In today’s News:
Religious liberty threatened in Virginia
Three Christian schools and a Christian network of pregnancy centers are suing Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring in order to prevent Virginia from implementing two pro-LGBT laws that force “people of faith to adopt a particular government ideology under threat of punishment.” The two laws purport to prevent “discrimination” against LGBT people but force Christian ministries to choose between violating their sincerely-held religious beliefs or paying hefty fines, as much as $100,000 per offense. Virginia Values, which Gov. Ralph Northam signed the day before Easter Sunday, compels churches, religious schools, and Christian ministries to hire employees who do not share their stated beliefs on marriage, sexuality and gender identity. A companion law requires ministries and others like them to pay for transgender surgery in employee health care plans, a procedure that violates these ministries’ convictions.
AMA supports abortion
The American Medical Association (AMA) is advocating openly for abortions. Yesterday, it joined Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and other pro-abortion groups in a petition urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down President Donald Trump’s Protect Life Rule, The Hill reports. The Title X rule requires Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers to completely separate their abortion businesses from their taxpayer-funded services. That means housing their family planning services in separate buildings with separate staff from their abortion businesses and a denial of funds if they fail to do so. Planned Parenthood refused to comply and gave up about $60 million federal funding. The billion-dollar abortion chain also is suing to overturn the rule, and federal courts have issued conflicting rulings on the matter. Now, Planned Parenthood is turning to the Supreme Court for an answer, and the largest doctors’ association in the U.S. is supporting it.
Lawmakers push for abortion up to birth
Massachusetts lawmakers may try to push through a bill this fall that would legalize abortions through all nine months and allow young teens to get abortions without a parent’s knowledge or consent. The Roe Act has been stalled in the state legislature for 20 months, but abortion activists are demanding that lawmakers pass it in the wake of the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, according to the New Boston Post. The bill would eliminate most regulations and restrictions on abortion in Massachusetts. It would allow abortions through all nine months of pregnancy, even if there is no physical threat to the mother’s life and could put young sexual abuse victims at greater risk by eliminating the state parental consent requirement. Massachusetts Citizens for Life said the bill also allows for “passive infanticide” by eliminating a requirement to provide medical care to a baby who is born alive after an abortion.
