In today’s News:
L.A. County wants a contempt ruling against a pastor
Los Angeles County has expressed its intention to haul Grace Community Church Pastor John MacArthur back into court, attempting to secure a contempt ruling against him, which would involve hefty fines. On Monday, an L.A. superior court judge punted on contempt, but the county told MacArthur’s lawyers that it intends to refile charges in another court. Earlier this month, Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff issued a preliminary injunction allowing L.A. County to ban indoor church services, but the church has appealed the injunction. MacArthur’s lawyers argue that since they are challenging the preliminary injunction, any contempt proceedings should wait until the underlying constitutionality of the county’s coronavirus lockdown orders has been fully litigated. Yet Los Angeles has refused to wait, instead rushing to use a constitutionally dubious order as a cudgel against Christians who insist on going to church.
Christian students fight back
University of Iowa officials were put on notice yesterday after a Christian student group asked a federal appeals court to hold them accountable for targeting and booting the group off campus because it requires its leaders to follow its religious beliefs. Officials at the University of Iowa kicked Business Leaders in Christ off campus and put it on a religious watchlist for simply requiring its leaders to sign a statement of faith
Professionals support abortion restriction
More than 130 medical professionals and scientists in Colorado have signed a letter in support of Proposition 115, a ballot measure seeking to ban abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy. Colorado currently has no laws regulating late-term abortion, either restricting the procedure or explicitly protecting it. As a result, abortions can take place up until birth. This November, Proposition 115 will ask voters if they want to ban abortion in the state after 22 weeks of pregnancy, unless a mother’s life is threatened. If the ballot measure passes, doctors would face a three-year suspension of their license for performing or attempting to perform an abortion. Women would not be charged with seeking or obtaining an abortion. More than 150,000 people from across Colorado signed a petition to place the initiative on the upcoming ballot.
Legislation introduced to protect women’s sport
A handful of GOP senators, led by Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, introduced legislation on yesterday that would further protect women under Title IX. Loeffler’s “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” makes a biological male’s participation in athletic programs that are designated for women and girls a violation of Title IX. The legislation would penalize schools receiving federal funding that permit such participation from biological males and threatens to pull the federal dollars all together. Loeffler’s legislation targets Title IX’s recognition of biological sex within women and girls’ athletic programs and aims to ensure that sex is accepted based on a person’s reproductive biology at birth. It follows a nationally watched case in Connecticut that resulted in two separate biological males winning multiple championship titles, that were previously held by women, in women’s track contests. The male participants inhibited the women from advancing further in competition.
