In today’s News:
Lawmakers want to know why pro-life students were arrested
Two lawmakers are calling for an investigation into what they say is the “Unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination” of two pro-life students who were arrested in Washington, D.C., after using sidewalk chalk to write the phrase “BLACK PRE-BORN LIVES MATTER” in front of a local Planned Parenthood. The students, who are affiliated with Students For Life Of America (SFLA), were charged with defacing public or private property, which is punishable by a fine up to $1,000 and/or up to 180 days in jail. Fox News is reporting that Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. James Comer of Kentucky of the Oversight Committee, wrote a letter to Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband questioning the validity of the arrest. The arrest raised eyebrows particularly because the slogan “DEFUND THE POLICE” was recently painted on a prominent D.C. roadway adjacent to the mayor’s commissioned painting of “BLACK LIVES MATTER,” without similar consequences. SFLA has said it intends to pursue legal action against the metropolitan police department for its viewpoint discrimination.
Court overturns conscience protection
In June, President Donald Trump issued a pro-life rule that will protect pro-life Americans and help save babies from abortion. His administration implemented a rule to block the effects of an Obamacare provision that could be used to compel doctors to participate in abortions. The Department Of Health and Human Services finalized a rule that revises 2016 provisions of the Obamacare section 1557 rule that had redefined discrimination “on the basis of sex” to include “pregnancy termination.” The new rule protects doctors, nurses and medical professionals from being compelled to assist abortions. Monday, a federal judge blocked the rule, just one day before it was to have taken effect and relied on a Supreme Court decision related to sexual orientation and gender identity to block the rule, which also pertains to those issues.
Abortion prevented
An unborn baby may be protected from abortion in Florida after a court ruled against a teen who is trying to get a secret abortion without her parents’ knowledge or consent. The Miami Herald reports the Second District Court of Appeals rejected a lawsuit by 14-year-old “Jane Doe” who is challenging the new state parental consent law. The pro-life law, which went into effect July 1, requires girls under 18 to obtain a parent’s consent before having an abortion. The law includes exceptions for medical emergencies and allows a judge to grant permission instead of a parent, a judicial bypass. Doe, who is living with her 17-year-old boyfriend, requested a judicial bypass, but a court rejected her request and, on Monday, the Second District Court agreed, according to the report. In their ruling, the judges said the teen did not show enough maturity to make the decision on her own. They also questioned her credibility after she gave two conflicting statements about her mother to the court.
