News
| 02/03/12 | Protecting right of conscience Since at least one lawmaker recognizes that people won't change their religious beliefs to comply with a government mandate, a bill has been introduced in the U.S. Senate to protect religious organizations from ObamaCare. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012, sponsored by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), would protect the right of conscience for religious organizations by expanding the exemption for religious employers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. As Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel reports, the Department of Health and Human Services has issued a regulation requiring free insurance coverage for birth control, giving religious groups one year to adapt. |
| 02/03/12 | Komen reversing decision on funding Offering its apology, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced today it is changing its mind and will continue financial grants to the abortion-provider Planned Parenthood. "We apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives." |
| 02/02/12 | Komen Defends Planned Parenthood De-Funding Decision In a new statement issued today, Komen for the Cure is defending its decision to revoke funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion business — which has drawn universal praise from pro-life organizations. “We are dismayed and extremely disappointed that actions we have taken to strengthen our granting process have been widely mischaracterized. It is necessary to set the record straight,” Komen said about the intensely negative reaction Planned Parenthood has given the decision to its members and the media. |
| 02/02/12 | Pelosi: Girl Scouts' Relationship With Planned Parenthood ‘Very Valuable’ House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Planned Parenthood’s relationship with the Girl Scouts of America is “very valuable,” Wednesday, at a congressional reception to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the organization for young girls. Rep. Pelosi was featured at the reception with a group of female government leaders to promote the Girl Scout’s new initiative “To Get Her There,” which seeks to create “gender balanced leadership” in one generation. |
| 02/02/12 | 'Mosaic' support for NY churches New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to evict churches from meeting in public schools brought a crowd of protestors together last Sunday that included representation "from every ethnic group." Thousands of Christians, pastors, and other people of faith walked across the Brooklyn Bridge in opposition to the plan to ban churches from using public schools for worship services. Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) notes the positive effects of the protest. |
| 02/01/12 | Student Whose Mom Doctors Told to Have Abortion Shares Story A few weeks ago, FRC co-hosted a pro-life conference for medical students and health professionals on the topic of serious prenatal disability diagnosis. Throughout the day we heard from a number of well respected academics and medical professionals — a variety of researchers, medical doctors, registered nurses and other intellectuals, on the most up-to-date treatment options available as well as the latest in research findings. But perhaps the most powerful voices of the day were those who themselves received a poor prenatal diagnosis. |
| 02/01/12 | Komen: No more money to abortion-provider The Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization is halting contributions to Planned Parenthood affiliates. The nation's leading breast-cancer charity made the announcement Tuesday afternoon. Planned Parenthood officials say Komen is bowing to pressure from pro-life organizations. "...[T]his kind of bullying [is] really hurtful," said the group's president, Cecile Richards, in an interview with The Associated Press. |
| 01/31/12 | Judge Stops Obama Admin From Silencing Pro-Life Activist Pro-life attorneys, last week, were successful in getting a judge to stop an attempt by the Obama administration to silence a pro-life activist who, for years, has been helping women outside abortion centers find positive alternatives. Thomas More Society attorneys defeated a request by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for a preliminary injunction against longtime Denver area pro-life activist Ken Scott. After a full-day hearing, U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer ruled that the Attorney General would not be reasonably likely to prove at trial that Scott physically obstructed employees of the Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains abortion facility in Denver. |
| 01/31/12 | Attorney: Greece decides to 'pay child molesters' Greece is now designating pedophilia as an infirmity, and one attorney deems it outrageous that such offenders will qualify for disability funds from the economically broken government. According to Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel Action, it is an outrage that people will receive payments for their attraction to children. He says rewarding such an alleged "disability" is evidence that the "sexual anarchy movement" is running amok. |
