Ford confirmed that it is backing away from “woke” policies only days after Lowe’s announced changes to their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices. Lowe’s “preemptively” made concessions ahead of plans to boycott the company. Similarly, Ford's promises this week seemed intended to head off the prospect of widespread backlash among customers. READ
Friday, August 30, 2024
First Liberty Honors Knights of Columbus with Prestigious Philip B. Onderdonk, Jr. Religious Liberty Award
Award recognizing
champion of religious liberty presented at
The American Legion
National Convention
New Orleans, LA–First Liberty Institute today awarded the Knights of Columbus Petersburg Council 694 with its prestigious Philip B. Onderdonk, Jr. Religious Liberty Award. The award presentation was made at The American Legion’s 105th National Convention in New Orleans.
Roger Byron, Senior Counsel to First Liberty Institute and who presented the award, said:
The Knights of Columbus commitment to its mission and the ideal of religious liberty was made clear once again this year when it stood firmly to keep their annual Memorial Day mass at a national public cemetery in Virginia. In the face of an unconstitutional policy adopted by the National Park Service, the Knights refused to back down and stood up to defend the First Amendment. We honor the Knights’ commitment to our first freedom.
Bob Young, an officer of Council 694, accepted the award on behalf of the Knights.
Founded almost 150 years ago in the United States, the Knights of Columbus is a Catholic fraternal service order with over 2 million members worldwide. One long-standing way the Knights have lived out their faith and patriotism is by holding Memorial Day masses to honor and pray for the nation’s fallen soldiers. Until last year, the Knights of Columbus Petersburg Council 694 had always held a Memorial Day mass within the Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia, and the mass (or a prayer service when a priest was not available) had been celebrated there every year without incident since at least the 1960s. But last year, for the first time, the NPS denied the Knights a permit to hold the service in the cemetery, citing a new policy that designates “religious services” as prohibited “demonstrations.”
A lawsuit against NPS filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia by First Liberty Institute and the international law firm McGuireWoods LLP was dismissed after an agreement to allow the service was reached.
The Phillip B. Onderdonk, Jr. Religious Liberty Award, named after The American Legion’s long-time National Judge Advocate, is an annual award that honors a hero who, like its namesake, has proven to be a champion of religious liberty. Past recipients include President of the United States Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz, Shields of Strength, and former football coach Joe Kennedy.
# # #
About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
Archbishop Cordileone speaks out on desecration of saint statue
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco responded to the resolution of a case involving the 2020 desecration of a statue of St. Junipero Serra. In an article published last week, Cordileone explained that the perpetrators were charged with a misdemeanor because, according to the district attorney, the vandals participated in restorative justice. READ
Thursday, August 29, 2024
Ex-abortion worker speaks out against Kamala
“Unfortunately, the 17 years I spent working as an employee of Planned Parenthood opened my eyes to unspeakable horrors inflicted on babies and moms that Democrat politicians like Kamala Harris facilitate,” writes Mayra Rodriguez, now a pro-life advocate. “I hope my story serves as a warning that Harris’ laundry list of incompetency and injustice against immigrants and women make her unfit to lead our nation.” READ
Wednesday, August 28, 2024
Appeals Court Lets Florida Protect Children From Medical Mutilation
ATLANTA, GA – On Monday, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order allowing Florida to protect children and enforce its state law banning harmful puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and mutilating surgeries for minors. The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 to preliminarily remove a lower court’s block on the law allowing it to take immediate effect for now. The Appeals Court also agreed to hear full oral arguments in the case later this year to make its final determination on the law’s future. The
law in question is Florida’s SB 254,
which became law in May 2023 when Governor Ron DeSantis signed the “Let Kids Be Kids”
bill package. The bill package included SB 254 and four other separate laws
fighting gender ideology in the state. Specifically, SB 254 makes it a felony
offense to provide experimental gender interventions to children, but allows
children already receiving them to keep doing so. SB 254 also:
·
Requires adults receiving these
surgeries and hormones to be informed about the irreversible nature and
dangers. ·
Requires minors and adults already
receiving puberty blockers and hormones to receive them from a physician and
sign a written consent while in the same room with the physician. ·
Grants Florida courts temporary
emergency jurisdiction to intervene and halt procedures for out-of-state
children. ·
Creates a pathway to recover damages
for injury or death resulting from mutilating surgeries or experimental
puberty blockers given to a minor. |
|
