In today’s News:
California church remains open despite fines
The pastor of a large California church that was fined more than $50,000 for holding indoor worship services despite adhering to social distancing guidelines said that even as the county continues to increase penalties, the church will remain open. Jack Trieber, pastor of North Valley Baptist Church in Santa Clara, Calif., said Tuesday that Santa Clara County posted an additional order on the church’s doors this week and is fining the congregation $5,000 for each service.
Christian student sues a university
The Catholic former head of Florida State University’s Student Senate is suing the school, saying his religious freedom was violated when he was removed from his position. Jack Denton, a member of Florida State University’s (FSU) class of 2021, was ousted from his position as head of the FSU Student Senate in June when comments he made in a private chat forum for Catholic students were made public. He had claimed that policy positions of blacklivesmatter.com, the ACLU, and Reclaim the Block contradicted the teachings of the Catholic Church, in a conversation about racial justice. A change.org petition called his comments “transphobic and racist” and the student senate subsequently voted to remove him as chair. He unsuccessfully appealed to the student supreme court and to university administrators for his reinstatement.
Lawmakers call for pulling the abortion pill off the market
Ninety-two Members of Congress have written the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) demanding that the abortion pill be pulled from the market as an “imminent hazard to the public health.” Twenty Republican senators led by Texas’s Ted Cruz signed one letter, and 72 GOP House members led by Georgia’s Jody Hice signed another. The lawmakers take aim at a federal judge’s recent decision to block the Trump administration from limiting abortion pills to in-person dispensation by physicians during the covid-19 outbreak, as opposed to letting women take the pills at home without medical supervision.
An abortion clinic is under criminal investigation
It has been confirmed that the death of a woman who visited the West Alabama Women’s Center abortion facility in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on May 7, 2020, is under criminal investigation. A coalition of pro-life groups, including CEC for Life, Life Legal Defense, Operation Rescue, and other Alabama organizations sought the autopsy report for a woman who reportedly died at Druid City Hospital, soon after leaving the Tuscaloosa abortion facility. The request was submitted on Aug. 5, 2020, by Dr. Patricia Gensemer for “autopsy reports for any females over 14 years of age and under 40 years of age with a date of death for May 7, 2020 in Tuscaloosa County. Your office confirmed on Aug. 5 that files matching this request are finally available.” Dr. Gensemer received a written response dated Aug. 27, 2020, from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, which stated in part, “District Attorney Hays Webb has notified the Alabama Department of Forensic Science that this case remains under criminal investigation. . . Consequently, the final reports in this case are not currently public record.”