| 01/30/12 | Prayer at election time As voters consider who should represent Republicans in the 2012 presidential election, the floundering economy, social issues, and taxes have all become central themes. But one religion and culture expert says prayer will be the most important issue at the ballot box in November. Dr. Alex McFarland, noted author, speaker, and national talk-show host, is paying close attention to the GOP presidential race and encouraging Americans to pray fervently about their choice for the next leader of the nation. |
| 01/30/12 | Court: 'Tolerance is a two-way street' The Sixth Circuit has ruled in favor of Christian graduate student Julea Ward, who almost three years ago was expelled from a university counseling program for her religious beliefs. In a strongly worded opinion earlier today, the Sixth U.S. Circuit of Appeals reversed a district court decision in favor of Eastern Michigan University, sending it back for trial along with this message: "A reasonable jury could conclude that Ward's professors ejected her from the counseling program because of hostility toward her speech and faith ...." |
| 01/30/12 | Obama admin. promises more homosexual housing rights Barack Obama's secretary of Housing and Urban Development has announced a new "Equal Access to Housing Rule" that it says will insure homosexuals and transgenders have the right to live where they chose. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan made the announcement Saturday in Baltimore at the 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality, a gathering that attended by thousands of homosexuals. A press release from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force notes it was the first time in American history that a sitting cabinet secretary has spoken to the group. |
| 01/27/12 | Planned Parenthood: Roe Dying, Sex-Selection Abortions OK As Americans marked 39 years of virtually unlimited abortions under Roe v. Wade this past weekend, various Planned Parenthood leaders and officials participated in interviews and some of their frank comments are startling. Angie Murie, executive director of Planned Parenthood Waterloo Region in Canada, was recently quoted in a National Post article claiming she opposed sex-selection abortions but essentially admitting that women should be able to have abortions for just about any reason. |
| 01/27/12 | National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Promote LGBT Agenda on Capitol Hill The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) held its first “Creating Change Lobby Day” on Capitol Hill on Thursday, where activists met with lawmakers to call for legislation to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues. Other groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) also joined the Task Force to advocate for employment nondiscrimination, pay equity, anti-bullying, and safe school laws for the LGBT community. |
| 01/26/12 | Obama’s Former Faith Adviser: ‘I, Frankly, Am Glad American Civil Religion is Dying’ Shaun Casey, the religious affairs adviser to presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008, said at a discussion on Tuesday about “God and Politics” that the demise of religious society in the United States is a good thing. “I, frankly, am glad American civil religion is dying,” said Casey, who is an associate professor of Christian Ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. |
| 01/26/12 | House approves bills promoting religion at war memorials The House has passed a bill confirming the use of religious symbols at military memorials. It also approved legislation requiring that the prayer broadcast by President Franklin Roosevelt on D-Day be added to the World War II memorial in Washington. |
| 01/26/12 | What emphasizing 'individuality' really means As the entertainment industry continues to push the envelope in the media, a Christian leader says the Miss America pageants are doing likewise. This year, California welcomed its first openly "gay" Miss California USA candidates -- 26-year-old Jenelle Hutcherson of Long Beach and Mollie Thomas of West Hollywood. The two women were approached by pageant recruiters, and they are the first lesbians ever allowed to participate in the 60-year-old state pageant. |
| 01/25/12 | Poll: 79 Percent of Americans Support Restrictions on Abortion According to a new poll, 79 percent of Americans would not allow abortion after the first three months of pregnancy, and 51 percent would allow it – if at all – only in the cases of incest, rape, or to save the life of the mother. The survey, a Knights of Columbus/Marist Poll, was conducted in late December, and 1,053 adults were surveyed by telephone. |
| 01/25/12 | Clinical trial overstating results? An expert on the subject says a recent success with embryonic stem-cell research is really not success at all. An online report in the medical journal The Lancet suggests that use of embryonic stem cells has helped improve eyesight in two patients with macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness. The report is the first to describe the effect on patients. But Dr. David Prentice of Family Research Council (FRC) questions why the results were published, since the two-year clinical trial is only four months into research. |