Challenging the law are parents of two gender-confused children who have not yet received puberty blockers or hormones, and one gender-confused adult who is receiving them. These plaintiffs sued on behalf of a class of gender-confused minors and adults to block the law claiming it violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. In the majority ruling, Judges Britt Grant and Robert Luck sided against the plaintiffs and ruled for state health officials. They reversed the district court’s injunction believing that Florida’s Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and members of the Florida Board of Medicine, “made a strong showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits.” Judges Grant and Luck noted that by not enforcing this law Florida would “suffer irreparable harm” in several ways, such as “not being able to enforce the will of its legislature,” advance “public-health considerations undergirding the law,” and being unable to “avoid irreversible health risks to its children.” “The district court itself recognized that there were ‘legitimate concerns’ about some of the treatments’ effects, as well as a ‘risk of misdiagnosis,’ ‘risks attendant to treatment,’ and the potential for ‘additional medical risks,’” wrote the majority. “Considering these factual conclusions, we think Florida has satisfied its burden to show that the fourth factor favors a stay.” In his dissent, Judge Charles Wilson claimed there was evidence the state legislature passed the law based on animus toward gender-confused individuals – “an impermissible motive.” However, Judges Grant and Luck concluded that the intent of one or even several legislators does not necessarily prove the motivation of an entire legislative body to enact a law. The Eleventh Circuit’s Florida decision marks at least the 12th court decision since 2023 to keep such a law in effect. Various federal and state courts from the district, appeals, and supreme court levels have upheld similar laws in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Currently, at least 26 states have enacted medical mutilation bans protecting children. The decisions from the other 11 states include:
·
Alabama: In
August 2023, the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled 3-0 that
Alabama could protect children from medical mutilation while the case
continues at the district court level. ·
Georgia: In
September 2023, a district judge allowed Georgia
to enforce its law protecting children based on the Eleventh Circuit’s
decision to allow Alabama to enforce its law. ·
Idaho: In
April 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an
emergency order allowing Idaho to enforce its statewide medical mutilation
ban, except against those challenging the law, while litigation continues at
the district court level. ·
Indiana: In
February 2024, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the state
can continue to protect children from medical mutilation while litigation
continues. The Appeals Court has agreed to hear oral arguments in April 2025. ·
Kentucky/Tennessee: In
September 2023, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that
both states could enforce their respective bans on puberty blockers,
hormones, and medical mutilating surgeries. ·
Missouri: In
August 2023, a St. Louis Circuit Court judge allowed the state
to continue to protect children from gender interventions while litigation
continues. ·
Nebraska: In
July 2024, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that
protecting children from puberty blockers, hormones, and mutilating surgeries
did not violate the state’s constitution. ·
North Dakota: In
June 2024, a state district judge allowed the state
to enforce its law protecting children of gender interventions while
litigation continues. ·
Oklahoma: In
October 2023, a district court judge ruled that
Oklahoma can enforce its law protecting minors from puberty blockers, hormone
treatments, and medical mutilating surgeries while that decision is appealed.
The U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in January 2024
but has not released a decision. · Texas: In July 2024, the Texas Supreme Court ruled 8-1 the state’s law protecting children from puberty blockers, hormones, and medically mutilating surgeries did not violate the state’s constitution. Liberty Counsel’s Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “States have the authority to protect children from harmful gender ideology that includes drugs and surgical interventions. Gender ideology has devastated many lives with its harmful and experimental procedures and the courts should continue to put a stop to them.” For
more information about state laws protecting children from gender ideology,
visit Liberty Counsel’s website here. |
Court again blocks Biden Harris Title IX rewrite
Following the Supreme Court’s rejection of the Biden-Harris administration’s emergency request to enforce its controversial new federal Title IX rules, the 11th Circuit Court has blocked the same rules in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. The rules in question would permit minors to access the bathrooms and lockers of the opposite sex based on their perceived “gender identity.” READ
Zuckerberg denounces Biden Harris admin for pushing him to censor
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted this week that his company censored election-related posts in the leadup to the 2020 election and in 2021 after communications from the FBI and later the Biden-Harris administration. In a Monday letter to congressional lawmakers, Zuckerberg expressed his regret about the censorship and also denounced the Biden-Harris administration for pressuring the company. READ
Breakdown In Social Order Predictable
By Bill Donohue, Catholic
League president
Unlike many
sociologists, Travis Hirschi understands human nature. His specialty is crime.
Instead of asking why do some people commit crime, he aptly notes that the
right question is why doesn’t everyone.
