Cooper’s veto of SB747 — which passed in the state House with a vote of 72-44 and in the Senate with a vote of 30-19.

“North Carolina voters deserve to know their elections are safe and secure. Thankfully they can have that confidence now that we have overridden the Governor’s veto of this commonsense elections bill,” he wrote.

Moore went on to note that the bill will strengthen “the rights of poll observers,” improve “voter registration rolls by establishing a process for periodic removal of ineligible voters, including the deceased, convicted felons, and those who have moved,” and close the “same-day registration loophole.”

The legislation also prohibits election officials from using private money in administering elections. According to The Daily Wire, “The use of private money to fund elections became widely debated after the 2020 election when groups backed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg poured millions of dollars into state elections. Some argued that the money was not distributed fairly, but mainly benefited areas that leaned Democrat.”

When SB747 first passed in the North Carolina legislature, Cooper smeared Republican lawmakers as racists.

“If you are black or brown, Republicans really don’t want you to vote,” the Democrat governor claimed.

“This legislation has nothing to do with election security and everything to do with Republicans keeping and gaining power,” Cooper wrote in his veto message. “It encourages voter intimidation at the polls by election deniers and conspiracy believers.”

Meanwhile, SB749 gives the North Carolina legislature the authority to appoint members to the State Election Board instead of the governor — giving the majority and minority leaders in the legislature the ability to each select four members to serve in the positions. This move is especially necessary considering the U.S. Constitution gives authority over elections to each state’s legislature, not the executive branch of each state.

Despite this fact, Cooper attacked Republican lawmakers for passing SB749 — calling it a “legislative takeover” in his veto message.

“The legislative takeover of state and local elections boards could doom our state’s elections to gridlock and severely limit early voting,” the Democrat governor wrote. “It also creates a grave risk that Republican legislators or courts would be empowered to change the results of an election if they don’t like the winner. That’s a serious threat to our democracy.”

The veto was overridden with the same number of votes as SB747 — 72-44 in the House and 30-19 in the Senate.

In a statement about the override, state Sen. Warren Daniel (R) called out Cooper over his desperation to maintain control over elections.

“Single-party control has led to distrust and skepticism among voters. Voters should be asking themselves why Gov. Cooper is so desperate to maintain his partisan grip on the State Board of Elections,” Daniel wrote, according to the Charlotte News & Observer.

This week on the radio program

This week on Faith On Trial: St. Michael’s Boys’ Group; Win for parental rights in Wisconsin. This is episode 384 and it can be found with all our podcasts at:: https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial/.

Parents Sue California Schools for Religious Discrimination

School officials prohibit families enrolled in charter schools’ publicly funded homeschooling programs from purchasing or using religious curricula

Sacramento, CA—First Liberty Institute and King & Spalding LLP, as pro bono counsel, filed a federal lawsuit challenging California school policies that discriminate against families who choose faith-based curricula in charter schools’ parent-directed homeschool programs.   

You can read the complaint here. 

“As the Supreme Court made clear last year in Carson v. Makin, when the government provides a benefit, like parent-directed educational funding, it cannot exclude families just because they choose to use that benefit for a religious education,” said Ethan Davis, Partner at King & Spalding. “Religious families are entitled to the same educational benefits as everyone else.” 

Justin Butterfield, Deputy General Counsel for First Liberty, said, “These families love their charter schools and the opportunities those schools provide for families to educate their children in a way that fits the families’ needs. Our clients simply want to be able to choose curricula that fits their families’ needs without facing religious discrimination.” 

The State of California authorizes the creation of tuition-free charter schools under the jurisdiction of local school districts. Some of these charter schools offer “independent study” programs that families may elect to use for their children as an alternative to traditional classroom-based instruction. Families receive access to state funds they can use to purchase curriculum, materials, extracurricular activities, and individual classes at other schools, including private schools. The parents select the curriculum and teach their children, while the charter school provides support and confirms attendance records. 

Citing state laws, however, the charter schools refuse to allow parents to use those funds to purchase curricula, materials, or classes if they are religious. Additionally, the schools refuse to accept credit for coursework that originates from a religious curriculum or reflects a religious perspective. 