| 01/24/12 | Two women injured in Alabama: run-down abortion clinic has no gurney access Injured women had to be carried through trash-filled alley due to sub-standard medical facility's lack of access |
| 01/24/12 | School: Let him who 'screams loudest' get his way Officials of a Wisconsin school have censored a student's editorial column printed in the city paper and "sincerely" apologized for his words in support of natural mother-father adoptions. Both sides of the adoption issue were presented in separate articles, each written by students. But Shawano High School officials pulled the article written by a 15-year-old student who used scripture to support his argument. He wrote: "If one is a practicing Christian, Jesus states in the Bible that homosexuality is [a] detestable act and sin, which makes adopting wrong for homosexuals because you would be raising the child in a sin-filled environment." |
| 01/24/12 | TV challenge: Who can be raunchiest? A pro-decency organization is urging advertisers to stay away from a new NBC show, describing it as the latest "raunchy show" on network television. Lisa Van Houten, executive assistant with American Decency Association, says her organization is calling on companies to be more responsible and not place their advertising dollars towards the prime-time show called Are You There, Chelsea?, which premiered on NBC on January 11. |
| 01/23/12 | College charging for free speech Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is asking a federal court to halt a policy enforced by Maricopa County Community Colleges in Arizona that charges fees for the right to free speech on campus. Jonathan Scruggs of ADF filed a lawsuit on behalf of Ryan Arneson, a Mesa resident who had shared his faith and handed out literature at South Mountain Community College for two years. However, school officials told him last year that he would have to meet certain requirements in order to continue doing that. |
| 01/23/12 | State agency 'bullied' into supporting homosexuals In approving a specialty license plate for a special-interest youth group, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles is stirring considerable controversy. Making such a decision would not typically generate such a flurry, but Micah Clark of the American Family Association of Indiana provides more details about the Indiana Youth Group and how it went about getting approval for its license plate. |
| 01/23/12 | Where states stand on life Americans United for Life (AUL) has released its seventh annual "Life List" revealing how states are moving closer to a pro-life America. Forty-seven states considered more than 460 abortion-related measures and enacted more than 70 of them. At least 86 bills were introduced in 32 states that were based on the pro-life group's model language. The ranking of all 50 states is based on the way each deals with a comprehensive list of life issues. Among the top states this year are Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas. |
| 01/20/12 | Evangelical Group Scores With 'John 3:16' Ad During Broncos-Patriots Game An evangelical Christian group says it is pleased at the outpouring of encouraging feedback it has received for its “John 3:16” television commercial, which aired during the Denver Broncos–New England Patriots game last Saturday night. |
| 01/20/12 | Powerful New Video Features Survivors of Abortion Students for Life of America has just released their latest video, Turn the Tide 2012, which features abortion survivors thanking the pro-life movement for its 39 years of service. The video shows how the pro-life movement is winning the abortion battle. |
| 01/20/12 | Speaker Boehner to Deliver Opening Remarks at the 39th annual March for Life Speaker of the House John Boehner will deliver opening remarks at the 39th annual March for Life in Washington on Monday, January 23, 2012. House leaders and members of the bipartisan pro-life majority in the House are also expected to speak. |
| 01/20/12 | Activist Group Pushes Video to ‘Train’ Educators How to Teach 6-12 Year-Olds About Gays and Lesbians The Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual advocacy group, has produced a “professional development film” through its Welcoming Schools project for school staff and parents that features 6- to 12-year-olds talking about gays and lesbians. The film is called “What Do You Know? Six to Twelve Year Olds Talk about Gays and Lesbians," and it "features students from Massachusetts and Alabama discussing what they know about gay men and lesbians, what they hear at school, and what they’d like teachers to do,” states the Welcoming Schools Web sit |
| 01/17/12 | Evangelical divide remains in GOP presidential battle While supporters of Newt Gingrich acknowledge Rick Santorum won the support of most evangelicals attending a weekend meeting in Texas, they say their candidate still has some important pro-family leaders in their camp. |