One way to
understanding his point is to apply his logic to children. What do responsible
parents spend so much of their time doing: they are constantly invoking the
word “No.” That’s because what comes natural to us is to satisfy our wants and
desires, and that can often be harmful to others, even dangerous.
Adults are
the same way. When we see something in a store that we like, what stops us from
stealing it? If we have been properly socialized, we know that stealing is
morally wrong. But what if we have not been properly socialized? Then our
instincts tell us to take what we want. Now it may be that we will refrain from
stealing because we are afraid of being caught, and because stealing is a
crime, we may be punished, even imprisoned.
What
happens if we steal, get caught, and get a slap on the wrist? If this is the
new normal, then it is only a matter of time before the word gets out that
breaking the law to get what we want matters little. Only a fool would think
this wouldn’t lead to a spike in crime.
We are a
nation run by a lot of fools. This is especially true of officials in big
cities. The breakdown in the social order that is now commonplace was entirely
predictable. Take New York City.
Before the
pandemic, one in five New Yorker bus riders did not pay their fare. Now it’s
one in two. Almost one million take the bus daily, and in 2022, the bus fare
evasion cost the city about $315 million in lost revenue. It’s not hard to
figure out why.
In 2008, a
bus driver was stabbed to death in Brooklyn; he was killed after telling a
passenger he needed to pay. The transit union jumped on this tragic incident
and told bus drivers not to question those who refuse to pay. The word got out
and soon there was an increase in fare beaters.
Why did
fare beating jump from 18 percent in 2018 to 48 percent now? Because the word
got out that even those who commit violent crimes suffer little or no
punishment. It is not a big leap to think that if thugs are caught and
released, what are they going to do to fare beaters?
Only a fool
would be surprised.
The fools
are Alvin Bragg, the George Soros-funded Manhattan D.A. who is responsible for
the no-bail, catch and release, soft on crime policies. Another fool is the
only person who can fire him, New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul (she adopted the
policies of her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, another fool). Indirectly, they sent
the message to those who take the bus that fare beating is of no consequence.
It all
filters down. What is happening is a variation of the “broken window” thesis.
For example, when those who live in an apartment complex notice that broken
windows are rarely repaired, it has a way of cascading: it invites a callous
attitude toward misconduct, the result of which is an escalation of offenses of
a more serious sort.
Responsible
parents don’t wait until their child does something that is seriously wrong
before disciplining him. Yes, some parents can be overbearing, and that is not
a virtue. We are talking about reasonable ones.
They
understand that if their child is not held accountable for relatively minor
infractions, they are not likely to stop at that point. Just as it is foolish
not to call the fire department until a neighborhood fire is literally next
door, it is foolish not to act when Johnny keeps pushing the envelope.
Some urban problems are hard to resolve, but some are quite easy. All it takes is common sense and the will do act on it. Just keep the fools at bay.
Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Democrats for Life counters DNC abortion publicity stunt with actual effort to help women
Democrats for Life of
America is seeking to help women during the DNC; wants the party's targeting of
pregnancy help to stop
The national organization for pro-life Democrats in the
U.S. is responding to abortion PR antics at the Democratic National Convention
(DNC) with a life-affirming outreach to benefit women with pregnancy help.
The promotion of chemical abortion and no-cost vasectomies
by Planned Parenthood Great Rivers via its mobile unit parked near the DNC in
Chicago made headlines over the weekend prior to the convention’s Monday
opening, eliciting disgust for its coarse treatment of the abortion issue.
“Beep Beep!” the abortion cartoon graphic posted on X said
above an image of the mobile unit, next to the Chicago skyline. Lower down, it
said, “Chicago, we’re headed your way to provide FREE vasectomies and
abortions!”
Planned
Parenthood Great Rivers DNC abortion post
Planned Parenthood Great Rivers has morphed from Planned Parenthood of the
St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri to terming itself "leading
provider, educator, and protector of sexual and reproductive health care in
the St. Louis region, Missouri Ozarks, and beyond." The abortion
giant's Great River sector partnered with the Chicago Abortion Fund and a local
hotdog restaurant for the DNC exploit. No cost "emergency
contraceptives" with no appointment needed were also part of the
deal.
Democrats for Life of America (DFLA)
already had plans to visit a pregnancy center and fledgling maternity home in
Chicago during DNC week, DFLA Executive Director Kristen Day said, but Planned
Parenthood’s staged abortion gimmick warranted taking the effort to help women
with pregnancy help a step further.
