News
| 04/18/11 | Library porn – right or danger? The city of Los Angeles is trying to determine whether its individuals should have access to pornography in public libraries. After the public library in Chinatown received complaints that children and other patrons could see computer users viewing pornography, the Los Angeles City Council began considering the possibility of placing tougher filters on library computers. Officials may either reassemble computer areas so the screens are less visible to the check-out line, or filter the material available to users. |
| 04/18/11 | Better protection for Indiana's children Indiana's lawmakers have unanimously voted to introduce tougher legislation on the reporting requirements of abortion procedures. "One of the key provisions of the bill is the requirement that any abortion on a girl under age 14 be reported to Child Services within three days of the abortion," explains Mike Fichter, CEO of Indiana Right to Life (IRTL). "That will specifically help to streamline the reporting of child sexual abuse in Indiana." |
| 04/15/11 | Handicapped in danger from pediatric policies The Canadian Pediatric Society bioethics committee has adopted a policy on withholding fluids and food from infants who may not be dying. The policy is surprisingly similar to one adopted by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition says the policy deals with babies with disabilities or those who may be terminally ill. |
| 04/15/11 | Shutting down sharia in U.S. A California-based constitutional attorney has joined a group in urging state legislatures across the U.S. to pass a law to prevent sharia law from transcending the nation's criminal law. Karen Lugo, an attorney based in southern California, serves as The Federalist Society's expert on sharia law and was recently appointed to the California Advisory Committee's Commission on Civil Rights. She reports that 25 of the 50 U.S. states have taken it upon themselves to stand up for constitutional freedoms through legislation and court cases, as many state legislators are concerned about a recent ruling from a judge in New Jersey. |
| 04/14/11 | Philly Gives Condoms to 11-Year-Olds Children as young as 11 years old are encouraged to get free condoms sent to them, compliments of the Philadelphia Public Health Department. Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky was first alerted to the city’s youth-oriented condom campaign by a horrified mother, and upon perusal of the health department’s website takecontrolphilly.org, Polaneczky herself was a bit depressed by what she found. |
| 04/14/11 | CA Senate bill mandates gay history in schools The state Senate has approved legislation that would require California's public schools to include gay history in social studies lessons. Supporters say the move is needed to counter anti-gay stereotypes and beliefs that make gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender children vulnerable to bullying and suicide. |
| 04/13/11 | Calif. Christians want constitutional protection A California pastor is proposing that the state constitution be changed so that Christians in the Golden State be protected and able to exercise their faith. Pastor Allan Esses of Yes Jesus is Lord Ministries says The Free Exercise of Religion initiative would allow Christians to freely share their faith and communicate their biblical beliefs without being stopped or persecuted. Any effort to prohibit Christians from doing so would be a felony. But since the proposal is an amendment to the state constitution, it will require more than 800,000 signatures before it is placed on the ballot. |
| 04/13/11 | 'Objectionable' Bible verses reinstated A New Hampshire community has had a change of heart on signs with a religious message. The town of Chichester acted to ban an electronic sign with a Bible message along U.S. Route 4, although dozens of signs can be found along the road advertising different messages. Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed suit on the basis of viewpoint discrimination. |
| 04/13/11 | Chicago school usurps parental authority In an extreme example of the "nanny state" mentality, a public school in Chicago is forbidding students to bring lunches from home and is ordering them to only eat food from the school cafeteria. The principal at Little Village Academy (K-8) on Chicago's West Side told the Chicago Tribune that making students eat the cafeteria food, unless they have a medical excuse, is intended to protect them from their own unhealthful food choices. "Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at school," said Elsa Carmona. "It's about nutrition and the excellent quality food that they are able to serve [in the lunchroom]. It's milk versus a Coke." |
| 04/12/11 | Beating a path to passage Ohio's "Heartbeat Bill" is making progress in the state legislature after passage of legislation limiting late abortions. The Heartbeat Bill (H.B. 125) forbids an abortion if a physician can detect a heartbeat. The Ohio House must act first before the measure can go to the State Senate. Meanwhile, Janet Porter of Faith2Action tells OneNewsNow the Senate last week approved a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks. |