The plaintiffs in this case—parents John and Breanna Woolard, Hector and Diana Gonzales, and Carrie Dodson—are devout Christians who are raising school-age children and whose Christian faith is central to their identity and worldview.  Instilling that faith in their children, including through their education, is of the highest importance to them.  Each family enrolled their children in a charter school’s independent study program.  But each faced religious discrimination, including being denied the right to use high-quality curricula that comport with California state standards, simply because they reflect a faith-based worldview.  The Dodson family was even expelled from its charter school because the family chose a religious curriculum.

Iowa bishop suggests ‘case-by-case approach’ to LGBT accompaniment

By Tyler Arnold

An Iowa bishop issued new guidance for parishes, schools, and other institutions in his diocese, which calls for a “case-by-case approach” in the pastoral “accompaniment of sexual and gender minorities” while remaining “faithful to the Church’s teachings on sexuality and the nature of the human person.”

Bishop Thomas Zinkula of the Diocese of Davenport promulgated the new guidance on Oct. 4, two weeks before he is set to depart from the diocese to begin his new role as the archbishop of Dubuque on Oct. 18. The guidance stemmed from the work of a committee set up in January 2021 to address sexual and gender identity issues arising in schools and parishes.

“The purpose of the guidelines is precisely both to affirm Church teaching and yet to find a meaningful way for pastors, principals, and others to minister to those they encounter in delicate pastoral situations,” Zinkula told CNA.

“We hope to accompany them without denying their full personhood and dignity, or Catholic teaching,” the bishop added.

When handling these topics, the guidance emphasizes that “we are not dealing simply with ideologies or issues” but instead with “people who are created in the image and likeness of the Creator,” adding that “they are beloved children of God.” 

It suggests giving people “the benefit of the doubt in regard to their experiences and motivations,” arguing that “sexual minorities” who want a relationship with the Church “are not trying to sabotage our institutions or challenge our beliefs.”

According to the guidance, the diocesan pastoral approach is to “show respect for the dignity of all people; acknowledge people and their difficult circumstances; listen for greater understanding; involve others in the decision-making process; and work with individuals, families, and caretakers on a case-by-case basis.” In adherence to a case-by-case approach, the guidance states that one of the principles is making “reasonable and appropriate accommodations when possible.”

Such accommodations, however, must always coincide with Church teaching, according to the bishop. 

“We clearly do not intend to do things like bless same-sex unions or approve of homosexual acts,” Zinkula told CNA.

The guidance lists other principles, which include respect for the dignity of the human person, an acknowledgment of “people who experience differences in sexual orientation or gender discordance,” a commitment to “loving people first” and listening, and involving others such as families, professionals, and collaborators in the discernment process.

According to the guidance, the Church has a “special responsibility to look out for the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of those entrusted to our care” and “we must strive to protect lives and souls from harm.”

In a letter to the faithful that Zinkula published along with the new guidance, the bishop said he formed the committee amid clergy, school personnel, and parish staff expressing their desire to learn how to better minister to people who “are experiencing gender discordance or differences in sexual orientation.”

The bishop added in his letter that the committee “sought out a number of people who live on this periphery, namely individuals identifying as LGBTQ+ and their families” to hear “about their experiences and [learn] what they hope for from the Church.” He said the committee reviewed theological, medical, and human resources articles, attended online webinars, and reviewed statements and policies from the Vatican, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and other dioceses.

Zinkula’s approach to these issues differs a bit from the neighboring Diocese of Des Moines, which sits just to the west of the Diocese of Davenport.

In January, the Diocese of Des Moines took a more hard-line approach to issues related to gender ideology, in which it banned the use of puberty blockers, transgender pronouns, and the use of bathrooms that do not align with a person’s biological sex within its schools. 

However, the diocese used language similar to the Diocese of Davenport in some regards, such as an emphasis on respecting “the personal dignity of individuals who may express tension or concerns about their biological sex.”

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Tyler Arnold is a staff reporter for the National Catholic Register. He previously worked at The Center Square and has been published in a variety of outlets, including The Associated Press, National Review, The American Conservative and The Federalist.