“Our mission all along has been to provide resources and
support to pregnant women so they don't feel like abortion is their only
choice,” Day told Pregnancy Help News. “And I think the move by
Planned Parenthood to just really degrade the idea of pregnancy, and the
solution to pregnancy is an abortion, and kind of make light of it by providing
abortions here at the DNC - It was just sickening.”
DFLA is conducting a diaper drive for Chicago-area women
and families, the proceeds topping $3K as of press time.
“Planned Parenthood is offering free abortions during the
convention,” the donation page states. “This disrespects women and is an
attack on human rights. Please support our diaper campaign for Chicago
families.”
Day posted on her X account about the
diaper drive Monday, prompting shares and discussion. She is heartened by the
response thus far and the prospect of helping as many people as possible.
“I just think the positive response is good,” she said.
“From just making light of abortion and parenthood, to changing it and showing
what real Democrats do and real Democrats support those in need, and that's
what we're doing.”
[Click here to subscribe to
Pregnancy Help News!]
The new maternity home that DFLA will visit on Wednesday is
being built in a Black community that was “a pregnancy support desert,” Day
said.
“So, they had abortion clinics, but no support for women to
have another choice,” she said.
It’s a community effort for change led by a local pastor
who saw the need after a member of his congregation said that she had an
abortion because there was no support for her to do anything but that.
“And so, we're going there on Wednesday,” Day said. “And
then when we thought about Planned Parenthood and just making fun of abortion,
and with the real needs of what women want, we decided that we were going to
try to stock the shelves of the pregnancy centers in Chicago.”
DFLA has plans to take diapers to homeless shelters in the
area as well.
The list of pregnancy centers was growing and changing
early in the week, and Day and her crew remained focused on going shopping,
getting the diapers, and bringing them right to the centers. They planned to
continue collecting through the week and if people are still interested in
helping beyond the convention week, DFLA will look at other places that need
support, she said, and see if they can help stock the shelves of other
pregnancy centers.
“God willing, a lot of money comes in and the convention is
over, then we'll use all the money that we raise for pregnancy centers,” Day
said.
“This shouldn't be one and done,” she said. “So, if there's
centers that need resources, let us know and we want to help.”
Day said DFLA’s original intent in coming to the DNC was to have conversations
with delegates to see if there was space in the party for pro-life Democrats,
which they will still do, however the Planned Parenthood stunt has inspired an
additional goal.
“I think our message has changed,” she said. “We are
showing people what real Democrats do, and real Democrats help those in need.
So, I feel like this is a good example for other Democrats to look and see the
work we're doing.”
Day told Pregnancy Help News she is
excited to see where things are with the forthcoming maternity home, after the
community came together to solve the problem of lack of pregnancy support.
“They don't want more abortion clinics,” she said. “There
are too many abortions in the Black community already. And so, they're solving
a problem of providing women with resources and support to not get abortion.”
Day said promoting pregnancy help centers is one of her
favorite things to do, and she decried how some Democrat politicians are
targeting pregnancy help.
“It makes me so angry that the Democratic party is trying
to shut them down because it's ridiculous,” she said. “It's very consistent
with Democratic values to support the vulnerable. The Democratic Party has gone
from pro-choice to pro-abortion or anti-choice or one choice - I'm not really
sure how to describe it now.”
Planned
Parenthood Great Rivers' mobile unit that was to be parked at the DNC offering
chemical abortion, vasectomies, and emergency contraception
Day thinks most people don't want abortion extremism, and they are just sold a
soundbite that sounds good.
“You just repeat it because it sounds good,” she said.
“It's easy to say. But when you stop and have these conversations with people
and get into the nitty gritty, it's not as simple.”
Day, who personally supports pregnancy centers in her area,
had high praise for the pregnancy help movement.
“I think pregnancy centers are the heroes of this whole
movement, the pro-life movement,” she said. “Because they're the ones on the
ground working with the people, solving the problems and supporting women and
men who are post-abortive, the whole gambit.”
“They're just there and don't ask for much, just to be left
alone so they can help people,” said Day. “So, I'm just a huge fan and I just
want to do everything I can to stop these attacks.”
