In today’s News:
SCOTUS ruling blasted by two justices
Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito issued a broadside against the high court’s 2015 same-sex marriage decision yesterday when the court declined to hear a case brought by a former Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue a marriage license for such couples. The two justices agreed with the decision not to hear the case but used the occasion to take a legal baseball bat to the court’s 2015 decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which declared that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry under the 14th Amendment guarantee to equal protection of the law. Writing for himself and Alito, Thomas said that the court’s decision “enables courts and governments to brand religious adherents who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman as bigots, making their religious liberty concerns that much easier to dismiss.” Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has indicated her disagreement with the 2015 decision. Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett have all been staunch supporters of robust religious rights, de-emphasizing the concept of separation between church and state, while emphasizing the importance of the free exercise of religion. In November, the justices are scheduled to hear a major test of laws that apply generally and neutrally across the board. At issue is Philadelphia’s decision to terminate a contract with Catholic Social Services for screening and certifying parents for foster care. The city terminated the contract because Catholic Social Services, citing its religious objections, refused to certify qualified same-sex couples.
New Jersey wants abortion up to birth law
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy introduced legislation Friday to expand abortions in his state amid speculation that the U.S. Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade. The Democrat governor and his wife joined Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle and other state lawmakers in supporting the Reproductive Freedom Act, which would keep abortion on demand legal in New Jersey even if Roe is overturned. The goal of the bill is to “expand access to essential reproductive health care … including abortion,” according to a press release from the governor’s office. To do this, the legislation would force private health insurers to cover elective abortions and eliminate abortion regulations that protect women as well as their unborn babies.
Human rights group supports abortion up to birth
Amnesty International has announced a new abortion policy that calls for countries around the world to introduce abortion-on-demand, for any reason, up to birth and allow sex-selective abortion. The self-declared human rights organization says that, in addition to campaigning for the full “decriminalization” of abortion around the world, they will call for “a universal access to safe abortions for all people who need them.” Amnesty International claims it “does not take a position on when human life begins,” however, its new policy states that the right to life doesn’t commence until birth.