| 04/12/11 | Physicians argue for right to kill A Canada-based euthanasia prevention group is trying to save the life of a disabled man. Hassan Rasouli developed a severe infection after surgery last October and went into a coma. His physician-wife, who holds his power of attorney, does not want feeding and hydration tubes and a ventilator removed from her husband. Doctors, however, want otherwise -- and Risouli's wife has refused consent prompting a court battle. |
| 04/08/11 | Bozell Commentary: NBC’S Naked Ambitions As the network TV barons peruse a menu of pilot shows for the upcoming fall season, some just jump out of the pile. Some Tinseltown pundits have already pegged it as “likely” that NBC will pick up a show for fall called “The Playboy Club.” Just as it sounds, the show is based on Hugh Hefner’s original Playboy Club in Chicago in swinging 1963. If that doesn’t sound porn-friendly enough, the pilot’s producers at 20th Century Fox TV required all actors on the show to sign a nudity clause – virtually unheard of in broadcast television. |
| 04/08/11 | Texas Legislature Votes to Divert Family Planning Funds to Pro-Life Services Lawmakers in the Texas State Legislature recently voted to divert $61 million for family planning operations to more pro-life services, such as crisis pregnancy centers. On April 1, the Texas House of Representatives passed HB 1, the biennial budget bill for fiscal year 2012-2013. It included eight amendments to divert the $61.4 million. Several Democrats joined with Republicans to pass the measure, but many Democratic lawmakers opposed the amendments. HB 1 passed 98 to 49. |
| 04/07/11 | Changes coming to VA adoption policies A question has been raised about whether Christian adoption organizations in Virginia will be required to place children with homosexuals. The possible change recently arose when Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall sent a letter to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli concerning the policies. |
| 04/07/11 | Detrimental measure makes headway Another California committee has passed a bill that promotes lesbian, "gay," bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals as role models for children. Senate Bill 48, proposed by openly homosexual Senator Mark Leno (D), was recently passed by the state's Senate Judiciary Committee with the Democratic majority's approval. |
| 04/06/11 | Planned Parenthood: Emergency Rooms Overrun If We’re Defunded Planned Parenthood officials defending the taxpayer funding the abortion business enjoys are out with a new claim that pro-life advocates find laughable as a supposed reason for federal dollars. Last week, Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards made the false claim that Planned Parenthood abortion centers do mammograms and that was a reason to protect its federal funding. Now, Tait Sye, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood, told Community Television of Southern California: “If we are defunded, America’s emergency rooms will be overrun.” |
| 04/06/11 | Judge: Pharmacists can't be forced to dispense Plan B A judge has ruled that Illinois pharmacists can't be forced to dispense emergency contraception if doing so violates their religious convictions. Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Belz said Tuesday that requiring pharmacists to sell the so-called "morning-after" pill violates the state's right-of-conscience law. |
| 04/05/11 | Chastity and church: Is there a connection? According to an ABC News/Beliefnet poll conducted within the last year, 83% of Americans identify themselves as Christians. Of course, there is a wide range of practices and specific teachings among the varied and various denominations that comprise Christianity in the U.S. Nonetheless, it's fair to say that America is a predominantly Christian country. So why isn't that reflected in the sexual mores and practices of teens and twenty-somethings? |
| 04/05/11 | RI Lawmakers Consider Alternatives to Gay Marriage Rhode Island lawmakers will consider a proposal to allow gay couples and others who can't legally marry, such as siblings, to enter into an agreement providing many of the benefits of marriage. A House committee will review legislation Tuesday that would extend benefits and rights associated with insurance, health care decisions, inheritance and property ownership to so-called "reciprocal beneficiaries." |
| 03/31/11 | 7th-grader stands up for faith A California-based law group is considering legal action in a case where a teacher reportedly attacked Christianity during class time, calling Christians "zombie worshippers." Tommi Oatis, a seventh-grader in a Northern California school district, says her teacher blatantly criticized the Christian faith in class, telling students that no one should believe the Bible "since it was written 2,000 years ago." The teacher allegedly also compared a photo of an individual drinking out of a "blacks only" fountain during the civil rights era, comparing it to Proposition 8 and the battle over same-sex "marriage" in The Golden State. |