Friday, August 23, 2024
‘Trans’ movement preventing Christian families from fostering
Legal analyst Andrea M. Picciotti-Bayer is sounding the alarm about the impact of gender ideology on religious freedom. LGBTQ advocacy is increasingly preventing Christian families from fostering or adopting children. READ
California bill targets pro-life centers
Critics have warned California voters of three proposed state pro-abortion bills that the California ProLife Council dubbed “deadly.” The Council explained that one of these bills would indirectly target pregnancy resource centers as “fake,” favoring abortion facilities instead. READ
Poll: Most Americans Reject Biden’s Radical Court ‘Reform’ Scheme
by Jorge Gomez
Most
Americans oppose President Biden’s radical court “reform” plan, according to a
recent Mason-Dixon poll commissioned by First Liberty. The results show that a
majority reject proposals to change the U.S. Supreme Court, which include court
packing, court purging by ending lifetime tenure and Congress overseeing the
Court via a “code of ethics.”
Overall, 52%
oppose amending the U.S. Constitution to alter the Supreme Court’s structure.
On
court-packing, 59% oppose expanding the size of the Supreme Court. 76% say
expanding the court is primarily motivated by political objectives and 64%
believe packing the Supreme Court threatens civil liberties.
60% believe
giving Congress the power to enforce a “code of ethics” would violate the
separation of powers. 57% say this proposal threatens judicial independence.
Americans
also appear to see right through the manufactured “ethics” scandals and smear
campaigns against individual justices. 63% oppose politically motivated attacks
aimed at discrediting and destroying the reputation of justices, with about
half (49%) saying this is dangerous to judicial independence.
The far Left
is trying to convince Americans that ending life tenure for Supreme Court
justices would be a benign and “common sense” reform, when in fact it would be
a radical and sweeping change to our judicial system.
They try to
disguise this extreme proposal by calling it “term limits.” That’s because
polling indicates most Americans favor term limits for elected politicians. But
Americans would be wise not to fall for the idea that term limits are good
across the board. What might work if applied to politicians would have a very
different impact if forced on Supreme Court justices.
First
Liberty has explained that Supreme Court term limits are unconstitutional. This
is simply court-packing by a different name. When the dangers of the so-called
judicial “term limits” proposal are exposed, Americans discern the truth. Close
to half (46%) agreed that lifetime appointments for Supreme Court justices are
necessary to promote judicial independence. 87% said an independent judiciary
is a crucial safeguard of our rights and freedoms. How different might that
first number be if they understood that lifetime appointments are necessary for
an independent judiciary?
What do
these poll results mean for the future of the Supreme Court? First Liberty
attorney Hiram Sasser goes into more detail in this week’s First Liberty Live!
Watch below:
In the fight
to preserve the priceless heritage of the Supreme Court and our nation’s
judiciary, the results of this poll are very positive—and they come at an
incredibly important time. Radical court “reform” advocates are more emboldened
than ever. In their thirst for more power, the radical Left has said
“everything is on the table,” and they’re willing to destroy the Supreme Court
rather than have it remain outside their control.
But
Americans are making it clear that the last thing want in our country right now
is a Supreme Court Coup.
That’s been
the case throughout the last few years. Polling commissioned by First Liberty
in 2021, 2022 and 2023 consistently shows that most Americans oppose expanding
the size of the Court, changing its structure or giving Congress power to set
rules for judicial ethics.
Americans’
eyes are being opened and they’re seeing the court “reform” scheme for what it
really is: a brazen power-grab. They respect the Supreme Court and value our
judicial system. They want to uphold the rule of law.
500,000+
Americans signed the Declaration of Judicial Independence saying: NO to court
packing, NO to suspect judicial reforms, NO to the Supreme Court Coup.
We need to
keep spreading the truth! Will you help us?
Forward this
article to your family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. We need to work
together to help save the priceless heritage of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Everyone needs to know that the Biden administration’s plan for court “reform”
is a danger to our country. If this Supreme Court Coup succeeds, it won’t be
long before we lose our religious liberty and many of our most cherished
freedoms.
Thursday, August 22, 2024
Pro-Life group leader slams DNC’s abortion ‘extremism’
Amid the Democratic National Convention and the release of the Democratic Party’s draft platform, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser criticized the party as the “Shout Your Abortion Party.” “The Democratic National Abortion Convention puts the extremism of the Democrats on full display,” she stated. READ
Democrats For Life raises funds to counter free abortions at DNC
Democrats for Life of America is countering Planned Parenthood’s offer of free abortions near the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this week by sponsoring a diaper drive to help local mothers in need. “The response has been so overwhelming, we’re so excited,” Democrats for Life Executive Director Kristen Day told CatholicVote. Their initial goal was to raise $1,000, but they had raised $3,500 by August 20. READ
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