In today’s News:
Pharmacist fired for not dispensing abortion-inducing drugs
Life Legal is representing a pharmacist who has told her employer she cannot dispense prescriptions for abortion-inducing drugs, including oral birth control and emergency contraception. The pharmacist, who is Catholic, has made it clear that dispensing the drugs violates her deeply held beliefs. The pharmacy said if she did not change her position, she would be terminated immediately. The pharmacist did not back down. She has worked for the pharmacy for many years and has always received a religious accommodation to exempt her from dispensing prescriptions that violate her conscience. This year, however, the pharmacy is saying that birth control and morning after pills are “essential” services.
Athletes allowed to defend women’s sports law
A federal district court yesterday granted the motion of two female athletes to intervene in defense of Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which the American Civil Liberties Union is challenging in court. The lawsuit seeks to dismantle Idaho’s newly enacted law and force female athletes to compete against males who identify as female. Alliance defending freedom attorneys represent the two collegiate athletes, who run track and cross-country at Idaho State University in Pocatello. The two women, Madison Kenyon and Mary Kate Marshall, are long-time athletes, well familiar with the difference in strength and speed between comparably gifted and trained male and female athletes. In its order granting the motion to intervene in Hecox v. Little, the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho also temporarily halted enforcement of Idaho’s law while the lawsuit against it moves forward.
Church wins against state
Pastor John Macarthur’s Grace Community Church in California may hold indoor services without legal retaliation for now, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant ruled Friday. California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has banned indoor religious services along with various types of secular gatherings in 29 counties representing 80 percent of the state’s population in the name of containing the spread of covid-19. Numerous churches have defied the order, including Grace Community Church, Cornerstone Church of Fresno, Destiny Christian Church of Rocklin and Harvest Rock Church Of Pasadena. In Los Angeles, conflict over the order has intensified to the point that Democrat Mayor Eric Garcetti has ordered that power and water be shut off to buildings where gatherings continue taking place. Grace Community Church Sued The State Over The Ban, And Los Angeles County Counter-Sued, but Chalfant sided with Grace, the Associated Press reports. The judge’s ruling allows the church to gather in person for the time being, provided congregants wear masks and socially distance within the building. He set a September date for a hearing on Los Angeles County’s counter-demand for an injunction against the church meeting in person.