| 03/31/11 | Another lie from Planned Parenthood? Planned Parenthood has been caught in an apparent misstatement. Pressure is on in Congress to approve what is being called the "Pence Amendment" -- legislation that calls for defunding the nation's largest abortion-provider. Planned Parenthood executive director Cecile Richards made the following statement recently on Joy Behar's television program: |
| 03/30/11 | Pelosi Tells Pro-Abortion Dinner: GOP Waging “War on Women” Using militaristic terms at a dinner sponsored by one of the nation’s most polemic pro-abortion groups, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi condemned Republicans who want to de-fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business. At a Monday gala sponsored by NARAL at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco, Pelosi condemned what she called the Republican “war on women” — the de-funding effort that she said was the biggest attack on abortion since Roe v. Wade. Pelosi told the 700 pro-abortion activists that Republicans clamoring for abortion funding cuts are engaging in an “ideological harangue” not just against abortion, but family planning, and they need “a lesson in the birds and bees.” |
| 03/30/11 | Library's judgment violates free speech A Wisconsin library is being challenged for saying no to a pro-life movie that exposes the abortion industry. The community-based campaign 40 Days for Life, which draws attention to the evil of abortion, wanted to use the Marathon County facility to show a documentary called Blood Money. But Attorney Peter Breen of the Thomas More Society says the library director refused the group's request. |
| 03/29/11 | Glee: Promoting Planned Parenthood’s Sex Education Agenda The following is a long and sometimes graphic opinion written by Kara Russo about the history and dangers of Planned Parenthood. The information is excellent. |
| 03/29/11 | Incarcerated parents' treatment 'appalling' Some German parents continue to be jailed for protecting their children's Christian beliefs. Five sets of parents in a German town have been punished for refusing to allow their elementary school-aged children to participate in school sex-education programs (see earlier article). "[The children are] being put through an interactive sex-education play which teaches them that if something feels good, then you should do it," explains Roger Kiska with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). |
| 03/28/11 | Sister's plight pushes brother to fight for others A proposed law before Italy's Parliament bans starvation and dehydration of patients with terminal illnesses. A pro-life organization believes the law is also badly needed in the U.S. Bobby Schindler of the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation believes that food and water should be considered basic care rather than a medical treatment that can be withdrawn. He says his sister, Terri Schiavo, suffered that fate years ago due to a court order to remove her food and hydration tube. |
| 03/28/11 | Religious material a no-no on school playgrounds A Pennsylvania third-grader is getting legal help after being told by school officials that she can't hand out Christian tracts on the playground. Felicia Clark wanted to share her faith by passing out Christian pamphlets to her classmates during playtime. But officials at Northwest Intermediate School in Shickshinny said she could not do that -- which caused her family to seek assistance through The Rutherford Institute. |
| 03/25/11 | Pro-life cause targeted in NYC New York City faces a federal lawsuit over its recently passed ordinance dealing with the free-speech rights of pro-life pregnancy centers. Alliance Defense Fund attorney Matt Bowman explains that the ordinance forces pro-life centers to post on their walls -- and include in their written material and advertising -- statements that say they do not provide abortions or contraceptives. |
| 03/25/11 | Pro-Life Med Students Conclude National Tour to Raise Awareness About Discrimination They Face Medical students and an abortionist-turned-pro-life-activist are trying to raise awareness about the discrimination that pro-life students face at many medical schools around the country. They say the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services made the situation worse last month, when it rescinded some of the conscience-protection regulations put in place by the Bush administration. |
| 03/24/11 | Court: No Same-Sex Marriages in California during Appeal A federal appeals court on Wednesday refused to allow gay marriages to take place in California while it considers the constitutionality of the state's ban. California Attorney General Kamala Harris had joined gay marriage proponents in urging the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to lift a stay that had been placed on a lower court's ruling to strike down Proposition 8. |